[Spooky thread!] A DEAD BUTLER IN THE WAYNE CELLAR

[Elenaphant]

INFORMATION
Everyone should have gotten a PM about their roles prior to the MURDER OF ALFRED PENNYWORTH. If you did not, please PM me and I will sort that out. The major events, who went where, who saw what, etc are NON-NEGOTIABLE. The little details about why or how your character reacts to such things (aside from our lovely screamer) is up to your interpretation. Don't stress too much--this is an AU so if your character is a bit off just attribute it to it being an alternate universe and play the rest up as you feel comfortable. 

GAME MECHANICS
You will start your post off FROM WHEN THE LIGHTNING FLASHED AND THE LIGHTS TURNED OFF. Don't give everything away in the first post! Capture that moment in time, write what happened from there according to your PMs, and then you are free to do as you will. 

ASK QUESTIONS - You don't have to be like, "You did this in the cellar with the kentucky fried chicken," but inquire about what others were doing as your character would. "Where were you when..." "What happened?!" "It was you, wasn't it?!" etc etc. 

ANSWER QUESTIONS however you see fit. You don't have to tell the whole story. Your character can lie. However, you may get caught in that lie. 

PAY ATTENTION to what other characters say. You can be like "but wait! I saw you..." and from there, together we will fit pieces of the puzzle one by one. It is okay to be suspicious of what your "friends" are saying. 

WANNA BE KILLERS - So you want to kill people off even though we've totes got a dead body on our hands, huh? I don't want people to go overboard with this. If your character wants to kill someone's, you can't force that. The other roleplayer has the right to decide if their character dies. Thankfully, if people don't reply enough in their post turn theeeen you can totally kill them off. That's probably the easiest way to go about it. If you and the other roleplayer agree on a death, then by all means spice things up. 

WHAT ABOUT THE CLUES? - I've decided that if a character dies, their part of the story dies with them. Convenient for the murderer I'm sure. So if you decide to let your character be killed please don't go revealing everything to your killer unless its been roleplayed out in the open. It keeps it fun and fair for all of us~

INVESTIGATE ROOMS - 
The very general layout goes as follows
North of Cellar :  (from left to right) Kitchen, Ballroom, Conservatory
South of Cellar:  (left to right) Lounge, Hall, Study
Left of Cellar: Dining Room       
Right of Cellar: Billiard Room and Library

The Wayne Mansion is big. All of these are spaced out very well and there are hallways between them. Still, the rooms in the group that they're in are close by enough. It takes longer to get from the Lounge to the Kitchen than it does the Lounge and the Hall. Consider Right and Left of the cellar as 'midway' points. 

If you character wants to inspect something like say, the oven in the Kitchen. I will post as the narrator and be like "there was a half-baked turkey" right after. Don't do this unless you got good reason to~ There's only... two things to find of any significance, and one I will give away if the room is entered. 


POST ORDER - I go first, and then the post order is established by who posts their introductions after me. People will be skipped if they do not post in time (see below). 

TIMELINE
We have one month from my beginning post. That will be October 14th - November 14th. If the case is not solved by then, a resident Sherlock will come in and deduce everything. Stay active! Or you'll be booted. If you don't post within THREE DAYS OF YOUR TURN you'll be skipped. If this happens twice in a row, your character will be killed off. Try and prioritize this one, kay? 


If any questions, direct them to me in a PM or post on the PLOTTER

[Elenaphant]

The lightning shook the panes of the window. Thunder followed quickly, attesting to the closeness of the strike. It drowned out the sound of heavy breaths and the scrape of broken glass along hardwood floor. She was furious and on edge. How... How dare he?! How dare he treat her this way?! She had only asked him a question and he took that accusatory tone with her! She was through with feeling like she had let him down somehow. His livid face only mirrored her own. At least, it did until he was telling her to get up--to stop this. "So now you wish to do the 'talking'?" she spat out with her fingers curled like she was about to claw his mask right off. 

He opened his mouth but the only sound was a scream from somewhere outside the door. She froze, and terror stabbed at her like an ice pick to the gut. She rolled over and let him up, not feeling the shards of glass and the splinters beneath her palm as she watched him dash out. She ought to get up... She ought to follow him, and see what was wrong, but she was scared. She did not want to go out there and face what had been found... Not now, when everything was so complicated. Not now when they already suspected. 

She got up and backed away... backed away from the door Robin left through, and backed away out of the room they had their destructive dialogue to vanish. The Lounge was empty.

[Deleted]

Of course, someone was listening to their spat. Penumbra was looking around the dining room and overheard two people arguing in the lounge. It was interesting, to say the least, until Psyman walked in and caught him. There was a moment of disbelief as Penumbra blinked at him. Then there was the scream and running towards the cellar.

Penumbra was last to enter the cellar. Despite the dead body on the ground, which he assumed someone checked, everything else seemed fine. "There goes the prevalent theory that 'The butler did it'," Penumbra fully entered the room and looked around. His calm wasn't because he knew this would happen, but because he expected something bad to happen. Penumbra wasn't Alphonse Carey. Penumbra was emotionless. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs to the cellar, and looked up the steps, "How do you suppose he died?"

"Actually, we need to know who COULD have done this. Where were you guys before this..." Cautiously, he looked at his teammates, his FRIENDS, and started to establish who was where, "Oh, and who was fighting in the Lounge? I was in the dining room but couldn't tell who it was above the din outside. That guy Psyman is running around, he popped into the dining right before that scream." Alphy's last thought before he turned off his emotions, to solve this crime, was, Why do bad things happen to nice people?

[Deleted]

Lips pressed together as he closed the cupboard door.  It was then that he was blanketed in darkness, as was the entire manor.  It was to be expected with the Wayne Manor being so far off of the grid.  However, as quickly as the power went out, it quickly turned back on.  Nothing to worry about, afterall.  There was a storm brewing outside.  Thus, he continued on his search to make himself some food.  Being raised in poverty, he out and out refused to have a man servant make him a sandwich.  Even if it was the rather talented Alfred Pennyworth.

No.  The man had this large manor to caretake, so the request of one hungry teenager could, and would, be resolved by that one hungry teenager.  Artisan bread, mayonnaise, ham, turkey, roast beef, cheddar cheese, romaine lettuce, and a few tomato slices were selected to create his sandwich.  Each layer carefully placed with both skill and love.  That was the secret to making good food, afterall, to stay in a good mood.  If one were in a bitter mood, it would make the food...  Well, you get where I'm going with this.

He wore a nice suit with black gloves.  He'd be damned if he were to walk into the infamously exquisite Wayne Manor wearing solely jeans and a t-shirt.  No, no.  Red Star was dressed to impress.  And, it also helped the motivation for his dress that Starfire was also in attendance.  He had even wore some pricey cologne.  He looked, and felt, like perfection.  Especially after he took a bite of his sandwich, the crisp lettuce snapping under his teeth as the various flavours mixed together.

But, this moment of perfection was only sustained as he was completely oblivious to the ongoings within the Manor outside of the kitchen.  Slowly, the kitchen door opened, revealing the horned alien, Irkalla.  Red Star didn't even notice her entrance.  He was preoccupied. 

Buse

[Aly]

Batgirl was furious. How dare he! First of all, she was incredulous to how a Titan could be stealing money from the Waynes. She hadn't had a chance to ask Alfred if Bruce knew about it or not. It was weird being here in a mask, and even weirder that she couldn't let anyone know that she and Robin knew Alfred, that he was like family to them.

As she stepped down into the cellar, inspecting the source of the scream, she stopped dead in her tracks. "Alfred!" Batgirl covered her mouth with a gloved hand and sprinted to where Hotline was already inspecting the butler's body. All caution was out of the window as she stooped down to where the butler lay, and check his pulse. Nothing. Oh god, oh god. No, this couldn't be happening. They had just spoken with him! About a thief. Alfred had said he had his suspicions, and more than likely, they had already been confirmed by the Batman himself. Not that anyone else could have known that. But they knew the butler knew about them. It was time to figure out who it was so that she could strangle them with Alfred's bowtie.

Cloaking her shock and hysterics in anger, Batgirl stood up and backed up against the wine rack behind her. Within moments, more people came into the cellar, all talking. Her eyes sought out Penumbra, and narrowed at his lame attempt at a joke. She tried to tell herself that he didn't know who Alfred was, didn't know that he was family. Regardless, she wanted to smack him.

Whoever did it wasn't going to own up to it, that was for sure. Penumbra's attempts at demanding whoever it was come forward were going to be in vain.

[Kenni]

"What are you guys doing? Save the tea and crumpets for later; Mr. Pennyworth is dead!" exclaimed an out-of-breath ginger archer with wildly inconsiderate flair, considering the dearly departed's profile as an Englishman, as he burst into the kitchen. Scolding the ever-eating gargantuanew friend of his, and the other alien-princess he hadn't quite met yet, the super-suited Speedy--like Batgirl--was hardly allowed to let his deeper despair show properly and tip the others off about any BatFamily connections, so he grieved in a way people often did at first blush with the cold, hard truth.

Through nervous laughter.

Only, minus the literal laughter.

"C'mon, we'd better get to the scene of the crime and park it for a while," he muttered, holding the door open for Red and Irkalla, visibly bothered by his earlier two encounters and the turn for the worse this entire thing was taking.

He bit his lip to keep it from trembling, although a little tear for the sweet gentleman was spurred on righthrough his domino mask by the motion.

[Deleted]

To say the telepath wasn’t angered by this whole thing would be a lie. First off he and his fellow Titans have been summoned to Wayne Manor by the butler due to a string of thefts against the Waynes and the butler for some strange reason is convinced that one of them is behind it. Psyman is particularly insulted by the fact he doesn’t even know who this butler is nor does he know much about the Waynes. Only thing he knows about them is public knowledge stuff like how Bruce is extremely wealthy and is in charge of his own company. Secondly he has never set foot in Gotham before, so feeling as though he knows the least of what’s going on he really does not get why the butler, Alfred summoned him. He does, however, get the uncanny feeling that things were going to get real bad real quick and informed the others of his feelings only to get ignored.

Once at the manor Psyman starts snooping around for clues. But gets quickly interrupted by a series of unforeseen events including a power shortage caused by an abrupt lightning strike. As soon as the lights go out, Psyman’s yellow eyes begin to glow like a flashlight enabling him to see his way around. Using this ability he makes his way easily into the dining room where lo and behold and finds fellow Titan and telepath, Penumbra listening through the wall. Immediately suspicious Psyman demands to know what he was doing over there.

But before he could question him further an ear piercing scream interrupted forcing Psyman to follow after Penumbra; which led him to the cellar and sure enough there laying lifelessly on the ground was none other than the butler himself. Immediately, Psyman feels guilty for having previously felt anger towards Alfred. "It's the butler. Freshly killed too," he whispered in an anxious tone. His face paled. "What'd I tell all of you? I told you that things were going to get real bad real quick and it looks like I was right. First the string of thefts now the butler. I mean what's next? Poltergeists?" he exclaimed clearly freaking out.

At Pen’s attempt at dark humor, Psyman shot a suspicious glare at him. After all, in the telepath’s mind who else would make up such sick jokes at the expense of the deceased unless they were guilty? Psyman’s eyes followed Pen and there they remained. "I don’t know, so how about you tell me and then we’ll both know,” he harshly accused Penumbra in response to his question. The telepath then tried to enter Penumbra’s mind to find out for himself only to find it impossible for him to read.

When Penumbra took it upon himself to start the questioning, Psyman offended uttered a horrified gasp at Pen’s mentioning of his previous running around and moreso at the fact that he is talking about him as though he wasn't even there. "That guy Psyman? Hello, I am standing right here you know. So if you have something to say why not ask me directly?" scolded Psyman before continuing on. "And how dare you even insinuate… Well…fine if you must know the reason I was running around was purely for exercise purposes. I enjoy running. It’s a hobby of mine. Keeps me in shape too. A healthy mind breeds a healthy body I always say. Did…did I mention I like running? But then the lights went out and that’s when I found you listening in on someone’s argument; which I am sure was not any of your business to begin with and I am certain everyone else would agree with me on that.” With arms firmly crossed he looks at everyone else expecting them to back him up.


ooc: Hope I didn't give too much away here.

[Silv]

Robin had been trained to run towards the sound of panicked screaming. The Boy Wonder flew through the familiar hallways, his feet barely touching the ground, as he raced towards the source of the screams. He skidded into the cellar, his masked eyes barely taking in the forms of Batgirl and Hotline hovering over a prone figure on the ground.

No.

The boy surged forward and skidded to a halt next to the body of the man who had been almost more of a second father than Bruce had. “What happened?” he demanded his masked gaze flicking from Batgirl, who was checking Alfred's vitals, to Hotline. Desperation entered his voice as his gaze lowered to the old man in front of them. “He can't be.”

But the expression on Batgirl's face said everything, and Dick went from leaning back on his haunches to sitting flat on his butt. No. It was the only word in his head, and it repeated itself in time to his own pulse throbbing in his skull. No. No. No. No. NO. The boy's gloved hand went to his hair, worrying the spikes, and dislodging some of the glass that had embedded itself in with the hair gel. He heard the others coming in behind him, but their presence barely registered.

That was, of course, until Penumbra made a joke.

Robin went from sitting bent over Alfred's body on the ground to on his feet in a speed obviously fueled by rage. In a fluid motion his fist went for Penumbra's face. There was no holding back. The expression on the boy's masked face was livid. How dare Penumbra make jokes at Alfred's expense. He didn't even register the other's talking. Everything was a blur of rage that focused on Penumbra.

[Buse]

Irkalla... was hungry. Sure, she was worried about the situation. Sure, the knowledge that one of her friends had stolen from this... family that obviously had way too much money as unnerving. But seriously, she hadn't eaten anything ever since she had arrived, and airplane food had done a pretty great job at not helping quell her hunger one bit. On an empty stomach, she couldn't think, she couldn't fight, and she couldn't... do a lot of things. She decided to help herself to a meal, not really wanting to trouble the already clearly troubled butler. The atmosphere was heavy, and he had other things to attend to. She'd just make her own meal...

...Or would, if the lights hadn't gone out all of a sudden. Finding food would be hard in the dark, but not impossible. She quietly opened the door, entering the kitchen and closing it behind her. As the lights went back in, she found Red Star already inside, biting into a sandwich. She couldn't help but think he had possibly overdressed for such an emergency trip, but Earthlings' fashion sense was none of her business. She wore jeans and a t-shirt. She'd be damned if she were to walk into a field mission wearing something that trapped her mobility, like tight dresses or suits. No, no. Irkalla was dressed to act.

Not that she'd be able to, hungry like she was.

"Hey. You hungry too?"

She said, already using the ingredients the man had picked to make a sandwich of her own. Half of the ingredients, anyway, as the other half she shoved directly in her mouth, since, as stated before, she was really hungry, and as generally known, she needed a LOT of food to function properly. As she prepared her meal, she decided to strike up a conversation.

"A thief... that's pretty bad, isn't it?" She let the question hang in the air, focusing on the sandwich for a bit. "Who do you think it was?"

She finished her sandwich, a huge mountain of ingredients. She wasn't the best cook, really, and it was true to merely picking the right proportion of ingredients, but she was great at piling up food. She took a bite out of it, and before she could take a second one, Speedy busted into the room, announcing... a murder. Things only got worse, didn't they? She didn't expect too much explanation before bolting(after he did, of course). That whole night, it was suspicious. A traitor in their midst, robberies, everything that had happened, and now this. Slowly, things started making sense in her head, though one thing prevailed over the others: Alfred was a good man, and whoever was responsible for this would pay.

[Elenaphant]

[ HOTLINE skipped ]

Starfire entered into the conservatory. The large plants provided solace and her nerves were rather frayed. She was regretting her fight with Robin but... he could be so...so...! Her fist balled and she pressed it against her lips, a worried look overtaking her expression. She had been furious when she threw him into the coffee table but it was not him whom she was concerned over. He had not made an appearance since he left the lounge. He hadn't looked well. It couldn't be that he was...? No--he could not be dead! How was she supposed to know that--no, no he was fine. But...where could he have gone?

She smacked her own forehead. She should have gone with them to see the trouble! This would just make her look more suspicious. Also, she had to know the truth. She had to know if... if it was him that they found. However, if it was...what would it mean for her? Would they lock her away? Would they do that to a friend? She sank down to the floor and put her face to her knees, cradling herself. She didn't know what to do...

[Deleted]

Robin's punch connected with Penumbra's jaw, which was exactly what Penumbra was expecting. Instead of fighting back, he staggered as gracefully as he could away. The Bat-family knew Alfred, and they were upset. Being emotional could cause a witch-hunt. Penumbra was interested in justice, not vengeance. Silently, he wondered what they were interested in. As he nursed his jaw, he slurred, "Robin, I don't know your relation to Alfred, but that was to serve as a wake-up call; you're emotionally involved. If we want to solve this, we need to calm down."

After his short speech, he walked over to Batgirl and whispered as softly as possible, "Barbara, calm down. We'll mourn later. I promise." Finally, Penumbra looked back over at the rest of the room for any clues. (which I'm guessing we'll see about in another post?)

As he looked around, he started again, "Robin, how do you think we should investigate this? Hotline? Batgirl? Oh, and Psy."

He always seemed to forget about that one. Funny, isn't it?

[Deleted]

He gave an off-handed wave to Irkalla as she entered the kitchen.  He was too focused on this sandwich.  He gave her some room so she could create her own.  However, her question made him pause.  The reason they were here.  The thief.  He swallowed the bite before speaking.  "It's a troubling situation.  And, honestly, I have no suspects I could name off.  Everyone here is someone I would lay my life down for.  So, for them to be less than heroic is a heartbreaking notion."

It was then that Speedy walked into the kitchen.  Always known for a joke, even if they were inappropriate at times, Leonid lightly chuckled at the leader of Titans East.  "Come on, Speedy.  That's not funny."  And that would be where Speedy would give a grin.  Or join him in laughter.  Or some other indicator that he was, in fact, telling a joke.  Instead, there was nothing.  Slowly, Red Star leaned up from the counter and stood up straight.  "Speedy...  That's not funny."  Again, nothing.  Desperation and a little fear was in the gaze of the Russian Superman as he approached the archer.

Irkalla passed the pair, headed for the cellar.  Red Star could see the sadness in Speedy's gaze, so he pulled his friend in for a hug.  "Stay strong, my comrade.  I have your back." he whispered.  Trying to be as comforting as possible.  And then a cold chill passed over him.  What if it wasn't sadness he was reading on Speedy's face?  What if it was guilt?  He closed his eyes tightly, driving the thought out of his mind.  No.  He refused to believe, yet alone think, any of that.

Releasing his friend, and walking ahead, they made their way to the cellar just in time to see Robin punching Penumbra right in the jaw.  Before Leonid could jump in between the two, Penumbra backed off, like a dog with his tail between his legs.  The look that Batgirl was giving Penumbra was as if she could drill holes through him, if only she had laser vision.  And that was the route that he took instead of facing the wrath of the Boy Wonder.  Taking off his gloves, he put them in his pocket before taking off his jacket.

Slowly, he placed the jacket over Alfred's head and torso.  On one knee, he whispered a Russian prayer.  Slowly as he stood, he glanced over at Penumbra.  "This is not a game.  Or some disgruntled episode of Scooby Doo.  This is real life."  He then walked over to Robin, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.  "Have the police been contacted?  We should round up everyone in the Manor and stick together.  The murderer could very well still be within the walls.  We have the safety of the Titans to consider."

[Elenaphant]

CLUES IN THE CELLAR:
None of particular note. Alfred sports a bad wound on the side of his head. Could it be a fall? Or, was he struck...?

[Aly]

More people flooded into the cellar, among them Robin. She watched the him carefully, knowing that he was more than likely still upset at their argument from earlier. Crossing her arms over her chest, she leaned against the wall of wine behind her until she saw a flash of a green glove before it connected with Penumbra's face. Shock stayed her feet, but she recovered and pushed her way through the throng of people to separate them. "ROBIN!" She admonished, pushing the younger Titan back so that he wouldn't punch her friend in the face again. Not that he didn't need it, she herself had been holding back from slapping him or something of the like.

Holding Robin by the shoulders, she slightly shook him and tried to peer through the white mask over his eyes. He knew more was at stake here. Alfred was gone, yes. Alfred had been the one to take care of Dick ever since that night. She knew what he was feeling, but they both knew that they couldn't let their guard down, not now. She pleaded with her eyes, trying to connect with him. Either he would fall apart, or he would go into Batman mode. Neither would help them now. "We will find who did this, Robin."

She then turned to Penumbra, still enraged. Her hand went to his chest, and she pushed him back to the corner, far from the others. "I don't care what you think you know, but shut your big mouth." Her lip curled with anger, but she still needed to protect her friends--her family. Both families. Turning on her heel, she strode back to the throng of heroes in the cellar with a murderous look.

[Kenni]

With a mechanical nod, accepting the gentle giant's embrace limply, Speedy in present state would have also literally limped back to enter the scene of the crime, had things not been so urgent as to quicken his step. He wiped his cheek hurriedly and quickly returned to the cellar with Irkalla and Red.

As the drama with Robin vs. Penumbra went down, then Penumbra went down, his first instincts from an aching heart (due to the fact the others were keeping Robin from going at the mouthier, hat-wearing detective of the group again) were to perform preliminary first-aid in the form of passing Red's hug along; Robin was prickly in general, and after that punch, hugging the porcupine was risky.

No fear of being pricked could stop his subdued archer friend from trying.

A silent, quick one-armed squeeze-hold from behind over his furious friend's shoulders, and a couple of light raps on Robin's back before releasing him sufficed as a 'sorry' for now, then, Speedy was peering around the room, half-sizing up people's reactions, half doing a head-count. No one jumped out at him so far as suspicious, but it was worrisome they were down two others.

"Not everyone's here. The culprit could still be on the loose; has anyone seen the girls?"
He was immediately worried about Starfire, or rather, others' perceptions about what she'd been up to during this whole shebang. Judging by her absence, she probably alone where he'd left her in the conservatory and unaware of the situation; if people started questioning her whereabouts he could and would at least cover for her.

When he'd dropped 'the girls' though, he had also been talking about Hotline, who'd sounded the alarm with her screaming what seemed moments ago, and was now..curiously, or perhaps alarmingly, absentee. A quick survey of the room would alert the others as to the two he was talking about.

"It's not safe not knowing where everyone is. I was with Star a little while ago in the conservatory; I'll bring her back. Some of you should try to find Hotline too; she might've seen the culprit run, or something. I'll keep in touch through T.Comm."

He knew the rest of them would be busy with Alfred's autopsy. Part of his detective training was urging him to examine the body first for clues, but right now, it was more important to him that they stay together. Speedy didn't want to lose any one else today if he could help it. Perhaps hypocritically, however, since he was undermining his own safety by breaking from the group in order TO bring it back together, but. Details.

"Psyman? You're coming with me to help make sure Star's alright." He still had a few questions concerning some rope, for that slippery toad, from their run-in and run-away event earlier. With a curt nod to the others, he bodily grabbed the telepath by the scruff of his scarf and back up the stairs towards the conservatory, hoping Star hadn’t strayed off too far from there alone.