A casual Monday outing turned tragic when two men were brutally gunned down in front of Malo's Gun and Ammunition mart. The victims; Kaplan Stridehr and Marple Dethrris were found dead with a single Aperture-Brand Resolution Pellet to the head. A third victim, Hendorff Ditherrs, was found at the scene asphyxiated to death. All three of the victims regularly donated community service hours to the FLUDD orphanage and were cherished by their grieving families.

The murder suspects, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Vivan Johnson, and Rick Johnson, all attend Smash Academy and have been interrogated at least once by the FDCPD. Rick has been hospitalized for the time being with life-threatening injuries, though his condition is stable. He will be questioned when he regains consciousness. It's unclear if his injuries were inflicted in self-defense, or by the other two Smash Academy students in the middle of the attack.

The Smash Academy students claim they were the ones who acted in self defense, but FDCPD has not reached a clear verdict yet to a very messy and terrible situation.

"It's not completely clear this was in self defense." says the police chief. "If you're not looking to kill, you don't put a bullet in someone's head."

Several eye witnesses to the attack also claim the smaller student, Vivian, was the one who open fired and murdered the victims, unprovoked. All three are on juvenile preemptive probation until further investigations are finished. It should be worth noting, again, these were non-human students of Smash Academy, a fighting school that accepts many different kinds of unnatural, humanoid creatures. They could still be considered dangerous despite the probation. Aperture Science is also being questioned for product deficiency, but has not returned any of our calls.

[Lakitu, an unnatural, humanoid turtle man, shuffles the papers on his desk and prepares for the next, possibly vaguely related news story.]

An abandoned church on the east side of the city was mysteriously engulfed in flames last night. Fire accelerants were noted in the area, suggesting that this was no accident. It's uncertain if this incident is related to the gun attack, but non-human terrorists are suspected given the target. If you have any important clues or tips to report, please call the FDCPD immediately.

It's truly terrible this historic building has been reduced to tinder and ashes. Residents are outraged and are calling for Martial law. Mayor Tabuu is taking this into consideration with rising rates of violence and crime, but states he is not likely to come to a decision or see any action result for a least a month, especially given the complicated nature of FDC. Martial law would necessitate the need for an outsourced, contracted military, and the Mayor wants to ensure he has the best for the job.

---

[video]

[Seth appears on video, close up and fiddling with the camera before settling in his seat, a grim expression on his face.]

In case you weren't aware about a certain fiasco that happened between Mary and Vianca a while ago, a new development has recently come to my attention, and I for one am ashamed. Shame on you!

Honestly, she's just a child and didn't know any better. That's no reason for anyone to go antagonize and bully her! I want to think better of our student body.

You're all so quick to turn a blind eye when that murderous swordsman returned to campus. You hardly bat an eyelash at knowing there's at least three new and different murder suspects residing right here! Have any of you even seen the news lately? They're right here, living amongst you all--murderers as your very neighbors. But the moment a naive little girl does something she didn't even know was wrong you ostracize her unfairly. I don't want to name names but you know who you are.

Everyone's double standards here are truly unsettling. You should all think on your sins.

[Ahem. He clears his throat and adjusts his collar, as if to clear out all that ~undignified emotional outpouring~]

Anyway, I apologize if any of that came across as harsh or blunt, and Mary's poor name shouldn't be dragged through the mud any longer. Mary has all my condolences, I wish her the best and above all that this doesn't happen again. That was a while ago anyway--old news. She should know better by now.

I'll see to it personally.

( Did you miss my terrible narrations? )

hhhello i am connor/.,

i am told iwas your new custodiann and iasdfsvk.

[Aw crap, his fingers slipped, this must look really stupid how do you get rid of all this ugly mess. Okay welp, now he accidentally turned on the camera and now you can see his frustrated confused face as he stared at the computer. To the few who had seen him, he had his cloaked hood on. And now, his hood was off. So here this face posted all over the network for you to see as this super srs Native American dude is looking like a total moron right now.]

iit is nice to meet you alll;.

[ Just a small text this time, but everyone in the academy better listen up. It's serious. Absolutely serious. ]

A former staff member of the academy, Miss GLaDOS, was found dead in Ferrothorn Park on Saturday, March 9th, at 1:13 AM. Signs of decay are imminent, suggesting that she has been there for some time. Her body has since been removed from the property and has been sent for autopsy.

There will be no further details given.

[ That's it. He's not about to drag any personal feelings into this, no matter how much it makes his gut wretch. ]

Hello again, Smash Academy! It's an absolute pleasure to be back.

First, I must extend my apologies to those I may have worried by disappearing unannounced for so long! To put it simply, I had an engagement back in Mushroom Kingdom a few months ago and ended up getting... ah, a little sidetracked.

I can't say I'm surprised to see a few unfamiliar faces around campus since I've been back! So, please allow me to introduce myself! I am Princess Peach Toadstool from the Mushroom Kingdom. Just Peach is fine, though! ♡ It's lovely to have the opportunity to meet all of you! Please, don't hesitate to introduce yourself to me.

Oh, and I've talked some things over with the Headmaster and I'm delighted to announce I've accumulated enough credits to graduate and take a teaching position upon my return! I'll miss having a roommate, but I am looking forward to teaching. I hope to see some of you in my cooking class when I begin!

✨Have a wonderful day, everyone!✨ 

( [Action] Hope you like cats... )

---

So, uh… I don't want to freak anyone out or anything…

[As she spoke, a large lion's head tried to look over her shoulder, staring at this strange new technology curiously. Daisy had to hold its paw back as it tried to bat at her webcam.]

I, uh, have a guest staying with me for a little while! His name is King Totomesu, and he's really friendly, except when he's breathing fire, so um…

Incidentally, and on a completely unrelated note, does anyone have any experience looking after cats?

[ Vivian seems to be sitting in her cozy neck of the cold dungeon, from whence GLaDOS seemed to be absent for quite some time now. She did as she was assigned and kept to supervising the halls but whenever she would come home, nothing had changed from the one day she did where everything had.

That first day had been spent padding her bare feet around the area, looking under, around, and over everything for Ms. GLaDOS and her related belongings but she never found her.

'Hello?'

Only her echo would ever reply. Every day when she came home, she would only be greeted by the sound of her own voice. And then she'd sleep until she had to do it all over again. Shoes untied, socks inside out sometimes.

Today she decided to speak to the network, figuring she might have fallen over and maybe missed something Ms. GLaDOS had said to her about relocating. It happened sometimes. ]

Hello.

Ms. GLaDOS? Are you still there?

[The feed turns on capturing the image of a young, red-haired woman. As if she’d prepared for this moment, she appears to be very calm and collected. Sitting up straight in her chair, she begins speaking.]

Good afternoon. I’m Tsubaki Yayoi, a new student here.

[She smiled in greeting, however, her gentle smile appears a bit forced.]

It’s a pleasure to be here. I look forward to meeting you all.

[The greeting is very formal, very polite. Pausing for a moment, she looks off, her expression turning serious. Biting her lip, she continues.]

...This may be a bit sudden, but I need someone to show me around campus. I’ve only just gotten settled in and I haven’t had much time to get accustomed to the school.

[Tsubaki’s suspicious behavior is probably pretty obvious to anyone watching. It’s clear something has her on edge.]

I-I’d really appreciate it, if it’s not asking too much. Please, let me know if you can help. Thank you.

[With these final words, Tsubaki bows politely, shutting off the feed.]

[The video feed turns on today to show a very happy looking Noel. She hasn't made a video post since her first one but that's not on her mind right now. Neither is the rest of the insanity that has happened over the past few months. What's on her mind is the month it is now and the upcoming holiday!]

Everyone! It's finally December! Christmas is getting even closer! I really really really love this time of year. When it starts getting even cooler out and everyone is full of holiday cheer. I wonder when it'll start snowing?...

[Dreamy sigh. Can you tell she's excited? She almost forgot the feed was live for a second there, she was too busy planning all the things she's gonna do in the snow. But she continues.]

Ah, but I was wondering, what do you all plan on doing for Christmas this year? [Tell her your plans while she thinks of what to get people.]

[There's something more concerning to her anyway.]

There's a lot of lights on all of the houses and buildings in town.

I see a lot of a man wearing a red suit with a large white beard.

I keep hearing the same songs being sung wherever I go. I think the one I hear the most is..."Jingle Bells"...I don't know.


Is there something happening here?

THEY GAVE AWAY MY JOB!! AGAIN!!!

WELL AT LEAST IT WASN'T A TOTAL LOSS.

Everyone in auto shop, GO TAKE YOUR IGNORANCE OVER TO ONE CAPTAIN FALCON.

I will now be teaching DEMOLITIONS!!

[ When the video feed flickers to life, it's about what you'd expect. Some new person here at the academy is making it a point to stare into the depths of your soul before proper introductions are to be had. Because yes, staring. Yes, this is good. This is exactly what needed to be done.

You could opt to stare into an empty gaze and a simple smile, or perhaps just lean away from the screen once you notice the extra hole neatly hollowed out into her chest, a vertical array of stitches cutting right down the center of if from throat to breast. Embedded was what looked like a red orb of glass with a black knick at the center of it.

Now that a kind of figurative eye contact had been established, she parted her lips to speak.

Waaaait for it. They're opening. They're open. ... Okay, give her another second.

OKAY. She has this. ]

Hello, Academy.

I will guard your halls.

[ As if that wasn't odd enough, maybe the restrained giggle and rise of an automatic pistol into the camera's sights would do her justice. ]

;;

[ As for action, Vivian will be doing just as she said she would. She's roaming the halls of the main building, her pistol in hand and skipping around in a fluttering white dress, the top potion of it mostly bandages that could stand to cover more of her up. She looks rather content to be able to move around, though on occasion she will stop and just stare around a corner and down a hall.

Creepy. ]

[ It looks like one of the dorm rooms. Something is kind of odd about it, though. It seems to be cast in a strange flickering aqua colour. You might think it was some kind of lava lamp or something at first but it becomes rapidly obvious that it isn't anything like that at all! ]

[ White surrounded by flickering cyan floats into view. Floats. As easily as if the hedgehog were a balloon. Strange sweeping head quills are sort of drifting lazily just as much as Silver himself seems to be. Especially since he's upside down? And giggling. Yes, he's definitely giggling. ]

Nonono, I'm telling you, Mr. Rabbit, I don't have any cards! I-- oh. Oh dear. [ A giggle. ] Your ear just wriggled off again. Did you want me to catch it for you again?

[ He twists in the air, the aqua colour flaring a little more as he reaches out to grab at the air but when he comes up empty handed because, there's obviously nothing there, he just stares at his hand for a bit, confused and then, slowly, distractedly, as he wiggles his fingers slowly. ]

... one, two, three, four, five... but where's six? Oh, bother... did I lose one again??

[ His voice is a little strangely slurred and the reason why becomes obvious when he reaches up and plucks a lollipop out of his mouth by the stick that had been tucked into the corner of it. Using the blue candy he carefully touches the side of it to each finger tip, counting again as he does. ]

... one, two, three, five, six..! Oh, okay, they're all there!

[ Humming, happily, he twirls in the air again until he looks like he's trying to walk down the wall, slowly. Trouble is, he's still about a foot away from it. He keeps going until he runs into his bed, bouncing off it lightly with a squeak. He blinks at it before dissolving into faintly hysteric giggles. ]

What are you doing here? We told you to go back to the garden! Goodness, but you got awfully big... I should... probably... oooh...

[ He trails off again, staring 'up' at the floor as he starts to drift again, slowly, casually putting the candy back in his mouth and just watching the carpet as though it's the most interesting thing in the world~ ]

[Click! The feed opens to a curious little fuzzy face. It seems like he was getting the computer set up. Once it stops moving around, he nods, as if satisfied.] There we go!

Hello! The name's Tails. I'm a new student here at the academy. It's nice to meet you guys! I'm a mechanic back where I come from, so I'll be working on some stuff in the hangar. There's some room for me to use, right? I don't want to step on anyone's toes if it's taken.

Anyway, I'm looking for a few of my friends. They went missing a few weeks ago and my searching led me here. Hey, Sonic! If you can see this, let me know!

... I'm going to go and explore the school a bit. I'll be back in a bit!

[And the feed clicks off. Tails will come back and respond to any messages as soon as he can.]

[ This was intended to be private to those from Sonic's world save for Eggman, get out, but the work-in-progress on technological matters has made this public. Sonic hasn't a clue. ]

Guys, check out what I found down at the lake.




[ooc: Chao Garden is coming!! I will have a log up by Friday night or Saturday morning before I head out to Florida with more details for those unfamiliar with Chao. You can read more about them at the link ahead of time if you'd like!]

[Dorm room, check. Expect to see bags and boxes piled up where there once were none, Noel. Maya has moved in and with her comes... well, mostly DVDs and action figures. Also there is now a Steel Samurai poster plastered on the dorm room door. HI!

She's gotten a bit unpacked though not quite enough when she finally gets on the network, flops down in a chair and visibly sinks back with a long sigh.]

Moving is rough!

[And now she's up close and personal somewhat with the camera, chin in hand and look concentrated.]

So where does a girl go for the best burger around here? I'm starved!

[The video feed turns on to see a young blonde girl from across a room. She may be pretty unfamiliar to some, though! She's just standing in the mirror of a room, with a determined look. She felt pretty unsure about the whole thing considering the... Very chrome decor that was almost reminiscent of some sort of... lab, rather than a school. And the big floating hands she encountered earlier. But despite that she was uttering encouraging words to herself such as "You can do this, Noel." She's not yet aware that she's being recorded.]

[It takes her a bit, but she finally says something after first rehearsing it in her mind. She clears her throat.]

Hello! I'm Noel Vermillion. I-I'm going to be attending the University classes here after the summer.

[Unconsciously, she stuttered and her voice shook, but there was a slight sense of accomplishment within her.]

It's nice to meet you, everyone! [She exhales.] Good... I think that's good.

... But is it too direct? Maybe I should say more about myself. [She sighs.] I should try again...

[Anyone want to tell her she's being recorded and see her freak out?]