Chapter 1: The Trial

[Exusiai]

"I'm not sure about everything else, but let's say that Axel had to have spoken with the culprit at one point!
Let's go over all the opportunities Axel had to talk with people.

1. Caster and Owen confirmed that at one point of the day, Axel went to the kitchen to prepare some food.
2. Axel went down to the commons to give food to Itriot, Mishy, and Yoff.
3. Axel was seen, at some point of the day, passing through the fourth floor.  Other people that went to the fourth floor wre Lloyd, Rikka, Shinka, Yuuta, Ryo, and myself.

I think the next logical step is to weigh the possibility of Axel talking eith each person.

 Caster was hidden in the kitchen for the most part, so even if Axel entered the kitchen twice, it's unlikely Axel would have found Caster.  If he did, though, then Owen would have noticed.
It would be vice versa if Axel approached Owen instead.
Caster would have certainly heard that conversation from his hiding place!

Next, Axel could have confronted Mishy or Yoff at the commons on the first floor.
It is pretty weird that Axel had only prepared food for Mishy and Yoff.  After all, I was the one who asked him if he wanted to join us for breakfast.
Also, from the sound of it, Axel didn't make anything for Owen, even though they were both in the kitchen.
Mishy and Yoff were on the same floor at that time, though, so I think one would have heard if Axel was conversing with the other.  Mmm... right, Yoff?

Lastly, there's the people who visited the fourth floor.
Ryo and I were together for nearly the whole time we were on the fourth floor.  This means that Axel wouldn't have been able to approach either of us before Ryo found out that someone had re-decorated his room.  There was a fiften second period we were away from each other, but this was right before the elevator broke.
I don't know what happened to Ryo in the elevator, but he would have been around the fifth floor when it suddenly stopped.  For all we know, the doors could have opened after Ryo threw his hammer at it.  During my investigation, I took a picture of what was a big dent from within the elevator; the size of the dent matches the size of the hammer Ryo always lugs around.
It took fifteen minutes for the elevator to be fixed, which should give anyone enough time to commit the crime if we consider the fact that it appears that Axel's body wasn't dragged from anywhere.
For the others, I never saw them together at once, but then I was more focused on exploring the staff quarters, then keeping track of everyone who entered and left.
Lloyd, according to Days, went wandering by himself.
Yuuta said that hen Rikka and Shinka were practically together the whole day, but then according to Rikka, the three had split up when searching for Satone.
This part of Rikka's statement complies with how I saw none of them travelling together, so for all we know, Axel could have spoken to any of those four.
The last time I saw Axel was 11:15 AM, and Mishy and Yoff both met Axel around lunch.  Mishy said that Yoff only took the elevator an hour before the malfunction.
Regardless of how you look at it, it doesn't matter 'who saw Axel last.'
If we assume Yoff is liable for Axel's death, then there's still a gap of a few hours before Yoff left the clash commons.
In the same way, you can say someone from the fourth floor could have also took the elevator without our knowledge—long before the elevator broke.
Not to mention, based on what we found at the crime scene, it didn't seem like Axel had any need for items from the fourth floor. 
His chakrams, according to Ryo, were from the casino, which were possibly used to cut the holes. 
As Satone found that there was an attempt to clean the sawdust found at most of the empty apartment rooms that holes were found in, Axel likely cleaned the debris with the towels that he got from the kitchen.

Ah, I think I only made the suspect pool bigger again..."

[Ryo Asuka]

“Alright. Yoff. If you don’t mind me asking. Did Mishy leave before you did or after? More importantly did Mishy leave with Axel?”

[John Dark Souls]

Mishy? looks at Ryo with ever unchanging expression but her? voice is obviously angry.

"Are you literally blind? Do these paw pads look like they could make fist bruises? I suggest you question your sanity first."

Mishy? coughs a few times and goes back to calm voice.

"Right, where were we. I think its about time I clear everyone's mistaken impression. The comforter that has gush on it and was used by culprit is not Ryo's room's comforter. During the initial struggle on the bed, Axel must've attempted to cut his 'victim' with chakram and made them dodge creating the gush on the comforter that was on the bed at the time. Then, after 'victim' kicked Axel off, they took both the chakram he lot go off and the comforter from the bed, and went to finish off Axel who was trying to crawl away while holding one hand with other chakram to his broken rib wound."

"When done, now culprit wiped hands on bed sheets of bed that didn't have comforter anymore, locked the door and climbed up to Ryo's Room. They washed off any other blood left on themselves, took Ryo's comforter and put it down on crime scene's bed as if it belonged there all along. Afterwards they left through Roy's room and hid until the night, and at night went over to put the comforter from empty room into washing machine and created a note saying that they took 'Roy's comforter' and placed it under his door."

"And that is the how-dunnit of this murder."

[Ryo Asuka]

Ryo was annoyed with Mishy but realized Mishy would never tell his alibi unless Ryo played along.

“No I can’t object. Now get into the part where you tell us where you were when Axel was killed. That’s all we want to know.”

[John Dark Souls]

"Wrong. What you need know is the culprit, and culprit alone Ryo."

Mishy? takes another deep breath.

"Lets move on to why-dunnit then, who-dunnit will become obvious once we get this one done. But first, I suggest you take a look at the room roster again. The rooms go in this order:
Nanashi, Owen, Axel, Pierrick, Mishy, Yoff, Ryo, Caster, Days, Lloyd, Satone, Shinka, Rikka, Yuuta, Rin, Monika.
1st, 2nd, 3rd and 7th, or Nanashi's, Owen's, Axel's and Ryo's are ones with holes in it. You seemed to be unable to find relation of why those 4, but let me try to repeat the room roster in a bit different way:
Boy, Man, Man, Pierrick, Mishy, Yoff, Man, Man, Man, Man, Girl, Girl, Girl, Boy, Girl, Girl.
What does this tell us? Axel's preferences. He was cutting holes solely based on his preferences in people, planning to assault them at night. Which leads us to believe Axel preferred guys. So culprit who was victim of Axel's sexual assault could not have been a girl."

"Seeing as culprit had to had climbed the closet up anyway, this leaves our possible culprit list as: Ryo, Caster, Day, Lloyd and Owen. Since Yoff and Pierrick were obviously out of his strike zone seeing as he didn't cut holes into their rooms. Among them, one who has spent most time with Axel, is undeniably you, Ryo."

"You knew of Axel's wicked nature but as a friend you still helped him along with his plan. But it was only after Axel called you out from 5th floor through the chute and told you its time to go smash elevator with your hammer, get out through the hatch, open doors to 5th floor manually and go meet up with Axel in Empty Room 7 that you learned you were on his 'hitlist' as well. He assaulted you and you had no way but to kill him utilizing the surroundings he created in his plan to try to attempt a convincing self-frame. You are the culprit Ryo, you were the only one for Axel all along."

[Ryo Asuka]

Ryo sighed.

"I couldn't have escaped the elevator. I tested the elevator door during investigation and it is impossible to open the elevator door unless the elevator is functioning and the button is pushed."

[Exusiai]

"You could say it's gut-feeling, but I don't think Yoff killed Axel.
Instead, I'll propose three possible suspects and narrow it down from there!
I think that the culprit was someone from the fourth floor. Mishy and Yoff were the only Black Clash participants on the first floor, where Axel served them lunch, but even if Yoff had left first, would he know where to find Axel?
If Axel managed to talk to Yoff, then Mishy would have heard it. Right, Mishy?

What we can't account for is the fourth floor. Ryo and I were together for the most part, and assuming that he went straight to his room after the elevator malfunction, Ryo would only have fifteen minutes to escape the elevator and commit the crime.
There's not much I can tell from Lloyd's statement, but Days confirmed that Lloyd left for the fourth floor around three in the afternoon.
There were also the three high-schoolers: Shinka, Rikka, and Yuuto. Hearing Shinka and Rikka's statements, it seems that they didn't search floor as a group.
Shinka said that they 'reconvened' in order to search the fifth and sixth floors and Rikka said that they 'split off' after checking Satone's room.
I didn't see them travelling together on the fourth floor either, so the trio must have been searching for Satone by themselves on the fourth floor.
Axel was also on the fourth floor at around 11:15 AM. I don't know if he decided to dawdle before or after that.
I think this could have been an opportunity for Axel to approach one of the high-schoolers.
They obviously seemed to be acquainted with Satone, and Axel saw Satone when she was ambushed.
If you were searching for your friend and someone told you that he knew their whereabouts, then I would follow that person!
If Axel intended to murder someone in one of the empty apartment rooms, then hinting at Satone's location to one of the trio would be enough to lure that person to the fifth floor!
There would then be at least five hours between the time that Mishy and Yoff last saw Axel to when the elevators broke.
I think that would be enough time for someone to have taken the elevator to the fifth floor, get attacked by Axel, manage to overturn the fight, clean any traces of blood from themselves, and return to the fourth floor—just before the infamous elevator malfunction!"

"I hope the three of you don't mind giving us a better description of how your search for Satone went.
To me, they're a bit vague.
... I'm a bit at my wit's end, so my closest lead is that Shinka, Rikka, or Yuuta is the one responsible for Axel's death."

[Daiwa Scarlet]

"The elevator trapdoor had not been opened prior to investigation."

[Daiwa Scarlet]

"Considering the events, Yoff's being missing for an hour the suspicious, if only mildly moreso than some others. I propose that the culprit is Yoff. He went off to his room at 5, but heard the sawing from the floor below. Similarly to myself, he got annoyed and went to check on the sound. He found Axel carving away at the closets and decided to end a threat it could grow. Skilled at fighting, he was able to take down Axel despite being unarmed. "

[John Dark Souls]

Mishy? has been silent for a while but then starts saying again.

"When Mishy was left at the commons when elevator broke down, I saw Itriot head to elevator shaft and have doors open with some blue light. I think the doors to elevator shaft cannot be normally opened by force unless you are at least lord level strong. So it would have been impossible for Ryo to be culprit. But by the time Ryo returned to his room, murder has doubtlessly been completed. The only person with large enough time to commit the murder, and a personal motive to do the murder I can think of is Yoff."

"Yoff was so disgusted by the food Axel made, that he just had to leave to tell him piece of his mind. Yoff left commons at 5pm, enough time before elevator broke down. He arrived at room on his floor and heard the sawwing from under room beside his, or he purposefully looked around for Axel, regardless of how, he found his way to Axel, and found out about Axel making holes. He assumed Axel was trying to murder Ryo, and attacked Axel, Axel tried retaliating and after brief struggle around the bed, Axel was murdered by Yoff's martial arts. Then Yoff bashed his head in with chakrams to try to cover up real injury. And then just as you all now. In either case. I can only think of Yoff as culprit."

[The City [EclipseZwolf]]

-The roulette's spinning draws to a close and everyone votes on whom they believe killed Axel-

-The roulette's spinning ceases, and the marker balls finishes one last rotation before it slides into one of the sockets over the face of a participant's-



-Yoff's-
Yoff: "...Hmph"

-Cessair spreads her arms wide and bows before the group-


Cessair: "Now the question is....Did Yoff really Kill him? Did he attempt to ascend unto lordship and cast you into darkness? The answer to that question is...Yes! Silver, if you would explain! Itriot, did you bring what I asked for? Of course you did, go get it!"

-Silver Mask steps forward and begans to explain the details of the Murder of Axel while Itriot and Cessair walk off to the side-



Silver Mask: "I shall explain what transpired during this ascension attempt. This scenario began when Axel decided to attempt Ascension himself. He plotted a murder scheme in which he would lure the culprit to a locked room and frame Ryo for the crime. This trick relied on a secret passageway, one he intended people to discover and subsequently blame Ryo for. He excused himself from the group and spent the morning and early evening cutting the holes in the floors of Room 1, 2, 3, and 7. He only needed 7, but the other three were to divert suspicion. He did this by temporarily moving the nightstands into the closet and standing on them while using his Chakram to cut the holes. In between cutting sessions, Axel went downstairs to both grab rags and towels to try and stay relatively clean, but also to verify no one was coming upstairs. He also spent these sessions luring the would be Victim. He crafted several dishes in the kitchen so he could secretly pass a note to his victim, luring them at the right time. He completed enough dishes for the people in the commons and took them their. In the victim's he hid a note he had prepared earlier with a time and location. There were some contents that...encouraged Yoff to attend, but that information is not relevant at this time. He returned to completing the holes afterwards. He abandoned anything he could in Ryo's clothes in his closet to further suggest Ryo as the culprit."

-Silver Mask takes a deep breath-

Silver Mask: "Having completed his murder trap, he proceeded to hide within the closet of Room 7 on the 5th floor. He awaited Yoff's arrival. Shortly after 5, Yoff arrived as expected and walked deeper into the room. It was here Axel made a fatal mistake. He intended to kill Yoff with a blunt injury, so as to make it appear as if Ryo had done it with his Greathammer. Like a fool, he attempted a surprise attack using his Chakram as blunt weapons. Yoff noticed the sound of the closet opening and evaded the initial blow due to it being slow and basically ineffective. He returned the favor with several quick punches to Axel's gut, causing him to crumple, dropping his Chakram. Yoff kicked him a few times while he was down for good measure, before grabbing one of Axel's Chakram. He kicked Axel again to force him to roll onto his stomach, who now attempted to crawl towards the exit. Yoff pinned him with his knee and proceeded to hammer his fist and the Chakram's blunt side into Axel's head repeatedly. He continued this until Axel stopped moving completely, then hit him twice more for good measure."

-Silver Mask takes another breath-

Silver Mask: "Yoff became the ascender and began the process of cleaning himself. He left hand and arm were quite bloody and he himself had blood splatter on him. He quickly wiped the worst of the blood onto the nearby comforter before moving to the restroom where he used half the toilet paper to cover his arm, preventing any further droplets, even if he couldn't clean completely. He locked the front door to buy a little time to think and prevent anyone who heard anything from wandering in. During this time, he checked out where Axel had been hiding to see if he had prepared something of his own to clean the blood. It was then that Yoff discovered the hole. Unaware of where it led he leaped up through it. He found himself in Ryo's room, which he confirmed by rapidly checking the front name plate of the room. He began to rush to clean himself to the point he could leave safely and used all of Ryo's toilet paper to try and clean off. Not yet clean he grabbed the comforter and covered himself, taking time to move Ryo's nightstand over the hole before fleeing to his own room to finish cleaning."

-Silver mask takes yet another deep breath-

Silver Mask: "At this point, Yoff was safe and spent the night getting himself completely clean of any blood. While doing this he unintentionally slashed the comforter with his own dagger which he had hidden in his clothes. He determined it was unwise to keep the now bloody comforter and snuck out early to throw it into the wash. During this time he also wrote the note to Ryo telling him where the blanket was. Ideally, Ryo would be caught trying to take the blankets. Once he started the wash he returned to his room and waited for breakfast where he joined everyone as if nothing had happened."

-Silver mask sighs-

Silver Mask: "And that covers the path that led to Yoff's Ascension attempt here. Sadly, it has ended in failure."

Cessair: "Ya done yet?"

-Itriot and Cessair return, Itriot carrying some kind of metal wall with chains on it, large enough for a person to lay on completely. He sets it up between the Roulette and the Casino Cage. Cessair carries something large hidden under a cloth-

Silver Mask: "Indeed. I presume this is your version of....?"

-Itriot nods and seems to almost vanish and appear behind Yoff whose arms he grasps and locks them behind Yoff's back. Yoff doesn't bother struggling-

Itriot: "Out with honor I see. I respect your attempt to ascend, but alas, it simply was not to be!"

Yoff: "**** you too."

-Itriot carries Yoff to the wall and in a few moments has chained him completely to it so that he cannot budge-

Itriot: "Alas, such is the way of the city. Perhaps in another life we might meet! Cessair! The Stage is yours!"

-Cessair heaves up the heavy thing she is carrying and rips off the cloth covering it, revealing a gatling gun, its barrels already beginning to spin and roar-

Cessair: "I thought that the whole casting someone into the fire was a tad bit boring, so we are going to cast him in fire! Gun fire to be specific! To you who would attempt Ascension and was found wanting! Your light is extinguished the Darkness you sought to conquer! Now! Vanish unto the Starless Sky in the name of our Starless King!"

-The gatling gun bellows and a hail of lead flies over the roulette table and into Yoff, hanging there-



-His blood soaking everyone at the Roulette Table Cessair bellows-

Cessair: "Thus concludes the first Ascension! I do so hope that who so ever comes next can achieve what he could not! May he rest in the darkest reaches of the Sky! Itriot, Silver, Please clean up. I need to go check on the next area I will give them access too."

-Cessair rapidly leaves, taking her gatling cannon with her. Itriot and Silver nod before beginning to work on cleaning up the remains of Yoff.-

[THUS CONCLUDES CHAPTER 1 OF STARLESS DUSK]

[AFTER SOME TIME TO TRANSITION THINGS, CHAPTER 2 WILL BEGIN. UNTIL THEN, FEEL FREE TO RP HERE ABOUT THE CASE!]

[Xaniks]

"Milady, I believe you could've at least allowed us to avoid the spray- My fine garments- This place better have excellent laundry services!"

Caster angrily wipes blood off his glasses and takes off his beret to fling excess liquid off.

[Exusiai]

"I guess I was wrong again..."

Nanashi's vision lacks focus as he looks past the blood, past what used to be Yoff, and past the wall.

"Misane-chan would probably be more suited for this stuff than I am..."

His eyes fall to his feet, also stained in a ghastly pink color.  It almost seemed to blend into the color scheme of his clothes.
The middle-schooler finally registers the splatters of blood across his apparel, but he can only mutter dejectedly in response.
 
"Ah, and that was my only gakuran."

[King V]

"Another life lost to oblivion. Was there any point to this? What kind of meaning can be derived of such an endeavor? Are these mortals simply meant to die? Should I be facilitating the ordeal? I have no right to judge to lives of mortals, yet... what is there stopping me from doing so..."

[John Dark Souls]

"Tch, dirtying this wonderful natural fur with disgusting blood of murderer... Now I have one more useless job I need to before I can reboot Mishy. And the 'lord' who made the mess just popped off leaving others to clean the said mess for her. How unpleasant. But... *sigh* It was certainly a good judgement to make Mishy go to sleep. Even if murder was somehow solved without me, there is no way this needless violence would've been good for our symbol of love and peace. And so, a warning for you all, lord included. Just you dare do something to my pure Mishy, I will make you regret it. Remember, I am always watching."