Panel for the Channel

Chapter 17

I

Keiji is alone in his room sitting on the edge of his bed. He heard a knock on a door near him, but he chose to ignore it. Keiji looked over at the mahogany nightstand placed next to his bed. On the nightstand was a glass of water, a lamp, and a picture frame. Keiji inspected the picture frame. There was a picture in there he had never seen before.

"Oh? What's this?"

Keiji looked closer at the picture placed in the frame. There appeared to be three people in the photo.

"Huh? I don't remember being in this photo at all."

Pictured in the photo was Keiji himself, Venti, and a man with blond hair.

"Why is Venti in this photo? It seems like I've never met this man in my life, yet he's everywhere I go. I came to this tournament to escape him, I figured it might be the only way to get away, yet here he is. Well, there was another reason I came to this tournament, but I can't worry about that now. Also, who is this man with blond hair? I do have memories of seeing Venti, never in person, but in dreams and, call me crazy for saying this, visions, but I've never seen this blond man ever. I have too many questions that can't be answered. I guess the easiest thing I can do is ask Venti what he knows. That might be dangerous though, but what other option do I have? I guess I'll go ask him."

Keiji turned the knob to his door. It made a creaking noise that echoed throughout the hallway where the rest of the bedrooms were located.

"Heh, someone needs to fix this door."

Keiji continued to walk over to Venti's room when suddenly the intercom came on.

Keiji looked mildly frustrated, "Guess talking to Venti will have to wait for now."

II

15 minutes ago

Big Band approached Neku's room, looking in every direction to make sure nobody was following him. Suddenly he saw Keiji coming from his right side.

"Hey Keiji. What's up?"

"Nothing much. I was planning on going to my room. What exactly are you up to?"

"Um... I was just... Going to my room too."

"All right, have a good one Big Band."

"Likewise."

Keiji left the hallway of bedrooms and opened the door to his room. The creak of the door echoed throughout the hall."

"Sorry about that."

Big Band chuckled, "Don't worry about it."

Keiji looked back at Big Band and then walked into his room, closing the door behind him.

Big Band thought to himself, "That could've been bad. I mean, I don't want to not trust Keiji, but there's just something about him. It's too early to share anything too crucial with him just yet. I don't know what he could be up to."

Big Band knocked on Neku's door as quiet as possible as to not disturb Keiji. After waiting for a couple seconds, Neku answered the door.

"Oh hey Big Band, do you need something?"

"Yes, do you mind if I talk to you for a second?"

"That's fine."

Big Band struggled to squeeze his large body through the door, but finally managed.

"So, what did you want to talk about Big Band."

"Well, I want to ask about your disappearance. Do you mind telling me why you disappeared for a while?"

"I don't really want to talk about it."

"During my working as a detective I've seen a similar situation to your disappearance, if you were to help me out here, I might be able to help you out."

"Okay, fine. So, it happened at night. I couldn't sleep so I went to explore the facility a little bit. After exploring for a bit, I thought I saw something moving in the darkness. I got scared and tried to find my way back to room, but no matter where I looked I couldn't find my way back to my room. That's when I saw him."

"Him?"

"Venti. I saw him coming towards me, so I asked him for help, but then he got knocked out. I couldn't tell who or what knocked him out. I don't know how that is, I know I saw him get knocked out. Maybe somethings wrong with my memory. Anyway, I'm pretty sure I got knocked out not very long after that. When I woke up, I was tied up in ropes in a dark closet. I don't know what warranted me being tied up and put in a closet after I got knocked out, while Venti woke up in his bed apparently. Since I had been locked in there for so long with no food or water, I began to grow quite weak. I didn't think I would survive for much longer, and then I passed out. When I woke up I was lying right next to Spike's dead body."

"I see. My guess is that the culprit was probably trying to frame you for the killing of Spike Spiegel. That's why the culprit only took you. They didn't need two people to create a "murder scene.""

"It didn't really work though. Nobody even suspected I was the killer at all. That's actually kind of weird isn't it? I was right next to the dead body and nobody had any suspicions. Then again, only Venti saw me right next to Spike's body, and I don't remember him telling anyone else that I was at the scene of the crime. What do you think Big Band? Do you think I'm the killer?"

"I don't want to say yes, but I also can't say no at the moment. I'm sorry I have to say that, but right now everybody is still suspicious."

"I guess you're right."

Suddenly the intercom came on to announce news to the remaining participants, "Hello again, everybody. I have some big news to tell you all. Everyone meet in the main hall to hear this splendid news."

Big Band looked concerned, "This can't be good. It's probably a good idea that we don't disobey the voice. We should go meet up with everyone in the main hall."

"Yeah, Let's go, but when we're finished with this, you better tell me about that similar situation."

"All right. I won't forget."

Neku and Big Band left the room, Big Band, once again struggling to fit through the doorframe. When they exited the room Keiji was standing on the other side."

Big Band was startled, "Oh, Keiji. I was just... Are you going to the main hall too?"

"Yep, I'll see you guys there."

Keiji leered at Big Band and then lightly walked down the hallway.

Keiji thought to himself, "Now, why would Big Band lie to me? He could've just told me he was going to Neku's room and I wouldn't have thought anything of it, but the fact that he blatantly lied about going to his room makes me a little more suspicious about this whole meetup."

At last, everyone made their way to the main hall waiting for the voice to speak the news.

Kat spoke, "Guys... Can we just call this the main lobby? It's not even a hall. This room is pretty big."

Beat spoke, "To be honest Kat, I think we've just been alternating names for this room at random."

"Then why don't we just call it the main lobby, I'm sure the voice won't mind."

"Ok sure, I guess we can call it the main lobby."

The voice over the intercom abruptly chimed in, "I do not mind you calling it the main lobby, no need to worry, in fact, I will call it the main lobby henceforth. That's not the point of this meetup though. I called you guys here to announce that the votes for the Sunny Bridges VS Knuckles have been tallied."

2B spoke, "Where are Sunny and Knuckles anyway? Neither of them are in the main lobby."

The voice continued, "I guess that makes it more interesting for you guys in the long run. Anyway, the winner for the Sunny Bridges VS Knuckles matchup is..."