Chapter 2: you can run, but you can't hide.
"All I have to do is kill every single one of you who might be the traitor. Sorry... But good night!"
The boy radiated magic power throughout the room. In a split second after that, a storm of swords shot outward from his hands. They filled the room quickly and headed straight for the other participants.
Darky quickly summoned a sword, preparing to block, but froze at the last moment.
"Darky! Get out of the way!" Mary yelled.
She took a step toward her, then froze and grabbed her bracelet, fear overtaking her face.
Ban suddenly threw Mary over his shoulder and bolted forward. He drew his sword and deflected the weapons heading toward himself and Darky.
"Is something wrong, master?" He asked Darky.
"We have to get out of here," Darky replied, her voice shaking.
She lifted her bracelet up to Mary and Ban, her forbidden action flashing across it.
GET HIT BY A PHYSICAL OR MAGIC ATTACK FROM ANOTHER PARTICIPANT.
Ban instantly nodded and hefted Darky under his arm. He tore off running through the broken wall, deflecting the swords that came their way with his free sword hand.
"Why do I get the low priority seating?!" Mary whined, clinging desperately to Ban's shoulder.
"He doesn't seem to be targeting us," Darky noted.
"Let's get to safety nonetheless," Ban said.
Meanwhile, Kisuke had instantly jumped to Kyra's defense and blocked the swords by summoning up swords of his own. He quickly reached for the handles of Kyra's wheelchair, but she grabbed his wrist and showed him her forbidden action.
"Sorry, Kisuke-Kun... I'm a burden again," Kyra mumbled.
Kisuke shook his head and lifted her out of the wheelchair. He shifted her in his arms and dashed out of the room.
Toxic squeaked and ducked out of the way of the swords.
"Everyone's running... I guess I should too..." She murmured sadly. "We shouldn't be divided like this... To defeat despair, we have to...!"
Toxic jumped aside as another sword shot at her.
"Forget it, I won't last a minute... What am I thinking, I'm not dhe cinnamon ahoge... Eheheh..."
Toxic pulled herself up and tried to run. However, she immediately crashed into the child, sending them both to the ground. He had been hesitating at the edge of the room.
"I- I'm so sorry, miss... I didn't mean to get in the way..." The boy cried.
"What are you waiting for? We have to get out of here!" Toxic snapped back impatiently.
"I- I can't..." The boy sobbed.
"What?! Run!"
"My forbidden action..."
He held up his wrist.
RUN IN THE STREETS.
"..."
Toxic glanced back at the young man with the swords.
"...he wouldn't attack a little kid, would he...?"
He fired a stream of swords straight at them.
"...hang on tight."
Toxic hoisted the child onto her back and dashed into the city, piggyback ride style. She managed to evade the swords.
"Th- thank you, miss..." The boy murmured.
"I don't mind..." Toxic grunted. "You're pretty light..."
"Ehehe..."
"What's your name?" Toxic suddenly asked.
"My name? That's... Dream."
"Dream? That's a different name," Toxic laughed.
"It's weird, isn't it?"
"No better than mine. I'm Toxic. Why are you here, Dream? Do your parents live in Raikukkon?"
"My parents? I'm not sure... To be honest... Beyond my name... I can't remember a single thing before I woke up in that room."
"What?!" Toxic gasped.
"Sorry..." Dream murmured.
"No, it's not... It's okay. It's just a surprising thing to hear... Although, in this situation, I guess it shouldn't be so shocking, eheh... Maybe you're a detective..."
"What makes you say that, Miss Toxic?"
"Nothing, never mind... I'll try to help you get your memory back, Dream."
"Really?!" Dream exclaimed, brightening up.
"Yes, really," Toxic replied, smiling. "But we also have to stop this... Senseless fighting... We have to work together to overcome this mess. I wish everyone else would understand that..."
A hand suddenly shot from around a corner, grabbing Toxic's wrist. Toxic was yanked hard around the corner, throwing her off her feet. Dream slipped from her grasp and hit his head on the wall, blacking out. As he blacked out, he heard a strange sound play...
Back in the room, Flash, Alicia, and their friends desperately blocked and evaded the swords.
"We gotta fight this... This guy!" Alicia yelled.
"Let's kill him!" Alexis agreed.
"Nah fam. Fuck that shit. Let's get the fuck out," the other girl exclaimed.
She grabbed their wrists.
"Monica, what-"
Monica dashed off, dragging them with her.
"Right, retreat is the best idea right now. Colette, Birgus, go after Alicia with me," Flash said.
"I- I can't..." Colette stammered.
Flash turned. Colette was a little ways away from him and Birgus, clutching her right wrist.
"What are you talking about?!" Flash demanded.
His eyes flicked to her wrist.
"Is it your forbidden action? Tell me your forbidden action!"
Colette recoiled.
"N- no... I'm sorry, boss... It would be best if... We... Stayed apart right now..."
She turned and darted off into the streets.
"Colette! Come back here!" Flash yelled, distressed.
Birgus blocked some swords from hitting his captain.
"We should go after her, cap. It isn't safe near this kid," the crab urged.
"We have to get to Colette," Flash replied, panic in his voice.
Birgus allowed Flash to sit on his shoulder and barreled after Colette.
The man stopped generating swords, seeing that everyone left.
"...pah. They ran as soon as they were in danger. Cowards."
His eyes flitted to a tower in the center of Raikukkon.
"...but it doesn't matter. It just makes it easier to single out the traitor..."
-xxx-
Kisuke stopped running after a while and stopped, panting. He glanced around for about five minutes, and when it became clear no one was coming, set Kyra down. He sat beside her.
"Are you alright, Kisuke-kun?" Kyra asked, glancing at him worriedly.
He tapped his bracelet and showed it to her.
"I understand..."
Kyra pushed herself up, and they shared a kiss.
"We'll get through together. It's a promise."
"ATTENTION, PLEASE."
The lovers looked up in shock...
-xxx-
"It's that sword guy's voice," Darky grumbled.
"Which means he isn't chasing us," Ban said, stopping.
-xxx-
"Colette! Colette!" Flash called.
He and Birgus had lost sight of the woman and were now blindly searching.
"Cap'n, we may want to listen..." Birgus said.
"Colette!" Flash yelled, ignoring him.
-xxx-
The man smirked. He was standing in the tower's highest room and had his finger on the button of an intercom system.
"I'M SPEAKING TO YOU FROM THE RAIKUKKON MAYOR'S TOWER USING THE CITYWIDE INTERCOM. HELLO! YOU CAN CALL ME MIRAI.
IT IS IMPERATIVE YOU FOLLOW MY INSTRUCTIONS. AS YOU ALL KNOW, WE ARE IN A KILLING GAME.
OBVIOUSLY, ANY IDIOT CAN TELL THAT A KILLING GAME IS MEANT TO KILL YOU. HOWEVER, THERE IS A WAY TO SURVIVE.
I KNOW A CERTAIN FEW PEOPLE WHO CANNOT POSSIBLY BE THE TRAITOR. EVERYONE ELSE COULD VERY WELL BE THE KILLER. OBVIOUSLY, WE NEED TO KILL THOSE PEOPLE!"
-xxx-
"How does HE know who is or isn't the traitor?" Mary deadpanned. "I'm more suspicious of him than I am of anyone..."
-xxx-
"HOWEVER, THOSE PEOPLE ARE TROUBLESOME! THEY RAN AWAY WHEN I TRIED TO KILL THEM!
IN ORDER TO SURVIVE, YOUR TASK IS SIMPLE...
SACRIFICE THOSE SUSPICIOUS PEOPLE. BRING THEM TO THIS TOWER. I WILL KILL THEM.
BY COOPERATING AND KILLING THESE PEOPLE, WE CAN END THE KILLING GAME!
IN THE MEAN TIME, I WILL BE HUNTING THEM DOWN MYSELF, IN CASE IT IS HARD FOR YOU TO SACRIFICE THEM. LET'S ALL WORK TOGETHER!
FOR HOPE!"
The man lifted his finger off the button and checked his bracelet.
"We sure spent a lot of time playing... It's only thirty minutes until we're all put to sleep... I probably won't receive any sacrifices until after the next victim. How sad... It could all be so easily avoided..."
He lounged in the mayor's chair.
"...heh. Guess I'll just go to sleep early..."
-xxx-
"What a lunatic," Mary deadpanned.
"He isn't a threat for now," Ban noted.
"What do we do, Darky?" Mary asked, looking to the other girl.
"We find a place to sleep. A secure place," Darky replied. "It's almost time."
Mary looked at her wrist and sighed.
"...who would do something like this...?"
-xxx-
"Colette!" Flash yelled.
"Cap'n... I hate to say this... But I don't think we're gonna find her right now..." Birgus said.
"Why did she run...? What's going on with her...?" Flash murmured in frustration.
"I'm sure it's nothing, cap'n..."
Realization hit Flash like a truth bullet.
"Does she... Think I'm the traitor?"
"Wha? That's preposterous, cap'n!" Birgus exclaimed.
"No, it's not."
Flash shook his head, his eyes narrowing.
"She refused to show me her forbidden action... She refused to even be near me... I don't think she trusts me... AT ALL... After all... Out of all of us... I know Raikukkon best... And had close access to Monokuma... She doesn't trust me... She thinks I'm the traitor that's going to kill everyone..."
He clenched his fists.
"For the first time... My own crew... Doesn't... Trust me..."
Birgus patted him on the shoulder best he could.
"I still trust ya, cap. I know you're not the traitor."
Flash looked back at him.
"Besides, I promised I'd follow ya anywhere, back when we were kids. I'd never go back on that."
Flash smiled a little. Birgus spotted tears running down his face.
"Don't cry, cap'n..."
"Thanks, Birgus."
Flash wiped his eyes.
"No matter what... I'm your captain... And I will guide you... You and Colette both... I will guide you to victory. In battle, and over despair..."
"I know you will, cap'n. We should find Colette later... It's almost time to sleep right now, and we're sitting ducks here."
"Right. Let's hide out in a house."
-xxx-
Darky checked her bracelet.
"Ten minutes until we're put to sleep. Let's get comfortable."
They had found a residential house with two bedrooms to sleep in. Darky climbed into the bed. Mary hesitated.
"...is something wrong, Mary?" Darky wondered.
"It's just... My forbidden action is..." Mary murmured, moving to show her.
"Oh! Right!"
Darky quickly jumped out of the bed.
"I'll leave you this room, then!"
She darted to the other bedroom.
"...she didn't even look..." Mary murmured, sweatdropping.
"Master cares a lot about Cat," Ban surmised.
Mary smiled softly.
"...yeah. Cat cares a lot about master, too, Ban-Kun."
-xxx-
Birgus walked over to a random house.
"Might as well just..."
He opened the door.
"Ah... Birgus..." Flash said.
"Hm? Something wrong?" Birgus wondered.
Flash was hesitating behind him. In response, Flash held up his right arm and tapped the screen of the bracelet.
ENTER A HOUSE OR ROOM THROUGH A DOORWAY OR WINDOW.
"That's troublesome," Birgus mused. "Very well..."
He put his claws to use and smashed an entrance through the wall of the building.
"That's one way to do it," Flash laughed.
The two walked into the house.
"Looks like the bedrooms are upstairs... Might as well, right?" Flash said, beginning to walk up the stairs.
"Cap'n."
"Hm?"
Flash looked over. Birgus raised his right appendage, revealing his bracelet was dug into his shell. He tapped the screen.
TOUCH A STAIR.
"You've gotta be kidding me..." Flash laughed.
Music blared as their bracelets flashed '00:00'.
"It's almost like... Our forbidden actions... Are paired up... To trouble us..."
Flash crumpled to the ground, asleep. Birgus leaned back against the wall, unable to keep his eyes open...
-zzz-
The traitor walked through the broken wall of the building everyone had awoken in. The traitor stood before the TV. It lit up as Monokuma appeared on its screen.
"Upupupupupu! Welcome, attacker! It's the first round! You have two hours to do everything you want... And remember, you have to kill exactly one person during that time!"
The traitor began walking away.
"Upupupupupupu. Have you decided who you're going to kill, then?"
The traitor just smiled.
-zzz-
Mary blinked awake two hours later. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, then glanced to her side.
"...good, you're okay."
She smacked Ban's head.
"Now wake up, you lummox."
Ban smacked her hand away and sat up.
"Check on master," he immediately said.
"Of course," Mary scoffed, getting up and walking to the door of the other bedroom...
-zzz-
Colette awoke. She was propped up on the wall of a building. She checked herself and sighed in relief. Then, her hands trailed to her bracelet, and she looked saddened.
"Boss... I'm so sorry..."
Tears fell from eyes, landing on the bracelet screen.
"I hope you're okay... You and Birgus... And Alicia..."
-zzz-
"Darky, it's time to wake up!"
-zzz-
Mirai awoke in his chair. He smiled.
"The killer was stupid and killed someone else. Ah well... It's time to continue the plan, then."
-zzz-
"...Darky...?"
Mary pushed the door open...
"Darky!"
-zzz-
Flash slowly awoke. He rubbed his temple.
"Falling asleep on stairs... Never doing that again..."
-zzz-
Mary hurried over to her friend's form...
-zzz-
"Eh, Birgus? You sleep well?"
Flash looked over to his childhood friend.
-zzz-
Mary shook her friend.
"Darky!"
-zzz-
Flash rubbed his eyes once. Then twice.
"Sleep's really messing with me, huh...?"
He walked over to the hammer and examined it.
"It's completely normal... A completely normal sledgehammer..."
Birgus's body had been battered to bits. His shell lay in pieces all over the floor, and his insides had been smashed beyond recognition. A 1 was written on the wall in his blood.
"...Birgus... Tell me I'm dreaming, right?"
Tears began to flow down Flash's face.
"...because this is a nightmare for sure."
-zzz-
Darky swatted at her.
"It's hard waking up, Mary!" Darky whined.
Mary sighed in relief.
"You had me worried..."
Darky sat up.
"Right. Today, we find Toxic. Once we make sure she's safe, we hunt down the traitor."
-zzz-
Dream slowly awakened. His hand went to his head.
"Owowowow..."
He pulled his hand back, revealing a bit of blood.
"I really bonked my head... Owwies..."
He looked at his wrist, seeing that the timer had reset to two hours.
"I was out for that long?! Sheesh..."
He sat up, then froze.
Toxic lay still in a pool of blood, her entire right arm completely chopped off. Beside her, a cloaked figure lay still. The cloak on the woman's left arm was pulled up slightly, revealing her bracelet was flashing red, words running across the screen.
Dream hurried over and checked both of their pulses.
"...they're dead..."
He fell back, his eyes wide.
"That flashing... She violated her forbidden action, I guess...? But that action makes no sense... What... What does this all mean...?"
He gulped.
"What happened exactly... While I was asleep...?"
Participants remaining: 12 of 16.
A/N: This chapter ended up being pretty long compared to what I had in mind! I'm happy! Hope it was surprising, even if just a little, who died X3. Note: THE TRAITOR ONLY KILLS A SINGLE VICTIM DURING THE NIGHT. At any rate, have any theories or guesses on forbidden actions or deaths or mysteries or whatever? Put them in the reviews! I like hearing your thoughts and theories and guesses. Until next chapter, bye!
Next chapter: a captain must sink with his ship.
