(First body of many has hit the floor. In this chapter, we're going to investigate into the death of Felicity Blackwell - also if you guys want to play along, feel free to guess in the reviews who the killer is. If you figure it out before Desmond well...congratulations, you're a better homicide investigator than a guy who needs to get a clue.
The Reviews
ShadowYoshi442: You'll get your answers about what she's like eventually. By the end of Chapter 1 you'll get a picture of what she's like, promise.
Nan The Keyblade Master: I know, those damn orcs...why do they always have to be Chaotic Evil? So annoying...also, gruesome death for the blackened? You got it! Wouldn't be a killing game without brutal and ironic executions! Unless it's a Battle Royale game i.e.: PUBG.
Beninja2618: Lemme count...there's Olivia, Maddie, Thomas, Chelsea, and Street if you count fighting in the streets as a sport. As for why Felicity, it'll become apparent eventually.)
Chapter 1: School of Hard Knocks (Deadly Life)
I didn't want to believe it, but the reality of this situation gripped me fully upon seeing Felicity's body on the stage like that.
Before I could even say anything else, there was a sound playing over the intercom. It sounded like a funeral toll before Monokuma's voice was heard.
"Attention students! A body has been discovered! Please report to the Commons for further information!" He exclaimed before the PA cut off.
"...Well...that didn't take long…" David looked sad at this. I guess all his time looking at corpses didn't make him adjusted to the whole thing.
"How the fuck can you say that!? Felicity's dead!" Chase exclaimed, marching up to us.
"We...we should probably get to the Commons…" I nervously told the other three, with us slowly heading there.
Everyone was gathered up in the Commons, a general sense of fear and confusion among the group.
"Guys!" Maddie waved to us. "So...is it true?"
"..." I was quiet, with Chase delivering the news.
"Felicity...is dead," He said solemnly. The others all looked wide-eyed with fear as the reality sunk in for them too.
"D-Dead!?" Jonathan exclaimed.
"What do you mean Felicey is dead?" Brooke looked to me with tears welling up in her eyes, as if I knew the answers.
"Oh my…" Melissa's skin paled. "I've written about murder before...but never did I imagine I'd have to be investigating one!"
"Oi, we don't know all the details yet!" Thomas sharply reminded.
"Yeah, Monokuma will be here to explain," Chelsea raised her voice. "So if we could all keep calm…"
"Calm? How can we keep calm!?" Maxwell exclaimed.
"Father God, please get us out of this trying time…" Michael prayed.
"As if he'll come and save you, Preacher Boy!" Monokuma's voice was heard, appearing in front of us on the stage in the Commons.
"Monokuma, get your two-tone ass out of here," Olivia growled.
"No way, lady, this is what I've been waiting for! Finally one of you gave in to you primal instincts and committed murder just like I wanted! Ah, this is awesome!" Monokuma laughed. "And just before I was going to reveal I'm not going to give any motives."
"Wait what." I blinked.
"You heard me, Songbird! I'm not giving any motives! You bastards are gonna have to come up with those on your own!" Monokuma laughed. "Just like Felicity's killer did."
"So, Monokuma...now that someone has been killed...does that mean we can leave?" Thomas asked.
Monokuma pause for a long moment before cracking up in laughter. "Ahahahahahahaha! That is the stupidest thing I've heard out of your brain-dead droolies all game so far!"
"What are you getting at?" Ronnie questioned.
"Let's face it, don't you all want justice for your fallen friend? There's a part 2 to this murder game that I forgot to mention intentionally - not only do you have to kill, but you also have to not get caught." Our ElectroIDs began to vibrate as we all saw new rules were being added. "If any of you can't read, I'll be happy to explain what the new rules detail." I checked out the new rules as did everyone else. They read as such.
Rule 7: Once a murder takes place, a class trial will begin shortly thereafter. Participation is mandatory for all surviving students.
Rule 8: If the guilty party is exposed during the class trial, they alone will be executed.
Rule 9: If the guilty party is not exposed, they alone will graduate, and all remaining students will be executed.
"Class Trial?" Robert wondered.
"That's right, Mad Max! Basically I'm gonna send you untrained kids out there to investigate the murder, and once we're all good and ready after some time has passed you all gotta decide who did it," Monokuma explained. "If you find out who offed Felicity, I'll execute the perp!"
"Execute? Are you serious?" I questioned concerned.
"Execution is just that - execution. Whether it be firing squad, lethal injection, pelting someone to death with a million baseballs...a fitting punishment for a murderer!" Monokuma giddily replied.
"A-And...you'll execute us if we get it wrong?" Chelsea stammered.
"Damn skippy, Twintails! So don't mess up!" Monokuma exclaimed.
"Then we can't afford to get it wrong!" Chase exclaimed.
"Easy for you to say," Street quickly said.
"Anyway, since you people are too clueless to perform an autopsy, I took the liberty of doing that for you!" Our ElectroIDs buzzed again as a new tab showed up on them titled 'Monokuma Files'. I tapped on that and a file came up titled 'Monokuma File #1'. Tapping that, I opened it up to see an image of Felicity in gruesome detail.
There were three components to the Monokuma File that I could notice - the first was a picture of the state Felicity's body was in. To the right of that was what looked to be an interactive 3D outline of Felicity's body that had areas of red to highlight damage taken. Obviously, the back of her head was the brightest bit of red on her body. Under that was text that detailed the autopsy report.
"The victim was Felicity Blackwell, the Ultimate Dungeon Master. Time of death is estimated to be 10:30 P.M., and the body was discovered in the auditorium on the stage. The cause of death was massive blunt force trauma to the back of the head, causing death instantaneously. Shrapnel is embedded in the victim's head causing bleeding. The victim also suffered a broken nose." The report read as such.
Truth Bullet Obtained: Monokuma File #1
"Monokuma Files will still be in the ElectroIDs if you brats ever feel sentimental enough to look over your friend's corpse again and again," Monokuma added. "Also, that has got to be a new record! It only took you bastards two days to start killing each other! Normally it takes much longer for that. Guess I was right about you guys after all."
It seemed this was the last straw for Michael, who pocketed his ElectroID and stood in front of the rest of us, just a few feet away from Monokuma. "You do not intimidate me, bear."
"Huh? Why are you getting all tough, Pastor Brown?" Monokuma asked.
"I am not going to give in to you at all. Foisting this kind of situation on a God fearing Christian, and those I wish to guard, makes you no better than Satan himself. If I don't make it out of this alive, I'll be waiting for you with the Holy Father, waiting for my chance to send you down to the darkest pit of Hell reserved just for you," Michael sounded really agitated.
Monokuma merely laughed in his face. "I'd like to see you try!"
Michael paused for a moment, regaining his composure before stepping back. "No. Not now. Open minds and kind hearts will triumph over senseless violence and killing. Mark my words."
"Oh sure, you talk all big but you're really a big pussy!" Monokuma taunted. "Come on, show me that power of your pathetic god!"
"...He is judging you," Was Michael's simple response before he went to the auditorium, now with his Bible in hand.
"Ah, what a loser." Monokuma shrugged. "All bark and no bite! Anyway, get to it. I'll make an announcement when it's time for the Class Trial. U-pupupupu-pu-pu!" And with that, Monokuma was gone, leaving all of us to look at each other. Everyone was afraid, except David, who quickly had authority on the situation.
"We're not going to get anything done by standing around and sizing each other up," He said. "Whether or not we want to, there's no other option but to investigate, right? Our own lives are on the line here. We all know the stakes."
"Y-Yeah…" Maxwell stammered. "It's what Felicity would've wanted us to do, right?"
"I agree!" Ronnie exclaimed. "We must find who betrayed our trust without hesitation!"
"So I guess we're really doing this, huh?" Melissa mused, putting on a mask of confidence. I could tell she was nervous. "I'll help however I can."
"Well, what can you do?" Maddie wondered.
"I've written about basically every crime there is," Melissa explained. "Armed robbery, adultery, corporate espionage...you name it, I've written about it."
"Oh, so you could be like a consultant!" Thomas realized. "That's really useful!"
"As expected of the Ultimate Mystery Novelist," Jonathan mused.
"Why thank you, gentlemen," Melissa giggled. "If you ever need my expertise, please don't hesitate to ask."
So while everyone else was raring to go, Brooke folded her arms.
"Brooke? What's wrong?" I asked.
"Don't wanna…" She frowned. "I don't wanna look at it…" I could tell that 'it' meant Felicity's body. I looked to Melissa.
"Hey, Melissa? Could I ask you to watch over Brooke for us?" I requested. "I know you're an author, but could I ask you to be a sitter?"
"Sure thing, Desmond," Melissa agreed, holding her arms out for Brooke, who quickly ran over to give her a big hug. "I'll watch over Brooke and make sure she doesn't have that mean bear get her." Melissa wrapped her arms around Brooke to return the embrace, a warm smile coming to her face. The same could be said for Brooke, who looked happy in Melissa's arms.
While everyone else was headed off to the auditorium, David and I walked together.
"So this is it, huh?" I wondered. "I'll be honest...the only way I know what to do is Rizzoli and Isles."
David literally paused mid stride, looking surprised. "No way," He said. "You watch the show too?"
"Well yeah I do!" I smiled. "Have you seen who plays Rizzoli? What a woman…"
"Get in line man," David smirked. "Guess my title makes me Dr. Isles, huh?"
"Yay, I can be Detective Rizzoli!" I exclaimed. David laughed before regaining his normal stoic disposition.
"We've got a job to do, partner. Let's get to it," He said.
Investigation Start!
We headed back to the auditorium after that, some lighthearted commentary to steel ourselves for the grim reality that awaited us.
Looking at Felicity's body again made my stomach feel like it turned in a knot. We saw Michael standing over Felicity's body, reading something from his Bible.
"Um, Michael? What are you doing?" I asked him.
"Even if she's already dead, I'm giving Felicity her last rites," Michael explained. "It might not be much, but it's the least I can do for those who are unfortunate enough to lose their lives in these trying times."
"Wow...that's so thoughtful of you," I smiled, feeling somewhat at ease. "Now, could we get to investigating?"
Michael nodded, closing his Bible. "May God be your shield, gentlemen."
"Same to you," David remarked. Once Michael walked off, David whispered to me, "Alright Desmond...I'm gonna examine the body and see if the Monokuma File checks out. If I notice anything off, you'll be the first to know."
"Yeah, but...won't people suspect you as a threat?" I whispered back.
"...Do you see anyone else lining up to examine the body?" David deadpanned. I didn't have a response. "That's what I thought."
"Alright. I'll look around for, uh…" I was drawing a blank.
"If something seems off to you, look over it in more detail," David advised. "If you ever get stuck on anything, consult with me or Melissa. We should be able to point you in the right direction."
"Got it. Thanks David." Feeling reassured, I watched as David knelt down to Felicity's body, ElectroID in one hand and his other hand examining Felicity's body in meticulous detail. Guess his title was no joke.
"I can tell you this...I don't see her glasses anywhere," David said. "If she had them on when she was killed, based on the position of her body they'd be crushed under the weight of the murder weapon."
All of the sudden Maddie exclaimed, "Hey guys! I found something!" On the right side of the stage, Maddie had found a pair of glasses that upon inspection looked like Felicity's.
"Are those Felicity's?" Ronnie wondered. "They're busted up."
"This was the work of a murderer!" Chase exclaimed.
"So the killer broke her glasses? Is that what you're guessing?" I spoke up.
"Well, it's not like we've got any other ideas," Olivia said, walking up to the stage.
From the way Maddie was holding Felicity's glasses, I could see that yes, they were broken. But they didn't have any other things on them other than dust - likely from being on the stage floor for so long. So...how did they get broken?
Truth Bullet Obtained: Felicity's Glasses
While I thought about that, a voice called to me.
"Yoo-hoo! Desmond!" It was Chelsea, who was looking to get my attention.
"What is it Chelsea?" I asked her. She pointed up to the spotlights.
"Look up there," She said. The spotlights were all on, illuminating the stage. But something stood out to me. One of them seemed to be missing. "For some reason one of the spotlights has gone missing. Seems interesting, si?"
"Yeah, it sure does," I agreed. "I didn't notice that before. Why would one of them be missing?"
Chelsea only offered up a shrug. "If I knew, I'd tell you. If I see anything else, I'll let you know!"
"Thanks Chelsea," I smiled. "You're a big help." As I went to go take a closer look at where the missing spotlight was positioned, I almost tripped over something on the stage. It was the disco ball from the prop room it looked like...but it was smashed. How did it get here?
Looking over the disco ball, it was merely smashed, but against what I didn't know.
Truth Bullet Obtained: Disco Ball
Recovering from my near faceplant, I walked over to where the missing spotlight was positioned before...and made an interesting discovery. The missing spotlight was in the position that was above Felicity's body. It looked weird, but if what Chelsea said is true, then it's probably just a coincidence.
Truth Bullet Obtained: Missing Spotlight's Position
I didn't notice anything out of place on the stage, and it was at this time that David was done with his investigation of Felicity's body. We stepped off stage to talk about it.
"So what did you find?" I asked in a low voice.
"Well, the Monokuma File matches up perfectly to what I found," David explained. "Also, from the trajectory in which the glass shards are wedged in the victim's skull, I can conclude that the victim had to be laying face down on the ground, and the weapon to strike them from above."
"But wait, wouldn't Felicity have dodged?" I wondered.
"I was getting to that," David continued. "Given the broken nose, which led to Felicity bleeding from her nose, I can conclude that Felicity was knocked out before the fatal blow landed. Very likely from punches."
"You can tell that just by looking at her?" I sounded amazed. "No wonder you have the perception you do." I had to make that last minute word change as Street walked up to us.
"What are you two going on about?" She wondered.
"The investigation, that's what," David coolly replied. "We were just going over what we've found."
"I see...there are other places to look you know. I was just looking in the dressing room," Street said.
"We'll check it out, Street," I quickly responded. I looked to David. "Shall we?"
"Lead the way," He smirked. I kept his words about his findings in mind. Felicity had to be directly under the murder weapon, huh? Good to know...I think.
Truth Bullet Obtained: David's Autopsy Results
So with that, we went inside the dressing room. The first thing we noticed was that both shower rooms were opened up for...some reason. There was also a note on the wall. David looked at the note.
"'I have unlocked all the areas relevant to the investigation in the sake of fairness. I'm the type that hates favoritism and prejudice...well, not as much as I hate you murderous bastards. Have fun! From, Monokuma'." He read. "That was nice of him at least."
Jonathan was also in the dressing room, waving to us. "Hey guys. How's it going?"
"Oh hey Jonathan," I greeted in kind. "Random question, but did you see anything unusual last night?"
"Hmm...no, I didn't see anything weird," Jonathan answered. "Last night I was hanging out with Street. She said she was having trouble going to bed, and was with me till we went to bed. She felt most comfortable around me given our backgrounds with firefighters."
"And when would you say that was?" I continued.
"I would say...a little after 10:30?" Jonathan guessed. "We both went back to our rooms at that time."
"Did you see anyone else during that time?" David questioned.
Jonathan shook his head no. "We were in the Academic Wing, in that social studies classroom. She wanted to go someplace private…" He visibly paused. "...You think she likes me?"
"Maybe...if you two did I could totally see it," I chuckled. "Street's a bit rough around the edges but I can tell she's got a big heart."
"I think I might ask her later," Jonathan mused. "I'll be here if you two need anything." Jonathan gave us some good information. I'll be sure to remember this.
Truth Bullet Obtained: Jonathan's Testimony
"I think we should look in the showers first," David wagered. "Hey Jonathan. Have you investigated the showers yet?"
"Yeah, I did," Jonathan answered. "You'll make more headway in the girls' shower. The guys' shower came up negative."
Taking Jonathan's advice, we decided to investigate the girls' shower. It was a small rectangular room with a single shower head and drain, and off to the side there was a towel bar, but the towel was on the floor. The floor was made of ceramic tile, as were the walls. They were pink in color to signify this was for the girls.
I decided to check out the towel, wondering why it was left on the floor. It was then I felt a wet spot. The wet spot felt strange, however.
"Huh...that's weird," I said.
"What's weird?" David asked.
"Look at the wet spot on this towel," I answered, showing David the wet spot. "It's kinda like someone used this just for a small part of them. I mean, if you were going to shower, you'd clean your whole body, right?"
"Good point," David complimented. "So why is there just a small wet spot on it?"
"Maybe whoever used this towel last probably only needed to clean off a small part of them," I wagered. It didn't seem to add up to me at the time, but it felt important.
Truth Bullet Obtained: Towel Wet Spot
"See anything in the shower drain?" I then asked David.
"Afraid not," He responded. "The shower does look like it was used, since the water on the floor hasn't completely dried yet."
"That makes sense," I noted.
"There isn't any blood that I can see, so it looks like the killer was certain to be thorough about cleanup," David added.
"Can we be certain that the killer used this shower, though?" I wondered. "You know what they say about assuming."
"Well, think of it this way Desmond," David explained. "Felicity was bleeding from her nose, remember? If the killer struck her, it's likely they got blood on them. Ergo, they needed to wash off; if they tried to go back to their dorm to shower off, they would run the risk of someone seeing them and get caught."
"I see...you think one of the guys would be so bold?" I then asked.
"...It's a possibility, yes," David conceded.
"I don't think there's anything else here that we can investigate," I said. "There isn't anything that looks out of place."
"Shall we move on?" David asked.
"Sure thing." We left the dressing room and started heading towards the prop room when Chase stopped us.
"Stonebreaker! What are you hiding?" His voice boomed.
"I have nothing to hide, sir," David calmly answered, his voice dripping with irony from what I could hear. Fortunately Chase didn't pick up on that.
"Chase, what's gotten into you?" I questioned. "Why are you being so aggressive?"
"Because Felicity warned us about him," Chase spoke. "I was the first one she came to. She asked me how much I trusted David, and told me he likely had something to hide."
"Oh yeah, she came to me too," I remembered. "Did she talk to anyone else about this?"
"In fact, she did," Chase answered. "Other than you and me, she spoke to Chelsea, Street, Robert, and Melissa. We all talked about it for what it could mean."
"That's good to know," I commented.
"I've got my eye on you two." Chase left us with an 'I'm watching you' gesture before going to the dressing room.
"...Well, that was random," I noted.
"But Chase did give us important information," David replied. "Keep that in mind." I gave a nod as we went off to the prop room.
Truth Bullet Obtained: Chase's Testimony
Inside the prop room, we noticed there were several things out of place. The first thing was the disco ball missing, and under it was a couple of boxes.
"Well, at least we know the disco ball from here was the same one on stage," I concluded.
"These boxes look like the killer used them to get up to the disco ball," David added.
"True...but why would they go through all the trouble of doing that?" I wondered.
"You can figure it out," David assured me. Yeah, I knew I could figure this out. Maybe the killer wanted to take Felicity by surprise. I could see the disco ball being used as a flail, and Felicity probably wouldn't have seen it coming.
Truth Bullet Obtained: Prop Room Boxes
We saw Robert and Maxwell in the prop room as well, and they waved to us. They both look satisfied in each others' company.
"What'd you guys find?" I asked them.
"Well, we found something you might find interesting," Robert began, moving a box on one of the shelves easily, and behind it we saw something we didn't expect to find.
"Is that...a spotlight!?" I looked shocked.
"Yeah, I have no idea why it's back here," Robert replied. "I think maybe one of the spotlights got broken and Monokuma put up a replacement. That's what Maxwell and I think, anyway."
David quickly moved Robert aside so we could examine the spotlight in more detail. It was clearly broken, as the glass of the spotlight was busted beyond repair. Any shards from the spotlight had gone missing, and from what little we could see that remained, there was something on it, but the sample was so small we couldn't make out a clear color. It did seem weird to me. What was it doing here?
Truth Bullet Obtained: Broken Spotlight
"You know, the spotlights themselves were pretty interesting," Maxwell spoke up.
"What about them?" I asked.
"Y'see, all the spotlights are actually tied to little notches on the wall, on the right side of the stage - backstage of course. Sturdy ropes hold them in place, so if a spotlight ever needs to be raised or lowered, you just tighten or loosen the knot," Maxwell explained. "There was one thing that was odd - for some reason one of the notches didn't have a rope attached to them."
"Is that so?" David raised an eyebrow. "Interesting…"
"No clue what it could mean, but I thought you two should know," Maxwell added. "Just thought I'd do my part to help catch the killer."
Truth Bullet Obtained: Maxwell's Testimony
"Is there anything else you found?" David questioned.
"Oh yeah, there was this one unmarked box that was opened," Maxwell answered, gesturing us to a small box opened up in the corner of the prop room. It looked like a white powder with a tablespoon cup inside.
"What do you think it is?" David asked.
"Honestly...it smells like laundry detergent," Maxwell said. I took a slight whiff.
"He's right. This detergent smells like the kind my mom uses," I said.
"Your mother uses this stuff?" David questioned.
"Yeah, mom said that this detergent is high quality," I explained with a smile. "Mom says this stuff is so strong, it can get any stain out of clothes while also being gentle on fabric!"
"And you get stains in your clothes all the time?" Maxwell asked me.
"Not...necessarily…" I sweatdropped. But for this detergent to be used, who opened it anyway?
Truth Bullet Obtained: Laundry Detergent
I decided to speak to Robert about what Chase had told me. "Hey Robert...there's something I need to ask you."
"Sure thing Desmond. What's on your mind?" Robert responded.
"Chase told me something about how you, him, Chelsea, and Melissa all talked about what Felicity was telling us about regarding David," I explained. "Could you tell me what that was all about?"
"Yeah, we had a big powwow in the Commons about it," Robert explained. "It was Melissa's idea, actually. She said something about this being like one of her books and how a common tactic was for her culprits and villains to use someone else as a patsy. We were all somewhat concerned if David was hiding anything...but if you ask me, I got bad vibes from Felicity. Chelsea and I didn't really think you were all that bad, David."
"Thanks for that," David softly smiled.
"Yeah man, Chelsea took that pretty hard what Felicity was saying," Robert added. "I don't know what she said in Spanish, but it sounded like she was a bit stressed out after the meeting."
"Really? Poor Chelsea...this situation must be really hard on her..." I felt sorry for Chelsea. She seemed like such a sweet girl. I had no idea this whole situation was rough on her.
Truth Bullet Obtained: Robert's Testimony
"I think that's everything here," I said.
"There is one last place I would like to look at," David told me. "Come on, we don't have much time."
We passed through the Commons where Melissa and Brooke were both drawing and coloring in a notebook I assume belonged to Brooke.
"So how did it go?" Melissa asked us.
"We're making really good progress," I answered. I then remembered something. "Oh shoot, we forgot to check the closet."
"What about the closet, Desey?" Brooke asked me.
"You've been in there more than anyone, right? Mind refreshing me on what was in there?" I requested.
"Well...there was a bunch of clothes, jewelry, gloves, rings, scarves…" Brooke rattled on. "Oh, and hats too!"
"Wait a minute...did you say there were gloves in there?" David then asked.
"I did. There were gloves made of all sorts of fabrics, ranging from cotton to leather. Why?" Brooke asked.
"Hmm...it sounds really important to me," David explained. "Because Felicity had her nose bloodied, it's possible the killer got some on their hands.
"Maybe you're overthinking this," Melissa stated. She covered Brooke's ears, seeing her getting uncomfortable by all this death talk. "I mean, it's possible that Felicity was struck with a weapon that got blood on it."
"By the way, where have you been this whole time?" I questioned.
"Assuming I get out of here in one piece, I was planning on writing a memoir of those who pass away during this trying time," Melissa explained. "What do you guys think about this as a title? 'Trust and Deception: The Story of Hope's Peak Academy Indianapolis'?"
"I like it," I mused.
"That could work," David agreed.
"Anyway...Brooke, thanks for your help," I smiled. "It might not seem like much, but this is a big help."
"You're welcome, Desey!" Brooke cheered.
Truth Bullet Obtained: Brooke's Testimony
With that out of the way, I followed David to the dorms, where we saw the bio lock on Felicity's room without a light. David checked the door, which was unlocked.
"Looks like we can enter someone's room when they become deceased," David spoke.
"Well yeah, but why do you want to enter Felicity's room?" I wondered.
"It was Night Time when Felicity was murdered - it's safe to assume that this was her last known location. There ought to be evidence for us to use," David explained.
"That makes sense." I entered Felicity's room after David went inside.
...I never really got to know you Felicity, but now that I know what David was hiding about his talent, why were you trying to warn me about him? I wish I had spent more time with you - you seemed so wise and fun to be around. It's a shame, but I can't rewind time with a stone and get her back so I could have her answer my questions. Even if Robert got bad vibes from you, I sure didn't.
I was lost in thoughts all alone, so much so David had to pinch my arm to get my attention.
"Ow!" I exclaimed. "Stop assaulting my arm!"
"Look at this Desmond." David calmly handed me a crumpled up note. Looking at the note, it was addressed to Felicity. It had the following message.
'There's something I need to follow-up on with you about in private. Can you meet with me in the auditorium in 10 minutes? I'll have the stage lights on so you won't stumble around in the dark.'
"So the killer sent this note to Felicity?" I wondered.
"That seems to be the case," David agreed. "But of course, the note doesn't have the sender's name, which means this likely came from the killer."
Truth Bullet Obtained: Killer's Note
We soon heard a bell ring four times.
"Attention students! The investigation period is over! Please report to the kitchen for the Class Trial to begin!" Monokuma's voice rang out.
"The kitchen?" I wondered.
"Monokuma's probably got a surprise planned for us," David wagered. I shrugged my shoulders and followed David to the kitchen, where Monokuma and everyone else was waiting for us outside of this walk-in freezer.
"Ah, Desmond! David! So good of you to join us!" Chelsea greeted.
"Yes, it's good that you're here," Thomas mused. "Now we can get this bloody trial over with."
"I love your enthusiasm, Brit!" Monokuma exclaimed.
"While I would rather be elsewhere...it's not like I have a choice," Michael added, folding his arms.
"Me too!" Brooke exclaimed.
"Too bad, you all have to do this!" Monokuma glared. His right paw had a claw prick out, catching us all by surprise before he used it to unlock the walk-in freezer...which turned out to be an elevator!
"Ooh, an elevator," Olivia mused. "A clever disguise."
"I never would've expected that, and I know a thing or two about secret passages!" Melissa added.
"Everyone get in so we can go down to the courtroom!" Monokuma ordered. We all filed on to the elevator, with me and Chelsea being the last ones in.
"Desmond...I know you're scared for this, we all are," Chelsea said to me. "But hey, as long as you believe in yourself, you can accomplish anything."
"Thanks for that," I quickly thanked before boarding the elevator, the doors closing behind all of us.
Packed in like sardines, the elevator began its long descent into the underground, the slow speed of the elevator making our heart rates speed up.
"How much longer is this elevator gonna take?" Maddie asked.
"Just let it happen," Maxwell responded. "None of us want to be here."
"You can say that again…" Brooke sighed.
Soon the elevator dinged, with the door opening to reveal we were in a circular room with a throne at one end where Monokuma sat - in front of him 16 maple wood podiums where we were to stand. The podium in front of Monokuma had a stand of a picture with Felicity's picture, black and white, with a 20 sided die icon colored red with the '1' side being facing forward. I noticed the courtroom was fashioned after an actual dungeon - stone walls and floors, torches along the wall providing us with light, and some skeletons chained up by their wrists to the walls gave a very unsettling atmosphere.
"Ta-dah! What do you think?" Monokuma asked us.
"It's...something for sure," Chelsea remarked. "Is this made in memory of Felicity?"
"Of course! I want you all to remember this moment when you all decided to murder one of your classmates for whatever reason possessed you! Now go on, find the podium with your name on it.
In order from the podium Felicity had clockwise, the podium order was Robert, Olivia, Chase, Brooke, Thomas, Melissa, David, Street, me, Maxwell, Maddie, Jonathan, Chelsea, Ronnie, and Michael.
Felicity Blackwell...I never really knew her all that well, but I could tell she had a wit as sharp as her tongue, along with being a fun person to hang out with. Her only crime seemed to be warning me and others about 'trusting David', and now…
One of us killed her? I didn't want to believe it. I couldn't see any of us here being killers. But then again, that's the only truth we have to look to, right? We had to face it by the horns whether we liked it or not.
And so the curtains began rising on our first trial...I didn't know much...but I knew this. It was our lives versus their life. Our trust versus their deceit. Our love versus their hatred. There is no turning back now. This Class Trial...was officially on.
(Ooh, the suspense is killing me! Can our class figure out who murdered Felicity, or will the blackened slip through their fingers? Tune in whenever I have Part 1 of the Class Trial up! Leave your guesses for who the Blackened may be, and why. Until then, bye for now!)