Warning: Character Death, Adult Language, and adult situations follow.

"Welcome to the trial room," Cinder announced over the speakers.

The room was circular with white walls adorned with marble pillars. The ceiling was domed with an ornate painting of weighing scales. The center of the room had a circular arrangement of lecterns all facing inward. Each lectern had a name attached to its front. The group made their way over to the lectern with their name on it. The lineup had Ruby in between Neo and Yatsuhashi. She looked to see the empty lectern marked with Adam's name.

"Here you will debate the crime," Cinder began explaining. "You will present any and all evidence you found. When I feel the debate is over I will begin the vote. You will cast your vote on who you think is guilty. You may abstain if you are unsure of who did it. To keep things interesting, the vote is anonymous, so don't let your friends drag down your morals."

The room became quiet. Everyone looked around, waiting for someone else to begin the discussion. Ruby was concerned because the evidence she, Winter, and Mercury hadn't been shared with everyone.

"After thorough investigation," Winter began, "I have narrowed down the list of culprits."

"Let me guess," Mercury said, "Neo and me are on the list?"

"Yes," Winter said, looking sideways at Mercury. "Coco, Nora, Ruby, and myself are also on the list."

"Whoa, why me?" Coco asked.

"The only wounds on the body were bruises inflicted by boots," Winter explained. "Of the ten of us those are the only who wear boots."

"Boots can cause that much bleeding?" Nora asked

"No, actually Adam was only bleeding in one spot," Ruby said. "He'd been hit in the head, which was actually what killed him. It was the only thing bleeding."

"Then why was the scene so bloody?" Yatsuhashi asked.

"The sword had blood on it," Winter said. "Whoever attacked Adam was the one whose blood was at the scene."

"We only have the one set of clothes," Coco said, "and none of us are wearing bloody clothes. That doesn't make sense."

"That's not true," Ruby said. "We have one other outfit, our PJs."

"If the murderer was wearing those at the time crime they could simply change," Winter added.

"I'd like to also point out where the blood was on the sword," Mercury said. "There was blood on the end after it had been broken. That means Adam stabbed his attacker. We can't prove he cut his attacker, but he had to have landed at least one hit after breaking his weapon."

"So…" Nora began, "We just need to look for a stab wound?"

"Only those who wear boots need to be checked," Winter corrected.

"I think I can save time," Jaune piped up.

"Yes, you said you knew who the killer was," Yatsuhashi said. "Why didn't we start there?"

"You're right," Winter said. "I rushed to the evidence we'd found at the scene."

"I read a lot of books about murder mysteries growing up," Jaune began. "So, I know a few things killers tend to forget. Things like what to clean up."

"Get to the point," Mercury said.

"The handles to our doors are knobs, you know?" Jaune asked, to many nods. "Well, when you clean up a bloody mess you forget to clean behind the knob. You clean the front spotless, but you might forget to check the back. So, when Sun, Neptune, and I checked the rooms I checked behind the door knob."

"So, did anyone have blood?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, one did," Jaune said. "Coco, why was there blood behind your door handle?"

"What?" Coco asked. "I don't know."

"Also," Sun began, "There was scuff marks on top of your dresser."

"And no art in your room," Neptune concluded.

"Come on," Coco said. "You think I killed Adam from a few scuff marks?"

"Could you raise your hands behind your head?" Mercury asked.

He demonstrated, wrapping his fingers together like he was going to crack them. Instead he stretched up above his head and tilted backwards. He returned to an upright position and beckoned for her to repeat.

"What, why?" Coco asked.

"Red, would you show her?" Mercury asked.

"It's Ruby," Ruby corrected, but stretched anyway to see what Mercury was planning.

"That's two people," Mercury said. "We can stretch our whole core. Not one single injury hindering us or causing pain to do it. Come on Coco, why can't you do it?"

Coco gulped hard. She locked her fingers together slowly. She'd hardly stretched her arms out before letting hem fall limp at her side again.

"It was self-defense," Coco whispered.

"What?" Mercury asked. "A little louder for the record."

"He attacked me!" Coco spat back. Her eyes were wide and tearing up. "He attacked me. These God damn doors don't lock. He threw the door open and rushed me with a fucking katana. I didn't think, I kicked back and defended myself."

Coco was shaking. Her hands gripped the lectern so hard they were turning white.

"I grabbed the only weapon I had in my room," Coco continued. "It was the fucking statue of a boat or something. It was heavy, and I swung it at him. He went to block with his sword but it shattered. I was ready to stop, but the fucker lunged at me and stabbed me with the hilt. The fucking hilt! I swung one more time with the statue and hit him right in the head. I didn't mean to kill him, but he kept coming."

Coco raised her shirt and corset to reveal a fresh bandage covering her stomach. Coco had gone from near tears to pure fury. Her eyes were heated as she recounted what had happened.

"Someone's changed those bandages recently," Winter pointed out.

"I did," Yatsuhashi said. "I believe Coco."

"Then why is all the blood in Adam's room?" Mercury asked.

"I was in shock," Coco said. "I knew it looked bad. Part of me decided I might be able to hide things if I moved the body and cleaned up the scene."

"Well," Mercury sighed, "you did a terrible job."

"I'm not a murderer by trade," Coco retorted.

"Not everyone can be," Mercury said with a smirk. "I've heard enough. I know who did it."

"Wait," Coco said. "You can't kill me. I acted in self-defense."

"What a noble motive," Mercury mocked, "still murder. Or did you forget the rules? This trial isn't about why or how the murderer acted, but to find the killer. You were kind enough to confess."

"Coco didn't chose to kill him," Yatsuhashi defended. "It was her or Adam."

"That's not how it works here," Winter said. "She knew – "

"The world doesn't have to change because we're in here," Jaune interrupted.

"This game is about more than just ourselves," Winter shot back. "We have hostages, every one of us. If we don't sentence a killer because they did it for a 'good' reason then this will turn into a blood bath. With each one of us claiming we are doing it only to save our loved one."

"That's wrong," Jaune said.

"It's the truth," Mercury added.

"I think that's about enough," Cinder's voice came in over the radio. "You will now vote on who killed Adam. You have twenty seconds. A blank vote will be counted as abstaining."

Ruby's lectern lit up. On it was a list of everyone's name with the simple title "Who killed Adam Taurus?" Ruby scrolled down to Coco's name. There was no doubt that she'd done it, but it felt wrong. Ruby knew if she convicted Coco she'd die. On top of that whoever her hostage was would also die. Ruby also thought about Adam's hostage. If she didn't convict Coco that hostage would die simply because Adam had died. True, he had started the fight, but in the end was it right to kill them simply because Adam had died.

The screen went blank before Ruby had voted. She realized it had been twenty seconds and she hadn't voted. She looked up to see on the wall across from the elevator was a large display screen.

"The results are in," Cinder said. "We have one vote for Mercury Black."

Mercury's name appeared on the screen and a one appeared next to it.

"Three abstaining voters."

The word "abstain" appeared on the screen followed by the number three.

"Six votes for Coco Adel as the killer."

Coco's name appeared with a six next to it. A cheery tune played. Coco began to sink to her knees at her lectern. Her eyes were wide and her jaw hung slightly open. Ruby saw she was mouthing "no" very slowly.

"Congratulations!" Cinder said. "Coco was indeed the real killer of Adam Taurus. I'd explain how, but she did that herself."

It felt unreal. A chain appeared from nowhere, wrapped around Coco, and hauled her away in an instant. Ruby tried to follow it with her eyes but couldn't. The screen on the wall lit up to reveal where Coco had been dragged away to.

Coco stood in the middle of a forest. She had her weapon back and it was set to minigun mode. She was watching the trees intently. There was a black flash behind her. She reacted immediately, open firing and killing a Beowulf. The victory was short lived as dozens of new shadows swirled just beyond sight. Coco didn't hesitate to shoot each one.

The view of Coco pulled away to beyond the tree line. Chains entered the mix of shadows darting around. One chain lashed out and struck Coco across the arm. It left a dark bruise and caused Coco to stumble. One of the Beowulfs lunged at this moment but Coco reacted fast enough. She mowed down the Beowulf with seconds to spare. This fight in the forest went on for what felt like an eternity.

"I don't want to watch this," Jaune said. "This isn't an execution, its torture."

The number of shadows had kicked up in intensity. Coco was barely able to track the chains from the wolves; shooting one while dodging the other. She fired at one of the wolves and there came a yelp. Ruby grabbed her lectern and leaned in towards the screen. The wolves had vanished. The rattling chains ceased. One chain suddenly fell limp just beyond the row of trees. Coco advanced slowly towards that spot.

"Fox…" Coco said.

"Co…co…?" a soft voice returned.

Coco dropped her gun and ran with all the energy she had left. The camera followed to reveal Fox lying on the ground. He was tied up by the chains and riddled with bullet holes from Coco's minigun. She cradled his head in her lap as tears streamed down her face.

"I didn't know," Coco said. "I'm so sorry Fox. I didn't know it was you. I was going to save you."

"I know… Coco," Fox said.

His hand lifted slowly to her face. She went to grab it. The second their hands met spikes erupted from the ground. They pierced straight through Coco from multiple directions. She didn't make a sound. Her grip tightened on Fox's hand before loosely falling to her side. The spikes retracted and her lifeless form toppled on top of her dead teammate.

"Coco Adel and her hostage Fox Alistair are eliminated," Cinder announced as the scene faded from the screen. "As per the rules, Adam's hostage will now be added to the game."

Ruby stood motionless. Yatsuhashi wept beside her. His sobs were deep and his breath ragged. Even Mercury shifted uncomfortably after that. No one looked over to see who was stepping off the elevator. No one could turn away from the dead view screen, hoping quietly that Coco and Fox were still alright.

"Ruby?" a familiar voice said.

Ruby spun around and felt her heart sink. Standing in the frame of the elevator was Blake. Adam's hostage had been Blake, and now she was part of this terrible "game." No, Ruby thought. This was no "game," this was no denying the game she'd been forced into.

PLAYERS STILL ALIVE:

Ruby

Jaune

Nora

Sun

Neptune

Yatsuhashi

Neo

Mercury

Winter

Blake