Chapter 1 - Welcome to your Despair (Class Trial)
Upon being instructed, Mike went to go to his stand. To his left was Beth, and to his right was...a portrait of Lindsay
"Alright, welcome to the class trial! Here, you must find the killer. If you find the killer, only they will be punished! And if you fail, i'll punish everyone besides the blackened!" Monokuma instructed.
"I have a question..." Ella piped up. "What is that?" She pointed to the black and white portrait of Lindsay, which had a giant bloody X going through it.
"Oh that? That's where she was going to stand and well...I didn't want her feeling left out..." Monokuma chuckled.
"Is there any point in this trial? We all know Mike is the killer..." Scott added.
"We'll know that, after we discuss it in the trial." Dawn added.
The way the seating was arranged, Mike was the closest, going left was Beth, Courtney, Cody, Scarlett, Trent, Noah, Gwen, Dawn, Brick, Bridgette, Shawn, Alejandro, Ella, Heather, Scott, Jo, Duncan, Dave, Samey, Beardo, DJ, Amy, and then Lindsay's portrait, before circling back to me. Across from me was Dawn, who took the stand directly next to the empty one in front of Monokuma.
"Before we start, what's with the empty seat over there?" Alejandro pointed out.
"You're reading way to much into it! It just means this courtroom can have a maximum of 25 people, that's all!" Monokuma explained. "Now, if there's no more questions, I officially declare this class trial, in session!" Monokuma cheered.
Class Trial: START
"Where exactly do we start...?" DJ asked.
Beardo tapped his chin, before making a dinging lightbulb sound effect, and began to mimic someone being stabbed.
"I think...in a very disturbing way...he's suggesting the murder weapon." Heather shuddered in disgust.
Cody shrugged. "I guess we should start there."
Non Stop Debate
Ella: The Weapon that was used to kill Lindsay...
Noah: That was obviously the knife we found lodged into her back.
Courtney: The important thing, is where the knife came from.
Scott: Oh I get it...the culprit used some random knife they found!
Scott: And stabbed Lindsay with it!
Dave: Some random knife? Really
Beth: I think that makes the most sense!
CONTRADICTION - 'Some Random Knife They Found!'
EVIDENCE - Mike's Engraved Knife
"Sorry Scott but that's wrong. The culprit didn't use a random knife." Mike informed.
"Wha?" Scott was a bit taken aback. "Then where did it come from, smart guy?"
"The knife was an engraved one, the knives Monokuma gave to us all after the motive he revealed earlier today." Mike explained.
"Oh...I guess that makes sense then..." Scott shut his mouth.
"Mike, sorry but you do realise you just dug yourself an ever deeper hole." Courtney chuckled.
"What is she talking about?" Bridgette asked.
"You're talking about the fact it's my knife, aren't you?" Mike questioned.
"Exactly right." Courtney added
Non Stop Debate
Courtney - The knife we found lodged in Lindsay's back.
Courtney - That knife belonged to Mike!
Cody - Does that mean Mike is the culprit?
Brick - That does make him a bit suspicious...
Amy - A bit suspicious? Yeah right! Mike has no evidence proving he's not the culprit!
Contradiction - 'No evidence proving he's not the culprit!'
EVIDENCE USED - Mike's Alibi
"Sorry Amy, but there is evidence proving I'm not the culprit." Mike chimed in.
"Oh yeah? prove it." Amy crossed her arms in a matter of factly way.
"Scarlett, care to explain?" Mike looked at the scientist, who was relatively quiet.
"Hmm? Oh right, during the murder Mike was with me in the kitchen." Scarlett explained.
"Hold up, how do we know you and Mike aren't working together?" Heather asked.
"She has a point..." Dave muttered.
"Hey Monokuma, is there anything to gain from helping someone commit a crime?" Dawn asked.
"Hmm? Sorry, but only the person who commits the crime is allowed to graduate." He explained.
"So in other words, there's no point covering for anyone..." Jo huffed.
"I'm still not convinced." Heather narrowed her eyes.
"Um, I was also there with them." Beth raised her hands.
"One person covering makes sense, but two people is a little crazy." Duncan shrugged.
"Alright, I guess that takes me off the suspect l-" Mike was cut of. "Don't underestimate me!" Heather screamed
REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN
"Hold Up, I'm still not convinced you're innocent!" Heather glared at Mike.
"Seriously? That wasn't enough for you?" Mike sighed.
"I want more evidence!" She slammed her fist down on the podium.
I guess I need to prove that she's wrong... Mike thought
xxx
You/re Alibi is ve/ry suspic/ious!
It com/es ri/ght out of now/here!
How do we kn/ow we can tr/ust wha/t th/ose two sa/y!
ADVANCE
"So my alibi...isn't evidence enough for you?" Mike questioned
No/pe!
You ha/ve no pro/of tha/t you we/re elsew/here at the ti/me of the m/urder!
CUT - Body Discovery Announcement Rule
xxx
"Sorry but that's not true!" Mike contradicted.
"Wha...?" Heather took a step back.
"Monokuma didn't tell you about the body discovery announcement rule did he?" Mike asked.
"No...what's that?" Heather questioned.
"When 3 people, other than the culprit discover a body the announcement goes off." Mike explained. "I discovered the body first, I know that." Mike explained.
"Ella and I discovered the body after." Cody added.
"And unless anyone else wants to say something, that means Cody, Ella and I can be removed from the suspect list." Mike explained.
"I-I guess you're right..." Heather put her head down in defeat.
"So what, we're back to square one now?" Trent sighed.
"At least we had a suspect before, now I have no idea where to go from here..." Courtney began to go deep into thought.
"Why don't we talk about how the murder happened? I mean we found the body in Mike's closet, even I know that's weird." Shawn suggested.
"That would probably shine some light onto things..." DJ was in agreement.
Non Stop Debate
Shawn: Lindsay's body was found in the closet, right?
Shawn: How did it end up there?
Gwen: Did the culprit put the body there?
Duncan: Maybe Lindsay moved herself there?
Cody: Really? I don't think that last ones possible man
Duncan: It was just a suggestion, I don't see you coming up with any ideas geekwad
Cody: Ah, sorry sorry!
CONSENT - 'Culprit put the body there?'
EVIDENCE - Blood Splats in Closet
"I think Gwen's onto something..." I stated.
"What, really?" Gwen seemed surprised by my comment.
I nodded "Yeah, does anyone remember the blood splats we found in the closet? I think thats evidence the culprit placed the body in there." I explained.
"That makes a lot of sense, but why would the culprit do that?" Dave asked.
"It was most likely to delay the discovery of the body." Noah answered.
"Yeah, but why would they want to do that?" Dave asked, slightly more agitated.
"I think, its because the culprit had no intention of murdering." Dawn piped up for the first time, all eyes turning to her.
"Wh-what do you mean?" DJ asked, slightly frightened.
"Every detail about this murder...just feels extremely spontaneous. It's like the culprit came up with everything on the spot." Dawn explained.
"Interesting hypothesis..." Alejandro chuckled. "Please, elaborate." He gestured to her.
"I believe, that Lindsay was originally going to kill the culprit." After that, the entire room went silent.
"Wait, but Lindsay was the victim? How can she be the culprit..." Samey's mind wandered.
"Ugh, you're so stupid Samey." Amy retorted, causing the sister to put her head down.
"What? That can't be right." I slammed my fist on the trial stand.
"How so Mike?" Dawn said, completely unfazed by my rebuttal.
"Lindsay came to me that night, scared out of her mind, in tears! There's no way she wanted to kill anyone!" I exclaimed.
"...Sorry Mike, but you know better than anyone, that can't be true when you consider the evidence." Dawn cooly stated.
The evidence...Mike thought to himself. Of course, she must be talking about...
EVIDENCE SELECTED - Lindsay's Engraved Knife
"Lindsay's knife? The one we found under her bed right?" Mike asked.
"Correct, remember how scratched it looked, like it was pressed against something?" Dawn questioned.
"Yeah..." Mike replied, slowly realising the outcome this was going to have.
"Wait, what are you guys talking about?" Scott interrupted.
"Under Lindsay's bed, we found her engraved knife, like the ones Monokuma gave everyone." Mike explained.
"And...?" Scott was still not satisfied.
"Andddd, it showed signs of being used." Mike added.
"So wait, you think Lindsay intended to kill the culprit because of that?" Scott snorted. "Sorry, but that doesn't seem like enough."
Non Stop Debate
Scott: So you want me to believe someone as dumb as Lindsay wanted to kill?
Bridgette: As insulting as that is, he has a point.
Shawn: Yeah, I don't see Lindsay being smart enough to come up with this kind of plan.
Courtney: Is there even any evidence supporting it?
Scott: Exactly that! There's no evidence proving it!
Contradiction - 'no evidence proving it!'
Evidence Used - Signs of Struggle
"You clearly didn't look at the crime scene, did you Scott?" Mike asked the dirt-farmer.
"I did, but I don't see what you're getting at." Scott innocently rubbed the back of his head.
"The room was a mess! It clearly shows a struggle went down" Mike explained.
"And if there's evidence of a struggle, it could easily show how the tables turned on Lindsay." Dawn finished
"I guess that makes sense then..." Scott shrugged.
"So what was Lindsay's plan anyway? I still don't get it really..." Dave sheepishly added.
"Well isn't it obvious? It was to kill the culprit, then blame it on Mike." Dawn simply said.
"Wait...what?" Beth looked taken aback.
"Her plan...was to frame me?" Mike was hurt, very hurt.
"Think about it, if she killed them in your room. She could easily make you appear like the culprit, and she could just act like she never went there in the first place. She would've been in and out in 10 minutes." Dawn shrugged.
"Tha-That can't-!" Mike started.
"Do you have evidence proving its not true?" Heather asked.
"Um..." Mike was defeated. The one person he considered trusting, was planning on betraying him.
"So now that we know what happened, and what the weapon was. Can we start discussing the culprit?" Trent suggested.
"I think we should start with the incinerator. That was clearly used in this case." Alejandro added.
Non Stop Debate
Alejandro: After committing the murder, the culprit destroyed the evidence in the incinerator
Duncan: And? How exactly is that meant to help us?
Noah: That's not an awful lot to go off of Al.
Dave: Yeah, couldn't anyone use the incinerator?
Contradiction - 'anyone use the incinerator?'
Evidence Used - Incinerator Key
"Sorry Dave, but that's wrong." Mike countered.
"What do you mean?" He asked, dumbfounded.
"Only certain people can use the incinerator, and those are the people who possess the incinerator key.
"Who has the key's then?" Dave asked.
"There's evidence that shows that..." Mike thought for a moment.
Evidence Used - Trash Duty List
"Those are the people, who are on trash duty for the week." Mike explained.
"Oh yeah! I forgot about that!" Dave hit himself on the head.
"And those people are who exactly?" Heather asked.
"Duncan, Alejandro, Beardo, Amy and myself.." Dawn explained.
"So one of those 5 have to be our killer, don't they?" Courtney realised.
Beardo made the game over noise, in realisation he was becoming a suspect.
"What? It wasn't me either!" Amy exclaimed.
"Yeah, I'm not the killer!" Duncan added.
Alejandro and Dawn, just had their arms crossed and watched in silence.
"Aren't you two going to defend yourselves?" Noah raised an eyebrow.
"No thanks, I don't fall to such a pathetic level." Alejandro gave a smug grin. Dawn just continued staring on in silence.
"So who is the killer then?" Shawn asked
The Killer...I should know who that is by now... Mike realised.
Make an Accusation
[CULPRIT CHOSEN]
"...It's you, isn't it?" Mike accused.
xxx
And that's the end of the first part of the class trial, big oof on my part. So yeah, let me know down below who you think it is. Honestly, I think now it should be maybe obvious, if not then I'll be damned. lol. Enjoy!