Shauna had no idea how much time had passed. Time seemed to have stopped since she came across her two dead friends. The whole world seemed to be centered on those two boys, and as far as she knew, nothing else was going on around her. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't concentrate on anything else. The two bodies in front of her were the only things that had her full attention.

Due to this, she didn't hear the other person within the area approach.

Ever since Bianca left the classroom, she had been wandering around the island in the hopes of finding others. After moving north, she spotted two of her seniors, Gold and Silver, fast asleep out in the open. She was tempted to wake them up, but was afraid of provoking them into attacking. With that, she proceeded to move southwards, where she arrived in D-2.

The same smell that hit Shauna a little while ago then hit Bianca. She was able to tell immediately it was the smell of blood, terrifying her. She had hoped, more than anything, that people wouldn't partake in this game, but she had been proven wrong. Trembling like a leaf, she approached the scene slowly. It felt like she was walking further and further out of reality, and into a horror movie.

Before she moved forward, all she had seen were the two bodies strewn across the ground. As Bianca came closer, however, she saw a girl kneeling beside the two bodies. In her hands was some kind of weapon. Due to the darkness, she was unable to tell what the other girl was holding. In her state of absolute fear, she arrived at the only logical conclusion she could.

"Y-You killer!" she accused, pointing towards Shauna.

Hearing a wild statement thrown at her, the younger girl looked up. She was able to see that Bianca was pointing at her with a terrified look in her eyes. As well as that, tears were welling up. Her face was completely pale, and it took Shauna a moment to comprehend that Bianca was talking to her. She doesn't really think I killed my own two friends, does she?

With her free hand, Shauna rubbed her eyes roughly and stood up, her other hand still gripped on the pistol. Once she stood up, Bianca took a staggering step back, shaking her head. Judging by the way her mouth was shaking, it seemed as if she had something to say, but couldn't find the right words to express it in. Shauna remained in disbelief that the other girl would blindly believe she killed Trevor and Tierno. It had completely slipped her mind that Bianca had no idea who Shauna was, or who the two boys on the floor were, and as far as she was concerned, Shauna was simply another player.

"No way! You don't understand. They're my-" Shauna began, as she began to walk towards the other girl.

"Leave me alone! I don't want to kill! I don't want to die either!" Bianca begged, staggering backwards.

Shauna bit her lip. She had to prove to this girl that she wasn't a killer. The very idea of Bianca going around the island, firmly believing, and telling others, that Shauna had killed two of her best friends was too much to handle. There was too much going on tha night to handle, in actual fact. This would just be the icing on top of the cake.

After a moment of hesitation, Bianca let out a little whimper, and turned on her heels. She took off, running at a sluggish pace. Shauna grew wide-eyed. It wasn't a joke; this stranger truly believed that Shauna was malicious enough to kill. After the heavy intake of seeing her two best friends dead, she couldn't let Bianca stay under that believe. She had to convince her that she wasn't playing. Most of all, Shauna didn't want to be seen as a killer.

"Wait, please! You don't understand!" she called out, running after Bianca.

"I do! Don't start lying to me now- I saw it! I saw you!" the older girl shouted back shakily.

She started to pick up the pace, slowly becoming nothing more than a black silhouette in the night. If Bianca told anyone she came in contact with that Shauna was a killer, it worried the other girl to no end that eventually X and Y would find out, and even they would believe Shauna was coldhearted enough to kill.

"I told you to wait!" she screamed.

It was at that point Shauna lost her temper. It was not a regular occurrence, but when it did happen, it was impossible to think straight. In the back of her mind, anger had been building up ever since she had found Trevor and Tierno's bodies. The fact that Bianca refused to listen had sent her into a state where she believed actions needed to come first, and thinking could come later.

Without thinking, Shauna yanked on the back of Bianca's metallic collar as hard as she could. For a brief moment, she saw the back of the other girl's neck. A red imprint had formed its mark where the collar was set. It was only when she let go that she realized what she had done. Giovanni's words resonated in her head.

If you try and pry it off, it will detonate.

Bianca had stopped. Her hand touched her neck, having felt a strange sensation. A cold sweat was beginning to break out on Shauna, realizing the other girl hadn't registered what just happened yet. Slowly, Bianca turned to face the younger girl.

Then, the collar began to beep.

It was a slow, gradual beeping, as if an old computer was slowly starting up. A red dot had formed in the middle of the collar, moving around at each passing second. It didn't take Shauna long to realize that it was activating the bomb inside the collar.

"What's happening...?" Bianca asked softly, still clutching her collar.

"I'm so sorry. It was an accident, I mean it. I don't know what's going to happen, but I didn't mean it..." Shauna whimpered, her hands flying to her mouth. One part of that was a lie; she knew exactly what was going to happen. That collar's going to detonate, and Bianca will die.

"Is it my collar? Is my collar making that noise?"

"I-I think so, but-"

"What's going to happen? They said it'd explode, right? It's not really going to explode when it's around my neck, right?" Bianca asked, her tone becoming more and more high pitched.

"I think it's going to explode. But I'm so sorry! You have to know how sorry I am! I really didn't mean to!" Shauna apologized over and over, tears threatening to fall once more. Bianca seemed to only hear the first sentence. It seemed as if she was on the verge of hyperventilating, and she walked quickly over to Shauna. The other girl stepped back, not wanting to witness this up close.

"You pulled at it! Please, stop it! I really don't want to die...!" Bianca begged, clutching the sides of her collar.

"I can't, I don't know how..." Shauna groaned, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Please! I want to live!"

Although Shauna couldn't see, there was a sudden loud, long beep. Then, there was the sound of something popping. Something wet began to spray Shauna's bare arms, and she opened one eye.

The collar was in two pieces, the middle part missing. The inside of Bianca's neck was completely red. Due to burst veins, blood had began to spray out of her neck. Her face showed no signs of life. With Bianca's hands still clutched to the two pieces of the collar, she fell face forward into the grass. The grass beneath Bianca's head quickly became a shade of crimson red.

"I... I didn't mean it..." Shauna whimpered, staring down at the body with wide eyes.

It didn't matter that she didn't mean it. The only fact that resonated in her head was that another person on this island was dead, and it was all Shauna's fault. Whether she intended to or not, she had killed. That made her just as awful as the people who killed Tierno and Trevor, in her mind.

Looking over her shoulder, Shauna was able to see that the two other bodies were still in close proximity. It had only been minutes ago that she had been mourning over them, and now another person had died right before her eyes. This is a nightmare. At this rate, I'm going to watch everyone die.

Her eyes fell back on Bianca's body. Kneeling down, she turned the girl over. Wincing, the smell of blood was much stronger with her than it was with Trevor and Tierno. Shauna held Bianca's head in her hands, her fingers gently brushing against the girl's blonde hair.

If it wasn't for me, she would still be alive, she thought. Overwhelmed by emotion, she let out a series of small whimpers, which gradually grew louder. I'm going to lose my mind right here.

Due to her hyperventilating, she didn't hear footsteps approach the bodies nearby her. She also didn't hear how he rustled through each boy's discarded daypack.

"This area is noisy. And, the smell of blood is overwhelming. I don't think I like the smell very much. What do you think?" a voice asked calmly from behind. Shauna spun around, letting Bianca's head fall back into the grass.

She held her breath, instantly recognizing the person who stood behind her. The man, who had been referred to as N, was one of the primary reasons that Shauna didn't wait behind at the school. Somehow, he had come over to where it was noisiest, completely unnoticed by her. His expression was calm, although his eyebrows were raised slightly upon seeing Bianca's dead body. The thing that terrified her most of all was the fact that he was then holding a gun, which looked much bigger than her own. It didn't belong to N, but to Trevor, a SIG-Sauer P230 9mm Short Semi-Automatic Pistol.

"I hate the smell", she replied quietly, hoping that he leave it at that. Instead, he looked at Bianca's body.

"I knew her. This girl's name was Bianca. She was a friend of someone who brought down Team Plasma. I don't know if I can forgive that person, but I never truly knew this girl", he stated.

Oh. At least I know the name of the person I accidentally killed, Shauna thought, looking down bitterly.

"You murdered her", N said calmly, as if he was merely adding another fact. She looked up with wide eyes.

"What?" she asked softly.

"You murdered Bianca. I don't think you were wrong to do so. We were all brought here for the purpose of killing each other, and I know I'm not incorrect. It's one of the simplest equations in the world; twenty-seven minus twenty-six equals one. Everybody wants to be that one. It's a natural human instinct", he continued.

"I didn't mean to... It was an accident. I'd never kill just to make sure I survived!" Shauna protested.

"That's... wrong. Human nature proves otherwise. Human beings truly are selfish creatures, at the end of the day... As one myself, I don't judge you."

"I don't care if you don't judge me or not! Please... Please just say you believe me. I'm not a killer. I never wanted to kill anyone, ever. I'd rather die myself", she murmured quietly, looking back down at Bianca's body.

As she did, N noticed that tears were once again streaming down her face. For a moment, he almost began to believe she regretted her actions. He quickly pushed those thoughts out of his mind, thinking of his own desire for survival. She was just like him. They all were.

Placing his finger on the trigger, N let out a small sigh. He knelt down by her ear, and Shauna froze upon feeling his breath on her cheek. She felt something cold pressed against the back of her head, but didn't try to move. She looked over at him, but her eyes were all that she could move. It felt as if the rest of her body was under paralysis.

"I don't believe you", N whispered quietly.

Shauna let out a few final gasping breaths, unable to take her image of being a killer any longer. N didn't give her a moment to protest, however. In a quick motion, he pulled the trigger. As the bullet exited the front of her head, Shauna fell on top of Bianca. N wiped away any blood that had gotten on his face.

Then, he left the scene. Before he was out of the sector, however, he looked back at the four bodies. After that quick glance, he pulled up his sleeve to check his watch. It was 5:13AM. With that, he began to move on.

23 Remaining.


Author's Note: Oh dear, that was brutal to write.

Quick note about certain characters: For those of you that haven't caught up with the BW arc, N is portrayed as more of a villain in Pokespe compared to his game counterpart. As this fic is Pokespe-based, he'll be portrayed as such.

Also, although it doesn't really matter now, Shauna's Pokespe counterpart is much more pessimistic than her game counterpart, just for those that don't know!