"I admire your faith in your friends, my girl, but I hope you can now see just how easy it is to bend them and break them. Now tell me, do you still have hope for them?"

Yang didn't want to look at the person across the desk. She just kept struggling against her bindings. It was getting harder now, as she was getting weaker. She didn't want to, but she eventually sent a glare across at the bear-masked villain. "You can't end my hope. Nothing you do can keep me from hoping. As long as there is life, there is hope. I'm sure you've heard that before."

Deadb3ar nodded. "Indeed, I've heard it before. I used to believe it, but... circumstances changed my mind. I know better now. You would do well to come to realize the truth before it's too late for you."

Yang looked away again. "I'd rather die than become a monster like you."

Deadb3ar leaned across the desk. "Monster? I'm not the monster, my girl. The monster is over there." She pointed across the room. Curious, Yang followed her finger, then gasped in shock at what she saw. Deadb3ar elaborated. "Whenever I feel that the game has slowed down too much, I can let that beast go. It will destroy their hope for sure, and I can only imagine what it will do to yours."

In the back corner a dark form had appeared. Its glowing eyes burned with rage and its teeth snapped at the air. It was a black mass, thrashing away at anything and everything within reach, howling and snarling at the sight of Yang.

Deadb3ar stepped back and laughed at Yang's reaction. "The beast likes you, my girl. It wants you. It's only natural, I guess, for a creature of darkness to strive for the light." Yang didn't respond. Deadb3ar sighed. "Oh well, I suppose we can see how this murder trial goes first."

Ruby covered her ears, trying to block out the announcement. "Oh no, not again!"

Blake growled. "Damn it, this wouldn't be happening if the others had all come."

Jaune, of all people, led the charge out of the library. "Come on! We need to make sure everyone is alright!" He stopped and turned around. "What are you all standing around for? Come on! Ruby and Blake, go find Melanie and Miltia. Cardin and me will look for Ren and Pyrrha. Dove, I want you to go get Sky. Weiss should be in the greenhouse, so we're all gonna meet up there."

Blake stopped him. "What about Velvet?"

Jaune shrugged. "If she's not at the greenhouse with Weiss then we'll have to go looking for her." Jaune rushed out of the library before Blake could respond, Cardin on his heels. Dove was right behind them, running to his own objective.

Blake looked to Ruby. "Who put him in charge?"

Ruby thought for a moment before answering. "Weiss did."

Shaking her head, trying not to think of why Weiss would have done that, Blake headed for the door. "We should get moving."

The two girls ran into the hall. Blake made a guess and headed in the direction of the dining hall. Melanie seemed to enjoy cooking, so it was the best bet for finding her. Miltia had likely followed her, as she seemed to enjoy eating whatever her sister made. It was only halfway to the kitchen when they caught up to Melanie. She was lying face down in the hall.

Blake approached Melanie with caution. She knelt down beside her and reached for her neck, trying to check if she was still alive. Melanie responded with a collection of curse words. Blake sighed in relief.

"For a second, I thought you were the victim Deadb3ar announced."

Melanie rolled over and sat up, grabbing her head. "Would that have been so bad? My head hurts like a bitch."

Ruby sat down beside her, putting her hand on Melanie's shoulder. "What happened? Where's Miltia?"

Melanie glanced around, mumbling something about physical violence against her sister. "Deadb3ar made that damn announcement and... I think she smacked me in the head with something."

Blake grabbed Melanie and pulled her to her feet. "Your sister attacked you?"

Melanie shrugged. "Maybe? She got the drop on me, so if she meant to kill me then she could have done so easily. That said..." She shook her fist threateningly. "I'm sure gonna kill her when I find her."

Ruby watched the two other girls walking off without her. Realizing that they were leaving her alone, she ran to catch up with them. "Wait! We're supposed to be going to the greenhouse! Where are you guys going?"

Blake glanced behind her at Ruby. "We are going to the greenhouse. We just need to find Miltia first."

Melanie nodded. "And kill her."

Blake gave Melanie a nervous glance. "Yeah... that too."

Cardin was following Jaune through the halls. He was somewhat reluctant to let the smaller boy lead, but he had no better plans. He had been thinking about narrowing down the search a little, and an idea had come to mind, so he let Jaune know.

"You know, they might have gone to their rooms."

Jaune looked back at Cardin, but didn't stop walking. "Yeah, they could have. They might also be at the greenhouse already." He stopped and turned around. "That announcement wouldn't count the murderer, would it? Like it doesn't count if the murderer finds the corpse because they already knew it was there, right?"

Cardin shrugged. "I suppose. Why?"

Jaune thought for a moment. "Well, I was thinking that would mean that someone else has to find the corpse, which I thought would mean the murderer, the victim, and the person who found the victim would all have to be people who weren't in the library, but... no one has seen Weiss for a bit, and we only have Miltia's word that the other three were alive."

Cardin crossed his arms, his face grim. "For all we know, she killed Ren, Pyrrha, Sky, Velvet, and Weiss."

Jaune nodded, but then something else dawned on him. "Wait, but you and Blake were unaccounted for as well, so..."

"We weren't murdered. I can almost guarantee that."

Jaune shook his head. "No, but you had plenty of time to kill someone."

Cardin grunted at the accusation. He wasn't going to let Jaune just point fingers at him. "Look at you. No one went into the greenhouse since you followed Weiss in there. What's to say you didn't kill her? I'm sure those other two girls wouldn't have said anything if they helped you."

Jaune stepped back, shocked at the reversal. "What? But I didn't! I wouldn't do that! I-"

Cardin stopped him. "Maybe we should go check on Weiss to make sure. You think that would be a good idea?"

Jaune was about to answer when something large and heavy hit Cardin's head. The larger boy collapsed onto the floor, and behind him stood Miltia wielding Magnhild.

Blake and Melanie stopped walking when they heard a high pitched scream echo through the halls. Ruby crashed into Blake's back.

Melanie started to speak. "Some girl's in trou-"

Blake silenced her. "It's Jaune. Trust me."

Ruby jumped around Blake and rushed down the hall, calling back to them. "If it's Jaune, then we really need to go help!"

Running through the halls, skidding around corners and scuffing the floors, Ruby ran to Jaune's rescue. Turning another corner, she only had time to spot Cardin lying on the floor before Magnhild's hammer head smashed into her.

Blake and Melanie had followed Ruby as quickly as they could, managing to just barely keep her in sight. Seeing her hit the wall ahead of them, they turned the corner with far more caution. Melanie spotted Miltia, hammer raised and ready to strike. Before Miltia could strike at her sister, a hand reached up from under her and grabbed her by the hair. Cardin pulled her down, slamming her head into the ground and knocking her unconscious. The hammer clattered to the ground, and silence descended on the group.

Sitting up and rubbing his head, Cardin glared at Jaune. "You scream like a girl."

Blake picked Magnhild off the ground, inspecting it closely. "She didn't hit anyone hard enough to kill. Not with this, at least."

Melanie pulled her sister up. "Someone help me with her. We need to get to the greenhouse. We still don't know who the victim is. There would be blood."

Blake tossed the hammer to Cardin. "You carry that. I'll help Melanie." As she got Miltia's arm around her shoulders, she looked over to Jaune. "Can you get Ruby?"

Pulling himself up off the floor, Jaune walked over to Ruby and realized that the girl had been knocked out by Miltia. The others moved on without waiting for him, so instead of trying to wake her he simply picked her up and carried her.

After what seemed like an hour to Jaune, they finally arrived at the greenhouse. Inside, it was alarmingly quiet. Jaune put Ruby down against the wall, and Melanie and Blake did the same for Miltia. Cardin started looking around, dumbfounded at the myriad of plants. Blake quickly started off down a small pathway in among the greenery, and Cardin followed her.

After a minute or two of searching, Cardin commented on the size of the room. "I know Beacon is a big place, but this room is just ridiculous. We definitely don't need this many plants."

Blake nodded in agreement. "We should find Weiss quickly. This place is perfect for an ambush."

"And what if Weiss is the one to ambush us?"

Blake spun around to face Cardin. "Don't... Weiss isn't that stupid." Turning back the way they were heading, she pushed a few low-hanging branches out of the way. The sight she was met with caused a sound of pure rage to escape her mouth.

In a small clearing ahead of them, Velvet lay unmoving on the ground. Pyrrha was kneeling down beside the Faunus girl, with Ren standing behind her. Weiss stood off to the side, looking disinterested. It took Blake all of a second to decide who was responsible.

"Weiss!" The heiress jumped in surprise, and Blake rushed forward and grabbed her. "What did you do, you fucking monster? What did she ever do to deserve this?"

Ren grabbed Blake, trying to pry her off of Weiss. "Blake, stop, we don't know it was her!"

Blake started clawing at Ren's arm, trying to get to Weiss. "Of course it was her! It has to be! Who else could it have been?"

Weiss snorted. "It could have been her own stupidity. I told her not to touch anything in here."

Blake finally managed to shove Ren away from her. She lunged at Weiss again. "I'm gonna fucking kill you! I'll fucking tear you apart!" Myrtenaster was in the air before anyone could respond, but this time it wasn't alone. The blade of Gambol Shroud clashed with Myrtenaster, and this time Weiss was afraid. Blake pressed Weiss down with her sword. "I don't care what happens, I'm going to kill you right now."

Author's Note: This is probably the shortest chapter so far, and I hope it will stay that way. I had a lot of trouble keeping this one going too, so much so that I really need a break for a bit. It was hard to write, and it exhausted my mind.