"Kyoko Kirigiri, welcome to the stage! First things first, what's your Ultimate Talent?"
Kyoko stared at the similarly dressed stranger, also clad in purple, "I don't remember. But, I do in fact have one because I was enrolled at Hope's Peak high school."
"Hm. Must have been an error on my part, do you mind if I look through some of your memories to see if I can find it?" asked Vially, "I can't do it without your permission, and you have to willingly shake my hand for it to work."
Kyoko was silent, not knowing what to focus her eyes on. The crowd started cheering, and eventually it turned into a chant.
"Do it! Do it! Do it!"
"You watched the video right?"
Kyoko nodded, still horribly unsure of what she should do.
Assuming he's the one keeping us here and not just a pawn of something bigger, letting him into my mind would be a huge mistake. On the other hand, if I don't give the audience what they want I'd be dead for sure. It's a lose-lose situation for me.
"I hope you realize just how much the audience controls your fate. You have to show them what they want," Vially gestured fluidly to the audience, "You guys want to know Kyoko Kirigiri's Ultimate Talent?"
"Do it! Do it! Do it!" The chants were even louder.
Kyoko stared out into space, appearing almost unaffected by the hellish scene in front of her. Kyoko's mind, however, was a complete opposite, desperately trying to latch onto a solution.
"Alright," she whispered. It took awhile for the crowd to quit, to process what she said, but when the chants stopped it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop "I'll do it."
"Took you long enough! Finally, I get to have some fun. Please forgive me, Kyoko, I haven't done this in years, this might go awry." Vially held out his hand, and Kyoko gingerly accepted, and he led her to the center of the stage, all spotlights trained on the two.
"O-kay! So there's minimal effort on what you have to do, so listen close and don't screw up. First, you need this." Vially gestured to the empty space to the right of Kyoko, and the girl looked there in confusion.
The confusion quickly turned to shock when the air in the spot Vially pointed at started growing cold, colder and colder until it felt normal again. Once it did, a shape started fading in, it was like something you'd see on faltering T.V waves. It settled, finally, and the audience clapped and cheered at this demonstration of raw power. What appeared there was a glass tube of sorts, with indentations meant for a human body of average size, not at all like Vially's height. Near where the fingers were, there looked to be small, circular disks.
Now that he's standing right beside me, I can actually take into effect how freakishly tall this guy is. Is he even human? Is anyone here human?
"So, obviously, you need to step in here."
"What exactly is it? And how did you-" asked Kyoko.
"Not important!" Vially quickly interrupted, "But this only helps with the process, it isn't really necessary. But, if I don't use it, you could die. So be grateful."
He dramatically swung open the door while simultaneously pushing Kyoko inside.
"Step two! Shake my hand!"
Kyoko carefully shook Vially's hand and slowly exhaled.
This won't kill me. The only way I can be killed right now is in the arena.
"Good! Last step. You see those little discs near your fingers?"
Kyoko nodded.
"Push your fingers onto them for about a few seconds each, all at the same time."
She did, and it froze her entire body.
I can't move. How…
Pain was all she felt when cold fingers gently touched her forehead.
I can't see, but I can hear everything that's going on. What is this?
"Hm. Nope. Nothing here but family issues and hidden feeli- aha!" Vially announced to the audience, who cheered in approval.
What is he doing?
"Okay everyone, let's view this memory!"
Kyoko could feel something leaving her, something she had forgotten existed.
The memory!
"And it says here that you, Kyoko Kirigiri, are the Ultimate Detective!"
Could that even be useful later on? We don't have to figure out who killed who. If anything, we'd probably be told blatantly.
The crowd cheered even louder, and Kyoko could move again. She stared into Vially's eyes with something that was a mix of disgust and anger,and he responded with a shrug and a smile while motioning for her to head back to the chair she originally sat in.
"Gotta give the people what they want," he whispered, "Since that was ex-tremely lengthy, let's move on to our final question," Vially's voice noticeably raised in volume.
Kyoko glanced back at the middle of the stage to find that the glass tube was flickering in the light. She stared at it for a moment or two more, and it completely vanished.
"Your prize?"
"To be able to find the true mastermind of the killing game we were in. That would be my prize."
"Thank you everyone! That is all we have for Kyoko Kirigiri! Please welcome to the stage Kokichi Oma!"
The audience cheered, but Kyoko knew it wasn't for her. She calmly walked off stage, and her stoic expression nearly ruptured when she stumbled into the back of Makoto Naegi's head.