"So, uh," Angus shuffled his feet awkwardly, "kind of a bumpy ride, huh?"
Joaquin chuckled and gave his companion an amused look, "It is, isn't it?"
Bumpy ride was an understatement. The elevator ride was rickety and slow, and it felt like they were barely moving. Angus looked at the minimalist button panel; no numbers or floor labels. Just an up arrow and a down arrow. The box was small, with barely enough room for two people inside of it. Feliks chose to stay in the library with Ritsu since three in the elevator would've left the trio scrambling for room. Angus didn't care how short the ride was, NOBODY was allowed that far into his personal space.
"You said there are only buttons to call the elevator in the basement?" Angus asked.
Joaquin nodded, "The basement and the third floor. There's no button to call it in the library."
Made sense. Having a button to call the hidden elevator would kind of defeat the point of having it hidden.
The elevator finally, mercifully, came to a hard stop. The metal doors slowly rolled open and Angus and Joaquin stepped out. Angus wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but it definitely wasn't what he saw.
The basement wasn't big, and it felt like the exact opposite of the rest of the building. Whereas the upper floors were pristine and sterile, the basement had crusty and beaten walls with an uneven stone floor. The room wasn't too big. There were a bunch of empty metal shelves against all the walls, and in the corner of the room was a tube tv on one of those movable tv stands. That was about it. Manato and Shimei were there, however, the former was reading something inside of a file folder.
The two Ultimates turned to Angus and Joaquin. They both had different reactions to seeing Angus out of his room. Manato was surprised as his eyes widened behind his hair, but that look melted away into a hesitant smile.
Shimei, on the other hand, was already running at him.
"Angus!" she shouted, barreling directly into the arms dealer and connecting with his gut. The wind was knocked out of him as he stumbled backward. Joaquin acted quickly, grabbing ahold of Angus' shoulder so he didn't fall over. Shimei wrapped her arms around his waist.
"I'm so glad to see you out of your room!" she said cheerfully, "Does this mean you're starting to feel better?"
Angus collected himself and looked down at the green-haired girl. She looked up at him with big wide eyes, and Angus would've loved nothing more than to lie to her, but he couldn't do it.
"I wouldn't say that, small fry," he admitted with a tired head pat, "but it's a step in the right direction."
"Agreed," Joaquin said, backing his friend up. Manato, although hesitantly, walked forward with a tiny smile. Angus hadn't noticed when he'd gotten off the elevator, but Gallus was on the boy's shoulder.
"It's g-good to see you're okay, Angus," Manato said quietly, fiddling with the folder in his hands.
"Yeah, I'm doing a bit better," Angus said, giving the boy a playful nudge on the shoulder, "I'm ready to hop back into this goddamn nightmare."
Angus looked around the room, "So, what am I even looking at anyway? What is all this?"
Joaquin shrugged, "We're not quite sure. My theory is that it was supposed to be some kind of archive for the building."
Angus looked over the empty shelves and looked back at Joaquin with a confused look, "Aren't archives supposed to, like, archive stuff though? This is pretty barren for an archive."
"That's why the keyword is was. They probably purged everything before they put us here so we wouldn't find anything they didn't want us to." Joaquin hypothesized.
Shimei quickly swiped the folder Manato was holding out of his hands and pushed it into Angus' chest, "It wasn't completely empty though! This folder was down here!"
"And also the TV in the corner," Manato added, pointing to the aforementioned tube television, "it has a tape in its tape player."
Angus took the folder from Shimei and opened it up, and found himself shocked by its contents.
"Subject number 11: Ondori, Manato," Angus read under his breath as his eyes scanned the page. A small picture of Manato was stapled to it.
"Subject #11: Ondori, Manato
My Overview: Manato sufferers from extreme anxiety and asocial behaviors. His pet is the only...creature that he feels properly comfortable interacting with. I've made multiple attempts to push Manato into different social interactions with the other subjects, to middling success. He's shown an attachment to Subject #4 and Subject #14, but there's still a great amount of work to be done.
Signed,
Ichiro Abe"
Angus scanned over the page multiple times. It has all of Manato's basic info, his hair color, eye color, etc. However, what he found himself looking over multiple times was the overview and the name at the bottom of the page. Ichiro...Abe. Something about that name was bouncing around in his head and wouldn't go away.
"This is all...very concerning," Angus mumbled, flipping to the next page in the folder.
"Subject #6: Takenaka, Shimei
My Overview: Shimei has quickly become one of my more problematic cases, and it's not from a lack of her cooperation. She is easily the friendliest of the subjects that are a part of our program, however, her bubbliness and inability to sit still has left progress towards her rehabilitation halted for the time being.
Signed,
Ichiro Abe"
He flipped to the next page.
"Subject #8: Hutchinson, Angus
My Overview: Easily one of my most troublesome and uncooperative subjects. Angus, so far, has refused to participate in any activity put in place for the program. He's spent the majority of his time either in his room and or either sedated due to his habit of violence. I'm beginning to become frustrated, but I knew what I was signing up for with the program.
Signed,
Ichiro Abe"
Those were the only three pages.
"The hell am I looking at?" Angus asked nobody in particular, pulling his page from the folder.
"It was down here when it opened," Joaquin answered, taking the folder from Angus and handing it back to Manato. The cock fighter also removed his page from the folder.
Angus stuck his hands in his pockets, "Why're there only three pages in the folder? Where's everyone else's file?"
"Everyone already took their pages," Shimei said, taking her page and stuffing it into her pocket, "we were the only ones who hadn't taken ours."
Angus turned to Joaquin, who had a tiny smile on his face, "So, you have a page too." he interrogated.
"That I do," the socialite answered smoothly, "but I won't be showing it to you. Why reveal what Mr. Abe thinks about me?"
"Yeah, that leads me to my next question. Do we know who this Ichiro Abe guy is?"
Manato perked up, "Uhm, we do actually."
Shimei, without any prompting, bounded to the corner where the TV was. She grabbed the stand and wheeled it to the middle of the room. Angus saw that the TV had a tape player connected to it. Shimei pressed a button and the TV turned on, and they were greeted with static. She pressed down another button and the static turned into a video going fast in reverse. She was rewinding the tape on the deck.
The video finally stopped and Shimei backed away from the TV. Angus stepped forward to get a better look at the television.
The video was grainy and there were some wavy lines in the footage. It showed a chair against a plain-looking wall, and the sound of someone shaking and adjusting the camera could be heard.
"Okay, that should do it," a gravelly voice said from behind the camera. The voice moved from the side to the chair and sat down. There sat a ragged-looking man with a mismatched wardrobe of a tweed jacket and jeans. His white dress shirt was untucked and looked dirty. His hair was shoulder length and greying on the sides. He cleared his throat and pushed his circular lens glasses up his nose.
"Why this needs to be put on a VHS tape I've no idea," the man grumbled, but then looked up at the camera with a smile, "With that aside, my name is Ichiro Abe, and I am the former Ultimate Psychologist. My time at Hope's Peak Academy was quite eye-opening, however, I realized, years after my graduation, that certain young adults suffer from some extreme...behavioral problems. It terrified me to think that these talented kids would run the risk of ruining their futures with petty crimes and misdemeanors Hence I teamed up with Hope's Peak to create the URP! 'The Ultimate Rehabilitation Program', where talented youths who've lost their way can get back on the proper track! I've been in contact with Aiko Chidori, the current Hope's Peak Headmistress, and Kazimir Volkov, the main benefactor of the URP and they've both already found multiple students who they think would be great fits for the program! I'm excited to take on the challenge of rehabilitation with Hope's Peak Academy's future! I'll make sure to make a second tape once the subjects have all officially moved in!"
Without another word, Ichiro Abe stood up from his chair and turned off the camera, once again leaving the TV screen with nothing but snowy static.
"That's...uh...somehow more concerning than the files," Angus said blankly.
The arms dealer felt like a distant memory was clawing at the back of his mind. As if it were scraping its fingernails against a barrier to breakthrough into his conscious mind, but it just...couldn't.
"Does that answer your question as to who Ichiro Abe is?" Joaquin questioned, turning off the TV and pushing it back into the corner.
"Not really," Angus admitted, "but I did recognize the other names. Chidori and Volkov?"
"That's not much of a surprise," Joaquin said, "one is the headmistress of the most prestigious school in the world and the other is the richest man on the planet."
It was true. People only recognized Kazimir Volkov's name because he ran the world's largest oil empire, but why an oil baron would be directing funds to some random Hope's Peak project Angus had no clue.
"Is that really all that's down here?" Angus asked, changing the subject.
"That's all that we've found," Manato said, giving Gallus a pet. Angus, in response, put his hands on his side and moved back to the elevator, and pressed the button.
"Well, then I'm done down here," he impatiently tapped his foot, "I have a whole other floor to go look at."
"OH!" Shimei belted out, running up to Angus' side, "Can we hitch a ride up to the library?"
The elevator door opened, and before Angus could protest, Shimei and Joaquin pushed him inside as they all tumbled over each other. Manato also hesitantly followed them into the tiny box. Angus pushed himself into the back wall of the elevator as Shimei's elbow dug deep into his side.
"You'll love the third floor, Angus," Joaquin insisted, clearly not bothered by the close proximity of everyone in the box, "the elevator'll take us to the gambling hall."
Angus' eyes went wide, "Gambling hall?" he asked, perplexed.
"Never again with this fuckin' elevator," Angus grumbled to himself, "it's just stairs from now on."
Angus was, mercifully, alone in the elevator after dropping his three companions off in the library. Joaquin told him that he wanted to head back to the cafeteria, and Shimei dragged Manato off to...somewhere. The poor guy needed to learn how to say no.
He thought back to what Joaquin had told him before the elevator ride from Hell started? Was there a gambling hall? This place didn't seem like the type to promote gambling, however, he wouldn't put it past Saibakuma to add it just for the sake of throwing something random at them.
The elevator came to an abrupt stop as the metal door rolled open, and Angus stepped out into a very strange situation.
The gambling hall was much less a hall as it was just a room. It looked the same as all the other rooms, with white walls, and tiled floors. However, Angus could see why Joaquin would call it a gambling hall. Growing up barely an hour away from Las Vegas, Angus knew what a casino floor looked like, and that went double for all the tables you'd see. Four tables sat near each end of the room and Angus recognized them immediately. A craps table, a roulette table, a poker table, and a blackjack table. All very standard for a casino floor.
What wasn't standard was Tatsuo attempting to strangle Chaos, with the only thing holding her back being a struggling Ramsey.
That wasn't standard.
"Let go of me!" the Ultimate Dog Fighter screamed, clawing at Ramey's arms, "I'm gonna fuckin' rip his throat out!"
"And go to trial and get executed!?" Ramsey tried to reason, tightening his grip on the girl, "Please be reasonable, Ms. Hojo!"
Chaos, to be fair, wasn't making a good case for himself. The tiny jester was giggling to himself while spinning on top of the roulette wheel. The bells on his hat jingled furiously as he rocked his head back and forth.
Angus was quick to step into action, planting himself in between the bickering Ultimates.
"Alright, knock it off!" Angus yelled, stretching his arms out, "The fuck're you two bickering about?"
"This little shit keeps throwing poker chips at me!" Tatsuo screeched, now stepping on Ramsey's foot in an attempt to loosen his grip.
Angus grimaced, "Seriously? THAT'S what you're about to kill him over?"
He swung round on his heel to face Chaos, who was spinning himself without a care on the roulette wheel. He reached deep into his pocket and pulled out a handful of multicolored poker chips.
Angus crossed his arms, "Chaos, the hell're you doing?" he interrogated, sounding more like a parent than he would've liked.
Chaos put on a cartoonishly large frown as he stopped himself from spinning, "Tatsu-Tatsu made fun of meeeeee! She called me a midget!" he whined, throwing another chip over top of Angus and making direct contact with Tatsuo's nose. The girl snarled with rage, not much unlike her dog.
Angus chuckled, bending down to get eye level with the jester, and he grinned, "Really? I expected out of everyone here you'd be the one with the thicker skin. You're lucky I don't have 'Tatsu-Tatsu' snap you in half like a twig." he said with an overly friendly grin.
Chaos' large frown quickly flipped upside down into the manic smile he usually had. Before Angus could react, Chaos cocked back and threw his handful of poker chips square into Angus' face. He lurched back, covering his face with his arm. The chips all clattered onto the tile floor as Chaos lept off the roulette wheel.
"AH, YOU little FUCKER!" Angus roared, stumbling backward. Chaos only responded with a chortle as he ran as fast as he could for the exit.
Ramsey, distracted by the throwing of the chips, loosened his grip on Tatsuo ever so slightly, but that proved to be enough for her to wrench herself free from his grip.
In a true test to athleticism, Tatsuo threw herself backward toward the fleeing Chaos, and she would've caught him too. If not for the fact that Chaos saw it coming, and jumped just out of the girl's reach. Tatsuo caught nothing but air as she face-planted against the tiles. Chaos was quick to reach the door, open it ever so slightly, and slip through the gap, cackling all the way. Tatsuo attempted to scramble to her feet after the boy, but he slammed the door shut behind him.
"DAMNIT!" the girl shouted, slamming her fists into the tile.
Angus rubbed his eyes where a chip made contact, "I don't know what the fuck his damage is."
Ramsey, being the only one not distracted, slowly started picking up the dropped poker chips, "I'm not sure why Mr. Dokeshi feels the need to be so...destructive," he said, being sure to choose his words carefully.
"Tatsuo, did you really call him a midget?" Angus interrogated as Tatsuo finally stood up. She turned to him, frowning.
"He started it," she grumbled.
Angus sighed, "I'm sure he did, but fucking...reacting to him is what he wants. You trying to kill him is most likely what he's trying to get out of you."
"Why would he do that?" Ramsey asked, picking up the last poker chip.
Angus just shrugged, "I don't know, he's fucking batty, but feeding him will only make it worse. Probably."
Tatsuo huffed and puffed for a moment before simply sighing. She leaned onto the roulette table, "This is all becoming a bit too much to handle," she bemoaned.
"It was too much to handle the moment it started," Ramsey lamented, putting the chips into the rack that was attached to the poker table.
A somber air filled the room, and Angus felt like he was choking on it. He could tell they were thinking about Iroha and Sophia. Tatsuo was grimacing like she just remembered the look on Iroha's face when they'd found her in the pantry, and Ramsey was shaking his head like he was trying to shake the memory of Sophia's execution. He too could feel the intrusive memories resurfacing, so he scanned the room for some kind of distraction.
And he found one in the form of the blackjack table.
"Is this blackjack?" he asked, already knowing the answer. Ramsey nodded at him.
"This brings back memories, man," The arms dealer said wistfully, running a hand across the green felt of the tabletop.
Ramsey quirked an eyebrow, "You play?"
"I fucking love blackjack," Angus responded, "growing up outside of Las Vegas causes some of it to rub off on you. Craps and poker and all them are fine and good, but blackjack was always my favorite."
"How do you play it?" Tatsuo asked, having picked herself up and approaching the table.
"S'nothing too complicated. That's part of the reason I like it so much," Angus explained, "The whole goal is to get as high a number as you can without going over twenty-one. You start with two cards, right? And then you decide if you want more cards when your turn comes 'round. If those cards total goes over twenty-one, then you bust and you're outta the round. If it doesn't go over then you're still in, and the highest number at the end wins."
Angus sucked in a deep breath after his long-winded explanation. He was only met with an unimpressed look from Tatsuo.
"So, it's luck-based?"
Angus' shoulders slumped, "Yes, Tatsuo. When you break it down to its bare bones fucking concept, then yes, it's luck-based."
"I must admit that I've never been that much of a gambler," Ramsey shared, readjusting his hat.
"Oh, I don't gamble at like...casinos," Angus mentioned, "I mainly just gamble amongst friends and acquaintances."
"Really?" Ramsey mumbled, sounding genuinely curious, "How so?" he leaned onto his cane, shifting his weight.
Angus tapped on the table, "Me and my friends would play blackjack at school. We had a friend who always had a deck of cards on him and we'd play whenever we had free time. We started using soda tabs in place of money, but we eventually got so into it we started using pocket change. Then we'd just straight up use lunch more, or our lunches. It was a pretty lucrative racket for a bunch of kids." he admitted.
Tatsuo smirked, "So, you were out there scamming kids, while also being a kid?"
Angus only scoffed, "There wasn't any scam about it. It was all legit. We called it 'Redneck Blackjack' since we didn't play it like regular blackjack. In regular blackjack, it's all the players against the dealer, but in 'Redneck Blackjack' it's everyone against each other. Makes the game a lot more intense."
Ramsey smiled, "It sounds like it. In fact, it sounds like something I may want to try. Might be a good way to try and unwind and forget about...everything." he tapped his cane against the tile, trying not to directly mention what they'd seen in the trial room.
"I will definitely take you up on that." Angus pivoted around and pointed to Tatsuo, "And you're going to join us."
"Me?" Tatsuo said back, pointing at herself, "You seriously want me to join you guys?"
"Sure. Why not? We need more than two players, anyway. Hell, you can even bring your mutt." Angus joked before thinking for a moment. "As a matter of fact, where is your dog, anyhow?"
"He's relaxing in my room," Tatsuo answered, "but yeah. I'll totally join your game if you'll have me. Hope you're ready to have your ass handed to ya!" she said sharply, playfully punching Angus in the arm.
"Cool," the boy said, rubbing his arm, "We'll need a few others since three isn't a lot, but I'm sure a couple of the others will want to join if asked."
Angus made his way to the door, but turned to face Ramsey, "I'm leaving the job of finding us a deck of cards to you, okay? You'll probably find them in the warehouse."
Ramsey gave a half-hearted salute as Angus left the "Gambling Hall".
Angus was surprised to find that the rest of the third floor was shockingly empty. It was basically just one big room. The gambling room was on the left and there were two other rooms on the right side. At the end of the room was a stairway that lead up to the next floor that was being blocked by Guardkuma #4. The gorilla-like beast stood statue-still in front of the stairs; its gaze never looking away from Angus. On the opposite end of the room were the stairs that back down to the second floor. The two other rooms on the floor were classrooms. The first of the two was plain-looking with only a handful of desks (a teacher's desk included) and a pristine chalkboard at the front.
The second classroom had Beatrix and Junji inside of it.
"ANGUS!" the girl yelled, shocked to see her angry friend out of his room. Junji did a much better job of hiding his surprise than Beatrix, but the slight widening of his eyes was proof enough that he was not expecting Angus to walk through the door.
Angus held his arms open with a smile, "The return of the king, right?" he said sarcastically. He didn't get a response in the form of words, but in the form of Beatrix barreling towards him and tackling him. Angus managed to just barely brace himself so he didn't fall to the floor.
"OOF!" Angus heaved, getting the wind knocked out of him as Beatrix wrapped herself around his abdomen, "Jesus, Bea. Relax, would ya?"
"Es tut mir leid, aber ich bin aufgeregt! It is good to see you, my friend!" She cheered, unable to stop herself from slipping into her native tongue.
"Take some deep breaths, yeah?" Angus said, trying to wrench himself free of Beatrix's iron grip.
Junji chuckled, his arms crossed, "Why not let her have this, Angus? She's been worried about you."
"I get that, but," Angus paused as he finally managed to get Beatrix to let go of him, "she should be able to show that without harming me."
Beatrix, to her credit, was unfazed by Angus' harsh tone. She simply beamed up at the arms dealer, "It is truly very good to see you outside of your room, Angus. I thought you would stay inside forever."
"Yeah, well," Angus shrugged, "Ludivine can be pretty persuasive when she wants to be."
That got Junji's attention, "So, it was Ludivine that managed to pull you from your den? I must say that I find that quite shocking."
"Really? How's that?" Angus questioned.
Junji put his hands up, "Nothing offensive. I just wouldn't have expected you to open the door for Ludivine of all people. Your relationship with her has been fraught, has it not?"
"Sure, we've had our...issues," Angus hesitated, recalling the moment he was shot with a harpoon, "But we've reconciled. We're cool now, and we're working together to get out of this hellhole."
Junji shrugged, "Fair enough, I suppose. It's better that we band together anyhow." The hirudotherapist snapped his fingers in sudden realization, "Speaking of which, have you reconciled with Negenama yet?"
Angus kicked the ground awkwardly, "Yeah, I went to check on him, but he was sleeping when I got there."
Junji nodded, "You should talk to him the first chance you get. Having bad blood with each other is what Saibakuma wants."
Angus agreed with that, but it still didn't make him excited to confront Negenama once he was awake.
"So, how about this third floor," Angus said, trying to change the subject, "Kind of barren, ain't it? Just two classrooms and a room for gambling. Feels arbitrary."
"It is," Junji concurred, "However, I must say that I find the findings in the basement more disturbing."
"I agree," Beatrix piped up, taking a seat on top of one of the desks, "It is scary to think whoever put us here knows so much about us."
Angus looked over at the girl, "You think the guy who wrote up those reports is the guy who put us here? Ichiro Abe?"
Beatrix nodded, "I think he is, yes. Why else would he have all of those papers about us?"
Junji scratched his chin in contemplation, "It wouldn't surprise me if Ichiro Abe was involved with us being trapped here, but something deep inside me says that he isn't the ringleader."
"So, what? Like an accomplice?" Angus questioned, trying to follow Junji's logic.
Junji smiled, "Exactly. He may be the reason that Saibakuma, or at least the person controlling Saibakuma, knows so much about our lives."
"It wouldn't surprise me," Angus sighed, "It'd be just our fucking luck that one of the guys that put us here would be a former Ultimate."
"I'm beginning to become worried that Hope's Peak may've played a part in our incarceration," Junji admitted, "Abe acting on his lonesome would be one thing, but him admitting that the Headmistress of Hope's Peak AND the former Ultimate Oil Baron have been funding his rehabilitation project feels like too much of a coincidence."
Angus crossed his arms, "Eh, I'm not sure I buy that," he said skeptically, "Hope's Peak is as big as it gets, but even they wouldn't be able to get away with kidnapping a bunch of people and making them kill each other. No way." he finished firmly.
"Maybe it all looks normal from the outside," Beatrix thought out loud.
"How do you figure?" Angus asked.
"What if the person who put us here has made it look like everything is normal on the outside?" Beatrix hypothesized. "That could be why nobody has come looking for us."
Angus and Junji both stood in silence, soaking in the girl's words. It made sense, but the idea that nobody out there was looking for them brought a chill down both of their spines.
Angus opened his mouth to say something, but the door to the classroom opening stopped him from doing so.
"There you guys are," Ritsu said, poking her head in through the door, "we were looking for you guys."
"Something up?" Angus asked, turning around to face the prosecutor, who stepped into the room.
"Saibakuma said he wanted to see all of us in the cafeteria," she answered.
Junji raised an eyebrow, "I heard no such announcement."
"Saibakuma was letting us all know in person," she explained, "but I said I'd let the people on the third floor know myself. Ramsey and Tatsuo are already on their way downstairs."
Beatrix hopped off the top of the desk as Ritsu turned around and made her way out of the room. Junji and Beatrix were quick to follow after her, but Angus saw an opportunity he wanted to seize.
"Hold up you two. I got a question for you," he said, causing the two Ultimates to stop and look back at him.
"You guys ever play blackjack?"
The three Ultimates quickly caught up with Ritsu, and they all made their way downstairs together. They passed Guardkuma #3, who was posted up by the library doors on the second floor. The cat-like robot kept its eye trained directly on the group of four as they made their way down the spiral stairs. They opened the cafeteria doors to see the other ten Ultimate all together at a table.
And that included Negenama.
Whether by fate or just bad luck, the first person Angus managed to lock eyes with was Negenama. It looked like Megumi has changed his bandages since Angus had seen him earlier in the day. His nose and eye were still tightly packed with wrappings as the private tutor's one good eye stared through Angus' soul. His face was unreadable as he watched Angus' every step.
Ludivine noticed the four Ultimates and smiled at them, "Took you guys long enough," she said jokingly.
Angus shook his head, pulling himself away from Negenama's gaze to answer, "Yeah, well, it would've been easier if the bear had just made the announcement on the speaker."
"Are you questioning my methods, Mr. Hutchinson?" Saibakuma's shrill voice called out as the tiny bear opened the door to the kitchen and waddled out into the open.
Angus folded his arms, "Yeah, I kind of am. You're shit." he scoffed.
Saibakuma let out a low growl, "You know, it's talk like that that could get a young man like you in trouble, Mr. Hutchinson."
Angus opened his mouth to rebuttal but was stopped by Tatsuo, "Can you just tell us why you called us here?" she grumbled, wishing she was anywhere else in the building.
Saibakuma lept up onto the table that everyone was seated at with a cackle, "Of course, Miss Hojo! I'm here to share some exciting news!"
Ritsu, Angus, Beatrix, and Junji all found open spots at the table as all eyes were on Saibakuma. The bear twirled around on the table, bathing in all of the attention.
"I'm here to let all of you in ooooooon," Saibakuma drawled out before tossing a handful of confetti into the air, "a new MOTIVE!"
The table fell silent, even more than it already was. Saibakuma looked around the table, taking in the shocked faces of the Ultimates. The robot bear sounded like it was trying its hardest not to burst out into hysterics.
"THAT'S BULLSHIT!" Tatsuo launched to her feet, slamming her hands down onto the table.
"You cannot be serious," Feliks mumbled putting his head in his hands.
"You're serious, aren't you?" Joaquin said flatly, "You're really going to try and give us another reason to kill each other."
Saibakuma put a paw to his chin in thought, "Weeeeeelllll...kind of! This isn't necessarily a motive, more so just extra information to make the rest of your time here a bit more interesting. I was going to share this info after the trial, but somebody decided to be a sourpuss and sit in his room all day!" the bear complained, craning his neck to look at Angus.
"Why the fuck didn't you just force me to leave my room?" Angus groaned, "You could've just told me to show up, or else you'd kill me."
Saibakuma gasped, "You think I could do something so callus!? I wanted to give you time to grieve!"
Ludivine rolled her eyes, "Oh, wow, how kind of you." she said sarcastically. Saibakuma chose to ignore her comment.
"Moving on, what I have to say is in regards is to what all of you found in the basement." the bear explained.
"The file?" Ramsey asked, remembering what they'd found.
"That's exactly right, Mr. King!" Saibakuma cheered, "The file AND the videotape! The one's left by Mr. Ichiro Abe!"
"Yeah, what's that all about!" Shimei yelled out, "Why does he have so much information about us?"
Saibakuma giggled, "Why? Why is that? Why do you think, worm? What reason could it be that the former Ultimate Psychologist, who created a rehabilitation program for criminal Ultimates, has detailed forms talking about you?" he mocked.
"I am...not...liking where this is going," Megumi mumbled, clasping her hands together. Saibakuma held his arms out wide, his painted-on smile seeming wider than usual.
"Does anyone want to say it?" he asked the group.
"We're the focus of the rehabilitation project, aren't we?" Negenama said quietly, "That's my we're here, isn't it?" the boy's voice was hoarse like he hadn't spoken in days.
Saibakuma nodded slowly, "That's correct, Mr. Yori," he said in an uncharacteristically quiet voice, "You all were a part of Mr. Abe's grand experiment to fix maggot criminal Ultimates like yourselves!"
Angus knocked on the table out of frustration, "Well, that's just fucking great! Awesome news! Love it, man."
Beatrix shook her head, "That does not make sense. I do not remember such a thing happening."
Saibakuma scoffed, "You aren't in any position to be lecturing people on faulty memories, Miss Wagner."
That made Beatrix clam up as she unconsciously rubbed at her temple. Joaquin was quick to give her a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, Beatrix," he said, "I'm with you. I find it incredibly hard to believe that we would all just collectively and conveniently forget becoming a part of some crazy program."
Saibakuma once again coyly put a paw to his chin in faux contemplation. "It makes sense why you'd be skeptical, Mr. Hidalgo. I mean, how can anyone explain such a large lapse in memory? It'd be terrible to think that I somehow had the ability...I don't know...remove extensive parts of your memories to make you all believe you only got here a week or so ago when in actuality you've all been here for roughly two years."
The table once again fell quiet, even Chaos sat still and watched the bear, although his expression was more of curiosity than it was of shock. The bear, his grin as wide as ever, simply snickered.
"It would be a shame if that were the case."
That's that for this part. Hope you guys liked the new stuff the group gets to explore. Also, don't worry, I have a more legitimate motive planned for this chapter. I just wanted to have Saibakuma stir up a bit more extra drama by having him drop a bombshell. Seriously tho, I hope you guys like the chapter.
Until next time.