ACT 2: NO SMOKE WITHOUT FIRE

Chapter 5: Face your fear

Day 8

Tartarus Keep

Main Hall

7:00

Now that was one hell of a strange night for sure. To be honest, I had had far worst before, namely, the one where Hijiri attempted to murder me only to have the table turn on her only to induce Monokuma's intervention. Nevertheless, I still would not forget this for a while. The party went well at first with the funeral dedicated to our lost friends Akihiko and Kazuki, and then it all went south as Ashley took over and unleashed her mischiefs upon us. I should have known she was up to no good, but the overall somber mood and her own contribution to the party had made me let my guard down; such a mistake would not be repeated.

Once a prankster, always a prankster; never trust a prankster.

I left the party early while I still could. The backlash from all the drinking was pronounced in the morning despite the medicine I took (now I understood what it felt like to be my old man when he woke up from a drunken night) and my head felt like there was an anvil on top of it. With difficulty, I got out of bed and headed for breakfast. Yume, Rin, Ashley, Minako, and Fitzgerald were present. According to Rin, she tried waking up the rest to no avail, ignoring Inori and Hijiri for obvious reasons. From what Fitzgerald said, and the fellow had no reason to lie, there was a scene of an orgy at the bar right after I left, but Rin and Yume intervened just before he could reveal exactly what. From what I caught before Fitzgerald was silenced, it had something to do with Rin, panties, the oven, and the evil children-eating Santa Clause. Needless to say, I had no idea what it was and was perfectly happy to be in the dark about it.

Ashley was petting while feeding a half-sleeping Minako who was using her lap as a pillow. The Ultimate Pranking Queen cast a contemptuous glare at me for backing off from the drinking challenge with Fitzgerald last night. Good Lord, she really wanted to see the end of my kidneys, didn't she?

"What's the damage so far?" I asked as I dug into my pancakes. The question was addressed to Rin because Fitzgerald had already spoken his due and got silenced because of that.

"Aside from the six of us here, the rest are suffering from a hangover," replied Rin. "Ashley's fun might have gone a bit too far last night."

"A bit?" I asked suspiciously.

"Yes, a bit," Ashley replied curtly as she toyed with Minako's hair as though the latter were a feline. "You have any problem with that, Amelda?"

"I doubt it was a bit," muttered Yume.

"I have redistributed the Electronic-IDs back to their owners," Rin went on. "You are the only person who did not hand yours in last night, Amelda."

"Oh, sorry," I apologized. It was a matter of life and death there, so I hope Rin could understand. Ashley's contest was to the detriment of my health and I needed to get out of there as soon as possible. "I forgot. That won't happen again."

"It had better not," Rin agreed.

"Yeah, remember it next time when you chicken out, Amelda," Ashley mocked. I felt slightly frustrated by her derision, but since I was used to such during both my dreadful middle and nightmarish high school years, I got over quickly. That did not mean my eternal animosity against her had lessened. "You don't want to risk the displeasure from the Blue Devil, do you?"

"It was your fault as well for not telling me when I left," I retorted at Rin. "You're supposed to be enforcing this rule, aren't you?"

"You're right," Rin admitted. "That is why I am not blaming you for this. I let my guard down last night as well. Didn't mean to do that." She shot a glare at Fitzgerald who wore the most obnoxious smug ever on his face. "Let's just be more cautious next time, both of us."

"Give me wings….," Minako murmured in her delirious state. "Wings so I could fly high…."

"In any case, we should be prepared," said Fitzgerald.

"Prepared for what?" asked Yume. A hint of creep was palpable in his voice.

"For the next motivation," the Private Detective confirmed our worst fear. "It has been three days since the first murder and trial. I'm sure our happy-go-lucky time won't last long. Sooner or later, that bear will come up with a new method to continue this sick game."

"Let's hope we are ready for it," said Rin grimly. Ashley, Yume, and I nodded in unison. The Ultimate Police Officer was most determined to stop the Mutual Killing Game once and for all, and if she couldn't do it, she would at least delay it as best she could; now was the time where her mettle would be put to the test.

Main Hall

12:00

Breakfast went on normally. Inu, Hokuto, Elize and Kai joined us later on. While Hokuto and Elize had gotten through the hangover pretty well, Inu and Kai looked listless as if they would be felled by a small gust; not everyone here had the alcohol stomach like Fitzgerald and me, though at the very least, their kidneys were in no real danger unlike ours.

The bar was in a total mess after the party last night. Inori suggested we cleaned it up lest we risked the Overlord's displeasure and I agreed. This facility would be used again and it was our duty as a group to keep it tidy. We spent the whole morning mopping the floor and reorganizing the bottles.

Not a lot happened during the day until….

"Attention to all loyal subjects! This is an order from your majestic Overlord Monokuma, Master of Tartarus Keep. Everyone must gather at the main hall immediately. Absenteeism will be met with strict punishments. There is no exception, and that includes you, Hijiri Kaneshiro. I don't care what kind of sanction that snobby police officer puts on you, but if you don't get your ass to the main hall, it is my wrath you will feel."

This was it: there was no doubt that Monokuma would reveal his next motivation soon. I steeled myself as I headed over to the main hall for the briefing along with the others. There were other mysteries to solve such as the dungeon room and the possible connection to Project Odin, but now the elephant in the room was the Mutual Killing Game, and I had no choice but to focus all I had into it. All of our lives were on the line here.

All students made it to the main hall in time. There was clear tension in the air as we stood there waiting for the bear to arrive to deliver his next instruction. The last time motivation was given, two people died and two more injured.

"Your Liege says good morning to you all," said Monokuma cheerfully as he jumped on top of the throne. "Enjoying your stay so far?"

"Like hell we do," El Viento spat.

"It's actually quite pleasant," said Ashley, earning the suspicious gazes of others. "The new facilities are great. So, yeah, thanks for that."

"Why you're welcome," said Monokuma, blushing at Ashley's compliment. "At least some people here have a sense of gratefulness."

"We are indeed grateful for your generosity," I said. "But nothing beats being free."

"Yeah, I would f-f-f-f-forsake every facility in here to get out," said Tatsuya.

"Enough of this, fiend," Rin cut in. "Tell us what you want. I haven't gotten all day talking to you."

"Such insolence," Monokuma said, seething with rage. "Well, I haven't gotten all day talking to you as well."

"Then fucking get on with it," said Hokuto.

"Can we make it fast?" asked Inori. "I don't think I am feeling so well. That sugar rush last night was… a bit too much for me to handle."

"Fine, fine, fine," Monokuma conceded. "Seeing you're so comfortable with yourself, I would like to reinstate the reason why you are here: to participate in this glorious Mutual Killing Game. Don't forget that."

"We haven't," said Kai. "Doesn't mean it has to be on our mind at all times."

"Since some of us are going to die anyway, what's wrong with having a little fun while it still lasts?" said Fitzgerald. His statement was not widely appreciated.

"Nobody else is dying to this game," said Rin sternly.

"If you want to have one of us dead, you will have to come down here to do it yourself," Yume added.

"We are fully prepared for what you have in store for us," Hokuto claimed. "We will not let you win this time."

"That's what you think," Monokuma snickered. "But this is MY castle and you are MY subject and this is MY game we are all playing. Against you, I always win, no matter what. Against the audience, however, that's another story."

"And your point is?" El Viento demanded.

Monokuma giggled. "The vote has been cast and the audience's opinion is clear: they see the Mutual Killing Game as being too civilized all the time, and that leads to boredom. Whatever motives I give you, there is always a justification for the blackened to go out of the group's interest and commit murder. The audience now thinks it is clichés and they thirst for some savage action where contestants are left with only basic instincts. In a world deprived of reasons, a world where men are no different from the animals they look down on, who among you will rise and who will fall?"

"That's… so wrong," Inori whimpered.

"What kind of audience would want something like that?" asked Kai, appalled.

"Animals aren't savage," Minako retorted. "They are just as nature intends them to be, unlike mankind who strives to be what we want to be."

"So, how are you going to do that?" asked Fitzgerald.

"Allow me to demonstrate," said Monokuma. "But first, have a go at your handbook while you still could."

We all took out our Electronic-IDs and, sure enough, there was a notification.

Attention

A new rule has been added

Rule #11: Should a murder take place, the gas will stop. The effects are expected to last an hour later afterward, though your body functions will temporarily decline to avoid further unnecessary casualties. For this scenario, all students must be accounted for before the Body Announcement is played. Damage to property is now sanctioned.

"Body announcement?" I asked.

"You didn't know?" asked Yume. "Oh yeah, you were knocked out last time, weren't you."

"Basically, whenever three people discover a body, an announcement will be played to let us know a murder had taken place," said Elize. "It ruined my sleep last time, so this one had better occur at a better time."

"The rule also mentions gas," said Kai. "What gas?"

"Oh, this one, of course," replied Monokuma gleefully. As he finished, greenish and yellow gas poured from the throne and, before anyone could react, we were engulfed by it. I had no idea what kind of gas he was using, but the world spun around my head as I inhaled the thing and I began to lose my consciousness. My eyes were heavy. My whole body felt heavy for my two legs to stand on. I collapsed, gasping for air. Around me, none of the students escaped the gas.

"What is… the meaning of this?" I asked.

"You're going to… gas us all to death?" Tatsuya stuttered. "But, you said…"

"Knockout gas," said Inu. Being exposed to dangerous chemicals all the time, the fellow was slightly resilient to this, but not by much. Slowly, he was losing it like the rest of us. "And… something else. There is… something else in there…. I don't know what it is."

"Stop… this," Hijiri moaned.

"Can't… breathe," said Kai shakily.

At this point, the situation was hopeless. Our consciousness was quickly slipping away. The surprised gas attack meant we were caught off guarded and now all at the mercy of Monokuma.

"I shall not go down without a fight!" Screaming, the Ultimate Luchador rushed towards the leering Monokuma even as her strength was slowly bled away. I did not see whether she succeeded or not. I was already down at that point, as were all of my friends around me.

Unknown place

Unknown time

By the time I woke up, the gas was still all over the place. However, the color this time was pure green without a tinge of yellow. Though my head was still dizzy, I had no urge to fall asleep at this point, so I assumed the yellow gas was the knockout element Inu identified. As for the green gas that still permeated the hallway right now, I had no idea what it was. There was no smell or anything.

As I stood up and straighten myself, I realized I was not in the main hall of Tartarus Keep anymore and none of my friends was with me. I was alone, in a strange corridor that looked awfully familiar. There were no medieval decorations around here, only an empty hallway with doors leading to many rooms. It was dark but for the flickering light bulbs on the ceiling which barely provided enough for one spotlight at the middle of the hallway. Walking closer revealed the floor was made of cement instead of marble and had no carpet on top. This couldn't be Tartarus Keep, could it? Then again, with all the preparations Monokuma had made and the unlimited amount of funds at his disposal, he simply could have fabricated this place.

Then it hit me that the rooms on either side were classrooms. All the signs were written in English and there was not a single Japanese to be found, so I assume this could not be Hope's Peak Academy. Also, given the layout, this looked more like a school in the West rather than…. My eyes opened in horror and my heart skipped a beat when I realized where in world I was.

"It… can't be," I muttered to myself. "No. I refuse to believe this."

Pillerson Middle School. There was a lot of memory I had with this place, most of which I didn't want to remember. I hated my middle and high school years with a passion. It was a wasted opportunity for me when I was busy studying in the library instead of joining the football or basketball or soccer team and get all the ladies. I was pretty fit at that point, having lost most of the weight that had been following me for ten years thanks to extensive gym training and a better diet. However, middle school was the worst where I had to constantly deal with immature people who thought it was fun to torment others for their differences. Though I had been bullied in elementary school before, this was the place where I had become mostly empathetic to suffering, be it mine or someone else. The teachers were all lazy and I had people stealing my stuff almost all the time. My mother reprimanded me harshly for losing my items, but what could I have done when confronted by the teacher's pet backed up by people on the football team which I regretted not joining?

I wanted to forget my middle school years, but for some reason, they had come back to haunt me. Here I was. Here was the place. And it was a thousand times worse than I remembered; it was like something churned out from hell itself.

Wandering through the hallway I spotted a plastic bag lying around. My instinct told me it was nothing good, but my curiosity took over and I had a look at it. What I found shocked me to the core. It was a pencil case with my name on it. Mom bought it for me on my tenth birthday. I cherished it. It served me well for three years until it got stolen when I was thirteen. I never knew who did it. I was never able to find it. I thought it was lost forever. I remembered crying a lot when I came home that day.

And now, the pencil case was right in my hand. Still with my name written on it. Still with three pens, two pencils, one ruler, and one eraser just as I had put them in. Still in good condition despite its age.

I couldn't help it. I cried as I did seven years earlier. To find something so precious after all those years, it was too much for me to handle. The tears just came out, naturally, like an old friend returning.

Then a raucous voice rang out, sending chills down my spine, "Found ya!"

Wiping my tears, I turned to see a figure limp into the spotlight where the room was most illuminated. The human, if someone could call him such, wore tattered clothes and his skin was sickly yellowish. He didn't walk normally but limped with a good left leg and right leg that was bent at an awkward angle. The most terrifying feature, however, was probably his face which seemed to be coming apart like a snake peeling off its skin. Blood and pus dripped from his misshapen face. Only of his eyes were open, the other lost in the mound of corrupted flesh.

There were many things I wish I could forget back in middle school but the homeless leper living under the bridge who leered at me when I walked to school was something else. It haunted me for many years. The leper was there, always, under the bridge, grinning a hideous grin at all times and doing things homeless people normally did. He would beat himself with a hammer, bleed and start laughing at the way he didn't feel anything from that. I heard rumors about him, that he raped a girl at my school and dumped her body into the sewer after giving her whatever disease she was carrying. When they finally found the girl, she had been so horribly altered that her body literally came in pieces as they tried to extract her. For want of evidence, mainly as a result of the state of the body, the leper could not be arrested, so his menace continued. Every day going to school I would keep an eye out for the leper out of fear he would get closer and closer day by day until he was within distance to pounce on me.

And then one day, the leper was gone. I was in relief. After all, people like that couldn't live very long.

"Ya think I wuz dead, didn't ya?" the leper sniggered as he moved closer to me. "Ya think ya saw the last of old leper-under-the-bridge. Well, I'm here now, in the flesh, whatever left of it, and I'm gonna fuck you up like I did that girl years ago."

"This is not true," I exclaimed as a surge of panic rushed through my veins. "You're not real. None of this is real. This is just a dream, a nightmare. When I wake up, everything will be fine and you will be gone."

"That is when ya wake up," said the leper. "I assure ya, this nightmare has just begun."

Amelda Douglas Mason vs The leper?

FIGHT

The degenerate human charged at me and I backed off. The corridor was narrow so there was no way to evade that. Despite the corrosions on his body, the leper was surprisingly agile and quickly had me pinned to the wall. I could feel his disease-ridden hand grasping on my jacket. I could feel the force as it smashed me into the nearest wall. He vomited bile and blood and I raised my hand to block them from getting on my face. It was slimy, smelly, disgusting, and worst of all, contagious.

Everything horrid and abominable my middle school-self imagined about the leper, even the ones I thought were clearly exaggerated when I got older, was right here in front of me. I watched in horror as the skin of my hand covered in vomit started to change as if it was being melted away by some sort of acid.

"Sweet dream, boi," the leper snorted.

"I choose my bedtime around here," I snarled back.

Gathering my strength, I pushed back the assailant with a headbutt to his nose and the leper fell back, sneezing unholy liquids from his nose. The leper might have been fast, but patently he was not as strong as I was. Panic soon gave way to reasons and my talent as the Ultimate Accountant kicked in. Though the risk was quite significant and the outcome where I lost this fight unthinkable, I was certain that the situation was going to go my way. I was stronger and smarter and more knowledgeable than I was back in middle school, whereas the leper was the same as I had remembered him back then. But most of all, the Mutual Killing Game had honed my skill even further, courtesy of Hijiri and Fitzgerald.

"Last warning: back off!" I warned.

"I'll give ya a dollar for candy if ya let me suck ya dick," the leper double-downed.

The leper came again. This time, I was ready and delivered a blow to the top of his head with my elbow as soon as he got within striking distance but just before he could do anything nasty in return. Howling in pain, the leper staggered backward. Taking advantage of the opening, I ram my head into his stomach and gored him into a wall. A few punches to the chest and stomach later and I successfully beat the fighting out him. The leper slipped down and sat with his back on the wall, defeated.

Result: Amelda Wins!

Wiping my vomit-covered hand on my shirt, I realized it was too late. To my wordless horror, the infection had caught on and already the first changes were visible. I wondered if the effect was local or it would spread to the rest of my body, turning me into….

No. This was NOT how it worked, leprosy! I couldn't have caught it just by getting vomited over by one with it. It took months, even years, for the full symptoms of leprosy to arrive, not in a span of a few minutes. This defied medicine and science, only conforming to the idiotic imagination of a twelve years old boy named Amelda Douglas Mason.

Yet, it was exactly what was happening here and there was no denying.

"Stay away from me, you sick bastard," I hissed at the downed leper.

"Ya think ya won?" the leper chuckled hideously as he sat with his back against the wall, no longer willing to fight. "It gets us all, ya know, the sickness. It got me and so very soon it'll get ya too."

"Leprosy is not like that," I said, trembling in fear. "You can't give me the disease just through contact like that. It's impossible."

"Wait and see," the leper continued. "Ya teachers lied to ya and so did ya books. One day, ya'll look like an old leper, sound like an old leper, and feel just like old leper right here. And on that day,…."

"Shut up!" I barked and fled, letting the leper's taunts fall on deaf ears.

I would not be like him, I said to myself. I would not be like him. I would NEVER be like him.

I ran as fast as I could. I didn't see where I was going, just running. I didn't know where I was going, just running. I ran into one of the classrooms but hit a door instead. For a moment, I was confused seeing the door wasn't closed just a moment before. The next thing I knew, every other classroom's door in the corridor was closed. This whole nightmarish landscape was reshaping itself somehow. I didn't care how or why, just kept on running. I ran into someone as a result.

"Ouch," my sister groaned as she pulled herself up. She was exactly as I saw her back in that room when the first motivation was introduced with that haggard look, dirty clothes and hair, and one fewer arm. Alice started to cry, as soon as she saw me. She didn't cry a lot, but when she did, it meant something had gone horribly wrong. "I-I-I'm sorry…."

At first, I was overcome by fear. This place had given me nothing except that. First, it used my worst dread as a child, and now it showed me what I was trepid of the most as an adult. Alice was the last person I would like to meet right now. I didn't want to see her, not like this. Part of me wanted to keep running and pretend I never saw my very own sister here. But what good could that do?

There was no other option at this point. I had to make a stand. Even cowards like me had to do it at a certain point in their life. It was better to be wounded, even fall, as a warrior while confronting the issue rather than be a big fat chicken for the rest of my life.

So I stayed.

"W-w-what happened?" I asked.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It's not my fault. It's not my fault. It's NOT!" Alice was in some sort of catatonic state. I was in a catatonic state myself, but unlike her, I had better control over it. Asking her further would only deteriorate the situation at this point. Nothing made sense anyway, so even if I knew her problem it was likely that I would not be able to come up with a solution myself.

"Everything will be fine," I soothed her. "I'm here now. Your strong and smart big brother is here. You don't need to be afraid anymore."

Alice stepped back as I approached her, staggering from the lack of balance out of having only one arm. "Don't… Please don't…."

I caught her in an embrace. And we both broke into tears.

I didn't know how long we just sat there. Perhaps hours had passed before Alice passed out and I deemed it was time we were on the move. Carrying her, I realized one of my hands was wet with some yellowish liquid whereas I thought I had wiped the leper's vomit all out before. It struck me that the pus was not from the leper: it was from me. I was oozing this foul thing. I felt the need to panic as I imagined what I would look like once leprosy took its full ugly effect on the rest of my body. Then I saw my sister in my arms, sleeping peacefully and her visage without pain and worry. I knew I had to act strong, for both of our sakes.

This place was taking a toll on my mentality, but as long as I had someone to protect, someone precious to me in my arms, I was determined.

Suddenly, my thoughts became clearer and I remembered how I got here. Monokuma. Tartarus Keep. The Mutual Killing Game. The strange gas. I might not be seeing things the way they were supposed to be, but I was more conscious of the situation I was in. Perhaps once having faced my worst fear, I was able to gather myself better.

One thing I could see right now was the fact there were sixteen classrooms even distributed on either side. Just like the residential area in Tartarus Keep. Perhaps Monokuma had not transported me anywhere. Perhaps this was Tartarus Keep all along but I was only seeing it differently.

The leper was still there, sitting, doing nothing just as I had remembered him. I ignored him and his taunts. Putting my assumption to the test, I took out my Electronic-ID and use it on the door where I thought my room was. It didn't have the plate bearing my name on, but I could recall its position in the hallway. To my relief, the door opened, revealing not a classroom for middle school students, but a bedroom inside. It was my room. I saw it for what it was. The toxin was having diminished effects on me.

All I had to do now was to enter it and it would be my safe haven for the rest of the motivation. And of my friends, I doubted I could help them at this point. The gas was still taking its toll me no matter how much I had grown resilient to it. What if my next fear was something I could not beat? What if my classmates could not be reasoned? I saw a chance for me and my sister to be safe; I had to prioritize family members over people I just met a week ago, even if they were my friends.

As I resigned in the safe refuge that was my private room, the others would have to fend for themselves. I pray others would gather their wits and do the same thing. If no one could get inside another person's room, murder could not happen. Then again, I simply had no idea how long the gassing would last.

I put Alice onto the bed and lied down in a far corner. My hand was growing worst and now my whole left arm was on the verge of total corruption. I could already feel the skin beginning to macerate. I wondered how long I had left before the transformation was complete, turning me into one of the monsters I so despised. I wondered how my family and my friends would react when next time they saw me I would be having shortened fingers and toes, tainted skin oozing with pus, and an overall appearance that resembled a zombie. For now, however, I had to remain marginally calm. I didn't want Alice to catch the disease as well no matter how much I wanted to embrace her, to not let her go for even a second. In the end, reasoning trumped emotions and I stayed away from my sister while keeping an eye out for her.

I waited. And waited. And waited.

And fell asleep.

Residence Area

20:00

I woke up after some time. My head was much clearer now and I noticed the green fog had all but disappeared. The first thing I did was checking on my sister who was sleeping in my bed to make sure she was all right. To my surprise, the person slumbering soundly on my bed was not Alice, but one of my classmates, Minako Yuza. Her left arm was bleeding from a deep gash and I cursed myself for having forgotten to treat it earlier. From my point of view while still under the effect of the gas, Alice – Minako was missing the whole arm and when I last saw Alice four days ago, the injury had been fully closed.

Better now than never, I headed for the bathroom and filled a bucket with water. Having cleaned up the wound, I wrapped it up with my towel while trying not to disturb the Ultimate Herbalist in the process. I was no doctor, but it would be great if I could get either Inori or Rin on this; the former obviously was adept in healing and the latter probably knew a thing or two about first-aid. There was still medical equipment in the warehouse as far I was concerned.

I checked my whole body, especially the hand vomited by the leper. Sure enough, there was no sign that I had been infected with the disease. It was all a hoax, after all. Yet, it had felt so real at that point that I still vividly remembered how terrified I was.

An ear-jarring shriek made me jump. Somebody was either in trouble or they had just witnessed something so horrific. The fact the gas was no longer in place meant a murder had occurred, just as Monokuma had promised, and I was overcome by a feeling of dread as I prepared to open the door to the hallway. The nightmarish visions induced by the gas was horrifying enough, they at the vest least, they weren't real; the Mutual Killing Game, however, was very real, and the deaths of my classmates were exactly what I feared most at the moment.

"Hanako… please don't leave me," Minako mumbled in her delirious state. "I'm… scared."

"Don't be," I replied, patting her on the shoulder a few times to calm her. "Even the bravest person has their fear. There are many things I am afraid of myself. What we need to do is overcome it and do not let it dictate what we should be doing."

"Do you think… I can?" Minako asked.

"Of course," I answered, smiling. "You're a brave girl. I have seen your stunts, how you swing from trees to trees like a wild gorilla. It takes a strong mind to perform them."

"Yeah,… I guess so," Minako said and went back to sleep.

With that, I let go of her and headed outside. Fitzgerald and Rin were in the hallway and I was glad to see both of them alright. The police officer was clearly shaken by what just happened. She stood like a statue and glared at the wall with dead eyes while panting heavily. I let her be; at this point, I was too hurried to try to snap her out it. Fitzgerald himself looked clearly disturbed, which was quite unusual considering his cool demeanor, but he looked like he could be more responsive if I asked.

"Fitzgerald, are you all right?" I asked.

"Yeah," said the Ultimate Private Detective. He regained his composure as he addressed me. "I think I'm fine. Further examinations might be required, though. You hid in your room the whole time. That's a smart move right there."

"Minako is with me," I said. "She's asleep. What… just happened?"

"What do you think happened?" Fitzgerald echoed, a dirty smile flickering on his face. "We all got smoked, courtesy of Monokuma and an old friend of mine, a chemist and psychologist by the name of Jonathan Crane."

"Fear gas?" I asked. I didn't bother asking why Fitzgerlad considered an Arkham Asylum inmate an old friend. "That's what we have been inhaling so far?"

"There is no doubt about it," said Fitzgerald. "Looks like Monokuma had perfected the recipe too. The original Fear Gas only creates illusions while messing with the nerves to inflict fear directly. This one actually makes you think your sanity is in check while it happens and that your interactions with whatever illusions it conjures are real. Quite fascinating."

Before I could argue against his twisted sense of fascination, the door to the gallery burst open and El Viento came in carrying unconscious Tatsuya and Inori. Inori didn't look like she had sustained any injury but Tatsuya was another story. His clothes were shredded to the point he was mostly naked and there were numerous bruises on his body. The Ultimate Delivery Boy looked as if he had been on the receiving end of an angry mob.

"My God, what happened?" I gasped.

"I don't know," El Viento replied. "I saw these two in the main hall and got here as fast as I could. Tatsuya, I don't think he's looking very well. Yume and Hijiri are helping out Inu in the kitchen. I saw Hijiri just went to the warehouse to get some medicine for Inu. I didn't trust her, but I think she's making amends for her prior action."

"Bring them to their room," said Fitzgerald. "We'll deal with them after we get the situation sorted out."

El Viento complied without question, using Tatsuya's handbook to open his room and placed him inside, covering him with a blanket. She did the same with Inori. She then looked at the still stupefied Rin and asked, "What the hell is wrong with her?"

"She's having flashbacks on the ghost of last Christmas," Fitzgerald replied callously.

"Now is not the time for jokes," I admonished. "We're in serious shit here. I heard someone screaming. Where did it come from?"

"That way," said Fitzgerald, pointing at the direction of the newly added area. "Maybe we should have a look together. What do you say?"

El Viento was frustrated. "Why didn't you mention earlier? One of our friends could be in trouble right now. We need to help them."

"Come on," I urged.

Bar

20:30

Leaving those who could not join us behind, Fitzgerald, El Viento, and I entered the bar and found Kai sitting on one of the counter tending to her injured feet. She was weeping from the agony as well as her inability to do much about her injury due to the lack of equipment available and the fact she couldn't walk anywhere with her feet so thoroughly shredded. Apparently, the gas had driven her to walk barefooted on broken glass shards. The floor was littered with several smashed bottles and many of the pieces glistened with a crimson hue.

"We need to pull those out," said Fitzgerald, pointing at the shards still embedded in Kai's soles. If those weren't dealt with soon, bandaging would be minimally effective and infection would kick in. He grabbed one of the shards, examined the sharpness of its top, and approached the Ultimate Ballerina. "I can do that. Trust me. It's going to hurt. Are you ready for this?"

"Just do what you can," Kai moaned. "It hurts a lot. Please,… help me with this."

"I'll do anything I can," Fitzgerald replied. "Just hold still." I took back my earlier prejudice against the Ultimate Private Detective. He had both the useful skills and the willingness to apply them for our cause; if only he were a bit more considerate to others' feelings.

"I'll head over to the storage for some equipment," El Viento suggested.

"Wait," said Kai. "I heard a scream. It came from the library. I think it was Hokuto. Maybe you should go and help him too. I know he accidentally almost killed us a few times, including me, but he's still our friend."

"All right," I said. "Fitzgerald, stay here with Kai. El Viento and I will enter the library and see what's going on."

"No time to waste then," Fitzgerald agreed.

Library

20:30

El Viento and I arrived at the library to bear witness to a scene darker than even the worst nightmare.

Hokuto was sitting in a corner, shaking wildly, a hand on his mouth. Unlike Rin, he had every reason to be afraid of what he saw: it was REAL after all. In the middle of the room, Eliza was kneeling. The Ultimate Tinker was covered in blood from head to toe, how much of it her own I was not sure. The marble floor surrounding her was likewise drenched in blood. She did not make a single motion as we approached her.

"Eliza, are you all right?" I asked.

"I didn't do it," Eliza replied with increased volume. "It wasn't me. It wasn't me. It wasn't me. IT WASN'T ME!" The fact she was still alive and able to speak meant not all the blood could have been her. Which led us to….

"God have mercy," I exclaimed. The Ultimate Luchador watched in wordless horror as the scene unfolded. Next to where Eliza was kneeling was a body so messily butchered that it could have been simply meat, bones, and intestines meshed together in a macabre manner defying all senses of decency. Within the disarray, there was no way to tell which part was a limb, which part torso and which part the head; even the skull and ribs had been cracked opened by brute force, and their contents spilled forth. What gave away its human origin were a few pieces of fabric still clinging on to it even if they too were shredded like Enron's audit papers. Whoever that was didn't have an easy time in their post-mortem.

"I didn't… do it," Eliza continued to stammer. "You have… got to… believe me."

My heart sank. The large concentrations of blood on Eliza's hands and mouth meant more than that she had been within proximity of this atrocity: she was the one committing it. Like some wicked cannibal, the Ultimate Tinker had chowed down on the corpse like a predator while under the gas's effect, and upon coming to her senses and realizing what she had done, she simply snapped.

Without examining the body, which I really didn't want to, I could already guess who it was.

The only person who had not been seen nor mentioned as alive by anyone.

Ashley Wiltarrow.

Author's note: Here it is, the next motivation AND murder. I am trying something different this time. Unlike most scenarios so far in both the games and other fanfics around here, the students do not act in their right state of mind this time as Monokuma literally gassed them to make them commit the murder. The investigation and trial will follow a different format compared to last time, focusing less on Truth Bullets seeing that most people have little idea what they were doing during the motivation and murder, which you will see soon.

This chapter is also extra dark and creepy, so beware. I drew a lot of inspiration from IT (I finished the long-ass book and watched the movie). They are both good. I recommend the movie only, however, as the book can be difficult to swallow at some points and the movie is more approachable.

Thanks for all your support. Abitat Eco and Glimmershine, if you are ready this, I hope you can start reviewing my story as well. Take your time, but please don't let it drag on forever.

Until next time.