Chapter 1-7
A Bloody Composition
Everyone was shocked, feeling like they had been hit by lightning, staring at Jin as she stood at her podium. The talon-like arm blade was gleaming in the light, the blood almost neon in all their eyes.
"Guys," Odelios hollered, pointing at Jin's talon blade, "I found the murder weapon!"
"Wh-what's going on?" Kimiko asked, to no one in particular but wanting an answer nonetheless. "Jin, what's with the assassin blade?"
"Oh, I'm no assassin, trust me," Jin remarked, her eyes darting all over the place as she made sure no one tried anything funny. "I am an artist. This is just one of my tools."
"Wait, everyone please calm down," Angelique said, raising her hands as she glanced around at the graduates. Ken had his hand on his sword, Samson had his hand ready near his hip. "Please… don't anyone do anything rash!"
"I must ask that no one attack the Deviant Tourist," Monokuma remarked. "If you do so, I might have to execute anyone trying to execute the possibly executed too!"
"How horrible," Monophanie whimpered, shivering in apprehension.
"Let's try to be reasonable here," Shuuya said aloud, staring down Jin. "Why don't we let our artist explain herself?"
"Oh ho ho, where to start!" Jin cackled, eyes flashing with a kind of sadistic glee that was hard for most of the people there to look at. They were practically radiating malice. "Where do I begin with… explanation?"
"Why don't we start with an easy question then?" Eisei said, still one of the two people who weren't apprehensive or downright terrified. "Why did you kill Takeo Onishi?"
"Good question, cute little man! Oh, I wish I had slaughtered you instead, you would have made such a beautiful statue. Your cute face and sweet hair, and-"
"I understand, you want to kill me, and I am highly concerned. Please just answer the question."
"Well!" Jin declared, leaning against the podium as she stared at her talon blade, but keeping her eyes on everyone else too. "One of the biggest reasons was simply that he was such a dangerous target. Ultimate Mercenary, who would have thought that a little girl like me could kill someone so well-trained, so combat oriented, so…
"So very stupid," she laughed, a cold and brutal one, and continued. "Though maybe that blindness, just following orders like 'follow me, we're gonna talk about security behind Town Hall.' And of course, the truth and ability that Monokuma gave me."
"It really is true then?" Saiko asked, almost locked up in fear as she stared at Jin. "You became the Ultimate Taxidermist at 9 PM?"
"I found out shortly afterwards, noticed a half-mauled Monokuma running around, and I decided to finish the job. And when I was ripping the stuffing out of that annoying little critter, I found out how easy it was to mold him into a statue.
"It was real, the power that Monokuma blessed me with was real. I felt so alive, so ready to kill to keep it, to earn more even! So I pretty much winged the plan, thinking that simplicity and a fake note to bolster the idea that someone did this past midnight."
"But," Pyrrha stammered, "but you committed murder for it? You would kill all of us? You… you would have gotten your brother killed!"
Jin scoffed. "So the hell what? He's such a useless and stupid, talentless brother."
It was Yejoon's turn to scoff now. "That's just mean, my dear sister."
There was a rumbling growl from Jin, and then she swung her free arm at Yejoon. Only those who had highly keen eyesight could see something fly through the air.
A slender throwing knife embedded deep into the stone wall that was a few yards behind Yejoon's head. The fox-styled artist had tilted his head to the side, the feather-shaped dagger having missed by an inch; the knife was several inches in solid stone.
"Really now?" Yejoon remarked, as several people cried out in shock. "Now you're being mean and unreasonable!"
"What the hell was that?" Ishiku declared. "You carry throwing knives and hidden blades? And you say you're not an assassin?"
Jin had been fuming over missing her brother, her lop-sided mouth still swapping between scowling and smirking. "I told you, I'm not an assassin. I'm an artist. I paint and craft and make things beautiful.
"And I also make people beautiful too."
"My concern amplifies," Eisei said, "but I must ask, are you saying you made Takeo beautiful?"
"Yes, of course I did. I make all of my victims beautiful!"
It felt like time stopped for so many of the people inside of that trial room. Some of them were shaking in fear, and only one of them dared to speak. "Please tell me," Hara whimpered, "that you're exaggerating."
Jin stared at her, then glanced around at everyone. She pushed her mask up with the tip of her talon blade. There was blood smeared on her face, like war paint, that almost covered the bags under her eyes.
And those eyes were brimming with malice, sadism, the radiant energy of despicable desire.
"I'm not an assassin, I'm an artist; however, there are those who would call me a serial killer. I suppose it is a fitting title, though I don't really like it…"
She tapped her chin with the point of her talon blade, and said, "After all, serial just seems like a pattern, like on a quilt. My artistic repertoire is not a quilt, it is more like a cloud that blankets an entire city, or even a country."
"What are you implying?" Crystal asked, crossing her arms as she stared Jin down.
"Is it really that hard for you all to follow? You want my kill count? It's one hundred and fifty-three. Oh, wait, one hundred and fifty-four, counting Takeo. Though there is a bit of speculation on that exact number, due to the art gallery numbers."
Shinobu made a noise that sounded like she was choking. "The… the art galleries? You told me that they burned down during the Tragedy!"
"Oh they did. Mostly due to the chains around the doors, the massive amount of flammables hidden throughout the building, and the sprinklers systems disabled… oh, the screams. It was delightful, so enrapturing, so primal, so full of life…
"Before they withered away, strangled, unable to breathe, but still able to feel agony. So very…"
An ecstatic shudder rippled through her body, with saliva leaking from the side of her mouth. "Oh, so amazing, so pristine."
"Okay now," Kimiko yelled, waving her hands around frantically, "she's fucking insane!"
"No, I'm just misunderstood," Jin replied, wiping the drool from her mouth. "Death is gorgeous, death is art. It all started with my parents."
"We do not," Ken shouted, clinging his hand around the hilt of the sword, "wish for details!"
"Oh, but it is such a wonderfully detailed story! My mother, the way she screamed and pleaded, the way my father begged us to stop…
"Yejoon, you remember how he asked us to stop hurting Mother, don't you?"
"WHAT?!" Fiora shrieked, her head turning towards the fox-styled artist. "Y-y-you…"
"Oh, now you're going to rat me out, dear sister?" Yejoon remarked. "You are showcasing the worst amount of poor sportsmanship."
"Hold on a fucking second," Aka hollered, stomping her foot. "Are you saying that you two are mass murderers who killed your own parents?!"
"I'd like to offer to paint you a picture," Jin said, rolling her talon blade hand around in an impatient gesture, "but I did already. Does Takeo's hollowed-out corpse scream out a normal killing to you people?
"That's how I got away with it for so long. I'm an artist, I changed it up, I did different styles and ways and methods. And it was so damn successful, so wondrous, so delicious…
"Oh, and I think my IDIOT BROTHER!"
She whipped her arm again, and another feather-shaped throwing dagger soared across the area. Yejoon bowed his head, and the dagger embedded in the stone next to the other one.
"Did fine too, I guess. He didn't blow our cover."
"You know, I should be the one mad at you," Yejoon said, raising his head as he stared forward and not at his sister, crossing his arms. "You not only jumped ahead with our plans, but you were going to get me killed too."
"You act like this comes as a BIG SHOCK!"
Another swish, another casual dodge, another dagger impaled slightly between and below the other two.
"Monokuma," Anzu cried out, "can't you stop her?"
"I said no one is allowed to harm the Deviant Tourist, the DT can do what she wants. Besides, she's missing, isn't she?"
There was a fourth swish, and then one of the daggers impaled in-between Monokuma's eyes. He wobbled back and forth, and flopped down on the throne face-first with a death gurgle.
"Waaaaah," Monotaro shouted, "Father! She killed him again!"
"Damn, this is so metal," Monokid declared with a laugh, banging on his guitar.
Monosuke was hiding behind Monodam, who didn't move an inch during all of this. Monophanie had been puking over the side of the stand ever since Jin had started her history of violence.
"And now you're being petty," Yejoon said, holding up a finger. "Keep that up, and you may not have enough for when your execution comes around."
"Oh save it, stupid big brother," Jin snarled, and she flicked her wrist. She had throwing daggers between her fingers, three in total. "Anyway, I've been talking about all my works of art, and I said why I killed Takeo. Are we done?"
"I have more questions, at the risk of my health," Eisei said, taking out a lollipop and putting it in his mouth. "If you will?"
"Hmm, sure, for the cute little man, I could," Jin said, smirking quite unpleasantly at the dentist.
Eisei shivered but didn't lose his cool demeanor. "A plan was mentioned between the two of you. What plan is this? You couldn't have known about talent being given away by Monokuma."
"Oh yes, you see, about that…"
Jin closed her eyes, and then opened them again. Everyone saw the change, they were more than aware of it. Anzu reacted the most, shrieking in horror.
The spirals of Despair were swirling in Jin's eyes. The artist cackled, threw her head back, and then blinked with a deep breath. Her eyes went back to normal, as normal as they could be for a cold-hearted serial killer.
"The Tragedy was one of the greatest canvases there was, Despair being a paint that you can brush with. It's gorgeous, it's so beautiful, but it is also… so very sloppy," she described. "I mean, wonton death and violence, sometimes just a clean kill with no flair or care."
"Oh God," Hikari whimpered, "I hate so much how she gets poetic over it…"
"Despair is one of the most wondrous types of material I could ask for," Jin continued, having not heard or cared about what the model said. "But the thing is, we needed to learn more about it. It is like tasting the perfect meal, or just smelling it, but we just haven't had it yet!
"Then we found out that Penjar had something to do with the origins of Despair, something here that was more prevalent than the corruption and destruction of Hope's Peak Academy. And it was far too good of a temptation to resist…
"Lucky me! I was one of those that found out how real the power is, how strong it has become with my own abilities! With this capability, I could turn so many more victims into the most glorious works of art!"
Letting out a gleeful noise that sounded a lot like an owl hooting, she shook her head and cleared her throat. "However, you all decided to make it so much more difficult for me. My own STUPID BROTHER!"
She raised her arm with the throwing daggers, but hesitated and lowered it; Yejoon didn't even budge. "You… I could have gotten away with it, Emanuel had put together a case against that piece of shit movie maker that I didn't even plan for. It was perfect, but no! You defended her! You betrayed me!"
"I hate you! You've always been jealous of me and my style, and how I made the killing blow on our parents! It's such a shame I didn't kill you, a bigger shame that I couldn't kill more of you!"
"Now you're just throwing a tantrum," Yejoon remarked.
Jin heaved and strained, then groaned in frustration. There was a few moments of silence, and then she laughed. It was such a sickening laugh, one that made many of them shiver.
"You want to know one of the best parts? Takeo knew more than he let on. You see, I wanted a little information…"
She tapped her lip with her talon blade. "Would you all like to know the last thing he said? I can always leave out the parts when he was begging and pleading for his life."
"Hey," Samson barked furiously, "there's no way he did that!"
"The first stab did go right into his spine. It's a stab that I have perfected over time, where I reach towards his back, being the cute little Korean girl who wants to give the big strong man a reassuring pat…
"And then the talon blade comes out, and cuts into his spine. He cannot walk all of a sudden, the flailing is so cute and special. Takeo tried desperately to go for his knife, I stabbed his arm. It took several stabs to get him to calm down…"
Jin circled around Takeo, the bleeding man heaving in agony. He had blood staining his shirt more and more, his arms had been mangled so that he couldn't raise them. He couldn't stand, but he showed no fear as Jin dragged her talon blade, coated with his blood, against his body.
"Now, this is just a guess," Jin cooed, "but I'm thinking you may be part of the conspiracy here. After all, a highly decorated mercenary who cannot help but take orders? You are part of the reason we all came here."
Takeo glared up at her, feeling that blade cut into his skin. He didn't even squint at more of his blood spilling. His body was still struggling, but his legs and arms weren't reacting.
"You… you really think I'll talk?" Takeo said. "I've been trained to not talk."
"Oh, I have no doubt about that. See, the thing is, I am going to kill you. Make no mistake, I am going to slaughter you, because the motive is true; I want to keep my power.
"And the only thing stopping me from stabbing your eyes out, filleting your nose and ears, splitting your tongue, cutting off your fingers one at a time… shall I go on? I think you got my point, but I can sweeten the deal."
Takeo still didn't react, his breathing becoming a bit more shallow. "You want me to talk, and in return, you'll kill me quickly? Think I haven't heard that one before?"
"You'll never walk again, the wound I gave you assures that; I've done it before, let one live just to make sure it does. Your career as a mercenary is over, your life is over, even if I just let you live.
"How's life in a wheelchair, when your ARMS!"
She shanked him deep in the shoulder, and he flinched. Hissing in pain, he felt his arm go even more numb; he couldn't lift it entirely. Her scream didn't seem to alert any attention.
"Arms won't work, legs won't work. What a future for you, you cripple for life; how sad, how tragic, especially if I leave you alive…
"And decide that I want to shank someone else for the murder; after all, crippling you isn't against the rules, so I can do this with another victim. Maybe I can kill that clown who's taken such a liking to you, or that redhead who's so sweet on you?"
Jin reached over, her blade was an inch near his eyeball. "Imagine how pretty that redhead will be when I start slicing her part, piece by piece. Or if I carve a jack o' lantern in that dumbass's face…"
Takeo hissed in a breath, and spat out, "What… do you want to know?"
"Good boy, being the brave mercenary throwing his life into peril for someone else! Now, tell me, what part do you play in all of this?"
The blue-haired mercenary coughed, then spoke. "I was contacted by someone to bring a package here, then told that I could investigate it. I was paid… a lot… to find out the answers of this place."
"So you don't know about Despair, or the secrets of Penjar? What a shame. Do you have anything else for me?"
Pyrrha and Odelios stood frozen in place as if they had been made into taxidermy statues. They opened their mouths to speak, but were too terrified to do so; at least, Pyrrha was.
"Oh, I'd like to see you try!" Odelios declared, swinging his rubber chicken around like nunchucks. "I'm the Ultimate Clown AND the Ultimate Barista! I'll serve you the worst cup of coffee with circus popcorn in it!"
While almost everyone was too scared to move, Isaac had hurried over to the one he loved. He stood next to Hara, and held her close. Due to how violent the artist was going, the reporter wasn't asking any questions.
"Wait a minute here," Yitro snapped, staring down the owl-themed artist. "What was this package that Takeo was talking out?"
Jin fluttered her eyes, and took a deep breath. "Aww, let me tell the story at my own pace, handsome. I promise you, I'll tell you all the details. I'm feeling a bit generous, because I don't have anyone to tell these tales to… it's kind of liberating.
"You want to know more about how Takeo betrayed you all? It's quite juicy!"
"I just don't understand how you could be paid to do all the things you do, and remain willfully ignorant. I mean, you say such vague things like 'package' and 'contact,' but what do they mean? You wanna lose extremities while you make me guess?"
Takeo let out a laugh, and muttered, "Okay, here's the whole deal then. One of you is not like the others, one of you is not a graduate of Hope's Peak Academy. You see…"
The mercenary winced, as she cut into his side. "More of those vague terms?" she snarled. "I hate that."
He spat out a bitter laugh. "I don't know which one of you it was. The contact told me to pick someone up who was unconscious, but not to open the bag."
"Bag? The person was kept in a bag? Like a body bag?"
"Something like that, I put the body in the back seat and drove all the way up here. The instructions said to place the bag with the person in it inside the town hall, and leave them there. Kind of betrayed that trust a little, and looked at one point; person was out of the bag and gone.
"And almost six hours later, you all started showing up. I don't know which one of you it is."
"Any idea why you were asked to deliver a hostage who is now acting like they're part of our group?"
"No idea, I was just told they were the 'seed.' Something about the 'seed' of despair, buried in Penjar and set to grow."
"A seed? Oh my, I like the sound of that. So someone in our group was, aha, planted here, and now we have something akin to a traitor. Lovely, what a complicated nest we have made here."
She reached forward and poked at his chest with her talon blade. "So who gave you the order? Come on now," she scratched at his chest, over his heart, "don't be dubious now."
"I don't have a name, just a title. It's… dubious, but it is all I know."
"Then spit it out before I puncture one of your lungs."
"The contact was called… The Entity of Chaos."
"'The Entity of Chaos'?" Blake repeated. "What kind of edgelord, council of shadows name is that?!"
Jin chuckled, and said, "I thought the same thing myself! You know, I wondered exactly how someone gets a name like that. But that led me to think about some things, things that I am certain you dumb sheep couldn't comprehend."
Crystal raised an eyebrow at this. "You really think so?"
"Now what are you going on about?" Ken demanded.
"Haven't you all wondered how we all came here at the same time? How all of us, only graduates of Hope's Peak Academy, survivors of the Tragedy, arrived here at around the same time? We all just so happened to be given clues to this city?"
Jin curled her fingers into talons, her eyes gleaming with that malicious energy again. "We were lured here. We were brought to Penjar for a promise of something great, something bigger than ourselves! All of us given hints and details about where this pitiful little city was, and we flocked here to find out what the answers were!
"Ha ha HA! And there's a traitor amongst you all too! Someone is trying to corrupt the last of the graduates from Hope's Peak Academy, someone wants to see us, the future of talent and potential, dead or Artists of Despair!"
"I'm not calling us that," Ishiku muttered.
Isaac could feel Hara shiver in fear, and he was too. "What she is saying," he whispered to Hara, "do you think it is true?"
"I… I do think it is something that was odd, twenty-eight people showing up at the same time."
Jin basked in the attention. She ran her tongue around her lips, and then, as sudden as she could be, spat. "The nerve of that little twerp, taking away such an amazing moment of revelation! It was so perfect, having my suspicions confirmed, showcasing how I am right!
"Oh, the nerve of that guy! He… he ruined everything!"
Takeo groaned as Jin leaned in, her sickening grin not so much terrifying but disgusting to him. "That explains so damn much," she cackled, "maybe this Entity of Chaos is the mastermind behind this! Maybe it's one of us?"
The laughter was wild and loud, Jin was unhinged and enjoying herself too much in the moment. Takeo was able to spring forward, with his one good arm, and grabbed her talon blade. With his fingers wrapped around her weapon, all of his mercenary strength built into that grip.
She tried to pull back, but no matter how strong she was, he had all of his strength in this action. He stared into her eyes, seeing the confusion, and laughed.
"You said you'd hurt someone else," he explained. "Now, guess what, I talked to the Kubs in secrecy as much as I could, to get information, and they told me something very interesting…
"Monotaro forgot to say one of the most important rules for their Killing Game: the Deviant Tourist can only kill one person, or suffer immediate execution."
And he yanked with incredible strength on her weapon. She struggled, and then thrust forward with a vicious cry. He had triggered her desire to kill, as the blade plunging into his chest. His eyes went wide, he gagged once, and muttered his last…
"Pyrrha and Odelios are safe now… and I unearthed the Despair here… you. My final mission… a success…"
Takeo fell back and onto the pavement, dead.
Pyrrha sobbed, burying her face in her hands. Odelios was struck silent, except for his teeth chattering with how much he was shivering.
Ken pulled the hood from his jacket off, and hung his head. "Fallen soldier, you did right by us," he said.
"I still don't understand how it didn't count as him killing himself," Jin muttered, staring down at her blood painted nails. "I thought Monokuma would give a break to me, like he would do every time someone set up a booby-trap or something. Shouldn't Takeo have been declared the killer, Monokuma?"
"…" was the response from the keeled-over despair bear, still slumped over on his throne.
"We don't play that way, Jin," Monosuke shouted from the brave defense of hiding behind Monodam. "Besides, you thrust your blade into his heart, you done did it!"
"Brhggbgbgh," Monophanie blubbered. "So… many… gory details…"
"How did I forget telling everyone that key detail?" Monotaro fretted. "I could have prevented more deaths! I could have saved more people!"
"Monotaro, only one person died," Monokid said to the red Kub. "Well, Dad died a whole bunch, kind of like how he's dead right now."
Jin sighed, quite the bored expression on her face now. "The fun is over now. I told you all just how right I was, how amazing my track record is, and I simply adored the looks of fear and astonishment. I think that's everything, it's such a shame that I cannot kill you all now…
"Though if I could just say that some of you would have been great substitutes for Takeo. Cute little man, you stay that way, I want to see you like that when I have more freedom. Fiora, go right to hell.
"Futaba, it was nice talking to you, you really would have made a wonderful taxidermy statue; however, you're just so ugly with those unfinished scars and that fake hand of yours."
The anthropologist grabbed the wrist of her gloved hand, and she glared at the artist. "You know what? We don't need to listen to this. Monokuma should just execute you right now!"
Jin laughed, clenching her hand that had her throwing daggers. "You really think that he'll destroy someone as useful as me to his plans? But let's do that, I want a real challenge. I think I'd like to try out Monokuma's test now…
"Just one more thing, however: allow me to kill those WHO WRONGED ME!"
Pulling her arm back, she swung faster than most eyes could see. Her three remaining throwing daggers went for three specific targets, all of whom had less than a second to react.
Odelios dropped to the floor, the dagger flying over his head and embedding in the wall. Drake couldn't react fast enough, but Ignatia could; she reached out and snagged the throwing dagger by its handle, two inches from his face.
Fiora had no reaction time for it at all, but another thrown object collided with Jin's throwing knife midair. The slimmer throwing knife, resembling a whisker, clattered to the floor alongside the feather-shaped one. The movie maker flinched, and tried to comprehend what was happening.
Jin let out a vicious snarl, and saw Yitro reaching for her out of the corner of her eye. She swung at him, her blade ready to slice his arm off. He moved out of the way fast enough, but she moved back so that she could stab him…
And then a metal cord with a pincer clamp shot out from the wall. It secured around her neck, yanking her back suddenly. There was a startled yelp from her, but then she pushed down with her feet. Jin had nightmarish strength as she resisted the pull of the machine, apparently.
"Now then!"
Monokuma was standing on his throne now, with no visible injury or knife in the head. "I believe I procrastinated this long enough! I've prepared a VERY special punishment for Jin Nahm, the Ultimate (Female) Artist!"
Jin struggled against the pull of the cable, reaching for her podium as she swung her talon blade around. "Get… errrrgh! Wh-what are you doing? I would have gone willingly, you piece of shit bear!"
"I'm not about to make exceptions for potential Despair Artists! But please, save your energy, unlike how you didn't save your knives, Jin! So let's give it everything we've got…
"IT'S PUNISHMENT TIME!"
And as he announced this, the cable around Jin's neck pulled back, yanking her off of her feet as if all of her struggling earlier was nothing. The wall opened up like a hidden double doors, and she was sent screeching into the darkness beyond. Those large double doors, surprisingly swift despite made of stone, slammed shut.
Monokuma pulled a rather primitive looking gavel from out of nowhere, as a screen with a rusty bell atop of it popped up in front of him. He leapt up and swung horizontally, clanging the bell as if he were making an old-school announcement. The moment he struck the bell, the screen lit up.
An 8-bit ghost town showed up on the screen, with black bars at the top or bottom. Jin's pixel art version of her was standing in the center, as a pixel version of Monokuma came walking up.
JIN HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY
Jin was hoisted above Monokuma, and started walking off with the fretting pixel-art artist. The five Monokubs all followed behind him, celebratory animations from them.
TIME FOR PUNISHMENT!
Inside of the trial room, five large screens came down from the ceiling, so that everyone from any point in the circle could see what was being broadcasted on the screen…
There was a rush of movement, like something being pulled against a rugged dirt ground. Jin was being dragged across it, struggling with that metal collar around her neck. She was being forcibly brought towards a large factory, as rusted and aged as every building in Penjar.
When she was pulled in through an open door, it slammed shut with a reverberating bang. There was a message painted crudely on the door's front:
Ultimate Artist
Jin "Olppaemi" Nahm's
Execution: Commenced
slARTerfest autOWLmation
Rolling against the metal floor, Jin had been unceremoniously freed from the collar. She was in the middle of a hallway, the walls and floor and ceiling all in bad shape.
She stood up, heaving in fury. Her body and clothes had dirt all over them, her hair was messed up, and her eyes were blazing with more of the hateful, violent energy than before. As she composed herself, she saw Monokuma standing in the middle of the hallway.
"Hello there, Jin Nahm," he declared. "If you want to survive this execution, you have one assignment…"
The despair bear put on a mask that was almost identical to Jin's, and he cackled, hooting out his laughter.
"Kill me. Let me see if that homicidal rampage you call your life's work of art is strong enough to take down me!"
With that, he turned around, and his little legs became blurs with how fast he took off. Jin was startled for at least one second, then she sprinted after him. The hunt of evenly matched speeding killers left the hallway, and into the main room of the factory.
There were numerous conveyer belts, all moving, machines running noisily. On each assembly line were works of art, themed after Monokuma, being made. While all of the machines were rusty, they were moving just fine.
Monokuma sprinted underneath one conveyer belt, and continued to retreat from Jin. She leapt over it, vaulting off of the belt to try and stab down into Monokuma. Missing, she yanked her talon blade from the ground.
The despair bear ran towards an area where paintings produced in mass were being moved down a crane line. Monokuma ran under one of the paintings…
Jin slashed through it and leapt through the destroyed art. She was closing in on Monokuma slowly but surely.
Monokuma ran under an assembly line that had vases with his image on them; Jin smashed one when jumping over. Another crane line of paintings being moved got in the way, this time portraits of the Monokubs. Jin slashed through one of them too.
Monokuma dove into an area where there was a bunch of plushies in his image being made. Screeching in fury, Jin slashed at them, sending stuffing everywhere, until she saw him jump onto one of the assembly lines.
As Jin pursued him, he had the benefit of running under the large, framed paintings that were facing towards the two heading down the long belt. Jin slashed through each piece of art, no matter what it showcased: Monokuma, the Monokubs, her brother, her parents, one of her own pieces, several more of her own pieces…
Then there was one of an owl. She dove through it, shredding the paper and slamming into Monokuma. They bounced off of the assembly line, and into an rather large, empty space in the factory area.
Jin gripped Monokuma's neck, and raised her talon blade upwards. She grinned so sadistically, her lips were almost reaching each ear.
A metal coil wrapped around her arm, preventing her from thrusting down into the bear. She turned around to see who it was, and it was quite the surprising sight…
There was a mech, as big as a car (if turned vertical), with legs and arms. One of those arms had the metal coil coming from its hand, and was pulling at Jin's arm. Inside of a cockpit, which was a glass screen so one could see the pilot, was Monokid.
"Let go of him," he shouted, "you bitch!"
The cable started to retract, and Jin was yanked off of Monokuma. She stumbled but managed to get back on her feet. The murderous fiend grabbed at her other arm, and a talon blade extended from under her sleeve there.
A vicious slash and the metal cable was severed. Monokid cried out in shock, and started to move. Jin chuckled and reached into her sleeves…
Only to realize that she had used all of her throwing daggers in the trial room. Cursing a blue streak, she merely sprinted towards Monokid's mech.
Another metal coil wrapped around her ankle, and she fell on her face and chest. She rolled around to see another mech, this one piloted by Monophanie, trying to pull her back. Jin severed the coil from that one too, and stood up.
Heavy footfalls echoed around the clanking factory, and soon she saw five of the mechs approaching the area. Monokuma was beating a retreat, and she went after him. As the mechs ran forward, shooting more metal coils at her but missing now, she saw an incredibly large bin up ahead.
The factory's work line was dropping the pieces of art into the large bin, already filled to the brim. The bin's front side appeared to detach from the large container, and there was a button on the side that read, "Press here to empty contents onto pursuers."
Jin smirked, and struck the button as she ran past it. Sure enough, the front part of the bin opened up, and tons of art pieces, or rather pieces of art, spilled out.
Vases and plushies that would have distracted the Monokubs, who wouldn't destroy visages of their father, were fragments and cloth pieces. Paintings were slashed through, so even if the large canvases fell upon the mechs, the pilots were not blinded.
Jin was almost upon Monokuma, who was backed up against a wall. The murderous artist pulled back both arms, ready to skewer with both of her blades. She was panting, gasping, exhausted but enthralled.
Coils wrapped around both of her wrists. She was yanked back painfully, and dragged across the floor. Coils wrapped around her ankles, and soon she was being lifted up into the air, suspended by her limbs.
The four Monokubs who had a strong grip on each of her limbs moved in, before she could sever any of the coils again. Large mech hands grabbed each of her limbs, and began to pull. They pulled hard, with Jin straining from the intensity and fighting back. Steam hissed out of the mechs, metal joints made creaking sounds, Jin sneered as she pulled them in.
The only Kub not participating in this lethal tug o' war was Monodam. He watched silently from inside the cockpit of his mech, not moving in the slightest. He still didn't react when blood shot out and splattered all over the windshield of his mech.
The shrill shrieking from the one who had just lost one arm and both of her legs masked all of the noise in the factory. Monokid, scoffing at the girl who he was holding up by her remaining limb, walked over to a lone assembly line, and dropped her on it.
Bleeding profusely, sweat running down her forehead, Jin was straining from the overwhelming agony of it all. She could hear machinery running at the end of the conveyer belt, and she weakly raised her head to see what it was.
There was a large shredder at the end of this belt, with a plate above the "entrance" that said, "FAILED PROJECTS."
Jin's eyes went wide in horror for the first time in her sadistic life. She struggled to get off of the conveyer belt, but she could barely move her ravaged body. Pulled towards the chopping blades, she reached out and tried to grab the rim of the machine with her one remaining arm.
The blades caught her mangled body, and started to shred it, pulling her in. She screamed, shrieking, struggling with all of her might. Her body was pulled in inch by inch, and soon blood was spurting from her mouth. Her eyes rolled up as she was pulled into the shredding machine.
The agonized shrieks morphed into metal blades shredding a human body, bones cracking and crunching. At one point, the machine stopped, stuck from the intense job. The four Monokubs, sans Monodam, had left their mechs to peek into the shredder, to see what was wrong. Monokuma slammed his paw on the side with great impatience.
It reversed for a second, and all of the Kubs looking inside were sprayed with blood. They cried out in shock (and in Monophanie's regard, disgust) as the shredder finished its job.
Out from the other side came a plushie, shaped to look like an owl dressed up as Jin. It was hard to tell what color it was originally supposed to be, because it had been filled with gore, and was leaking blood from its seams.
Monokuma dusted his paws and walked away, leaving four of his kids to wipe their faces of blood, and one of them who was still in his mech and staring at the gore on his windshield.
The trial room was silent, save for the occasional gasp, sob, or disgusted gag. They couldn't speak, they didn't know what to say or do. What had they just watched? Was it real? Did that really just happen?
And just as soon as that last question entered into so many of their minds, Monokuma and the Monokubs were back at their trial room positions. Monokuma was holding the blood-soaked owl plushie, and four of the Kubs had blood all over their faces and bodies.
"Woohoo! Or should I say hoothoot!" Monokuma cracked. "That was so extreme, extreme to the core! Because what's in the core of my new owl plushie line is hardcore AND extreme!"
"Ewww, ew ew ew ew ew," Monophanie chanted, as she was using wipes to clean herself off. "I should have stayed in the mech!"
"So metal! So hardcore! So fucking awesome!" Monokid declared.
"Glad the mechs still work after all this time," Monosuke remarked, wiping the blood off of his glasses. "I was worried that we hadn't been using them enough of the time."
"But I don't get it," Monotaro said. "We really could have used someone like her for our town. Why'd she fail the test, Father?"
"…" said Monodam, staring blankly forward.
"The answer to that is really simple, my darling widdle cubs," Monokuma crooned. "She destroyed the art to get to me, and that was the problem. What we need is REAL passion, someone who recognizes true art in what we do, not just destroys and kills willy-nilly! Talk about poetic justice, right?"
"Oh, Daddy, you're so smart!" Monophanie praised him as she continued cleaning herself off.
"Poetry in motion, just like our new assembly lines," Monosuke pointed out. "I wonder if any of our new guests will buy our new product line?"
When the bears stopped talking, the humans realized that they were expected to answer. However, purchasing bloody pieces of art from the bears was the last thing on their minds.
"What," Kimiko shouted, white as a sheet and shaking, "what was that?!"
"Where the hell was a factory like that around here?" Blake hollered. "You had an entire building for an execution?"
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, you totally killed her," Aka blurted out. "Poetic justice… what the fuck is that supposed to mean?!"
"I still don't get how these masterminds manage to make such large and specific machines for executions," Odelios remarked, scratching the back of his head. "I mean, how many trips to the hardware store does that take?"
"Odelios!" Futaba shouted, glaring at the clown. "That's not important in the least right now!"
"I'm kind of trying to distract myself from the fact," he responded, "that this is just as diabolical as every other Killing Game, we just saw someone who admitted to murdering more people that the original number of Pokémon, and also that her likewise serial killer brother is still among us."
That sure alerted a lot of people to a certain fact. Twenty-five heads swiveled to the fox-themed artist, who had watched the screen with a curious tilt of his head, and resting his chin on his hand.
"A touch sloppy," Yejoon said. "You sure seemed to delight in making her suffer at the end. I always did think she'd go out kicking and screaming, but it seems you stopped one of those from happening."
"Here, have a consolation prize, Yeou," Monokuma said, and he tossed the plushie towards Yejoon. The artist extended a hand, and it landed on his palm with a disgusting splat. Blood oozed from it, as the eyes studded on its face seemed to stare up at Yejoon from underneath the bangs styled after his sister's hair.
He grunted in disgust. "Poor quality. Not worth even considering as a keepsake, much less art."
Yejoon snapped his arm back, and the plushie was hurled back against the wall. The stitches burst upon impact, and the plushie was nothing more than fabric, gore, and blood splattered against the wall and floor. Splort.
"Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-what?" Ishiku stammered. "WHAT THE HELL!?"
"Oh my dear sweet God," Angelique whimpered, hands over her heart. "It's true? You… you two killed over a hundred and fifty people?"
"You came here to discover what Despair was," Samson shouted, "and you want to use it slaughter people?"
"Your sister was just brutally executed," Pyrrha shrieked, "and you don't even care?!"
"You actually think my movies suck," Fiora whimpered, "and that my hat looks bad on me, the opposite of what you said last night?"
Yejoon flicked off the excess blood from his hand, and sighed. "I should really clear up some things with you all. My sister has… had a tendency to exaggerate. She didn't have a kill count of one hundred and fifty-four."
"My, what a relief," Eisei said.
"The little credit-stealing scamp just didn't like to admit that I'm close to two hundred when she's barely over one hundred, so she claims a lot of those were her doing, not mine."
"… Disregard what I previous said."
Crystal and Hikari backed the hell away from Yejoon, getting off of their podiums. The artist chuckled, then reached up and raised his mask onto the top of his head. "What's the matter, my fellow graduates? Wasn't I the one who proved to you all that Fiora wasn't the cul-"
He didn't have time to finish, as he heard running footsteps coming at him. Yejoon squeezed his arm and a duo of arm blades shot out from under his sleeve. Raising his arm, he parried a sword strike from Ken.
The Novoselic warrior swung again, and the two men were engaged in a lock as they stared each other down. Yejoon flicked his other wrist, and there was a thin, steel dagger in it. He swung it at Ken's neck, while shouting.
"Put the gun away right now, Mr. Miller, or I will puncture the most vital part of Mr. Kishi's neck!"
With the blade point pressing up against Ken's neck, the two men still locked in a pushing contest with their blades, Yejoon could hear the pistol being holstered. The artist shoved with incredible strength, and Ken stumbled backwards several steps.
"If you would all remember where you are," the artist snapped, his voice raising for the first time ever, "if any of you commit a murder, including myself, there will be no escaping the execution that follows from Monokuma. Now I will not be trying anything for now, but if you attempt to kill me…
"I will not hesitate to massacre whoever tries to kill me. And unlike my sister, I will not fail to hit my mark."
Yejoon stared down Ken, who slowly backed away, but was glaring down the artist the whole way. The cavalryman heaved in frustration, then snarled.
"You want to release Despair onto the world again," he spat. "You want to murder more people in its name. Do you really think that we'd risk that happening?"
Yejoon glanced at him, then at the other graduates. Shuuya, Samson, Crystal, Yitro, Souma, and Ignatia were fiercely glaring at him. Isaac was too, but holding onto Hara in a tight hug protectively.
"I am sorry, but you have no choice but to. To attempt to murder me will simply lead in more deaths, and while I am sure you don't want to become an agent for Monokuma if you survive the execution, I know I do."
He placed his palm on his forehead, extending his fingers with a rather dramatic pose. With a deep breath, he closed his eyes and opened them again. The swirls of Despair were there, along with the same red, gleaming sadism that were in Jin's eyes.
"It is my dream to finally learn the true meaning of the beauty of death, the passion that has driven me so far, for so long. And none of you will stand in my way, unless you truly want to die by my hand, or Monokuma's."
"Wh-what's stopping you," Shinobu stammered, "from trying to kill all of us, or leaving here to continue your murdering?"
"Ahem! Since my Kubs dropped the ball on this rule," Monokuma announced, "allow me to make something very clear: should anyone in Penjar commit more than one murder, they will be terminated immediately."
"Sorry again, Father," Monotaro muttered.
Yejoon chuckled. "Well, I suppose there is no stopping me from leaving and going back to my art. But then you're free to explore the town without me being able to return."
"Like hell we'd let a serial killer just leave and not do anything about it," Saiko hollered, pointing at him accusingly. "You won't get away with your crimes!"
"Why don't we break his legs or something?" Shuuya asked, his voice cold and monotone as he stared down Yejoon.
The artist stared right back at the bounty hunter. "Any attempt at injuring me will be met with a very painful, bloody death. And probably not yours, I would like to make you feel responsible in that regard, because that's an intense form of suffering that lingers forever, does it not?"
"How the hell," Isaac growled, "did someone like you ever get into Hope's Peak?"
"A question for the ages, is it not? Though I saw the Killing Games, and there has been a suspicious amount of murderous fiends that have been in or accepted to the school. Maybe that belief that they really were trying to experiment and create ultimate talent is true?
"Though it seems my dear sister had some points to make before she was made into a poor excuse for a piece of art. Monokuma bestowed talent to her, and some of you. And the fact that we were all lured here, it means something rather prominent. Last but not least, this non-graduate who is a seed of despair. I want to find the answers too…
"So you're all going to have to tolerate my presence if you want to get to the bottom of these mysteries. I believe I shall head up to the surface alone, and stay in my room for the rest of the day. Just remember one thing before you all make a fuss…"
Yejoon pulled his mask down, and finalized his little speech by saying, "You all would have been dead right now if I had just let my sister win the trial. Yeou the Fox still has use for you all."
The Korean man walked over to the elevator, and pressed the button. It opened up, he stepped in and faced the graduates as the doors closed. His only movement was a short wave towards them, or someone in particular.
"Well then," Odelios said, pulling the throwing dagger that had been meant for his head out of the wall, "I can safely say this is my third worst day ever."
"I don't feel good," Pyrrha whimpered, her hands on her stomach and mouth. "Please tell me that didn't just happen."
"I literally cannot stop shaking," Shinobu whispered, staring at her hands. "I… I don't want to stay here."
Drake was gripping his podium in terror, swallowing and breathing deeply. Ignatia had dropped the throwing knife meant for him, and watched him to ensure he didn't faint.
"Zzz," responded Emanuel.
"Everyone," Isaac called out to the graduates, "I know this is bad. But right now, you all have to make a call on your own. If you leave, no one will think any less of you. But if you stay, there's still many questions that need answers, the whole reason we came."
"What? You're going to stay?" Hikari shouted. "We have a serial killer, a traitor in our midst, and who knows what else! We need to get out of here and alert the authorities!"
"Ahem," Monokuma shouted his fake throat clearing, catching the attention of them all. "Must I repeat myself so many times? No one else is going to find this town, especially those who try to return here. Don't you think that's why no one ever discovered this place?"
"It's not like we just made a town in the middle of nowhere," Monosuke chimed in. "Do youse really think we just found an abandoned town, and settled in here at random?"
"The Monokubs don't just do random shit," Monokid roared, breaking his guitar again. "Penjar means something to Dad, to us! To everything we stand for!"
"It… it would be beneficial for you all to stay," Monophanie said. "You don't have to kill each other, nor die, if you just try to get along and work with us."
"Just remember one thing, you chose to be here," Monotaro remarked, crossing his arms. "It is definitely something you all want to find out, because you never know who might find out the secrets of Penjar, of Despair, of everything!"
"You might live longer if you leave Penjar, but the world sure would be in a worse place if you don't stick to your guns!" Monokuma remarked. "Upupupupupu~"
"Upupupupupupupu," the four speaking Kubs cackled.
Then there was a rush of movement, and the five of them were gone. The only one who stayed was Monodam, who hadn't moved an inch since he returned. The graduates stared at him for a few seconds, wondering if he finally had something to say.
"Monodam," Pyrrha spoke up, her voice fragile but still carrying on, "did Takeo really bring in someone like a hostage? Did he really betray us?"
The green bear glanced to the side, rocking on his legs. He then turned towards Pyrrha, and pointed at her. "I-DON'T-KNOW-WHAT-HE-WAS-THINKING. BUT-I-DO-KNOW-ONE-THING."
"Wh-what is it?"
"TAKEO-REALIZED-THE-DANGER-HERE. PENJAR-IS-MORE-THAN-OUR-HOME. IT-IS-A-PLACE-WHERE-GOOD-AND-EVIL-HAVE-BATTLED-MANY-TIMES-BEFORE. AND-THE-BATTLE-WILL-CONTINUE-HERE.
"IT-IS-UP-TO-YOU-TO-ENSURE-WHICH-WAY-THAT-WAR-WILL-CONTINUE. HOPE'S-PEAK-GRADUATES-ARE-THE-KEY-HERE.
"ALSO-CHECK-TAKEO'S-ROOM. HE-LEFT-SOMETHING-FOR-YOU-ALL."
Day 04, 4:36 PM
Town Hall
Front Steps and Door
The twenty-five graduates had traveled up to the top floor in silence, and walked back out into Penjar. The mists were still traveling down the roads, drifting into the plaza. Yejoon was nowhere to be seen, and the place was just as quiet.
Isaac walked out front with Hara, hand-in-hand. He turned to the collection of the graduates, and said, "I know some of you may want to leave, but Hara and I will be staying. If anyone else is sure they will be staying too, join us at the cafeteria."
"Or just… come for the food, since none of us have eaten," Hara said with a sad smile.
"Coffee's on me, boys and girls!" Odelios declared, bounding forward. "But first, I want to make sure that Takeo's body is fine…"
He ran down the plaza, out of sight after a minute due to the distance and the mists. A lot of the graduates didn't know what to do, except for Ignatia. She had seized Emanuel's collar, and was now dragging him behind her on his butt. She waved at them as she carried him off to his room.
As she walked off too, Odelios came sprinting back. "Okay! Did anyone hear me? I was screaming and hollering, and the only one who walked by was the mime hauling our resident wrong guesser."
"You mean the mist stuff was real?" Saiko muttered. She shook her head and walked off towards the cafeteria, groaning in frustration. "Great, I cannot trust reality anymore."
Pyrrha walked towards Odelios, asking, "Wait, what happened to Takeo's body?"
"It's gone! Gone like the wind! As God as my witness, they took all the evidence!"
Pyrrha gripped her head in frustration, and sprinted off, towards the housing area. Some of the graduates followed her, while some of the others went to the cafeteria. The rest of the graduates kind of scattered about, not sure what to do.
Day 04, 4:36 PM
Penjar's Public Cafeteria
Isaac flipped a burger in the kitchen, humming to himself. He called out to those in the cafeteria, "Almost done here! If you want mustard or ketchup or such, you gotta get it yourself! Not gonna risk any ruined burgers!"
"I want to talk to your manager," Saiko called back, then laughed a bit before hiding her face in her arms. "Oh, this damned town has ruined me. I just investigated a taxidermy murder done by a damned serial killer, learned that the laws of physics and reality can be changed on a whim, and I had the wrong suspect all along."
"Saiko, don't beat yourself up too much about it," Hara said, rubbing her friend's back. "It was an exhausting ordeal, but we can grow stronger because of it. After all we've been through, we shan't give up just yet."
The forensic investigator glanced at her friend from the side of her slouched position. "I thought you were the shy one, and yet here you are, not letting all the shit we just got through deter you."
Hara smiled and bowed her head slightly. "That's because I like to see this as a journey, and we need to be strong the whole way. I'm not going to let anyone or anything deter me, because I want to see what is at the end here. Besides…"
She pointed towards the kitchen, and added, "I know my super stubborn honey doesn't want to leave no matter what either. He's stared down Monokuma robots, Despair-addled killers, secretive authorities, and fragile survivors from Killing Games. Nothing makes him blink."
"Yeah, you two are more stubborn than me when it's that time of the month and I'm heading to the ice cream shop," Saiko muttered. "But I said it once, and I'll say it again: you two are going to go a nice, relaxing, Goddamn-peaceful honeymoon when all this is over."
"I believe we can do that," Hara said with a sweet smile.
"And fuck each other's brains out every night until you make children as stubborn and cute as you two are."
Now Hara was bright red in the face, and hiding her face in her arms as Saiko managed to burst out laughing. Isaac leaned out of the kitchen and politely requested Saiko stop embarrassing her, thank you very much.
Day 04, 4:42 PM
Housing Area
Takeo Onishi's Room
Odelios walked into Takeo's room, the front door being wide open. Pyrrha was sitting on the bed, looking at a piece of paper. Shuuya and Shinobu were there too, waiting expectantly. The clown glanced around the room, and noticed something odd.
"Where is everything of Takeo's?" he asked. "Didn't he have belongings?"
"All gone when we got here," Shuuya replied with a sigh. "Looks like the bears made sure everything except this last note of his was confiscated for God knows what reason."
"It's like he's gone entirely," Shinobu muttered, staring down at her feet. "I feel so ashamed of everything, how I behaved at the trial."
"That wasn't your fault," the bounty hunter said to her. "It was a very difficult experience against numerous people fighting for control. Don't beat yourself up now."
He put his hand on her shoulder, and she managed a weak smile. Outside, Emanuel had burst out of his house, demanding what the hell had happened. Souma was out there, trying desperately to calm down the very angry detective. Odelios slammed the door to Takeo's place shut, and glanced back at Pyrrha.
"Not to rush you, Pyrrha, but we're all curious here," the clown said. "Or is it addressed to you?"
"No," she said, sighing and looking up. "I… I don't think you all realize this, but it wasn't like Takeo and I were growing sweet on each other. We just were getting to know the other, and there was a bit of a connection. It wasn't romantic…"
"Doesn't change the fact that you still liked him," Odelios remarked, smiling at her. "But come on, what's it say?"
"It's not much," she said, speaking over the yelling going on outside. "Takeo admits in this that he brought someone in, that his contact really was someone called the Entity of Chaos, and he was trying to find out who it was amongst us.
"He said he spent a great deal of time and effort fighting against Despair-ridden enemy forces, and he didn't want there to be another Tragedy. And…"
She let out a soft sigh, and she then laughed. "He says that he did like me, and you, Odelios. He says no one ever had fun with him, that he was always taken too seriously in his very dark and grim life. Thanks for the laughs."
Pyrrha handed the paper to Odelios, who started reading it. The clown sobbed a little, then he said, "Well then. I guess I'm gonna stay here and make sure that his death doesn't go to waste. Now I'm gonna go to the cafeteria, and make the best damn coffee you've all ever tasted! Come on, I only got this talent until the end of the day!"
The clown took off running, pumping his fists into the air. Pyrrha followed after him, chuckling as she wiped her eyes and joined in this moment of relief. Shuuya and Shinobu started to follow him, until Souma asked for help in getting Emanuel to calm down.
Day 04, 4:46 PM
Ye Olde Time Shop
Ishiku was working hard on the watches and clocks in the place, getting each one working again. He was moving rather fast, until he heard the front door open. Eisei walked in, casual as ever.
"You trying to make the most out of this talent?" he asked the magician. "I don't believe that you will get a prize if you fix every time piece in here."
"I just… wanted to see how true it was. I think I'm long past the point of denial, I'm a master at this!"
Ishiku laughed a little, then sighed and leaned against the counter. "I guess I should get something to eat, I've been starving since I woke up. This town is really messing with me."
Eisei shrugged, and said, "That's life, more or less. Good and bad things happen, but you work onwards with them. But since I have you here, can I ask you for a small favor?"
The magician stared down at the dentist, then slumped downwards, seated on the floor. "Yes. You can inspect my mouth like everyone else."
The lavender-topped man walked over to the open-mouthed magician, and then put his hand under Ishiku's mouth. Closing it up, he reached up and inspected his nose. "I'll do that next. I just want to make sure that this isn't broken or anything."
Day 04, 4:51 PM
Penjar's Public Cafeteria
Before 5 PM rolled around, there were a great deal of the graduates there, eating and drinking. They needed it, they had been rather famished throughout the trial; it was one of the reasons some of them had become so livid.
Emanuel sat along, munching on a bacon cheeseburger. He was bitter, sulking, and slogging down coffee as he nursed his powerful headache. He watched everyone else, studying them. No one was going to dare tell him, "Told you so."
Yitro and Angelique were in a deep conversation, with Kimiko, Shinobu, and Shuuya. They were trying to avoid the harsher realities of what just happened, and have a normal conversation.
Drake had been seated alone, until Pyrrha, Ken, and Crystal joined him. They showered him with compliments, congratulating him on his impressive efforts in the trial. The cartoonist was blushing so hard, it was rather adorable to anyone who saw the scene.
Futaba sat alone for a while, adjusting her glove from time to time. Eventually, Blake and Samson sat with her, and though the three didn't say much, their conversation was quite casual, and much needed after a stressful day.
Ignatia ate alone, not drawing any attention to herself. She didn't put up any kind of fuss or attitude towards those bringing out food. She seemed a little distracted, her thoughts her own that only she could know.
Souma spoke with Eisei and Ishiku after the two showed up to the cafeteria. The public speaker had a few questions about Ishiku's new talent, but after a while, the three realized that getting their mind off of all that happened would be best for now.
Hikari and Aka were making up for lost time by making out at one of the tables near the back. It was quite the sight, and a bit distracting for quite a few of the people there. The only one who dared to interrupt would be a giggling Anzu.
"We're here to get something to eat and drink," she joked as she approached the table and sat down. "Calm down a little bit, you're getting everyone's attention."
"What? You of all people saying public display of affection are a bit much?" Aka asked, licking her lips as she grinned impishly. "What's the matter, you wanna join us?"
Hikari punched Aka's arm, giggling though she was blushing. "You horrible tease! But I am curious, Anzu, are you doing okay? I meant to check up on you afterwards, but I got… well, you know."
Anzu sighed, trying to smile but seemingly distracted. "I keep trying to think about the vision I had. Something seems off about it still, like there was something told to me that I didn't get. I still wonder how mad I am, if I am falling for some kind of scheme or such."
"Honey, you're no more crazy than me, if you remember what I told you," Hikari said, as she sipped the coffee Odelios had prepared.
"What was that?" asked Aka.
"Oh, your suspicion?" Anzu recalled, tilting her head to the side. She munched on the cheeseburger she had, eating it rather casually with a bit of cheese stuck to her upper lip that she didn't bother wiping off.
"What suspicion?" the skier inquired. "You two doing something without me involved?"
"It was… silly," Hikari said, blushing a bit. "But maybe I should have said something, I just wasn't as brave as Anzu was, to admit that in front of everyone."
"What was it?" Aka cried, staring at the steampunk model.
"I… didn't find Jin attractive."
Hikari hid her face from them, and muttered, "I know about my past, my reputation… hell, I'm still a big ol' lesbian flirt who tried with every girl here. Well, every girl except Jin.
"Something about her felt off, in a rather subtle way, that made me not want anything to do with her; however, since I knew that would look and sound ridiculous. I didn't say anything, even when we started to find out it was her, because well… it still felt like the world's worst reason to suspect someone."
Aka stared at Hikari, then burst into giggles. "It's actually a really good thing you didn't, sexy. I mean, she might have tried to throw a dagger at you too!"
"Don't feel bad about it, Hikari. You did fine doing that trial. And if you're staying like I am, I am sure you can find out more about Penjar."
"You two want to stay here?" Hikari asked, bewildered.
"Sexy, I live for danger, I love it, I am all about those thrills and chills," Aka bragged. "If I gotta explore this place while there is a serial killer, that just notches up the game for me."
"Like hell I'm leaving this place after the vision I had gave me the help we needed to survive a Killing Game trial," Anzu said. "Plus, maybe eventually I will get invited to a threesome."
Hikari giggled some more, despite her red face and nervous glances. The latter eventually was gone, as she took a deep breath and said, "Very well, I believe I'll stay here in Penjar too. Maybe I'll be able to be more contributing than just a sensual distraction to you ladies."
"You were more focused than I was," Aka remarked. "And hell, you didn't go around accusing the innocent like I did. You were actually all for Fiora's defense… wait, was that because you think she's hot too?"
"Well, I… wait."
Hikari glanced around the cafeteria, checking out everyone there. "Where is Fiora?"
Day 04, 5:00 PM
Housing Area
Yejoon Nahm's Room
The artist washed his hands in the sink, getting the rest of the blood that his sister's remains plushie had stained them with. It was a familiar feel to him, so much so that the fact it was Jin's blood didn't faze him in the least.
"So much for the owl controlling all in its domain, dear sister," he said as he watched the rest of the blood go down the drain. "You couldn't even last the first round. Good riddance."
He walked towards his bed, taking off his mask and setting it on a table nearby. Lying down on the mattress, he stared up at the ceiling as he contemplated his next actions. His stomach grumbled, but he would have to put that off for a while.
Glancing to the side, he noticed that the taxidermy tiger was next to his bed. The last little reminder of his sister's meddling, and it made him roll his eyes. "I must get rid of that, but where on Earth do I put it?"
A sudden slamming of a door nearby his house was so sharp and loud, it made him blink in surprise. There was loud and furious slamming sounds, like someone punching or kicking walls. The shrieking and sobbing was so loud, Yejoon could recognize who it was.
"Stupid," Fiora was hollering to no one in particular. "Stupid! Stupid! STUPID! STUPID!"
He could hear her throw herself on the mattress of the bed, and pounded at it as she continued to sob. It started to die down, but he did catch her detail her frustrations just a little bit more…
"Stupid! Stupid… stupid… stupid me…"
Her pitiful sobbing quieted, maybe she passed out, maybe she managed to calm down. Yejoon took a deep breath, and twirled one of his throwing daggers in his hand. "I wonder if I can retrieve the one I left in the trial room tomorrow…"
Day 04, 9:00 PM
Penjar
The day carried on, with everyone recovering from the stressful, violent trial. While it was unknown what they were going to do, something became clear to all of them: no one wanted to leave Penjar.
Monokuma and the Monokubs didn't show up at all for the rest of the day, seemingly gone from the town after such a monumental event. Even when called out, none of them showed up. The factory that Jin had been dragged to and killed in wasn't anywhere in sight either.
Everything belonging to Takeo was gone. His body had vanished, all of his belongings except for his note that he had left in case of death were missing. Even the gore and guts in the taxidermy shop was gone, the blood on the street was gone, everything cleaned up as if it never happened.
The survivors tried some last minute inspecting, but eventually it felt like too much after such a long day. Though their determination was strong, they didn't know what else they could do this fateful day.
No one really knew what to make of Penjar now. Takeo's last words, the discovery of the killer, the possible traitor/spy, the Entity of Chaos, it was all so much to bear. A lot of them went to bed exhausted, confused, and frustrated.
One of them, however, went back to their house, appearing casual amid their fellow graduates. When the door was shut, they immediately ran over to their belongings, and started fishing through it. Eventually, they pulled out an old trinket.
It wasn't much of anything, almost appearing like a child's clay project shaped in a manner that could be interpreted in different ways. Though as the owner's hands inspected it, a grin spread across their face.
They knew how much it was worth. They knew how old it was, the craftsmanship behind it, nationality it came from, how much evil it symbolized. While the owner had known some of those things, the incredible amount of new information about this antique item was almost overwhelming.
"Yes… YES," the owner said, staring at the antique sigil with incredible delight. "It's true. It's all true! This power… and so much more… is here in Penjar."
Panting in delight, the person clutched the sigil close to their chest, and cackled. "Everything is going exactly to plan. Wait no, I should probably say that it is working out well for me. Oh yes…
"Let's wait and see how things continue on, but I believe I can be optimistic. These stupid, arrogant fools, they have no idea…
"They have no possible way of knowing just how much they're going to help the new age of chaos and despair wash over the world. Hehe, maybe I shouldn't insult them so much, since they're helping me out so very much."
"I'm not much for speeches, but I do want to say that I rather enjoyed my time here in Hope's Peak Academy. The amount of ideas I gathered, the projects I embarked on, and just how much I was able to expand and enjoy my passions…
"It's liberating, almost like an owl being able to soar into the sky. While I took a break from some of my biggest passions while here in Hope's Peak, I believe when I leave, I will fully embrace them with all the more gusto and grace.
"To my classmates, my teacher, and to all those who inspired me to become a greater artist, I thank you. Yes, even you, Yejoon; I foresee us creating magnificent art together for years to come now!"
-Jin Nahm's graduation speech
Chapter 1, The ABCs of Penjar, is over.
…
26 Graduates remain in Penjar.
…
TO BE CONTINUED.