Chapter 3-5
The Ascending Volume of the Truth
LET THE TRIAL BEGIN!
Monokuma twiddled his claws on one of his paws, and then spoke. "Now then, everyone, allow me to briefly recap the town trial. We have a Deviant Tourist amid our guests! You all need to work together to find out who is the Deviant Tourist, and if you do…
"I will subject the Deviant Tourist to an execution, where they will be tested to see if they are truly worthy of being a citizen of Penjar! However! If you vote for the wrong person, everyone besides the Deviant Tourist dies! And they will get all the rewards for it!
"And when I find out which of you blew me up… phuhuhuhu! Anyway! Let the third Town Trial commence! Upupupupu~"
The trial room was quiet, as everyone seemed to have different ideas on their minds on what should be discussed first. Most of them were glancing around, trying to see who would take the lead.
Isaac decided to do so, speaking up first. "I believe that we have a lot to go over, and I know it's confusing to think of where to start. However, maybe we should state the obvious facts first off."
"Agreed," Saiko spoke up, smiling appreciatively at her friend. "And I believe I can help with that. Because everyone should know right off the bat that-"
"Fiora did it," Emanuel interrupted.
There was a loud slapping sound, as Saiko face-palmed so hard that she hurt herself slightly. "Oh, Jesus Christ," she swore. "I was trying to avoid this!"
"We cannot just jump to a conclusion like that," Isaac shouted at Emanuel, who seemed entirely unfazed by the retaliation. "You seriously don't expect us to just vote her guilty and leave it at that!"
"Life is like a tackle box," Fiora declared, her eyes spinning around as she tried to get a grasp of reality and gravity at the same time. "And my finger… is really big when I stare at it. OH MY GOD IT IS GETTING BIGGER!"
As Fiora freaked out over the fact that she was bringing her finger closer to her eyes, Emanuel let out a humorless laugh. "Well then, prove it, you collection of putas. Prove that there could have been someone other than Fiora."
DEBATE YOUR CASE!
"Why are we even doing this?" Saiko cried out, her frustration causing her eye to twitch. "We haven't even gone over any of the facts!"
"Because when you think about it, it makes perfect sense," Emanuel replied. "She was the only person in the lab besides Shinobu."
"That doesn't prove that she murdered Shinobu," Eisei calmly pointed out. "That just proves her involvement."
"Eisei's right, Emanuel," Souma added. "What if Shinobu's death was because of an accident?"
"Oh right, she blew up the ceiling, then the wall," Emanuel snapped viciously, "then she threw herself backwards on that broken rebar, and waited for herself to be electrocuted!"
"That's way too complicated," Taro said, nervously glancing around as he chimed in. "I mean, Shinobu was very organized, she wouldn't blow stuff up willy-nilly!"
"Who the fuck," the detective rounded on the nervous new guy, "said you could TALK?!"
"Emanuel is kind of right about one thing," Futaba remarked. "Unless there is evidence of a third party, we have to believe that Shinobu and Fiora were the only ones in there."
"Oh no," Fiora blabbered as she pulled her hand away from her face, "now my finger is shrinking!"
"I have your proof," Hikari declared proudly, "right here!"
"Some of us went to the tailor shop nearby the lab, on a hunch that Shinobu had her partners wear the Monokub jackets," Hikari explained to everyone. "Since, you know, both Shinobu and Fiora were wearing one.
"And when we were looking through the jackets, several of them were dirty, as if someone was hiding the fact that one was worn."
"It's our belief," Ken chimed in, "that this was a vain attempt to try and hide their involvement with Shinobu's plan and death, but also a way to hide another clue."
Emanuel snorted. "You two again? You really think your words hold any weight here? How involved are you in this now?"
"We're not involved with the events at the lab," the cavalryman declared.
"Yeah, and Hikari was so not part of it again," Aka shouted, putting her hands on her hips in defiance. "And I totally have proof of that!"
They all collectively glanced over at the skier, who was now beaming with confidence. Hikari started waving her hands and shaking her head desperately, as Hara asked, "Proof? What do you mean?"
"We totally had sex again last night," Aka announced, "and I know exactly when she left, so she couldn't have snuck out to be part of Shinobu's plan."
This knocked everyone through a loop, and the steampunk model appeared to be hiding underneath her fancy hat. She could hear Crystal's disapproving tone when she asked, "Really now, Hikari?"
"I didn't want it to come out this way," the model whimpered, unable to look up at everyone else. "But this is a private matter! Aka, how could you?"
"What? Sexy, I just gave you an alibi," Aka blurted out, glancing around at the others, then staring nervously at her. "Wait, why are you upset with me now?"
"As fun as it is to discuss lesbian sex," Ishiku remarked, "does this verify Hikari and Ken's claim?"
Emanuel snorted again, and muttered, "I still don't trust those two."
"I was there," Drake said, raising his hand. "I joined them and saw the jackets myself."
The Bête Noir glanced at Drake, his eyebrows rising in surprise. He quickly shook it off, and muttered, "Well okay, if you were there, kid, I'll believe it more so. You're one of the few here who can be trusted. So Shinobu's team had a third member."
"So who is it?" Pyrrha asked, glancing around the members of the trial. "I mean, why aren't they speaking up?"
"Because they're probably afraid of being persecuted," Yitro remarked, "or maybe they are the guilty party."
The trial room was quiet, as they all exchanged stares. It was unnerving to them, not knowing who to trust. Eventually, Isaac spoke up again.
"We're digressing, as we don't have anything concrete on the who or how now," the reporter said. "Why don't we focus on one of the more important subjects? Like…"
"Like what Shinobu's plan was," Hara spoke up, staring pleadingly at her fiancé. "I think that if we study her plan, we could get a much more clear picture."
Isaac stared with some confusion at his lover. Hara pleaded with her eyes, as she held the history text book close to her chest. The reporter let out a sigh, then smiled at her. "I trust Hara, and if she thinks this is a good place to truly start, we should begin there."
DEBATE YOUR CASE!
"So let me get this straight," Crystal spoke, tracing the collar of her jacket, "we are going to find out what Shinobu's plan was?"
"We could always start with why she did it?" Anzu suggested.
"I mean, I would think that destruction of that place was obvious," Yitro remarked. "It was a highly advanced lab for Despair, it needed to be wiped out."
"Hey there," Monosuke hollered, "what if we found a cure for cancer?"
"But you weren't investigating a cure for cancer!"
"We could have been, youse should have more faith in us!"
"Seriously, Hikari-babe," Aka called out to the model, "why are you upset with me? It's not like people didn't know we were doing it…"
"Not NOW, Aka," the red-in-the-face beauty pleaded.
"Wait, are we talking about why Shinobu did what she was planning to do?" Taro asked, staring nervously at Emanuel as he spoke.
"Again, who said you could talk, puta?!" Emanuel shouted at him, making the new guy jump back in fear.
"Stop arguing about these other things, please," Hara requested, "because I have an answer."
"I believe that Shinobu was inspired by an old history book she found," Hara said as she placed the book on the railing of her podium. "There was a particular part that she took interest in, which was about abolitionists who fought against slavery."
"Wait a minute, what's this about?" Souma asked, staring at the explorer. "The lab was full of potential to create Despair-driven human bodies. Surely that was the problem Shinobu had?"
"That might have crossed her mind, but… to get the inspiration to fight against such a powerful force, such as the ones controlling Penjar, you have to have incentive.
"And I believe what she wanted to do was destroy the lab so that the Monokubs wouldn't have to return to being robots," Hara said with a hopeful smile on her faith. "She wanted them to be free."
Everyone took a second to take this in, a wide variety of reactions amongst the crowd. Souma scratched the back of his head, muttering, "The possibility of Despair clones sounds far worse to me, but…"
"You have got to be kidding me," Emanuel said, grinding his teeth as he shook in outrage. "You're telling me that stupid bitch wanted to help our enemy? You think she did this for them, you fucking stupid puta?"
"HEY!" Isaac shouted, pointing at the Bête Noir. "You speak that way to Hara one more time, and I'll come over there and-"
"Honey," Hara called out to him, still smiling as she raised one of her hands as a request for calm, "I appreciate you defending me, but I can fight this battle. Do not worry."
The reporter stared at her, then nodded. She glared one more time at Emanuel as a warning, then tried to calm himself down.
"Honestly, Emanuel," the explorer said, facing the detective, "I would think this would be something you approve of. Imagine what would happen if the Kubs had free will, unlike they did in their robot forms. Imagine if they wanted to help us, like Taro is now."
The white 'n red-haired young man covered his mouth with his hand, trying to hide his emotional state. "I… I like being human. There's no forced amnesia, there's far more feelings and joys…"
"Hey! Hey hey hey," Monokid shouted furiously. "What the hell are you saying, you hellspawn? You hellishly are demeaning us! Hell, you guys believe the hell out of what he's saying?!"
"…" divulged Monodam.
"…" answered Monophanie.
"…" informed Monosuke.
"You cannot be serious," Monokid bellowed. "You guys miss being human?!"
"There's things I miss about it, yes," Monosuke remarked. "I think youse can guess these two have hang-ups as well, but aw well, that's the way to goes, yo."
The Kubs were mostly silent, as Monokid raged on. The humans took this all in, and then Souma spoke. "Okay, either way, prevention of the cloning or saving the Kubs from slavery, we have good reason for Shinobu's actions. That's a good start, but what is next?"
"Let's try to guess what her plan was?" Hara suggested.
DEBATE YOUR CASE!
"So Shinobu was going to destroy the containment tanks," Drake mused. "What did she plan to use originally?"
"There were the explosive liquids in the fridge," Crystal pointed out. "We all knew about those during our tours of the lab."
"She must have gained entry, and then prepared the explosives," Blake said. "I don't know why she'd need teammates for this, however."
"Obviously she could wipe out the containment tanks and the computers with the Yellow explosive liquid," Pyrrha pointed out. "That's the perfect way to destroy all their electronics."
"Wait, the what now?" Ishiku asked, staring at her in confusion.
"Oh, for the explosive liquids, Red destroys things, Blue destroys buildings, and Yellow is an EMP burst."
"Could it have been that simple?" Odelios asked, as he scratched the back of his head with his rubber chicken. "I mean, which part of the plan involved blowing up the ceiling and the wall?"
"Maybe that was her original plan?" Ken inquired. "Blow that damnable place to Hell?"
"She probably used the Blue explosive," Aka said, "and blew everything to Hell in there when she just got carried away!"
"Wait a minute," Isaac declared, pointing at Pyrrha, "I believe you're right!"
"Huh? Me?" the romance writer was startled at first, then smiled gratefully. "You mean about Yellow being used?"
"I am pretty sure that that was Shinobu's original plan. You see, there were two of the vials in the containment tank room…"
Isaac reached into one of his pockets, and pulled them out, putting them on the podium's railing for display. "Saiko can back me up in where I found them."
"Yes, he's definitely right," Saiko remarked. "My guess is that if they were intact, whoever planned to use them didn't."
"But why didn't she then?" Yejoon asked, rubbing his digit against the chin of his mask. "And why prepare two vials, and if they weren't used, why were they emptied out?"
"That's a hell of a lot of questions," Ishiku grumbled.
Hara sighed, then spoke up again. "I know it's very confusing, but we need to work together on this one problem to get to the answer.
"I've had enough of stepping back and letting you take the lead," Futaba declared, pointing furiously at Hara. "Stop this nonsense, and let a professional take over!"
REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN!
Hara almost jumped in shock at the sudden accusation. She stared at Futaba, and stammered out, "W-what are you saying? I'm trying to find the truth out here."
"I think you're wrapped up in a romanticized version of what happened, and you're leaving out crucial points," Futaba declared. "Because there are several flaws in your plan, and most of them start right at the front door!"
"Huh? But Shinobu was in the lab, we know she found a way in…"
"If you have the proof and the gumption to back up your version of this, then do so," the anthropologist said, crossing her arms defiantly. "Otherwise, I suggest you stop speaking."
Hara swallowed nervously, and glanced over at Isaac. The reporter beamed with confidence, and said, "Don't worry, honey, I know you can do this. Just stay calm, and keep to your case."
The explorer smiled at back at him, then took a deep breath. She stared down Futaba, as their two platforms moved closer together for a more dramatic effect, curtesy of Monokuma or whoever was controlling the trial room's machinery.
"Ooo, I love this dance," Fiora swooned, draping her back on her own podium's railing, bending backwards. "And it is more fun upside-down! Hey, speed up every time someone says the overused word!"
Futaba rolled her eyes, and spoke to Hara. "While we know that Shinobu was inside the lab, as was Ms. Loopy here, that doesn't answer everything. After all, the electronic locks of the science lab all require an intricate passcode only the Kubs know.
"And while I cannot deny they were in the building, that doesn't mean that either of them knew the code. They could have been let in by one of the Kubs!"
Hara took a deep breath, before countering. "Except that we know that she had the code, because she managed to open the fridge and take out what she needed there. Unless you have a better explanation for the explosions, that had to have been the case."
"Again, that could be the workings of one of the Kubs, who refuse to tell us anything. Though that is not the biggest problem in your argument, and that is the security system. The Kubs told us afterwards only that there was a voice recognition system of sorts in the lab…
"And if Shinobu had gone in with her team, they would have spoken, and set off the lockdown! So that's why they made the Blue formula, rather than the Yellow, to bust their way out of there! It just went horribly wrong for her at that point!"
"No, I can refute that argument, and strengthen my own," Hara retaliated. "And I have evidence to back it up!"
"Futaba, there is proof that Shinobu had the information needed to set up a plan and act it on in the lab. And that would be all of the notes that were found; I was told that there were multiple messages and papers around the lab."
Hara glanced around at the others, and said, "From what I gathered before we came down here, Shinobu had a note in her jacket, and there were notes left in the chemistry lab?"
Crystal spoke up as she nodded in agreement, "Yes, there were instructions how to prepare the explosive liquids left in the lab. I was wondering why that was there, if Shinobu was able speed-read the instructions and make them herself."
Futaba exhaled in frustration, muttering, "Okay, maybe I overreacted a little. But I'm just really confused how Shinobu knew about all of this, when none of us could get any information from the Kubs."
The graduates all contemplated this, except Fiora who was trying to mentally debate if waffles or pancakes had a better taste in terms of color. It was Pyrrha who spoke up first (about Shinobu, not waffles and pancakes).
"I have a theory about that, actually," she said, tilting her head to the side as she spoke intrepidly. "But it's just a theory right now, and I'm not sure where it'll go if I'm right."
"What is it?" Odelios asked.
The romance writer looked at Taro, who stared back at her. "Did you tell her?" she asked him. "About the numeric code and the voice activated alarms?"
Taro glanced over at the bears watching the trial, and then at the graduates. He took a deep breath, and said, "Yes. I told Shinobu about everything dealing with the Science Lab."
"WHAT THE HELL!" Monokuma raged.
"WHAT THE FUCK!" Monokid screamed.
"AWWWWWWW~" Pyrrha let out the longest, happiest coo, so prominent that hearts appeared in her eyes for a few seconds. "I knew it!"
"Knew what?" Futaba asked, her confusion growing with her frustration. "What is going on?"
DEBATE YOUR CASE!
"Wait, how could you tell her about the secrets of the Science Lab?" Yitro asked Taro. "You're forbidden from saying them."
"I just did, last night," Taro admitted. "She asked me about the defensives the place had, and I told her everything."
"I'm going to kick your ass," Monokid growled. "Kick it to kingdom come! I'll punt you like a ball! I'll punt your balls!"
"That doesn't make any sense," Emanuel remarked. "The mists didn't loosen the Kubs' lips that much, even when they were human."
"Yes, and they were as adamant about keeping those secrets when they were human," Yejoon remarked.
"Wait, did Shinobu sleep with the guy?" Aka asked, glancing between Pyrrha and Taro.
"Um, uh, I," Taro stammered, covering his blushing face.
"Wait, what?" Emanuel said, outrage growing in his expression. "What the fuck are you talking about-"
"I know how she done-did it," Odelios declared.
HONK!
"I will fucking kill you," Emanuel snarled, "if you use that horn one more time during a trial!"
"Wait your turn, everyone wants a piece of the clown," Odelios said, smirking as he tucked the horn into his pants. "But about my point, I know how Shinobu got the information from Taro: the mists!"
"Odelios, the mists only work so much," Crystal remarked. "They couldn't make the Kubs convince secrets they knew, they didn't even work on me."
"Well, if you stayed in the mists for an extended period of time, that might be different. I don't know how many of you knew this, but the longer you were in the mists, the more it corrupted you!"
Ishiku sighed, and muttered, "Yeah, he's right. I can confirm that from Fannie."
"No one cares," Emanuel shouted at the magician, making the young man back up in his podium away from the enraged detective, "about you and your fucking stupid decision to bang the enemy! So shut the fuck up!"
"Oh good God, calm down, Emanuel," Anzu remarked. "You're not helping and you're being unreasonable."
"I'm not helping? I am the one who's unreasonable? Oh, I'm sorry, I guess I should be more understanding to someone who let his dick decide for him and have sex with someone is part of this hellhole town!
"Not to mention you all are going on and on about Shinobu's plan, when that's not important now! What we need to know is who fucking killed her!"
The graduates exchanged glances, as they tried to think of how to handle his outraged statement. Anzu groaned as she twirled her blue bang around in her fingers. "You say that, but we were just going over how Shinobu was able to actually move around in the lab. To know her plan could lead us to find out who was helping her."
Emanuel scoffed, and replied, "Maybe you should focus on the more important clues, rather than this bizarre route you seem to have of pairing her up with one of the Kubs. It's nonsense, she wasn't that type of woman to have sex with a villain."
"I'm not a villain," Taro exclaimed.
"Everything you say can easily be a lie, so I'm not listening to a word you're saying!"
"Hey," Anzu snapped at him, "if you're so sure about this, have you got an idea on who her other partner was besides Fiora?"
Emanuel reached into his pocket, and pulled out the bloody note they had found on Shinobu. "You know that paper you all found on her? I managed to discern what most of it said. She mentioned having two partners, and got a little poetic over the reason behind the reason behind the jackets."
"We did think that she picked them out for a reason of sorts," Drake said, as Ignatia rubbed her chin and glanced between the cartoonist and the Bête Noir. "What exactly did she say?"
"Just something about the jackets relating in some way to the one wearing them…"
DEBATE YOUR CASE!
"That's not going to help us narrow it down," Isaac remarked. "You could think of all kinds of connections between any of the Kubs and one of us."
"Yeah, if the third member had the Monophanie jacket," Kimiko said, "Shinobu might have given it to them because they were a girl too!"
"I don't think it'd be that simple," Hikari remarked. "I mean, Fiora is neither orange nor does she wear glasses, like Monosuke."
"The moose is gonna be on the ash'fault tomoo'row, a'boot at high noon, eh," Fiora shouted. "It's bin fun, but I doo'nt knoo' who is going survive, soo'ry!"
"They both have accents," Yitro remarked.
"What youse say?" Monosuke asked.
"But between Monophanie, Monodam, and Monokid, there are way too many connections to be made," Hara protested. "This won't help us go anywhere!"
"It's hopeless to guess who it was at this point, so maybe we should go back to discussing her plan?" Ken asked. "She needed two teammates, one for each of the unlocked rooms."
"Whoa, was it the person who was assigned the workplace room?" Aka asked. "But what would they even need from there?"
"Whoa, hold on a minute," Odelios hollered, "back up a minute there!"
HONK!
"I swear," Emanuel seethed, clenching his fists, "I swear to God I will take that horn and shove it up your-"
"What do you mean, the 'unlocked rooms,' Ken?" Odelios asked. "I mean, when Ishiku found that the door was locked, wouldn't it be obvious that one of Shinobu's teammates was up there, preparing that trap?"
"The problem with that is how would they lock the door?" the cavalryman asked. "Not to doubt your friend, but was he sure it was locked, and that there wasn't a ton of stuff blocking it from being opened?"
"It was locked," Ishiku protested. "I mean, I couldn't get it to open, and I don't know how Monokuma managed, but you know how crafty that bear is!"
"Aww, you flatter me!"
Ken crossed his arms, as he glanced between the magician and the clown. "So what is assertion, that Shinobu had three teammates, one for each room?"
"No, no no no," Emanuel declared, holding up the bloody note. "She said she only had two teammates in this note, so this is obviously just a dumb theory from the dumb putas!"
As an argument started to break out, Hara tried to call attention to them. She couldn't get her voice loud enough, but luckily, her fiancé was rather resourceful. An incredibly sharp whistle stopped everyone, and Isaac stared down everyone as they looked over at him.
"I believe my lovely lady has something she wants to say, instead of pointless bickering," he said, smiling over at Hara. She blushed slightly, then spoke her mind.
"Instead of debating who her teammates or how many there were, let's ask ourselves something: why did her team booby-trap the weapons testing room?"
The graduates all exchanged glances, and it was Blake that spoke up. "Well, it was the Red explosive used there, no questions. Red is used to utterly destroy objects."
"So they wanted to destroy all of the weapons in that room," Souma spoke. "But why, besides the obvious reason?"
"Maybe it was just as simple as that," Ishiku remarked. "I mean, the amount of lethal weapons in that room was real bad news."
"No," Eisei said, crossing his arms as he spoke up defiantly, "I believe there was much more reason than that."
DEBATE YOUR CASE!
"While it is true that the explosion decimated the weapons," Eisei pulled the lollipop from his mouth as he explained himself, "there was also a lot of metal and cloth remains that weren't simply from the weapons."
"Wait, I can guess why cloth was foreign to the mess," Souma commented, "but why the metal? A lot of the weapons there were made of metal."
"It was different than the weapons, mostly because they were painted metals," the dentist continued. "The weapons were not painted."
"Do you remember the colors you found in that mess?" Saiko asked.
"Crimson, tangerine, moss, cyan, and cotton candy."
"Wait, what?" Ken asked, cocking his head to the side. "Are you hungry, Eisei?"
"Wait a minute," the forensic investigator shouted as she pointed at the Kubs, "they're the same colors!"
"Bitch, do we look dead?!" Monokid shouted.
"Well, what was the cloth colored?" Hikari asked.
"It was a lovely coral color," Eisei commented.
"Eee, that's it!" the steampunk model shouted in joy. "I got it!"
"I know which jacket the third member had," Hikari said with a proud grin. "It was a Monophanie jacket!"
"Aww, do I have a fan?" the pink Kub asked, cupping her face as she giggled.
"Coral is a pink color?" Kimiko asked. "Thought it was orange."
"I'm not coral," Monosuke protested, "get your eyes checked!"
Hara held up her hands, stopping the conversation as politely as she could. She looked at Hikari, and said, "If you think that the culprit blew up their own jacket to hide evidence, that's an interesting theory. But knowing which Kub it was doesn't narrow it down enough."
"Oh, sorry," Hikari remarked, tipping her hat down.
"Hey, don't decrease the accomplishments of my girl," Aka shouted angrily. "She found that out, you're just jealous!"
"Aka, please!"
"Come on, babe, I'm doing everything I can to defend you!"
Hara sighed, then scratched the back of her head. She blinked in confusion, as something rather prominent dawned on her. "Isaac," she said, "if the metal pieces were colored the same as the Monokubs, what would you say happened?"
"That the Monokubs were blown up in the explosion?"
"Yes, but they weren't… and yet they were. So what does that say?"
Isaac crossed his arms, as he pondered this. He turned to Taro, and asked, "Did you guys have back-up bodies?"
"No," Taro said. "Well, not functioning ones, anyway…"
"Dude, shut up," Monokid shouted.
"That's a spoiler," Monophanie whined.
"Youse say one more word," Monosuke snarled, "I will come down there and smack you silly!"
"…" interjected Monodam.
The graduates stared at the Kubs' reactions, then turned to Taro. "What are you talking about?" Yitro asked. "What is this about non-functioning ones?"
Taro was trembling as he saw the Kubs and Monokuma staring him down. He gripped his dual-colored hair, and declared, "Oh, I'm so dead if I tell you all! They'll never accept me back, even if I become a Kub!"
"Told you guys," Emanuel said with a roll of his eyes. "He's our enemy and a traitor, he'll never say anything that'll stop him from getting back in their good graces."
"I like toads," Fiora happily announced, and then tried to hop like one, before crashing into her podium's bars.
"Taro, honey."
Anzu spoke, smiling peacefully at him. "I know this is difficult for you, that you feel like you're damned either way. But remember why you are doing this, who you are standing up for."
"Shinobu doesn't have a voice anymore," Hara said, gesturing to the memorial stand of the historian's. The red X painted on the gray photo of her was like a cruel taunt, but it couldn't cover up her pleasant smile. "We want to find out who did this to her, and we need your help."
Taro stared at that X'ed out picture of Shinobu for a few seconds, then took a deep breath. "Okay. Allow me to tell you all something."
"You… are… so… DEAD!" Monokid shouted as he shattered yet another guitar.
DEBATE YOUR CASE!
"When we were supposed to go back to our robotic bodies," Taro explained, "we were to approach the containment tanks and drain them, before entering into them."
"You're dead," Monokid continued. "Dead dead dead!"
"Then the tank would fill up, connect a plate to our head, and upload all of our mind into the supercomputers. A mind is a lot of data!"
"Deader than dead! You're going to be a zombie when I'm done with you! No, a mummy! Mummies are fucking cooler!"
"Then when the process is done and the body is broken down into biomass, our mind is transported to our robotic body inside of the shelf in the workplace room."
"This is so sci-fi," Hikari marveled. "If it weren't so horrible, it'd be amazing."
"Tell me about the robotic bears, Mr. Beardsley," Fiora exclaimed.
"I HEARD THAT," shouted Monokuma, flexing his claws.
"Wait, you go back into your bear body inside of the shelf?" Kimiko asked. "How do you get out?"
"There's an electronic lock inside, which will allow us to leave that shelf. We were then supposed to get our replacements."
"A replacement?" asked Anzu.
"And once I've killed you, I'll destroy Monodam next! He's the most deadest dead dead-bear that's ever deaded!"
"Fiora, please calm down," Yejoon requested from the movie maker.
"We were requested to put a fake version of ourselves back in the shelf, so that the atmosphere of the room wasn't thrown off," Taro explained, "according to Dad."
"The feng shui really required lookalikes," Monokuma commented. "Plus, you never know when you might need an emergency back-up!"
"Where on Earth did you keep fake versions of yourselves?" Drake inquired. "That workplace room didn't have a lot of places to store things. Were they in another room?"
"… until you need a doctor to pull it out again!" Monokid bellowed.
"I believe I have the answer," Yejoon declared.
"Remember how there was a shelf the same size as the one the Monokubs were stored in?" the artist explained. "That's where the decoys were kept."
"Oh shoot, the one place we couldn't look into," Kimiko declared. "That makes so much sense!"
Emanuel scratched his chin, and then looked at his flask. Realizing there wasn't a drop left, he sighed, then spoke. "So the point of this is again?"
"I believe," Hara said, rubbing her temple as she concentrated, "this is a crucial point of Shinobu's plan."
"How? She was going to destroy the decoys to save the Kubs?" Emanuel said with a scoff. "Good grief."
"I don't think she knew about the decoys. Don't you remember how she was told by Taro that his transfer was going to be at 10 AM? She held this heist before that time, and the explosions were before 9:30 AM…"
"So she and her teammates must have been inside of the place by around 9," Isaac carried on Hara's words when she slowed down, helping her out. "She must have thought that all of the Kubs were going through the transfer at the same time!"
"Wait, what?" Taro exclaimed, then he gripped his head with both of his hands. "But… wait, I told her that my transfer was at 10! I didn't think our schedules were different!"
"Oh crap, she must assumed it," Ishiku remarked, gripping his hair as his eyes widened in realization. "Fannie wouldn't even tell me what time she was scheduled! Did you tell this to Shinobu when you were under serious mist duress?"
"I… what?" the young man asked, then he pieced together what the magician said. "Oh, yeah, she learned about my schedule when I was telling her everything. Oh gosh… Shinobu…"
"That unfortunately explains why you're the only one here as a human," Souma remarked.
The public speaker sighed as he leaned against his podium, and spoke clearly to everyone there. "I found a surviving piece of laminated paperwork in the ravaged room, and it had some kind of schedule on the side. Monotaro was scheduled at 10 AM, Monokid at 8:30 AM, and the others were before that."
"I was at 7 AM," Monophanie spoke up.
"I was 5:30 AM," Monosuke chimed in.
"…" explained Monodam.
"Probably 4 AM, if the pattern was consistent," Souma remarked, as he stroked his chin. "It would appear that Shinobu went around 9 AM, to try and stop what she thought was everyone's time to transfer at 10."
"Wait, what does that have to do with the decoys?" Blake asked. "I mean, this is starting to come together, but that shit sounded the most important."
Hara took a deep breath, as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. This trial was already emotional and intense, and it was tough but she was working through it. "I think she planned to have what she thought were the Monokubs' robotic bodies destroyed."
"Blasphemy," Monokid shouted.
"Madness," Monophanie gasped.
"SPARTA," Monodam added.
"Monokuma said destroying their robotic bodies was punishable by death in this town," Emanuel pointed out. "She wouldn't do something that would endanger her life, or the lives of her teammates. Unless you think she was going to trick one of them?"
"She wouldn't do something like that," Taro shouted angrily at the detective. "Shinobu wasn't cruel, she wouldn't get someone killed for her cause!"
"Not to mention we all knew those rules," Ken remarked. "None of us could be tricked like that."
"Then how did she do it?" Emanuel asked, glaring at Taro, then at Hara. "You seem to know so much, why don't you tell us?"
The explorer flinched slightly, then tried to speak. The pressure was getting to her, and her voice was starting to lock up on her. She stared pleadingly at Isaac, trying to find her words. "He makes this look so easy…"
The reporter returned her stare, and smiled at her encouragingly. He wanted her to speak her mind, to let her lead the charge in this case. She did have a good idea, and she couldn't let him down, not when she relied on him during the other trials.
"Just calm down, Hara. Emanuel is volatile and aggressive, but he is right. And you need to explain this to him in a way that he cannot argue with, so consider this the biggest step, and then… you'll be shining on top!"
"It was the booby-trap that was set up in the weapons testing room," she declared. "You see, whoever was helping Shinobu, or maybe it was her herself, set up that room to explode with a Red-styled blast, eviscerating everything in there!"
"That would just kill whoever went in that room first," Emanuel countered. "Not to mention they'd still be found guilty of destroying the Kubs' bodies!"
"Not as long as they're going to follow the rules of a Killing Game," Hara said with a smirk on her face. "You remember how we all almost thought Ignatia would be considered the guilty party because she set off the laser trap last trial?"
"How could we forget," Drake remarked, glancing over at her. The mime merely shrugged it off, and listened to Hara's speech with an intrigued look.
"The rules of the Killing Game have always been that whoever sets off the trap is guilty of the murder, and thus," the explorer raised her voice to emphasize the biggest point, "the trap was set up so that whoever triggered it would be responsible for destroying the Monokubs' bodies!"
"That's… that's crazy," Souma exclaimed.
"That's madness," Monophanie squealed.
"That's genius," Monosuke guffawed. "Honestly, what a pro, setting up a trap like that! I'd tip my hat to her, but I ain't got one."
"I got a hat," Fiora gleefully shouted. "Do you want one, short bald baby person with spectacles?!"
"Do I ever!"
As Fiora struggled to hand her hat up to Monosuke at his perch, Monokuma growled viciously. "Are you telling me that Shinobu was the one responsible for blowing me up?!"
"No, Monokuma," Isaac said with a sly grin on his face. "YOU are responsible for blowing yourself up."
"She obviously didn't want one of us to get hurt or killed," Hara said, "so that's why she had the door locked! And thus only someone who knew that place would open the door and spring the trap…
"Someone like you, Monokuma!"
"Wha… but… I… grrr… argh…" Monokuma snarled and gnashed his teeth, then threw his hands up in the air and shouted, "REEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
"I'll admit," Emanuel said after the furious bear outburst, "that does sound pretty good, Hara. It definitely sounds like her, but there's one problem with that."
"What's that?"
"How did her teammates know how to do all of this? She couldn't explain it to them when they were there due to no talking, and this is a rather complicated plan…"
DEBATE YOUR CASE!
"Between the containment tanks, taking out the Kubs' bodies, and setting up the booby-traps," Emanuel laid out, "how would they know what they were supposed to do?"
"Not to mention that this involved a lot of chemistry that you cannot mess up," Blake asked.
"There was the note in the chemistry lab," Pyrrha pointed out. "Any of us could have prepared the explosives."
"It's not like they could have written a lot of notes on the fly," Aka said. "This plan must have been done very quickly."
"It also went quite wrong quite quickly," Yejoon remarked. "Shinobu was dead and Fiora was unconscious when we arrived."
"Man, we could really use Fiora's testimony right now," Drake remarked, glancing over at the movie maker.
"Hey, what am I doing up there?!" Fiora shouted, pointing up at Monosuke. "Get doo'n from there, me, you're not a little baby short man, eh!"
"You're still wearing one of their jackets, my little flower…"
"Wha? Oh maybe I am! Thank you, pancakes lips~"
"…"
"Wait a minute now!" Ken declared. "I believe I have found the twisted plot!"
"Anyone want to correct him," Souma asked, "or we all just letting this carry on? Anyone?"
"If you would all permit me to speak," the cavalryman said, bowing respectively to the graduates, "I think I know of a way Shinobu could have given some detailed instructions to her teammates."
"How's that, hon?" Futaba asked.
"The jackets!"
They all stared at him for a few seconds in confusion, before Eisei snapped his fingers. "Of course. They have pockets, and they were wearing them inexplicably at the Science Lab. She could have told them to pick them up, and they found written instructions in the pockets of their jackets!"
"Wait, that would make a ton of sense," Crystal remarked. "Shinobu would tell them beforehand which jacket they were to pick out at, say, the front of the rack, and then they'd find what she needed them to do inside of them."
"But why wear them?" Hikari asked. "I mean, as far as things are considered, that's a good hiding place to pass on instructions, but what possible reason could they have to put a jacket on for this caper?"
The graduates all exchanged glances, baffled at this point. "That may be something only those part of the mission would know," Yejoon remarked. "We'll either need to find out who the third member is, or wait for Fiora to recover."
"Wait, Fiora is still wearing her jacket," Anzu remarked. "Couldn't she be still carrying her instructions?"
"I already checked her pockets," the artist said. When a great number of the graduates glared at him, he merely brushed at his shoulder, and said, "Your ire is unnecessary, I was checking to see if she had anything on her that would be important to this trial. And the answer is no, she did not."
"Even in the hidden pocket?" Eisei asked.
"Yes. Even there."
"Look, the reason why they wore the jackets isn't that important," Hara cut in, "because we know they wore them. So we should go back to mapping out Shinobu's plan."
The graduates took a moment to collect their thoughts, and then someone who had been very quiet spoke up. "Sorry that I haven't contributed anything thus far," Shuuya said as he uncrossed his arms, "but I believe I'd like to analyze what has been lain out thus far."
"What are you thinking, killer?" Emanuel asked with a snide glance at the bounty hunter.
Shuuya rolled his crimson eyes, and spoke. "For the most part, I believe that Hara's theory is very solid. She and her allies arrived at the lab, then split up. Someone made the liquid explosives, someone moved the Kubs' bodies to the weapons testing room, and someone else was… what, in the containment tanks room, standing around?"
"Wait, Shinobu might have been preparing a trap there too," Hara explained. "I mean, just to be on the safe side, in case Monokuma decided that destroying that room was punishable by death."
"But the first being to enter that room would be the Monokubs coming in for their body exchange," Shuuya pointed out. "She would effectively kill the ones she was trying to save if she did that."
Emanuel snorted. "According to the rules, they are responsible for their own deaths."
"N-no," Taro declared frantically. "She wouldn't do that! I know I only knew her for a short time, but she wouldn't kill us to save us!"
Shuuya stared at Taro, his eyes burning with intensity. "Tell me, Taro, would the Yellow explosive kill a Monokub?"
"Huh? The what now?"
"Would an EMP explosion destroy a Kub?"
"Oh, something like that? No, that wouldn't work. The Kub bodies are built to withstand all kinds of crazy damage! They're shock proof, water proof, EMP proof, blast proof, and fireproof!"
"There's your proof," Anzu said triumphantly, grinning at Shuuya. The bounty hunter glanced at her, then chuckled.
"And Shinobu knew about this?" he asked Taro.
"Yes, she did. Why?"
"Because then Hara's theory has more water, if she could set up a booby trap that wouldn't kill the one triggering it." Shuuya took a deep breath, and said, "Okay, we've mapped out how Shinobu was going to do this, but now we should think about what went wrong. It's time to discuss why Shinobu is dead now."
DEBATE YOUR CASE!
"So did one of Shinobu's teammates betray her?" Futaba inquired. "Did one of them decide to kill her?"
"Why would anyone want to murder her then and there?" Saiko asked.
"Fiora was then and there," Emanuel remarked.
"I heard my name, or someone who has the same name as me and generates the same amount of irritation that a drug-crazed squirrel does," Fiora shrieked from underneath Monosuke, who was pinning her down to keep her hat.
"Give her the damn hat back," Yejoon calmly ordered the Kub.
"Why don't youse make me?!"
"I don't think someone would just murder Shinobu like that. This teammate had to be someone she trusted," Anzu remarked.
"We trusted Jin and Samson to some degree," Kimiko remarked bitterly. "Did anyone see Samson's evil side coming until it did?"
"But how did they even murder her?" Shuuya asked. He continued speaking as a throwing dagger was hurled across the trial room. "Did they try to blow her up?"
"Yeeep! Alright alright, I'll give her the damn hat back, youse crazy person!"
"The Blue blaster is incredibly strong," Blake remarked. "If someone wanted to kill her, they could throw a vial of it at her or close to her."
"So did someone go into the containment tank room, and hurl a vial of Blue at her?" Aka asked, gripping her goggles in shock at this revelation.
"Fiora was in the hallway to the containment tank room," Emanuel grumbled.
"No, you're all wrong," Saiko shouted, slamming her hands on the podium.
"Are you all forgetting that Shinobu died by electrocution?" the forensic investigator declared. "She couldn't have died by someone throwing explosives at her!"
"You're 100% sure," Shuuya asked, "that it was electrocution and not bleeding out or internal damage? You could only do a basic examination of her."
"Hey, I'm a professional like you, buster," Saiko remarked, staring him down. "Everything you know about making people dead, I know about what made them dead!"
"Whoa, Saiko, don't provoke him like that," Yitro cautioned her.
Shuuya chuckled, and said, "No, it's quite alright. I admire a woman with that kind of confidence."
"So do I, apparently now," Eisei muttered under his breath.
"Speaking of confidence, there's something else I'm 100% sure of," Saiko said, crossing her arms. "I know that the ceiling had to cave in first, because how else would Shinobu would be impaled on that rebar?"
Isaac drummed his fingers on his arms, as he said, "So first the ceiling came down, then the wall was blasted… would that be how Shinobu was impaled on the rebar? Was she knocked backwards by the second blast into that metal spike?"
Blake groaned as he scratched the back of his head. "I mean, with Blue, it is possible if she wasn't too close, she would be propelled away from the blast without it being fatal. Most of the blast goes into the building it is impacting, while only some of it goes the other way."
"Okay, let me map this out too," Shuuya said. "Someone was on the second floor and used Blue to cave the ceiling in?"
"Oh yeah, that had to be it," the pyro commented. "If you were to throw that shit up at the ceiling of the room you were in, there's no way you'd survive. You have to have some kind of distance, not to mention the fucking building is gonna come raining down on you."
"Shinobu was injured aside from her grievous injuries," Saiko commented, "but she wasn't mangled by debris."
"So it had to be someone in the workplace room, but that would mean," Shuuya said, stroking his chin, "that whoever threw it did so at the ground? Wouldn't that be incredibly dangerous?"
"Yes, yes it would be," Blake remarked. "I mean, if you were to stand on the other side of the room and chuck it, that could work without being killed."
"Wait a minute, everyone," Anzu shouted, gathering their attention. "Are we seriously deliberating this? That the third person betrayed Shinobu, and tried to murder her?"
"That's the most reasonable conclusion we can gather," Isaac remarked. "I don't want to believe it either, but it is highly likely that the third party member is the responsible one."
Anzu shook her head, and muttered, "I'm sorry, it's just… it's so hard to believe that someone was so cruel to do that. She trusted them to help her on this secret mission, and they ended up murdering her? How does this keep happening?
"Why is there so much darkness amongst us? Aren't we supposed to be survivors, the best of Hope's Peak, the ones who were the shining beacon of the future?"
She gripped her balcony as she took long, deep breaths. They could see how upset she was, especially with her pretty face contorted with that mixture of anger, sadness, and confusion.
"Whoa, that's deep," Fiora commented, then she jumped off of the Monokubs' platform. "Ouch! This pool sucks!"
"Anzu, I know you're angry over this," Kimiko said, "but we have to ask ourselves, why else did the ceiling cave in by an explosion except that someone was trying to kill who was in the containment tank room?"
"And that someone was Shinobu," Hikari remarked, shaking her head. "The poor darling was probably setting up the trap there, but she didn't expect that."
"Except that the ceiling caving in didn't kill her," Hara remarked. "For whatever reason, they missed when they tried to kill Shinobu."
"Maybe that was how Fiora got hurt?" Drake asked. "She went into the containment tank room to do something with Shinobu, then the ceiling caved in and she was hit by some of the debris?"
Ignatia snapped her fingers and pointed at him, smiling at the others. Isaac chuckled, and said, "Seems you have someone agreeing with you there, buddy. But then we have to ask ourselves, what could have happened then?"
DEBATE YOUR CASE!
"So let's say that the culprit bombed the floor in the workplace room," Pyrrha said, running her hands through her red hair. "Why didn't they try it again?"
"They had cut off their only way out," Kimiko remarked. "The door was closed when we first approached, so they had nowhere to go but down."
"Okay, so they leapt down," Shuuya said, "which is not impossible, just not safe, but they had to risk it. And they saw that Shinobu wasn't dead."
"Yes, she couldn't be," Saiko commented, "since the rebar she was impaled on came from the ceiling, and she wouldn't have just fallen on it."
"So, the culprit saw that she was still alive, and then what?" Crystal asked. "For that matter, why didn't Shinobu run out of the room?"
"Maybe when the ceiling collapsed, she was on the other side of the room," Isaac suggested. "Thus, the killer stood between her and her only way out."
"But wasn't she facing the wall that was blown out?" Hara asked. "That would mean when she was propelled by the blast and onto the rebar, the poor woman was facing the explosion."
"I think the answer to that," Souma spoke up, "is when her killer threw the vial at her, and it hit the far wall, she turned to see what it was that had been thrown at her?"
"Why would she look at what was being thrown at her?" Emanuel asked. "She knew what they were working with!"
"No, that's wrong," Anzu shouted, "this is all wrong!"
"Listen, I know you all are thinking I'm just being emotional here," the actress cried out, "but think about the supposed killer's actions."
"That's exactly what we're doing," Emanuel said, "you dumb whore."
"Shut it! What I am trying to say," Anzu defiantly declared, "is that our killer was on the second floor. They moved the Monokubs' bodies to the weapons room, set the trap up with all the weapons, and then…
"They went to the workplace room and started bombing it in the hopes that they would kill Shinobu? So why the hell did they not go downstairs and just do it where they could easily kill her with an explosive, instead of this wildly unreliable method?"
The others were quiet at first, trying to think of an answer to that. Shuuya stared at the lady, and spoke, "I think you're thinking about it from a compassionate point of view. Speaking from experience, looking someone in the face as you kill them is not something you can just do unless you have solidified your nerves.
"This could have been their way to try and kill her without having to look at her while they did it."
"Not everyone has those nerves Shuuya speaks of," Yejoon remarked as he inspected his nails.
"Ugh, I really didn't need to hear any of this," Pyrrha remarked, shivering as she glanced between the two men.
"Y-yeah," Drake murmured, hiding behind his sketchpad. "How did so many people good at killing get into Hope's Peak anyway?"
"A discussion for a different time, my young friend, let's not digress," Shuuya said. "The fact is, while Anzu is correct that this is a complex manner of trying to kill someone, it doesn't disprove what we're discussing."
"But why was Shinobu facing the wall that blew up?" Anzu shouted desperately. "She would be running for her life if she was being attacked."
"Oh my God, will you shut your dumb whore mouth?" Emanuel snarled. "We did not ask for a porn star's opinion, we never will!"
"Hey, back off," Kimiko snapped at him, before the Bête Noir slammed his fist rather aggressively on his podium.
"Oh no, the thumps are invading after being annoyed at our global warming usage," Fiora hollered, and ducked down at her podium. "Signal the President, he has to make a decision that the hero will ignore because they know better!"
Emanuel shook his head, rubbing his face as he said, "Who cares why Shinobu was facing in the direction of the explosion when it went off? The point is that she did! She did, and it is as simple as that!"
"W-wait," Anzu stammered, "that's not everything I have to say-"
"You keep your damn mouth shut, or I'll go over there and use it for what it was made for!"
"You stay the hell away from her," Kimiko shouted, tightening her hands into fists.
"Back off, you big bully," Pyrrha shrieked.
Again, the trial room was filled with emotional shouting and arguing. Isaac used his sharp whistle again, but this time it failed to stop the furious yelling. Odelios tried his horn as well, but it had no effect.
"You stop threatening people, or I'll kick your ass," Kimiko hollered at Emanuel.
"You dumb fucks are just going to get us all killed," the detective retaliated, "with how you keep digressing from the fucking point!"
"Stop shouting," Crystal shouted, trying to use her most powerful commanding voice. "You are all going to ruin our chances at this trial if you don't all stop fighting!"
"It was the doll the entire time?" Fiora blurted out. "I totally did not smell that coming!"
The fighting didn't stop for another minute, until there was a rather sharp noise that overwhelmed even this intense fighting. They all flinched and covered their ears, and then stared at the one responsible.
Taro took deep, shuddering breaths as he lowered the air horn. "You… you all cannot do this. You're supposed to be finding out who killed Shinobu, you're supposed to be doing the right thing! That's what she was doing, that's what you all say I should do!
"How am I supposed to do the right thing, to be human like you, when all the humans here are pointlessly fighting? Please, just stop the yelling and shouting… because if we lose, we all die. And I don't want your last memories of each other being how much you hated and distrusted each other."
They stared at him, and then glanced around nervous at each other. It had been such a heated argument, they couldn't believe it had just happened. As they all collected their emotions and their breaths, Odelios spoke first.
"Where'd you get the air horn, Taro?" he asked with a grin on his face. "No wait, not important, your words are so much more important!"
"Oh, um, thanks," Taro said, shrugging. "I kind of borrowed it from Father, because I didn't want him using it during the trial; it's really painful when you're standing right in front of him."
"You adorable whippersnapper," Monokuma crooned. "I expect that back when the trial is done, one way or another."
Hara shivered at the implications, then her eyes widened. "Wait, what do you mean by that?" she asked. "Are… are you saying that you would kill your own son if you were to punish us?"
"He did volunteer to be part of the cast instead of the crew," the despair bear pointed out. "I mean, what else am I supposed to do? Make exceptions to the rule? We'd have anarchy! We'd have chaos!"
"Ooo, chaos is big nowadays," Monosuke remarked.
"Poor Monotaro," Monophanie whimpered, then she shook her head and said, "I mean, Taro. I wish I could be as brave as him."
"Brave? Fucking coward is what he is," Monokid shouted. "He just wants to die because his girlfriend did! I mean, it's metal in a sense, but I cannot get on board dying just because your chick did!"
"Alright, enough from the peanut gallery," Souma declared, "we're getting back on track like our newest member asked us to do. Get back onto who killed Shinobu."
"I believe," Emanuel said, eyeing the Kubs suspiciously, "that we were talking about how the killer jumped down into the tank room and threw a Blue vial at her?"
"Let's go with that then," said Shuuya, "and stay on topic, for Shinobu's sake as well as ours."
DEBATE YOUR CASE!
"Okay, one way or another, Shinobu was knocked onto that rebar," the bounty hunter/assassin said, "and pinned there. Was she electrocuted right then and there, or was that later?"
"She did bleed a lot," Saiko said, "but I don't know for how long, I apologize. Still, I believe she was alive for a short period before being electrocuted. With the sudden death of electrocution, her heart would stop and she'd bleed far less, I believe."
"So she's thrown by the explosion, impaled on the rebar," Emanuel said, "and then shortly after, she gets electrocuted. How was that again?"
"One of the computer shelves fell over from the explosion," Drake said. "And one of the power strips on that shelf fell from it, and into the water."
"Wait, was the room flooded by this point?" Isaac asked. "When would the tanks have broken?"
"They could have easily have broken by the ceiling explosion," Souma said. "I mean, that was a great deal of concrete and debris falling down, the glass would have been smashed."
"So the second explosion caused the electrocution?" Eisei said. "Then whoever caused that would definitely be our killer."
"Why wasn't the killer electrocuted too?" Aka asked. "I mean, they were in the room too."
"They were probably standing on the debris," Souma replied. "I don't believe concrete conducts electricity, so they'd be safe standing on some of the debris."
"Yes, but why stand on it, it's not like they'd know that there was going to be electricity running through the water," the skier declared.
"Maybe after the second explosion, they ran out of the room," Eisei offered.
"Stop the argument," Yitro demanded, slamming his palm down at his podium. "There's something wrong here!"
"We've been going on about how Shinobu was killed, but I think that part was more or less outlined," the swordsman said. "However, what is vexing me is how the killer got out of the lab after the death."
"The shelf didn't block the way out," Drake explained, "you could climb under it, but you'd get really wet from how close you got to the ground."
"That's what bothers me. Our killer apparently dives down to the first floor, bombs the wall with a blast strong enough to throw Shinobu into that rebar, and then… leaves through the gap in the wall?"
Yitro pinched the bridge of his nose, and muttered, "I fail to see how any of that is possible. Why would the killer not go out the front door?"
The cartoonist collected his nerves, and spoke. "We found wet footprints outside in the dust from the remains of the wall. At least, they were like footprints, but the person who walked out moved their foot around to disguise prints or their foot size."
Emanuel glanced over at Drake, and shrugged. "Not to mention there was that issue with the jackets at the tailor shop that was mentioned earlier? Yitro, someone had to go out that way."
"And not the front door?" the swordsman questioned.
"I would imagine," Hikari said, "that Shinobu or Fiora would have shouted when the ceiling came down on them. That's not something you can stay quiet to! The front door would have been locked due to the voice activated alarm."
"It's just bothering me that the killer seemed to avoid being electrocuted altogether," Aka spoke up, shaking her head. "I mean, you'd have to be pretty damn agile to ensure you're bouncing around, throwing explosives, and avoid getting zapped! Sounds like my kind of jam, honestly…
"Extreme sports aside," Hara said, surveying the graduates, "it seems like we mapped out what happened, more or less. We know what Shinobu's plan was, and we know how someone could have betrayed her."
"Yes, but now the problem is," Isaac said, "trying to narrow down the possible suspects."
The trial room was rather tense, as everyone scanned the others in this group, with twenty-four people observing each other.
Taro cleared his throat, and spoke up. "Normally, you would take into account everyone's alibis at this point, right?"
"That's a great suggestion, Taro," Anzu cheered him on. "Good thinking! So we should do a quick questioning of everyone to see who doesn't have an alibi. We can start with you!"
"Oh, I don't have one."
Anzu stared at him wide-eyed, her gusto gone suddenly. "Oh. Um, sorry, I thought you would have."
"No, Shinobu told me that I needed to sleep along last night, because she had to get some things done… I didn't know that she meant she was planning something like this. And I was too nervous to pry, I've never tried courting someone. Women don't like it when you pry, right?"
"Fucking shut up," Emanuel snarled. "We don't want to hear this."
"I do," Pyrrha protested.
"Shut up! Let's just go over alibis then, for who cannot be that third person and who can be…"
DEBATE YOUR CASE!
"So Crystal and myself were up early," Hara explained, "Saiko and Isaac were still asleep when I left. We met up with Hikari at around 9 AM."
"I'll state that since the three of us were together, and heard both of the explosions together," Crystal said, "it's not possible for us to have been that third person. We are, you could say, Ground Zero for alibis."
"Then you can vouch for me too," Yejoon said. "I was unconscious in the cafeteria, due to Fiora's little trick."
"Wait, what? She got the jump on you?" Blake asked, staring incredulously at the artist.
"Fiora is more intelligent than most of you give her credit for. Now, are you going to press the issue, Blake?"
"Nosiree, not me," the pyro declared as he regarded the serial killer, "no way, no how!"
"So who else has an alibi?" Hikari inquired. "I mean, besides Aka, who I know was in my room when I left."
"Hell yeah, sexy! By the way, it was amazing, and I really hope you aren't taking my words under truth serum as my-"
"Aka, please! Not now!"
"So does any other soul have a way to verify they aren't the third person?" Eisei asked, glancing around the trial room.
"…"
"Are you serious?" Odelios balked. "You mean besides you seven, and Fiora and Shinobu, none of us have anyone to verify? Weren't we all orgy'ing it up a couple days ago?"
"That's highly inappropriate," Eisei remarked.
"Hold on, what you just said," Souma said with a snap of his fingers as he pointed at Odelios, "might be more important than we thought!"
"I apologize, I know this may be a dark thought of mine, however," the public speaker corrected his uniform before he continued, "should we also consider the possibility that Shinobu died from an accident?"
"What?" Hara balked, staring at him. "But the only way that would be possible is if she threw the explosive that created the fatal shocking!"
"We were wondering why she was facing the blast when she was thrown backwards," Souma continued, "so what if the answer is that she threw it at her attacker, and the blast was bigger than she anticipated?"
"She threw a Blue explosive at someone?" Blake said, shaking his head incredulously. "That's ballsy and downright stupid. I think she would know better than that."
"Even if her life was in danger? We all do things that might not be the most safe when we are endangered?"
The group was quiet as they contemplated this, then there was a snapping sound from someone else. Ignatia was shaking her head, while making all the motions that she completely disagreed. Drake offered her his sketch pad, and she quickly wrote down her thoughts.
"'If Shinobu threw the Blue explosive at her attacker, how could they walk away unscathed when she was practically killed by it'?" Drake read aloud.
"That's true," Isaac remarked, regarding the two. "I mean, everyone here is perfectly fine, we certainly would have noticed if someone here had been harmed from an explosion!"
"Yeah boi, that done did snap at'cha, wha'cha knoo'?" Fiora cheered, pumping her fists into the air, before falling over backwards.
"Aside from our now unusual cheerleader, that is."
Emanuel smirked, and then snapped his fingers. "Or maybe it really was her all along."
"Will you not?" Anzu shouted. "We're so tired of this!"
"I don't need to talk to you, I'm more interested in people with brains here," the Bête Noir said. "For you see, all of you seem perplexed that the killer could just dive down a floor, avoid being electrocuted, and then leave without getting soaked by going under the fallen shelf.
"So what if Souma's theory is right, and she threw that Blue explosive at her attacker to defend herself? And that attacker was thrown clear across the room, and landed on her stupid head, knocking her out?"
"Oh come on, dude," Ishiku said, turning up his hands as he rolled his eyes. "If it really was that, then why hasn't the other teammate spoken up? They're totally innocent if that were true."
"We don't know everyone's positions, they might think that they are somehow responsible."
"How could that even work?!" the magician hollered. "For this to happen combining our theory with yours, Fiora was on the top floor, preparing the booby trap with the Monokubs' bodies, and the other ally was downstairs in the chemistry room! When the explosions started happening, they would have sprinted over to see what was going on, and surely they would have seen something happen."
Emanuel scoffed, then he glanced around at some of the others. "How far apart were the explosions, ladies? You would know best."
"Um, the second one happened at 9:30 AM, or just seconds beforehand," Hikari remarked, "because the morning announcement started playing on the speakers. And the Kubs were in front of the building in the middle of it when we arrived."
"The first explosion was possibly a minute or two before the second one," Crystal said, rubbing her chin as she recalled. "It's hard to say, things were happening so fast, but I'm positive they were close together."
"Why would Shinobu even have Blue explosive on her?" Ishiku shouted, glaring at Emanuel. "She was going to use Yellow to fry all of the electronics in that room! Why blow it up too?"
"I'm afraid only she could answer that question," Emanuel retorted. "It's a mystery why any Blue was made to begin with, but two vials of it were prepared."
"That is one of the oddest parts about this, to be honest," Futaba remarked. "Why make Blue explosives if they were going to destroy the Monokubs' bodies and fry the electronics?"
"Probably to bring the whole building down afterwards?" Shuuya theorized. "I mean, you use Blue to destroy a building."
Taro gasped, and declared, "Blow the whole building up? No no, that's not allowed under any circumstances!"
The graduates turned towards him, as Anzu asked, "Wait, why not, Taro?"
DEBATE YOUR CASE!
"I'm sorry, I forgot to mention earlier," the white 'n red-haired young man said, "when I was going over the things I was talking to Shinobu about. There is one rule that Father never brought up, but I told it to her."
"Oh great, another mystery rule," Yitro griped. "What was it?"
"Destroying one of the buildings in Penjar is punishable by death."
"Whoa, that's heavy," Saiko remarked.
"What did youse expect, Toots?" Monosuke shouted. "Penjar is the most important thing in the whole wide world to us, and we're not going to have you blowing up the buildings!"
"It wasn't really a possibility," Monophanie said, "until the ability to make Blue explosive came around."
"So do you mean destroy a building like entirely," Isaac questioned, "or do you mean make it unusable?"
"The rule is entirely, that means all of the building," Monokuma stated, crossing his two-toned arms. "My Kubs can get a little crazy, so I am giving them some leniency."
"Shinobu's plan maybe was to ruin the workplace room?" Futaba said, correcting her glasses.
"Argh! Why would they do that?" Ishiku shouted, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "Fiora wasn't going to just start bombing the workplace room when the team was still there!"
"What if she was supposed to set up a trap there?" Souma guessed.
"She'd be too busy with the Monokubs' bodies, and moving them to the weapon testing room!"
"Wait, are we going with Emanuel's theory then?" Blake asked. "So did Fiora kill Shinobu, or did she kill herself?"
"No," Ishiku groaned loudly, double face-palming.
"Yes," Emanuel growled.
"It's not looking good for Fiora, either way," Futaba remarked, glancing over at the babbling movie maker.
"I have the answer," Odelios declared, pointing his horn up high in the air.
HONK!
"Okay, that does it," Emanuel shouted, leaving his podium to run towards Odelios. "That tears it! Come here, I am going to kick your ass!"
"Awk, killer Bête," the clown squawked, and sprinted away from the enraged detective. The two were running around the trial room, and they weren't alone before the first lap was done.
"Yay, chase scene," Fiora cheered, and ran after them.
"Oh good grief, he really has turned this into a circus," Crystal said, rubbing her forehead.
"So do we just wait for Odelios to get back into the conversation?" Ishiku asked. "Or anyone have an idea of what he was going to say?"
"I might," Taro said, "but it's just a guess."
"Go ahead, honey," Anzu said, smiling at him as she tried to ignore Emanuel's swearing, Odelios's panicked shouting, and Fiora's excited yelling.
"I would think that instead of using Blue, Shinobu would have used Red to destroy what was in the workplace room," he said. "I mean, if I understand what she was planning, she wanted to prevent us from having to go back into our robotic bodies, so she needed to destroy the computers and equipment in the workplace room, as well as the containment tank room."
"Why Red, and not Yellow?" Hara asked.
"Oh, the workplace room has a ton of written paperwork and other items that aren't electronic as back-ups. Father was kind of particular about that, said we shouldn't leave it up solely to technology today."
"I cannot trust you kids to not upload it to your social media pages on the off-day that you're bored!"
Anzu twirled her colored bangs around in her fingers, and then asked, "And you told Shinobu all this?"
"Yes, why?"
"Then I think you knew her pretty well, Taro. You know what?" The actress smiled at him as she said, "This might be the turnaround we were looking for to find some sense in this scenario!"
"Wait, what is going on?" Hikari asked. "Anzu, I think you lost some of us."
The actress curtsied, and said, "Sorry, my theatrics got ahead of me. What I'm thinking of, is that why would Shinobu's team bother bringing the Monokubs' bodies over to the weapons testing room? Why not just set up the trap in the workplace room?"
"Maybe to make sure they got everything in one blast?" Eisei guessed.
"That's not a bad point, but considered the fact that they were rigging up the containment tank room and the weapons testing room. In all honesty, I think they were going to do something for each of the three rooms, to destroy the tech, the Kubs' bodies, and the weapons!"
"But what does that prove?" Isaac asked.
"Shinobu wouldn't use Blue for her goal, she wouldn't risk the building coming down and facing Monokuma's wrath. So one of her teammates made it, and it somehow wound up in the workplace room."
"Wouldn't Fiora know that she had Blue," Ishiku asked, "rather than Red?"
"What if she didn't know the difference? Someone else could have made the liquid explosives, and she was given Blue unbeknownst to her!"
The others paused to consider this, and then Yejoon spoke up. "This is quite the theory you have, Anzu; however, it goes against your previous stance that someone on Shinobu's team wouldn't have betrayed her. Plus, what would the point of tricking Fiora like that be?"
"I… have to admit, with how we're trying to piece together the scene, there had to have been some kind of treachery," Anzu admitted, sighing sadly. "But my theory comes from the idea that Shinobu wouldn't make the Blue explosive, and I don't think Fiora did that either."
"Why not? I agree that she is innocent, but we must be able to prove it."
"Let's debate it then, shall we?"
DEBATE YOUR CASE!
"We all know at this point, poor Fiora was in a Killing Game beforehand," Anzu said. "She survived it despite not hurting or killing anyone. Do you really think she would suddenly become so extreme?"
"We didn't see Jin or Samson either," Crystal said. "How well do we truly know Fiora?"
"If she was truly planning a murder, why would she try bombing the floor to have the ceiling fall on Shinobu?" Yejoon said. "It's very poor planning."
"I believe we went over how difficult it is to try and kill someone to their face," Shuuya remarked. "Is this an emotional argument, rather than a logical one?"
"There's the argument that the third person would have spoken up by now," Eisei said, "if they weren't part of this."
"If the third person made Blue instead of Red, would they be guilty?" Pyrrha asked. "I mean, they'd be responsible if that mix-up caused Shinobu's death, right?"
"I'm afraid that the only one who is accountable in the eyes of Monokuma's rules," Yejoon said, "would be the one who caused that electrocution, not the tools that led up to it."
"I… ugh… haaaah…," Odelios panted, leaning against his podium. "I missed out on what was going on… what're we talking about?"
"Yeah, what we talking a'boot?" Fiora muttered, slumping back into her podium, or at least she thought it was, since now she was leaning up against a very confused Crystal.
"I… I… really don't care," Emanuel panted, wiping his brow as he made it back to his own podium. "Are we really doing this now?"
"I believe I know where this is going," Isaac said with a triumphant grin, "and how this will help us out!"
"First off, I want to thank Anzu, Taro, and especially my lovely Hara for doing so well this trial," Isaac said as he adjusted his beanie. "I think I have had a real breakthrough, with all of you working so hard on this."
"Oh, what is it, honey?" Hara asked excitedly.
"You see, while this is grim, I was wondering why Fiora was simply knocked out at the scene, but how could she be the perpetrator when the third person wasn't speaking up. The evidence is her herself."
"Can you get the evidence off of me?" Crystal pleaded, as Fiora was making kissy noises and trying to get to the military expert's face. "I have no idea what's going on in her goofy state, and I don't-MMMMPH~!"
"However," Isaac continued, trying not to stare or laugh at what was happening, "I think the issue is that Shinobu asked this third person to make the liquid explosives, and provide them for her and Fiora. She kept them apart, because she was carrying this mission out in secret.
"Fiora was assigned to rig the upstairs rooms to explode when they were opened, but for some reason, she was given Blue for her second batch in the workplace room. I believe that Shinobu's third teammate wanted to take a more extreme route, and bring part of the building down."
Isaac tapped at his notepad, where he had written down some comments that had been on his mind. "Now, I am still trying to think of what happened in that room, but consider the fact that Hara and the ladies told us the explosions weren't so far apart. Do you all honestly believe she bombed the floor, jumped down, and then hurled an explosive at someone all within less than five minutes?
"Fiora is no Rambo. Heck, she's not exactly Shuuya, either."
The bounty hunter chuckled slightly. "While I appreciate the comparison, I think I see what you are gathering at. Fiora's only alive because she never saw the third member, but she's not the culprit."
"Thank goodness," Yitro said with a soft sigh of relief.
"Oh thank heavens," Hikari said, placing a hand over her heart. "The poor darling has been through so much."
"I've been saying that since the beginning," Yejoon said, though some of them could sense he was smiling behind his mask.
Then the trial room was filled with a rather menacing chuckling, which evolved into barking laughter. Emanuel was practically cackling as he slammed his palm on his podium. "You all went that far," he shouted in-between bursts of laughter, "for that stupid puta? Oh congratulations, you spent so much valuable time ensuring that cunt wasn't guilty! Give yourselves fucking pats on the back!"
"Okay, I've really had enough from you," Anzu declared, pointing at him furiously. "You haven't contributed at all."
"Yeah, seriously," Ishiku muttered.
"What is wrong with you, Emanuel?" Futaba said, staring at him as his laughter finally quieted down. "You told me how much the truth meant to you, how you wanted to be taken seriously and for people to listen to you. Why are you being difficult?"
"Oh, I apologize to you, Futaba," he said, casting her a small salute. "I mean, I guess I just found it too funny not because they simply wasted their time…
"But I've finally found out who the third person was. I have proof and damning evidence, and I'm finally going to expose them to you all now."
Emanuel chuckled as he glanced around at everyone. "What's the matter? Any of you got a clue who it is? No? Aww, come on, guess maybe?"
"Listen, Emanuel," Isaac snapped, "if you have an accusation to make, we'll want to hear about this proof first."
"The proof is their own words, as well as a series of coincidences that I can show to everyone that this person was most certainly that member of Shinobu's team. And it makes me so happy to say…"
The Bête Noir swung his arm out, pointing at someone with a fervent intensity that could be felt in the air, singling out…
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SELECT A SUSPECT!
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"The third member of the team, and Shinobu's killer, is you, Ishiku!"
Ishiku Shyre flinched and jumped as he held his arms up defensively, staring at Emanuel with eyes wide in terror. He opened his mouth, and the Ultimate Magician let out the only noise he could to such an accusation.
"… Nyeh?"
…
TRIAL INTERMISSION!