Class Trial Resume

The colors drained from most of everybody's faces as the look of horror-filled them after I revealed the hidden truth behind Mikayla's death. Shana's hands trembled as her eyes welled up too.

"Oh my God. She… she died from a seizure?! That's beyond terrible! How could someone do that to her!" Shana cried out as Tommy held her shoulders trying to console her but unfortunately it wasn't very effective.

"But we can't be sure that's the actual cause of death! There's not enough to prove that is correct!" Paul shouted out.

Willie sighed out, "For once I have to agree with Paul. I don't see how Mikayla died from a seizure. I mean besides myself, she was probably the healthiest person here."

Melinda shook her head. "I dunno. Just because you are healthy doesn't mean you can't have a medical condition. I mean that Marcel guy looks healthy and yet he has that gluten allergy."

Marcel blushed. "Dude, I love that she's being nice to me for once yet ironically it feels strange too, ya know? But I don't recall Mikayla saying she had a heart condition. You think she'd tell someone like Kai so someone could help her but I don't think she did because maybe she didn't have one."

Luca nodded to Melinda. "I agree with Kai. With the head wound not being enough to kill her and there being no other injuries listed that can only mean he's correct."

"I also agree with Luca," Ollie stated.

Tommy groaned. "It does seem a bit farfetched to think someone found out her condition and took advantage of it as Brenda did with Sienna's soy allergy."

HOLD EVERYTHING!

"Am I hearing you all correctly? It sounds like you all have been split down the middle on this opinion! It's time for the American Hope's Peak Academy to once again present it's very own morphenomenal trial grounds!" Monokuma called out!

Ollie rolled her eyes. "Here we go again with the whole floating in midair bullshit."

The panel popped up as Monokuma brought out his key, inserted it into the keyhole, and turned it as the panel lit up in an array of colored lights. Soon Monokuma's throne lifted up into the air with my podium gain floating up as the others followed me in the same spiral pattern as the last two times. Our seats then began jumbling and mixing around as Willie, Damian, Tommy, Marcel, and Paul took the left side while Ollie, Luca, Shana, Melinda, and myself took the right side.

Debate Scrum!

Question: What was Mikayla Weissberg killed from a seizure?

Answer 1: No

Answer 2: Yes

START!

"How can we be sure she didn't die from something else? Monokuma gave us little information about the status of her body." Willie argued.

Ollie!

"Actually we have all we need to know because of how we found her body!" Ollie retorted.

"But she was bleeding out when we found her. She bled all over me and my equipment!" Damian pointed out.

Luca!

"But the weapon that caused her to start bleeding was found in her room and the duct tape on the stage floor which was used to stop the blood from dripping and giving her position away." Luca reminded him.

Tommy went next asking, "But could someone really have known about a condition Mikayla had and used it against her?"

Shana!

"I don't want to argue with you but I think it's a great possibility she had a condition just like how Sienna had a health problem too." Shana calmly answered him.

"But dude, she never showed any signs of having a health problem before so how can we be sure it even exists?" Marcel questioned.

Melinda!

"There must be signs we can find ourselves that point to her stroke being a legitimate cause of death," Melinda told him.

"But without physical evidence, there can't be any way to prove anything to anyone with a decent IQ." Paul huffed out.

Leave this to me!

"If we take the time to talk things out then the evidence will show itself." I fought back.

Things turned into a reversal tug of war as our arguments began pushing a wall against the opposing team, backing them into a tight place where our explanations began pelting them and all they could do was yield. Luck was on my side as our wall backed the boys against my team all the way back as we smashed their reasonings to pieces.

"THIS IS WHAT WE'VE DECIDED!"

Full Counter!

With our podiums now back down on ground level and back in their appropriate placements, Paul soon spoke up. "Alright fine. Let's talk this out. Explain how you know she died from a stroke."

"Gladly," I replied back before I breathed in and out to help settle my nerves and shaking hands. "So years and years ago when my acting career started to pick up in the mainstream, I filmed one of my first feature movies where a scene I took part in where I was a kid who discovers a portal between dimensions and worlds."

Luca smiled. "I remember that movie! It was fantastic! Your character, Kevin, was soon traveling randomly between these worlds with no hope of returning home. Yet his persistence and determination kept him going as he avoided dangers and monsters to eventually find his way back home!"

I chuckled lightly before rubbing my wrist. "It was a bit of a random plot but… it was not exactly one I was fond of looking back on. Actually, I resent ever being a part of that movie."

"Why's that, Kai?" Marcel asked me confused.

"Well when Kevin traveled through the portals it was bright and colorful and flashed like crazy. As a result, the theatres had to put out a warning about that sequence of flashing lights and images. But one didn't put out the warning and as a result… a little girl who was in the audience was exposed to those scenes and as a result, the girl had a seizure and was wheeled off to a hospital." I admitted as tears once again streamed down my face.

Shana looked at me with horror etched in her eyes. "Oh, God. Please tell me she was okay."

I nodded. "Barely, she was hospitalized for two weeks and during her recovery, her parents went and filed a lawsuit."

"Well, of course! Those dumbasses at that theatre risked that girl's safety because they didn't put out that warning!" Damian growled.

"No… the lawsuit was against me," I admitted.

"W-What!? But you're not responsible for the theater staff's negligence! Hell, they could have aimed it at the producers who allowed those scenes to flash like that! That's ridiculous!" Luca shouted out angrily.

I shrugged. "They didn't care. The girl's parents fully believed I was to be blamed for it. Terry defended me and helped win the case but despite that, I had accepted to be in that movie. I did take part so I am to blame for what happened to her and it's been one of my biggest regrets of my career."

"But you were just a kid! You couldn't have known what would come of it!" Damian defended me.

I quickly shook myself out. "Well right now that doesn't matter. The reason why I brought this painful memory up was that she suffered the same way Mikayla did. She had a stroke from the flashing movie screen just like Mikayla did with the flashing stage light. When the little girl had her stroke her eyes rolled back in her head, she began foaming at the mouth and drooling all over, and her heart started beating sporadically."

Willie snapped his fingers. "That's how we found Mikayla with her eye rolled back and her mouth and chin covered in drool!"

"And the heart beating faster is the same as what was said in the Monokuma file," Tommy added.

"After that incident, I learned that exposure to bright, flashing lights to one with sensitive eyes can overstimulate the brain and heart and if not taken care of fast can kill someone. This condition is called photosensitive epilepsy."

"Photo… stensethivity? Isn't that plant food?" Marcel asked with his head tilted.

Willie groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "No, that's photosynthesis. And it ain't food for plants. It's the process of energy that plants get from sunlight and grow stronger from it. Growing up on a farm does have its perks."

"Not enough if you ask me," Shana mumbled.

I continued. "Mikayla has shown the same signs that the girl did when she had her seizure so I'm positive Mikayla did have photosensitive epilepsy. After all, she had exceptional eyesight where she gloated about how she can see baby spiders across a room. I'll bet because of how well she can see that has a side effect on how her eyes take in light too well."

"You think so?" Tommy asked me.

"I do. In fact, Shana and I found a stash of sunglasses in Mikayla's dorm." I told him.

"A stash of sunglasses?" Paul asked in bewilderment.

I loaded up the photo from my screen. "See? There are too many sunglasses for one person to have. The only reason I can think about wanting so many sunglasses on hand is that she was worried about her eyes. That would tie in with her medical condition and why she was scared to come to the party too. Also, there are multiple times that Mikayla actually gave her condition away that would point to this conclusion."

"There are? Like what exactly?" Melinda asked curiously.

"Well, there were the two times the alarms went off. The first time when Monokuma got our attention about the stairs to the second floor and the second time when I pulled the alarm to get everyone to stop screaming at each other when Monokuma told us about the traitor and secret meet up." I recalled as I thought back to me pulling the alarm.

I held the alarm and gave him a silent nod, signaling him of my intention, before I yanked it down. At that moment the fire alarm blared as red, flashing lights appeared…

That alarm didn't go off for very long. It must have been shut off manually. I looked around and I noticed Mikayla was removing her hands from her face and not the sides of her head. 'Was she not covering her ears?'

"Did anyone else notice she wasn't covering her ears when those blaring alarms sounded?" I asked everyone.

"Well, sure. The Lil' lady had her face covered. Probably because she was scared." Willie guessed.

"But what was she scared about? How about those red, flashing lights that went alongside the alarm? I bet someone with her condition would be more concerned about covering her eyes than her ears since the loud alarm couldn't kill her." I explained.

"But if all that I've presented still isn't enough to convince you, I do know another physical way I can prove it," I added.

"How's that?" Paul asked with a glare.

"The nurse's office! We all have medical files stashed in there!" I answered.

"But I thought the files were destroyed once a person was pronounced dead. So wouldn't Mikayla's files be gone already?" Tommy inquired.

Monokuma spoke up. "Actually, no! I wait until after a class trial has concluded before I destroy anything so I can do both the victim and the culprit at the same time to make it faster. Well, that is as long as the culprit is discovered."

I smiled. "Perfect! Then Mikayla's should still be intact! Monokuma, since you can travel around the school like no other, would you get us her files?"

"Well, the funny thing about that is… I can't." Monokuma responded.

I blinked as my smile faded. "Why not? There shouldn't be a problem with my request!"

"Actually, there is Kai." Luca now began speaking. "Me and Ollie know why Monokuma can't. It was what I wanted to show you before the investigation ended. See while we were tending to Melinda and telling her everything that had happened, Ollie noticed something while getting Melinda pain pills."

"I noticed the files were gone." Ollie finished.

"What? Someone stole Mikayla's medical files?" I asked, baffled.

She shook her head. "It wasn't just Mikayla's. Every single medical file was missing."

I was speechless as Ollie tapped on her screen and loaded a picture of the empty file cabinet. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

'Why would someone take all the files? That makes no sense!' I thought to myself, puzzled beyond words.

Truth Bullet Obtained: Missing Medical Files

Paul smirked. "Well then, I guess we can't believe you since you have no physical proof like you said you did."

Damian glared at him. "Oh, come off it! He just proved it with the girl from that theatre!"

"He could be lying." Paul teased.

"If anyone's suspicious it's you! You have been so high strung and tried refuting everything Kai has theorized!" Damian shouted.

"You haven't exactly been subtle in your arguments, Paul." Tommy pointed out.

"Well, we don't know if what Kai was saying is true. I mean has anyone else seen someone suffer a photosynthesis epidemic?" Marcel asked.

"Photosensitive epilepsy! Seriously, I'm amazed you didn't die yet!" Shana shouted out.

I growled before shouting out, "Then if you won't believe me then let's just theorize that she did die from epilepsy! If that's the case then that means the true murder weapons are…"

Present Evidence: Extra Light/Soundboard and Sabotaged Stage Light

"HERE'S YOUR EVIDENCE!"

"The light board that was used to turn up the light's intensity and the light that was fixed to turn on when plugged in. Which means the killer was where the murder weapons were used which was the dressing room backstage." I explained.

"It's time for me to break it down!" Damian suddenly hollered out.

"Kai, there's a hole in your theory," Damian told me.

"A hole?! But there isn't anything wrong with what I've said" I argued back.

"No worries, man. We all make mistakes. We are all human. Here, I'll show you what I mean." Damian replied.

Rebuttal Showdown!

Truth Blades Prepared: Missing Bluetooth Plug, Sabotaged Stage Light, Extra Light/Soundboard, and Paul's Account

"I've worked in ==/== the music industry for a long time now and I know how the stage is ==/== set up just like you do. It would be easy to overlook it so I don't blame you for not ==/== noticing." Damian said comfortingly.

"But there hasn't been anything about this I have overlooked. The lighting is the murder weapon!" I fought against him.

"As I said, I know the stage and how it has everything positioned. All the lights are angled ==/== downward towards the stage to illuminate everything and everyone on it. But Mikayla was on top of ==/== the light railing which means the lights were pointed away ==/== from her and couldn't cause her seizure." Damian explained

Truth Blade Used: Paul's Account

"I'LL CUT YOUR WORDS DOWN TO SIZE!"

Counter!

"Actually there was a light pointed straight at her! The sabotaged light was pointing straight at her and Paul was the one who saw it." I informed Damian.

"He did?!" Damian asked, surprised.

"Yes, he said he saw the light pointed directly to the right above the railing," I replied.

"But if the light was pointed at her, why didn't Paul see Mikayla, huh?" Shana asked suspiciously.

"Because the light wasn't turned on until the ground equipment was turned on. If that light was on then it would have caused the power surge too soon and it would have also risked us seeing Mikayla before the murderer's plan was seen through." I answered her.

"So the weapon we found and the light connected to that ground equipment plugged in the dressing room tells us… what exactly?" Willie asked.

"It means that we were wrong about the potential suspects," I answered.

"Wait, we were? How?" Willie questioned me again.

"Well think about it. If the murder weapon's power and controls were in the dressing room and the victim was on stage then that means…"

•The killer moved the weapons

•The killer wasn't with the victim

•The killer wasn't anywhere nearby

Answer Chosen: The killer wasn't with the victim

"HERE'S THE TRUTH!"

"The culprit couldn't have been in the same room as when Mikayla died. They would need to be in the dressing room adjusting the board already!"

"That means everyone who was on stage couldn't have been messing with that board and therefore are innocent!" Melinda chimed in, happily.

"Then that means… Paul isn't the culprit!" Damian shouted out.

"Sorry to disappoint you. I know you would want nothing more than to see me dead." Paul smirked at him.

"Ngh!" Damian growled inwardly.

Ollie looked around "So then excluding those who were on stage when the lights began changing drastically, that leaves four suspects."

All eyes began going on Shana, Willie, Marcel, and Melinda. The four didn't bother to argue it wasn't them as they looked at each other nervously.

"I think we should ask them what they were doing when they left the stage. That way we may be able to see if someone is lying about where they were." Luca suggested.

"Good idea! I'll go first!" Willie volunteered as he began speaking. "So Miss Amnesia over there had bumped me and made me spill the punch drink all over myself and on return her dessert on herself so we left together to our rooms to get changed."

Melinda shrugged. "I don't remember so I'll just agree with the cute cowboy." Willie beamed at that while Shana pointed to the inside of her throat and gagged.

"I ran to the bathroom in the main hallway because of the gluten in the meatballs. They give me bad watery poop and make me feel seasick." Marcel told us.

Shana sighed. "It's called diarrhea and it's not seasick since you're not at sea. It's just being sick. Anyway, I had left to try and convince Mikayla to come out and join us. Although I was useless since she wasn't even there."

"Wait!" I shouted out, stopping everyone from talking. "Of course. Why didn't I see it sooner?"

"Kai? What's up?" Tommy asked me.

"I think I know who did it. Someone was just lying." I told him.

Everyone was stunned silent. My eyes gazed over the four who spoke as they all stared back at me with tension hanging low as I looked to Melinda. She gulped as a sweat drop rolled down her forehead.

"Do you want to tell us the truth…" I quickly turned my sight from her to… him. "...Marcel?"

Everyone looked over to the surfer who was lazily blowing up a spit bubble in his mouth. He didn't realize we were looking at him until the bubble popped. "Wait what?"

"I said I want you to tell the truth." I reiterated to him with a serious tone in my voice.

"But… I did. Kai, what's going on?" Marcel asked, looking lost.

"Kai, I do not appreciate that you are harassing one of my subjects," Paul growled, a warning expressed through his teeth.

"How do you know Marcel was lying?" Luca asked.

"It's because of the evidence we have. Or more so the lack of evidence we don't have." I replied to him.

Paul sneered at me. "You better explain yourself because that made absolutely no sense!"

"Gladly! Say Marcel wanna tell us again why you were gone from the party?" I asked him in a sarcastic manner.

Marcel blinked but before he could respond…

Non-Stop Debate!

Loaded Truth Bullets: Monokuma File, Mysterious Note, Party Attendees, Missing Medical Files, and Scratched Ball Gag

"I seriously don't get what Kai was going on about, man," Marcel said.

"It doesn't matter. He doesn't have anything on you. He's just bluffing." Paul reassured him.

"Still why don't you tell us again what you were doing if you're not suspicious," Tommy suggested.

"I don't know how that's gonna change anything but okay. So like I love fish and stuff ya know and when I saw the meatballs I was like, "Hell yeah dude"! So I grabbed a plate and started stuffing my mouth full of meaty balls."

Willie shuddered. "Did you have to say it like that, partner? That imagery is not helping."

Marcel shrugged before continuing. "Well anyways I felt sick after a bit and bloated like a blowfish so I surfed to the nearest toilet stall."

"That's because of the meatballs right?" Ollie asked him.

"Yeah. I gotta tell ya, my gluten allergy is really bad, bro." Marcel chuckled.

Truth Bullet Fired: Missing Medical Files

"YOU'VE GOT THAT WRONG!"

Counter!

"But do you really have an allergy to gluten?" I questioned him.

"Well yeah, bro." Marcel nodded.

"Can we be sure you're not lying when your medical files just happen to be missing?" I shouted at him.

"How dare you insinuate that this imbecile is even remotely connected to this case!" Paul screamed at me.

"But who has to gain from our medical reports disappearing? Well, the culprit because they wanted to hide the truth about Mikayla's condition and hide the truth about their medical history they don't have. The only one who left because of a medical problem was Marcel and the only way to see if he's telling the truth about his allergy is gone? It seems too convenient to me." I educated the others.

"But even still because they are gone you can't prove he's lying," Paul stated.

"You're right. That alone may not prove my point but that doesn't exactly mean he's free of suspicion." I replied.

"You're saying there's more proof. What else could point to him being the killer?" Ollie inquired of me.

"Well, how about where the four people left and entered the auditorium?" I asked back.

Luca raised his voice up, "I saw them when they left. Marcel rushed out the backstage door to the hallway behind the stage since it goes straight out to the main hallway and the bathroom right there, Melinda and Willie left by going down to the seating area and out the side door together, and Shana went out that same side door."

"After the body discovery announcement played, I ran from Mikayla's door and Willie came out of his room at the same time so we ran together through the side door and jumped onto the stage." Shana continued.

"I came in through the same door too!" Marcel called out.

I tapped my chin. "Really? Because if I remember correctly…"

Another door was heard opening and it came from the direction of stage right, backstage. "Uh… best to stay out of the dude's bathroom in the hallway." Marcel chuckled nervously.

"...you came out of the hallway from stage left through the backstage door."

Marcel giggled. "Oh yeah… I guess I did. But that's not unusual. After all, I left through that door."

I shook my head at him. "Actually it's very unusual. Because there's more than just the exit back on stage right. There's also the room the killer had to hide in and you were the only one who exited and entered backstage. Except I'm willing to bet you merely opened the door to make us think you left and then you quickly skulked into the dressing room right there. Then after the body discovery announcement sounded you came back out, opened the backstage exit door, and gave us the illusion you had returned."

"W-Wait! There's one major boo-boo you're forgetting about, man!" Marcel suddenly shouted out, looking hurt.

"I don't think so." I retorted.

"But you are, bro. After all, did anyone see Melinda come back onto the stage?" Marcel quickly asked everyone.

Tommy thought for a moment, "Actually, no we didn't. She wasn't there when the lights went frantic and the next thing we knew was when the lights came back on, she was lying down hurt and unconscious."

"Did you think maybe she set herself up to be hurt by the light to give herself an alibi? But what she didn't plan on was how much damage it would actually do to her. Or better yet she could be faking her amnesia." Marcel theorized.

"That… actually makes some sense." Damian said thoughtfully.

"Way to take the initiative and actually defend yourself, Marcel," Paul said with a grin.

Marcel rubbed his head, blushing. "Guess all that time in the library is finally paying off."

"Indeed it has." Paul nodded in agreement.

"I think we should switch topics. I'd like to discuss how the killer got Mikayla to the auditorium and up on the stage lights without being seen." Ollie stated.

"That is something that we should figure out. When and how did the killer get Mikayla on the light railing?" Luca reiterated the question.

'The next question needs to be answered with no uncertainty about it. Otherwise, we won't progress.' I pondered, hoping I won't be shut down again.

Non-Stop Debate!

Loaded Truth Bullets: Bloody Duct Tape, Damian's Account, Shana's Account, Loosened Ropes, and Broken Zip-tie Handcuffs

"So when did the culprit sneak Mikayla past everyone and get her tied up?" Ollie asked again.

"Was it at the party?" Tommy asked.

"If that was the case, we would have seen it!" Paul sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, yeah right." Tommy blushed.

Willie looked thoughtful. "Maybe she threw herself up there."

Shana stared blankly at Willie. "I'm not even gonna comment on how stupid that was."

Marvel clapped. "Oh! Oh! It could only have been during nighttime!"

Truth Bullet Fired: Shana's Account

"YOU'VE GOT THAT WRONG!"

Counter!

"No, it couldn't have been at nighttime!" I responded.

"But why not, man? Everyone was asleep! It would be the perfect time to sneak her away to the auditorium unnoticed." Marcel said.

"That may be true but not everyone was asleep. In fact, Shana saw Mikayla last night!" I reported.

Shana nodded. "It's true. After the nighttime announcement played, Melinda came in and demanded me and Tommy feed her."

"Oh, dear. That's so mean. I'm sorry I was like that to you." Melinda said with a saddening bow of her head.

Shana smiled. "I also like Amnesia Melinda. Anyway, after about an hour Melinda was done and Tommy let me go ahead to bed while he cleaned up. Melinda went to her dorm but then I heard crying from down the hall. It came from Mikayla's room and when I went in to check on her, she pushed me out and locked the door. The next morning when the morning announcement sounded I immediately went back to check on her and she opened her door and apologized to me for shoving me before she promptly asked me to leave her alone and closed the door."

"That alone is proof she wasn't taken during nighttime," I told everyone.

"But she was alone with Mikayla this morning. She could be lying to cover up how she knocked her out and dragged her away." Marcel noted.

"No! Shana had me! I wasn't out there for the conversation they had but she immediately got me and we headed to the kitchen together! Afterward, we were together in the kitchen for the rest of the morning until we got the food ready and brought it to the auditorium." Tommy defended his girlfriend.

"Then that means there was no time for Mikayla to be knocked out and tied up!" Paul snarled.

"But she was," Ollie deadpanned.

"I know that! But if she wasn't at night and she wasn't this morning then when was she!?" Paul shouted at her.

Ollie simply shrugged at him.

"Actually, there could have been a timeframe when they nabbed her and tied her up," Damian replied with his fingers stroking his chin.

"How's that, Damian?" Luca questioned the DJ.

"Well, what if they visited Mikayla immediately after Shana saw her this morning? No one else went to see her after the morning announcement right? And we didn't start the party until noon. So from a little after 7 to a little before noon is when they could have knocked her out and brought her to the auditorium." Damian theorized.

"That's not a bad guess but if I remember what I was told by Luca and Ollie, everyone but Tommy, Shana, and Paul were still finalizing their assignments on the stage," Melinda responded to him in a nervous demeanor.

"Gracious girl. Are you turning into Sienna?" Willie guffawed.

Melinda tilted her head. "Who's Sienna?"

"Actually that's not entirely true. We all did disperse for quite some time. I took Damian into the dressing room to get him dressed and ready to host the party." I informed Melinda.

"Our group was pretty much done with setting up the rest area so we went over to the kitchen to make us some breakfast. We didn't want to eat any food Tommy and Shana were preparing for the party so we made our own. We hung out in the cafeteria for quite some time." Luca told us about him, Willie, and Ollie.

"W-What about me?" Melinda mumbled out.

No one spoke up at first so tension filled the air before Paul cleared his throat. "You had gone to get me and drag me into the workshop to show me some "personal decorations" you made for me. You close the giant metal door to ensure we would be left alone."

Melinda sighed in relief. "So then how long were we in there for?"

"About two hours," Paul answered before rubbing his eyes and continued on with, "Two… long… antagonizing hours."

"Then that means we all have alibis. Well, everyone except for one person again." I reiterated as everyone was watching Marcel.

"Kai… I don't understand, dude." Marcel began weeping. "I thought you and I were tight. I thought you were my friend."

"So did I, Marcel. So did I." I replied back.

Marcel sniffled as he wiped the tears from his eyes and the runny snot from his nose. "Well, I was setting up the tables with Melinda's decorations she made for the party while she was pestering Paul alone in the workshop. Besides it's not like she had me help her in the first place."

"Kai, let's also remember you and I had our dress rehearsal before the others regrouped with us. And honestly, you got me ready in maybe 10 minutes or so. Would that really be enough time for him to drag Mikayla to stage, lower the lights, bound her wrists, gag her, tie the ropes around her, and lift the lights back up before you and I came out?" Damian asked me.

"I seem to recall you saying practically every knot tied was a constrictor knot, one of the toughest knots ever. There were a lot of them and tying a single knot like that must take time so tying all those knots wouldn't fit in the small frame of time it took you to get DJ boy prettied up for the party." Paul pointed out.

"But that's the only time she could have been put up," I argued.

Luca began thinking. "Then we need to start thinking of when the ropes were put in place. There must have been a time that the killer had time to tie the knots."

I also began thinking before something clicked. "That's it! I bet the light set up was done at nighttime!"

"But you said no one could have done it during nighttime!" Marcel complained like a small child.

I shook my finger at him. "I said Mikayla couldn't have been taken at nighttime. But that doesn't mean someone could be setting the stage. And I mean that literally. Since no one was in the auditorium last night that would give our killer enough time to tie all those constrictor knots as well as sabotage the light as well as set up the extra board. Isn't that right, Marcel?"

Marcel scoffed. "Dude, anyone could have set that up if no one was around during nighttime. Why do you keep singling me out?"

"Because there was something I found that I didn't think was relevant until now. When I lowered the light railing, it was then I realized the bars of the railing was wrapped in shiny, streaming ribbons. And who did we have on decoration duty?" I asked, looking straight at the flabbergasted surfer.

"No! it wasn't just me! Melinda was also on decorating duty! As a matter of fact, you may recall how she didn't let me help her make the decorations at all! She could have put the ribbons up." Marcel fought back.

"But she was working on her wood decorations all day yesterday. She didn't have time then and she couldn't have at night since Shana saw her when nighttime started and when she went to bed after eating. With her having no time to do so that would mean only one other person would decorate the lights. It had to have been you!" I shouted and pointed accusingly at Marcel.

"But I could have been set up! Anyone else could have done it!" Marcel cried out.

"But then who could have gathered all the tools they would need to set up everything for the murder? Someone would need to get the zip-tie, gag, and ropes used to restrain Mikayla, the wrench used to loosen the stage light, a lighter to burn off the lead inside the light fast, the pipe that knocked out Mikayla, and the duct tape used to stop her bleeding. All these random tools had to have come from somewhere and the only place like that is the school store. Was that done during nighttime or was it perhaps when you were all alone when Melinda sent you off to grab her materials? You took advantage of her hogging her decorations to smother everything you would need from the school store!" I called him out.

"I-I… I dunno, man! I just don't know!" Marcel immediately began crying, his frame trembled wildly and his breathing became ragged and short. He seemed legitimately upset.

Paul glared daggers at me. "Are you a sadist? Do you take pleasure in hurting those of a lesser intelligence?"

"I'm only seeking the truth and right now all the answers say that he's the blackened," I told Paul.

"Well, I see no reason to put one of my underlings through this. You will cease your badgering questions immediately." Paul demanded of me.

"You can't tell him what he is allowed to do like some mindless robot! You are the last person to be bossing us around!" Luca barked at him.

I shook my head. "No, it's fine Luca. I'm done with questions. I'm tired of this endless circle I keep dancing around in. Instead, I'm going to replay this entire murder from the beginning and prove my point and how Marcel betrayed us."

Closing Argument!

Act 1

"Let's go all the way back to yesterday where everyone but Paul and Mikayla offered to help prepare for the party Damian was gonna throw for everyone to help get our minds off the killing game. However, someone else had a different idea for this party. With the motive, Monokuma gave us the night before someone thought up a plan to turn the fun party that was originally planned into a murder mystery party. The first action they took was gathering all the tools they would need and I'm willing to bet that they did so when Melinda, who was assigned to work on decorations, had the culprit run to get her materials. After a long day of work, Melinda and everyone left the stage but someone stuck around. The killer began setting everything up for the plan. They started by taking the light and soundboard found in the little theatre room and hid it in the dressing room backstage. They did this knowing they could use this board so they could get back to the party faster than from the crow's nest and since the setup of the little theatre was the same as the auditorium.

Act 2

"With a wrench and lighter in hand, they lowered the light railing and began messing with the inside of the light by burning off the lead inside and disconnecting the power source before reattaching it to a piece of nearby ground equipment. Then they repositioned the light to shine directly above the railing and then loosen the bolts, hoping that if their plan was successful the light would fall. My best guess for them doing this was most likely because they were hoping the light would smash into pieces and destroy evidence. Next, they took the ropes and tied it on in a criss-cross pattern intended to hold something down. They also decorated the light bars with a flashy ribbon just to help point suspicion to the only person everyone saw was actually putting all their effort into decorating. Unfortunately, because all Melinda did was build… um unique wooden decorations, this attempt to frame her would fail. I think this was about the time they also wrote that note asking for help from someone. And later on, the culprit got the note back with an answer. With the Y circled, the killer had somehow sealed a deal and gotten themselves an accomplice."

Act 3

"The next morning sometime after Shana was done checking in on Mikayla, the killer approached her next. I don't know how they got her to let them in but they must have had a knack of fooling people. Whatever the case, Mikayla had let her killer in, and, with the pipe in hand, they struck Mikayla when her back was turned to knock her out. She wasn't dead. The killer had other plans to finish her off as they hid the note and pipe in her room, restrained her with the zip-tie, gagged her with the ball gag, and carried her unconscious body to the auditorium. My best guess is they hid her in the hallway behind the auditorium stage's back doors since no one had any reason to leave the auditorium that direction. That's why none of us found her before she was tied up."

Act 4

"With everyone leaving the stage to get the last minute preparations underway, the culprit slipped in the back hallway, most likely, and pulled Mikayla onto the stage. They then lowered the stage light railing and placed her on top and quickly tied the ropes around her body. They had to do this part quickly to avoid being caught which may explain the ropes final knots being loose. After quickly raising the lights back into position, everything was in place for them to finish it."

Act 5

"Soon everyone was gathered for the party and Damian began his set. I can only imagine Mikayla may have woken up sometime during the party and began panicking upon realizing that she was bound, gagged, and tied down with no way to escape or get our attention. She began struggling to break free while the culprit made their move. Eating some of the meatballs, they suddenly claimed that they needed to run to the restroom because of their gluten allergy. Normally this may have been suspicious behavior for any normal person but because of how they always behaved it didn't strike anyone as odd. They made it seem like they left through the back door but in actuality snuck away into the dressing room where they then took their spot with the extra board and began ramping up the settings to dangerously high intensities. Mikayla must have broken out of the zip-tie handcuffs by this point and scratched at the ball gag in her mouth to get it out but why didn't she call for help? Well, I think by the time she managed to do so it was too late. The culprit plugged in the ground equipment's cord next to them and turned it on which then turned on the light they intentionally messed with. The light now in sync with the rest of the lights began brightly flashing right in Mikayla's face and that's when her mind went blank as her seizure took over. Her body must have quivered and throbbed so badly from the intensity of her stroke that it loosened the knots that the culprit tied around her enough to mostly free her but not enough to drop her off the railing just yet. It was then that the burnt off lead from inside the stage light then touched the luminaire. I believe that's why the music was turned up so loud as well. It wasn't just to take away our sense of hearing and blind us in two ways but also to speed up the lead in touching the luminaire with the soundwaves vibrating it. Once it did it began sparking and short-circuiting the breaker and the soundwave's vibrations also caused the loosened bolts of the light to give way and fall as the entire auditorium went pitch black and the light just happened to knock out Melinda who somehow managed to get back on stage, despite how chaotic everything was. Unfortunately, even if we had figured something was up before that point, it was too late. The damage to Mikayla's body was too much as she died from her photosensitive epilepsy from that flashing light in her eyes. Soon Monokuma turned the lights back on and we sighed in relief when we found Melinda but screamed in terror when we found Mikayla's lifeless body dangling above us. There is one clue that we unfortunately don't know how it fits in all this. We don't know who it is or what they did but the accomplice did something during that time when the lights and music went ballistic and killed Mikayla but because we didn't find anything else I'm not sure how they fit into all this. But we don't need to figure out the accomplice to know that the only person missing at that time returned to the stage from the direction of the dressing room. That person had to have been the only one who could have set everything up, could have been the only one to create such elaborate truths and lies to Fool and confuse us, and all while under the impression of being someone incapable of anything intelligent."

"That is the truth behind this act! You can't deny this anymore, can you Marcel Lawson, the Ultimate Surfer"

Break!

"So how about it, Marcel? What do you have to say to that?" I asked him, feeling confidence swell within me.

His eyes were shadowed out by his dirty blonde hair and beanie as he mumbled out something intangible. "..."

"What was that?" I asked him again.

"You're…" Marcel mumbled again.

Willie groaned out in annoyance. "Boy, speak up and speak clearly!"

"I… said…" Marcel's voice got louder and louder before his head shot up with rivers of tears and snot running down his entire face and he bawled out, "YOU'RE WRONG KAI!"

Willie jumped back. "Jesus! That was majorly unexpected!"

Marcel was dry heaving with how bad he was crying. "Kai, bro! I can't believe after all I've done to support you and the others this is how you repay me. By slandering my good name and framing me for a murder I couldn't have committed!"

"But the evidence doesn't lie here. No one else could have possibly been able to pull this off other than you!" I retorted.

Marcel shook his head. "But y-you're forgetting one major fact! I also couldn't have possibly been able to pull this off, eith-ther! I know I'm a dumbass! I'm p-painfully made aware of this fact ever since I was in zero-grade!"

"I think you mean kindergarten." Tommy corrected him.

Marcel pointed to Tommy, not taking his eyes off me. "That too!" Tommy shrugged, not even bothering to try and correct him again.

"You wouldn't know the pain I l go through. When people make fun of and insult me, all because I wasn't born as smart as everyone else. But even you have to admit I'm not smart enough to figure out how to see the similarities between the auditorium and the little theatre room or especially how to cause that blackout using the stage light!" Marcel cried out.

"What about an accomplice?" Shana suddenly asked.

"An accomplice? What kind of fucking twist are you trying to throw in now?!" Paul shouted.

I loaded up the photo of the mysterious note. "She's referring to this note we found hidden in Mikayla's room. It's someone asking for help with taking advantage of Monokuma's motive. Whoever got this note answered yes which means our killer did get some help!"

"S-Someone helped him?" Melinda shuddered as everyone's eyes once again turned and looked at everyone else as being a second hand to this murder. My eyes were focused on Paul. After all, he was on edge throughout this entire class trial and he kept defending Marcel simply because he was in his little cult.

Monokuma suddenly chimed in. "Allow me to add some needed information. While yes there was an accomplice, the only time they acted with the blackened was when the murder actually took place!

"Then that proves that I wasn't able to carry this out this murder! The accomplice couldn't have helped me through the more difficult steps of this plan which this entire plan was! The killer would have to be a genius killer!" Marcel shouted out.

"A genius killer, huh? That description fits Melinda all too well." Tommy whispered. "Maybe it really was her and she really did forget."

"Or she is faking it!" Shana continued, adding to Tommy's comment.

"No! Dear Lord no! I swear it wasn't me!" Melinda cried out.

"But what about the accomplice? Won't they need to be discovered too?" Willie asked, looking puzzled.

I shook my head. "No, remember Monokuma noted that accomplice doesn't reap any reward the blackened gets if they get away with it which means the accomplice will die with everyone else if the blackened wins. Why someone would actually help the blackened is beyond me but whatever the case is that we only need to focus on the blackened since he's the one who is charged for murdering Mikayla. So then comes the question, how can we prove Marcel was able to figure out how to set up everything without the accomplice's assistance?"

Marcel moaned out. "You just won't stop! There's no way you can find an answer that will work! I'm a dumbass, plain and simple. There's no way you can prove I'm smart enough to do this murder on my own! You can't make me show you I'm smart and you have no files or anything!"

"Wait a minute… that's the answer I needed." I said out loud to myself.

"There is no answer, there is no question to ask, and there is no way you can prove anything, dude!" Marcel shouted.

'No, there is a way! I just need to corner him with the answer!' I thought as I felt a battle between us start up more intense than ever before.

Argument Armament!

Marcel: I can't believe that you would attack me after all we've been through, bro. I thought we were like a family!

Kai: I thought so too. That is until you betrayed us and murdered Mikayla.

Marcel: But I didn't do it, dude! I'm not capable of killing anyone!

Kai: That's what Evelyn and Brenda said yet they didn't hesitate after Monokuma revealed the motive that pushed them over the edge which means you were pushed too.

Marcel: That's a lie, man! I wasn't pushed around recently! I know I wasn't the easiest dude to get along with but I didn't hold anything against any of you!

Kai: Then explain why you killed her! Why did you kill poor Mikayla?!

Marcel: But I couldn't have killed her! She was so smart and bright and everyone definitely outdoes me in the brain department store! There's no way you can make me look smart, bro! You have like nothing to show any kind of proof of my lack of smarts!

Final Blow: Previous School Files

"THIS IS YOUR CURTAIN CALL!"

Break!

"Marcel, please if you just tell us the truth, I won't expose you like some hardened criminal," I begged him.

"Ha! Dude, you're already treating me like I'm some criminal mastermind yet there isn't any chance of ya proving that." Marcel laughed through his tears.

"But I can prove it. With the files, we have on hand!" I told him.

Paul squinted at me. "Did you get knocked out by a light and lose your memories, too?! We already discussed how the medical files are gone and I doubt they'd be any help since we know he was dropped on his head all his life."

"I'm not referring to his medical reports! I'm talking about his old school files in the headmaster's office!" I clarified.

"W-What!?" Paul shouted out. Marcel grunted as his eyes seemed to widen.

Shana looked at me, puzzled. "But I don't think we've been given any assignments here. Unless committing first-degree murder gives you an A+."

"They're not from our school lives here but from all our past schools we attended before Hope's Peak," I explained to her.

"Besides there is one thing in there you do have access to," Monokuma whispered to us. ..."So with my permission, you can access the school files of every student here."

"Our school files are in there?" I asked him.

"Yep! All your previous school lives from before entering Hope's Peak are all listed in there. Including grades and extracurricular activities as well as attendance and any suspensions and explosions. However, a dead student's files are unavailable as they are promptly destroyed after they are confirmed dead. This also includes their medical files in the nurse's office."

"It was when we explored the third floor for the first time where we learned about the old files and how they are destroyed when someone dies, including both school and medical. But since Marcel is still alive and there was no chance of those files going missing, seeing that they are locked up…" I then looked to the throne. "Monokuma, I'd like to request every file you have on Marcel's previous school life."

"Request granted!" Monokuma shouted out.

"But isn't that an invasion of privacy? I should be the only one who can request for my personal records, dude!" Marcel grunted at the bear.

"Not at all! It's the same case as the medical files where anyone can access anyone else's they choose. The big difference is you need me to get the requested school files whereas the medical files were free game. Anyways, be right back!" Monokuma giggled giddily as he hopped away behind his throne.

"This is ridiculous! I've said it a million times before and I'll say it again! Marcel, nor anyone in my group would have participated in this killing game! We made a strict code for this and I refuse to accept that imbecile would dare go against me!" Paul growled at me.

"I did warn you, Paul, when you tried recruiting me that your group isn't immune to the tricks and mind games Monokuma will throw at us. Now you will see the error of your arrogance." I informed him as Monokuma bounced back into his seat with a file in his hand.

"Puhuhuhu! Here it is! The goldenrod goes to Roz!" Monokuma called out as he held the file out in my direction. I approached him with my hand extended.

When I grabbed the file, I heard Marcel shout out to me, "Kai! You're not gonna find anything helpful. All you'll see is how I scraped by and barely passed every grade."

I shrugged at him. "Then everything in here shouldn't be news to me since you claim you're a dummy like everyone thinks you are but I know you aren't."

I shook as I opened the files with Lawson, Marcel written on them. I was actually hoping I was wrong after all but after one glance in his records, I could see I was right after all. "This imbecile of yours turns out to be a 5.0 honor student, Paul."

"Let me see those!" The hacker growled at me as he snagged the papers from my hand and looked inside to see every grade he ever got was an A+, his extracurricular activities were next level, and his attendance was nearly perfect with a few occasions. "These… must be forgeries!"

Monokuma beamed in delight. "Except they aren't fakes! Those are real and legitimate school reports on you all."

"But making forgeries is simple. All one would need to do is…" But Paul would find himself interrupted.

A mature and calm voice I hadn't heard before sounded and said, "Oh my fucking God, for once in your life please shut your goddamn mouth!"

Everyone was stunned silent as we looked over at the new guy with the voice and realized he was…

"Marcel?" I asked in disbelief.

His voice wasn't the only thing that changed though. His tone which had that classic, lovable "dude" personality was gone with a more serious one, and his slouched and laid back posture was upright and powerful with his hand resting on his hip. His presence also felt stronger than before as his now steel-cold eyes glanced over us.

"What the hell did you say to me?" Paul growled.

"I don't need to repeat myself. You know what I said and seriously for once you need to close that shit hole, you arrogant cunt!" Marcel hissed at him, leaving us all staring with gaping mouths and unspoken disbelief.

'This is the true Marcel Lawson? Just who is this guy?' I wondered as he looked to Monokuma, now having gotten Paul to stay quiet somehow.

"Alright then, Monokuma. There's no need to beat around the bush or prolong the inevitable outcome. I've been beaten and I'm ready to face trial. Start the verdict." Marcel asked of him.

"As long as you're sure then consider it done! Now then it's finally time for the blackened and the spotless to face off! It's Voting Time!" Monokuma cheered.

My handbook screen lit up with the voting ballot appearing with ten different voting candidates. I found Marcel's button as I pressed on it. The timer at the top paused as everyone else continued to cast their votes in. Eventually, the screen went as dark as the stage earlier today.

"Now then let's see the results!" Monokuma called out as a giant monitor descended down above him. It turned on as the "Voting Results" appeared before the tally score for the ten of us made itself known. What surprised me however was seeing it was a unanimous vote with Marcel's photo appearing with confetti falling around his picture and a bell tune began to jingle. Everyone, including himself, voted Marcel as the blackened.

"The blackened has been selected by unanimous vote? That's a first! But did you make the right choice at the end or the dreadfully wrong one? Let the unveiling of the blackened commence!" Monokuma gleefully called out as the lights went out.

Once again we saw that Monokuma Vote machine light up in front of us as a drum roll resonated, the Monokuma dressed in a Statue of Liberty attire began flashing, and the lottery ball cage began spinning as the plastic balls began bouncing around inside. Eventually, the cage ceased its movement and a dark orange ball fell out onto the metal rail underneath and slowly rolled down the track, stopping at the end to reveal the pixelated Marcel face printed on it. History repeated itself for the third time as the bottom of the machine popped open. The American flags waving Monokuma did what he did best as those Monocoins spilled all over the floor in front of us and in the center space the machine occupied. My emotions felt so jumbled as I watched all this unfold. In the end, though, I got what I wanted. The truth and that my friend Mikayla was indeed brutally murdered by my other friend Marcel. How did things go so wrong!?

Okay so this chapter would have been up a lot sooner if fanfiction .net wasn't such a piece of trash! At first it wouldn't let me put the entire chapter in because I "reached maximum character capacity" which I know was bullshit considering I was able to post a 12,000 word chapter before and while this chapter was long, it was not nearly as long as that one. Also I had to redo all of the word bolding and italicizations and underlining in here because this stupid website decided if I wanted to bold, italicize, and underline I shouldn't just copy and paste it over, I should do it all here! Such bullshit but I finally got my chapter done! Please leave me a review with your thoughts. Did you figure out the killer before he was revealed, any other theories you got right, and your overall thoughts on the chapter! I'll get the next chapter out asap! But until then stay safe in such despairful times! I'll see you all soon! Puhuhuhu~