All I did when I saw Ollie dead was collapse to my knees. My eyes darted over towards Luca as I looked at him, speechless. "Luca?" I whimpered out.
He didn't move, he didn't speak, he didn't seem capable of reacting beside his wild eyes staring at Ollie's frame. I hear footsteps behind us and Shana's voice. "The shooter wasn't on the fourth floor. Did you corner him up here?" Then the footsteps stopped as Willie spoke up. "What're you two doin'?"
"GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Shana suddenly screamed out. "No! This can't be happening! This is a nightmare! I'm still in bed and I haven't woken up! Someone wake me up please!" She begged but as soon as she did…
*Bing Bong Ding Dong*
"A body has been discovered! Everyone, please gather in the art room! After some time has passed the class trial will begin!" Monokuma announced to us. That's when I got up.
"What the hell!? Class trial my ass! This isn't right! It can't be!" I shouted out, angrily.
Soon Paul joined us and running behind him was Melinda as they pushed past the frozen in place Luca to see Ollie. "So… she died. Well then, I don't think we'll need to worry about her anymore." Paul said making Melinda chuckle before Luca growled.
"You… BASTARD!" Luca then took a swing at him but Melinda popped in and slammed the butt of her Bowie knife into his left shoulder, sending him to his knees in crippling pain!
"Luca!" I cried out as I ran to his side. That's when Monona popped in.
"Now that was a spectacle! The thrill of the excitement and the sheer joy I got from watching you all! That's gonna be the talk of this killing game for sure! Now then, I have with me the fifth Monokuma File! So get ready and start…" Monokuma was speaking giddily but I quickly interrupted him. "There is not going to be a class trial!"
"Say wah?" Monokuma tilted his head, looking confused.
"A class trial is held when one of us kills someone else but none of us could have killed Ollie! We all witnessed that shadow vigilante and even Luca was hurt because of them! It's obvious a third party somehow snuck in trying to kill us all and you want us to worry about a class trial?! No! You need to stop them before they kill us all. If you don't, you won't have your game anymore. I know you don't want that now do you?" I asked him with a smirk, knowing I had him.
Monokuma hummed. "You convinced me. Okay then, let me apprehend that shadow vigilante before they can kill anyone else! Also, that's a great name for that shooter, Kai! I want you all to keep calling them that from this point on!"
"And I know where they are hiding! Follow me!" I quickly began to lead everyone to the VR room but as we ran I noticed Luca had stayed behind and watched over Ollie. I didn't blame him so the rest of us went down the hall and turned the corner to the VR room.
"The Shadow Vigilante is in there," I pointed.
"Then why not go in?" Monokuma asked.
"Because they locked the door! Now use your electronic code or whatever to unlock the door as you did with Helen's dorm room door," I demanded him.
"I can't help but oblige such a forceful demand! Then in that case… CLICK!" Monokuma hollered out and made a clicking noise but that only served to piss me off!
"Enough joking around and unlock this door!" I shouted at him.
"I'm not to be blamed here! You're the one who insists I unlock a door that isn't even locked!" Monokuma shouted back.
I felt goosebumps creep up on me. "What?" Immediately, I turned back to the door and turned the knob. "It… is unlocked. No, then they…" I muttered as I rushed inside. I looked around the giant empty room to find it was just that. Giant and… "Empty?" Then a realization hit me. "Dammit dammit DAMMIT! They snuck out while we were all distracted by Ollie! That means they can be hiding anywhere in the school! We need to find them now before they kill anyone else!"
Before the others could speak, Monokuma spoke first. "But is that absolutely necessary? After all, how's the Shadow Vigilante gonna do that without this?" Then from behind his back, Monokuma pulled out a black handgun. No! It was the handgun!
"How did you get that?!" I asked in shock.
"How else? I grabbed while it was stashed away," Monokuma calmly replied.
Willie was quick to grab the gun. "Gimme that! We don't need a psycho bear like ya to be wavin' a gun around," Willie said before he clicked it. "There. The safety is turned on now. The gun can't be fired."
"Willie, I didn't know you knew about guns," Shana said in surprise.
"I may not be the smartest tumbleweed but I was taught by Pa at an early age how to handle guns. I know I ain't as knowing as Ultimate Huntress there but I know more than enough," Willie confessed.
"At least you know I'm superior in that category," Melinda bragged.
"Anyway, now that that's out of the way, take your files and start your investigation!" Monokuma suddenly tossed a Monokuma File at everyone with me getting two, most likely to give Luca, who was still paralyzed over Ollie.
"Wait, no! The shooter can still grab a new weapon and kill us!" I growled at Monokuma.
Monokuma went red as he growled back, "That's enough! You wanna know who is in this school right now? Not including me, there are six living humans here! Now get to it before I decide you don't have any more time!" He quickly disappeared before I could argue.
"If six people are all that's in the school, then that means the shooter got away," I whispered, fuming.
"But how did the killer get out or get in for that matter? We've searched every floor over and over again and we found no signs of an exit!" Paul argued.
"We'll just have to search again!" I shouted.
Shana stepped up and put a hand on my shoulder. "Kai… we don't have enough time to search the entire school. We need to focus all our efforts on the investigation. Maybe we'll find some clues about that Shadow Vigilante and who it was."
"She's right you know. If we go through this class trial and find out a random third party killed Ollie, then we all live, right? So let's hurry and investigate before we go empty-handed into the class trial," Melinda suggested.
With that, everyone split up, leaving me standing there alone. My fists clenched, "Fucking hell," I whimpered out as tears pricked out of my eyes. "I'm sorry Ollie. If only I was faster and stronger. I might have saved you. I swear no matter what it takes, I will avenge you. I will find out who killed you no matter the cost!"
INVESTIGATION START!
Might as well get the Monokuma File out of the way now, even if none of the information will be newsworthy. I tapped on the screen as it lit up and I began reading. "The victim Ollie Peralta, the Ultimate Tattoo Artist. Her body was found in the Art Room on the fifth floor. The cause of death was a single gunshot to the face between the eyes with no other notable injuries on the body. The time of death is…"
I blinked as I skimmed the last bit of information over and over again and found it to be the same no matter how I looked at it. "Huh? What does it mean unknown time of death!? What game is Monokuma playing at?" I immediately discovered my question was a stupid one to ask so I shook that off.
Truth Bullet Obtained: Monokuma File
"Wait, what time is it anyway?" I asked myself. I realized I still have no idea what time everything started so I darted back into the art room and spotted the clock. '5:56 AM. Then we never even got to the next morning which means the alarm must have sounded around 5:30 this morning. That does explain why when I ran out to the hallway, Willie and Shana were coming out of their rooms. Willie doesn't get up until 6 AM and Shana had been joining him in his morning workouts and since it wasn't 6 yet they were still in bed. So then besides Luca, who was working out early this morning, it doesn't explain why the victim and the others were not in their rooms at that time. I'll need to ask everyone about that.'
"But more importantly, why did the alarm sound in the first place? When I pulled the alarm to stop the fighting the morning after Sienna's case, Monokuma made it a rule that we can't sound the alarm. Also, he can't interfere in our daily lives so it couldn't have been him who sounded it. But then again if it was someone not living in the confines of the school, I bet they would be free of those rules," I said to myself.
Truth Bullet Obtained: Setting Off The Alarm
I soon saw the murder scene and Luca still frozen on the ground as he blankly stared at Ollie's lifeless body. I breathed in some air and let it out in a huff as I smiled before walking up to him and rubbing his back. I began speaking with a soothing tone," Hey man. I know things are seeming bad right now and I'm not sure if I can help you deal with this pain right now. But if we want to do what needs to be done then Ollie would want you to focus so we can figure out how that shooter managed to kill her. Can you help me out for her sake?"
Luca didn't seem to budge at first but then I put my hand over his and he looked at me as I gave him a sympathetic and comforting smile. Soon he finally spoke, "You're right… She would want me to help you. I'll… I'll help however I can."
"Thank you, Luca," I whispered to him as we both got closer to her body.
Even with this being the fifth dead body I've had to investigate, it still felt impossible to touch Ollie's corpse without Luca's help. I looked over her head and didn't see anything unusual about her body or her wound. "Odd. Usually, there are some clues left on the body but besides her obvious gunshot wound, she has nothing," I said.
"Well, it's not like she fought back against the shooter. After all, there's no sign of a struggle like with Damian's and Tommy's scuffle against the nurse's desk or bruising on her like with Sienna when she fought Brenda. That Shadow Vigilante just came by and… clocked her before she could react," Luca noted.
"It does look that way," I agreed.
Truth Bullet Obtained: Status of the Dead Body
Paul then walked up to me and started talking, "I gotta say this has even me baffled. A masked psycho comes into our game and tries to slaughter all of us. I'm amazed we only had one casualty."
"I just wish Ollie didn't have to be the one. She didn't deserve it. No offense but I'm surprised you and Melinda were not hurt," I admitted.
Paul shrugged. "I'm not surprised, to be honest."
"Speaking of which, what happened when you and Melinda were attacked? Actually, I want to know why you guys weren't even in your rooms when the Shadow Vigilante started attacking us," I told him.
"Well, that's because I was waiting for you," Paul answered me.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, blinking in confusion.
"Sometime around 4:30 this morning, someone rang my doorbell and woke me up before they slipped a note underneath my door. I checked to see if I could see who it was but they left. I then looked at the note and it was from you. You wanted to offer me something and asked me to meet you in the library immediately. If it were anyone else besides you or Melinda I wouldn't have believed it but I thought maybe I had a chance to talk civilly with you but once I got myself ready and out to the library, I would find you were not there. I waited for a bit but before I could leave, the alarm suddenly sounded and Melinda then arrived in the library, saying she also got a letter from you saying the same thing. The next thing we knew was the Shadow Vigilante standing outside the library and then I was tackled to the ground by Melinda as the masked shooter fired at each of us before they ran off. As we got ourselves up, you, the country bumpkin, and the miner simpleton came rushing in," Paul soon finished his recollection of what transpired.
"I definitely didn't write either of you notes," I replied.
"That became obvious when you came running in and telling me you had come from your room. Now that I've said my piece in all this, I'm gonna continue standing guard of the body," With that said, Paul walked away and sat down once again fiddling around on his laptop.
Truth Bullet Obtained: Paul's Account
I stood up and looked at the canvas behind Ollie's head and sighed as I looked at it and saw the splatter of blood all over it. If the room wasn't filled with the now-familiar stench of death, I would have thought someone threw paint all over the canvas. But it made sense considering Ollie must have been standing right in front of the canvas before the killer shot through the window and blew her brains out all over the place. I can even see the bullet hole in the wall after it tore through the canvas after it tore through her skull.
I shook off the imagery but soon took notice of the blood making two small overlaps on the surface of the canvas as I reached over and touched what kinda looked like flaps. Besides the blood, there was a familiar texture and it became even more familiar when I stuck my finger underneath the flap as my finger got stuck for a second before enough force pulled it free. "It's duct tape."
"Duct tape? On a canvas?" Luca asked, looking at it puzzled.
I nodded. "Yeah, but I saw the backside and the only damage the canvas suffered was the bullet that was shot through it when Ollie was shot."
"Not only that but I think there's more mixed in with the blood," Luca pointed out and sure enough, something was sticking against the blood on the canvas as he picked it off. I felt its rough edges and recognized it as the plastic of a bag and judging from the ridges formed along the edges I could only assume one thing. "It's from an exploded plastic bag," I whispered.
"How can you tell?" Luca asked.
"I used to pull pranks on occasion and Terry or Manako was usually one of my victims. The big thing I'd do often was filling up a plastic bag full of air and finding a unique way to make it pop and explode, scaring the shit out of them. Whether it was me sneaking up and popping it behind their heads or having them sit on it, the bag would always explode and leave little shrapnel pieces of the bag left. This bag piece feels the same from when I performed my bag explosion prank," I explained before taking pictures with my camera.
Truth Bullets Obtained: Blood Splattered Canvas and Exploded Plastic Pieces
I hummed to myself before speaking, "I don't know what it means but I should remember this. Also, it's obvious the shooter shot her from outside the door considering the hole through the window and the glass laying inside here. It's probably best to take as many notes as possible."
Truth Bullet Obtained; Art Room Window Hole
"Say, Luca, can you tell me again what happened when the killer shot at you?" I asked him.
"Yeah, I wasn't able to sleep last night for some reason and so I went to workout in the fitness room to help me relax. But then at around 5:30, I heard the alarm go off. I didn't exactly have time to take a shower after working out so I hurried to get myself looking decent and not sweating like crazy. Eventually, I dried myself off and got just my shirt on before I opened the door and found the shooter in front of me in the hallway. They had the gun pointed and fired and I moved my head enough to dodge it but it still clipped my shoulder. I fell back and collapsed in the room in terrible pain as the shooter took off," Luca recalled.
"Got it. Thanks," I remarked.
Truth Bullet Obtained: Luca's Account
"So it looks like we're done here in the crime scene but nothing new is coming up for me. Ollie was killed after the shooter shot her through the window and then they bolted. Usually, this is when I can distinguish some kind of other scenario but there just isn't any," I growled out in annoyance.
"We should look at the other places the killer was and see if they left any clues for us," suggested Luca.
I sighed out before nodding. "You're right. First, we should check out the VR room again. Then visit all the other spots where the killer shot at us. Finally is the school store because I have a sneaking suspicion that that place will be important for the class trial again. I should also ask the others for their encounters with the Shadow Vigilante."
"And I'll…" Luca started saying before he grunted in pain and held his shoulder before finishing, "I'll help you."
I looked down before I looked back at him. "No, you need to get that gunshot wound treated immediately. I'll be fine on my own. I promise."
Luca seemed hesitant to go but he nodded his understanding. "Maybe you'll want to examine my wound first before I go. After all, I'm the only one that was shot who… is still alive." Luca looked down, obviously thinking about Ollie.
"Sure thing. I can use as much evidence as I can to help me corner the killer," I replied as Luca carefully rolled his shirt collar over his left shoulder exposing his bloody wound to me. I carefully observed it without touching it as I looked him over. I noticed some unusual redness around the entry wound and something about the exit wound but shook them off. "I don't think I see anything all that relatively new."
"I think you should take it as evidence anyway. Like you said if the killer gets cornered then it should be there to help that," replied Luca. I nodded slowly before taking my e-handbook as I took the photos.
Truth Bullet Obtained: Luca's Gunshot Wound
Luca gently rolled his shirt back up before smiling at me. "Thank you, Kai. I'm sure you're gonna do great things for us during the trial like every other time. I'll try to catch up with you if I can. You just focus on the investigation. See you soon." After he said that, he made his way down to the Nurse's office.
I sighed out before proceeding forward with my investigation. My next destination was the VR room and I saw Shana there too. "Hey, Shana. Find anything yet?"
Shana sighed out. "No. If I'm gonna be honest I suck at these investigations so I doubt I'm gonna be useful."
I shook my head. "That's not true. Your eyewitness accounts have been very helpful in the class trials before. In fact, I'll bet you can help me with that again. Give me a rundown of when the shooter shot at you."
"You mean that Shadow Vigilante? Well, you already know what happened but the alarm sounded and woke us up. Willie and I came out of our rooms to see the gunner outside your open door and fire once at you. Willie then screamed, "What in tarnation!" before the gunner took notice of us and pointed at the gun at Willie and then me, firing once at each of us but we managed to duck back into our rooms before we could get hurt. That's when the Shadow Vigilante took off and we made sure you were okay," Shana recalled the events.
Suddenly she looked confused as she quickly added, "Actually now that I think about it, why did the Shadow Vigilante run off? If they wanted to kill all of us, they would have done so, and missing us the first time means they should have shot at us again but they never shot more than once at anyone. Also now that I'm not feeling the rush of fear of being shot at, it feels like when they shot at us they took a bit of time to shoot which we used to our advantage to get out of the way."
"Well, they did wear a mask that covered their entire head. I'll bet they couldn't aim properly because their sight was obstructed and they ran because of that lack of vision. They could have been blindsided by someone and been disarmed and unmasked," I theorized.
"Maybe," Shana replied, looking a bit uncertain.
Truth Bullet Obtained: Shana's Account
"What I want to know is why that coward hid in the VR room. They could have easily gunned us down when we found Ollie's body," I growled.
"Perhaps I may be of assistance," UsagiKuma's robotic voice sounded from the VR room door.
Shana jumped when she started talking to us. "Geez girl! You startled me! But wait… what can you help us with? Can you tell us who the Shadow Vigilante is?"
"That name is not in my records so I cannot help you there. However, I can give you my log records for when students had entered and exited this facility," The AI replied.
"Log records? Wait, then you keep track of who comes in and out of the room?! How?" I asked feverishly.
"Simple. I have an invisible sensor in my doorframe that scans the person passing through and their e-handbook sends a signal to my logbook to record who entered and left at what time," She explained to us.
"That's perfect! Please tell us what your logbook has in its records!" I begged UsagiKuma.
"Retrieving requested data," After a few beeps and boops, she continued, "8:06 AM, MJ entered and then left at 8:11 AM."
"MJ?" Shana asked, confused.
"Next day. KB enters at 8:33 AM. Then WS entered 5 minutes later and then KB and WS exited at 10:17 AM. At 5:09 PM PS and MJ arrived and departed at 7:06 PM.
Next day. 7:39 AM, LA and OP entered and then exited at 9:25 AM. Then at 8:51 PM SO entered with LA coming in at 9:04 PM before both LA and SO exited at 9:26 PM. That is all the records I have so far."
I blinked. "Wait. The last record you took was at 9:26 PM? Shouldn't the last one be an AM time for when the Shadow Vigilante hid inside this morning?"
"Unfortunately, I cannot be of help here since my scanners picked up no movements anytime after my last recording. However, I was able to detect a non-electrical locking of my door at 5:05 AM and then unlocking at 5:44 AM," UsagiKuma told us.
"Non-electrical? What does that mean?" Shana asked.
"My door, like every other door in this school, is able to lock and unlock with an electronic signal when the headmaster sees fit."
It then clicked for me. "That's how Monokuma has been unlocking the doors without a key. He's using an electronic signal to open specific doors."
UsagiKuma continued, "However, this method of locking isn't how my door was locked this morning. That is all the information I have."
"That's fine I think we have enough information now," I told her.
Truth Bullets Obtained: UsagiKuma's Logbook
Shana then snapped her fingers. "Wait, something about her wording reminds me of what Monokuma told us."
"About what?" I asked her, not knowing what she was referring to.
Shana looked at me. "Oh, that's right! You don't know since you had passed out and missed most of the day after the last trial. See, Monokuma gave us a riddle for a new perk."
I looked at her in shock. "A new peek? Like the phone, I found after the second class trial?"
"Yeah, but as far as I know, no one found it. But what UsagiKuma said reminded me of the riddle Monokuma gave us to find this perk. It was "This little perk in recollection and more, I've hidden away on the newest floor, I know the secrets are getting too much, So unlock the way to stay in touch". But I have no idea what it could mean."
I began thinking as I hummed softly. 'It is pretty vague but I think I know what it means.'
Truth Bullet Obtained: Hidden Perk
Shana sighed. "Well, I'm not sure about all of this but I just hate the fact Paul and I are stuck together on guard duty. Willie, Luca, or you, I can handle but that darn hacker passes me off."
I blinked. "Wait… if you're on guard duty why aren't you watching out for the crime scene and Ollie?"
Shana blinked back and seemed to do a double-take before screaming, "Shit! I gotta run! Take care of the rest of the investigation for me!" After that outburst, she took off down the hallway and back to the art room. I couldn't help but chuckle at her as I soon made my way to the second floor and the room I found Luca shot in.
I walked inside and saw the blood on the ground where Luca was hurt. The sight of it and the thought that Luca was hurt made me furious as rage built up in me. I was quick to calm myself with the breathing technique that Terry taught me. After a few moments, I began to look around the room for any kind of clue.
No dice yet but I did manage to see the hole in the back of the room where the bullet impeded the far wall after it hit Luca. There could be no other reason for the hole to be there. I got up close to the bullet hole in the semi-roomy space between the corner of the wall and the towering cabinet against the back wall. I inspected it but saw nothing out of the ordinary as I craned my head around with my hand against my neck to try and help relieve the pressure in my neck. But in doing so, I noticed something black at the very top of the back corner of the cabinet.
I wanted to know what it was but I couldn't reach it. Even when jumping up at my highest capacity, the cabinet more than doubled my height and made it impossible to reach. I looked around for a stepladder but found nothing except the weight benches to help elevate me up. I pulled one over and got up and jumped off of it as my fingertips managed to catch it for a second before it slipped between them. I kept at it, jumping like six or eight more times before I finally yanked it down.
I saw that the back of the cabinet was slightly split which is what this fabric was caught to. It felt soft and warm. The same feeling against my skin when I worked out with Terry in our sweat… pants…
"Wait… then is this from… the Shadow Vigilante's get-up? It must have snagged when they made their escape! So then… is there a way to escape from up there?!" I asked myself in shock. I wanted to try and get up there but I knew Monokuma would probably kill me before I could escape. Besides, I just wouldn't be able to abandon the others minus Paul and Melinda. So with a reluctant sigh, I hopped down from the weight bench and pushed it back into place.
Truth Bullet Obtained: Torn Black Fabric
With this new piece of evidence in hand, I made my way down to the first floor and saw Willie examining the school store. I walked in and he took notice of me. "Howdy, partner. You're just in time. Say have you checked out the school store ever since the last trial ended?"
"No. I avoid this place like a plague. There's no point in checking out this room if it means Monokuma wants us to use the new inventory to make interesting murders," I answered Willie, truthfully.
"Same here but check this out. There's a lotta new weapons strewn inside and guess what the big ones are," Willie pointed out to the wall as I looked up and gasped at the sight of a huge variety of guns lining the shelves and hooks along the walls. "Seems like Monokuma stocked us up on some major firepower."
I nodded as I looked around and found the list of inventory Monokuma had inside. I began looking over the list. 'Valletta M62 Assault Rifle, Dreyse M1907 Semi-Automatic Pistol, Tigr Semi-Automatic Hunting Rifle, and so many other types of guns were listed here. Not to mention gun cleaning supplies, bulletproof vests, and many more things gun-related. But wait a minute…' I then turned my attention back to Willie. "Hey Willie, you still have that gun on you, yeah?"
"Sure do, good buddy!" Willie said so as he pulled it out of the side of his jeans.
"What kind of gun is that?" I asked him.
Willie blinked as he looked it over. "It… it's uh… I reckon it is a pistol of some kind."
"You're asking a third-rate gunslinger and not a professional huntress about guns? I'm hurt," Melinda sarcastically remarked behind us, catching our attention.
"Where have you been all this time?" I asked her, realizing this was the first time I've seen Melinda during the investigation.
"Investigating. What else?" Melinda replied with a roll of her eyes as she grabbed the gun and looked it over. Though it looked more like she was admiring it. "Anyway, to answer your question, this gun is known as the Beretta M9. It's a decent handgun with a 9mm bullet canister with a 15 bullet capacity. Truly a gun that's easy to maneuver with just how that Shadow Vigilante did. So why did you want to know the gun was called?" She asked.
I hesitated as my left hand holding the list crept behind me. "No reason. I was just curious."
Melinda eyed me before she handed the gun back to Willie. "Suit yourself," She shrugged as she walked out and rounded the corner to the hallway.
'With what I know now, I think it's best if I keep this information confidential for the meantime,' I thought to myself.
Truth Bullets Obtained: School Store Inventory List and Beretta M9 Handgun
Willie looked the gun over again. "I may not know as much as her about guns but I do know enough. I noticed something odd when lookin' over the gun."
"What's that?" I asked him.
"Well, I may not be able to read but I can count. I checked out the gun magazine for the bullets," He saw my confusion before clarifying, "Oh, the canister that holds the bullets."
"Ooh, gotcha," I replied quickly.
"Yeah so, I couldn't help but notice the gun was fired six times with nine bullets still inside but the muzzle's insides indicate it's been fired more than that. By how much more, I ain't sure about that," informed Willie.
"Wait what? But that can't be right. There were seven of us who were shot at but only six bullets missing? How is that possible?" I asked, beyond baffled by this information.
"Maybe they reloaded one bullet to throw us off?" Willie suggested.
'But why do a single bullet instead of the whole magazine? Something about this doesn't seem right," I thought.
Truth Bullet Obtained: Willie's Gun Analysis
Then before I could think about this further, a huge gunshot rang out as a girl's scream rang through our ears. Willie and I both dropped what we were doing and ran out to the hallway to see Melinda panting heavily on the ground further away from us. We rushed over to her as Willie helped her up. "What was that?!" I shouted out.
"The Shadow Vigilante! They're back! They just shot at me and ran towards the commons area! They took me by surprise! I thought for sure I was dead!" Melinda seemed to cry out as she hugged Willie, who was taken aback by her sudden physical contact but tapped her head and placed his other hand on her back. Well, as much as he could with that hunting rifle that was slung on her back. I looked at the nearby wall and saw a thick hole in the wall where the bullet broke through.
"There, there. Why don't ya run back upstairs to the others? Kai and I will find that son of a bitch," Willie told her.
Melinda only nodded in response as she took off. Then Willie and I took off towards the commons area and began searching the immediate area. We checked the rec room, cafeteria, kitchen, and even the entire auditorium including the stage, crow's nest, and all the backstage rooms with no luck before we ran down to the only place that bastard could have run off to; the dormitory hallway.
"Where did they go now?! There ain't any room they could get in! All the dorm rooms are locked up, right?" Willie asked me, completely confused.
"Monokuma does unlock rooms that may provide clues. Maybe…" I then looked over at the latest victim's room and walked over. Sure enough, I turned the know and opened it up as I peeked in. The familiar scenery of Ollie's room invited me in but knowing the killer was most likely inside had me scared. We snuck in and found her room empty and even when we checked the bathroom together, there was no sign of the Shadow Vigilante.
"What the hell's goin' on 'round here?! Is this Shadow Vigilante an actual shadow?! How are they so slippery and stealthy!?" Willie shouted in annoyance.
"I don't know. I'm so confused right now!" I growled out as I felt my heart creak and groan as I looked around at Ollie's room. The beautiful art she spent days and weeks perfecting, her phenomenal tattoos, and her amazing life, all extinguished with one bullet. It made me grieve as I stepped over to the seat I rested in where she gave me my first tattoo. I found her ink needle and an album of all her tattoo art on the seat. I picked them both up and hugged them to my chest. "Ollie… I'm sorry I was too late to save you," I whimpered out as I felt myself begin to cry.
"Kai? You okay?" I heard Willie ask behind me. I quickly sniffed my sadness away and nodded at him. "Yeah, I'll be okay. Once we expose the Shadow Vigilante and avenge Ollie." I said to him in confidence as I placed Ollie's belongings in with all the other mementos I had for all my lost friends.
"What I can't understand is why a murder even happened? I mean didn't Monokuma tell us that we'd be gettin' the last motive he thought of soon?" Willie asked me.
"That's a good point. The killer… they had no reason to kill Ollie and attack us. There was no incentive for murder but we still had this one come out of nowhere. Why? What was the Shadow Vigilante's endgame? What was their motive?" I asked out loud but more to myself.
I then thought, 'I certainly hope I can figure that out since I have no idea who that masked shooter could be.'
Truth Bullet Obtained: Lack of Motive
"Well, it looks like this time the victim's room isn't going to help us. Say any chance we can go over the route the killer had to have taken? If we lay out what the Shadow Vigilante did, that may help us during the trial," I said to Willie.
"Well, that alarm went off and you, Shana, and I all came outta our rooms to that shooter as they shot at us. Then they ran off and shot at Paul and Melinda in the library, ran up to the second floor, found Luca alone in the fitness room, and shot and hurt him. We lost track of him by this point but they definitely ran up to the fifth floor and killed Ollie in the art room. Why she was there, we may never know," Willie sighed after recapping the lead up to Ollie's death.
"That's something I wish I could know. But all we know is that after killing Ollie, they hid inside the VR room and locked it up. Once we discovered the body and everyone was gathered, they snuck away somewhere and hid inside the school. Later on, they got their hands on some bigger gun and fired it at Melinda, since I found the hole was bigger than the holes at the other sightings and ran off. But once again we found no clue where they disappeared to after that," I finished the recap of this morning's mindfuck.
"Even talkin' about it didn't seem to clear up much for me," Willie sighed out.
"No, but knowing how things transpired should help us out somehow," I replied.
Truth Bullet Obtained: Shadow Vigilante's Attack Path
"Well, we may not have much in our favor but at least we have the handgun with us. That way if they show up again we can use it for self-defense," I said, trying to look on the bright side of our situation.
Willie nodded as he patted his pants. "True, I can handle this lil' tike no… problem…" He then began slapping all around his legs and hips frantically as his head searched around in sharp twists of his neck. "The gun! It's gone!"
"What!? That's impossible! There's no way you lost it!" I shouted, now beyond worried.
Willie then snapped his fingers. "No, wait! I didn't lose it! I… I dropped it on the countertop of the school store when we heard that shot fired at Melinda! I must have left it there when we ran out!"
"We have to go back and get it before we lose it again!" I screamed as the two of us wasted no time and booked it as fast as we could back to the school store but when we got there… we were too late. The Beretta M9 handgun… one of our biggest clues… was no longer there.
Willie began practically tearing the school store apart trying to find it. "Nononononono! I can't believe this is happenin'! It's all my fault! Because of me that fucker probably now has the murder weapon back!"
"It's not your fault! I should have realized we left it here! But we still have time! We can gather the others and search the school top to bottom and get it back before the trial starts!" I told him but just as I finished saying that...
*Bing Bong Ding Dong*
I hated it when I heard that bell ring because I knew what was coming next.
"So… you kids have been running around and around this school and quite frankly it's getting dull to watch. I gotta say it doesn't get the blood gushing like I'm wanting to see so you know what that means! Time's up! We will now begin the fifth class trial! Everyone, please meet up at the usual spot in the library! Puhuhuhuhuhu! See you there!" Monokuma gleefully told us as the monitors cut off.
"No fair! He's doin' this on purpose! We need to find that gun before somethin' happens!" Willie shouted out.
I sighed. "As much as I want to ignore him and search for the gun, we can't, knowing what he'll do to us if we defy him. Come on, we better get going to the library."
"Go on ahead… I… I wanna be sure I didn't drop it on the ground or somethin'," Willie continued searching after telling me to go ahead. I tried persuading him to just forget about it but he wouldn't budge. I just had to leave him behind as I made my way to the library. Because of how close I was to the book emporium, I was the first to arrive. Then Paul, Melinda, Luca, and Shana all arrived slowly with Luca now wearing his jacket again and Melinda looking calmed down after her last encounter with the Shadow Vigilante.
Shana looked around worried as she asked, "Um guys, where's Willie?"
"That freak was digging through the school store in a panic. No idea why. Surprised you missed him considering the stairs are right in front of that door free room," Melinda snickered.
"Well, that's because we lost the handgun. We think the Shadow Vigilante stole it back," I informed them.
"Way to go leaving the murder weapon with the new Marcel," Paul giggled out.
Shana now looked terrified at this news. "I'm going back for him!" Shana announced as she began running for the doors, only for Monokuma to swipe at her from nowhere with his razor-sharp claws which she stumbled back just in time to avoid being hurt!
"Oh no, you don't! You're already gathered in the specified spot! There's no leaving for any reason! Doing so will result in punishment!" Monokuma told her.
Shana glared at him. "I don't care! Willie's still out there and I don't want him to be punished for being late or missing the class trial!"
Luca approached her and held her shoulders. "Shana, he knows the rules just as well as we do. I know he won't do anything too reckless. Have faith in him. There's no point in throwing your life away like this. Willie and Tommy would be upset at you if you were to die now."
Shana looked like she was about to argue with him but she sighed and embraced Luca as he gently hugged her back. "I hope you're right," She whispered. The two began making their way back to the rest of us as Monokuma bounded over to me.
"You know what to do, big guy! Use your theatrical prowess to reveal the elevator to your almost certain doom!" Monokuma cheered out.
I sneered at him before I grabbed the usual book and tugged on it, activating the hidden passageway to open up as the towering bookshelf was swallowed up by the floor. The elevator door opened up as we began trickling inside one by one. Shana and Luca took their time but Monokuma was quick to shove them in.
My anxiety was now through the roof with no signs of Willie showing up and suddenly I broke. "I can't take this! What if the shooter got Willie?! What if he's hurt and can't get here fast enough!? I'm going back for him!"
Melinda suddenly grappled me and pinned me against the wall! "Oh no, you don't! You are too valuable to the trials! I refuse to see you get killed off because the cowboy was too hard-headed to be smart enough to leave sooner."
The doors to the elevator began to close and that's when we heard him. "WAIT! I'M HERE Y'ALL! DON'T LEAVE ME!"
Luca and Shana immediately grabbed the doors and fought to keep them open but it was proving too difficult for them to do long! "Willie! We can't hold on much longer!" Shana cried out as I saw Willie charging towards us like a mad bull as he screamed like one. He suddenly did the only thing he could do and dived for it, barely sliding in between the narrow opening as his hat fell off his head. Somehow, he was able to reach back and snatch it just before the doors slammed shut and the elevator began to descend.
With a sense of relief enveloping us, I worked myself free from Melinda's grasp as Shana fell to her knees and hugged Willie tightly around his neck. "Don't you ever scare me like that again! I was so terrified you got hurt and wouldn't make it!" She whimpered into his neck.
Willie pushed her away lightly so he was looking into her teary eyes. "I'm sorry 'bout that. I was a little preoccupied, tryin' to fix my mistake. I just hope everythin' won't be in vain by the time this trial ends."
"It won't. This class trial is completely pointless anyway," I told him.
"Oh really? You seem confident about that," Melinda remarked.
"None of us could have killed Ollie and the class trial only happens when one of us kills someone. The Shadow Vigilante is the only one to blame for putting us in this precarious situation!" I explained to her.
"So then are you saying that this class trial doesn't even have a possibility that Ollie was killed by one of us? Don't be quick to jump to conclusions. After all, you know what might have happened in every class trial had everyone gotten away with that. The blackened would have gotten us all killed so don't be the one who puts us in that scenario," Paul warned me.
'Paul does have a point. But even still there's no way any of us could or would have killed Ollie!' I thought angrily to myself as the elevator continued its slow and intense fall into the darkness of the underground. We all now stood in there as I felt my heart pumping madly against my chest. It wasn't until I felt someone grab onto my hand that I realized my fist was clenched so tightly, it began to prickly in pain as I loosened it and allowed blood to flow into my fingers again. I looked over to see Luca had grabbed onto me as he stared ahead of himself.
"Listen, Kai," He began whispering to me. "I know there's going to be a lot of emotions going into this trial but I want you to know that no matter what I'm going to help you. I'll do whatever it takes to help you win this thing and survive. I cannot let you fall to this. Not after what you've done for me all this time."
He then turned his head and smiled at me, as he said, "Count on it."
I smiled back, feeling my heartbeat slow down as I whispered back, "You're like a guardian angel sent to protect me. I don't know what I'd do without the support you've provided me. You're right. We'll definitely make it out of this! Together!"
Luca let out a small giggle in his smile as we both looked back forward when the elevator came to a grinding halt and the door opened up to reveal the class trial grounds to us. We all walked in and I immediately took notice of the two new portraits of Tommy and Ollie. Tommy's red X was designed to look like two bones crossing out his face and Ollie's X had special and intricate patterns cut out from the lines of the X to make it look artistic as if the X was carved with creative designs on it.
"The time has come! The fifth class trial of this American School Killing Game is now underway! Please make your way to your assigned seats and place your e-handbook in its slot to avoid being marked as absent!" Monokuma announced as the six of us did as instructed. "Perfect! We have full attendance! Let this heart-throbbing and despairful class trial begin!"
This is it. It's now time to uncover the truth. Ollie Peralta, the Ultimate Tattoo Artist, was a unique girl with the astounding ability to identify a person just by looking at them. Her ability was one of a kind and made her the best at what she loved to do. She may have been too straightforward in an uncomfortable way from time to time but she was nothing close to a bad person. Such talent, such honesty, such love, that was brutally murdered for no purpose. There is only one person responsible for this cruel death of a dear friend. It's the Shadow Vigilante and their shooting spree that killed her. I just can't believe any of us killed her. It's impossible for me to think one of us is the blackened when I saw that monster try to gun everyone down. I will prove to everyone that going through with this is irrelevant because for once there is no participant from our class who is responsible for Ollie's undeserved passing. In this meaningless time for this deathly game, in this deathly life. The deathly truth hidden in this deathly lie. The obvious and deathly deception as the curtains raise once more on this nonsensical and deathly class trial!
Welp, I hope this chapter is good! My friends are expecting this chapter to be great so the expectations are high! But what did you think? Leave me a review and I'll be starting both chapters for the class trial asap! Until then, be filled with the despair the wait brings! Puhuhuhu~