Chapter 3: a captain must sink with his ship.

"GODDAMMIT!"

Flash punched the wall hard, his knuckles beginning to bleed.

"That traitor... That traitor FUCKED WITH THE WRONG PERSON! FUCKING HELL! THAT LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT BASTARD! HE HIDES BEHIND A SLEEPING DRUG LIKE A COWARD AND MURDERS MY BEST FRIEND?! I'LL FUCKING KILL HIM! I'LL FUCKING TORTURE HIM AND CUT HIM TO PIECES UNTIL NO ONE CAN RECOGNIZE HIM! I'LL...

I'll...

Shit, Birgus..."

Tears rolled down Flash's face as he grit his teeth.

"I thought for sure... I would get us all out of this... Together... Shit... I'm cursing as much as Alicia..."

He went silent for a few minutes.

"This isn't the time for jokes. I'm finding Colette, then figuring out who the traitor is and killing them."

He took one last look at what remained of Birgus and clenched his chest tightly.

"I swear... No matter what... I'll avenge you."

-xxx-

Kyra awoke in the bed she had fallen asleep in. Kisuke's arms were wrapped around her protectively. She smiled and awoke him with a kiss.

"We're alive, my love..."

Kisuke instantly hugged her tighter, kissing back. He pulled away, looking down at her with relief in his eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere without my beloved Kisuke-Kun," Kyra promised.

Kisuke nodded, his face going serious.

"...do you have something in mind, Kisuke?"

-xxx-

Ban led the way through the city, having positioned himself directly in front of Darky and refusing to move.

"Ban, it's really okay..."

"If Master is ambushed, she'll die."

"But Ban shouldn't put himself in danger either..."

"I'll be fine. I won't die as long as master is in a dangerous situation like this."

"...okay."

Mary trailed after them, looking around.

"What if that guy comes after us? We'll have to run," Mary commented worriedly.

"Then we'll run," Ban said adamantly.

"We absolutely have to find Toxic. Knowing her, she'd try to protect complete strangers and get herself in trouble," Darky replied.

"Yeah... But Darky is like that too, in a way," Mary murmured.

"Right! So once we find Toxic, we can do it together!" Darky said cheerfully.

Mary laughed a little.

"But we have to be sure to figure out who the traitor is quickly... I don't want any of us to die," Mary said. "It's bad enough that two have already..."

Ban suddenly halted and blocked them from moving forward further. He placed a hand on his sword.

"Someone is here," he muttered.

Mary instantly moved in front of Darky. Darky got on guard, frowning in frustration.

Footsteps slowly moved closer to them. Suddenly, Dream turned the corner. He stared at them for a long moment, them staring back.

"...AH! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! I SWEAR I'M NOT THE TRAITOR!" Dream yelled, then burst into tears. "I can't even... Get away... So... Please..."

Mary and Darky both dropped their fighting positions, sweatdropping. Ban remained silent and didn't move his hand from his sword.

"Like we would hurt some random little kid," Mary muttered.

"Who are you? Other than the cloaked people, you're the only one here I didn't recognize," Darky noted.

"I- I'm Dream... To be honest, I can't at all remember anything else before waking up here," Dream said.

"Amnesia? Poor thing..." Mary sighed sympathetically.

"If he's telling the truth," Ban said flatly.

"Wh- what? Why would I lie about something like that-"

"So you can get close to us and then murder us," Ban said, his tone gaining aggression.

"You're trying to get us to let our guard down- the poor, cute, lost, amnesiac child who we know nothing about, but really, you could be-"

"Ban, stop," Darky sighed.

Ban instantly went silent.

"It's true we have to be careful of who to trust, but we can't go about it by not trusting ANYONE. We can give him a chance," Darky said.

Ban nodded obediently, lowering his hand.

"Don't worry. As long as you're not attacking us, we won't attack you," Mary assured Dream.

"M- misses... Thank you so much!" Dream exclaimed, tears filling his eyes.

He tried to walk over to Darky and Mary, but Ban abruptly drew his sword and leveled it at the child's face.

"E- eep!"

"Keep your distance. Master trusts you, but this isn't a situation to take unnecessary chances in."

"Ban-Kun!" Mary huffed, exasperated.

"He isn't wrong," Darky sighed. "As long as there's a traitor, we all have to be cautious. Keep your distance a bit, Dream."

"O- okay," Dream whimpered.

He stepped back. Ban sheathed his sword.

"Now, we find Toxic," Darky said.

"Y- you're looking for Toxic?" Dream whimpered.

"Yes. She's a dear friend of mine," Darky replied.

"...well..."

-xxx-

Flash gripped his keyblades tightly as he walked through the streets.

"This city really seems to be abandoned... Dammit, they better not have killed everyone. I may not have liked my neighbors, but some of my friends lived here... And the innocents..."

He grit his teeth.

"That traitor will PAY... That much I swear..."

Flash shook his head.

"First... I have to find Colette. I have to at least make sure she's okay."

He cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Colette! Colette!"

"Flash!"

"...!"

Flash turned toward the voice. Alicia, Alexis, and Monica were racing toward him.

"Bae bae!"

Alicia flung herself at Flash and tackled him to the ground with a hug.

"I'm so glad you're safe!" She cried.

"It's good to see you too, Alicia..." Flash said. "Though I never doubted you would be fine."

"Bruh. Where the... Where are Birgus and Colette?" Alicia asked.

Flash's gaze darkened.

"Colette ran away from me," Flash replied. "And Birgus... Was the first victim of the traitor. He was alive and well before we went to sleep, but when I woke up..."

Flash shuddered and grit his teeth. The three women stared at him in shock.

"So, the crab fell first? That's too bad. However, fortune has smiled down upon me. Most of the possible traitors have gathered right up..."

Mirai stood atop a nearby building, gazing down at them with a smirk.

"It's that- that... It's that guy I hate! Let's kill him!" Alicia growled.

"Fuck no! Let's get the fuck out of here! That guy has mad sword skills!" Monica yelled, trying to grab Alicia and Alexis by the wrists again.

"Why do you consider us possible traitors?!" Flash suddenly demanded.

He hadn't moved to run nor to attack, and he didn't seem intimidated by the man at the least. Instead, he glared defiantly up at him.

"Whatever reasoning you have is invalid. None of these people beside me would kill Birgus!" Flash said boldly.

"Bae..." Alicia murmured, blushing.

"What are you doing, Flash?!" Monica yelled. "Do you want to get us killed?! Let's get the fuck out of here!"

"Answer me!" Flash barked, ignoring Monica.

"Heh..." Mirai grinned. "I admire your guts. It's a shame you could be the traitor."

"I'm not the traitor! I would never kill Birgus! He's my best friend!" Flash snapped.

"Oh yeah? Isn't that kind of thought naive?" Mirai said, his voice going cold. "You've killed plenty of people... Captain Dove."

"What?" Flash growled.

"I've done extensive research on all of you before coming here," Mirai scoffed. "And you four are amongst the most suspicious. Monica, Alicia, and Flash have all murdered many people without caring in the slightest. Not to mention the three of you, plus Colette, are the only ones among the participants to live in this city, so you would know how to pull something like this off much better than the others. Not to mention... All of you are in close proximity to Monokuma on a daily basis, with one of you even blatantly saying you're the mastermind behind him. I don't need much more proof than that to say you're suspicious... And I have my own ways of knowing things. Don't bother yourself about it- you wouldn't understand anyway."

"Damn..." Alexis mumbled.

Alicia covered her mouth, shock in her eyes.

"Why are wasting time?! Let's run!" Monica yelled in frustration.

"Except..."

Flash looked straight at Mirai.

"You've got that wrong!"

Alicia, Alexis, and Monica stared at Flash in shock. Mirai even seemed surprised.

"Hm?"

"There's a blatant flaw in your logic! Allow me to rip your argument to pieces!" Flash declared.

Mirai seemed amused.

"I'll humor you. After all, we have quite a bit of time before the next death."

Flash cleared his throat.

"While everything you said is undeniable fact... There's something more important here! And that's that, while we're all willing to kill people... We're not willing to kill our friends! Not a single one of these girls, nor I, would kill Birgus, because he's our friend!"

Flash looked satisfied once he finished.

"Bae...!" Alicia's eyes sparkled. "That was so cool!"

"Well said," Alexis smiled.

"Nyaha... Nyahahahahahaha!"

Mirai burst out laughing.

"What the... What's so funny?!" Alicia growled angrily. "Flash proved you wrong!"

Flash stared at him in annoyance.

"So naive... It's funny... Very well. Since I gave you the time of day... Allow me to present a counter argument," Mirai smirked, straightening up.

"A counter argument?" Flash wondered.

"Bae proved you wrong!" Alicia insisted angrily.

"Heh... We'll see..." Mirai responded, beginning to dig through his pockets.

"Because... After all..."

-xxx-

"H- here it is..."

Dream slowly walked them over to the two corpses. Due to his forbidden action and short legs, it had been a rather slow walk. Mary instantly looked away, sickened.

"So much blood..." She murmured.

"Mary doesn't have to come near it," Darky said as she walked over to the corpses.

Ban followed after Darky, his hand on his sword. Dream and Mary stayed back. Dream sunk to the ground sadly.

"Toxic was... Really nice to me... She helped me escape from that crazy sword guy... Without her, I would've died... She even... Promised to help me get over my amnesia..." Dream murmured.

Mary hugged him suddenly.

"It'll be okay."

Dream blinked.

"E- eh?"

"I can't stand leaving a little child in trouble, so... I'll make sure to help you," Mary promised. "And we'll avenge Toxic, too."

"Seems we won't be able to," Darky spoke up.

"Eh?"

"Seems this woman did this to Toxic, which violated her forbidden action... I think?" Darky murmured.

She held up a knife with a strange wave-like pattern. It was quite bloodied.

"This was used to kill Toxic..."

She pointed to the cloaked woman. Her cloak subtly bore the same pattern using slightly darker black than the main color of the cloak.

"And it really does look like she killed Toxic as a result... But why if it would just violate her forbidden action...?"

Darky sighed and stood up.

"It doesn't matter. Lynchings aren't worth investigating right now. We have to find the traitor."

"What about Kisuke and Kyra?" Mary wondered.

"Fox can take care of himself and his mate," Ban scoffed.

"Ban-Kun!" Mary said sharply.

"Ban is right. Kisuke ran off without us, so he can deal with it. He's with Kyra, so he won't do anything worrying," Darky said, brushing dust off of herself.

Ban smirked at Mary, causing her to smack him on the head.

"Now, how to go about this..." Darky murmured.

"Um... I think I have a clue to this mystery... I think," Dream spoke up.

"Hm?" Darky blinked.

"I found this in my pocket... I don't remember why it's here, though," Dream said, pulling a little slip of paper out of his pocket.

Darky blinked and examined it. It was a yellow paper with little pink drawings on the margins. A message was written on it...

'Come to Raikukkon today... Something special is happening~! -August 27th'

"What the hell is this?" Darky growled. "You were invited here to be killed?! Why did you come?!"

Dream flinched.

"I- I don't remember..." He murmured sadly.

"It isn't an invitation to the killing game," Mary suddenly interjected.

She rummaged in her pocket and retrieved an identical slip of paper.

"What...?" Darky murmured.

"We all have them... Everyone here except you..." Mary said sadly. "It's..."

-xxx-

Flash's eyes widened.

"Why do YOU..."

Mirai had pulled out one of the yellow invitation strips. He smirked down at Flash.

"This is my counter evidence. We're all here in the first place BECAUSE we are friends."

He placed the slip back into his pocket.

"Why do you have an invitation to Darky's birthday?!" Alicia yelled.

"Because I was given it, just like you," Mirai sneered. "I was told to come here on this date. Did you forget the reason you all gathered here?"

"He's... Right..." Flash murmured, stunned.

"Now, do you have any more evidence in your favor, mister detective?" Mirai sneered and summoned a sword to his hand. "Or are you ready to die?"

Flash went silent.

"RUN!" Monica screamed.

Nobody hesitated this time.

-xxx-

"It's an invitation to the birthday party... G was holding for you here... We all were invited because of that..." Mary said sadly.

"What...?" Darky muttered. "But it's... My... I was supposed to..."

She trailed off, her expression becoming cold.

"Darky..." Mary stepped toward her, then winced.

"Everyone was here because of me. Everyone is part of this because of me," Darky said, a dark aura surrounding her. "I caused this. I put everyone in danger. Mary, Ban, Kisuke, and Kyra... Toxic DIED..."

"Darky!" Mary yelled.

"Right, we have to find the traitor," Darky said, shaking it off. "Well, I suppose we should look around... After all, that tells us one thing."

"Hm?"

-xxx-

Swords exploded from beneath the streets, sending broken cobblestone everywhere. The ground underneath Flash, Alicia, Alexis, and Monica disappeared, hurling them up in the air.

"FUCK!" Monica screamed.

"Angel Soul!"

Flash gained his angel soul form and quickly caught Alicia and Alexis.

"Thanks, bae..." Alicia sighed in relief, then suddenly screamed. "BAE! LOOK-"

Flash turned just in time to see a blade flash across his field of vision. He dodged and felt his wing get punctured.

"GAH!"

Flash let go of Alexis and Alicia, and all three plummeted to the ground. A huge gash had opened in his right wing.

"No way... You too...?"

A pair of angelic wings spread from Mirai's back. He brandished his sword, smiling coldly.

"The next strike will be fatal."

Flash felt something nip at his back.

"Uh oh..."

He rolled out of the way, but it wasn't quite quick enough. Sword came out of the ground a slashed across his back. Flash yelled in pain.

"Bae!" Alicia yelled.

She leapt up and summoned her keyblades.

"Alicia! Let's get the fuck out of here!" Monica screamed.

"How?!" Alicia yelled back.

"Fire!"

Flash changed to his angel soul: fire form and unleashed a tornado of flames at Mirai. The street exploded with fire.

"Run now!" Flash yelled.

Flash and Alicia bolted down the street after Monica and Alexis. The ground started to burst with swords again...

"You won't escape!"

-xxx-

"It tells us that G was in the city somewhere before this shit started," Darky said, looking determined. "And knowing him... He's probably still around here somewhere. It's just a matter of finding him."

"Or he got kidnapped or whatever happened to the citizens," Mary sneered.

"Mary-san's facial expression changed so quickly..." Dream murmured fearfully.

"Cat is like this most of the time," Ban grumbled.

"I only have to be nice to people I like," Mary grumbled. "If G died, I wouldn't mind."

"Don't say that. G is alive," Darky chided. "We have to go find him."

"Then let's hurry," Mary grumbled.

At that moment, explosions of fire and swords erupted from the opposite side of the city.

"Let's search in the opposite direction," Darky deadpanned, beginning to walk.

-xxx-

"They escaped."

Mirai hovered slightly above the flaming ground. He seemed to avoided sustaining major injury, but his clothing was a bit burned. He scoffed.

"I miscalculated... Of course, that's to be expected. I'm far from perfect. Mistakes will be made. As long as I'm breathing, it doesn't matter."

A smile slowly spread across his face.

"If I wasn't entrusted with such a dire mission, I would have enjoyed that fight. I'll be sure to target them again next time."

He looked back at the tower.

"But for now..."

-xxx-

Flash gasped in pain as Alicia cast cure on his wounds. The blood slowly stopped trickling down his back, and the wounds sealed a bit.

"All better," Alicia sighed in relief.

"That shit don't look 'all better' to me," Monica deadpanned. "That's gonna be some scarring or some shit. Bruh."

"Monica, shut up!" Alexis growled.

"Too bad you can't cure the back of my shirt," Flash laughed weakly. "...this really isn't the time for jokes."

"No shit," Monica growled.

"Monica-" Alicia growled.

Monica held up a hand.

"Bruh. We gotta just calm down... Fucking hell..." Monica groaned, lowering her hand again.

Alicia responded by punching her in the face.

"Just because you can't doesn't mean I won't, you-" Alicia began, but Alexis covered her mouth.

"Just... Stop," Alexis sighed.

"What's going on?" Flash wondered. "Would you quiet down with the violence already?"

"Sorry..." Alicia grumbled, shoving Alexis off of her.

"Right. We gotta exchange forbidden actions again now that Flash is here," Monica said.

"Hm?" Flash blinked.

"That way, none of us will kill each other by accident," Monica explained.

"Ah, of course," Flash responded, holding up his bracelet.

"Aw shit. That's some hard bullshit. You won't be able to hide from that fucking psycho inside places," Monica whistled.

"Don't remind me," Flash deadpanned.

He noticed Alicia starting to fume with rage.

"What's up, Alicia?"

"Show him, sis," Alexis encouraged.

Alicia held up her bracelet and tapped the screen.

CURSE OUT LOUD.

"I was wondering what was up with your speech," Flash said. "That's heavy... Are you sure you're gonna be okay?"

"Like he- like heck I won't... DA-"

Flash and Alexis both leapt on her, covering her mouth.

"She'll survive somehow," Alexis deadpanned. "Here's mine..."

SEE YOUR OWN REFLECTION.

"That's kind of heavy too," Flash said worriedly.

"Don't underrate yours," Alexis replied. "That's some annoying ass shit..."

"All the forbidden actions are scary AF," Monica said.

She walked over and showed Flash her own.

LAND AN ATTACK ON ANOTHER PARTICIPANT.

"So that's why you insisted on running away earlier," Flash deadpanned.

"Ehehe... Well..."

They were cut off by an announcement beginning.

"ATTENTION EVERYONE, THIS IS MIRAI ONCE AGAIN!"

"What does he want?" Flash asked, annoyed.

-xxx-

"More annoyances," Mary grumbled, looking up at the tower.

"AFTER THE TIME LIMIT HIT, THE ATTACKER KILLED THE ONE CALLED BIRGUS!"

"It's no one I care about after all. Good," Darky said coldly, beginning to walk again.

"How can you just say that?! Someone died!" Dream exclaimed.

"It's either them or us," Mary said, following Darky.

Dream stared in astonishment before trying to catch up.

"W- wait up!"

"Hurry up," Darky said coldly. "If you want to catch up, run."

Dream hesitated.

"Hm?" Darky turned to look at him.

-xxx-

Colette looked up toward the tower, frowning sadly.

"Birgus is dead...?" She murmured sadly. "And that means the captain is by himself... All alone in this kind of situation..."

She punched her leg in frustration.

"What are you doing, Colette?! The captain needs you... But... I can't help but think..."

She looked up again as Mirai continued.

"DO YOU WANT THIS SENSELESS KILLING TO CONTINUE? WE HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER! PLEASE, WORK WITH ME... BRING ME THE NECESSARY SACRIFICES! I WANT TO END THIS ALL!"

-xxx-

"That-" Alicia began, but had her mouth covered by Flash.

"He's one to talk about senseless killing," Flash scoffed.

"We aren't gonna confront him, are we?!" Monica gasped.

"Of course not... We have to find Colette," Flash replied, pushing himself to his feet.

"Let's go."

-xxx-

Kisuke stopped. He had been carrying Kyra on his back through the streets.

"He's back to hiding in his tower," Kyra murmured. "Should we still continue with-"

Kisuke just shook his head. He headed toward the closest house.

-xxx-

Ban continued to lead the group forward. Mary was now carrying Dream on her back to make up for his forbidden action. Darky stopped to investigate buildings now and then.

"Still nothing?" Ban asked her.

"Not even a clue of what happened," Darky responded. Then she moved on to the next building, the same cycle happened like clockwork.

"Um, Mary..." Dream mumbled.

"Hm?" Mary muttered, turning her attention to him.

"Why are you nice to me?" Dream asked.

"Eh? What kind of question is that?"

"W- well... You're so uncaring about others, especially strangers, but you just accepted me... Even when your friends didn't..."

Mary looked thoughtful at that.

"I guess I've gotten soft on kids since I had one of my own..."

"You have a child? But you're so youthful looking!" Dream gasped, startled.

"Don't remind me of that," Mary grumbled. "Yes, I'm young... Yes, I have a child... Don't pester me about it..."

"U- um... I didn't mean any-"

"He's a really cute little boy. His hair is like yours," Mary continued. "He's why I absolutely must survive this..."

She clenched her fists in determination. Dream nodded.

"I see... So, that's why Mary wants to survive..." Dream murmured.

"Ehehe, I also like living," Mary laughed. "To a fault... But I'm sure we'll be able to make it!"

"What's this?"

Darky's inquiry cut through their conversation, and they both looked up.

The group of four was stood in front of a building of about three stories. It was circular and made completely of a silver, hard metal.

Ban walked over to it and examined the side of the building.

"This isn't metal. It's some kind of special material."

"That's odd," Darky murmured.

"What?" Mary wondered.

Darky walked over to the door and tugged at it. It was locked.

"All the other buildings so far have been unlocked," Darky explained. "And this doesn't nearly fit with any other building I've seen in this city design-wise..."

"Shall I break it down?" Ban asked, already striding forward.

"Please," Darky replied.

Ban unsheathed his sword, suddenly gathering a silver energy onto it. He slashed at the door, but it retained no damage. The silver energy faded.

"It absorbed your magic. It's made to keep us out," Darky deduced.

"What do we do?" Mary wondered.

Darky smiled.

"I suppose Flash has usefulness to us after all. Let's hope he survives the next time limit."

"How about we think about US surviving," Mary complained.

Dream looked sad.

-xxx-

"Colette!"

"Colette, where you at?!"

"If you're out there, answer us!"

"Should we really be screaming so loudly?"

"You got a problem, Monica?"

"Yeah, I do!"

The other group of four was walking around the streets, looking for any sign of Colette. Alicia glared at Monica.

"What the-"

Flash hit her head to stop her.

"What is it, Monica?" He asked in her place.

"If we walk around yelling like fucking idiots, then that bastard from before will attack us and kill us!" Monica said angrily.

"We can't leave Colette," Flash replied.

"Fuck her! She ditched your ass! She doesn't want anything to do with us, since she thinks we're gonna kill her or some shit!" Monica yelled.

Flash clenched his fists.

"Shut up, Monica!" Alicia yelled, raising a hand.

"No. Stop it," Flash said, catching Alicia's hand.

He glared at Monica.

"For someone who is unable to fight, you sure enjoy provoking people. It might get you killed soon..."

"The fuck you say?!" Monica said angrily.

Flash just shook his head.

"Colette!"

"Bruh. We out of time," Alexis said.

Everyone looked to her as she pointed out the timer on her bracelet. It was steadily counting down to zero.

"Damnit," Flash growled. "We have to find her when we wake up..."

"Let's get the fuck into a house," Monica exclaimed.

The group walked over to the house nearest to them. Alicia, Alexis, and Monica walked straight through the unlocked door before glancing back at Flash.

"The fuck are you waiting for?!" Monica snarled.

"My forbidden action," Flash deadpanned. "I have to break a hole..."

"Stay outside," Monica huffed.

"What?!" Alicia yelled.

"Bruh. If he breaking shit, it's clear as fuck where we are," Monica snapped. "The attacker can find us easily! Isn't that why they killed Birgus?!"

"You-" Alicia yelled, but Alexis censored her with a hand.

"Not cool, Monica," Alexis growled.

Alicia summoned her keyblade and blasted a hole through the wall with lightning. Flash walked right through, a hurt expression on his face.

"You've doomed us all," Monica moaned, going into another room.

"Ignore her. I'll talk to her when we wake up," Alicia sighed.

Flash nodded, and then the song played. Everyone collapsed into unconsciousness...

-zzz-

...and then the attacker got up.

"Upupupupupupupu! Choose the victim wisely, and cause despair!"

The attacker smiled.

-zzz-

Flash awakened. He quickly looked around and was relieved to see Alexis and Alicia standing up as well. The timer had reset.

"Bruh..." Alexis murmured.

"No time for lazing around. Let's go find Colette," Flash said firmly.

"Yeah, yeah," Alicia groaned. "Lemme go get Monica..."

She walked over to the doorway of the room Monica was in before stopping.

"Flash... Cover my mouth."

"Huh? What is it?" Flash sighed, walking over to her.

He looked into the room.

Monica had bruises and wounds all over her body and a knife stabbed into her chest. A bloody baseball bat lay nearby the massive pool of blood. A 2 was drawn beside her in blood.

"Right. I'll cover your mouth," Flash sighed.

Participants remaining: 11 of 16.

A/N: again, longer chapter than expected! I think they'll keep turning out long like this, which makes me happy. A few more forbidden actions were revealed... Fun! Hope everyone is enjoying the fic... If you have any thoughts in general, leave a review!

Next chapter: the most horrific, malevolent, most despair-inducing malefaction in the history of Raikukkon begins!