Act 3-3: An Offer You Can't Refuse

Of all the things that surprised me so far this week, the two Pilots stepping into our ballroom was in contention for first place.

"What ze hell are you doing here?!" Jackie screeched.

"Well, we're the hosts with the most glasnost." Yukari boasted. "We saw you engrossed and morose, so we supposed we'd drop in for a grandiose toast."

Maya raised an eyebrow. "Spend all flight thinking up that one, Tweedledum?"

"Perks of having the Super High School Rapper on your side, yeah." Ataru shrugged. "Now, would somebody be so kind as to spare some breakfast?"

...What.

"Spare some…breakfast." Johan cleaned his ears with a pinkie, nonplussed. "Sorry, could you repeat that? I think I'm starting to go insane."

"Um...Johan, I think you heard right." Faen stared blankly. "Breakfast?"

"Yep." Yukari giggled. "We aren't picky eaters at all, so anything's fine-"

"How about a knuckle sandwich?!"

In one fluid motion, Sasha leapt off their seat, vaulting across the ballroom, a fist balled up and ready to strike.

Bang!

The sound of a gunshot echoed through the room. Sasha jumped ten feet back, falling into a martial arts stance, their face twisted into an expression of rage and shock. "What the actual hell was that?!"

Blowing the smoke off her revolver, Yukari twirled it around a finger. "I missed that one on purpose." She pointed it back at us, and those of us who hadn't already reacted in fear to shrink away. "Do ya honestly think we'd come out here unprepared?"

Ataru, who had taken it one step further and had pulled out an actual shotgun, tapped it on the carpeted floor. "We're only looking for breakfast. You can choose to provide us with some, or reject us. Fair warning, though, either choice carries consequences."

We looked around at each other in a myriad of expressions. Maya's was unreadable, but it was somewhere between apathy and anticipation - as if she was daring us to do something. Hideki was grim, though his stance was resolute.

What were we supposed to do now?

"Um…"

I turned. Nico had stepped forwards, holding out her bowl. "It's...just strawberries and cereal with milk, I'm afraid. But I swear, it's as good a breakfast as any."

For a moment, all was silent. Ataru then proceeded to swipe the bowl with a smile. "Thanking you kindly, Nicolette." He shrugged, before walking over to one of the tables by the door, Yukari joining him. Holstering their firepower, they sat down and began to eat.

We stood in silence for a while before Yukari paused through a mouthful of cereal. "You all just gonna play stupid? Eat up!"

Deciding that they probably meant us no harm, we did just that and returned to our breakfasts.

Gone was the cheerful atmosphere that had preceded their arrival, however, and in its place, an ominous air hung over the room.

"I don't think I have the appetite to eat anymore..." Nico confided as I pointed out her yet-to-be-refilled bowl. Her stomach growled at that exact moment, as if to counter her point. "I don't know if giving them that was the right thing to do, but I guess…" She didn't finish her statement, and just slumped over the table, sighing. "Oh bloody hell, they're just tormenting me, Ashie."

Looking towards where the pilots sat, I realized that they were taking turns to spoonfeed each other the same cereal she had so graciously provided to them. Yukari looked cheerful, not in the malicious kind of way, but the genuine kind that had been present on Jackie's face since Matthew had finally confessed. Meanwhile, Ataru had a dazzling smile plastered all over his, reminding me of a certain black-haired boy I had seen once before...

"Aidan…" I thought, a sigh of pity escaping my lips. Nico must have been missing him terribly right about now.

"No kidding."

Oops.

"That was what Aidan and I liked to do. Just talk to each other in the morning, eat each other's breakfast, and look forward to the day ahead." Her muffled voice carried through her sleeves. "It hurts that I've spent one week without him as it is, but he must be so upset that I haven't called back…"

I thought back to my own parents. She was right - our loved ones must be worried sick now that we've been gone so long.

"Lucas…" I overheard Lucille murmur from my left. He must have been the comatose brother she mentioned…

I strained my ears. Apparently, the exchange between Nico and I had caused the others to reminisce about home as well.

"Father...Mother...Robin…"

"Mom...Dad…*sigh*"

"Babushka...Dedushka…"

Amongst the growing sea of murmurs, however, three people stood out. Both Jackie and Maya were impassive, stone-faced as they continued to pick at their food. Eric, on the other hand, was looking away, uninterested.

That's odd...I would have assumed that someone so passionate as him would have been the first to react.

"Instead of worrying about your loved ones off the airship, I suggest you think about the loved ones you have here."

All of us swiveled our heads. Yukari removed the spoon from her mouth, before continuing, "Luckily, we have a perfect mix of haves and have-nots. Shame we had to lose the pansy Soldier, though-"

"You shut up about Xiang, you suka!" Sasha yelled.

"What's going on?" Johan asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I suppose we should congratulate you all. Thanks to your little compatriot here, we're in a significantly better mood than we would have been had you not given us anything to eat." Ataru had shifted the position of his chair to face us directly, and had tented his fingers, looking very eerily like one of those men I distinctly remember seeing in an anime...Gendo or something, I didn't really pay attention.

Didn't quite like that anime either...

Though it was hard to see from here, I could just feel the smarminess radiating off of the look he was directing towards us. "As such, today, we, as your generous hosts, are going to go a little easier on the motive for you. If anyone has any objections to it now, speak up."

For a moment, no one said anything, before Faen raised a hand. "Pardon me, but may I ask what you mean by, 'a little easier'?"

Yukari giggled. "Well, that's not exactly an objection, but I'll let it slide. Ataru?"

The two of them stood up, and announced: "Your next motive is…"

If you successfully graduate, you will be permitted to choose one other student to graduate with you. Alive.

…

…

...Oh no.

I grimaced. As much as I hated to admit it, the pilots might have dealt a death blow to our chances of preventing a murder.

Already, I could see the metaphorical gears turning in some minds. Eric had stopped looking away and was now staring very intensely at everyone else. Matthew had an unreadable expression, though he was glancing nervously at Jackie - and she at him, though she appeared to be in deep thought. In fact, everyone seemed to be in a fairly thoughtful mood - even Maya and Sasha, the two people I expected to have been the least affected, were muttering obscenities under their breath.

"Well, that's it from us." Yukari got up, and dusted off the front of her shirt. "Today's a lazy day, so if anyone wants to come find us, we'll be...somewhere." She paused. "Actually, you'd have to come find us anyways. That's the only way you'll be able to make us unlock the basement floor of this airship."

"What are you all playing at?" Hideki tried to walk forwards to confront them, but was stopped as the two pulled out their guns again, pointing them straight at him. Hideki!

I caught myself - and the twinge on my heartstrings. Mwong mi...Why do I feel this way?

"Call it a direct order from our superior." Ataru shrugged. "They think we're playing too little of a role in taunting you, so we're just upping the ante. Besides, we have...a few incentives to offer, if you find us."

"Oui?" Lucille tilted her head. "Pray tell, what is zhat?"

Yukari kept one hand on her revolver as she held up three fingers. "We have a library down below in the basement, along with a few computer terminals. If you're lucky and we decide to be nice again, we'll give you the access code to our internet service."

Putting one down, she continued, "Two, for those of you who are people of faith - Blech! - we have a makeshift church down there." Leaving her middle finger upright, she pointed it towards us. "And three, fuck you all. That's our incentive."

"Perhaps, one more thing…" The two inched backwards as Ataru smiled with a cheshire grin. "If you haven't noticed, we have to be the cleanup crew around here, since no one else is doing it, which begs the question..."

"Where do you think we're keeping the dead bodies?"

And with that, they disappeared around the corner in the direction of the atrium.

A moment of silence passed, before a loud scream broke it.

"Find them!" Sasha roared, charging out the room. "NOW!"

Act 3-3 FIN

11 Students Remaining

A/N:

In other news, reasons for not updating at our usual pace include RPing (so many Mal ships. So many…-Lime), life, other SYOCs, character creation, and one guy's quest to finish Fire Emblem Fates (and I'm marrying Felicia no matter which route I go - take that, Corrin/Azura shippers! :D) - SD

Anime nerd 88: YES! BURN THE WITCH! (NO TOUCHING MY MILE HIGH CLUB. - SD) (BURN THE WITCH! -LIME) (NO. - SD)

XandriaZuzanna: (Also provided gracious HidekAsh fanart on dA) LET ME HUG YOU YOU BEAUTIFUL HUMAN BEING! (But seriously, thanks a whole lot, yeah? We totes appreciate it! - SD)

PowerPlayer: Welp, motive is now in play. Your thoughts?

ezmonee6: *conceited. But yeah, Maya's got hidden depths. Then again, everyone has hidden depths. Yes, even Todd. Somehow.

asits9:

okay? XD

welcome to AFoFD? XD

Todd IS pretty great XD

SomeSnappyName:

ha. ha. haha. hahaha. hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

ha

This guy:

I liked Tien too. She's my wife. She had to die, though.

globalization:

Thank you so much!

A Dingus With Sweet Shades: Matthew is a disappointment.

HeroinOfDarkness: It's not the pilots.

So...I guess next chapter is another Sue chapter - featuring Ava and Xiang as the two normal people amongst a sea of stereotypes. Yay. See you then.

New poll up for the QOTC: Just based on what you can tell from the motive, who do you think will be the murderer this chapter? Answer away. Cheers. - Lime