The Fool and Her Groom (Part 8) (Deadly Life) (Final)
I stared in shock at the Ultimate Modern Dancer, one of the people who I've grown quite close to during my time in this place.
She killed Silver?
But why?! I never would've expected this type of thing from her; she seemed like such a good person, not someone capable of murder!
…
Tch, who am I kidding…?
I know who is to blame.
Monokuma…
And me.
If Monokuma had never given us that motive…
"Yup, that's right!" Monokuma nodded. "The Savior Perk is like a one for two deal! Kill one classmate, and escape with you and someone else for free! In other words, kill someone, and you can take someone else with you back home to Earth!"
And if I had never made that promise...
"I mean, I'll help you." I said again. "Once we get out of here, me and my family will cover the costs of your mom's car accident, and we'll help you deal with Okane Loans."
Scarlet's eyes widened and she quickly shook her head. "N-no, it's fine! You don't have to!"
"But I want to." I smiled. "You seem more than deserving of a break from the stress."
"But you've just me," Scarlet stated in disbelief. "How do you know I'm deserving?"
"I have a good sense about people," I replied. "And ever since I've met you, I've felt good vibes from you. I can tell you're a good person."
Then she probably would've never done what she did if I hadn't made that stupid fucking promise. This is all my fault, but now Scarlet is the one paying for it?
"So it was Scarlet all this time?" Royal questioned. "Figures that she'd be desperate enough to kill the TV host and leave."
"Scarlet?" Emerald said, her gaze set on the blonde. "It wasn't you...right?"
"B-but why?" Cloud sniffed, wrapping his arms around himself for protection. "Why would she do something like that?"
"Un resultado terrible." Merigold frowned, shaking her head in disappointment.
"Like I said before, why couldn't it have been Sunrise or Royal?" Cotton muttered, crossing his arms.
The eyes of all my classmates were on Scarlet who silently cried and clinged to her trial stand. I could see her start to breathe heavily, and noticed sweat starting to form on her forehead.
FUCK!
I can't do this...I need-
"Some help." Sunrise sneered. "You're acting like a little bitch right now, Crimson. Need some help?" He questioned in a snide tone.
As much as I hated to ask for help, I needed it right now. And y'know what: Sunrise was the perfect guy to be able to be harsh with Scarlet and get her to confess to her crimes. So I nodded, avoiding eye contact with Scarlet, who stood right next to me.
"Fine, but don't get too comfortable, I'm not going to do all the work for you." He huffed. "First things first, what makes you say the stripper is the killer?"
"Call her a stripper one more time." Merigold threatened, glaring at Sunrise.
Sunrise simply rolled his eyes and ignored the Ultimate Translator.
I took a deep breath. "W-well, Azure is the one who reminded me. Scarlet helped make drinks with Mauve earlier tonight."
Mauve nodded. "Yes, that's right, but I was with her or at the bar table almost the entire time, so she couldn't have put the poison in."
"Almost." I repeated with a sigh. "There was one part of the night when you were away from the bar table and Scarlet, which would allow her to poison the drink that killed Silver…"
Mauve sighed, stepping out from behind the 'bar making' table and pulling Azure by the hand towards me.
"Here, talk to him and resolve your issues." Mauve said, going back to the table.
"I see…" Mauve frowned.
"That would've given her plenty of time to put the poison in the drink!" Royal stated confidently.
"I'm sorry," Azure sighed. "If I wasn't so drunk Mauve wouldn't have had to pull me away."
"Don't blame yourself," Diamond insisted. "It is not you who committed murder."
"Scarlet…" Emerald sadly frowned, before turning to me with an angry face. "Well, is that really your only evidence?! I don't know about you, but I'm not going to vote for my friend as a killer just because she 'could have' but the poison in Silver's drink!"
I grimaced, glancing at the floor, feeling like I couldn't get any words out of my mouth.
"Come on, Crimson." Sunrise demanded. "Think about it. There's something that was off about Scarlet during the investigation; something a guilty person would be guilty of."
What? Something a guilty person would be guilty of?
I thought for a second, thinking about all the evidence I had compiled so far.
Question: What was suspicious about Scarlet during the investigation?
Truth Bullet: Scarlet's Crying, chosen!
"Haha, got it in one take!"
"You're talking about...her crying, right?" I frowned, feeling awful for bringing up something like this.
Sunrise nodded. "Obviously. Everyone saw those tears and how she wasn't doing shit to help investigate."
"Hey, she was just sad about Silver!" Cherry protested, before slowly backing down. "...Or so I thought…"
"Tch, those were fucking crocodile tears." Sunrise claimed. "She wanted everyone to think about how helpless and depressed she was over Silver so they wouldn't suspect a thing."
"But it appears that it's backfiring on her…" Sage commented.
Scarlet was still quiet, looking down at the ground with her eyes closed.
"Well, that's still not enough!" Cotton argued. "What other evidence do you have?"
Evidence…
Evidence…
Evidence…?
Wait…
Non-Stop Argument
"Come on, everyone knows the basis of any good accusation is cold, hard, evidence!" Cotton insisted. "And I'm just not seeing it in this case!"
"You accused me over being the first to discover the body…" Royal angrily glared at Cotton.
"Scarlet can't be the killer…" Indigo sniffed. "She's been so nice…"
"It's always the nice ones, y'know!" Noir sighed.
"This is kind of sucky," Onyx groaned. "It's either we vote for Scarlet or we're done for…"
"Don't be ridiculous." Sunrise frowned. "If it's not Scarlet then we'll just find out it's someone else."
"I really hope it isn't her," Emerald remarked, sadly shaking her head and looking at Scarlet. "I mean, is there any way she's innocent?"
Truth Bullet: Poisoned Drink, FIRED!
"I agree with that!"
"Let's explore the truth together!"
BREAK!
"Wait, Emerald!" I exclaimed. "You might be onto something!"
"What are you doing, Crimson?" Sunrise inquired, crossing his arms and not looking too happy.
"Really?" Emerald asked with a quizzical frown on her face. "What happened to your Scarlet poisoned Silver's drink theory?"
"I have a new one," I revealed. "One that makes a lot more sense than Scarlet randomly poisoning Silver's drink!"
"Really?" Azure asked in surprise. "Then let's hear it!"
"Well, it's kind of a work in progress theory…" I nervously laughed. "But, um, remember that poisoned drink that we found?"
Azure and Rose nodded.
"Yes, it was a peach bellini." Rose affirmed.
I can think of a very important peach bellini that we found during the investigation…
Question: What's the important peach bellini?
Truth Bullet: Poisoned Drink, chosen!
"Haha, got it in one take!"
"That's it…" I realized. Scarlet had no reason to kill Silver...but someone else.
She unfortunately still tried to kill someone, but her plan didn't work…
Considering he's still standing.
"Scarlet, I think I figured it out." I said, giving her a sad frown.
She finally looked up from her podium, tears in her eyes and a pained expression on her face. "...I was stupid...and selfish…"
"No," I protested. "You were just blinded...by rage."
"Can someone tell me what's going on?" Onyx frowned.
"Yeah, is Scarlet the killer or not?" Royal groaned.
"It's OK, Crimson…" Scarlet reassured, patting me on the shoulder. "Tell them what I did…"
I nodded. "Right."
I need to prove to everyone that Scarlet isn't the killer, but rather a killer…
Well, actually an attempted killer!
Or, in other terms, a possible killer!
Or in-
"Are you going to reveal your theory or what you asshole?"' Sunrise glared.
"Oh, uh, yeah!" I nodded. "Here goes,"
Double Feature
Alas! It's on Crimson, who will use his skills as an actor (involved in many murder mystery TV shows and movies) to tell a story within this story!
Seriously, these chumps are leaving it on the freaking Ultimate Actor to solve this crime?! I know none of them have any real detective or lawyer experience, but c'mon, Crimson of all people?!
Ahem, anyways...In this special mini game, "Double Feature", Crimson will tell his fellow classmates the story of what he's trying to tell them. He'll have to use various truth bullets to complete the story, in order to back up his claims. If all truth bullets are successfully used in the right order, then his classmates will believe him! But if he screws up, which honestly wouldn't surprise me, then there'll be a little bit of doubt…
PS. We ~cleverly~ named this mini game "Double Feature" since if you think about it, Crimson is telling a story in the story he's already in. Trippy, huh?
I cleared my throat.
"Ahem, allow me to begin…" I started.
"This is a tale of love and hatred, two sides of the same tarnished coin...Our three characters in this messy tale are:
Scarlet, a hapless maiden full of captivating beauty and grace who uses her dance moves to express the feelings inside her heart. Despite her happy and friendly demeanor, however, she harbors a dark secret that could destroy her life if word got out…
The next of this miserable trio is Silver, a man whose shrouded in mystery, but never seems to be outright suspicious to anyone...this is more than likely due to the smile constantly on his face, and the warm tone he consistently speaks with…
Lastly, the despicable villain in this tale…
…
…
…
(At last, my affinity for dramatic pauses has finally come to good use! The look on everyone's faces are priceless!)
Sunrise! The wretched pilot of the plane of hurt and agony, who directs all his rage towards poor Scarlet! He's feared by so many people that the mere mention of his name is enough to send a baby into a coma!
Our story begins and ends on just one night…
Scarlet grabbed a laundry pod (Mono Pods Warning) from the laundry room intending to kill Sunrise. She put it in a peach bellini (Poisoned Drink), Sunrise and Silver's favorite drink, hoping for Sunrise to grab it. Unfortunately he never did, Silver died from another drink (Noir's Account) entirely, and now we're here!"
"This is the final cut!"
BREAK!
…
…
…
"What...the hell was that?" Onyx deadpanned, the expression on his face completely revolted.
"I...have never experienced something so strange." Diamond remarked, sweat forming on her forehead. She looked quite lightheaded.
Indigo and Cloud said nothing, but were currently sobbing.
"What's wrong, guys?" I frowned. "I've always wanted to take my chances at writing a movie some day!"
"That ending…" Cherry sniffed, tears falling from her eyes. "It was so...anticlimactic!"
"I think I will drown my ears out with espresso after this…" Frost nodded, already caressing his ears in preparation.
"Enough to put babies into a coma…?" Mauve repeated, scratching his head in thought. "Maybe Crimson's still a little drunk…"
"You guys didn't like it?" I inquired, a sad frown on my face. "But I poured all my heart and soul into this literary work!"
"I think you should stick to being in front of the cameras…" Royal remarked, her skin pale as she shook off the supposed horror that my story brought her.
"I may have to go back to the infirmary after this…" Cotton gulped.
"...I liked it." Lava shrugged. "It was far from a masterpiece, but enjoyable nonetheless. A solid 6/10." She finished with a nod.
"Now we're giving out ratings?!" Rose gasped.
"Hm, I see potential in you as an artist." Sage admitted, coolly closing his eyes and nodding. "A 7/10 performance!"
Yes! A 6 and a 7 adds up to a total of 13/10! I'm on fire with my directorial debut! And I came up with it in the middle of a trial, no less!
Oh shit…
Middle of a trial-
"Can you dumbasses cut the crap and get back on track?" Sunrise groaned. "Or have you forgotten that all of our lives are on the line?"
"Yeah, explain in simpler terms what the hell you're trying to say, Crimson!" Emerald demanded.
I sighed. "You're right...Sorry." I nodded.
"Anyways," I continued. "I think I know the reason why Scarlet's so mopey. It's not because she killed Silver...or anyone, really. It's because she tried to kill someone. Sunrise, to be more specific..."
"Sunrise?" Noir repeated. "What makes you say that? We're in the trial of Silver's murder, not Sunrise's.
"I'm well aware." I nodded. "However, Sunrise does play a part a part in proving Scarlet's innocence."
"So hold on a second…" Onyx frowned. "You are now saying that the dancer is innocent?"
"Yeah, weren't you just accusing her like five minutes ago?" Frost inquired in a confused tone.
"Y-yes…" I replied with a blush. "But I was wrong…"
"Woah, talk about anticlimactic." Cherry sighed.
Sunrise finally met my gaze. "What are you saying, Crimson? Are you honestly suggesting that Scarlet tried to off me?"
I nodded. "That's exactly what I'm saying, and what truly happened. The facts are pretty clear."
"Yes." Scarlet spoke up, also meeting Sunrise's gaze. "It's all true..."
"Well, obviously she's saying that!" Royal snarled. "She's just trying to confuse us so she can get away with killing Silver!"
"That's not true." Scarlet insisted, her tone stern. "I tried to kill Sunrise..."
"I'm so lost!" Cotton cried. "I'm supposed to be the super smart Ultimate Escapist but this case has had me stumped ever since my Royal is the killer theory died out…"
"Don't be so hard on yourself, you just came back from a coma." Indigo nervously giggled.
"I'll explain," Scarlet nodded, closing her eyes. "It's the least I can do for all the trouble and confusion I've caused…"
She cleared her throat, finally standing up straight and addressing all of us at once.
"It's no secret why I wanted to kill Sunrise," She started, a pained expression on her face. "He's supposed to be our leader, but has done nothing but belittle us…"
"We're all going to do our part to help," Scarlet frowned. "I don't see why you have to complain about every minor inconvenience."
"Fuck off," Sunrise rolled his eyes. "I didn't ask for your opinion."
"Hey, back off," I quickly intervened. "You don't have to be a douchebag when she's just stating the truth. You've been complaining this entire time."
"Why the hell are you talking for her?" Sunrise sneered. "Are you her puppet master or some shit?"
"No, he's just not a roach like you," Scarlet answered. "Some people here actually want try to be friends with each other instead of pushing other people away with their awful personalities."
Sunrise simply rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Whatever, I could care less about the opinion of a stripper." What a fucking dickhead, modern dancer isn't a code word for stripper…
"He made me feel so belittled…" Scarlet continued. "He reminded me of all the roaches I dealt with in my life...but then, worst of all: I had to take orders from him…"
"Says who?" Scarlet frowned. "We don't have to listen to a word you guys say."
"Oh yeah you do," Sunrise smirked. "According to our pilot."
Scarlet gripped onto her stand tightly, almost like she was about to fall off. "But still! I listened, and I did what I was told to."
"It's not in the e-Handbook, but Sunrise has ordered us to make sure everyone is in the dining room by 8:00. And disobeying his rules will get you killed. Plus, he lent us his room key, and said we could use force if necessary..." Scarlet replied, twirling said room key in her hands. I could tell it was killing her to refer to Sunrise as an authority figure, but I could also tell that she just wanted Shadow to shut the fuck up so Sunrise wouldn't bitch at her later.
"But it wasn't enough…" Scarlet sighed, sounding dejected. "He still treated me and everyone else like we were his own personal slaves, that he ordered around to do whatever."
Sunrise opened his eyes and he instantly glared at Scarlet. "What do you want? You should be working, not fooling around."
"I have been working," Scarlet yelled. "We all have. Meanwhile, you've been sitting down doing nothing but barking orders!"
Sunrise rolled his eyes. "I've been doing nothing but barking orders, huh? I guess personally getting all these supplies doesn't count as something..." He said, gesturing to all the supplies Monokuma had given him.
"Oh, please," Scarlet scoffed. "That took five seconds. We've been setting up for hours. We deserve a break!"
Sunrise stood up and faced Scarlet, his face inches from hers. "If you want a break, then fine. Be my guest."
Scarlet glared at Sunrise for a few seconds more before she turned away and stormed out of the dining room.
I frowned as Sunrise smirked. "That girl's feisty, huh?" He asked me.
"So...I had to do something." Scarlet finished. "We were all suffering at the hands of a dictator! I took the laundry pod and watched Sunrise all night, picking up on his favorite drink. What Crimson said is true, I poisoned a peach bellini, hoping Sunrise would drink it...but he didn't. And Silver somehow died instead."
We were all speechless.
Scarlet tried to kill Sunrise for his bad behavior?
But-
"You're a lying bitch!" Royal scoffed, reaching over me to point at Scarlet. "You tried to kill Sunrise to save us from 'a dictator'?! Are you forgetting that we would all die too?!"
"I didn't know about the punishment until after Monokuma told us just a few hours ago." Scarlet retorted. "None of us knew."
Royal gritted her teeth, pulling back her hand. "Well, still! You're not the sweet, quiet girl everyone thinks you are, you're a stone cold bitch for trying to kill Sun-"
"Stop, Royal." Sunrise suddenly spoke up. During Scarlet's confession, he had his head down and his eyes closed. Now, he was looking at Scarlet with his eyes open.
Which were…
Filled with tears…
"I don't need your protection." He continued. "I'm the one and only Ultimate fucking Pilot!"
We all stayed quiet, watching the two as they looked at each other.
Scarlet said not a word, holding her ground and confidently standing against Sunrise.
Sunrise's face was red, and as aforementioned, his eyes were watery. He wasn't bawling his eyes out or anything, but the tears were prevalent in his blue eyes.
It was the most emotional I've ever seen the ginger.
"Look…" Sunrise started. His voice was shaky. "I...I'm sorry."
Wowww, that's probably the biggest plot twist in this case. Sunrise? Sorry?
"I should've known how words can hurt you," He continued, narrowing his eyes and speaking in a quiet tone. "It was shitty of me to take the role of leader and then abuse it. Tch, that's clearer than ever considering Scarlet tried to fucking off me...I can't take back anything I've said or done, but I can apologize and...promise to be a better man."
"A better man, hm?" Sage repeated. "I'll believe it when I see it."
"Shut the fuck up...Sage." Sunrise retorted. Amazingly, Sunrise didn't follow up his demand with a demeaning nickname and instead called Sage by his real name! Er, uh, code name. And earlier, instead of calling Scarlet a stripper, he just called her Scarlet. I'm impressed.
"Thank you for the apology, but…" Scarlet sighed. "You're not the one to blame in this situation. It is ultimately me who almost killed you."
Sunrise stayed silent.
"I was a fool…" Scarlet said with a hollow laugh. "Ending the life of another to escape and protect everyone else? Sounds like a bad movie trope to me…"
Sunrise smirked. "I think we're all fools here. We're playing this stupid ass killing game after all. But y'know what, Scarlet? You trying to kill me hasn't been all that bad. I think this whole thing has groomed me into being a better leader. If you guys still want a douchebag like me to lead you guys, that is."
Once again, it was silent in the trial room. Shit, I didn't even have to say anything for the past few minutes because Scarlet and Sunrise have been doing all the talking.
This surprisingly peaceful resolution was overshadowed by our unsurprising, daunting task.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Monokuma frowned, waving his paws around like crazy. "This lovey dovey business has been going on for far too long! Are you guys forgetting that you have a murder to solve?"
"True." Merigold sighed. "I had almost forgotten we're stuck in this awful situation…"
"..." Scarlet's face was flushed. "Lovey...dovey?"
Sunrise was less flustered but clearly embarrassed. "Such a dumbass comment…"
"Exactly!" Royal nodded, putting her hands on her hips. "I am the queen of this group, not Miss Dye Job over here…"
"I'm still confused about something…" Emerald brought up. "I hate to sound so stupid, but I just want to know something; Scarlet, if you weren't crying because you felt guilty about killing Silver, then why were you crying?"
Scarlet sighed. "It was the guilt of realizing what I almost did. No matter how much of a roach Sunrise might have been, no one's life deserves to end at the hands of another. Plus, I was still sad about Silver, as we had gotten rather close due to being partners together…"
Partners…
Hm…
"I think we should at last decide what drink killed Silver." I said, pounding my fist on the table. "This has gone on for far too long: let's catch this killer!"
Non-Stop Argument
"Mauve prepared so many drinks tonight," Rose commented. "It's almost impossible to decide which one it was!"
"There were peach bellinis, of course…" Sunrise started.
"Strawberry daiquiris…" Azure continued.
"Margaritas…" Onyx said.
"Don't forget the bottle of Long Island iced tea I prepared." Mauve reminded.
"Oh, and the cherry bomb," Cherry beamed. "My favorite!"
"The espresso martini was quite good, though I believe I could have brewed the espresso a little better." Frost coolly smiled.
"Ah, yes, and the bloody mary." Diamond brought up.
"I think the last one would be the virgin drink Mauve made special for me," Cotton nodded. "But since there was only one I guess it's impossible for it to have killed Silver…"
"It's no use; this is hopeless…" Indigo sniffed.
"So many drinks…" Lava remarked.
Truth Bullet: Pre-Made Drinks, Fired!
"I agree with that!"
"It seems the cards are in my favor today…"
BREAK!
"That's it!" I exclaimed, realization hitting me like a truck.
"What's it?" Royal frowned.
"It's so obvious I should've realized sooner," I groaned, face palming.
"Realized what?" Royal continued, starting to get mad. If she really wanted to, she could easily hit me right now!
"The poison," I explained. "I know what it is…"
"Really?" Mauve asked in slight surprise. "Which one of my drinks did someone tarnish?"
"You haven't realized it yet, Mauve?" I smirked. "I'm surprised. It's the only drink no one drank tonight...The Long Island iced tea."
"What's a Long Island?" Cotton wondered aloud.
"I didn't see anything like that available to drink," Onyx admitted. "Was it really on the bar table the whole time?"
I nodded. "Yes, but unlike the rest of the drinks, it was still in its bottle.
"Yesterday," He answered. "I made a bottle of Long Island iced tea, just to brush up on my drink mixing before the party."
"Long Island iced tea?" I repeated. "I can't remember anyone drinking that tonight…"
Mauve shook his head. "For some reason it smelt a little weird and no one wanted to try it." He shrugged. "At least my other drinks were a hit."
"Oh, that despicable drink." Sage nodded. "When Mauve made me smell it, I was so repulsed I took it from him and placed it at the very back of the table, where no one would ever have to deal with it."
"I believe I also smelt it." Frost affirmed. "No offense to Mauve, but it was...absolutely terribly disgusting, to say the least."
Mauve shrugged. "I don't care, I probably used expired alcohol or something."
"No, Mauve, you did everything perfectly," I reassured. "But it was our killer who screwed up your drink. With the poison, to be exact!"
"A-are you saying the poison was what made the iced tea smell b-bad?" Cloud inquired.
"I'm sure of it." I nodded. "Looking back, think about if someone mixed laundry detergent into an already pretty heavy drink full of alcohol and syrups. It'd make it smell all sorts of weird, which I think is exactly the case with the Long Island Iced Tea!"
"I'm sure if we were to go back and smell the poisoned peach bellini, we'd also notice a peculiar smell." Azure theorized.
Scarlet nodded. "Yes...I did notice a strange smell after I poisoned the drink. Again, I'm very sorry about that!"
"So it's settled," I smiled. "The poisoned drink was the Long Island iced te-"
"Let me shed some light on the actual truth."
Who the hell?
I turned and saw Cloud frowning at me with his arms crossed.
No…
Not Cloud.
Shadow.
"Nice of you to make an appearance, buddy." I mumbled, rolling my eyes. "When the hell did you even get here?"
"I knocked Cloud out as soon as he asked that stupid ass question." Shadow sneered. "I had to see what the fuck he was talking about. And I must say, I'm thoroughly disappointed in your dumbass."
"Pray tell." I insisted.
"Are you that fucking dense? The Long Island Iced Tea that we're just now hearing about is the murder weapon?" Shadow scoffed. "That makes as much sense as Royal being a natural ginger."
"H-hey!" Royal yelled, her face turning red.
"I'm going to prove you wrong and put you in your place, D-lister." Shadow smirked.
Tch, this guy's just wasting my time!
Still, I have to shut this demon down!
Rebuttal Showdown
"You're really fucking stupid, y'know that?
There's an obvious drink that killed Silver that you guys aren't thinking about.
Besides, think about it, would the killer really have been that stupid enough to just leave their murder weapon out in the open like that?" Shadow said.
"The killer probably knew that no one would try the drink due to its terrible smell, so they had no problems leaving it out in the open.
Besides, it's not as if they could just hide it in the kitchen since it closes at Night Time!" I rebutted.
ADVANCE!
"Yeah, whatever; the Long Island iced tea wasn't the murder weapon.
You're forgetting about a very obvious drink that you guys actually saw Silver drink:
The peach bellini he drank after the trivia game was over!
I can't believe you're really that stupid.
It probably wasn't the best idea to have the fucking Ultimate Actor lead this trial…" Shadow confidently stated.
Truth Bullet: Mono Pods Warning, fired!
"Cut!"
BREAK!
"Ah, Shadow…" I sighed. "I also thought that might be a possibility."
"It's not just a fucking possibility; it's what happened." Shadow glared. "He drank the peach bellini, and the poison slowly worked its way through his system, and he died after entering the announcement room."
"You are sorely mistaken, Peter Pan's shadow." I shook my head.
"And why is that?" He asked in an angry tone.
"Because," I started. "The poisonous effects of the Mono Pods occur just one minute after ingestion. I didn't keep track of the exact time after Silver took a sip of the drink, but I'm sure it was more than a minute before he went into the announcement room."
"All four teams are tied! We're all winners!" Silver announced, taking a drink from one of the table and toasting it.
"NO!" Onyx protested. "We're all losers!"
"This blows..." Emerald sniffed. "I wanted our team to win..."
"Do we still get a prize?" Noir asked Silver, looking up at him with pleading eyes.
Silver chuckled. "Yes, yes. of course. I just need to get it from the announcement room."
Silver went towards the announcement room to fetch our prize, and we were left to converse amongst ourselves. All of our conversation was normal and light hearted like it had been for the duration of the night, until I heard a yell.
"By my calculations, the time Silver, Onyx, Emerald, and Noir spent talking, and the time it took Silver to walk to the door was more than a minute." I said with a smirk. "And Silver looked perfectly fine as he walked to and entered the announcement room. So in conclusion, it's impossible that it was the peach bellini that killed him!"
"Tch, whatever." Shadow rolled his eyes.
"Anyways, like I said before, the killer poisoned the Long Island iced tea and hid it in plain sight, knowing that no one would drink it. Then, they poured a glass and served it to Silver in the announcement room, killing him." I concluded.
"Sounds spot on to me," Azure nodded with his signature smile. "But we're still left with the unfortunate question of who actually did it."
"I don't understand how the killer was able to sneak the poison into that entire bottle." Mauve frowned. "It was either on the bar table or my serving tray the entire time."
"And you didn't leave the bar table except for one time unattended." Scarlet reminded us. "And trust me, I didn't do anything to it."
"So when the hell did the killer mess with the drink?" Emerald frustratingly questioned.
I think I know the answer to this…
Question: When did the killer poison the drink?
Today
11037 Years Ago
Yesterday
"Haha, got it in one take!"
Answer: Yesterday
"There's no doubt about it." I nodded. "It must have been yesterday."
"What makes you say that?" Noir questioned.
"I took out all of the bottles I prepared yesterday this morning, almost as soon as Diamond and Shadow checked in for bodyguard duty." Mauve explained.
"Yes, I watched him do so." Diamond nodded.
"Sure," I nodded. "Anyways, I was just wondering about bodyguard duty...Mauve had prepared some drinks earlier today, right?"
Diamond nodded. "I assume so. There was already a bottle prepared in the fridge when Shadow and I started our shift, so yes, he could've made it earlier today."
That lines up with what she told me.
I found Diamond a tiny bit suspicious when she told me about how Shadow/Cloud would pass out for about a minute when they switched. That would've given her time to poison the Long Island iced tea.
But, if Mauve took out the drinks as soon as the photoshoot choreographer and the occultist checked in for bodyguard duty, then she wouldn't have the opportunity.
That means it couldn't have been today!
"So, it was yesterday." Merigold repeated. "But still, do you know who would've had the opportunity?"
Opportunity…
Opportunity…
It had to be someone who could have grabbed the drink from the fridge…
Poisoned the drink…
And then put it back in the fridge for Mauve to grab this morning.
They then hid the drink in plain sight, knowing no one would drink it.
Finally, they snuck out during Sage and Sunrise's argument to give the drink to Silver…
Killing him.
Ugh, but I just don't get it!
The killer had to have gone through our bodyg-
Bodyguards.
Fuck.
I know who the killer is…
But I have no idea why someone like them would ever do something like this!
Could I be wrong?
No!
Don't doubt yourself, Seizo.
It's the only person who could've had an opportunity, since they were alone at the time…
I took a deep breath. This is it!
Accuse: Who killed Silver?
Crimson
Scarlet
Diamond
Frost
Mauve
Rose
Azure
Sunrise
Cloud/Shadow
Silver
Emerald
Noir
Merigold
Cotton
Lava
Onyx
Cherry
Indigo
Sage
Royal
DECIDE: Noir
"The show's over!"
"So?" Royal questioned. "Who is it?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty curious myself." Azure admitted.
I felt so lightheaded that I almost passed out.
Now's not the time to be feeling sick, Seizo…
We have to finish this!
"Noir." I called, pointing at the Ultimate Spy. "It was you, wasn't it?"
Noir looked at me with shock, quickly shaking her head. "N-no way! Why would you even joke about that, Crimson?" Noir sadly frowned. "I thought you were nicer than that!"
"Please, Noir." I cried. "Don't make this harder for me…"
"The little ginger girl did it?" Royal questioned, raising one of her perfectly manicured brows. "That doesn't seem possible; she's 5'5" and looks like a hyperactive puppy dog."
"U-um, thank you?" Noir nervously giggled.
"It's gotta be her." I sighed. "She's probably the only person who was alone with the drinks other than Mauve, who we already know isn't the killer."
"What time was that?" Sunrise questioned.
This should be easy, a certain someone told me this.
Question: When could have Noir poisoned the Long Island iced tea?
Truth Bullet: A Star and the Sun by Edward Lane, chosen!
"Way too easy…" I muttered.
"Merigold can help me out with this." I announced.
The Ultimate Translator in question nodded. "Yes...There was one time, yesterday, when Noir could've taken advantage of me not being in the kitchen with her."
She then recounted exactly what she told me in the rec room that led me to believe Noir was the killer in the first place:
"It is," Merigold beamed. "Although, Lane just introduced a plot twist! Turns out, Dante was the assistant pilot of the plane!"
"Oh damn," I chuckled. "So now Lina 'hates his guts', right?"
Merigold laughed. "Yup!"
"You must really like that book," I noted. "You're like 3/4 of the way through already."
Merigold nodded. "Yes, and I just started it yesterday! After I was done with server duty, Sunrise made me replace Onyx as a bodyguard because he wanted 'his muscles' to help set up...Even though I explained to him he was breaking his own rule of not being a server and a bodyguard on the same day, he still made me do it! Of course, I wasn't going to just stand around with Noir talking my ear off, so I snuck away to the rec center, picked out a random book from the fictional section, and started reading it in the kitchen throughout the rest of the day. I guess there was a silver lining to being picked as a bodyguard that day, because if I wasn't, I never would've discovered this book!"
"That's your only evidence?" Noir frowned, looking much more serious than I've ever seen her be. "I don't think it's really fair to decide I'm the killer based on one persons account."
"True," I nodded. "It's only fair that I find out how else you could be the killer…"
"Well, game on!" Noir declared, crossing her arms.
Non-Stop Argument
"Noir's the killer?" Onyx said. "That seems so unlikely."
"It's always the weird ones, they say." Azure thought aloud. "U-uh, I know I'm weird, but I'm not the killer!"
"I wonder what evidence Crimson can find." Cotton wondered. "It's going to be hard given how hard this trial has already been."
"Ugh, we already used up Sage and Sunrise's argument as an alibi." Cherry sighed. "What else is there to use?"
"Come to think of it, our argument was in the heat of the moment." Sunrise brought up. "If we're sticking to the theory that the killer used it as a distraction to enter the announcement room, what would they have done if we hadn't argued?"
"Glasses boy was the one to start the argument, maybe he is in cahoots with the spy." Royal suggested.
"Don't be an idiot." Sage muttered.
"Yeah, that's gotta be it!" Onyx agreed. "It's the only possibility!"
Truth Bullet: Loud & Long Song, fired!
"No that's wrong!"
BREAK!
"While Sage may be an accomplice to Silver's murder, I have a much more plausible theory." I said. "What if the loud and long song that was playing was actually meant to distract us? And Sage and Sunrise's argument was something completely unplanned by the killer?"
"That does make sense," Azure nodded. "The killer would've had no idea that Sage and Sunrise were going to argue, so it'd be bold of them to rely on something like that happening to use as a distraction."
"And before any of you get any dumb ideas, I'm not working in cahoots with anyone." Sage claimed. "I know the motive could open the opportunity up to people working together, but you'd have to be a fool to believe that the killer would keep their word of bringing you along with them back to Earth if you help them. The spy girl and I haven't even interacted since we've been here, so why would she choose me as an accomplice? Besides, I didn't count on the idiotic mind of Sunrise, which sparked the argument in the first place."
"So you are saying that it's your fault the argument started." Sunrise smirked.
"No, I'm saying that if you hadn't spill-" I quickly cut Sage off so as to avoid yet another argument between the two…
"Anyways," I sighed. "Noir most likely planned to use the loud and long song as a distraction."
"Completely untrue." Noir claimed, rolling her eyes.
"That was an awfully loud song…" Rose commented.
"And the fact that it was still playing after the investigation started?" Emerald frowned. "Definitely suspiciously long."
I nodded. "Yeah, and our killer had the perfect opportunity to put the song in the party playlist..."
I took a deep breath before walking through the dining room door.
"Cotton!" Noir gasped when I entered. She was apart of Team Escape, and was currently picking songs to play during the party.
I put a finger up to my lips. "Shhh, he needs to rest."
Noir nodded. "Sure!"
"After all, Sunrise picked you to choose songs for the party, didn't he, Noir?" I frowned.
Noir's eyes widened and she was beginning to look rather flustered. "T-that's just a coincidence! I didn't know that song was going to play during Silver's murder, I just thought it sounded catchy!"
I shook my head. "I wish that were true, Noir...but I don't believe you. Coupled together with your sneaky talent of being the Ultimate Spy, I'm sure you knew that the loud and loud song would make it nearly impossible for us to notice you sneaking into the announcement room. And Sage and Sunrise's argument was the icing on the cake, huh?"
Noir quickly shook her head. "No, no, no! Please, you guys have to believe me: I'm not the killer!"
My heart was starting to hurt just like it did when I accused Scarlet...I wasn't as close with Noir, but it still didn't bode well with me that I was accusing one of my friends…
"Tell me, Noir, what drink were you sipping all night?" Sunrise suddenly questioned.
"H-Huh?" She asked, her face turning red. "I...I can't remember."
"Then let me refresh your memory." Sunrise smirked. "It was a margarita."
"I've always wanted to try a margarita!" Noir admitted. "It looks so sweet!"
"I think I know where this is going…" I sighed.
Royal thought for a moment, before shaking her head. Then, she looked like she realized something. "Well, I am quite observant, as you may know. Before Silver entered, I noticed he looked a little worried. Ah, and I noticed that the room smelt like tequila. Which is unusual because Silver had been drinking a peach bellini all night, which as you may know, contains no tequila..."
"Silver's peach bellini didn't contain any tequila." I stated.
"And neither did my Long Island iced tea." Mauve brought up.
"But, Noir...the primary ingredient in your margarita is tequila, which is why Royal could smell it so much." I frowned. "You had probably just left when she entered which is why the smell was still there."
"Come to think of it, even I could smell it when we entered." Mauve claimed. "I'm sure it wasn't as strong as when Royal smelled it, though."
"So many other people could have drank margaritas!" Noir pleaded. "I couldn't have been the only one."
"True, but the evidence keeps stacking up against you." Sunrise huffed.
"You're the only person who had this much evidence against them." Royal stated truthfully.
Noir crossed her arms. "What about Merigold, who had the opportunity to take the laundry pod when she went to go 'find a book'?! Or Mauve, who was the one who made the drinks in the first place? And don't forget about Sage, who could've started the argument because he was a co-conspirator!"
"It's useless, Noir." I sighed, averting my eyes. "That doesn't help your case."
"B-but, I'm the Ultimate Spy!" Noir said. "An observant, hard-working, nimble, do gooder! I could never kill somebody!"
Hm…
She may have just shot herself in the foot.
Or, maybe she just saved herself.
Either way, this is how I can prove Noir is the killer!
"So, Noir, you're super observant, right?" I questioned.
"Y-yes." She nodded. "It's one of the skills necessary to be a spy! We're observant of all of our surroundings."
"Well," I sighed. "Then you'll remember this prominent detail."
Noir raised a brow. "What detail?"
"Something we haven't mentioned in this class trial." I said. "What caused Sage and Sunrise's fight?"
…
…
…
Noir…
Laughed?
What the hell?
"Oh, it was Sunrise's idiotic mind, of course." She answered with another giggle. "Just like Sage said earlier."
"Yes…" I frowned. "But what specifically caused the fight? No one could ever forget it, especially someone as observant as you claim to be."
Noir was silent. She wouldn't meet my gaze.
"Sage even started to say it." I said, trying to help her remember.
"He...spilled something right?" Noir asked, slowly raising her head.
"What did he spill?" I questioned.
"Um, his drink." Noir nodded. "He spilled his peach bellini."
OK...she was almost there.
"On what?" I asked, searching for my final answer.
This is it...Noir can't be the killer if she answers this right.
I don't know if I want her to get it right or wrong.
"On Sage, of course!" Noir laughed. "Anyone would hate to have a drink spilled on them, especially Sage!"
She had a smile on her face, but everyone else had a look of disbelief.
She's the killer, no doubt about it.
But why?!
Why would the energetic spy whose smile lights up the room kill Silver?
It just doesn't make any sense…
"So it's true." Rose sighed. "She really is the killer…"
"I'm surprised," Indigo admitted. "And sad…"
"At least this is over and done with…" Lava commented. "Can I go to sleep now?"
"I can't say I'm surprised, I always knew that chick was a fucking weirdo." Shadow shrugged.
"I'm definitely shocked." Diamond admitted. "Noir always seemed so cheerful; not the type of person to kill."
"H-huh?" Noir's face was pale. "What's wrong? D-did I get a detail wrong?"
"Unfortunately, yes." I sighed. "An important one, that makes us all think you're the killer."
"But I'm not!" She protested. "I didn't kill Silver!"
I stayed silent, feeling like an asshole right now.
"All your evidence is circumstantial, you have no other proof!" She claimed, her face going from pale with worry to red with fury.
"Tch, is she having a temper tantrum or something?" Sunrise wondered aloud.
"Looks like she's finally snapped." Royal sneered.
"I didn't snap!" Noir insisted. "I'm innocent! You HAVE to believe me!"
I still couldn't work up the courage to meet her gaze or to speak up. I'm condemning this girl to be punished by the merciless Monokuma, for God sakes…
"Stop acting like I'm the killer!" Noir yelled. "I didn't kill Silver! You have no other proof!"
I needed to prove her wrong…
No matter how much it hurt.
I slowly lifted my head and looked her in her amber colored eyes.
"Let's finish this."
Argument Armament
"I didn't kill Silver!"
"I'd never do something so terrible to one of my friends!"
"Don't you believe me?"
"You believed Scarlet so easily…"
"Do you really think that low of me?"
"All this evidence may point toward me, but it points to other people, too!"
"Anyone could have done it!"
"You have to believe me…"
"I wasn't the only one who drank a margarita!"
"Or the only person to have the opportunity to poison the Long Island iced tea. What about Mauve?!"
"I just forgot one detail, is that really enough to condemn me?!"
"You don't have any other proof, you can't prove I did it!"
Noir finished her rant, so I stepped in, knowing what I had to do.
"Let's end this charade, Noir!"
"YOU MADE SILVER GO TO THE ANNOUNCEMENT ROOM!"
BREAK!
Noir's eyes were wide, and her body was shaking.
But this was the final nail in her coffin.
"Do we still get a prize?" Noir asked Silver, looking up at him with pleading eyes.
Silver chuckled. "Yes, yes. of course. I just need to get it from the announcement room."
Silver went towards the announcement room to fetch our prize, and we were left to converse amongst ourselves. All of our conversation was normal and light hearted like it had been for the duration of the night, until I heard a yell.
"You told Silver to go to the announcement room, not because you wanted a prize," I sighed. "But because you wanted to him alone...so you could kill him."
Still, she argued with me. "T-that still isn't enough proof...I didn't kill him…" She insisted, staring at me with those wide, amber colored eyes of hers.
I frowned, looking at the faces of my classmates.
They were all counting on me to solve this crime.
And I did!
But Noir is still making this difficult.
I sighed.
What the hell am I going to do now?!
"Make her, Crimson." Azure suddenly spoke up. "Make her confess."
"But how, Az?" I asked. "She just keeps denying it over and over again!"
"Go over everything that happened in this case," Azure suggested. "Make her see that there's no way out: we know she's the killer. I know, it's harsh, but it's the only way." He finished with a sad smile.
I nodded. "You're right."
OK, let's do this!
It's time to prove to Noir there's no way out of this!
"This is the truth of the case!"
Closing Argument
"The killer had been planning Silver's murder for quite some time, maybe the day that we were given Monokuma's Savior Perk motive.
First, the killer needed a way to kill Silver. It's only a guess, but I think while they were doing laundry, they noticed the warning on the Mono Pods packaging, about how ingestion kills someone in just one minute. Silver's fate was probably sealed the day the killer took the Mono Pod that would eventually kill him: the killer was determined after that!
Their next move was to poison one of the drinks Mauve had made for Cotton's return party. They decided on the Long Island iced tea! The killer got an opportunity to be alone with the bottle of Long Island iced tea, and they took advantage, putting the entire Mono Pod into the bottle, resulting in it smelling strangely. This later proved to be an asset to them: since no one wanted to drink any of it after that.
At last, it was the day we all had been waiting for: the day of the party. The killer was assigned the task of picking songs for the party. They knew it'd be weird if someone caught them leaving the dining room to go somewhere else, so they put a loud and long song to play during the time they planned on killing Silver.
Luckily for them, they also had their special Ultimate talent and Sage and Sunrise's argument later that night to aid them in entering the announcement room secretly, after telling Silver to go get the prize for those who won the trivia game. My guess is they probably snuck out right before Sage and Sunrise's argument, and then came back during it.
They murdered Silver, somehow getting him to drink a glass of the Long Island iced tea. Then, they quickly made their way out, probably just seconds before Royal entered the announcement room, where she found Silver: dead on the floor.
Little did we all know, but the same person who volunteered to investigate Silver's corpse was the reason he was dead in the first place.
They probably volunteered just to make themselves less suspicious…
Isn't that right Noir, the Ultimate Spy?"
BREAK!
Silence.
Absolute silence.
We were all stunned at what just happened.
Hell, even I was and I was the one who went full on Phoenix Wright on Noir!
Then, a great sigh filled the room, and Noir looked at me with a disappointed smile.
Not mad or full or resentment, just upset she lost.
"Well, it'd be pretty hard to refute all that when you piece everything together." She said. "You're right. I was the one who killed Silver."
"But why?!" I asked. "Why would you do something like that?!"
"Wow, wow, wow!" Monokuma exclaimed, jumping up from his throne. "Let's save it for the end of the trial, people!"
"So you all have finished your debating, huh? Geez, that took a lot longer than I thought it would, but it kinda makes sense when you've got the Ultimate Actor as the main character! Anyways, considering the trial is over, it's officially time for my favorite event: voting time! Use the button in front of you to vote for who you think killed the unfortunate victim!
Who will be chosen as the blackened?! Will you make the right choice or the dreadfully wrong one? What's it gonna be? What's it gonna beeee?"
Sure enough, there was a button and a screen on the top of our trial stands that I hadn't noticed before.
My heart was beating at the speed of light.
My hand was shaking like a leaf.
But I had to do this. Otherwise, we'd all die…
I pressed on Noir's portrait, and then pressed the button
..
…
…
About a minute later, a screen popped up behind Monokuma.
It was themed to be like the fighter selection screen for a video game. All of our smiling faces were displayed, and a cursor quickly scrolled over all of them, before getting slower and slower…
And eventually landing on Noir.
The word "GUILTY!" appeared on the screen, with confetti flying everywhere.
Then it turned off.
"Upupupu, that's right!" Monokuma exclaimed enthusiastically. "Silver's, the Ultimate TV Host, killer is none other than the Ultimate Spy, Noir!"
We all stared in disbelief at Noir, who shockingly looked unphased.
"I knew you were going to find out, Crimson." She admitted. Her tone was serious and mature, far different from the cheerful girl I met when I first entered the computer lab on Day 1.
"Noir…" Cherry looked heart broken, as her eyes watered.
"How could you do this?" Frost frowned.
"I didn't plan on things turning out like this." Noir sighed. "I certainly didn't mean to get myself killed…" She added with an empty laugh.
"Then why?" I questioned. "Why'd you kill Silver?"
"It...was a poor choice of judgement." Noir admitted. "I thought he was the one who put us here."
"But why?" Emerald inquired. "I didn't find him all that suspicious. Definitely not suspicious enough to kill him."
"You all didn't see what I did." Noir frowned. "Trust me, it made all the difference in my decision."
"What do you mean?" I asked. "What'd you see?"
Noir sighed, before shaking her head. "I can't s-"
"Go ahead!" Monokuma suddenly said. "It doesn't matter now, anyways! The plan is finally complete!"
Noir's eyes widened. "What? What are you talking about?"
"Upupu…" Monokuma cackled. "You can share what you found is what I mean! Nothing will happen, I promise!" He added, putting his paw on his 'heart'.
"Ok…" Noir said suspiciously. She then pulled a paper out of her pocket and unfolded it. "Here, Crimson, I think you should see this first. I found it in Silver's pocket a few days ago.
I cautiously took the paper. Something told me that whatever is on here is huge…
Just by looking at the title…
I was right.
Participant Codenames
Listed below are the codenames for the 19 participants of the -scratched-.
Please refer to -scratched- for further explanation on -scratched-.
White Group
Leonia Taylor - Diamond
Takumi Kyoshi - Cotton
Black Group
Sonoda Eisen - Onyx
Isami Kanagi - Lava
Ritsu Kuroyama - Noir
Green Group
Norikazu Kanno - Sage
Francesca Croft - Emerald
Orange Group
Takahashi Jirou - Sunrise
Evelyn Bryant - Merigold
Purple Group
Jack Masaki - Mauve (scratched)
Pink Group
Satoko Kiyomizu - Rose (scratched)
Blue Group (scratched)
Akumu Tsubasa - Azure (scratched)
Hiiro Sayoama - Frost
Nadia Levitsky - Indigo
Mari Tamatsuki - Royal
Red Group (scratched)
Seizo Morine - Crimson (scratched)
Koko Kagawa - Cherry
Clara Odette - Scarlet
Special Group (scratched)
Shiro - Cloud (scratched)
Kuro - Shadow (scratched)
I almost dropped the list in shock. These were all of our real names!
Why did Silver have this?!
And why did Monokuma let Noir and I read this without punishing us with Despiscocide?
"Upupu...you can share the information, y'know, Crimson." Monokuma claimed. "Nothing will happen to you now; there's no need!"
"What's wrong, Crimson?" Akumu (Azure) inquired. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Yeah, it's definitely not a good look on you, hon." Mari (Royal) sneered.
"Tch, let me read the fucking paper." Takahashi (Sunrise) demanded, snatching it from my hands. I didn't resist.
As soon as he read it, his face bore the same expression as mine. "What the fuck is this…" Takahashi (Sunrise) asked no one in particular.
"Lemme see!" Takumi (Cotton) exclaimed, taking the paper from Takahashi (Sunrise).
Yeah, you guessed it. Takumi's (Cotton) purple eyes widened.
Pretty soon, everyone started to snatch the paper and pass it around.
After all of us had read it, the noise in the room was silent.
Until she broke it.
"Now do you see why I was suspicious of Silver?" Ritsu (Noir) sighed. "I couldn't understand why he'd have something like that if he wasn't the mastermind behind all of this. But, he's dead, and all of us are still stuck here…"
"But still," Sonoda (Onyx) frowned. "We were all going to die if your little theory was wrong! And seeing that it was, and you denied Crimson's accusations, you would've killed all of us!"
"I didn't know that you'd all be punished if I got away with it until tonight." Ritsu (Noir) insisted. "And once I learned about it, I naturally did everything I could to protect myself. We're all just strangers to each other, y'know. It was me or you guys, and I sure as hell wasn't going down without a fight.
So, this is Ritsu's (Noir) true personality. Not a cheerful, chirpy, excitable girl, but a brutally honest, cold, spy…
"So you killed Silver because you found that paper." I concluded. "Tell me, why did you steal his e-Handbook and keys?"
Ritsu (Noir) chuckled. "I was wondering when you were going to bring that up." She said. "I actually took them when I was investigating his body. I intended on looking around his room some more for anything else like this paper, but I never got around to it during the investigation."
"And you never will!" Monokuma laughed. "Give them here, pretty please!" He exclaimed, holding out his paw.
Ritsu (Noir) sighed, but took Silver's e-Handbook and keys out of her pocket and handed them to Monokuma.
"Wait a minute…" Satoko (Rose) frowned. "Monokuma, why'd you let us read this paper if you're not going to let us look around Silver's room?"
Monokuma cackled once again. "Because! I have no use for your codenames anymore! Say your real names all you want now, because your ankle bracelets won't go off at the sound of them! I have a different game planned with them now…"
Huh? We can actually say our real names?!
"But why?!" Takumi (Cotton) frowned. "You almost killed me before I got a chance to say the last 'i' in my name!"
"Because, that was then and this is now." Monokuma shrugged. "Deal with it, kiddo."
"So that's really it?" Hiiro (Frost) questioned in surprise. "We can really call each other by real names?"
"It's definitely refreshing!" Koko (Cherry) beamed. "Nice to meet you everyone, I'm Koko Kagawa!"
"Yes, we saw your name on the paper already." Norikazu (Sage) sighed.
"Tch, too bad Shiro's not here to see all this." Kuro (Shadow) smirked.
"Don't be so cruel." Jack (Mauve) scolded.
"Nice to meet you, everyone." Nadia (Indigo) blushed. "W-well, for the second time, I suppose…"
"I know I'm probably not everyone's favorite person right now, but I really hope I can redeem myself." Clara (Scarlet) vowed, a blush on her face.
"Well, it's certainly refreshing to use my real name again!" Francesca (Emerald) smiled. "Although it's going to be a little difficult to memorize everyones real names…"
"It shouldn't be that hard…" Isami (Lava) protested. "Just write them down on your hand three times…"
"Hola!" Evelyn (Merigold) beamed. "Soy Evelyn!"
"Um, the name's Seizo." I awkwardly smiled. It felt so weird saying my real name without being scared shitless of being injected with Despiscocide.
"Hm, now that we all know each other's real names, does anyone remember each other?" Leonia (Diamond) inquired.
(Hey, it's me! The ever mysterious narrator! From here on out, our dear characters will be referred to by their real names! I know it's going to be hard to suddenly forget their code names and call them by their real names, but please refer to Silver's note to try and memorize everyone! The note will show up again just in case you forget and are too lazy to go back the original posting, though. Happy memorizing!
Most of you guys voted for this so don't kill me.)
"Nope, no one's name rings any bells." Takumi sighed.
"How strange." Leonia commented. "I too can't remember anyone here…"
"What about you, Mari?" I inquired. "Now that we can tell each other our real names, you can tell me what movie we starred in."
Mari's face then turned bright red. "W-well, you see, that was-"
"A lie?" Takahashi finished for her.
Mari reluctantly nodded.
"Figures…" I muttered.
"Anyways, enough with the chit chat!" Monokuma said. "It's time for Noir, or rather Ritsu's very special punishment."
Ritsu nodded in response. "Hm, I suppose it is now time for that, isn't it?"
"What do you mean by punishment, exactly?" Kuro questioned.
Monokuma mischievously giggled. "You're just going to have to see to find out!"
"Ritsu…" I frowned. "I'm sorry it turned out like this."
"Don't be." Ritsu demanded. "It's not your fault I killed Silver. And it's not your fault that I committed such a sloppy crime…"
"Tch, can't believe the actor was actually right." Takahashi admitted.
"It's definitely an accomplishment, Crim-, um, Seizo." Hiiro corrected.
"We couldn't have done it without you." Akumu admitted, patting me on the back.
"It's not something to feel super proud of given our circumstances," Jack said. "But, we all would've died if you hadn't helped us."
"T-thank you…" Nadia said quietly.
I couldn't bear to say "you're welcome" or anything like that...I just saved us all from being punished so only Ritsu would be punished…
Why couldn't we have all just lived in peace?
Fuck!
I mean Ritsu didn't even kill for Monokuma's motive!
"Hey, Ritsu," I called. "I wanna know some things."
"Hm?" She asked, turning towards me.
"Well for starters...how'd you even get Silver to drink the Long Island iced tea in the first place? I mean, no one wanted to because of its smell, but Silver was willing?" I questioned. It's been the question that's baffled me the entire case: why did Silver drink the poisoned drink? I mean, Sunrise is the only one who could force the 6'6" giant to do so, because of his position as leader.
But if anyone else tried to make Silver drink it, he could've just pushed them away and gone back into the dining room to tell us about how someone tried to kill him.
But he didn't...
"It was actually pretty easy." Ritsu shrugged. "I didn't even have to say please..."
She then recounted exactly how the murder went down...
With Silver gone, Ritsu quickly sprang into action. She walked to the bar table, while everyone was distracted by the song and by each other's conversations, and grabbed the bottle of Long Island iced tea. She then grabbed an empty glass, poured just the right amount of Long Island iced tea, and took that with her to the announcement room.
A few seconds after she entered is when Sage and Sunrise's argument started.
Ritsu approached Silver, who was currently looking for the prize for the trivia contest winners...which was all of us.
She handed him the drink with a smile, thanking him for hosting the trivia contest.
"Thank you, Silver, that was really fun!" Ritsu beamed. "I made you a drink, courtesy of all of us as a thanks to you!"
"You're very welcome, Ms. Noir." Silver smiled. "It was a pleasure getting to demonstrate my hosting abilities to you all."
He then lifted the drink to his lips, drunk the entire thing in one go...
And once again smiled back at Ritsu.
Ritsu didn't even bother to stay and watch his murder. She waved goodbye to him, and made her way out of the announcement room.
By the time she left, it was probably exactly one minute after Silver initially drank the Long Island iced tea...
He dropped the glass in shock as the pain started to set in, and collapsed to the floor, writhing in agony for a while...
Until he was dead.
"How gruesome a tale..." Leonia remarked, clutching her chest.
Ritsu sighed. "Looking back, I regret killing him...but a part of me thinks that he was hiding something from all of us. Something bad..."
"It's definitely possible." Jack nodded. "After all, notice how Silver's note said 19 instead of 20? And how his real name isn't listed?"
I bit my lip. That's right...Silver wasn't a part of the list...
With him being dead, we'd never get a chance to ask him all of our burning questions...
"I have another question." I announced.
"Do tell." Ritsu encouraged. "These questions are keeping my mind off the fact I'm about to die." She added with a chuckle.
"If you would've gotten away with it," I started. "Who would you have taken with you? Because of the Savior Perk, I mean. I know that wasn't the reason you killed Silver, but it would've been an added perk had you gotten away with it."
Ritsu slowly smiled. "Isn't it obvious? Koko, of course."
Koko's eyes were watery. "R-really?"
"Yes." Ritsu answered. "I don't do friends, but I liked you, Koko."
Koko slowly smiled. "Thank you, Ritsu...Some of my happiest moments were spent with you. I won't forget it."
"That's enough sappiness for today!" Monokuma said in disgust. "It's time for the blackened, Ritsu Kuroyama, to receive her punishment!"
"Goodbye, everyone." Ritsu waved. "Figure out the truth for me, will you? Of why we were taken here. Consider it my dying wish." She winked.
"I've prepared a very special punishment, for Ritsu Kuroyama, the Ultimate Spy!" Monokuma continued.
"Ritsu…" Koko sniffed, tears finally falling from her eyes.
"You were a smart girl." Leonia admitted. "No one can deny that. You just made a risky decision that didn't work out."
"Again, Ritsu, I'm really sorry it had to turn out this way." I sighed. "I just wished you would've told us about Silver's note instead of acting on an impulse..."
"Don't feel sorry for me, or yourself." Ritsu frowned. "It won't do anyone any good."
"Let's give it everything we've got! It's...PUNISHMENT TIIIME!"
Monokuma pulled out a little gavel, and suddenly hit a red button in front of him.
There was a little screen on it that displayed:
GAME OVER!
RITSU KUROYAMA HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY.
TIME FOR THE PUNISHMENT!
There was also a little graphic of a pixelated Ritsu being dragged away by Monokuma…
Turning towards the real Ritsu, I got one last look of her before she was dragged away by a chain coming out of nowhere, dragging her out of the courtroom.
International Espionage
The same screen that displayed the voting now displayed Ritsu.
She was in a helicopter, dressed in a black cat burglar costume and hanging onto the door frame of the helicopter, trying not to fall down.
Suddenly, a Monokuma dressed like a pilot pushed her out of the open helicopter door, and she slowly tumbled to the ground, which wasn't as far below as it seemed. She seemed a little hurt, but not dramatically so.
She now appeared to be in some sort of ornate museum, which made no sense since she had just fallen from a helicopter…
The room she was now in was practically dark, except for a lit up display of a button, with the words "END EXECUTION" on it.
Ritsu's face lit up, and she started to walk towards it, before tripping over a switch and activating a laser beam maze.
She looked confidently at it, and slowly but surely worked her way through it, never once stumbling or falling.
She finally reached the display, but just as she was about to press the button, something shot at her.
A Monokuma wearing a police uniform had appeared in front of her, and was shooting at her.
Then, a horde of them appeared, all relentlessly shooting her.
Red blood appeared on Ritsu's body, and you can tell she was in pain.
Bullets after bullets penetrated her body, but she stood her ground, not once falling down.
The bullets suddenly stopped, as it appeared the Monokuma police officers had run out of bullets.
With a weak smile on her face, Ritsu once again raised her arm to hit the button, with all of the Monokuma police officers shaking their heads in fear, as if to say "no".
She did so anyway.
But unexpectedly, the button sprang up, hitting her in the face and pushing her back…
Into the laser beams.
The red hot beams of light cut Ritsu's body up into dozens of little pieces…
Ending her execution, just like the button said it would.
I almost threw up in disgust. "What...the fuck was that?!"
"You're a fucking sicko!" Takahashi yelled at Monokuma.
Nadia was crying, being comforted by Satoko, who herself was teary eyed.
"This can't be happening…" Clara exclaimed, her face pale and slightly green.
"I want to go home!" Shiro screamed, who appeared to now be in control. Tch, knowing Kuro, he probably did it on purpose so Shiro would have to watch Ritsu's punishment.
"That wasn't a punishment." Jack frowned. "That was an execution."
"Yup, yup, you're exactly right, Mr. Masaki!" Monokuma nodded. "That's what happens when someone disturbs the peace!"
"Then why would anyone ever try to kill somebody?!" Evelyn frowned. "If they know that that will happen to them?"
"Upupu, trust me, it'll happen again." Monokuma claimed. "It always does. People go stir crazy, or just straight up crazy! And then they kill, doing everything in their power to try and get away with it!"
"This is a terrible situation we're in…" Akumu admitted. "Please, guys, let's not ever go through this again! Ritsu killed Silver because she was suspicious of him, instead of just coming to us for help..."
"This is so not a reality show…" Mari murmured, shaking her head in disgust.
"An unfortunate outcome…" Isami commented. "I expected better from the Ultimate Spy."
Noir...Ritsu, I mean.
She was really dead…
Just like Silver.
Damn it!
Just yesterday there were 20 of us.
And now there's only 18.
Silver was hiding something, and Ritsu was a killer, but still!
They were my friends…
And now they're gone.
"You all will get used to it, don't worry!" Monokuma 'comfortingly' told us.
"Fuck you." Takahashi glared. "You can rot in hell you demented asshole."
"Ahahahaha, I bet I will, someday, when someone finally manages to end me once and for all!" Monokuma laughed. "But that day is not anytime soon! So, I think I'll go eat some fish in honor of Silver, and maybe something black for our dear Ritsu. Bye, bye now!"
And he was gone.
Everything was silent, and for once, I didn't care.
I didn't really feel like talking to anyone right now.
I made my way over to the elevator and pushed the button.
It opened, and I stepped in, with everyone slowly following me.
On the ride, it was clear that one of us was missing.
Ritsu may have been small, but her absence was prevalent given the space we now had.
The elevator opened up, and we were left in the room we had woken up in.
"How are we supposed to get out?" Norikazu frowned.
"This door is locked..." Isami sighed, turning the knob of the door opposite the elevator.
"Oopsie!" Monokuma's voice sounded from a speaker. "My apologies, everyone, I almost forgot! Anyways, don't worry, I'll have you all back on the main floor in just a few seconds…"
Just like what happened before the trial, my eyes grew heavier and heavier until I couldn't open them anymore…
And I collapsed, along with everyone else.
I woke up in my room.
Thankfully.
I didn't really want to see or talk to anyone right now.
My heart felt empty, and my stomach hurt like a bitch.
I had just sentenced one of my classmates to death, and now I got to carry on with my life like nothing ever happened.
But I'd never forget Ritsu…
She may have been a killer, but she was just following her theory.
She thought Silver was the one who put us in here, and for a good reason, too.
Why did Silver have that note?
Tch, I wonder how Ritsu even got Silver to drink the poisoned Long Island iced tea...
And what the hell did that note even mean?!
And why the fuck is Monokuma cool with us using our real names now?!
Just as I was going to get ready to fall asleep, I heard a knock on my door.
Who could that be?
I cautiously approached it, turning the knob and slowly opening the door to reveal...
Akumu, Satoko, Takahashi, and Mari...?
"This is definitely a surprise." I commented. "And the weirdest combination of people."
"Well, as the leaders of the team building activities..." Satoko started.
"And the leaders of looking for an escape." Mari finished.
"We wanted to make sure everyone was OK." Akumu explained. "Well, maybe not OK, but-"
"Isn't going to kill themselves or something." Takahashi said.
I sighed. "Well, you can forget about me. I'm not going to hurt this pretty face anytime soon..."
"Are you sure?" Mari inquired, crossing her arms. "You seem awfully depressed about all of this."
"Royal!" Satoko scolded. "Um, I mean, Mari!"
"Just know I'm here for you, if you need anything, Seizo." Akumu smiled. "I like your name, by the way! It fits you more than Crimson."
"We're here for you..." Takahashi corrected. "You saved our asses out there, I respect that."
"Even if you accused me of being the killer once or twice..." Mari muttered.
"Anyways, good night, Crimson." Satoko smiled. "Um, I mean, Seizo..."
"Try not to beat yourself up about anything." Akumu sadly frowned. "You did what you had to..."
"Good night, man..." Takahashi said.
"Sweet dreams, Seizo." Mari huffed. "When you wake up, don't be so mopey, kay?"
And with that, the quartet took their leave to go to another room.
I sighed. It wasn't going to be as easy as they said it was to forget about tonight...
Silver...
Ritsu...
I felt like punching a hole in the wall, but I instead just collapsed onto my bed.
I didn't even bother getting changed, despite the fact my clothes probably reeked of blood, sweat, and alcohol.
I just wanted to close my eyes…
Have a nice, sweet dream…
And hopefully never wake up.
In a rainy forest, a large, imposing building stands...
Two figures stand outside.
"Out on round one..." A hooded figure sighed. "What a disappointment."
"At least they are none than wiser." An additional hooded figure commented. "They still believe everything they've been told is true."
"And we've successfully gotten rid of the codenames with no repercussions." The 1st figure added with a nod.
"With our next little game, this is definitely going to get interesting." The 2nd figure chuckled.
"I wonder who will be out next..." The 1st figure commented. "One of our comrades, or one of them."
"I'm not surprised Ritsu was the first one to go." The 2nd figure admitted. "Too wary for her own good, even with what we did."
The 1st figure nodded. "I knew that nature of hers was going to get her killed someday."
The 2nd figure laughed. "...Alright, Heizo, it's about time I head back inside."
"Take care of yourself." The 1st figure said, patting the 2nd figure on the back. "And don't get caught."
"Of course." The 2nd figure smirked. "My vessel will take care of that part."
The 2nd figure headed inside, with the 1st figure being left out in the rain.
"I hope this wasn't for nothing...Makoto is counting on me, I can't let him down..."
Chapter 1 - The Fool and Her Groom (END)
Surviving Students
1. Seizo Morine (Crimson) - Ultimate Actor
2. Akumu Tsubasa (Azure) - Ultimate Cryptid Enthusiast
3. Clara Odette (Scarlet) - Ultimate Modern Dancer
4. Satoko Kiyomizu (Rose) - Ultimate Prodigy
5. Mari Tamatsuki (Royal) - Ultimate Runway Model
6. Koko Kagawa (Cherry) - Ultimate Food Critic
7. Hiiro Sayoama (Frost) - Ultimate Barista
8. Sonoda Eisen (Onyx) - Ultimate Salesman
9. Isami Kanagi (Lava) - Ultimate Tinkerer
10. Evelyn Bryant (Merigold) - Ultimate Translator
11. Ritsu Kuroyama (Noir) - Ultimate Spy (1K)
12. Shiro (Cloud) / Kuro (Shadow) - Ultimate Oculist
13. Leonia Taylor (Diamond) - Ultimate Photoshoot Choreographer
14. Silver - Ultimate TV Host (1V)
15. Takahashi Jirou (Sunrise) - Ultimate Pilot
16. Nadia Levitsky (Indigo) - Ultimate Daredevil
17. Francesca Croft (Emerald) - Ultimate Archaeologist
18. Jack Masaki (Mauve) - Ultimate Dealer
19. Norikazu Kanno (Sage) - Ultimate Illustrator
20. Takumi Kyoshi (Cotton) - Ultimate Escapist
Normal = Alive
Italicized = In Danger
Bold = Deceased (V = Victim, K = Killer, P = Punished)
A/N: Well damn, I didn't plan on writing this long of a chapter, but I just kept typing and typing!
Well, there you have it! Our dear Ultimate Spy, Noir, or Ritsu, is the killer!
Some of you had already theorized Scarlet wasn't to blame and it was Noir all along so kudos to you all!
It broke my heart killing off both Silver and Ritsu, but it's Danganronpa, and we unfortunately have to say goodbye to two characters per chapter :(
Thank you so much to both Silver and Ritsu's creators for submitting two wonderful characters, with interesting talents and intriguing personalities.
They were so much fun to write, and I really do hate saying bye to them so soon.
But don't fear! I still have special chapters (one of which will be coming soon) and other instances where they will appear!
Thank you guys so much for sticking with me throughout this chapter! I hope you'll stick around for the next one, which in my opinion, will be even better!
See you guys in Chapter 2!