Bonus Chapter: Taking & Trading Lives

Remaining Citizens: 13?!

Ai Mizuno (Zombie Land Saga): Ultimate (Zombie) Idol

Ryuji Sakamoto (Persona 5): Ultimate Track Star

Emma (The Promised Neverland): Ultimate Moral Compass

Gold (Pokémon Adventures/Pokémon Special): Ultimate Hatcher

Miles Morales (Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse): Ultimate Successor

Yu Ishigami (Kaguya-sama: Love Is War): Ultimate Pessimist

Killua Zoldyck (Hunter X Hunter): Ultimate Assassin

Misato Tachibana (Nichijou): The Ultimate Arsenal

Marty McFly (Back to The Future): The Ultimate Time-Traveler

Shantae (Shantae): The Ultimate Half-Genie

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Ai's POV

Kiibo City, Evening

Insert Song: Under the Blue Sky (Dragon Ball Super)

"So… you were fighting this girl to the death… over a button with a frog on it?" I asked while confused.

Everyone was gathered for dinner (something we've made a habit of, despite the killing game being over) and Killua had brought up that he had a weird dream recently and it certainly sounded strange.

"That button was probably important to her for some reason, but was it important enough for me to get blown into chunks with a coin? It also looked pretty damn childish too, she's got weird tastes." Killua shook his head as he shrugged.

Miles then spoke up as he swallowed his food, "You know, I think I had a similar dream where I was also fighting another dude with electric powers. That was crazy…"

Before I could say something about that, Ryuji had a question for Killua, "Wait wait wait, you exploded because of a coin?"

"A coin that was charged up with electricity and launched like it was fired by a railgun, context is important. I was also trapped by her iron sand duplicate as well." Killua explained.

"Whoa…" Emma's mouth was wide after hearing that.

Ryuji raised both his eyebrows before eating more gyudon, "Ok, that makes a lot more sense. Still, didn't think you would be taken down like that, kid, aren't you an assassin?"

"She had stronger lightning and she caught me off guard. If I could fight that girl for real, then I'd probably find a way to—"

"A way to what? Get blown to pieces again? Ahahahaha!"

"(sighs) You're such a noisy pain in the neck…"

Some voices we haven't heard in more than a month just interrupted him, and the people that they belonged to stepped through the Hope-tel's entrance.

Alice Nakiri, as well as Sucy Manbavaran. The casualties of the 3rd trial.

"Well welcome back to the land of the living, I guess?" Ishigami nonchalantly greeted them while only briefly glancing away from his laptop.

Sucy briefly acknowledged her former antisocial "friend" with a quick upward nod and a grunt, which he reciprocated a second later.

"It's nice to see Mr. Killjoy hasn't changed a bit since I last saw him. Hmph!" Alice pouted.

Emma stood up next, "You'd be surprised to hear that he actually has in some ways. Regardless, it's good to see you two back!"

I then approached the two of them, "Indeed, how are you adjusting? You two did just wake up after being dead after all."

Alice answered first, "I'm still feeling some numbness, I've never had a beauty sleep that long before! Soooooo…"

She then gave me a quick pat on the back without warning me.

"You really did defeat the mastermind and ended the killing game, huh? You did good on living up to my expectations, congrats Mizuno-chan!"

"To be honest I had no expectations when it came to that, so kudos I guess." Sucy complimented me in her own way.

"Um, thank you?" I uttered as Alice continued to pat my back annoyingly.

"You're welcome! Oh, my apologies, I just remembered that Trunks wanted to see you."

"WHAT?!"

I exclaimed in surprise as my eyeballs popped out of my head, either due to my shock at Trunks being alive or more likely a result of Alice hitting me one too many times.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKK!" Alice screamed in fear.

Oh right, she doesn't know I'm a zombie. That's… definitely something to explain later, shouldn't have forgotten that. Whoops. I put my eyes back in their correct sockets as Shantae came over to calm her down.

Sucy, however, was more intrigued than frightened oddly enough.

"Cool. I thought that there was something weird about you, ever since you used waterproof shoe spray during the beach party. You're an undead corpse under all that makeup, huh?"

Shoot! I didn't think she had suspicions about me around the time Aoba did!

"L-L-LIke a z-z-zombie?! Nonononono! That's way too unscientific, there has to be another explanation!" Alice was struggling to comprehend it.

"Uh… but aren't there movies where zombies end up getting accidentally created in a lab?" Ryuji questioned her logic.

Gold nodded his head in agreement, "Yeah, they end up creating the virus and causing the apocalypse—"

Alice put a stop to this tangent, "Shut up you dolts! Ahem, getting back on topic, he got out of his pod a minute after we got out of ours."

"He said to meet him by that big Monokuma statue, wants to have a talk after his execution messed you up or something? I wasn't paying too much attention." Sucy explained further.

That's a bit of an understatement.

Trunks was a strong and dependable friend to us all, someone else that could be considered a leader within our group. I respected him so much, even when he was getting frustrated when the third murder occurred. He put his faith and trust into me to find a way to put the killing game to an end, right before he flew off to his demise.

So after his execution was over, I cried my eyes out in that trial room. Kneeling by his side as he bled out before handing me his sword… I didn't want to see him go like that, even though I know now it was for a plan he and Killua had to end the killing game. Out of all the deaths I witnessed during that, it was one of the few that stuck with me the most. It even made me too emotionally vulnerable to argue against Aoba when he revealed I was a zombie, it was that bad.

"Wait, Ai! I'll come with you!" I heard Killua yell as I was running quickly out the door.

So getting the chance to see him alive again… It's been something I've looked forward to for weeks.

Third-Person POV

"Gee, she was in a big hurry to see him again. Hee hee hee, does she have some kind of crush on him or anything?" Alice giggled.

Ishigami audibly gagged, "Ech, you do realize how wrong that sounds with the age difference, right?"

"I mean she's technically 30, rememb—ow!"

Gold got hit in the back of the head by Misato's pistol.

"Glad ya didn't fire it at me, but still, come on!" He complained.

"Well on that note, I'm going to take a long shower…"

Emma stopped Alice before she could go to her Hope-tel room.

"Hold on just a minute, Alice, don't try to avoid this."

"Ehhh? What are you talking about? I just want to feel clean again after spending who knows how long inside that test tube." Alice said with a smile.

"For someone so smart, you're very bad at playing dumb." Sucy told her.

Gold, starting to read the room, begins to push some people out.

"Uh… c'mon guys! Let's go catch up with Ai and Killua, take Trunks out to watch a movie ha ha…"

"Yeah, that sounds… fun! Out we go…" Shantae softly chuckled as she followed everyone else.

It was just Emma, Ishigami, Sucy, and Alice left in the lobby.

Insert Song: Song of Hope, Glass Star Version (Shokugeki no Soma/Food Wars)

"You already know what we're gonna discuss. And it's only going to be a few minutes, so don't worry about us taking too much of your time." Emma explained to the Ultimate Gastronomist.

Alice's smile faded as she took a seat and crossed her legs.

"We already did this talk with Marty and Shantae, but they already knew it was a big setup by Aoba so they made up quickly. You were led on by him too, so I'm wondering if you feel any lingering regret for killing Sucy."

Emma waited for Alice's answer while Sucy said her piece.

"To be fair to her, I chose to follow her note even when I knew it was a trap. The whole killing game thing was starting to bug me a lot, and I lost hope in living to escape this dump of a city. Still, hitting me on the head to knock me out and stabbing me with a bunch of spears was uncalled for, you could have at least made it painless."

"Look, I am truly sorry for what I did to you, as well as trying to hide the truth from everyone else. I played the killing game, and I lost." Alice stated before sighing.

Ishigami then gave his opinion, "Considering what we found out about this game, you would have lost even if you did win. The only winning move is not to play, which I chose to do the most of the time."

"Isn't that just laziness?" Sucy asked him.

He didn't respond to that question and just went back to his laptop.

"Looking back, I still think that being stuck inside that school for too long without food or sleep would have made me go crazy… although I admit it did manage to get to me quite a bit, to the point where I had to do something. Additionally, Aoba's assistance did have me convinced that I could pull off a successful crime, but I didn't count on anyone being able to outsmart someone like me." Alice shrugged as she continued the discussion.

"To think, had me and Killua been a bit faster in finding that button, we wouldn't have had to deal with being stuck there any longer and prevented this whole thing. In a way it was kind of my fault too." Emma shook her head and sulked in her chair.

"Aw, don't you be so glum, kiddo! It was my decision to kill the witch girl, sorry again by the way." Alice apologized with a smile reappearing on her face.

"After thinking about it more, all of us were victims. You can't expect being kidnapped and forced to play a death game wouldn't have done damage to your thinking. Normal people can get pushed into killing or wanting to die, something that happened to us. Doesn't mean I completely forgive you and I doubt I ever will, but I do get why you did it and the game didn't give you a chance to back out."

Sucy's response made Alice stop and think for a bit before she replied back.

"You're right, and no worries about the no forgiveness thing! I did murder you and I choked on a poisonous fish for doing it, learned my lesson and then some."

"You also threw a knife that almost hit Bernadetta and it hit Ryuji." Emma pointed out.

Ishigami chimed in, "Also also, you knocked me out and tried to pin the blame for the murder on me. So… you suck for that."

Alice held her hands in front of her in defense, "Okay, I get it! Sorry, sorry, sorry! I'll make it up to you guys by cooking you meals until we find a way to get back to our homes, alright? If anything, bug Aoba about this even more when he comes back."

"Believe me, we've ALL got a lot to say to him once he does. And we'll take that offer of your cooking, I did miss eating your food after the beach party, it was soooooooo yummy!" Emma gushed as she thought about the party dishes.

"You still suck for attempting to give me brain damage, yet that weird sciency food you make does sound promising…"

Alice got closer and clutched his shirt collar, "Say I suck or call my culinary works of art 'weird sciency food' again, and I'll give you two more bumps on your head."

"S-S-Sorry ma'am… Scary…" Ishigami shivered as he surrendered.

As a sweat drop rolled down her face, Emma noticed Sucy leaving the Hope-tel, "Where are you going, off to see Trunks too?"

"Nah, I want to see if there's any rare mushrooms around in this place. Now that this whole city's opened up, there's more areas to look at compared to what was around when I was still alive." Sucy answered her.

"Oooh, that sounds interesting, I'll come join you!" Emma gripped her fists in anticipation.

"Rare types of mushrooms? Ah, those could give me new ideas for new recipes, let me go too!" Alice said with glee.

"Sure sure. As long as you let me keep at least a few of whatever type we find so I could use them." Sucy told them nonchalantly.

Ishigami raised an eyebrow, "Use them for what exactly?"

Sucy answered only with a small, but clearly mischievous grin.

Ai's POV

Insert Song: CHALA HEAD CHA LA Peaceful Earth (Dragon Ball Z)

The wind was blowing through my hair as we stood atop the Statue of Zetsubou, the Monokuma Statue of Liberty parody. Killua hadn't caught up with me yet, so it was just me and Trunks looking over the entire city.

"Hey, long time no see." Was the first thing he said to me.

I wiped the tears of joy that were coming out of my eyes before I answered him.

"Right, I'm… happy to see you up and about again."

He grunted in agreement as we both turned to look at the great view.

"It feels nice to see the stars again, they may not be the ones I'm used to seeing, yet I'm grateful not to be looking at some artificial sky." He sighed in relief.

He's right, back during the killing game the barrier that was surrounding this place had screen displays of daytime and nighttime. It just added to the feeling of uneasiness we had while trapped inside, longing for the outside worlds we roamed before.

"Agreed, looking at a real night sky again makes me not want to take it for granted ever again."

We stood there in silence, watching the bright lights of Kiibo City from afar like it's trying to replicate the same blanket of stars above us. Soon that silence got broken by Trunks.

"I shouldn't have doubted that you were able to save everyone. I guess I didn't just lack belief, I lacked imagination as well, heh. You had a lot of willpower to get you through it, which I respect a lot."

"To be fair, it was hard for everyone to imagine some kind of way to escape. Well, unless two dummies decide to pull a stupid double sacrifice play." I kicked him in the leg after I said that.

"Ouch, that actually hurt. Either you've got some good leg strength, or I'm weaker after being in stasis for weeks." Trunks said as he rubbed his left calf.

"Sorry, I guess dance training can lead to some good leg strength." I briefly think about that stupid insult Aoba threw at me about my legs before getting back on topic.

"You did deserve that though, the fact that you threw your life away like that upset me a lot, you know? Despite me now knowing what the plan was, it still doesn't change the fact that it hurt. I felt awful when we lost you, every time I looked at your sword I thought about what I could have done to change your minds…"

And now the tears of sorry came crawling out of my eye sockets this time. I saw Trunks about to say something else to probably try to calm me down, but I just pulled him into a hug to silence him.

"Please, don't try to throw your life away again. I know it seems more beneficial to give up one life for the sake of a bunch of others, but consider what the people left behind would feel about it. If you find a way to make me cry again…. I won't forgive you."

I felt bad about making his jacket all damp from me using it as a big tissue, but I just needed to get it off my chest… and unfortunately onto his.

He patted my head as I began to calm down, "Ha, you really kept all this emotion under that serious demeanor…"

That line actually made me giggle, damn it.

"Shut up, dummy…" I told him after sniffling a few more times.

"I thought I told you she's sixteen, man. She's not interested!"

Killua was standing behind us and we broke the hug immediately.

"Glad to see you too, Killua." Trunks greeted him after rolling his eyes.

The young teen decided to mess with him more, "You too, murderer. Just kidding, happy to see you again, partner."

They shook hands and I smiled brightly at the reunion.

"Oh right, I brought you both here for another reason. I think we should schedule some demolition of some outdated landmarks…" Trunks grinned.

"I'm listening…" Killua smirked as soon as he heard that.

It was then that I took out a little gift for Trunks, all shined up and in its sheath.

"Can't destroy a statue without a tool to do it, swing it to your heart's content!"

He reclaimed the sword as we both nodded to one another.

"Thanks, Ai. Alright, there's no need for a warm-up here. It'll only take me a second."

SLASH!

Welcome back to Alice, Sucy, and Trunks! There's three more citizens left to go, and I'm sure you'll look forward to whenever that will be… plus it's technically the 50th thing I wrote for this story so woo! I really regretted not writing both Sucy and Alice to their fullest potential back when the killing game was still going on. Sucy especially suffered, since I didn't really put too much emphasis on her other character quirks. But hey, it was my first killing game, and I'll try not to make that mistake again… although I already made a few with the first murderer and victim of Epicenter in my opinion. Anyways, see you again once Fictional Guardians has ended! It's so close to completion…. I can't wait!