Chapter 1: On Road to Despair (Deadly Life #2)

Warning: This fic contains intense violence, lots of OFFENSIVE cursing (thanks Monoyena, you fucking asshole!), character death, gore and blood, sexual innuendos, and possible spoilers for the Danganronpa series. But hey, everyone lurking in this fandom has at least played the first Danganronpa so no need to worry much there! Right?

With that said, please enjoy!

Static.

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"It's a bird! It's a plane! It's…

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…MEEEEEEE!"

Stanczyk popped into frame, but this time he looked rather different. His cloak served more like a heroic cape. A piece of fabric with eye holes was tied around his eyes… like it did anything to hide his identity. And, oh yeah, he was buff.

"Faster than a speeding bullet!" Stanczyk declared. "Stronger than a hundred men! It's Super Stanczyk! Defender of Children everywhere! Keeper of the innocent! And now…"

Stanczyk held up a small Super Stanczyk action figurine.

"With 30+ custom voice lines, unique accessories, and bendable arms, your child can have one too!" Stanczyk giggled. "Super Stanczyk will defend your friendship to the end! No need to thank me, kiddos! It's all in a day's work! A best friend's duty is never done! Weeeeee!"

"Super Stanczyk. Accessories each sold separately. Disassembly of parts may be required. Batteries not included."

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Static.

[TRIAL COMMENCE]

"It's time to remind ya wankers on the rules of the Funhouse Trial," Monoyena began to explain as he sat on the red couch that was caught between Yumi and Aidan's podiums.

Stanczyk sat next to him with pumped fists, adamant on discovering the truth behind the case… even though he probably already knew what happened. Monoyena on the other hand had prepared a nice shrimp cocktail to go along with the festivities. He swirled it around, playing with the nice piece of shrimp sitting inside his alcoholic beverage. His jagged eye glowed as Stanczyk took over.

"Remember friends!" Stanczyk declared, his teeth-clenching mouth twisting into a frown. "Someone amongst you killed one of my best friends! As such, it's all up to you to figure out who's the traitorous blackened that would do such a horrible thing!"

Stanczyk sniffled slightly.

"Once you reach your conclusion, vote for them!" Stanczyk declared. "If you vote correctly, only the blackened will pay the price! But if you vote incorrectly…"

"...Then I get the liberty of smashing all of yer noggins, pickling yer scalps, and ripping apart yer fucking skulls!" Monoyena's red jagged eye glinted gleefully. Just voicing out what he did was enough to get him all riled up and lose himself momentarily. "Oh, and blackened goes free with the kids too, or whatever…"

He noticed the looks of discomfort from the playmates. They've been in his presence for what… 6-7 days now? And no matter how much shit he spouts, it was always never comfortable for anything to hear how much detail he loved going into maiming the shit out of these academy students.

"Now then," Stanczyk tilted his head, his grin slowly returning. "Any questions, best friends?"

"I do have one question," Kikuko politely raised her hand. "It's about Emmeline's podium."

Her glowing blue eye was directed toward the podium belonging to the deceased Emmeline Swan, inhabited by a standee of that picture frame of the girl who was alive earlier in the day.

"I imagine it to be in poor taste that you would have a defiled picture of her residing in where she would've been…" Kikuko didn't bother finishing that sentence. "My question is… why?"

"Oi, what kind of shit-brained question is that?" Monoyena gnashed his teeth together. "Really gotta start this off with some bullshit, eh?"

"Now, now, Monoyena!" Stanczyk turned to Monoyena with a bright smile on his face. "The lady asked a fair question! And fair questions deserve fair answers!"

"Fuck off, piss-stain," Monoyena flipped him off and sipped on his shrimp cocktail. "Having her picture there was yer idea."

"I– I thought that maybe she was lonely!" Stanczyk pouted. "I didn't want her to feel left out just because she was dead! So, I thought it'd be nice if I can make it so her spirit lives on through the Trial!"

"And the solution to that is to place a picture of her amidst us?" Roderick widened his eyes, incredulously. "Nay… That be all sorts of bad luck…"

"Bad luck or not, we still have a case to solve," Fábio spoke up, folding his arms.

He looked relatively serious and determined. And it was clear that others were sharing his resolve of wanting to figure out what happened to Emmeline Swan. More importantly, the others were definitely resolved at figuring just who exactly killed her. And finally… why?

"Oh my," Beauté smirked, clapping her hands excitedly. "It seems like we are getting ready to solve this elegant mystery, indeed!"

Beauté placed her hands over her face as her smirk widened into a crazed grin. From the looks of it, just the thought of being in an honest-to-goodness Killing Game Trial was enough to get herself all riled up.

"Come now, all, let's do this!" Beauté giggled.

"That's the spirit, little girl!" Stanczyk declared with a cheerful, supportive grin. "Best friends! Good luck! I know you can do it! So come on!"

Stanczyk's face distorted into something sinister. His red eye glowed and his grin began to look much creepier than it normally looked. He tilted his head as he leaned forward.

"Wh0 iS iT thAt kiLLeD EmmELiNe SwAN…?"

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"Well, the answer is obvious, isn't it?!" Aidan suddenly declared, folding his arms and glaring at the two stooges sitting on the red couch. Then, he pointed his finger toward the two, determinedly. "The killer who killed Emmeline... or should I say, killers, was none other than you two! Monoyena and Stanczyk!"

Silence.

Monoyena simply sipped his cocktail and sat back against the couch. He seemed relatively unbothered and well, pretty amused at Aidan's ignorant stupidity.

The track star on the other hand noticed just how quiet the room had gotten when he had said this. He looked around worried and confused.

"H-Hey, why is the room quiet?" Aidan asked.

Monoyena simply yawned.

"Y-You would think me to be the killer of one of my best friends?!" Stanczyk wailed, his eyes watering. "Little boy! H-How could you think so cruelly of me?! It's… It's… W-WAHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Y-You're so MEEEEEAAAAAN!"

"Aight, does anyone else wanna pitch in?" Monoyena leaned against the right arm rest of the couch.

"As someone who is quite familiar with the processes of Killing Games, I suppose I shall be the person to actually give a meaningful beginning to our first ever Trial," Beauté smirked, speaking up from her podium.

"H-Hey wait a minute, are you going to ignore what I just–" Aidan widened his eyes.

"The killer is someone amongst us," Beauté ignored Aidan, taking out her hand fan with ghoulishly devilry in her eyes. "I contest that if we wish to figure out who that killer is, we need to start with the basics of the case, first…"

"The basics of the case…?" Alina tilted her head.

"We start with the Stanczyk File…" Kazuki spoke, keeping one eye open. "...It has the evidence we need to at least get us started on what might have happened to Miss Swan."

"Right," Alisa nodded, wasting no time in opening up her eTicket. "According to the Stanczyk File, Emmeline died from a broken neck. It was also found that there seemed to be a really bad bruise on her back as well."

Alisa set her eTicket down onto her podium.

"Unfortunately, unlike most typical autopsy reports, the File lacks a Time of Death, presumably because it is an unanswered question that is to be solved in the Trial…" Alisa shook her head.

Cause of Death was a broken neck. Lack of Time of Death. And there was a bad bruising on her back as well. Although minimal, there were plenty of things they could work with here. And it of course all started with…

"At the very least, I think we can easily conclude what might've caused her neck to break," Fábio suggested.

"We can?" Yumi scratched her head.

Of course we can!

At the crime scene, there was only one thing that could have been used to break Emmeline's neck! An easy chance to connect two and two together!

"Yeah," Fábio nodded. "I'm willing to bet what caused her neck to break was…

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…the rope."

"Oh, that's right," Alina nodded in agreement.

But in the end, Fábio figured Riku was right. There was no point in trying to figure out what was not there and instead focus on what was there. And that was the last thing that needed to be examined: The rope.

It was found tied around Emmeline's neck.

So, did that mean…?

"When we found her body, there was a rope tied around her neck," Alina smiled after piecing the clues together. "If we connect that to the Cause of Death, then it's clear that the rope was the murder weapon!"

"I– I guess if you put it like that, it does seem like that's the case!" Daisuke nervously nodded.

It was clear that the young man was a nervous wreck. To add onto the list of things he never wanted to do in his life yet ended up doing anyway, participating in a Trial to solve the death of someone he had known was definitely shooting its way to the top.

"Hmph, I see," Aidan folded his arms. "If the killer isn't Monoyena or Stanczyk… Then, the killer had to have been someone who used the rope to kill Emmeline…"

"Well, yes, honey, that's what was said, after all," Yukihiko sighed, cradling Loofah.

"Heh, then I got it!" Aidan declared.

"G-Got what?" Yukihiko raised an eyebrow.

Clenching his fist, his eyes looked wild with determination. He straightened himself at his podium. Though a small part of him was getting cocky with what he was about to say, the rest of him was… well… disappointed about the conclusion he came to.

"Isn't it obvious?" Aidan folded his arms. "I know who killed Emmeline!"

"Oh dear," Beauté sighed, placing a hand over her cheek, embarrassed.

"Aye, ye do?!" Roderick spoke up, hopeful. "Who be the slimy git that did the deed! Come! Out with it, lad!"

Aidan slammed his hands on his podium and directed a finger toward the 'culprit'.

"It's…" he began. "You…!

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…Roderick Cutler!"

Roderick blinked. It took a bit, but he had to give himself a moment to ponder whether he had heard Aidan right or whether his ears were muffled by the sounds of sea waves lost in his head. By the time he realized they were not even close to the ocean on Trial Grounds… his face had turned blue.

"N-Nay?!" Roderick exclaimed, surprised. "Ye think it be me, boy?!"

"R-Roderick did it?!" Daisuke exclaimed, equally surprised. "B-But why would you do such a horrible thing?!"

"N-Nay, because it not be me!" Roderick argued. "I ain't never been to the theater till the body showed up! I be napping back at the Safe Zone! The lad be spitting out salt from the sea!"

"What does that even mean…?" Alina blinked.

"Oh… my…" Beauté shook her head, placing a hand over her face.

This was turning into a mess all too quickly.

"Yo, Brighton," Issac looked serious. "You might need to explain yourself here. Neither Isolde nor me are really convinced by this."

"You got it," Aidan gave him a thumbs up. "Then, allow me to give you my insight on how this crime took place!"

With a cocky grin, it was clear that the track star had thought that he managed to solve this case in a minute's pace. He kept his thumbs up as he began to explain his reasoning behind his seemingly obscene conclusions.

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"We all came to the conclusion that the rope was the murder weapon," Aidan began. "After all, the rope was found tied around Emmeline's neck!"

"That sounds right," Yumi nodded in agreement.

"However, we also need to point out that Emmeline died of a broken neck," Aidan explained. "So, here's what I'm thinking. Roderick came into the theater and took some random rope. When Emmeline's back was turned, he used it to strangle her to death!"

"Imbecile," Riku scoffed. "You just said it yourself. The brat died of a broken neck, not strangulation…"

"But that's exactly it!" Aidan smirked. "Roderick is a big and strong fellow. Who's to say he didn't know his own strength and accidentally broke her neck while strangling her?"

"N-Nay, that's why ye think I be the culprit?!" Roderick widened his eyes.

"Hey, sorry man, but that's the only thing that makes sense!" Aidan shrugged. "So, admit it right now! You killed Emmeline, didn't you?!"

"N-Nay, it be not me!" Roderick contended, clenching his own fists and looking at Aidan, displeased. "It be not!"

Aidan's argument was that it was Roderick's strength that broke Emmeline's neck with the rope. Brief and concise. But while that was plausible, there had to be a reason why that deduction just didn't make any sense. Or rather, there had to be a way to prove that deduction to be false… right?

"Oui, I must agree with Monsieur Cutler," Manon spoke up, shaking her head. "While your theory is fascinating, Monsieur Brighton… I do not zink it is true."

"W-What?!" Aidan widened his eyes. "Why?!"

Yes.

Why can't it be true? Was there something about the rope that would've made it impossible to strangle Emmeline? Or was it something else?

"Because zere is something wrong with ze supposed random rope zat you claimed Monsieur Cutler used to strangle Madame Swan," Manon pointed out, placing her hands over her chest. "Ze rope…

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…is connected to a pulley."

"H-Huh?" Aidan blinked. "A pulley?"

"It connects to a pulley."

"What?" Fábio blinked.

He was surprised to see Alisa and Manon walk over as soon as he asked that. He tugged on the rope a bit, but Alisa and Manon had gestured for him to stop and follow them to where they had been investigating. Nonetheless, both Fábio and Riku had followed them directly underneath a spot where they could see a pulley right in plain view.

"Oui," Manon nodded, closing her eyes as she spoke from her heart. "Ze rope is connected to a pulley zat is connected to ze monster animatronic. If Monsieur Cutler really used ze rope to strangle Madame Swan, it would have caused problems for ze pulley system, non?"

"W-Wait, but how is that relevant?!" Aidan blinked.

"I see," Alisa rubbed her chin. "Aidan. Your main argument was that Roderick used his strength to break Emmeline's neck. But if he had used all of his strength on the rope to kill Emmeline…"

"Surely, ze pulley system which ze rope was connected to would've had some problems, oui?" Manon smiled, feeling quite smart. "After all, ze tugging and pulling strangling Madame Swan would've done… It would've messed with ze pulley!"

"Well, for those who checked the crime scene, did the pulley system have any problems?" Issac asked.

Alisa thought back to the scene of the crime.

"Did you find any zing?" Manon asked Alisa.

The clockmaker could only hum in thought. Then, looking back and fixing her glasses, she shook her head.

"The pulley itself is clean and seems to be in stable working condition," Alisa remarked. "No foul play or anything of any sort."

"I imagine so," Manon looked down.

"The short answer is... no..." Alisa shook her head.

"Then it looks like we accused the wrong person..." Kazuki noted.

"Correction, Aidan accused the wrong person," Yukihiko pointed out.

"W-Whoa wait!" Aidan stuttered slightly. "Okay, so what if Roderick didn't use all of his strength? Like maybe he used enough strength to break her neck but also not pull too hard as to ruin the pulley system…"

"Nonsense," Riku folded his arms, giving Aidan a deathly stare. "The big buffoon would've needed all the strength he could get in order to break a neck. The victim may have been frail, but a human neck is not so easily broken. Considerable force is needed to do the deed, and if the buffoon had to watch his strength to not break the pulley system…"

"Then, it makes no sense for Roderick to be the killer!" Alina smiled, clapping her hands. "Of course! That's wonderful Roderick!"

"Oh, so…" Aidan blinked, folding his arms, slightly shamefully. "Huh. I guess I really was wrong."

He rubbed the back of his neck, sheepishly.

"Heh, sorry Roderick," Aidan chuckled, bashfully. "I think I got way too carried away there."

"Nay!" Roderick was not happy. "What kind of devilry ye trying to pull here, matey?! I'll have ye walk the plank for that!"

"Ah heh… water?" Aidan sheepishly offered him a water bottle.

"So, we can count murder by strength out of the question," Mara spoke up after barely contributing at all. "But going back to the rope… I wanted to ask. If the rope was connected to the pulley system, then where exactly did it originally come from?"

"What do ya mean, bambina?" Yumi blinked.

"I told you, don't call me bambina," Mara grumbled.

She sighed, shook her head, and continued.

"What I mean is…" Mara folded her arms. "The rope is attached to a pulley that connects with the victim and the monster animatronic. But the end of the rope tied to the victim couldn't have always been around the victim's neck, right? So, I'm just wondering where that end of the rope was originally tied to."

Right.

Of course.

For those who don't understand the basics of a pulley system, using one large coil of rope is interconnected in the middle with each of the rope tied to an object. The end of one side of the rope is tied to the monster animatronic and at the crime scene, it was discovered that the other end was tied to Emmeline's neck. But that couldn't have always been the case.

The other end that was tied to Emmeline's neck had to have been tied to something else prior to her death. That was what Mara was very curious about.

So, who here had the answer to that debacle.

Why it was…

"Hmm, I believe I may know where the rope originally came from..." Alisa began to say. "Perhaps it was originally tied to…

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…the moon prop!"

"Moon prop?" Mara raised an eyebrow.

"...What's this blue ball thing?" Alisa asked.

"Blue ball?" Manon blinked. "You can't say zat–"

"I'm talking about this thing on the floor," Alisa gestured to the blue moon prop.

This conversation also sounded familiar, didn't it?

"Oh, zat is ze moon!" Manon noted.

"...The moon?" Alisa blinked.

"Oh, oui!" Manon nodded. "You're referring to ze blue moon prop behind the set walls."

"But can ya be sure of that?" Yumi questioned.

"Because..." Alisa thought back to what she and Manon had investigated.

Alisa blinked.

She squatted down and examined the blue moon prop carefully. It was large. She tried to lift it but found that it was a little heavy. And there was a rope hook on it. Overall, it was strange to find it behind the set's walls, so she had to ask…

"The blue moon prop has a rope hook on it," Alisa explained. "Therefore, it's undeniable that the rope could've very well have come directly from the moon. After all, what else could the rope hook be for?"

"Right… and if the rope was connected to the moon prop… then that would mean that if the monster animatronic was ever brought down… the moon would've been raised up…" Kazuki began to deduce. "Is that right… Miss Levesque?"

"Oui, I have watched ze show numerous times," Manon nodded. "After ze monster animatronic flies around, ze monster is always buried underneath one of ze walls. Zis is so ze blue moon can be raised up and shine over Docteur Eternos' performance."

"Right… and because the moon prop was hidden behind the walls… no one would've seen it until after the show... during the photo-op…" Kazuki concluded.

"So, we know that the rope originated from the moon prop," Yukihiko surmised, examining his nails. "Which means that we can infer that what our killer did was simply untie the rope and tie it around Emmeline's neck. Why?"

Good question.

What was the point of tying the rope around Emmeline's neck? What were they hoping to achieve here? Aidan's little theory about strangulation was kind of out the window so there had to be another reason as to why Emmeline's neck was tied with the rope. Why it was…

"Oh, sweet Nelly!" Yumi covered her mouth.

Given her reaction, everyone was willing to bet that the gunslinger had figured out what had happened. She had figured out just how the crime was pulled off. Why Emmeline's neck was tied with the rope…

"Yumi?" Fábio raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"Ah think ah got it…" Yumi widened her eyes. "It's a classic method but… ah think ah figured out the reason why the killer tied the rope 'round the gal's neck…"

"Really?" Fábio blinked before looking at her expectantly. "Well, I'm expecting this to be good. Why did the killer do it…?"

"Ah mean…" Yumi shook her head. "It's obvious…

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…dat be how da killer killed her."

"Huh?" Fábio did not expect that answer… for some reason.

"Oh my," Beauté smirked to herself. "I believe someone here figured out the true method of death. Go on, my dear Ultimate Gunslinger. Please give us your answer. What did the victim die from…?"

With everything that was discussed earlier in this Trial, the only method of death can be one thing.

The rope tied to Emmeline's neck was originally tied to the moon prop. It was only brought up to shine its light once the monster was buried underneath the walls. Before that, it remained hidden behind the wall on the ground. And given the fact that the rope is interconnected with the monster animatronic via pulley system…

"Emmeline Swan… dat poor bambina," Yumi took off her hat out of respect. "Ah think she died from…

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…hangin."

"H-Hanging?!" Alina widened her eyes, shocked.

"W-What?!" Daisuke was just as shocked. "B-But wasn't she found on the floor?! How could she have hung?!"

"Because of da pulley system…" Yumi placed her hat back on, seriously. "Based on what ya folks have said, normally in the show, if da monster was dropped on da ground, da rope on the moon prop would've raised the moon up. But if that same rope was placed on the bambina's neck, instead…"

"Emmeline would've been the one to be raised up into the air instead," Kikuko bit her finger, disturbed.

"And if she was being raised up into the air by her neck…" Aidan gritted his teeth. "Then… Damn it! She really did hang!"

"Grk…" Yumi frowned. "Hung like dem outlaws at the gallows. Terrifyin…"

"Check up your facts," Riku interjected.

He had raised his jacket collar to cover the lower half of his mouth as his dead and dangerous eyes flashed an aura of gray toward the cowgirl. It was clear that he was challenging her claims. There was no way in hell that this could be a hanging! Not with the facts that he had in his arsenal!

"Death by hanging?" Riku scoffed. "Interesting yet flawed."

"Ooooh!" Beauté clapped her hands, excitedly. "What is this?! Our first interjection?! Oh, how elegant! How marvelously elegant! I sense that the good doctor and gunslinger are ready to lock swords in a battle of wit! A Rebuttal Showdown is certainly in order!"

"What on Earth are you talking about?" Fábio raised a brow toward the mysterious ultimate.

"Agreed," Riku said, irritably. "Shut up and let me speak, you blood-clotted bitch…"

Riku took out an apple and threatened to crush it with his bare hands. But given how frail and frivolous he was, it didn't seem like crushing apples would've been possible for someone like him. The sprite still looked menacing though!

"You, cowgirl," Riku narrowed his eyes. "You have come to some wild conclusion that our victim died from hanging. But as an experienced doctor, let me tell you one thing. Being raised up into the air by the neck would not induce the injuries that our victim sustained…"

"W-What are ya gettin at?" Yumi blinked.

"Imagine this," Riku closed his eyes. "That brat, the victim, has a rope tied around her neck. When the monster is slowly dropped, she is slowly raised up into the air until her feet can no longer touch the ground. What do you think would kill her then…?"

He didn't even give Yumi enough time to think. He simply went ahead and answered.

"The answer is asphyxiation," Riku bit into his apple. "When the victim is in hangtime there for so long, the only thing that'll happen is that our victim, the brat, will struggle to breathe since the rope would've tightened and clogged the airway through her lungs."

The doctor took another bite of his apple and tossed it behind him.

"And yet, what did the Stanczyk File list her death as?" Riku questioned.

"...A broken neck…" Yumi rubbed her chin.

"Smart girl," Riku spoke with that condescending tone. "She died of a broken neck, not asphyxiation. Therefore, your hanging theory is invalid."

"Ain't no way…" Yumi widened her eyes.

Riku seemed satisfied with the lecture he had given.

And Yumi had to admit… he had a point. If Emmeline was being raised into the air, she would've died from asphyxiation, not a broken neck as the Stanczyk File had said. And while that hyena was a pretty nasty specimen, there was no way he would supply them all with false information… right?

She rubbed her chin in thought. She had to think. Was there a way for Emmeline to have been hung and get her neck broken?

"No…" Yumi shook her head. "Ah think you may be wrong on dis one, pardner."

"W-What?" Riku raised an eyebrow toward the cowgirl. "What on Earth are you babbling about? Are you saying you can find a way for her neck to be broken and for her to hang after being raised up into the air slowly?"

"Yea, ah think ah do," Yumi tipped her hat down, looking a little confident. "Ya see pardner, ah think there's only one way for the gal to have broken her neck and get hung at the same time! Ya just need to quit assuming one simple fact…"

"And what fact is that…?" Riku glared at her.

She had the right thinking.

There was one thing in Riku's statement that definitely needed to be changed. If Emmeline's broken neck needed to result from hanging, one thing from Riku's counterpoint had to change. But which one?

Yumi's eye flashed red as she pointed her finger gun toward Riku. She had her answer locked and loaded inside an imaginary gun. A Truth Bullet to be exact. Even though they use swords for this Minigame, Yumi was a gunslinger, not a swordswoman.

"Ya need to quit assuming…" Yumi began to say. "...Da detail…

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…of the speed of hangin!"

"W-What?!" Riku recoiled in slight shock at what she had deduced. "The speed of hanging?! What are you talking about?!"

"Ya kept assuming dat Emmeline's hanging was slow!" Yumi declared. "And if her hanging was slow, then, fine. Yeah, da hangin didn't happen. Because it'd be like ya said… She died of asphyxiation…"

"Which is not what she died from," Riku reiterated.

"Right," Yumi nodded. "But what she did die from is a broken neck. And I know she had to have been hung in the air. And the only way for her to have dat broken neck and have it be caused by hanging had to be if the hanging process was much faster dan ya realize!"

"M-Much faster?" Riku blinked, never considering that much.

"Da bambina had a rope tied around her neck," Yumi began. "If da monster was dropped faster, den by pulley system logic, da poor girl would've been raised just as fast, right? So, tell me, doc. What would've happened to her neck if she was suddenly pulled up from da ground?!"

Riku pulled up his jacket collar to cover his mouth. He glanced away, his mind contemplating the answer. Then, after a moment of silence, he begrudgingly gave his response.

"...If the hanging process was faster…" Riku began. "...Then, the brat's neck would've been hoisted up into the air without much warning. If that was the case, then that would've provided the force necessary to…"

He gritted his teeth.

"...break her neck," Riku muttered.

"Yippee ki yay!" Yumi slapped her knee, excitedly. "And dats how it's done pardner!"

That felt great! To have come up with a response to correctly defend her own claim while discounting another… What a rush! It felt great! In fact, she hadn't felt this much adrenaline pumping in her veins since…

"Oh, you celebrate too soon," Riku's eyes turned hollow black. "You do realize that everything you've said so far is purely theoretical. If you want us to continue with your line of logic, you'll need a little thing called… evidence."

"E-Evidence?!" Yumi gulped.

Whoops. She got carried away.

"W-Wait, but I…" Yumi was about to say before stopping herself.

She… didn't exactly have the evidence necessary to counter that. Her part of the investigation wasn't exactly involved in the hanging aspect of the case. So, how the hell was she supposed to get the gears running on this theory now?! She knew for a fact Emmeline had to have broken her neck from hanging! But how?!

"Keh," Riku let one of his eyes twitch. "If you can't supply evidence, then there's no reason for any of us to go on a wild goose chase…"

"Let's stay on beat!" Alina intervened.

Alina had taken out her conductor's baton and was pointing it directly toward the doctor. Though, she gave Yumi a warm and helpful smile.

"Don't worry Yumi!" Alina beamed. "I got this!"

"W-What?" Riku blinked, glancing toward the owner of the voice.

"Ooh... an Intervention!" Beauté giggled. "That's new!"

As Beauté had said, Alina had intervened, coming between this Rebuttal Showdown against the yakuza doc and gunslingin cowgirl. She smiled in determination. It was clear that she had evidence of her own that she wanted to share.

"Y-You, what do you–" Riku frowned.

"You're asking for evidence, and I think I might be the one to have it!" Alina declared. "Emmeline had to have broken her neck from the speed at which she was hung into the air! And that's a fact that can easily be proven if you take into account…

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…of the slam from the monster animatronic!"

"What's wrong… Miss Summers…?" Kazuki asked.

"I…" Alina rubbed her chin. "When that monster fell… It sounded so familiar to me."

"It did?" Kazuki closed one eye, bewildered. "The only noise it made was a slam… wasn't it? So… I can't really say that it would be fami–"

"No, that's just it," Alina sighed. "That slam was very familiar, but I just can't remember where I've heard it before…"

"What?" Riku blinked.

"You see, during the investigation, you removed the rope around Emmeline's neck," Alina began. "And because the rope wouldn't be attached to Emmeline at the time, the monster animatronic at the other end fell to the ground, making a loud slam noise. You remember that, right?"

"Tch, there's an easy way to do this," Riku rolled his eyes.

He walked up to Emmeline's corpse and undid the rope that was tied around her neck. Without warning, the rope shot up into the air and the pulley started to uncoil the rope before finally…

SLAM!

"Agh!" Alina exclaimed from the other side of where she and Kazuki had been checking out. "W-What was that?!"

"Yes, I do," Riku muttered. "What's your point."

"For a while, I was wondering why that loud slam noise sounded so familiar," Alina began. "But then I remembered…! I heard it once before!"

"What?" Riku narrowed his eyes. "And when was this?!"

"Well…" Alina began.

Good question.

When was this? When was the only other time Alina could've heard that same slam noise in the theater. There was really only one time now that she thought about it…

"...I heard that slam once before…" Alina confirmed once again. "And it was during…

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…the show I forced you to watch, three days ago!"

The lights shut off.

"Wow!" Alina applauded once more. "That was amazing! Another great–"

SLAM!

Alina had been interrupted by a loud noise coming from the stage. Then, almost immediately, the sound of thunder stormed the room and the spotlights started to flash like crazy. By the time the lights came fully on, a large monstrous animatronic was now standing there.

For a moment, time began to freeze as Alina realized just how familiar that monster seemed. Just where had she seen this monster before? It was a monster with a lizard's head and bat wings attached to its back along with very brawly muscles and scaly skin. Kind of like a cross between Godzilla and– Wait a minute.

She widened her eyes.

This thing was–

"Yep, that's right!" Alina beamed. "There was a slam right before the monster animatronic appeared! And just based on the connection of sounds, I can confidently say that was the monster animatronic falling from above the theater's auditorium!"

"So, in ze show..." Manon realized. "When ze monster first appears..."

"...What would have happened is that the pulley system would cause the monster to fall straight to the ground and quickly raise the moon straight up into the air!" Alina explained, finishing Manon's thought. "All of this would've happened in quick succession too!"

"I see, and during the murder, when the monster fell from above, Emmeline, who the monster would've been attached to…" Issac began.

"Would've been hoisted up by her neck into the air!" Yumi declared. She turned to Alina with an appreciative smile. "Ma'am! After that stunning display, ah think ah would love to ride ya into the sunset if you'll have me."

"Ride what now?" Alina blinked.

"There will be no riding until I get the facts in order," Riku narrowed his eyes. "Alright, little miss blondie… You say you heard that slam in the actual show? I'm calling your bluff…"

"Bluff?" Alina blinked before frowning. "But it wasn't a bluff! I heard it with my own ears!"

"And I suppose the others at the time can confirm?" Riku folded his arms. "Because as far as I'm concerned, I didn't hear anything of the sort."

"Well, that's because you were sitting farther away from when the monster landed!" Alina pointed her finger at the doctor.

"Um, excusez-moi, Madame Summers, but I have to admit… I did not hear ze slam you are talking about either…" Manon pointed out, slightly confused. "In fact, I've watched ze show many times. Not once had I heard zis slam you speak of…"

"Wh-What?!" Alina widened her eyes. "Well maybe it's…"

She turned to Kazuki this time.

"Kazuki!" she exclaimed. "You heard it too, right? You were sitting right next to me at the time!"

Kazuki had to think back at the time. Did he hear that slam? Well, the quick and short answer…

"...I'm sorry Alina…" Kazuki shook his head. "But… I didn't hear anything of the sort…"

"W-What?!" Alina looked almost defeated.

"Tch, what were you trying to do?" Riku was relatively displeased. "Enact perjury? That's a crime, you know…"

"I don't need to hear that from a member of the yakuza!" Alina pouted. "I know I heard that slam! I know it!"

"Maybe you were… hearing things?" Kikuko suggested.

"N-No, I wasn't!" Alina exclaimed. "I know I heard it! I just know that I–"

Alina claimed that she heard that slam all too well. There was no reason to think that she was lying. After all, you all read the flashback! There was indeed a slam, and that scene was in Alina's POV! So how was it that she heard it but Kazuki… who sat next to her… and Manon… who attended the show many times… did not?

Kazuki kept his arms folded and his eyes closed. He knew there had to be an answer to this conundrum. And even more, he knew Alina was telling the truth. After all, he sat next to her, and he had every moment in time to call out whatever bullshit she spouted. But Alina was still adamant that she heard it.

If that was the case, then he needed to figure out why…

In this fun game! Where he needs to spell a word! And if he selects the wrong letter and/or the letter crashes into other letters, they will explode! But don't worry, he'll get to work on a comic book after this!

Anyway, Hangman's Gambit aside, he opened his eyes in realization and smiled to himself.

"Hmph… I see…" Kazuki began. "I think we can easily explain why Alina is the only person who was able to hear the slam in the first place…"

"What?" Riku looked at Kazuki, displeased. "You actually believe her? Tch, fine. Then, do explain. I'm dying to hear what lousy excuse you may have for her… audible problems…"

"My ears are just fine, thank you very much!" Alina pouted.

"Hmph... The reason why Alina was able to hear it compared to anyone else…" Kazuki began with a slight chuckle. "Couldn't it have something to do with…

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…her Ultimate talent?"

"Her Ultimate talent?" Riku was not expecting that answer.

"Well... Alina is the Ultimate Maestro... isn't she?" Kazuki nodded. "Therefore… her hearing should exceed those of the average human. I contend that the reason only Alina was able to hear the slam was because of her Ultimate talent. And I'm willing to bet that because it's become second nature to her… I don't think she would've realized it herself at the time…"

The philanthropist turned to the girl of the hour.

"Isn't that right… Alina?" Kazuki tilted his head.

"I… guess you're right," Alina blinked. "I mean, it's not that common for an Ultimate Musician of some sort have super good hearing. So, yeah, you're right! My hearing would be pretty advanced compared everyone else's!"

Alina gave everyone a happy beam at the recognition.

"Therefore… I think we can trust what Alina is saying to be true…" Kazuki nodded. "If the monster made a slamming noise… that's evidence that during the show… the monster animatronic was always set to fall on the stage… In doing so…"

"Emmeline's neck, connected by the pulley system, would've been hung up into the air by her neck at an incredible speed," Yukihiko finished his thought. "That kind of force really would break her neck in that case."

"Exactly, so in da end, the true method of death was by hangin!" Yumi declared. "Just as ah said!"

Riku folded his arms and avoided the gaze of his peers.

After everything they threw at him, he'd be a stubborn fool to not give up now. They showed him plenty of evidence that he couldn't just ignore. With a scoff and a muttering of obscenities, he held up his jacket collar to cover the lower part of his face as he grimaced.

...

"Tch, Ultimate Musicians and their tricks..." Riku muttered. "I guess I have no other choice but to back off. Fine. We'll go through with this… hanging theory."

It was evident that he really didn't want to. Definitely the stubbornness of being wrong setting in.

"So, after everything that was said, Isolde definitely agrees that hanging had to have been how Swan was killed," Issac placed a hand over his forehead. "But how does that even get us closer to our killer?"

"Well, we know that this crime had to have been premeditated," Alisa rubbed her chin.

"Oh?" Issac blinked. "Really? Why is that?"

"Well, out of all the ways to kill Emmeline, our culprit chose to tie a rope around her neck and utilize the theater's pulley system to force her to hang," Alisa began. "This would imply that our killer must have known about how the theater show ran."

"I see," Issac folded his arms in thought. "So, in other words, our killer needs to be someone who knows about the pulley system and how it works. But is there anyone like that here?"

Someone who knew about how the pulley system worked. There couldn't be anyone like that here, could it? After all, it only seemed like people found out about the pulley system only during the Investigation. Who else could it be–

"Oh, I see," Aidan glared at someone in particular. "Huh. I can't believe this."

"A-Aidan, w-what's wrong?!" Daisuke felt himself shake when he saw Aidan looking pretty damn serious.

"I think…" Aidan placed his hands on the side of his podium. "I think I know who the killer is. And I have a really good reason to suspect them, this time!"

"Oh my, this could be both embarrassing or impressive," Beauté smirked. "Do tell."

"Nay, ye not be thinking of indicting me again ya filthy mutineer," Roderick still harbored a grudge over that false accusation at the start.

"Nope!" Aidan shook his head. "It's not Roderick for sure."

Roderick huffed and nodded.

Then, Aidan continued.

"It's Manon!" Aidan pointed his finger toward the French actress.

Manon paused.

"...Quoi?" she blinked. Then, "E-EHHHHHH?! S-SACRE BLEU?! Pourquoi moi?!"

Her eyes riddled with shock as she felt herself growing faint. Why on earth was Monsieur Brighton trying to accuse her of all people?! She placed a hand over her heart and feigned tears, leaning against her podium with pleading eyes.

"Why do you zink it is me?!" Manon exclaimed. "Madame Swan was my friend! I would never have killed such a sweet, little girl!"

"Yeah, even I'm a little lost from why you think it's her," Fábio looked unconvinced.

"I got my reasons," Aidan gave Manon a serious thumbs down. "And I'll be glad to share it with you right now."

Once again, another accusation made by the one and only Aidan Brighton. But apparently, this time around, he had a much better argument than what he originally had for Roderick. One had to wonder whether they should be scared to hear what he had to say or… Nope. Just be scared.

Aidan flipped his thumb back up to his peers as he smiled, determinedly.

...

"You guys want the reason why I think it's Manon?" Aidan asked. "It's really simple. We figured out that Emmeline died from hanging. And just like Alisa and Issac said, our killer had to have known about the pulley system in order to pull off their heinous crime!"

"That's right," Alisa was beginning to understand where the track star was coming from.

"So, why couldn't it be the person who watched the show multiple times?" Aidan placed his hands on his hips. "After all, Manon herself admitted to coming to the theater a lot. Just based on that, who's to say she didn't pick up a few things at the show's temporary photo-op?"

"H-Huh, she was the one who explained how the pulley system worked earlier in the Trial, too…" Daisuke gulped, looking at Manon as if she was a monster.

"Don't be quick to assume I am ze culprit!" Manon wailed, holding onto her podium, nervously. "Anyone could have known about ze pulley system! Not just me!"

"Hey, but it's fitting that the Ultimate Actress would use a theater to commit murder," Aidan glared at Manon. "So, confess! You killed Emmeline, didn't you?!"

"Non, non, non!" Manon shook her head profusely. "It wasn't me! When would I have ze time to prepare it?! I was outside waiting with Madame Summers, Monsieur Kido, et Monsieur Arakawa! I wouldn't have time to prepare ze murder beforehand without one of them seeing!"

"Then, you obviously prepared it at a different showtime!" Aidan countered. "A much earlier showtime, in fact!"

"QUOI?!" Manon widened her eyes in shock.

Compared to his accusation against Roderick, the accusation against Manon made a little more sense. So now the question remains: Could the killer really have been Manon? Some people were willing to believe it. Some remained neutral. Others didn't believe it to be the truth. And there had to be a way to prove it, right?

"If I may propose an inquiry, Aidan," Kikuko raised her hand. "If you claim that Manon is the murderer, could you perhaps explain how she did it?"

"Gladly!" Aidan beamed before adding a new part to his testimony. "Whatever showtime it was, it had to have taken place shortly before the show began. Manon led Emmeline onto the stage and then, whammo! She knocked her out with something! That's when she tied the rope around her neck. Then, all that was left to do was let the show play out as is!"

Aidan slammed his fist on his podium.

"Simple!" he declared.

Was it really as simple as that?

Or was there a clear-cut contradiction to what he had just said?

"No, that's wrong," Alina shook her head. She pointed her conductor's baton toward him like the best prosecutor in the world. "I'm sorry Aidan but what you said couldn't have happened."

"W-What, why not?" Aidan blinked.

Well, while everything you said could work in theory…" Alina trailed off. "The reason it doesn't work is because…

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…You're only allowed on the stage after the show!"

"W-What?!" Aidan widened his eyes.

"Oui!" Manon seemed absolutely pleased, clapping her hands in relief. "Zat is correct! Ze only time anyone is allowed onto ze stage is after ze show is finished! Zerefore, zere is no way I could've did what you said I did before ze show!"

"Can confirm…" Kazuki nodded. "As someone who attended the show as well… even if Manon could have done the deed before the show… she'd only have five minutes to do everything you said."

"As the timekeeper here, I can confirm that knocking someone out, untying a rope from a moon prop, and retying it to their neck, and sitting down at one of the theater seats would take over five minutes," Alisa glanced at her pocket watch.

"S-So I was wrong again?!" Aidan felt a wind blow him back. "Damn it!"

"Oh, mon dieu, merci beaucoup, Madame Summers," Manon glanced at Alina, gratefully.

"Don't thank me yet," Alina pumped her fist. "We still have a culprit to find!"

"But it is interesting, isn't it?" Mara suddenly spoke up.

Mara had once again been silent throughout these debates. Being in the background and listening to the stupidity of others announcing their stupidities was a sight to behold but at the same time, she thought it best to contribute whenever she could. After all, it was her life on the line too. And while as much of a whack theory it was, Mara had to admit that it got her thinking about something she didn't think much about before…

"Oh, so the killer speaks up after a moment of silence," Yukihiko frowned.

"As if you were contributing..." Mara muttered under her breath.

"Yukihiko, let's hear what the bambina has to say before we judge, aight?" Yumi frowned at Yukihiko.

In response, the child caregiver shrugged.

"...As I was saying," Mara folded her arms. "While the idiot over there clearly needs to stop speaking… He brings up a good point."

"A good point?" Yukihiko questioned.

"...You guys countered that the only time anyone could be on stage would have been after the show," Mara stated. "But the moron, for once, made a good point regarding the showtimes. Because if this preparation happened after a show, then when exactly did the killer tie the rope around the young girl's neck?"

Right.

Because the only way anyone could tie Emmeline's neck with the rope would be if they were able to access the stage with Emmeline. And the only time they could do that was after the Doctor Eternos show. So, with that in mind, when did the killer tie the rope around Emmeline's neck?

"A-AHHHHHHH!" Manon suddenly screamed upon realization. "Maintenant! But… Zis… Zis can't be! If zis is true zen…"

"M-Manon, what's wrong?" Daisuke blinked, taken aback by Manon's scream.

"I zink… ze only time ze killer tied ze rope around Madame Swan's neck…" Manon slowly widened her eyes. "...It would've been…

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…after ze 3:00 PM show!"

"After the 3:00 PM show?" Aidan blinked. "W-Wait, but wouldn't that mean… Wouldn't that mean… Wait, what would that mean?"

Dumbass.

"It's exactly as it sounds..." Alisa folded her arms. She had fixed her glasses to match her serious expression upon the realization of the facts. "The setup would've occurred at a prior show, the 3:00 PM show, during the photo-op period. Meaning, Emmeline had that rope tied around her neck… for almost 1 hour and 40 minutes,"

"1 HOUR AND 40 MINUTES?!" Daisuke exclaimed. "Y-YOU GOTTA BE JOKING!"

"No way, bambina, are ya sure ya didn't calculate wrong, or somethin?" Yumi didn't seem convinced… No actually, it would be more accurate to say she just couldn't believe it.

"No, the calculation is all there," Alisa shook her head. "If I'm not mistaken... According to Manon, the showtimes work like this..."

Alisa folded her arms.

"At 3:00 PM, the doors to the attraction opens," Alisa summarized. "Guests wait 10 minutes before they actually enter the auditorium. Once they enter, seating takes 5 minutes. So, in reality, the show actually begins at 3:15 PM."

"Oui," Manon simply agreed, a little dumbfounded by what she had realized.

"Also, according to Manon…" Alisa continued. "The show is roughly 45 minutes. Meaning, the show ends at 4:00 PM exactly. After that, for the next 20 minutes, is the photo-op period in which guests can check out the stage. That is the period in which we have determined the killer to have tied the rope around Emmeline's neck."

Alisa checked her pocket watch again, watching time tick away as she made her explanation.

"By the time the actual hanging begins, it would be around the 5:50 mark," Alisa calculated. "And if we assume the killer to have taken ten minutes to tie the rope around Emmeline's neck... that would put the time of finished preparation at 4:10…"

"That would mean Emmeline had been in the theater for 1 hour and 40 minutes, exactly," Fábio gritted his teeth in bewilderment.

"Of course, it wouldn't be that specific time exactly, but the idea still stands," Alisa folded her arms. "Emmeline Swan was in the theater with a rope tied around her neck for a long time. And all the killer had to do was wait for the hanging to happen."

"Th-That's crazy!" Aidan exclaimed. "Wh-Who would do such a thing?!"

"M-More importantly," Daisuke seemed just as frantic. "Y-You said the photo-op period remains open for 20 minutes, right?! So, there's no way that Emmeline was allowed to stay in the theater for that long, right?!"

He had directed this question toward Stanczyk and Monoyena, who had been watching with very different expressions from each other. Stanczyk was definitely invested in this courtroom drama but Monoyena on the other hand seemed to be getting antsy.

"Why the fuck are ya asking us, fatso?" Monoyena snarled. "Figure it out yerself."

"Oh please, don't listen to the grouch!" Stanczyk grinned. "I'll answer that question for you, er... big boy!"

Stanczyk leaned forward.

"Technically, there is no penalty if you stay in the theater after it closes in preparation for the next show!" Stanczyk grinned. "Besides the fact that you'd get locked in until the next time it opens, of course! So, the victim would in fact be allowed to stay there all this time!"

"W-What?!" Daisuke widened his eyes. "N-No way..."

"Man, so what now?" Issac cursed under his breath. "Isolde is asking if anyone even went to the 3:00 PM show."

"Manon, did you go to the show?" Aidan narrowed his eyes.

"You still zink it is moi?!" Manon exclaimed, incredulously. "I wouldn't have been able to zat day! I planned to meet everyone at ze 5:00 showtime! No reason to be at ze 3:00 PM show!"

"Well, then, what about the 1:00 PM show?!" Aidan declared. "You could've gone there, right!"

"And suggest that Emmeline was hung twice?" Alisa blankly stared. "You'd expect the Stanczyk File to be specific about something like that..."

"Damn it!" Aidan cursed to himself.

"W-What do you mean, 'damn it'?!" Manon gasped.

"Daisuke," Kikuko turned to Daisuke. "Didn't you say you were stuck on the police station side until 3:30? Surely, you saw someone at the scene of the crime, right?"

"H-How could I see anyone?" Daisuke blinked. "The police station is way out of view from the Ultimate Doctor's Attraction!"

"Hm, good point," Kikuko had to admit.

"So, in other words, no one saw anyone going to the 3:00 PM showtime?" Yukihiko asked before sighing and shaking his head. "Oh my, that's just great isn't it. Now what do we do? We don't even have an inkling of an idea on who the culprit can be now!"

Discourse started to emanate into the room. With the realization that the premeditation had to have occurred during a showtime in which no one was available for, the fact of the case now is that they had nothing to go off of. Who was the culprit? How could they figure it out?! Did anyone have any idea on–

"Ah heh heh…"

Everyone knew that laugh.

The discordance in the room died down immediately after a mysterious Ultimate began to laugh in amusement. She already had her hand fan out, all ready to go to cover the lower half of her face and show only her judgmental eyes. No one needed to see her mouth to know that she was smirking in pure delight.

"Oh, what fun," Beauté giggled. "Just seeing the room fall apart over a discrepancy of details… Oh, how elegantly intriguing it was to watch."

"If you have nothing to offer, then don't bother speaking," Riku growled, irritated. "Otherwise, I will sew your lips together…"

"You may do it to me any time…" Beauté blushed. "But first, allow me the pleasure of saying that I think everyone here is being overdramatic. Our culprit tied the rope over Emmeline's neck between 4:00 to 4:20 PM and then left. And then suddenly, everyone starts to complain that they have no idea who the culprit is?"

The mysterious Ultimate closed her hand fan, her expression shifting to disappointment.

"Ugh, it sounds like you all have given up," Beauté looked down. "How most inelegant…"

"Well, it clearly sounds like you have some idea on what's going on," Mara muttered under her breath.

"Ah heh heh heh…" Beauté giggled. "Is someone here lost? No, wait, frankly by the looks of things, it seems all of you are lost on what to do next. But I assure you, there is one more factor you have yet to consider that would make the most sense here… Don't you agree…?"

"As condescending as she sounds…" Kazuki closed his eyes. "She's right… We need to figure out why Emmeline ended up staying in that room for so long."

"D-Didn't we say she got knocked out?" Daisuke questioned.

"Knockin out someone shouldn't take dat long ah imagine…" Yumi shook her head, lowering her Stetson hat.

"No, not unless you have bad sleeping habits and need to be knocked out with a talisman," Kikuko eyed Roderick.

"But if th-that's not the reason why she was in the room for so long, th-then what other possibility is there?!" Daisuke exclaimed, confused.

"Oh my…" Beauté sighed. "It seems like I would need to put this into a matter of perspective here… Have any of you considered that perhaps Emmeline wanted to stay in that room for quite a long time?"

"What?" Alina blinked. "What are you saying?"

"Ah heh heh heh…" Beauté smirked. "What am I saying indeed…?"

"Oh, honey, no…" Yukihiko narrowed his eyes. "You can't be serious."

"I believe you figured it out quite elegantly, ah heh heh heh…" Beauté smirked, licking her blood-red colored lips.

"W-What is going on here?" Aidan was completely lost.

"...Beauté is suggesting…" Yukihiko began, having trouble swallowing over this being the possible truth. "That perhaps…

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…this was a suicide."

"A… A suicide?!" Alina widened her eyes.

"Non!" Manon gasped. "You mean, Emmeline Swan tied ze rope over her neck herself?! And zen what… she waited for an hour and 40 minutes just to die?!"

"That… would be how it was done… yes," Yukihiko seemed a little unconvinced but at the same time… there was still some merit in what Beauté was saying.

"B-But that's crazy!" Daisuke exclaimed. "Why wait so long just to die?!"

"Maybe it's because of the motive…" Kazuki had a visibly pained expression on his face. "With the time limit running around… Maybe… Miss Swan did it just to save the girl's life…"

"N-No, no way!" Daisuke covered his face. "N-Nowaynowaynowaynowaynoway!"

"And why can't that be the truth?" Beauté questioned Daisuke, leaning forward against her podium. "I mean, think about all of our arguments before. Doesn't it just make sense?"

Daisuke snuck a glance between his fingers to see that the girl was looking directly right at him.

"We all agreed that the culprit had to be someone who had to have known about the pulley system," Beauté explained. "And Aidan Brighton made a swell point to accuse Manon Vivienne Levesque of the murder because she attended the show multiple times. But was she really the only one who watched it multiple times…?"

Beauté looked at Manon, baiting her to answer the question.

"Non... Madame Swan did aussi..." Manon looked down, shocked over what the mysterious Ultimate was suggesting. "But zis doesn't make any sense. She wouldn't have..."

"Ah heh heh heh," Beauté smirked. "And a smart girl like her would've instantly understood the pulley system, am I correct? It wasn't hard for anyone to do after all! And if not through her past viewings but perhaps on the day of the murder as well?"

Beauté opened up her hand fan and covered the left side of her face with it, sinisterly.

"And not only that, but she would've also known about the rope on the moon prop, too, wouldn't she?" Beauté smirked. "Perhaps that's where she got her bright idea after all…"

"Even so, I do not think that Emmeline killed herself," Kikuko jumped in, shaking her head.

"Oh, really?" Beauté smirked. "And why do you say that?"

Kikuko remained silent on that front. But based on her slight hesitant look, it seemed that she didn't really expect Beauté to demand an explanation from her so quickly. She closed her eyes, thinking of a response before finally speaking.

"Well, for starters, why choose such a gruesome way to kill herself?" Kikuko pointed out. "If I'm not mistaken, there was a simpler method of suicide she could've committed at her disposal…"

"Oh?" Beauté tilted her head. "And what would that be…?"

"The other method of suicide…" Kikuko began. "Instead of hanging herself so brutally, couldn't she have simply…

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…chosen to overdose on her pills?"

"Oh, how right you are," Beauté smirked.

She definitely loved that answer.

"Yeah, the pills," Issac folded his arms and looked away.

"Well, that's alright," Issac smiled at her in understanding. "You don't have to give me the details. But what exactly are your pills? Advil? Tylenol?"

"You want the name of my pills?" Emmeline blinked.

She pondered for a second before checking the next pill she was about to eat. Engraved on the pill's shell was the name for her to remember. Then, she smiled at Issac with an answer she was ready to share.

"It's called Lapilocera!" Emmeline answered.

Lapilocera? That's not any drug Issac has heard before. Was a new drug or just a pretty rare drug for something much rarer? Issac wished he could ask more but after her earlier reaction to what he wanted to know, he supposed it'd be better if he just left it alone for now.

"Huh... I've never heard of that before," Issac blinked. "Is it foreign?"

Emmeline folded her arms as she pondered a response to that answer. Then, she gave him a half-smile that showed that she was slightly uncomfortable with revealing details of her drugs.

"Actually it's... well, I guess the right term is custom-made," Emmeline revealed. "I've been taking these as long as I remember so they're definitely an important part of my balanced diet!"

He had a notable serious expression on his face. After all, now that Emmeline was dead, there was no way for him to learn more about those pills she loved to consume so dearly. He shook his head with a wistful sigh.

"She called them Lapilocera," Issac revealed. "But whatever it was for, she never told me."

"She never told anyone what zey were for," Manon shook her head. She turned to Riku. "Monsieur Arakawa. Do you know?"

"Tch, I may be the Ultimate Doctor, but even I have never heard of Lapilocera in my life," Riku muttered.

"Whatever it is, a pill is a pill," Kikuko shook her head. "Overconsumption of those would've definitely been a much more effective way to die, correct?"

"S-So, then, why didn't she just kill herself with pills?" Daisuke questioned.

Yes.

Why resort to such a brutal suicide instead? Why not just die doing what she loved doing best: eating pills and being delusional enough to think she'll be okay just by eating them? Surely, someone knew the reason why…

"Hrm…" Riku folded his arms. "I wonder…"

"You have an answer, Riku?" Alina looked hopeful.

"...While I have never heard of Lapilocera in my life, the truth of the matter is, it should not be as different as any pill in the world," Riku pointed out.

"Where are you going with this?" Issac raised an eyebrow. "Was there something that separates Lapilocera from other pills…?"

Riku held up his jacket collar with dead eyes as he mindlessly thought about where he was going with this. There was in fact something that was off with those pills. And this fact could very well prove Beauté's theory correct.

"Yes, there was…" Riku nodded. "It was…

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…the taste."

"...It's strange…" Riku muttered. "These pills taste… sweet."

"Sweet?" Fábio blinked. "What? Like candy? You mean to tell me she's been eating candy this entire time?"

"Tch, no, this is far different than candy," Riku rubbed his chin. "It still has that medicine-like quality to them. So, this isn't just candy that a child can consume until they lose their teeth. It's definitely medicine of some kind…"

"In most, if not every medication in the world, the pill capsules themselves usually tastes bitter, if not, sour…" Riku explained. "But the brat's pills tasted sweet instead."

"The pills tasted sweet?" Alisa blinked. "Hm, that is odd."

"W-Well, maybe Lapilocera is a sweet-tasting pill!" Daisuke suggested.

"Or it's something else entirely," Riku folded his arms.

A sweet-tasting pill is unheard of. Riku had known that much, and it's been on his mind for a while. But if he just thought hard enough to what it could be, then perhaps things would start to make sense. Perhaps this was the explanation everyone (AKA Project) needed as to how she could live after consuming so many pills. Perhaps this was why Emmeline knew overdosing wasn't going to work.

Perhaps this was the truth behind her pills.

"Tch, of course," Riku muttered, figuring it out. "What if…

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…the pills were just placebos?"

"P-Placebos?!" Daisuke widened his eyes in shock.

"As in, sham medication?" Alisa blinked.

Issac was surprised to hear this as well but suddenly it made sense to something Emmeline had told him before.

"Mmm, if you're talking about my pills, they're nothing to worry about, Mister Issac," Emmeline giggled. She pumped her fists. "I've developed a resistance to them! And really, they've started to taste much sweeter than they'd tasted originally!"

"That's… not reassuring at all," Issac placed a hand on his hip. "Is there any reason why you need the medication?"

"Hm, of course," Issac placed one hand over his hip. "Swan mentioned that the drugs started to taste much sweeter than they'd originally. She thought she developed a resistance to them… when in actuality…"

"The pills were most definitely switched into placebos at some point in her life," Riku explained. "There's also a high chance that she probably never knew about it."

"Ah, but if she never knew about it, then how does that tie into her not even bothering to use pills to overdose?" Kikuko frowned.

"Well, again, she said she developed a resistance to the pills," Issac reiterated. "So, if she had that belief in mind, then it's possible that she probably decided the pills weren't going to work, regardless of them being placebos or not."

"So, in other words, I think it's fair to say that my theory about this being a suicide, still stands," Beauté smirked. "Emmeline Swan could not have overdosed on pills because they were both placebos and she believed she had developed a resistance to them herself. Therefore, there was really only one other way she could've killed herself…"

"By hanging…" Alina looked down.

What was that really the truth?

Was that really... it?

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"Ah heh heh heh…"

Beauté continued to laugh.

After Kikuko's attempt to discount this theory, her counterargument just wasn't strong enough to beat the chilling suggestion that Emmeline's death was actually a suicide. To hang like that so brutally, almost all of the playmates couldn't believe it. But at the moment, those were the current facts at hand…

What else could they do?

"Before we continue, could I perhaps ask our esteemed Killing Game hosts a question?" she smirked.

"What do ya want, cunt?" Monoyena sipped his shrimp cocktail.

"Do ask, little girl!" Stanczyk grinned.

Entirely two different people.

"Although it's beginning to seem more and more likely this time around…" Beauté began. "In the case that our victim commits suicide, would that mean that our blackened would be the victim, Emmeline Swan, herself?"

"That's right!" Stanczyk nodded. "If you think the victim killed themselves, that will make the victim the blackened!"

His eyes started to tear up.

"But that just makes things so much sadder…" he started to whimper.

"And it will fucking piss me off!" Monoyena snarled, tossing his shrimp cocktail to the side. "I wanna kill a live fucking person begging for mercy! Not let some fucking chump rob me of the fun!"

"Ah heh heh heh…" Beauté giggled. "Good to know."

Turning back to her uncertain peers, Beauté shrugged and shook her head. She seemed to be enjoying herself with everything that she had figured out. If anything, it was clear that no one else was sharing her relief. They couldn't still believe the narrative that was presented to them:

Emmeline Swan committed suicide via theater mishaps…

"It seems like the fun is over now," Beauté sighed. "Perhaps it's time to cut our losses and come to an agreement. If Emmeline Swan truly did kill herself, then we can only hope to vote for Emmeline–"

"You're treading on thin ice!" Fábio suddenly interjected.

He pointed a finger as a chilling wind assisted him, allowing his ringleted hair to flow beautifully as his eyes twinkled determinedly. Wait, his eyes twinkled? Huh. It was almost as if his more passionate side had come out to fight for what he believed in.

"Oh my!" Beauté gasped, her face turning red in excitement. "An interjection! For me?! Oh my, Mister Fábio Barbosa. You shouldn't have…"

Fábio pocketed his hands, his eyes looking dead serious.

"I think I speak for everyone here when I say I don't think Emmeline really did kill herself," Fábio began. "There's still something off about this whole thing…"

"Hmm, is that so?" Beauté seemed very intrigued. She licked her lips, tastefully. "Then, perhaps you would like to Cross Swords with me in a battle of wits and logic?"

"Whatever you say," Fábio pierced a gaze toward the redheaded bitch.

The two shared gazes with each other as they ignored all else around them. Then, first, Beauté began, giving him a mock curtsy.

"You don't think Emmeline truly did kill herself?" Beauté smirked. "Why not? All the pieces fit together perfectly."

Beauté took out her hand fan and covered the lower part of her mouth.

"Emmeline attended the show numerous times," she began to list. "Meaning, she had familiarity with the props utilized in the show."

Beauté then covered the upper part of her face, showing only her spiteful grin.

"She especially had familiarity with the moon prop," she continued. "You know, the origin of the rope she used to hang herself…"

Beauté covered the left half of her face, her eyes narrowing with excitement.

"There was also no other method she could've used to kill herself," Beauté added. "As we had just denounced, her pills were placebos, and she was under the impression that any effects of said pills would be resisted against."

"No, there was another method she could've used to kill herself," Fábio countered. "That method could've been...

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...The Traffic Jam Parade!"

Fábio slammed his fist onto his podium before pointing his finger toward Beauté.

"If she really wanted to kill herself, there was a much faster and easier way to do it and the Traffic Jam Parade fits that criterion!" Fábio clashed.

Fábio slid his foot across the ground.

"In fact, someone literally tried to do that yesterday!" Fábio continued.

"N-No way," Aidan widened his eyes. "You're going to die from the Traffic Jam Parade?!"

"Oh… Not the Parade…" Kazuki closed his eyes with a smile. "Mister Yena happily obliged to do it himself…"

"That's right!" Monoyena munched on his crispy shrimps. He glanced over toward Aidan with a glowing red jagged eye. "So dontcha dare ruin this for me, boy scout! I've been itching to shoving my blade up a wanker's ass!"

"Kazuki, yes…" Beauté hummed.

"That's right," Fábio nodded. "So, therefore, how could you say that there was no other way for her to kill herself when the quickest and most efficient way to do it was active for 30 minutes in 3 separate showtimes?!"

"Very good counter!" Beauté complimented. "But have you not perhaps considered that our victim may have wanted a quick and painless death, instead? Breaking her own neck with the speed of a dropping animatronic would have granted her that wish. Although gruesome, I'd imagine she didn't feel a thing and passed just as quickly…"

The mysterious Ultimate giggled.

"Frankly, in comparison to what Monoyena would've done if she had chosen to break a rule… I wouldn't blame such a frivolous child like her to choose the easy way out," Beauté smirked.

"Kinda wish she didn't…" Monoyena muttered from the sidelines.

"Do you have proof that this is really what Emmeline really wanted?" Fábio frowned.

"Oh my, I'm afraid the person who needs to show proof is you, Mister Fábio Barbosa!" Beauté gleefully announced. "If you truly think that Emmeline didn't commit suicide, then you show me proof she didn't do it!"

"And why not you?!" Fábio argued.

"I already showed what was in my arsenal," Beauté smirked. "Would you like me to repeat my points again?"

Fábio didn't need her to repeat anything.

She argued that Emmeline had everything at her disposal to commit suicide. She had the familiarity of how to do it. She had the familiarity of the rope itself. She knew this would be the only appropriate way for her to go out. While this was just as circumstantial, if Fábio needed to discount her testimony, then she was right.

He needed to be the one to prove that Emmeline could not have committed suicide.

But how?

He grimaced.

Actually, there was one piece of evidence that stood out.

"Alright, then, if you want a piece of evidence so badly, then here it is," Fábio shook his head. "This is the evidence that proves Emmeline couldn't have committed suicide…

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…her shock collar!"

"Oh?" Beauté blinked, slightly taken aback. "What about it?"

"W-What the–" Fábio blinked.

"Now that is peculiar," Riku rubbed his chin, narrowing his eyes in thought.

The back of Emmeline's shock collar had been cracked. Where the light would've shown, it was practically broken beyond repair. Neither the color Red or Green was shown, but at the same time, that could've also been because of the fact that the Playtime Event was over. But still, it was very unusual to see how busted up the shock collar was.

"Emmeline's shock collar was broken…" Fábio muttered. "I… didn't know you could do that."

"Tch, I doubt anyone knew they could do that," Riku retorted. "Not to mention how someone could just break the back of her shock collar like that."

"Riku can attest with me that when we examined the body…" Fábio began. "Emmeline's shock collar was broken beyond repair!"

"And?" Beauté raised an eyebrow.

And? And what? Fábio knew that this was important to disproving Beauté's suicide theory, but how exactly could that be? He knew he was onto something, but how exactly could he refute it?

"I'll play along!" Issac intervened.

Issac gave a smile as he shrugged. Isolde, similarly, was also smiling alongside. Truly, they were like partners in crime.

"Don't worry Fábio," Issac smiled. "I got you. I know how Emmeline's broken shock collar proves that Emmeline couldn't have killed herself. After all, Mara and I heard it from Stan himself..."

"Right," Mara nodded. "We asked Stanczyk about what would happen if someone managed to break the shock collar, and this is what he had to say…"

"First off, what would happen if the shock collar broke?" Issac asked. "Would that mean Swan wouldn't be subject to the Playtime Event game anymore?"

Stanczyk seemed nervous, as his mask had somehow turned bluer than it normally was.

"No, it's much worse than that…" Stanczyk explained. "If a shock collar breaks, it'll go through a self-destruction kind of ordeal. Meaning…"

Stanczyk tilted his head as his red eye glowed and his grin distorted.

"eLeCTriC sHoCKs WoULd bE aLL sHe feELs…" Stanczyk spoke in his distorted voice.

"Are you saying that if our shock collars broke, it'll shock us forever…?" Issac widened his eyes.

"Until you die, yes," Stanczyk smiled innocently.

"Oh my!" Beauté blinked.

This was the first time she's heard of that!

She turned to the clown, watching the sidelines.

"Is this true?" Beauté questioned.

"Yep!" Stanczyk proclaimed. "I did tell them that! But to hear that it actually happened! Oh, how dreadful!"

"Which means that if the shock collar was broken, then there was no way Emmeline could've hung herself," Fábio shook his head, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "She'd be too dead to do it! Issac, you have my thanks."

"Any time," Issac brushed his hair to the side.

"But the fact of the matter is that she died of a broken neck, not faulty electrocution," Beauté pointed out. "Couldn't it be possible that it was the force of Emmeline being launched by the neck that broke the shock collar?"

"No," Fábio shook his head once again. "That wouldn't make sense if you just simply…

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…look at the shock collar yourself."

The back of Emmeline's shock collar had been cracked. Where the light would've shown, it was practically broken beyond repair. Neither the color Red or Green was shown, but at the same time, that could've also been because of the fact that the Playtime Event was over. But still, it was very unusual to see how busted up the shock collar was.

"There was a crack on the shock collar," Fábio explained. "Probably from whatever broke it in the first place. And I don't know about you, but I doubt rope is able to cause a crack like that to an apparently industrial object like our shock collars!"

"Ohhhhhh myyyy!" Beauté moaned, cheeks warm and eyes diluting over how satisfying this entire battle was. "Elegant! How absolutely, marvelously, elegant!"

Placing her hands over her cheeks, her eyes growing wild with excitement, her smirks and close-lipped smiles widened into crazed grins.

"Ah heh heh heh heh heh heh!" Beauté laughed. "I'll concede this battle to you… You have fought very… elegantly… Ah heh heh…"

…

With the revelation of the broken shock collar at hand now, Beauté's theory that Emmeline committed suicide had been thrown out of the window. Worse, now they were dealing with a new debacle here. If Emmeline had a broken shock collar, what caused it to break? And how did this tie into her hanging?

"So, you people really decided now was the best time to bring up a broken... shocked collar?" Kazuki kept one eye closed.

That too.

"Erm, that's my bad," Fábio pocketed his hands and glanced toward the side. "Didn't know how it tied into anything until now."

"I was more focused on my desire to dissect the body," Riku muttered.

"Hey, wasn't the right time to say it," Issac shrugged.

Mara didn't say anything.

"B-But what does this mean now?!" Daisuke exclaimed. "W-Wasn't this supposed to be a suicide?! A-Are we seriously going to go back to suspecting each other again?!"

"Fábio and Beauté's debate has brought a new thing to account for the case," Kikuko explained. "The broken shock collar. If we can figure out how that fits into the case, then we may have all the answers we seek."

"As far as me be concerned, the lassie never died from electrocution," Roderick pointed out. "The clown's file be saying that she died of a broken neck."

"And we know dat a broken shock collar can cause death by electrocution thanks to Mara," Yumi nodded.

"Wait, what about me?" Issac blinked.

"Yea, dats what I said, ain't it?" Yumi rubbed the back of her head.

Broken shock collar. Broken neck. Everything about Emmeline was broken, huh? So, how were they going to solve the mystery now? Was there a way to piece these two facts together using basic logic?

"...A broken shock collar that Miss Swan never died from…" Kazuki mumbled. "...And instead, she died from a broken neck."

The facts were in place.

The answer was amongst this idea.

How should he approach this? Was there any way to approach this? Or should he just give up?

"Siiiiiiigh!" Daisuke hunched over in defeat. "Th-This is hopeless! W-We might as well just give up now! G-Goodbye cruel world!"

No. That's right. It was much too early to give up.

Daisuke may think otherwise, but in this house, we will choose not to listen to Daisuke. Instead, Kazuki was going to listen to himself. He closed his eyes, folded his arms, and entered his deepest thoughts as he tried to piece together what he could. Surely, with the revelation of the broken shock collar, something had to have changed…

What was it?

Come on Kazuki!

Think! Think! Think!

The shock collar… Emmeline's neck… Kazuki began to enlist in his thoughts. Let's start with what we already know…

Kazuki kept his arms folded.

What would have happened to Emmeline if the shock collar broke? He asked himself. That's easy. It would've…

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…electrocuted her.

Yes. As Mister Stanczyk had already said... The shock collar would've killed her via electrocution if it ever broke.

He nodded to himself. He had tuned out the discourse from the confusion of the outside world as he continued to quickly make deductions after deductions.

But in the end… The Stanczyk File dictated that she died of a broken neck… Kazuki continued to think. The Stanczyk File wouldn't lie over something like this.

Outwardly, he grimaced to himself.

So… What can I conclude from this? Kazuki asked himself. Well… If she died of a broken neck instead of electrocution... then that would mean…

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…She died before the electrocution could happen…

Whatever had killed her… must've killed her instantly. Otherwise… evidence of electrical shocks would've been more apparent. But at the same time…

Outwardly, he furrowed his brow.

So… Then… What was the point of breaking the shock collar…? Kazuki asked. Was there a point to breaking the shock collar at all…? The answer…

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…No.

There was no reason to break the shock collar. I don't think anyone here really knew that these collars could be broken in the first place. With that in mind…

Kazuki continued to let his mind wander through these Quick-Time Deductions… Er. Regular-timed Deductions because I can't place a timer for people to think in my stories.

If there was no reason to break the shock collar… Then why break it anyway…? Kazuki asked himself. Could it be perhaps…

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…an accident?

Yes. Of course. It had to have been an accident. The culprit probably didn't mean to break it. It's the only way breaking the shock collar would make any sense!

Kazuki tightened his grip on his arms.

So… If the culprit breaking the shock collar was an accident… Then… What can I infer about the broken shock collar and Emmeline's cause of death? Kazuki asked himself once more. There is a clear connection between the two… What is it…? Could it be…

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…Whatever killed Emmeline also broke the shock collar.

Of course. It should've been obvious. Whatever broke the shock collar was also responsible for breaking Emmeline's neck. But if that's the case… Then… That's weird…

Kazuki realized he was nearing the end of his deduction. While time slowed down on the outside, he couldn't stop anyone from realizing just how silent and weird he was probably being with his facial expressions.

If whatever broke the shock collar was also responsible for breaking Emmeline's neck… Kazuki began to ask himself. Then… What earlier theory suddenly makes no sense…? It would be…

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…Emmeline's method of death.

Emmeline's method of death was hanging. That was what was concluded to break her neck. Wait. But Fábio is right! Rope can't cause an industrial shock collar to break like that. Therefore… There was no way she could've died from hanging or even from a rope! No… Way… Then… The final conclusion here…

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Kazuki suddenly slammed his hands onto his podium, opening his eyes with an uneasy look. His face was blue. He was definitely upset with the conclusion he had reached. And with his sudden reaction, it was clear everyone else had gotten concerned by his reaction.

"Kazuki?" Alina blinked. "What's wrong?"

"...I'm afraid that we've been doing nothing but waste our time…" Kazuki muttered.

"W-What?" Alisa looked especially shocked. How dare anyone waste her time?!

"What be going on there, lad?" Roderick frowned. "Come on! Out with it!"

"...That broken collar has told us so much about this case…" Kazuki began. "Because now... I think…

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…The crime scene may have not been the true crime scene this entire time!"

"W-What?!" Alina widened her eyes.

"Q-Quoi?!" Manon exclaimed.

"H-Huh?!" Roderick sputtered.

"W-WHAT?!" Daisuke screamed the loudest.

Kikuko slammed an ofuda directly onto her podium. She looked relatively displeased by this revelation of facts. But whatever it was from the fact that their time had been wasted this entire time or something, one couldn't be sure.

"Explain, now…" she simply said, her eyes blue.

"...As we know…" Kazuki began to explain. "Miss Swan died of a broken neck. Moreover… Her neck collar was broken as well. It's definitely safe to say that whatever had broken Miss Swan's neck had to have also broken her collar as well."

"That is a fine assumption, yes," Yukihiko nodded.

"But if that's the case… then an earlier theory we made about Miss Swan's death would not have made sense…" Kazuki continued.

"Ya mean to say…" Yumi widened her eyes.

"If the weapon used to break Miss Swan's neck was also used to break her shock collar…" Kazuki nodded. "Then… There was no way she could've died from hanging…"

"Q-Quoi?!" Manon widened her eyes. "But what about ze rope around her neck at ze crime scene?! What about ze moon prop and ze zeories?! Ze killer had to have tied Madame Swan's neck after ze 3:00 PM showing, non?"

"Yes… I think they did…" Kazuki nodded. "But that's where we all fell for it. Because I think all of what we had deduced before then…

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…was a trap set by the killer."

"A t-trap?!" Daisuke wailed in shock.

"...Yes…" Kazuki frowned. "The killer killed Emmeline elsewhere and then moved her body to the Doctor Eternos' Attraction. Then… they turned the entire place into what we thought was the crime scene!"

"So, in other words," Yukihiko seemed a little taken aback by this revelation. "You're saying that the entire hanging process of Emmeline did happen… It was just done after she was already killed?!"

"...Yeah…" Kazuki nodded. "That's exactly what I'm saying…"

"B-But i-if that's the case… then where was she killed originally?!" Daisuke questioned; his face having turned purple.

Kazuki pondered that question.

Despite the conclusion he reached, that was still an important question he just wasn't sure yet. There was no evidence that he knew of that could point to anything. Where was Emmeline Swan truly killed? He rubbed his chin in thought before finally voicing an answer.

"I… don't know…" Kazuki shook his head.

"So, not only do we not know who the culprit is," Mara began. "But we also now don't even know where the real crime scene is or what the true murder weapon was. After everything that was talked about, we're back down to square one…"

Mara was right.

They were truly back down to square one. After everything they had deduced, ultimately, none of it really mattered. The hanging method was indeed done, but it had been practically done to a corpse. The use of the Ultimate Doctor's Attraction stage… The use of the rope and pulley system… Was it all for naught?

Could they really not figure out who the culprit was…?

Was there really no one suspicious that they could accuse…?

"Not exactly…" Alina began, realizing something. "I… think after everything we talked about, there is one person that stands out."

"Summers?" Issac blinked. Then, his eyes looked grave. "Isolde asks if you know who the culprit is…"

Alina bit the tip of her conductor's baton.

Did she really know who it was? Truth be told, she wasn't sure if who she was about to accuse really was the truth for many reasons. But at the moment, this was the only lead they had. This was the only person who seemed highly suspect. She directed her gaze toward the person…

"I think I do…" Alina pointed her conductor's baton towards the culprit. "...I think the culprit might be…

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…Beauté."

The room grew silent.

All eyes were now on Beauté now. Though she seemed surprised at the sudden callout, she regained her composure and tilted her head with a sinister smile on her face. She gave Alina a callous chuckle, speaking in a condescending tone.

"Oh my," Beauté giggled. "Is that… your final answer…?"

Alina furrowed her brow.

"...Yes," she slowly nodded.

"You think it's Beauté?" Aidan blinked. "Look, as much as she is the most suspicious person in the group, wouldn't it be too easy for it to be her? I mean, what makes you think it is her?"

"Because there was something weird that happened as soon as we entered the 5:00 PM show," Alina began. "Daisuke. You remember, right? You were there…"

"Let us sit together, Madame Summers!" Manon excitedly grabbed Alina by her hand and dragged her to the left section of seats.

"And let us sit together!"

"WAGHHHH!" Daisuke suddenly screamed as he felt the hot yet chilly breath of Beauté Morose wisp through his hair. "W-WHEN DID YOU GET HERE?!"

"Ah heh heh, a minute ago," Beauté giggled before smirking. "Waiting Room doors are still open. And oh my, you are absolutely perfect with Aidan Brighton…"

"It was B-Beauté in the Auditorium, right?" Daisuke blinked. "I don't see what's so weird about that. Besides the fact that she just kind of appeared out of nowhere, but still…"

"And that's just it!" Alina pointed her conductor's baton toward Beauté. "She appeared out of nowhere! That's why I think she's the culprit!"

Silence.

Everyone was looking at Alina as if she were grasping straws. Honestly couldn't blame them. Her reasoning was very unconvincing and yet no one found it more amusing than the prey Alina was hunting at the moment. Once again, that prey chuckled…

"Ah heh heh heh…"

Beauté placed a hand over her lips as she smirked. Licking her blood-red lips, she leaned against her podium with confidence.

"You are quite a silly girl, Alina Summers," Beauté giggled. "Is that really the best argument you can give? Come on, Ultimate Maestro, surely you can do better than that…"

Alina grimaced.

"If I may," Kikuko raised her hand. "Alina's argument relies on the fact that you just suddenly appeared out of nowhere at the theater. Perhaps if you can give us a reason as to how, then I believe this misunderstanding can be cleared up."

"Oooh, I get to supply my own testimony of the facts?" Beauté feigned a gasp. "Goodie me. Very well…"

The mysterious ultimate gave her peers a curtsy.

"If that is all that it takes to get me off of the suspect list, then I will do my best to recount how exactly I… 'appeared out of nowhere'..." Beauté giggled.

Alina kept her eyes directed toward Beauté.

She was not happy. Wasn't the first time. Wasn't the last. But when it came to her not being happy about something, this time really was a moment that took the cake. Her lips had curled into a frown as she prepared to listen to what this bloodhound had to say for herself.

Beauté took out her hand fan and began to fan herself.

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"Now then," she began to testify. "I assure you, however I appeared out of nowhere was certainly not a magic trick or anything of the sort…"

She covered the left half of her face as she smirked.

"I simply got to the 5:00 PM showing a little later than I had wanted to…" Beauté began. "The Waiting Room was still open, so I managed to get in at the nick of time."

Beauté then covered the top half of her face, showing only her thirsty grin.

"By the time, seating had opened up, I had snuck in and given everyone a welcome fright…" Beauté giggled. "Wasn't that fun, Daisuke?"

"Ughhhhh..." Daisuke gulped, covering his face with his hands.

"Ah heh heh heh…" Beauté chuckled, closing her hand fan. "And there you have it. That is the truth as to how I miraculously appeared out of nowhere. I was simply late, that's all…"

Then, the mysterious Ultimate glanced at Alina with daring eyes.

"...Unless you can prove otherwise…" Beauté smirked. "...Always welcome to hear an elegant counterargument…"

Beauté claimed she made it into the Auditorium late? Alina knew that had to be a lie. She knew she was on the right track with this "appearing out of nowhere" mess. So, how should she go about proving it?

…Wait.

That's it…!

Alina shook her head and smiled determinedly. Slamming one hand on the podium, she pointed her conductor's baton toward Beauté as if it were a wand.

"I think I can prove otherwise!" Alina exclaimed with a smirk of her own.

"Oh?" Beauté tilted her head, intrigued. "Then, please do…"

"You claim that you were simply late, and you made it to the Auditorium right in the nick of time!" Alina exclaimed. "But you couldn't have done that! And what proves it is…

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…Riku!"

"What?" Riku blinked, taken aback by the mention of his name. "Me?! What about me?!"

Alina and Manon walked into the Waiting Room.

Unfortunately for them, it seemed that fate wasn't on Riku's side. His collar was Red, and he was stuck outside. Manon had expected him to be relieved. But instead, there was clear disappointment on his face. And unlike Manon, that was what Alina had expected as she smiled to herself.

Though, she had to feel bad that Riku wasn't making it to the show. And at this point, it also didn't seem like Emmeline was making it either. However, Daisuke's color finally changed to Green and that also meant…

"If you truly did come in at the last second, then we can have Riku corroborate that statement!" Alina declared. "Because he would've been standing outside the attraction! So, how about it Riku?! Did you see Beauté coming in or not?!"

"Tch, I'm afraid I did not," Riku folded his arms.

"And why on Earth are we going to believe him?" Beauté smirked. "He could've easily missed me after all. Probably walked around and just didn't see me..."

"Yes, but here's the kicker..." Alina began. "His collar was Red at the time. And to refer back to the rules of the Playtime Event...!"

"Well, in about 30 seconds, it's going to be 7:30!" Stanczyk declared. "And at the top of every 10 minutes, a jingle will play and the back of your collar will light up into one of two colors: Red or Green!"

"At ze top of every 10 minutes-" Manon blinked, slightly confused, until she was interrupted by yet another jingle.

Red Light

Green Light

One, two, three!

It was short.

Concise.

And it was chanted by a choir of children.

Creepy.

"He would've been standing out there and wouldn't have moved the entire time!" Alina declared. "Riku would've been standing guard and watching everything the entire time!"

"Oui, and at ze time, ze next Red Light, Green Light jingle happened at 5:10," Manon nodded.

"Riku, what was your color at 5:10?!" Alina exclaimed.

"Does that matter?" Riku sighed. "It was Red."

"Which means you were still standing guard outside even after the Auditorium doors opened!" Alina declared. She turned back to Manon and Daisuke. "So, knowing that, Manon and Daisuke... think back to when exactly we saw Beauté!"

The two did exactly as she requested.

"W-Well... the Red Light, Green Light played right when the Auditorium doors opened..." Daisuke remembered.

Red Light

Green Light

One, two, three!

Alina, Daisuke, and Manon all looked at one another. Then, collectively, they sighed.

"Zis Red Light, Green Light Playtime Event is annoying, non?" Manon folded her arms as the three began to share their collar colors…

"Yep, agreed," Alina sighed.

"Zen I asked Madame Summers to sit with me and zen she suddenly appeared..." Manon continued.

"Let us sit together, Madame Summers!" Manon excitedly grabbed Alina by her hand and dragged her to the left section of seats.

"And let us sit together!"

"WAGHHHH!" Daisuke suddenly screamed as he felt the hot yet chilly breath of Beauté Morose wisp through his hair. "W-WHEN DID YOU GET HERE?!"

"Ah heh heh, a minute ago," Beauté giggled before smirking. "Waiting Room doors are still open. And oh my, you are absolutely perfect with Aidan Brighton…"

"Which means she suddenly appeared out of nowhere… after the jingle had played!" Alina exclaimed. "But if that's the case then…"

"Then, Riku, did you see me enter the attraction at that time?" Beauté smirked. "That was what you were going to ask, was it not? Ah heh heh heh. But at the same time, how can you even trust what a yakuza doctor would say? I could've just snuck in... I could've just walked in without him noticing... You can't deny any of those possibilities. Unless you have another reason as to how I could be in here without him noticing... But I highly doubt it..."

Unless what?

Unless she had another reason as to how Beauté could be in the Auditorium without Riku noticing her enter? Alina thought about this carefully. She knew that she was onto something here. She knew that Beauté suddenly appearing in the room made little sense. She knew that all this could be explained. But how? How could she have made it into the Auditorium without Riku even noticing...

Unless...

"Unless I have another reason as to how…" Alina widened her eyes in realization. Of course, this is how it ties into everything. It all made sense now. "Of course..."

Alina pointed her conductor's baton toward her, determinedly.

"There was a way that he wouldn't have noticed," Alina declared. "The only possibility is if..."

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…you were already in the Auditorium before 5:10!"

"B-Before 5:10?!" Aidan widened his eyes.

"What are you talking about, Madame Summers?!" Manon seemed surprised by this revelation.

"Yes, I wish to know too…" Beauté was seemingly enjoying the facts Alina was spewing.

"What if the reason she just suddenly appeared was because she was already inside at the time!" Alina pointed out. "That would account for her suddenly appearing."

"Yeah, but even I have trouble imagining that," Fábio pocketed his hands. "I mean, how on earth could Beauté be inside the Auditorium before it even opened…?"

Yes.

The doors to the Auditorium technically open at 5:10. Otherwise, you were stuck outside in the Waiting Room at 5:00. So, how exactly could Beauté be inside the Auditorium before the Waiting Room doors opened?

Well, if Alina wasn't mistaken, something like this had been brought up earlier. And now… it was going to be put to good use.

"Well, I think there's a simple answer to that…" Alina began before pointing her conductor's baton, this time more defiantly. "What if it was because…

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…Beauté has been in the Auditorium since the 3:00 PM show!"

"Huh?!" Fábio was taken aback by that answer.

"Oh my!" Beauté clapped her hands.

"Think back to what Stanczyk had said earlier about the Auditorium!" Alina exclaimed.

"M-More importantly," Daisuke seemed just as frantic. "The photo-op period remains open for 20 minutes right?! So, there's no way that Emmeline was allowed to stay in the theater for that long, right?!"

He had directed this question toward Stanczyk and Monoyena, who had been watching with very different expressions from each other. Stanczyk was definitely invested in this courtroom drama but Monoyena on the other hand seemed to be getting antsy.

"Why the fuck are ya asking us, fatso?" Monoyena snarled. "Figure it out yerself."

"Oh please, don't listen to the grouch!" Stanczyk grinned. "I'll answer that question for you, er... big boy!"

Stanczyk leaned forward.

"Technically, there is no penalty if you stay in the theater after it closes in preparation for the next show!" Stanczyk grinned. "Besides the fact that you'd get locked in until the next time it opens, of course! So the victim would in fact be allowed to stay there all this time!"

"There is no penalty to staying inside the theater after it closes for the next show," Aidan widened his eyes. "But in return…"

"You would get locked in the Auditorium until the next showing…" Fábio realized. "So, you're saying…"

"Yeah!" Alina nodded, smiling determinedly. "I'm saying she got locked in the Auditorium! And if she was inside before the doors opened at 5:10 PM, then there's no doubt that she's the culprit behind the shenanigans in Riku's Attraction!"

"Hang on dere, bambina," Yumi shook her head. "Dere is somethin ah still don't quite get, yet. Ah mean, if she was there to set up the crime scene since da 3:00 PM showing, den she technically had all da time in the world to set up everythin and leave."

Yumi folded her arms.

"Mah question is… why didn't she leave?" she lowered her Stetson hat in thought.

Good question!

And a good question like that had one good answer! Alina nodded firmly toward Yumi's direction as she had thought of quite a wonderful reason. An elegant reason if you will. Pointing her conductor's baton toward the cowgirl, she had a Truth bullet locked and loaded…

"The reason she didn't leave…" Alina began. "It has to be because…

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…of the Red Light, Green Light Playtime Event!"

"What in tarnation?" Yumi blinked. "Ya mean…"

"The rest is obvious!" Stanczyk exclaimed. "If the back of your collar is Green, you are free to move around as you normally do. But if the back of your collar is Red, try not to walk because if you do…"

Aidan took a step forward to take a better look at Daisuke's neck. However, the moment he did, he yelled in pain.

ZAP!

"AGH!" Aidan exclaimed as he fell to the ground, twitching on the floor and eyes widened. "W-What the hell was that?!"

"...That happens!" Stanczyk exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air. "A painful shock courtesy of the manufactured shock collar!"

"I see…" Kazuki nodded. "If Beauté really did get locked in the Auditorium… Then… The only reason that would have happened is if Beauté's color on her collar by the time the doors closed in preparation for the next showing was Red…"

"I imagine she must've found that out after taking a nasty, shocking risk," Riku retorted.

"Exactly!" Alina smiled. "And if it was Red, then Beauté had no other choice! She had to stay inside the Auditorium until the next showing! That's why she suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Because in reality, she was there the entire time… right after making the entire auditorium look like the crime scene behind Emmeline's murder!"

Alina pointed her conductor's baton toward the mysterious Ultimate, who had remained silent and patient, listening to the maestro conduct her magnificent deductive reasoning skills.

"So, what do you have to say about that, now?!" Alina declared, valiantly.

Beauté coyly smiled.

Then, she played it off with her signature chuckle.

"Ah heh heh heh…" Beauté smirked. "Is that truly your final answer…?"

"Well, yeah, why wouldn't it be?!" Alina smiled… confused? "I got you!"

"...Unfortunately, as elegant as your deductions have been…" Beauté began, folding her arms. "All of it has little to no merit, whatsoever… So sorry about that…"

"W-What?" Alina was taken aback by this remark.

"I'm saying your deductive reasoning has been based on nothing but circumstantial evidence…" Beauté giggled, looking rather sinister. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were reaching for straws, trying to pin me as the supposed culprit of this case…"

"Th-That still wasn't enough to prove it?" Alina looked dumbstruck.

"...Of course, not…" Beauté smirked. "Can you prove that my collar was Red by the time the doors closed? Can you prove that the reason I suddenly appeared was because I was really locked in at the time? Can you really prove that I was really behind making the death of Emmeline Swan look like hanging? Can you even prove that I attended the 3:00 PM show in the first place? I'm afraid in a game like this… Evidence is everything. And without evidence…"

Beauté leaned forward, her eyes darkened and face growing dimly sinister.

"...you lose," Beauté spoke with such seriousness. Then, she shifted back into her smirk of satisfaction. "Understand…?"

No.

But Alina was so close. She was so close. She knew she had her! But in the end, as much as she hated to admit it, Beauté was right. There was no actual evidence linking her to the case. As much as her logic made sense, none of it mattered unless someone showed up with some piece of evidence to overturn her words.

Did she have anything like that…?

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"No, there is evidence..." Alina suddenly said.

"Ah heh heh heh..." Beauté laughed. "Is that so? Well, then. I suppose you'll just have to choose wisely lest you get the ultimate penalty from all of us voting for you..."

"W-Why would we do that?" Roderick blinked.

"Because statistics show that if a health meter is depleted in a Trial, everyone else loses brain cells and vote for a protagonist character," Beauté simply answered.

"W-What does that even mean…?" Daisuke was at a loss of words.

"Never mind that…" Issac folded his arms. "Summers. I sure hope you have something that can prove that Beauté really is the one behind everything that happened in Arakawa's Ultimate Attraction. Isolde and I are counting on you."

"W-What about the rest of us?!" Daisuke turned to Issac, surprised.

"Don't worry… I think I have it…" Alina spoke up.

She was on a roll the past few clashes. And this time, she looked a little more certain of what she was about to reveal. Evidence that proved that Beauté was without a doubt the culprit of orchestrating Emmeline's hanging. Evidence that proved that Beauté was without a doubt locked in the room at the time. Evidence that proved that Beauté had been inside the Auditorium since 3:00 PM. That evidence… She remembered it...

"The evidence that proves everything…" Alina began. "It's…

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…what I heard in the Auditorium!"

"W-Wait, what?" Daisuke blinked, before remembering. "O-Oh!"

"Oh right!" Alina smiled. "This is your first time here, isn't it Daisuke? So, what do you think?"

"Huh?" Daisuke blinked.

He looked around the place.

Alina was right. This was the first time he ever stepped foot into the Ultimate Doctor's Attraction. And realistically speaking, the only reason he was here was just to distract himself from the inevitable. He was in the same boat as mostly everyone else.

D-Day was among them.

The girl was set to die.

And Daisuke felt just as useless as everyone else did. At this point, he'd wondered if everyone was going on and doing something like this just to avoid the harsh reality. That perhaps this was all a ploy to escape from what they all knew to be the neglect of a child's death. That perhaps they were turning the other way…

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Alina turned to Daisuke, tilting her head in confusion.

"Huh?" Daisuke blinked, shaking out of his thoughts. "I– I didn't say anything!"

"No no, I think I–" Alina shook her head.

"R-Right when we entered the room, Alina immediately asked if we had heard something," Daisuke began to explain. "I- I thought she was talking to me but what if... What if it was..."

"Beauté..." Alina revealed.

"Miss Summers..." Kazuki folded his arms. "Could you by chance tell us exactly what you heard?"

Alina nodded and thought back to the crime scene, but this time, this was in her perspective.

"Oh right!" Alina smiled. "This is your first time here, isn't it Daisuke? So, what do you think?"

"Huh?" Daisuke blinked.

"Ow."

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Alina turned to Daisuke, tilting her head in confusion.

"Huh?" Daisuke blinked, shaking out of his thoughts. "I– I didn't say anything!"

"No no, I think I–" Alina shook her head.

"It… was a simple 'Ow'," Alina revealed. "At the time, I just assumed that it came from Daisuke. But it had been troubling for a bit until we found Emmeline's body..."

"And how does this tie into anything...?" Beauté seemed amused by this train of thought.

"Well, what if that 'Ow' was something else entirely…?" Alina shook her head. "Like for say…

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…Beauté getting shocked after moving out of wherever she had been hiding!"

"Ah!" Manon gasped.

"N-NO WAYYY!" Daisuke screamed.

"Hmm, Isolde is impressed, Summers," Issac nodded with appreciation.

"Um… thanks?" Alina sheepishly chuckled.

"I see now," Alisa pressed her glasses up to the bridge of her nose. "If Beauté voiced pain after getting shocked, that must mean that her neck collar had to have been Red. Meaning... she wouldn't have been able to sneak into the Auditorium."

"That be undeniable proof that she was inside the Auditorium the entire time!" Roderick added.

"And we have already established that Miss Summers' hearing is uncontested compared to the common man…" Kazuki began. "No matter how quiet Miss Morose would've been… Miss Summers would've heard her regardless of everything…!"

"Do you have anything to say for yourself, Beauté?!" Kikuko did not look happy in the slightest. "Or do you finally confess to being the cruel villain who killed Emmeline Swan?!"

Beauté had backed away from her podium in silent shock. Her eyes were widened. A single sweat drop started to seep down her forehead. She was clearly taken aback and was also clearly having trouble voicing her reaction over getting undeniably caught.

"Ah…" Beauté blinked. "Ah… Ah…. Ah… Ah…."

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Beauté simply smirked.

She looked directly at the readers and gave you guys a mock curtsy. She giggled to herself, her expression shifting from surprise to her signature looks of satisfaction.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she smirked. "Were you expecting a villainous breakdown of some sort? Ah heh heh heh… So sorry to disappoint…"

"W-What is she talking about this time?!" Daisuke gulped.

No one had any idea, but she was still damn creepy.

"To think that the final damning evidence was supplied by the hypocrite…" Beauté sighed. "This is definitely insulting…"

Alina frowned, holding onto her conductor's baton tightly.

"So, you confess," Fábio frowned. "You killed Emmeline in an unknown location and subsequently also accidentally broke her shock collar. Then, you moved her to Riku's Ultimate Attraction at the 3:00 PM showing where you planned to make everything look like a hanging…"

"A suicide to be exact," Alisa added. "Hence why she was the one who suggested this was a suicide to begin with."

"...But your plan backfired when the Playtime Jingle occurred at the worst possible time, trapping you in the Auditorium until the 5:00 PM showing…" Fábio continued. "And then, you pretended to have just arrived for the 5:00 PM showtime in order to get some suspicion off your back!"

Fábio spun around and gestured an accusatory hand toward the mysterious Ultimate.

"In other words, you are the true blackened of this case!" Fábio indicted.

Beauté hummed in thought.

Then, once again, there it was…

"Ah heh heh heh…"

The mysterious Ultimate tilted her head.

"Am I?" Beauté smirked.

"What do you mean?" Yukihiko narrowed his eyes, knowing full well where this was going.

"I'll admit it," Beauté giggled. "I'll confess. Yes. It was me. I was the one who moved the victim into that Broadway musical theater. Everything you said about me trying to make this look like a suicide was correct. And yes, I'll even admit that I made a few blunders along my venture…"

The mysterious Ultimate gave a bow, slightly taunting them all.

"But as far as murdering Emmeline Swan…" Beauté began. "That was not my doing. My only crime… was moving the body."

"...Quoi?" Manon blanked out.

"What?" Fábio blinked.

"H-Huh?!" Daisuke exclaimed. "You mean to say… That we still have–"

"Much to solve?" Beauté chuckled. "Much to learn? A killer that you still need to catch? Of course I mean to say it. So many unanswered questions and you've only managed to uncover one half of the plot!"

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Riku growled.

"No, she's right," Mara simply said.

She eyed Beauté with disdain. And for a known murderer to look at you like that in disapproval has to mean that whatever shit you just pulled was definitely not right, right?

"We still don't know what the real murder weapon was or where the victim really was killed," Mara folded her arms. "But what we do know…"

Her eyes flashed a fiery red gleam toward Beauté once more.

"...Is that whatever answer we want… is coming straight from her…" Mara frowned.

Beauté's face was shrouded in darkness. In fact, the only visible part of her face was her mouth, widened into a diabolical smirk. Then slowly, that mouth began to move in a tight and unique rhythm.

"Ah heh heh heh…" she chuckled. "Ah heh heh heh heh heh heh heh…"

Then, the darkness was unshrouded to reveal a face of pure, ballistic glee.

"AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" Beauté cackled, hands over her blushing face. Her eyes were wild with insanity and all that adrenaline started pumping into her veins. As she laughed, one thing was certainly clear to everyone in this Trial.

For Beauté Morosoe, the game was just getting started…

DANGANRONPA: TWISTED TRAGEDY

And here we go! The Trial chapter! Trial Part 1 to be exact!

God, I'm nervous as to whether or not this case makes sense XD But for now, you all have one half of the answers right at your disposal :D Whether or not this case started off strong and is good, is entirely an opinion up to you guys :D

Now, as you may have noticed, I have implemented some new game mechanics into the story that I didn't get to do in Corrupted Hope. Interjections were a big thing I did in CH but this time I've added Intervention, which is when a character who has a piece of evidence chips in to help whoever is battling the interjector. Whatever that means. Not only that, but I've added a Quick-Time Deduction type thing called Think! Think! Think!

Totally wasn't appropriated from Rain Code XD

Hope you enjoyed these new mechanics because I assure you, there's more later on ;D

Either case, I hope you are all enjoying this case thus far! All of these timestamps are driving me crazy and Trial Part 2 is soon to be released! Maybe some time tomorrow :D Also, Otterplay has released yet another chapter of his amazing story, Algorithmic Alterations!

Go check it out!

See you guys in Trial Part 2! As always, let me know how I'm doing, and please let me know how this case is! For the most part, it seems a lot of people got the basic things for the Auditorium down, so that's always great to see :D

(P.S: I rewrote this chapter like 5 different times. I hope it paid off XE)

Playmates Remaining: 15

Aidan Brighton - The Ultimate Track Star [Omakin]

Alina Summers - The Ultimate Maestro [Otterplay]

Alisa Zachary - The Ultimate Clockmaker [ExtraMeme]

Beautè Morose - The Ultimate ? [Grandma Sue]

Daisuke Kido - The Ultimate Fast-Food Employee [CandleFire45]

Fábio Barbosa - The Ultimate Figure Skater [Rayy12]

Issac Santiago - The Ultimate Toymaker [oddlyillregular]

Kazuki Nobukatsu - The Ultimate Philanthropist [emberblitz321]

Kikuko Unmei - The Ultimate Shrine Priestess [WolfieRed23]

Manon Vivienne Levesque - The Ultimate Actress [Sempi]

Marabel "Mara" Garcia - The Ultimate Karate Master [Epifanio Therion]

Riku Arakawa - The Ultimate Doctor [theotakureader101]

Roderick Cutler - The Ultimate Deep Sea Fisherman [Orlando Butler]

Yukihiko Yuno - The Ultimate Child Caregiver [Weekaro]

Yumi Gundo - Ultimate Gunslinger [MrUtenaHolic]