Chapter 4: Sins of the Forsaken (Daily Life #1)
Warning: This fic contains intense violence, lots of cursing, character death, gore and blood, sexual innuendos (thanks Maggi- Wait. You're dead now. Meaning there are no sexual innuendos!... Maybe! Hooray!), and possible spoilers for the Danganronpa series, most notably the first one. But hey, everyone lurking in this fandom has at least played the first Danganronpa so no need to worry much there!
With that said, please enjoy!
But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are talking about." And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.
And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, "Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times."
And he went out and wept bitterly...
Five Years Ago...
"Oh. It really does look like an entrance ceremony."
"See? Told ya! It's totally normal entrance ceremony stuff."
Makoto Naegi had joined in with the rest of his classmates into the Auditorium. All 16 of them standing firm to meet the person who had instructed them to meet here. Makoto eyed his fellow classmates: the quiet and timid Chihiro Fujisaki, the cold and secluded Kyoko Kirigiri, the beautiful Sayaka Maizono… Wait. Did he just call her beautiful?
"Hey there, howdy, hello!" a strange voice forced everyone to look at the main stage. "Is everyone here? Good! Then let's get things rolling!"
Without much awaited suspense, everyone's attention was brought to a complete shock when they saw a white and black teddy bear jump out from beneath the podium.
"Huh?" Chihiro blinked. "A teddy bear?"
"I am not a teddy bear…" the bear looked slightly offended. "I… am… Monokuma! And I am this school's co-headmaster!"
"Wh–?" Hifumi Yamada was flabbergasted by what he was witnessing. "S-Say whaaaaat?! That teddy bear can talk?!"
"Calm down!" Kiyotaka Ishimaru tried to stay calm. "I'm sure there's just a speaker inside it!"
"I told you already," the bear known as Monokuma glowered toward the cast. "I'm not a teddy bear…"
Monokuma started to hiss a bit.
"I'm Monokuma!" Monokuma declared, jumping down from the stage with a pose. "And I am your co-headmaster!"
"Waaaaah!" Hifumi exclaimed in fear. "It moved!"
"Seriously man, calm down!" Mondo Owada gritted his teeth. "It's prolly just a remote-control toy or somethin'."
"How dare you compare me to a child's plaything!" Monokuma definitely looked offended by that. "You've cut me deep. Deeper than the Mariana Trench… My remote control system is so complex, even the folks at NASA can't recreate or even comprehend it! Ah, but don't make me say stuff that might destroy NASA's dreams, I just couldn't bear that!"
"This thing is annoying," Mukuro Ikusaba mumbled to herself.
"'Bear' that?" Celestia Ludenberg questioned, clearly not amused by the bear puns. "Really? You are… unfortunate."
"...You mentioned something earlier, Monokuma, is it?" Kyoko was next to speak, her mind clearly focused on one word that he had stated. "You mentioned you were the co-headmaster. Does that mean…?"
"Ah, everyone, stand at attention and bow!" Monokuma noticed something behind him before jumping back onto the stage.
"...Good morning…" a sinister voice entered the fray.
"Good morning…?" Kiyotaka instantly turned out of instinct before his determined face fell into confusion.
That was when the change in atmosphere occurred. The change from wacky confusion to the reality of what their situation was now. Because standing in the same spot where Monokuma had originally popped out of, was a man in a red devillish mask. In fact, the only slight difference with this one is that all of his horns were still intact, and his jagged eye was far from cracked:
White Collar.
He was here without his signature cane, allowing him to extend his arms before bowing at a much easier pace.
"Welcome one and all!" White Collar announced. "Thank you Monokuma for that graceful announcement."
"And who might you be?" Byakuya Togami folded his arms with a cold stare.
"...You can call me White Collar," White Collar's mask shifted into a grin. "I am the co-headmaster of this facility alongside Monokuma. And I would like to courteously welcome you all to this little game…"
"G-Game?" Chihiro blinked.
White Collar didn't say anything further. At least at the moment. All he could do was chuckle to himself. Chuckle as he felt the immense power of the situation he was so courteously given. And all the students could do was stare at him.
What had they gotten into…?
CHAPTER 4: SINS OF THE FORSAKEN (DAILY LIFE)
(Cafeteria)
"I know what I have done can never be forgotten but at the very least, I ask you all for your forgiveness…"
Ina bowed her head apologetically. Arthur stood behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder as he glanced toward his peers. Ina had just finished giving her warm apologies for the events that had transpired back in Chapter 2. Truth be told, she was nervous. Questions formed like bubbles inside her mind.
Will they accept her back into the group?
Do they still harbor grudges for what she had plotted against her own half-brother, who has long forgiven her?
Answers came in the form of…
"Welcome back Ina," Zuri walked up to Ina with a supportive smile. "I appreciate your apology. So, from now on, let's stick together and get out of here together!"
Zuri was noticeably much more upbeat and happier today. Despite all the horrible things that had happened last night, there was one good thing that happened too. One good thing that gave her Hope that maybe they really could do this. That thing was the second answer to Ina's concerns.
"...What did I say?" Holland walked up to Ina, similarly, looked a little more hopeful as well, despite having that stoic expression on his face. "...You got your second chance. And you have someone that really cares for you. Remember what you have to do now…?"
"...But now I know that it isn't about whether you deserve that chance," Holland stated. "It's about whether other people are willing to give you a chance… And if they do, you honor it…"
"Then do you really think people will give me a second chance?" Ina raised an eyebrow as she leaned against the metal door.
Holland had to take a moment to think about the answer to Ina's question. Then with a firm nod that she was unable to see, he spoke.
"It'll take time but eventually, they will, I think…" Holland stated.
"Of course," Ina nodded. "I will honor this second chance to the most of my ability."
Zuri and Holland were of the more supportive bunch of those who walked up to her. Next to step up was of course those who were more on the neutral side, who noticeably walked up to her together.
"If everyone else seems to accept you in, then I'll do the same and put my trust into you," Abigail slightly yawned as she stepped up with Haruto.
"But start some shit and try to murder someone again, and you can tell that second chance to fuck off!" Haruto heatedly declared.
"...The only reason why I ever did try to murder was because of my envy and hatred against my newly discovered bloodline," Ina bowed her head apologetically. "I can assure you. It will never happen again. I… I have accepted that I am the daughter of a demon and the demon half-sister of my half-brother. Those feelings have come and gone."
Haruto rubbed the back of his neck before slightly scoffing.
"Tch, if you say so then," Haruto gave a small shrug.
"Take it easy, alright?" Abigail gave Ina a supporting nod.
And then finally, the one person who was highly against her acceptance back into the group and the one person Ina was noticeably most nervous about. Mimi was next to step forward, but the expression on her face was far from welcoming.
"...You're back in the group," Mimi folded her arms, not even bothering to look at Ina's apologetic face. "But that doesn't mean I have to forgive you for what you did. Nor does that mean I'll ever forgive you for it, either…"
Ina opened her mouth to say something but instead kept silent. It was understandable. She masterminded the plot that got Yuumi and Mayu killed. Except, Mimi wasn't the only one who lost someone in that situation. She did too. At least, that was what she wanted to say.
But before she could say anything, she was reminded of another presence.
"And that's the way it should be."
…
Jared was sitting farther away from the group, watching most of them accept Ina back into the group as he fixed his tie. He had yet to contribute anything to this topic of discussion until now. But as soon as he stood up, he placed his hand over his back.
"So, now that we got that out of the way, let's start the Morning Meeting," Jared stepped up toward his fellow peers. He was immediately met with the most unhappy of expressions.
"Whoa whoa whoa," Haruto shook his head. "Like hell you're gonna start the Morning Meeting! You abandoned us to go play bad cop! Why the hell should we listen to you now?!"
"Isn't it obvious?" Jared directed an unsatisfied gaze toward Zuri. "Your last leader cost the lives of three people. Two of which didn't deserve to die for it. Not only that, but she also let one of those people steal the key and release an attempted murderer for their crime. Can you really trust someone like her to lead you?"
"...You have a point there," Arthur folded his arms. "But why should we choose you? You let two people die under your watch as well."
"True, but I did something Zuri hasn't," Jared tipped his hat down as he straightened himself up. "I took responsibility for it. And I'm going to continue to take responsibility for everything that happens from now on."
Jared shook his head before giving them a small smirk.
"Besides, Zuri said the position was free for me to take back if I ever decide to come back," Jared reminded. "Well? I'm back now, aren't I?"
"You really said that?" Abigail blankly stared at Zuri.
"Look, Jared," Zuri stood up. "I know I said what I said, but… I think I'll take back what I said. That leadership position isn't up for grabs anymore."
She was getting ready to take a stand toward this. After last night's conversation with Holland, she had a little more confidence that she could do this. After all, Holland believed in her! And she wasn't going to waste his belief at all! (Though, she did feel giddy for what they had ended up doing last night as well).
Jared raised an eyebrow.
"...And why not?" Jared frowned, disappointed. "Last time I saw you, it didn't even look like you wanted to be a leader. Now that you've allowed two murders to happen at once, suddenly you want it all to yourself. Fat chance."
"The reason I'm not letting anyone have it is because the only person I know here who wants it is you," Zuri held her ground.
Haruto wanted it but said nothing.
Arthur wanted it but said nothing.
Jared clenched his fist.
"Oh yeah?" Jared frowned. "And what's wrong with me?"
"What's wrong with you?" Zuri started to glare at the police officer. "Look at yourself! You've been getting out of hand recently! You're become an entirely different person from when we first met you! You've changed Jared! And you've changed into someone we don't even recognize! We want the old Jared back! The Jared that would do anything to make sure no one had any conflicts with anyone. The Jared who wanted to keep the peace."
Jared tipped his hat down, covering his eyes for just a moment before allowing his one visible eye to glower down toward the shorter Zuri.
"Yeah well…" Jared mumbled. "That Jared learned that in an environment like this, peaceful methods do nothing but delay a possibility. This Jared will make sure more people survive. Whatever it takes."
Zuri looked down.
So was this really it? Was Jared really going to be like this from now on? Was there really no way the old Jared could come back? The supportive Jared that would've worked together with them?
Zuri shook her head.
"And that's why I can't give my leadership position away," Zuri frowned. "I give us Hope. Hope is what we need to have that fighting spirit to move on. Not… more chaos and blood."
"...And eventually, you'll learn that Hope doesn't exist here," Jared responded. "Learn it the hard way, just as I have. And maybe then you'll start to see that my method is what's going to keep more people from dying."
"And what is your method?" Arthur questioned. "Try to shoot White Collar again? I'm sure he now has body armor to account for that."
Jared was about to respond before Holland cut in, remaining silent but also being slightly proud of Zuri's prowess at standing up to Jared.
"...Alright, I think that's enough conflict for one morning," Holland said. "Look, we lost three people last time: Maggie, Carter, and Barracuda. The most we can do is stop fighting and just relax. At least in remembrance for them…"
Mimi stopped glaring at Ina before sighing. Despite how much she lost her respect for Ina, Mimi had to agree with him. She remembered Barracuda's last words to her…
"It's alright Mimi," Barracuda tried his best to smile, a tear still trailing down his eyes. "J-Just… promise me… No more blood okay? No more killing. For… For me, Maggie and even Carter's sake. Okay?"
"B-Barracuda…?" Mimi looked absolutely hopeless.
"Yeah, you're right," Mimi timidly nodded her head. Her emotions grew wild whenever she thought about Barracuda. He truly didn't deserve to die. "That's what Barracuda would've wanted too…"
"...Fine," Jared shook his head. He had to admit that even Holland had a point, despite knowing full well that guy would support Zuri in a heartbeat. "Only out of respect for the dead."
Zuri sighed in relief.
Relieved for now at least. But that didn't mean that this was over. This feud that had been concocted between the two of them was just getting started. And Zuri was secretly starting to fear how far it would go.
…
Then a familiar voice rang throughout the Auditorium. It was something they all expected as it was the start of a new chapter. But at the same time, this was a voice they didn't want to hear, considering she did execute one of the dead they were trying to respect:
"Good morning prisoners," Monohebi announced. "Please. Come to the Auditorium within the next five minutes for a very special announcement from yours truly, White Collar. Attendance is mandatory. That is all."
"Well, that must mean new rooms opened up," Abigail noted. "Meaning, new chances to hopefully find a way out."
"Or maybe something worse," Jared pessimistically stated before heading off to the Auditorium. He still had to pass by there to head to Cell Block S and feign unlocking Cassandra out of her Cell. However, that did leave the question for him… where exactly was Cassandra, now?
(Auditorium)
If Jared could even guess where he would see Cassandra next time, he wouldn't have counted her being in the Auditorium for many reasons. It was too soon. It was too open. And yet here she was, leaning against the stage with a smug look on her face, as if she had just won first place for making it here first.
"W-What the–" Abigail narrowed her eyes. "Why are you out of your Cell?"
"Yeah!" Zuri looked at Cassandra, disapprovingly. "Jared locked you up last night! How did you get out?!"
"...You did lock her up, right?" Holland turned to Jared.
"Of course," Jared said, as a matter-of-factly, averting his gaze from anyone. "She should be locked up. Just like you and Ina were."
Though he was lying through his teeth, he expected this topic of discussion was going to come up at some point. He just didn't think it would be so soon. He hadn't even come up with a possible excuse for it just yet.
"Jesus Christ, are you guys that unhappy to see me?" Cassandra rolled her eyes.
There was something off about her this time. Something that was making her seem a little more high and mighty than she normally was. Confident about her position in this game. Jared especially could see it through that smug look on her face. His face started to look puzzled.
What exactly happened during Plan B?
"As a matter of fact, we are," Haruto grumbled. "You killed Maggie with full intent. You're more of a damn criminal than Holland and Ina ever were so you get your ass into Cell #66 right the fuck now!"
"Jeez, okay Dad," Cassandra scoffed before smirking. "But even if I should go back to that rusty Cell, I can't. Because remember what that snake said? Attendance is mandatory. So, whether you like it or not, I'm here and you guys are going to have to live with that!"
Jared wasn't the only one who noticed just how high, mighty, and confident she was this time around. Arthur noticed it too. He stepped forward with an icy glare.
"And why are you so confident?" Arthur asked. "You know after what White Collar and Monohebi have to announce, you're going back to that Cell…"
"I'm afraid not, Mister Kingston."
…
The voice of the sinister White Collar came out as creepily as he appeared himself. Walking forward with his cane to aid him, White Collar presented himself as professional as ever, especially with Monohebi slithering by his side obediently.
"No prisoner shall be able to stay the night in Cell #66…" White Collar stated. "Therefore, to be imprisoned in Cell #66 is now officially off the table."
"What do you mean, White Collar?" Mimi frowned toward the Devil himself. "Monohebi let us use Cell #66! Therefore, we should be able to use it as a prison cell for bad people like her! We have her permission to do so! …Right?"
"You did have permission," Monohebi confirmed. "That is correct."
"See?" Mimi nodded her head. "She just confirmed it right now! So why are you not allowing it anymore? It was her permission in the first place!"
"True, Miss La Vega," White Collar nodded his head. "You were all granted permission to do so, but at the same time, who is it that truly granted that permission in the first place? After all, Monohebi is only my spokesperson and enforcer of the rules…"
"So that means, the permission was granted by you, yourself," Ina deduced.
"Good to have you back on board with us Miss Hanamura," White Collar bowed, appreciatively. "Frontlining as the Ultimate Revolutionary should…"
"And as the Ultimate Revolutionary, you know that now that I am back from my moment of distress, I will stop at nothing to destroy the game you hold so dear," Ina declared.
"Ha…" White Collar chuckled slightly. "As I said, it is good to have you back on board with us, Miss Hanamura."
"Okay, but as far as the permissions go," Abigail veered the conversation back on track. "That's it then? You're just revoking it? Are you really that desperate to see how we'll go about things now that we have an actual murderer living among us?"
"Oh my," White Collar shook his head. "You seem to be mistaken with my reasons. I'm not revoking those permissions because I want a good show. I do, but that's far from it."
"Then why can we no longer use Cell #66 as an actual holding cell?" Arthur directed his question, seriously.
"Because it's much too dangerous now," White Collar suddenly stated, leaning forward as he pointed his cane toward the remaining nine prisoners.
…
What White Collar had said shocked the complaining prisoners in silence. Cell #66 was too dangerous now. What did he mean by that?
"Too… dangerous?" Jared blinked. "What do you mean?"
White Collar remained silent for a moment before chuckling to himself. It almost seemed like he was deep in thought about something.
"Obviously, every time you sinners successfully finish a Trial, Monohebi and I courteously unlock new areas for you to explore," White Collar explained before extending his arms out. "Today, Monohebi and I did just that! We unlocked a new area. Specifically, the rest of Cell Block S!"
"The rest–?" Haruto blinked. "The fuck? There was more to that section?"
"Of course," White Collar nodded. "You'd think we would give you a Cell Block with just one tiny room to explore? Heavens no. That'd be useless. But fortunately, you managed to make some use of that tiny room while Monohebi prepared to officially open its doors… or rather… clear out those pesky boulders."
That's right.
Most of the prisoners realized what he meant now.
...A long dark corridor with a minimum of light shining through the darkness. It was dim. The only light source they had was the red-tinted light source attached to the left side of the wall, and even then, the prisoners would have had to adjust their eyes to see the path ahead of them more clearly. Once their eyes did adjust themselves, they would note that at the end of the hall was a bunch of boulders and rocks, as if this specific pathway had been caved in. In fact, the only thing of note was the open room on the right.
There was a flickering light source coming from within the room, flickering as if baiting the prisoners to investigate it. The door was wide-open, and it also seemed to have an eHandbook reader viciously torn from its wiring. In fact, what was left of it was the reader holding onto dear life with three of the wires still attached to it. And the smell. The humid air. It was enough to make some of the prisoners cough or tear up, like they were underneath a cave system and not within the fresh ventilation that was provided to them in other parts of the prison facility.
"Th-This is Cell Block S?" Zuri looked a little creeped out.
"Yeah, and the S probably stands for Shit," Haruto grumbled. "This place is worse than Ina's currently fucking burnt down cell... Er. No offense, Ina."
"None taken," Ina rubbed her arms as she looked away.
"It looks like the end of this hallway has been blocked," Maggie tapped her chin. "Which means, the only place worth of note has to be... This room to the side."
"You're saying those boulders are cleared away now?" Zuri widened her eyes.
"See for yourself," White Collar nodded to her before gesturing to Monohebi.
On cue, everyone's eHandbooks pinged to notify everyone that their map had just been updated with new information: an entire section that was previously blocked off was now open for them to explore. Frankly, they would've thought that the locked room on the right of the Basement Floor entrance would've been the new location but this worked too!
"Cell Block S…" Jared murmured. "There was more to it than we realized."
"But wait, how does this relate to Cell #66 being dangerous?" Mimi asked. In fact, lately she's been asking the real good questions!
"Glad you asked, Miss La Vega," White Collar bowed his head. "In the process of moving those boulders, there was a little accident that resulted in a gas leak inside Cell #66. Until the air is cleared inside, we cannot permit anyone to use Cell #66 for anything. And, to prevent anyone from leaking the gas back into Cell Block S, I will have to ask Mister Caertas for the Cell #66 key back… please."
Jared paused for a moment before complying. He handed back the key to White Collar. Since Cell #66 was no longer going to be usable, he supposed it was for the best. His mission was to get as many people out alive. Not get everyone killed…
And as Jared did what White Collar asked him to, Arthur remembered something that Monohebi had mentioned regarding the gas leaks…
"Monohebi, what is the bloody meaning of this?" Arthur frowned. "Cell Block S should be behind this door right there."
Arthur pointed toward the door on the left.
"Yet…" Arthur continued, his irritated look never wavering. "...The door is inactive. Why?"
Monohebi blinked before sidewinding toward the door that should lead to Cell Block S. Then she nodded as if she had remembered just exactly why it hadn't opened yet.
"Ah yes," Monohebi stated. "Master White Collar told me to open this door tomorrow. Apparently, there has been a gas leak within the entire Cell Block, so we need time to remove the toxic fumes."
"A gas leak?" Cassandra deadpanned. "Seriously? How did that even happen?"
"...I am not at liberty to disclose that information just yet," Monohebi merely stated. "For now, if you wish to investigate Cell Block S, come back tomorrow."
"So, I take it back then, the way you contained the gas leak was by blocking the rest of Cell Block S off completely," Arthur deduced. "I suppose that's how Cell #66 ended up infected."
"Hydrogen sulfide," White Collar shook his head. "Such an annoyance to the momentum of this Killing Game."
"And I take it, you were the ones who freed Cassandra as well?" Ina questioned.
"We freed her before Monohebi tried to open up Cell Block S," White Collar answered, placing a finger over his mask's sinister grin. "Wouldn't want something bad happening on the first day of the next round, now would we?"
Cassandra eyed White Collar closely before smirking to herself. He had just lied. And clearly, this story about some gas leak was probably some bullshit cover-up to get her out of Cell #66. After all, there was no way for her to uphold her end of the bargain if Arthur was out here and she was locked in there.
She silently chuckled to herself.
She couldn't believe how serious White Collar was about all this.
How White Collar would go so far to break his own rules… just to get her to kill Arthur Kingston. Frankly, she was more curious as to why at the moment…
…
With the explanation out of the way, White Collar extended out his arms once again, his mask grinning once again.
"Now then," White Collar declared. "This is all I wish to announce! Go forth and explore the rest of Cell Block S to your hearts' content! I know some of you were very curious to see what was beyond that pile of rubble… And now you finally can…"
Technically, no.
No one thought about what was beyond Cell Block S once. But now that he had given them the opportunity, it was time to see what kind of wonders they would find. What interesting rooms they might find themselves into.
"Now then, Monohebi, it is time to take our leave," White Collar declared.
"...Of course, Master," Monohebi tipped her head, obediently. Her jagged eyes never waded from Cassandra, however. She hissed silently before following White Collar to disappear off elsewhere.
And of course, that was everyone else's cue to start checking out what awaits in them in Cell Block S!
(Cell Block S)
As the remaining nine prisoners (reluctant as mostly all of them didn't really want to have Cassandra investigating these places with them), headed down into Cell Block S, they saw that White Collar was indeed telling the truth. First off, Cell #66 was wrapped in police tape, wooden boards, and a crudely drawn 'Out of Order' sign, much like the Prison Lounge and the Ultimate Revolutionary's Cell.
And if those hadn't been fixed any time soon, then who knows how long the supposed gas inside this room would be cleared out.
Next, was the path up ahead. Sure enough, as White Collar had told them, the boulders that were once there were now cleared away, allowing the remaining nine prisoners to move forward. Without much of a choice now, the prisoners looked amongst each other and pressed forward, allowing the dim red lights to be their guide…
…
That was when they reached a branching pathway. One continued straight. The other path faced left.
Arthur was the first to check his eHandbook.
"Hmph," Arthur noted. "It says here that there are three rooms in this left path. And one large room up ahead with a smaller room inside it."
"Guess this is where we're gonna split off then, huh?" Haruto gave a firm nod. "Abs. You wanna join me in checking out the big room?"
"I thought I told you not to call me that," Abigail yawned profusely. She felt herself getting a little dazed. Seems like the sleeping problem has gotten a little worse, but she shook it off, allowing herself to join Haruto's side.
"Er, if it's a large room, I want to come too," Mimi declared. "If you guys don't mind, of course!"
"More the merrier," Haruto gave her a thumbs-up. "Think you can go and activate Lumos while you're at it?"
"I can try!" Mimi beamed, looking a little peppy at the mention of that spell.
"Meet us back in the Cafeteria after you're done," Jared tipped his hat, taking his chance to exact orders. "We'll compare notes."
"Yeah yeah yeah," Haruto rolled his eyes. "Don't gotta tell us twice."
Clearly, he wasn't fond of Jared trying to take back control. Zuri wasn't either, since that was literally what she was about to say. Too bad Jared was faster. She pouted to herself, feeling a little overshadowed by Jared's presence. She clenched her fists but felt a warm hand wrap over hers in assurance.
She took a breath and sighed in relief.
Holland was still by her side. That was good.
"Let's get going and check this path then," Zuri took charge next, giving firm nods to the rest of the group. "Three rooms must mean there might be some Ultimate Cells straight ahead. And Ina should have the Advantage to unlock the ones that might belong to some of our old… friends, right?"
"Correct," Ina nodded her head. "I will do what I must."
Then together, the group of six ventured forward, with Jared and Zuri sharing a notable negative glance toward one another…
When the group of six traversed farther down the left path, eventually they would come to an end. An end with three rooms as Arthur had noticed on the map. One room in front. One room on the right. One room on the left. All of them seem to hold something big behind those doors.
Speaking of doors, the first door Ina opened was the door in front of them. The door in the middle of the three different doors on each side of the wall. And the moment the door opened; a chilly wind spilled through.
A chilly wind?
This was something Arthur was all too familiar with. He couldn't even help but smile at the conclusion he came to.
"This door in front of us must be my Ultimate Cell," Arthur smirked to himself.
"No shit," Cassandra rolled her eyes, hugging her arms due to how cold it was making the rest of the place feel. "What other Ultimate Cells would instantly make me wish I was at the hot springs right now?"
"Maybe there's warmth in these other locked rooms," Zuri noted, gesturing to the locked rooms on the left and right side of this path. Noting that they were all still very much locked and the fact that they had working eHandbooks by their side, Zuri turned to Ina. "Er, Ina. If you can?"
"On it," Ina nodded.
Stepping forward to take out her eHandbook, she unlocked both the left and right doors as well, before glancing back toward her peers.
"Now, who will investigate what room?" Ina asked.
"Is it not obvious that you and I will investigate my own Ultimate Cell?" Arthur seemed a little chippier at the thought of what he might find behind his Ultimate Cell.
There was already snow and that familiar hint of a winter wind. Things were looking to be a great start for his Cell, at least in his humble opinion!
"...Zuri and I will check this right one," Holland took one small peek at what was inside the right door before giving a small nod. "...I'm sure she'll be very happy with what she finds."
"Ah!" Zuri gasped. "You don't mean…"
"Guess that leaves Cassandra with me, then," Jared stated, shaking his head. Actually, he wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Almost as if they had planned this particular grouping perfectly. "We'll check out the left one."
"Can you at least sound happy when saying that?" Cassandra rolled her eyes.
With the rooms determined and the groups settled, the pairs ventured off into their respective cells that they said they were going to investigate…
(Locker Room)
When Arthur and Ina entered the door leading to Arthur's supposed cell, the first thing they came across was a metallic and cold locker room. Winter jackets and assorted mittens were hung on situated coat racks on the left while snowboards of different designs were neatly stationed on the right. Underneath the coat racks with the winter jackets were of course snow boots, in order to wander through what was up ahead much easier.
There were also benches situated around for an easier time to get those boots on.
What was up ahead?
An open door that seemed to have stopped in the middle of closing. One could easily access what was beyond the door, but it was the door itself that was rather peculiar. Ina was the first to point it out in confusion.
"What is up with this door?" Ina asked. "It seemed to be in the process of closing but then somehow got stuck. Or rather, maybe it shut down?"
"Simpler than that, actually," Arthur surmised as the revolutionary turned to her half-brother. "The door is merely frozen. The extreme colds mixed with these metal doors must've caused the door to malfunction before it could even begin to close."
"That does make sense," Ina nodded. "You must be happy to see your Ultimate Cell."
"Happy?" Arthur raised an eyebrow as he worked to place on the snow boots and a winter jacket. "Not at all."
He grabbed the nearest snowboard he could find and entered through the next door…
(Ultimate Snowboarder's Cell)
"I AM BLOODY ECSTATIC!" Arthur couldn't stop himself from grinning as he snowboarded down a steep hill.
Ina, who was also dressed in a spare winter jacket and snow boots, watched in amazement at this entirely different side of Arthur she never thought she would ever see. In fact, it was so different, it was almost kind of scary…
Everything past the Locker Room was much bigger than she could have imagined. The entire room was enveloped in three inches of snow. In fact, the entire room was basically one big snowboarding arena, complete with a small makeshift hill to snowboard off of as well as a working chair lift to take someone to the top of said hill. To the right of the Cell's actual entrance was what appeared to be a snow machine and overall, the room was pretty bright.
As bright as the whiteness of the snow could bring, the room was also filled with decor that most snowboarding resorts would have including makeshift trees with nye a leaf in sight. A couple of snowmen sit calmly in different parts of the room and of course, a snow castle that was somehow built to be able to function as its own snowboarding area.
Also, to note was a security camera watching the entire area from the far-left corner of the room as well as large ventilations located on the top of the ceiling.
"It is like a miniature golf course but for snowboarding," Ina blinked. "That is…"
"Fantastic?" Arthur's face, which was normally so cold and reserved for nothing but malice and seriousness, became so lighthearted and absolutely filled with joy, it was almost as if he had been living through his childhood all over again. "I couldn't agree with you more!"
"I was about to say, peculiar," Ina remained the serious one in this back-and-forth. "How could White Collar and Monohebi have made this possible?"
"No doubt with that snow machine over there," Arthur gestured to the snow machine.
Ina blinked at what Arthur had stated before turning to the snow machine itself. She supposed it was best to examine this right away. Compared to everything else in the room, this was perhaps the most important thing as it could have been the only thing that made all this possible.
Upon closer inspection, the most peculiar thing about it was a dial as well as the options it was currently set to and what it can be set to.
Off.
Mild.
Medium.
Extreme.
Currently, it was set to Off. That meant that the machine was turned off. But you knew that anyway, right?
In curiosity, Ina decided to try turning the dial, setting the current settings to Mild. Though someone reading this might joke about setting the settings to Extreme, I will say, Ina is much smarter than that and has considered the off chance that it might cause a blizzard. Therefore, Ina would rather set it to the smaller settings first.
Once she did, the machine turned on, allowing a small sprinkle of snow to flow out of the machine and into the air.
"So, this must be how they pulled this off," Ina nodded. "And the higher the dial is turned; the more snow emits from this machine."
"I believe the reason this is even here is that on the off chance the snow in this room melts," Arthur surmised. "One could replenish the snow with the machine. A good way to keep my Ultimate Cell as perfect as it needs to be."
"You really like the snow, do you not, dear half-brother?" Ina raised an eyebrow toward Arthur.
"As the Ultimate Snowboarder, how could I not?" Arthur smirked. "I've been waiting a long time to come across this Ultimate Cell for this very reason. And it is much better than expected."
Arthur couldn't help but chuckle to himself.
"The irony is, I wouldn't mind staying here if not for the fact we were trapped in this Killing Game thanks to that demon…" Arthur noted.
"Yes, demon," Ina glanced away.
That reminded her of what she had to admit to herself. Demon half-brother or not, it did feel really nice to have someone that actually cared for her. Cared enough to talk to her and act as if she was family.
She had that friend in Mayu, but Arthur was something different.
Something she certainly didn't expect.
"Would you like to join me in snowboarding, Ina?" Arthur held out his hand for his younger half-sister. "I will teach you all the tricks that I know."
"Join you?" Ina blinked. "In snowboarding? Er, I am afraid that we do not have time to engage in activities such as that."
"Says who?" Arthur flipped his blue hair to the side with a cocky smile. "The way I see it is more of a bonding session between brother and sister."
"Half," Ina corrected, rubbing her arms.
"Yes yes," Arthur shrugged. "Come on. It wouldn't hurt to take the lift up and then down that hill with me, would it?"
Ina stopped to consider the question.
"That was rhetorical," Arthur bluntly responded to her silence.
"Rhetorical or not, there are many ways one could get hurt to take the lift up and then down a hill with Arthur Kingston," Ina remarked. "For starters, I could get pushed off the lift. Or I could end up rolling down the hill and snap my neck… Or…"
"I feel as though I am being rejected," Arthur folded his arms, slightly disappointed. "Very well, if you insist. I won't force you to join me. But that doesn't mean I'll let you stop me from doing this by myself."
"A-Arthur!" Ina blinked. "You're still going to snowboard even though we should be investigating these new rooms?"
"Of course!" Arthur smirked, pulling down the snow goggles that came with the jacket. "I'll see you back down this hill, dear sister!"
"Half," Ina corrected.
Much to her chagrin, Arthur had already hopped onto the lift and was slowly being carried up to the top of the snowy hill, leaving Ina to investigate the rest of this room all by herself. Shaking her head at how immature the usually serious Arthur was, she supposed every half-brother had that fun side they often keep secluded to themselves.
So, she moved forward to explore the other parts of the Cell.
…
The first part she headed to were the snowmen situated near the makeshift trees in the far-left corner. This was also where the unmoving security camera was as well.
Ina tapped her chin in thought as she examined one of the snowmen clo-
"SISTER, I'M UP HERE!" Arthur called out to her as giddy as a schoolboy on the chairlift. "HELLO THERE!"
The sudden yelling from her demon half-brother made her jump, knocking over the snowman's head.
"A-Arthur!" Ina stomped her feet on the ground in irritation. "I know you are up there! There was no need to surprise me like that!"
Ina grumbled obscenities to herself. She was related to that?
This new side of Arthur was beginning to irritate her. And he had irritated her enough. But alas, she also had to admit that he had proven how much he really did care about her. Perhaps having a family really was too much of a hassle.
With a sigh, she balled up some snow and tried to replace the head that she had accidentally toppled down, piling up snow onto the visible yellow hard insides of the body. Ina grimaced slightly upon seeing this. Someone had taken yellow snow to the extreme. Shaking her head, Ina crudely replaced the head and moved on to something else…
…
That something else was the snow castle, located on the right side of the Snowboarder's Cell, which was also noticeably a long climb up and a half. Though there were no decorations of anything inside the castle or anything like that. After all, no one had time to put up ice sculptures or paintings like that, right?
Without much else to look at, Ina walked up on the snowy blocks of stairs on the castle before she ultimately reached the top. Looking from the top of the castle, she noticed that there was an area where someone could snowboard off of, as well as a clear view of the top of the hill that Arthur was currently snowboarding off of.
Speaking of which…
"WOOOOOOOOOO!"
Ina blankly watched Arthur reach the bottom of the hill. She shook her head. She supposed a lot of things but the new thing she was supposing was that her brother's inner demon was actually all of this positive spirit.
Seriously. This needed to be exorcized.
…
Arthur took off his snow-filled snow goggles and sighed in relief as Ina met up with her half-brother. He seemed to be filled with adrenaline that was absolutely powering his enjoyment of his Ultimate Cell.
"What a rush!" Arthur exclaimed, extending his arms out. "You certainly missed out, dear sister, I'll tell you that much! Did you perhaps find anything odd here?"
"Aside from the fact that everything else here is pure decoration, the only thing odd here was you," Ina bluntly stated.
"Ouch," Arthur winced in pain. "Come on now. You didn't think I'd always be the serious older brother now, did you? I have to let loose once in a while."
"Half," Ina corrected once again. "And I suppose you do but please 'let loose' when I am not around. It is… uncomfortable to see…"
"Silly Ina," Arthur shook his head in amusement. "Very well, then. If there is nothing here, I suppose we shall return here another time."
"No one said I will be joining you here again!" Ina turned back to Arthur with a flustered look on her face.
Needless to say, half-siblings had a momentous time together...
(Ultimate Bassist's Cell)
While Ina and Arthur did their thing in the Ultimate Snowboarder Cell, things weren't any different in the newly discovered Ultimate Bassist's Cell. Especially since Zuri was absolutely ecstatic to see that this new Cell belonged to her!
"Oh my gosh," Zuri gasped. "It's my Ultimate Cell! And are those bass guitars? Holland! This place is amazing!"
Holland stepped on a piece of gravel.
"...Could use a little sprucing up," Holland noted.
The Ultimate Bassist's Cell was a large cell with two rooms. The first room would be the room they would find themselves entering in. It was a room with a soundboard situated on a table facing the window of the Cell's sideroom. Complete with the soundboard was a microphone, a mixer, and a pair of headphones. There was also a security camera at the far left corner of the room as well as ventilations located on the ceiling. And of course, the kick of it all was that there were bass guitars aligned accordingly against the wall, right by a couple of chairs and couches, underneath where the security camera was: four of them in fact all with a palm leaf insignia on them and ranging in four different colors.
Green.
Blue.
Red.
Yellow.
In fact, this meant that the Bassist's Cell was one big recording studio for–
Pause.
Zuri's ecstatic nature came to a screeching halt as she stared at the bass guitars. Her look was replaced with solemness as she bit her finger. There was no doubt that Holland wouldn't have noticed this.
"...You alright, Zuri?" Holland stepped toward Zuri and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"H-Huh?" Zuri blinked before looking down. "Truthfully, Holland. No. I'm sorry. Just staring at these guitars kind of brought back memories of my friends. I mean, these are…"
"...Dream Palm, right?" Holland remembered the name of her band.
Zuri looked up toward Holland with a small smile.
"You remembered the name of my band," Zuri's smile slowly fell down as she thought about her friends once again. "But yeah. These colors on the guitar. They're supposed to represent the members of the band."
Her fingers slowly trailed against one of the guitars, touching each colored bass guitar accordingly:
"Red for Laurel," Zuri listed. "Yellow for Venessa. And blue for…"
Hana.
"Green is your color then?" Holland perked his head slightly.
"I mean, what other color would it be?" Zuri tried her best to chuckle as she gestured to her clothing. She sighed slightly. "I miss them so much…"
Zuri looked down. It was clear she was homesick. Actually, 'homesick' was a bad term since she was technically being held here out of her own volition, meaning she just wanted out to see her friends again. And of course, Holland understood that feeling well. Not a day went by that he wished he could see his mother again…
Holland moved his hand to Zuri's left shoulder so he could wrap her in a comforting embrace. Zuri felt the warmth of his body and coddled up to it, taking as much of that comforting feeling as she could.
"...You'll get out to see them again," Holland assured her. "I promise."
"Thanks Holland," Zuri smiled sweetly toward the game designer, pecking him on the chin.
Holland froze slightly. He wasn't expecting that at all. Should he return it? Or should he just continue holding Zuri close to him like this? His face burned in embarrassment as Zuri giggled lightly at his reaction.
She sighed slowly, but this time it wasn't as solemn as it was before.
"But you know what's the funny thing about this guitar display?" Zuri asked.
"...What's that?" Holland tried to hide his red face from the bassist.
"Laurel and Venessa don't even play the guitar," Zuri chuckled. "So, these bass guitars aren't kind of accurate to our band at all."
Holland remained silent as the two held their position. Holland kept hugging Zuri as the bassist rested her head onto his arms. They stared at the bass guitar display as if it were a painting at the local art museum.
Eventually, though, Holland broke the silence within their peculiar embrace.
"...You know, I would actually like to listen to you play one of these, some time," Holland told her. "You talk so much about being in a band that I… I kind of really want to listen to you."
"Well, if you want to listen to me, you'll have to wait till I get reunited with the rest of the Dream Palm," Zuri smiled sweetly toward him.
"...No no, that's not what I meant," Holland released her and rubbed the side of his cheek in slight embarrassment. Of course, his eyes and mouth remained stagnant, but it was clear he was trying hard not to show anything. "I just want to hear you and only you… Like a soloist."
"Huh?" Zuri blinked. Now it was her turn to get embarrassed. "O-Oh! W-Wait. But that might be slightly impossible. B-Because I'm a bassist so my job is to set the tempo and not you know, be the lead and y'know…"
Holland rubbed the back of his neck. Ah, that's right. She was the bassist. But what about that humming last night? It sounded like…
"...I see," was what Holland settled with instead. Perhaps he was mistaken about his assumptions.
Zuri noticed the slight disappointment in his voice. She felt a little bad. Holland was giving her all this support about taking a lead and yet here she was, trying to backtrack from that…
"Y-You know, there is… just one thing…" Zuri twiddled her fingers. "It isn't very good but it's something I've worked on by myself."
"Oh?" Holland blinked. "I… I wouldn't mind hearing that one… If you're comfortable with it, that is."
"O-Okay, I'll do it," Zuri squeezed her own cheeks together as she tried to remain confident about what she was thinking about doing. "But you're going to have to give me time to practice, okay? I haven't touched a bass guitar for a while because of us being locked up in here."
"A-Ah, o-okay," Holland blinked. He was relatively surprised but at the same time, very content with what he was hearing.
It was certainly progress to see Zuri become a little confident to show some of her own works rather than the work of an entire group she'd like to hide behind. In a way, to see her adamantly tell him that she needed practice… well… It was cute.
…Was he allowed to peck her on the forehead now?
Holland wasn't sure! He didn't know the proper timing for this!
So, the conversation was left at that and the two continued to search around the Cell.
…
That was when the interest directed themselves to the Bassist's Cell's sideroom.
It was due to the fact that Holland and Zuri had checked out the other most important thing in the room: the soundboard and mixer that led them to discover that the sideroom seemed to be nothing more than your classic recording booth. Speakers were connected within the top left and right corners, and it had heavily padded walls, meaning the sound booth should also be very soundproof.
"Wow, this place even has a sound booth as well!" Zuri gasped. "I suppose I can use the inside of this area to practice."
"...But the sound booth is soundproof," Holland pointed out. "Has to be thanks to the padding…"
"Er, well yeah," Zuri blinked. "That's how sound booths work. What's wrong with that?"
"...I won't be able to hear to you practice," Holland bluntly stated.
"H-Holland, p-please!" Zuri blushed furiously. "I– I won't let you hear anything from me until it's perfect!"
Holland merely nodded his head. Though his face was stoic, it was clear he was getting amused teasing the girl like this.
But all jokes aside, Holland walked up closer to the soundboard and mixer to examine them. Though, as he was a game designer and not a music techwiz, he wasn't sure how exactly to turn this on, or to get it to function to be exact.
"...Huh, how exactly does this…" Holland murmured to himself.
"Oh," Zuri beamed, as he walked over to the game designer to help. "That's easy. Firstly, you need to make sure the soundboard is turned on."
Zuri turned it on by pushing up a few buttons. As soon as she did so, a flash of red appeared from above the entrance to the Cell's sideroom. It was the classic sign every sound booth would have where one word would be imprinted on it: LIVE.
"Now that it's live, that means whatever happens in that room will come out through these headphones," Zuri smiled. "And all that's really left to do is press record and once the recording is finished, you use this mixer to put in all kinds of sound effects or reverb you'd like!"
"Huh, it sounds like you've done this a lot…" Holland noted.
"I have!" Zuri giggled. "It's really fun! And I suppose it's also a perk of being the bassist since this helps me figure out whether we were on beat during our recording."
"...Maybe you can demonstrate?" Holland asked.
"Demonstrate what?" Zuri blinked.
"Whether this thing works," Holland stoically stated. "I'll wear the headphones and you go inside and play a bass guitar…"
"H-Holland!" Zuri blushed. "I– I told you I still need to practice! A-And you're not hearing anything from me until I do! I can't believe all that was a setup to try to get me to play something for you! I'm ashamed in you!"
"...Hey, it was worth a shot," Holland amusingly said.
"You are such a tease," Zuri looked away with a slight pout.
…
The next thing Holland and Zuri did was now check out the inside of the sound booth, which wasn't much different than what they had seen outside. Only difference was that now they could make out the little details:
There was a stool.
There was another microphone.
And there were wires and cords connected to the walls to presumably connect to the soundboard and mixer.
Aside from that, nothing else very interesting to…
"...I want to test something," Holland rubbed his chin.
"This better not be an elaborate trick just to get me to sing for you," Zuri crossed her arms and pouted.
"...Please, I would never do something like that," Holland bluntly denied.
"B-But you did it twice!" Zuri looked flustered. "H-Holland! Stop teasing me!"
Holland shook his head in amusement once again. Although he wasn't sure about when to pursue the more intimate moments, Holland had to admit that after the two admitted their feelings for one another and did the thing, it had been a little easier to have a little fun with the girl.
It was something that even made Holland blush. After all, he was making the cutest girl he knew much cuter.
"Sorry, sorry," Holland nodded toward her. "...You make it easy. And I guess I also can't help myself either. But don't worry, this isn't about that this time. I wanted to test if this room really is soundproof."
"Oh, how are we going to test that?" Zuri blinked.
"...By singing-" Holland was about to joke before Zuri slapped him across the arm with another blush. "A-Ah… I was kidding!"
…
In the end, Zuri forced Holland into the sound booth to make some noise. And because the soundboard was turned on, the only sound she ever heard from the sound booth was from the headphones.
This meant one thing.
"And there we have it," Zuri smiled. "The sound booth is soundproof. The only way anyone can hear what goes in there is through the headphones!"
"...I don't see how forcing me to make monkey noises was the ideal way to figure that out," Holland looked embarrassed.
"Payback," Zuri folded her arms with a sly smirk.
"Hmph, fine…" Holland relented with a shrug. "I guess you got me there…"
The two awkwardly stared at each other for a moment before they both decided to glance away in embarrassment. Their faces turned red as they both chuckled. Who knew that somewhere in the middle of a Killing Game, their relationship would turn into this…?
Nevertheless, Holland held out a hand for Zuri to hold.
"...Guess it's time to head back to the Cafeteria?" Holland asked.
Zuri blinked before she shyly nodded her head and took his hand, holding it tightly.
"Yeah, let's go," her face was still red. Maybe even redder than before.
But nevertheless, together, hand-in-hand, they exited the Ultimate Bassist's Cell.
(Ultimate Supermodel's Cell)
"Well, this room didn't age well."
That was the first thing Cassandra said when she and Jared entered the newly discovered Ultimate Supermodel's Cell. Maggie's Cell. The Cell of the person she had murdered. It was just a cruel reminder of what she had to do to get almost everything she wanted. Key word being almost because well…
Things didn't go exactly as planned last night.
"But hey, this room is much cleaner than she was, hah!" Cassandra shook her head with a smirk. "Am I right?"
She turned to Jared before noticing his straight, serious expression.
"Alright, I get it," Cassandra sighed, shaking her head. "That was a little cruel of me. A little shitty of me to talk about human life like that. Yeah, yeah. No need to berate me. I get it."
Jared remained silent as he examined the Ultimate unkno- Wait. We know her talent now. As he examined the Ultimate Scam Artist closely.
"...Hey, Jared," Cassandra raised an eyebrow, slightly concerned. "You alright? Cat got your tongue or–"
"What the hell is going on here?" Jared asked.
"...What do you mean?" Cassandra blinked. She knew exactly what he meant.
"You know exactly what I mean," Jared tipped his hat down.
Cassandra paused. Yep, he was talking about that.
"...Look, I don't want to talk about it," Cassandra folded her arms. "I'm trying to move past everything last night. So, let's just investigate this area and get on with the rest of the day, alright?"
Jared didn't say anything else. He contemplated Cassandra's suggestion actually. While he would love to know more about what went wrong with Plan B and why this Killing Game was still going on, the most important thing was investigating this Cell first and foremost. Afterwards, he can interrogate this girl all he wants.
"...Fine," Jared tipped his hat up.
Sighing in relief, Cassandra turned with Jared to check out the Ultimate Supermodel's Cell.
The Ultimate Supermodel's Cell was a rather large cell with its most notable feature being the fashion runway protruding out from the middle part of the back wall. Posters of different unique clothes were crudely taped against the wall and although most fashion stages were bright and welcoming, most of the lightbulbs for this stage were dim and in ruin. Almost as if this place was abandoned. There were also stacks of chairs neatly leaning against the right wall as well as a security camera situated on the bottom left corner of the room (basically to the left of the entrance) as well as ventilations on the ceiling.
Also, to note were two doors that were situated by both sides of the stage.
"Those doors must lead to more of this Ultimate Cell," Jared stated. "Because the only thing of note here is the runway. Honestly, not really interesting."
"Clearly, someone here doesn't give a damn about fashion," Cassandra smirked. "Especially since the only thing you seem to wear is that damn police uniform."
"Oh yeah?" Jared lowered his hat. "And what about you? With that emo-punk get-up you have going on here?"
"Emo?" Cassandra looked offended. "If anyone here's the emo, it's you with that ridiculous haircut!"
"That's how I like my hair," it was the police officer's turn to be offended by Cassandra's comments as he instinctively fixed his hair to cover his eye. "You're just jealous."
"Jealous that you have Abbygail's hairstyle?" Cassandra scoffed. "Fuck no!"
"Hey, if that's not the reason why you keep messing up Abigail's name on purpose then what is the reason anyway?" Jared asked.
Cassandra paused.
That question came out of left field. She really didn't expect that. She scoffed it off. That wasn't really a subject she wanted to get into at the moment, but it was definitely a subject that killed their little banter.
And Cassandra was having so much fun with it too.
"Let's just go check out where these doors lead," Cassandra sighed bitterly.
Jared said nothing as he eyed her down. Then in compliance, he followed behind her to the left door beside the runway.
…
When Jared and Cassandra entered the door, they would find that there was indeed more of the Ultimate Supermodel's Cell. For starters, this room was behind the main staging area of the Cell which meant that it was connected to the runway. On the right were a small set of steps to lead up to the main stage. Everything else here was basically a large dressing room, complete with makeup products of varying kinds, formal dresses hung onto moveable clothing racks as well as mannequins that wore some of the more unique and flamboyant clothing. Sewing needles were also stabbed into them.
"Now this is more like it," Cassandra smirked before frowning at some sort of gothic lolita clothing. "This, not so much. Clip-on hair drills? Really?"
As Cassandra complained and admired some of the clothing wear in this Dressing Room portion, Jared checked out some of the makeup products that were situated on each dresser. They included hairspray, some mascara, lipstick, and a bunch of foundations of varying shades of brown.
"'Je Suis L'Belle'," Jared read out the name of the hairspray he held. "'Change your hair color in an instant'. Tch, sounds like something the yokai of Japanese culture would be into."
Jared turned the hairspray over and noticed a warning sign plastered on the back.
"'Warning: This product is not to be consumed'..." Jared paused before placing the hairspray back. "Well obviously."
"Hey, what other ones are there?" Cassandra asked after she had stopped admiring the winter formal dresses on display. She had walked over to Jared to examine the makeup products as well, before her eye caught onto the mascara.
"Oh, 'Morphogenetic Mascara'," Cassandra read the label of the products. "'Developed by Cradle Pharmaceuticals. Warning: This product is not to be consumed'... Hey, do all these makeup products have that same warning?"
Jared decided to check. He looked through each product that the dressers would supply. This included Smoochum (a lipstick brand), the Enoshima Makeup Starter Kit, and of course, everyone's favorite, Chase's Cologne "1 out of 1000 ways to get the girls to chase after you!" Behind each of those products were the same warning label:
Warning: This product is not to be consumed.
"Yep," Jared concluded. "They all have the same warning. Which makes me wonder who would be stupid enough to eat these things that they would be forced to put those warning labels on them."
"Actually, it's not as weird as when you think of it like this," Cassandra smirked. "White Collar was the one who put those warning labels on them."
"...You have a point," Jared couldn't deny that. "Probably just to let people know that these things are actual poisons and can be used as weapons."
"So, you're going to lock them up in the Evidence Room?" Cassandra raised an eyebrow as she took the Smoochum lipstick brand and twirled it around.
"Even if I did, someone is going to find some way to get in and get what they need for the next murder," Jared stated. "After last time, yeah no. Locking potentially dangerous weapons in my Evidence Room isn't going to work anymore…"
"Fair enough," Cassandra shrugged. "I was going to say it would be a waste of time so glad you agree with me."
"But that doesn't mean I won't also try to keep track of what's missing and what's not," Jared folded his arms together. "So, if you're thinking about killing another person via poisoning, well, you have another thing coming."
"Please, I got my prize," Cassandra rolled her eyes. "There's no need for me to kill another person with money on their heads. No need for me to risk my own life like that too."
"Fair point," Jared sighed. "But I am watching you."
"Yeah, yeah, sure thing leader," Cassandra waved it off.
She had to note that despite her having actually killed someone, Jared was a little more lenient on her than compared to the other attempted murderers. Most likely due to her involvement in what Plan B was. But they were reaching the end of their investigation in Maggie's Ultimate Cell, meaning Jared was going to ask her about last night.
What would her response be?
…
Jared and Cassandra had previously entered through the door on the left, so it was best to check the door on the right. And what they found was…
…Pretty much the dressing room again.
And just like the left entrance, there was a small set of stairs to lead up to the main runway. So, in reality, the Dressing Room was one connecting room between the two doors. Two entrances to the Dressing Room. Four exits. (Four entrances if someone can climb the damn runway though)
And with that investigation out of the way, Jared turned to Cassandra, folding his arms. The scam artist knew exactly what this was all about.
"So, you're going to answer me now?" Jared asked, expectantly. "What happened last night? What happened to Plan B?"
Cassandra remained silent.
Her mind tried to formulate some sort of response. In fact, she was conflicted right now. She knew she was in it for herself but the deal that she had ended up making with White Collar wasn't information she was going to give up so easily. Not even to Jared.
She scoffed.
"Well, first off, what did you think was going to happen to Plan B?" Cassandra asked.
"No, no, don't turn the question around on me," Jared shook his head. "You answer me first. Why didn't the Killing Game end? Why didn't you finish what I started? Did sacrificing Maggie mean nothing to you?"
Jared hit a nerve there.
"Okay, whoa whoa whoa," Cassandra's eye twitched. "No one said it was my job to finish what you started. All you did was push everything onto me as a failsafe. I never asked for your cooperation."
"And yet, you wanted me as your ally, right?" Jared frowned. "Allies do stuff together. I've shared my plan with you. I've shared what I was going to do. And I even gave you a Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card. And yet, you're still hiding things from me."
"Pfft, White Collar was going to let me out anyway," Cassandra shook her head. "It makes no difference."
"Bullshit," Jared cursed. "You have something up your sleeve and you're not telling me. What is it? Did you even go through with Plan B-?"
"Look, Jared," Cassandra rubbed her arms as she looked away. "Just stop, okay? I warned you about trusting me. And now look…"
"Answer the question," Jared sternly said. "Did you even go through with Plan B–?"
"Caertas, I swear to God, you better cut it out–" Cassandra was getting hot-tempered.
"Did you or did you not?!" Jared pressed forth.
"Plan B wasn't what you thought, okay?!" Cassandra yelled. "Whatever you thought I had in mind for Plan B compared to what I actually had in mind for Plan B was totally different, alright? Plan B changed the moment you let me go do whatever the fuck I wanted to do."
"...Then what the hell did you do?" Jared clenched his fist.
"...This conversation is over," Cassandra said before storming away from the Ultimate Supermodel's Cell.
She left behind a downtrodden Jared. He gritted his teeth. He was a fool for entrusting Cassandra of all people to the plan. He just thought… He just thought that maybe… That time…
"I need to speak with your boss."
"I apologize but Master White Collar does not take any appointments or visitors."
"I have to ask him something."
"Whatever it is will have to wait. It is curfew. Master White Collar does not like to be disturbed during curfew hours. Therefore, you should return to your room… unless you wish to be punished like Mister Amao."
"Stupid snake bitch. Ruining everything…"
Jared heard some bits and pieces of it. But he knew Cassandra had something big planned. Could it be that despite her bitchy attitude, she had some sort of plan against White Collar? Something that could end this Killing Game? Something that could…?
Jared wasn't sure. He watched Cassandra storm over to the Voting Chambers, examining her every movement.
"What the fuck are you looking at cop?" Cassandra glared at Jared.
"Let's not lag behind alright?" Jared sighed, shaking his head.
If Cassandra had something big planned, he wanted in. He wanted to help.
Jared clenched his fist.
Did he truly believe that whatever Cassandra would do would be for the best of intentions? No. He never believed that. He was too smart to know that Cassandra wouldn't do something like that. She was someone who used others for her own gain. But deep down, he believed that she was…
Maybe that's why he trusted her so much. Maybe that was why he put his faith in her to finish what he started.
Maybe that's why he felt hurt that Cassandra was hiding something important from him. That the Plan B that he had in mind was entirely different from that of Cassandra's…
Why was it different?
Why?
With no answers, all Jared could do was leave the Ultimate Supermodel's Cell and report to the Cafeteria as promised…
(Mineshaft)
When Abigail arrived at the newly discovered Mineshaft along with Haruto and Mimi, she felt her mind become a little lightheaded.
There was no surprise as to why this happened. She had gotten no sleep again. No sleep again and just now she's starting to feel the terrible aftereffects of it all. She was a little dazed. She yawned a little more profusely, trying not to get too distracted by the brighter lights in the Mineshaft or the sounds of rocks being crumbled up into tiny pebbles.
She took a step and almost felt her leg give way. Luckily, for her, Haruto caught her before she could fall.
"Yo, watch your step Abs," Haruto told her.
"I told you not to call me that," Abigail yawned, rubbing her eyes.
"Oh, Abigail, are you okay?" Mimi blinked. "You look much more tired than you normally do!"
"Yeah," Abigail yawned once again. "I'm okay. Just got hit with too much light in here. From dim to bright lights can really do something to the eyes, y'know?"
"Still, Mimi's got a point," Haruto sternly told the Equestrian. "You look like shit. If you're really fucking tired, just rest your body against the wall and wait for us. We'll investigate everything as quickly as we can!"
"I'll even supply us a speed boost potion!" Mimi declared.
"I ain't drinking any potions you concoct," Haruto deadpanned.
"Aw," Mimi pouted.
"You guys are sweet," Abigail yawned. "But really. It's fine. I can investigate with you guys. It's no biggie. I'm always tired and I don't sleep anyway, so I'm used to it."
"Don't mean it's not good for ya," Haruto pointed out. "But if you insist, just give me the word and I'll carry you around if you feel like you don't have the energy to move."
"...Hm, thanks but really, it's... fine," Abigail repeated with a small, tired smile on her face.
Mimi noticed something a little more behind that smile. A… peculiar warmth. She blinked. This was something she had read and even written about in those fairytales of hers. But could that really be it? Could it really be?
"Sleepy Beauty and her Prince Charming," Mimi whispered to herself. She gasped. That was totally it!
"Oi, Earth to Mimi," Haruto stared at Mimi. "Don't tell me you're getting sleepy too. I can carry one. Not two. So, move it. I'm reserving the carry-space for Abs here."
"Please stop calling me that," Abigail remarked.
Mimi started to giggle. She was sure that he was reserving a carry-space for Abigail… This was better than she could even imagine. She wasn't just writing or reading a fairytale. She was actively living in one!... Within a Killing Game! What are the chances of that?!
…
As for the Mineshaft, it was a pretty giant room. It was complete with railroad tracks and minecarts as well as a set of stairs on the right that led up to a balcony and an entrance to another room, overseeing a giant machine located right in the middle of the room. There was also a security camera located at the far-left corner of the room pointed directly toward the end of the giant machine and its rock piles.
"Well, the first thing to investigate here has to be this machine, right?" Haruto pondered. "It's making all of this cranky noise that doesn't seem to fucking stop. And it's literally the biggest thing in this dump."
"Judging from where I'm at…" Abigail's voice forced Haruto and Mimi to turn to where Abigail was.
The Equestrian had climbed up the stairs and leaned forward to see the machine from a different angle. Although one couldn't see squat from the sides, one could see all the action from the catwalk and the stairs.
The machine started out as a chute, where rocks and other materials would be dropped in. Then it would lead with a long conveyor belt that would head straight into what appeared to be large sharp gears turning and churning against the rocks that were being transported there. In other words, this machine was one big grinder. Then, whatever was left from the grinder would be shot out at the far end, where visibility from the stairs and balcony could not be seen.
"Ooh!" Mimi raced down the stairs to run toward the end of the grinder. Now from her angle, it was a conveyor belt that would bring out what was left of what the grinder did to the rocks. Now the boulders and rocks became smaller rocks and tiny pebbles.
A worthy job of the Ultimate Grinder… That is not an official title. Please do not market it.
"Oh wow, so this machine grinds up big rocks to make them into little rocks," Mimi gasped in amazement before beginning to ponder something peculiar about this. "Er… but what was the point of all this? This actually seems kind of boring."
"And that was indeed the point of the Mineshaft," said a familiar voice.
The three prisoners turned to see Monohebi slither in to give her explanation of the history regarding this part of the facility. Haruto was the first to take charge, glowering over the much smaller snake who could also strangle the man to death if she really wanted to… or could.
She had rules to follow after all.
"Okay, the Mineshaft," Haruto gave a nod. "Cell Block A was like the general Cafeteria and get-together area. Cell Block B was a recreational block. And Cell C used to be an asylum for psychos. What's the point of Cell Block S?"
"...As you may have probably figured out," Monohebi began. "Cell Block S is supposed to be a solitary block. A place where the truly worst of the worst criminals would be forced to pay for their crimes. Solitary confinement. Execution. And of course, convict leasing. Or rather, penal labor."
"Penal labor?" Abigail questioned. "So, they had criminals mining the hell out of this place? What were they even looking for?"
"What everyone would be looking for since the 1850s," Monohebi answered as a matter-of-factly. "Gold. Jewels. Crystals. Anything valuable that came out of the caves St. Esther was built over. But the Mineshaft wasn't just used to mine for treasures. Once the gold wells started to dry up, the Mineshaft's main use was to expand the underground section of St. Esther's basement floor."
Haruto, Mimi, and Abigail looked around the Mineshaft where they were placed. The place was big. But it wasn't as big as years of penal labor would have you believe.
"Looks like they did a shit job at expanding, huh?" Haruto grumbled.
"Not at all," Monohebi shook her head. "You just haven't seen the entire basement floor yet…"
Cryptic.
"Either case, now that you know the basic history of Cell Block S, feel free to examine this area to your heart's content," Monohebi stated. "But please, don't deactivate the machinery or anything like that. They've been working in perfect rhythm for years now. Plus, I do like the noise the machine makes when I travel around this facility."
"Deactivate the machinery?" Abigail blinked. "You can do that?"
"Perhaps I spoke too much," Monohebi noted her mistake before slithering off.
"H-Hey, wait," Abigail tried to call out but the snake had long gone off to who knows where. "Damn. Typical of that thing to constantly leave us off on a cliffhanger."
"Well, if she says that there is a way to shut down the machine, then maybe we should find it!" Mimi exclaimed. "Here, I'll check this big area! You two check that building up there!"
"Huh?" Haruto blinked. "Wouldn't it be better if one person checked the smaller room while two people checked the big room?"
"Yeah, but we already checked like most of the big room!" Mimi pouted. "So, it makes more sense for one person to check this big Mineshaft room and someone else to check whatever's in that room!"
"Can't argue with that logic," Abigail yawned. Or maybe she was just too tired to argue with anything.
"Okay, in that case, I'll go and check out the Mine–" Haruto was about to say before Mimi cut him off.
"Dibs on the Mineshaft!" Mimi exclaimed. "In that small room! In you go!"
Haruto and Abigail blinked. That was weird. Why was Mimi so adamant with them checking the uninvestigated room together? They had no idea what was going on through Mimi's mind, but it sounded like she can handle a big room all by herself. She was a big girl after all!
Even though she was actually pretty small.
As for Mimi? It was a mission accomplished! Get Haruto and Abigail in a room together for them to investigate together? Perfect! Now to investigate the Mineshaft as she passed the time for this fairytale to come to life!
...
"Well, I wonder what that was about," Abigail rubbed the back of her neck, tiredly. Her mind was still on why Mimi would want to search alone. Maybe she was on some path to become independent or something.
Twas the norm for a particular shipped couple to not even recognize why their shipper did what they did.
"No idea with that kid, sometimes," Haruto scratched the back of his neck as well. He shook his head. He remembered that Mimi was the first person he actually met in this hellhole, and he really hated how annoying she was.
Now… things were different. She was someone he could tolerate and, in a way, understand. Someone like his younger brother. Someone he didn't mind looking out for… Except, that made a bunch of people he kinda had to look out for now that he was the number one strongest person in the group after Barracuda's death.
(Security Office)
Either case, the two had stepped into the newly discovered Security Office.
This was the room that oversaw the entire Mineshaft room, specifically the grinder. It had an entire control board for two specific functions: one for what seems like the mechanics in the Mineshaft and the other for some sort of camera system, as shown by the camera monitors on the left. Other than that, the only things of note were probably just a couple of cabinets strewn across the floor, cardboard boxes, and a chair for someone to sit in when tasked with watching over the cameras for five nights.
Also, to note that this control board was on a desk connected to a window that could allow anyone to peer out into the Mineshaft.
"Jesus, this looks complicated as hell," Haruto rubbed the back of his neck.
"A camera system and I take it, this is the control board that Monohebi kind of referred to earlier," Abigail rubbed her chin. "The one thing that can deactivate the machinery?"
She took a closer look at the control board for the Mineshaft. It was rather simple enough. Two simple buttons for two different functions:
On/Off for the Minecart System.
On/Off for the Grinder.
See? Simple!
Currently, both systems were set to 'On'.
"Well, I guess there's nothing else to do than to just shut off the machine and the minecart system," Abigail yawned. "The noise it makes gives me a headache."
"Wait, but didn't that snake tell us not to shut off the machine?" Haruto blinked.
"Well, yeah, but since when should we listen to what she says?" Abigail frowned. "She left without specifying anything. That and the only reason she doesn't want it to shut off is because she likes the noise…"
"Huh, you're not worried this is gonna fuck over the machine or something like that?" Haruto asked.
"Fuck the machine," Abigail shook her head. "What purpose does it serve anyone other than being another obvious accessory for someone to use when killing someone?"
Haruto had to admit. She made a stellar point. The grinder may have history but no doubt it would totally be used if someone decided to go on yet another killing spree. Without further ado, Haruto moved over to the control board and pressed 'Off' for the grinder.
Instantly, that crunching and metallic noise the machine would make slowly came to a halt and everything in the Mineshaft felt at peace. For a moment, Haruto thought the cave would collapse or something but that didn't seem to be the case in this instance.
Next, he checked the buttons for the Minecart.
"What about this?" Haruto asked. "Should we shut off the Minecart System too? Whatever that does?"
"Might as well," Abigail shrugged.
Haruto gave her a nod before pressing the 'Off' button for the Minecart System. This meant that pretty much everything in the Mineshaft was now shut down.
Moving on!
…
Once they had shut off the Mineshaft systems, Abigail and Haruto directed their attention to the other interesting thing in the Security Office: the camera monitors.
These were a whole different story. For starters, there were small screens on the left with multiple buttons this time around. There was also what seemed to be a shut off clock on top of the monitors as well. There were five screens, all showcasing areas in Cell Block S:
One screen showed the Ultimate Supermodel's Cell, from the entrance's left side. It could see everything past the left side of the room, which meant the main stage and the right door to the Dressing Room. Jared and Cassandra could be seen exiting through that door at the moment.
One screen was completely black, but it also had the words: "Audio Recording Only".
One screen showed the Ultimate Snowboarder's Cell from the leftmost corner when one enters the room. It had a clear view of the snowmen, the hill and a part of the snow castle which was kind of blocked off from view from the snow hill. Oh, and also the chair lift to that hill as well, which didn't seem to move. No one was seen on the monitor, so that probably meant Arthur and Ina had long left the area.
One screen showed the Mineshaft itself, with its camera directly pointed toward the conveyor belt of the grinder. Meaning, it could not see the entrance to the Mineshaft, the stairs to the Security Office, or any of the Minecart tracks.
Another screen was completely black as well, but this time, it showed only the words: 'Camera Disconnected'.
The buttons on the camera system's side consisted of a mixture of lit up and unlit buttons each with numbered and lettered labels:
GC 1 - Lit
GC 2 - Unlit
GC 3 - Lit
GC 4 - Unlit
"GC?" Abigail blinked. "What do those even stand for?"
"Group Chat maybe," Haruto joked.
"Pfft," Abigail couldn't help but laugh at that. "Yeah right. Like this connects to any Discord server I know."
"Haha," Haruto laughed. "But seriously, what the fuck is up with these buttons? Why the fuck are some of them lit and others are just unlit?"
Haruto tried to push onto the unlit buttons. But no matter how hard he tried to push, nothing seemed to happen. Once he stopped trying, his attention directed toward the lit buttons. With nothing left to lose, he pressed the lit button for GC 1.
The only thing that happened was the clock on top of the camera monitors showing the number 5:00 and slowly counting down.
"What the fuck," Haruto stared at this, confused.
"Okay, so you press a lit-up button, and it gives you a five-minute time limit?" Abigail blinked, tiredly. Her head was starting to hurt a little more. "Time limit for what?"
"For how long the door will remain closed," came that familiar voice again.
Monohebi slithered back into the room, flicking her tongue out as she looked slightly irritated toward the two.
"Door?" Haruto blinked. "What door?"
"The doors to the Ultimate Cells," Monohebi merely answered. "Also, I thought I told you to not shut off the machinery here. Now the vibrations that bounce off the walls of my transport feel less soothing…"
"Hey, not our fault you chose to just leave and not explain anything," Abigail shrugged. "You going to go and give us some answers now? Because we could just go ahead and press more buttons–"
"No need to do that," Monohebi sighed. "I will explain how the Security Office works for you clueless bunch. After all, no one here is a qualified security guard anyway… Well. Actually, Mister Caertas might have some experience…"
"Yeah well, we aren't Mister Caertas," Haruto deadpanned. "So, explain it, anyway."
Monohebi paused before nodding her head.
"As you wish," Monohebi began to explain.
As she did, Abigail and Haruto took a step back to give her the center stage, with the snake slithering up to the control panel.
"The Security Office oversees all functions in Cell Block S," Monohebi explained. "Because this Cell Block is for the worst of the worst criminals, extra security measures were given to make sure criminals locked here would stay in order. You already figured out that the control board on the right simply turns on and off the machinery in the Mineshaft."
Monohebi pointed her tail to the right control board before slithering over to the camera system on the left.
"The camera systems on the other hand are much more complex," Monohebi explained. "Firstly, these buttons you see here control the doors to the Ultimate Cells. Due to the severity of conditions these past years, only two are functional. The door to the Miss LaDroubi's Cell and the door to the Miss Auraline's Cell."
"So, Zuri's and… Maggie's Cell are the new Ultimate Cells this time," Abigail commented.
"So is Arthur's," Haruto pointed out. "You saw all that snow in that one camera monitor, right?"
Zuri's, Maggie's, and Arthur's. New Ultimate Cells all belonging to them found in Cell Block S. Quite fascinating really!
"Now, as you have noticed," Monohebi gestured to the timer that now read 2:35 on the clock. With her tail, she pressed the button to GC 1 again. Instantly, the timer shut off. "When you press a lit button to GC 1 and GC 3, a timer shows up. Five minutes is how much time you have to make up your mind whether you wish to keep the door closed or not."
"What happens when the timer runs out?" Abigail asked.
"When the timer runs out, the door will remain closed," Monohebi explained. "The only way to reopen the door then is to use an eHandbook to open it back up like you would normally for any other Ultimate Cell. Once you do, the door will reboot for another five minutes and open back up. Do you follow?"
"So, we let five minutes pass, and that door will remain closed until someone opens it up again?" Haruto asked, raising an eyebrow. "But this time, when someone opens it again, the door takes five minutes to open up again… What kind of system is that? And why is it that system?"
"Because security guards in the past were clumsy," Monohebi answered. "Beforehand, there didn't used to be a timer and security guards would drop a snack onto a button and lock someone inside those rooms. This timer system is to make sure whoever closes the door actually wants the door closed and not because they accidentally did it or not."
"Okay, but what's the point with the reboot?" Abigail asked. "Doesn't sound like that's used for these accident-prone security guards."
"Well, this is a solitary block after all," Monohebi stated. "Extra security and all that. Guards have to make sure that whatever comes out of those doors isn't getting ready to ambush anyone. So, they often used that five minutes to prepare…"
Monohebi trailed off slightly. There was probably more story behind why the doors needed to reboot but the snake had moved on to something they have yet to check out: the camera monitors themselves.
"Now then," Monohebi cleared her throat. "In summary. Press a lit button. You have five minutes to decide to keep the door open or closed. Keep it closed? Leave it alone. Keep it open? Just press the button again. Now, as for these camera monitors, I suppose you haven't noticed…"
"Noticed what?" Haruto blinked.
Monohebi gestured to the buttons of each of the five camera monitors. Five camera monitors, each with four different buttons:
Rewind.
Pause.
Play.
Fast Forward.
"Wait, don't you need recordings of camera footage in order to do this?" Abigail asked, curiously. "Where do you access recordings?"
"These camera monitors automatically record everything," Monohebi explained. "I suppose the best way to think about these monitors is kind of like a livestream. The camera feeds are always live and played in real time. So you can rewind, pause, play, and fast forward however you like. It will not affect the cameras themselves, just what you see on the monitor."
"So, if I pause this right now," Haruto walked over. "The footage will pause and if I press play…"
"The footage on the monitor will be delayed but that is what the fast forward option is for," Monohebi nodded. "Fast forward enough and you should be able to reach the real time on the cameras."
"What a room," Haruto remarked.
"Yeah… I'll leave the security room to someone a little more patient with this stuff," Abigail yawned. "Hey, actually, one of these cameras says 'Audio Recording Only' but I can't hear anything. Why is that?"
"Ah yes," Monohebi nodded. "Audio can be heard in all of these cameras. Er… should be heard in all of these cameras. Whatever, the case is, if you wish to listen to the audio within these cameras, you would need a set of headphones to attach to the monitors themselves."
"Headphones?" Abigail blinked. "There are no headphones in this facility, though…"
A pair of headphones in the Ultimate Bassist's Cell rolls in its grave…
"Well, tough luck," Monohebi flicked her tongue out. "But that's really all there is to the Security Office. You can turn the machinery in the Mineshaft on and off. You can monitor the camera's security system. And you can close doors. If Lawson the Lamb wasn't burned down, this place would make for quite the thrilling indie horror franchise…"
"What?" Haruto blinked.
"Anyways, that is all I wish to explain to you," Monohebi nodded. "If you would be so kind, please turn on the machinery and I will talk to you prisoners later. If there's any more questions about the room, please do not hesitate to ask but do note that I can only answer as much as Master White Collar would allow me to."
Monohebi was silent for a bit, probably just to allow Haruto and Abigail to ask a question. When they were silent too, the snake nodded her head.
"Very well, that is all then," Monohebi stated before slithering away to nowhere, leaving Haruto and Abigail behind.
The two glanced at each other. They remembered Monohebi's request to turn the machinery in the Mineshaft back on and turned to the right control board before looking back at each other.
"Nah," Abigail and Haruto said simultaneously before leaving the room.
(Mineshaft)
Mimi was beyond bored.
Here she was, investigating the Mineshaft like a good girl until, well, wouldn't you know it? The whole place just shut down on her! She only got one piece of information and that was through some thorough examination of the minecarts and its railway system but other than that, everything just shut off, and she had no idea why!
Or actually, she had a suspicion… and that was…
"Hey, you two!" Mimi rushed over to Haruto and Abigail once she saw them exit down the stairs from the Security Office. "What happened to the place? Everything just turned off! Did you two happen to do that?"
"Huh?" Haruto blinked before chuckling sheepishly. "Ah. We did. Not going to lie, I kind of forgot that turning everything off would mess with your investigation of the place…"
"We can turn it back on if you want?" Abigail told the young witch girl.
"Mmm… I guess you can, but I think what I found is enough," Mimi beamed. "I know where these minecarts lead to!"
"Oh?" Haruto blinked. "Care to tell us?"
"Of course!" Mimi giggled. "So, the minecart starts out right by the entrance of the room. When it's turned on, the minecart moves into that little tunnel hole straight ahead to the other side of the room. Then…"
Mimi ran up to the stairs before standing on the balcony near the entrance of the Security Room. The stairs that she had just ran up on had noticeable railroad tracks just below it and led directly toward the grinder's chute. The tracks would go left from where she stood and into yet another tunnel hole.
"...it comes out from this tunnel hole here, stops over the grinder's chute, and dumps in all the rocks it has inside it!" Mimi explained. "Then it turns left from where I'm standing back into another tunnel hole…"
And then Mimi ran back down the stairs.
"...Right back to where it started!" Mimi gestured to the minecart. "It's like magic!"
"Just a complicated railroad system," Abigail merely stated. "I guess visually I can follow what you're saying. Basically, this whole system loops around when turned on."
"Exactly!" Mimi beamed. "But that's enough from my side! What about you two? Did you two do anything… fantastical?"
Mimi put some emphasis on that word, itching to hear what they've been doing ever since she pinned the two of them to search the same place together.
"Aside from getting a whole lecture of how the Security Room worked," Haruto scratched his head. "Not really. That place is complicated as hell, and I'd be willing to let someone else work their magic on that place."
"A Security Room?" Mimi blinked. "So that's what that is…"
"We'll explain more later back at the Cafeteria," Abigail yawned. "But essentially, it monitors activity in Cell Block S. Has its own doohickey and stuff…"
"Sounds like a lot," Mimi looked down. She instantly knew whatever was going on with the Security Room was something that would hurt her head and allow her to be unable to understand what the hell was going on.
"Yeah, so we should probably head back now," Haruto pointed out. "We found a ton of shit in here that we can share with the group."
"Yeah!" Mimi nodded her head, determined.
Haruto and Mimi went first, but instantly, they realized that I said, 'Haruto and Mimi' and never made mention of Abigail. So, they skidded to a halt and saw Abigail clutching the side of her head slightly.
"...Er, Abigail?" Mimi perked her head. "Are you… alright?"
Abigail yawned. She dazed around a bit before shaking her head.
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," Abigail tried to smile through it. "L-Let's go…"
"...If you need help, I'll carry you, alright?" Haruto assured her.
"Again, you're sweet, but I'm fine," Abigail gave him a small smile. "Really."
"...If you say so," Haruto rubbed the back of his neck.
Haruto and Mimi remained unconvinced, but they ventured off back toward the Cafeteria with Abigail behind the two. Though, they did keep their pace steady for Abigail's sake…
(Cafeteria)
As promised, once the newly discovered rooms have been thoroughly investigated, everyone reconvened in the Cafeteria. And by everyone, we mean the remaining nine prisoners minus Cassandra, who didn't even bother to show up after what happened between her and Jared.
Not that anyone cared because they most definitely noticed she wasn't here and none of them wanted to say anything about it.
"So, how should we start this?" Ina asked. "We seem to have a good number of rooms on our hands here after all."
"Well, the room Holland and I found was my Ultimate Cell," Zuri smiled. "The Ultimate Bassist Cell has two rooms. One room with bass guitars and a side room which is basically sound booth for song recording!"
"I guess to note is that the sound booth is also soundproof too…" Holland pointed out. "But other than that, Zuri's Cell is pretty much one big recording studio…"
"Hey, your Cell wouldn't happen to have headphones, would it?" Abigail had a thought.
"We have headphones!" Zuri nodded in confirmation. "Why?"
"We'll tell you later after we hear what everyone else found," Haruto grinned.
"Why?" Jared raised an eyebrow.
"Because what we found has a lot of shit in it and it'll blow whatever the rest of you found out of the park!" Haruto declared.
Jared eyed the former basketball player closely. Then he shrugged. He seemed serious about that enough before he stepped forward to make his due report.
"Cassandra, who isn't here, and I found Maggie's Cell," Jared tipped his hat down. "Like Zuri's Cell, there's also two rooms. A room for a fashion runway and a Dressing Room."
"Anything of note there?" Arthur asked.
Jared didn't say anything for a while. He had to contemplate his next answer. He could just say, 'Nope! Nothing dangerous in there'. But again, there was little point in that because anyone could go ahead and access the room and check for themselves, so instead…
"...Yeah," Jared sighed. "There are tons of different beauty products in the Dressing Room. All of them are poisonous when consumed though."
"How do you figure that?" Mimi blinked.
"There were warning labels on every single one of them," Jared deadpanned. "All saying the same thing."
"...Oh," Mimi looked away.
That was a sure-fire way to answer a question!
"Arthur and I found his own Ultimate Cell of course," Ina glanced toward the Ultimate Snowboarder. "The door when you first enter leads to a Locker Room where you can put on winter clothing, snow boots, and grab your very own snowboard. After that…"
"You enter a snowboarding arena!" Arthur jumped in with a boastful remark as he folded his arms. "Complete with a chair lift, a hill to snowboard off of and a snow castle! Truly, the best Cell in this entire facility!"
"Fuck no!" Haruto glared at Arthur. "Mine has fresh air and a basketball court! Mine is definitely better!"
"Mine has actual horses and a stadium," Abigail pointed out with a yawn. "Mine has a little more life than the both of yours."
"Hey hey, Yuumi's Cell is better because she has Brucey!" Mimi declared. "Plus it looks cooler!"
"I like the Evidence Room in my Ultimate Cell," Jared tipped his hat down. "Given how much people go to it to steal weapons, I'd say people like it too."
"Give my Ultimate Cell a chance too!" Zuri pouted slightly. "It has bass guitars!"
"...You guys have Ultimate Cells?" Holland listened to this entire conversation derail from sharing whatever they found during their Investigation to a pure Ultimate Cell competition.
"Anyway," Ina decided to bring this conversation back on track. "The Ultimate Snowboarder's Cell seems to be yet another recreational area. I suppose it is also to note that if you ever want to go to my half-brother's Cell, I will warn that the door to the actual Cell is frozen open, so if you enter, be prepared to feel a winter breeze."
"Which leaves whatever Abigail, Haruto, and Mimi found," Zuri turned to the three who investigated the Mineshaft together.
"We found a Mineshaft!" Mimi declared.
"And a Security Office," Abigail added.
"Security Office?" Jared's interest was especially piqued. So far, Haruto was right on the money about his earlier comment.
"Monohebi came in with some shit about how Cell Block S is a solitary block for some of the worst criminals in the entire facility," Haruto scratched the back of his neck. "So the Security Office pretty much monitors everything that goes on in Cell Block S only."
"And by monitor, you mean a camera system, right?" Jared asked.
"A really complex one at that," Abigail noted. "There's stuff about time limits and audio recording and playback…"
"Explain everything to me," Jared firmly stated. Of course, out of everyone here, he'd be the one most interested in a Security Office and its functions. "As the leader, I think it's my job to use that and make sure I can monitor whoever decides to attack anyone in Cell Block S."
"Wait, hold on," Zuri frowned. "After all the crazy things you've done, you can't expect any one of us to trust you with something as important as surveillance. I think I should be the one who should monitor those cameras."
"And do you have any experience monitoring cameras?" Jared asked Zuri.
"...W-Well, no, but–" Zuri stuttered a bit.
"Look, Zuri," Jared tipped his hat up with a more boastful look. After all, he had the advantage in experience. "You can play the leader all you want, but I'm the only one with what it takes to be one. Besides, I've monitored cameras since 1987. Obviously, I'm the more trusted one to work those cameras."
"Hey, old ass motherfucker and Zuri," Haruto deadpanned at his 1987 joke comment. "How about you two stop acting like children and just make a compromise or something. We don't care who works those cameras. All we care about is someone does and doesn't go ballistic with it. Zuri's got no experience and you're fucking crazy. So, we clearly can't trust the job to one person."
"I think you're right," Zuri relented with a nod. "I don't have experience working security cameras. But that doesn't mean I'm not willing to learn how to!"
"...I can always help out," Holland jumped in. "I'm good with technology so…"
"And if you need any help, you can always call out to Monohebi," Abigail scratched the back of her neck. "But generally, I think me and Haruto got the entire system under the bag."
"Okay, so we know the Security Office monitors Cell Block S," Arthur returned to his more serious complexion. "But what about the Mineshaft itself? What was there?"
"Oh!" Mimi jumped in with a nod. "The Mineshaft had this big grinder machine! It basically grinds up rocks and stuff to look for gold and minerals and stuff!"
"...I suppose that kind of ties in with this prison theme," Arthur nodded.
"And there's also a minecart system too!" Mimi added. "That's how the rocks and minerals get dumped into the machine in the first place! But to understand it, you have to go there to see how it works!"
"Not that it matters," Abigail shook her head. "We turned off both the grinder and the minecart system. It makes an annoying noise when the grinder does its thing so…"
Once Abigail added that little tidbit, the Cafeteria remained quiet for a bit. This was their moment to process the information that had been shared.
The Ultimate Bassist's Cell had a soundproof sound booth and was basically a recording studio.
The Ultimate Snowboarder's Cell had an entire snowboarding arena with a Locker Room and a frozen-open door.
The Ultimate Supermodel's Cell had a Dressing Room with poisonous products.
There was a Mineshaft with a grinder and a minecart system for said grinder.
And finally, a Security Office with its own functions…
The Security Office was definitely something Jared and Zuri were looking to explore tomorrow with Haruto and Abigail to give them a basic rundown of how it functions. Why tomorrow? Well because…
"Attention all prisoners," Monohebi's voice announced. "It is now midnight. Curfew hour begins now. As such, all prisoners must report to their confinements. Anyone who is caught outside of their confinements will be punished accordingly. Be sure to review the rules on the Rules App of your Handbook. That is all."
"A new chapter begins," Mimi sighed slightly. While she tried to remain slightly positive, she couldn't help but feel absolutely crushed.
She had lost Yuumi, Maggie, and Barracuda.
She wasn't planning on losing anyone any time soon. And it seemed like everyone else in the room shared that same idea. Even Jared, in his own twisted way.
"Let's all head to bed now," Jared folded his arms. "But tomorrow, Haruto and Abigail, you'll be showing me the Security Office, right?"
"And me too," Zuri stood firm. "I want to know how it works too."
"...I'll join in as support," Holland raised his hand slightly.
"Yeah, you got it!" Haruto nodded.
Truth be told, he was slightly more comfortable if it were just Holland himself who monitored the cameras instead of Zuri and Jared. He seemed to be the middleman of both of these two childish rivals. But hey, the compromise to have two people share the task could be good too. But then again, Jared was there so…
It was a tough call.
Really tough call.
Soon enough though, everyone started to head out of the Cafeteria, leaving Haruto and Abigail by themselves alone.
"Alright," Abigail yawned. "I'm going to talk to you tomorrow. Have a goodnight Haruto."
"Oi, Abs," Haruto stopped her real quick. "You sure you're alright? I mean, you seemed really out of it earlier so…"
Abigail paused and said nothing for a moment. She turned and smiled slightly toward him.
"I told you already," Abigail tried to give him her best smile of assurance. "I'm fine. But it's sweet that you seem worried about me anyway…"
Haruto said nothing.
"...I'll talk to you tomorrow," Abigail felt that hazy feeling in her mind again. But she remained strong. For Haruto's sake. And soon, she left the Cafeteria back to her room, leaving Haruto the last man standing.
And for the last man in the Cafeteria, he let Abigail's words run repeatedly through his head.
He kept thinking about her.
She said she was fine.
So because she said she was fine, she should be fine… right?
…
Haruto shook his head.
No matter how many times she said it herself, there was a stagnant point to what Haruto believed about Abigail whenever she made that same excuse.
That stagnant point?
He didn't believe her…
Cassandra jolted awake.
She was back here. Back in this hellish room and back at the dining table but with a few differences. Firstly, her wrists weren't bound this time. She suspected it was from White Collar's insistence that went against Monohebi's decision to strap tight zip ties that could easily cut skin…
Secondly, the main course today was what appeared to be some type of fish. Something something poisson? Trout? Yellowfin tuna?
"Miso black cod," that sinister voice answered her inquiries.
Cassandra shifted her gaze from the fish to the sinister White Collar himself, sitting across from her. He watched her intently, which was creepy enough as it was but multiplied that with the mask and she suddenly felt as if she wanted to leave.
"Monohebi," White Collar clasped his hands together. "You've truly outdone yourself today!"
"Thank you, Master," Monohebi tipped her head down. Cassandra couldn't exactly tell but she swore that Monohebi was smiling like a giddy school girl when she found herself complimented by her master.
"Please, eat," White Collar gestured to Cassandra. Monohebi's giddy look turned into a silent hiss. "This is a Japanese delicacy. Expensive. Prim. Proper. You may never get another chance to enjoy it if you let it run cold."
Cassandra stared at the meal suspiciously.
"Oh come now," White Collar chuckled. "After everything we talked about last night, you really still think I would kill you? We made a deal. And I am a man of my word. You know this all too much."
"Oh, I get that," Cassandra noted before glancing toward the snake. "But really, it's her I don't trust."
"You rude miscreant!" Monohebi hissed. If she had a rattle at the end of the tail, it'd be shaking like mad. "I've put in hours of work into my meals! I will not have you insulting my dish–"
"Monohebi," White Collar sternly turned to the snake.
"B-But Master!" Monohebi turned to White Collar in complaint. "She's insulting my dish!"
"Are you a child or are you my equal?" White Collar shifted his tie as his voice became a little more sinister than it really was.
It was enough to let the snake shrink back in slight fear.
"A… An equal," Monohebi looked down.
"Then act like one," White Collar reprimanded her before turning back to Cassandra as if nothing had happened with that amused grin on his face. "So sorry about that. Snakes. You know how they can be."
"Strange," Cassandra deadpanned. "The only snakes I know of don't usually talk like professional secretaries at a workplace."
"Keh," White Collar cleared his throat. Then much to Cassandra's surprise, White Collar started to laugh. Not sinisterly but a little more… human. "Hahahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha! Ha!"
Alright, not entirely human but it was the first time Cassandra's ever heard him laugh like that. It was unnerving with that reverbing accent from his mask and unnerving to see him enjoy himself like that. Unnerving times three she would say.
"You are a funny girl, Miss Mura," White Collar laughed. "Truly. It has been a long time since I've laughed at a joke. Or… any joke for that matter."
"I can tell funnier jokes than what Miss Mura said!" Monohebi turned to White Collar out of desperation. "Really! I can! I will make you laugh harder than she ever can!"
White Collar ignored this feeble attempt at sucking up to him.
"Didn't realize you could laugh," Cassandra admitted, as she cut through her black cod for the first time. "Maybe you really are a human behind that… get-up of yours."
Cassandra took a bite out of the cod.
Sweet.
Savory.
Fuck. This was what food was… It was so much better than those crappy sandwiches they had to keep eating. Goddamn it!
Now she really wished she tried the chicken cacciatore from yesterday.
"Fuck!" Cassandra widened her eyes. "This is really good!"
"Would I lie?" White Collar perked his head with a grin. "And look. You're not dying. I've assured you with only the best and to think you would doubt me so."
"Okay, well, technically, I never doubted you," Cassandra pointed out, her mouth still stuffed with food. "I only ever doubted your pet."
"Master, she's talking with her mouth full," Monohebi pointed out. "Yell at her."
"I understand, Miss Mura," White Collar gave a firm nod toward Cassandra. "It's only natural to doubt an artificial animal such as Monohebi."
"M-Master!" Monohebi sounded shocked. Her Master was doing absolutely nothing to punish this rude, incessant human being!
Cassandra continued to eat away at the miso black cod. She didn't realize how hungry she was until she had her first bite and after that, she just couldn't stop. So, this was what royalty tasted like. She thought there'd be more caviar and escargot and all those other fancy food bullshit. Not something as delicate as Japanese black cod.
Before long, she finished her meal, feeling fuller than she had been for the past week or so. But her mind was dead set on the task at hand. She couldn't be distracted by good food. She had to push forward and ask White Collar some questions.
White Collar… who hadn't even touched his portion and was just watching her eat.
Fuck man.
Creepy…
"Okay, I ate your food," Cassandra stood up. "Let's talk about why I'm here."
"Right to business," White Collar chuckled. "As usual for someone like the great Cassandra Mura."
"Gee, you flatter me," Cassandra rolled her eyes. "But if you brought me here because of Arthur Kingston, I haven't gotten around to figuring out how the fuck I should kill him. New areas just opened up today. And I don't think you were exactly clear about your instructions on what I should exactly do to see my dad again."
"I think I made myself pretty clear, last time Miss Mura," White Collar clasped his hands together. "Kill Arthur Kingston and you go free. That's it."
"No Trial?" Cassandra raised an eyebrow. "No execution? Just kill him and I'm out of here?"
"Ah, well, those are just minor details," White Collar twirled his finger around one of his horns. "But if you really want to know. Yes, there will still be a Trial. And yes, there will still be an execution. But I think it'd be more proper to call it a fake execution."
"Fake execution," Cassandra plainly stated. "So that's how I leave this Killing Game. By faking my death. You can really do that?"
"We shredded a giant Barracuda," White Collar pointed out. "I'd say a fake execution would perhaps be the easiest task to pull off."
"It's that easy," Cassandra breathed a sigh in relief.
"Ah, but remember, the rules of the game still apply," White Collar added. "You kill someone else, that won't be so easy to cover up… If you understand what I mean…"
If she kills someone other than Arthur Kingston, there's no faking that execution. She's good as gone from this life. But that did beg the question. Why Arthur Kingston? Why him? She wanted to ask but she was suddenly cut off…
"Now then," White Collar clasped his hands together. "I suppose it is my turn to ask you questions."
"Okay?" Cassandra raised an eyebrow. "Go for it."
"Why do you feel the need to stall for time?" White Collar asked, perking his head. His mask stopped grinning.
Cassandra paused. She blinked. White Collar had stood up and was leaning over to her. Leaning directly on his special cane.
"W-What do you mean?" Cassandra blinked.
"I gave you a simple task," White Collar stated. "Kill Arthur Kingston and you were good to leave the premises. It didn't have to be a complex set-up. Just bludgeon him or stab him or something. Any one of those would do. It wouldn't have mattered if you got caught or not. You would've been free either way. So I ask you again…"
White Collar's mask shifted into a monstrous look of irritation.
"What is taking you so long?" White Collar asked.
Cassandra gulped. He was pissed? Pissed that she didn't act immediately? She clenched her fist. She had to hold her ground. She wasn't going to let this peabody scare her… right?
"L-Look, man," Cassandra gritted her teeth together. "I told you. New rooms just opened up. I didn't know what I could use to kill him. Why the fuck are you rushing me to kill him anyway? Why do you want him dead so badly?"
White Collar remained silent for a moment. Then he stepped back and fixed his tie. His mask went back to that sinister grin but his voice sounded a little more relaxed now. Guess he lost his temper back there.
"My apologies," White Collar chuckled. "I suppose I was a little ecstatic when you accepted my deal yesterday. I just thought you'd act as soon as possible. That's all. I mean, I had prepared motivation for you. I gave you trinkets and treats. But you had just reminded me of something. Yes, I forgot one important thing..."
Cassandra breathed a sigh in relief that he wasn't going to kill her or anything but still held her breath for what he was going to say next. Either case, that was fucking scary as shit.
"A-And what exactly is that?" Cassandra asked, a little nervous.
"...Opportunity," White Collar grinned as he placed a finger over his mask's lips. "But until then, no peeking. You'll ruin the surprise."
"Surprise?" Cassandra blinked. "What the f–"
Almost immediately, Monohebi bit her on the neck, paralyzing her until her body slowly lost consciousness. She collapsed to the floor, passed out as White Collar peered down at the scam artist.
"Please escort her back to her room, Monohebi," White Collar ordered. "And please. Be careful with her. She's important…"
"...More than me, Master?" Monohebi murmured under her breath.
White Collar didn't hear a thing.
And so the snake was left to drag Cassandra's sleeping body back to her room, but with feelings of doubt in her mind. Feelings that made her despise what she was doing and who she was doing it for. Feelings against one person:
…Cassandra Mura…
That skank.
Monohebi's eyes glinted red.
That rotten, sinning skank…
DANGANRONPA: CORRUPTED HOPE
Over halfway through this story! We have now opened up a new Chapter! Chapter 4: Sins of the Forsaken!
I have to say, this is probably the beefiest start to a chapter ever XE Now that we're in like the 'merge' of the story, things are going to be a little different this time. You've gotten to know the characters! You've gotten to enjoy their good and bad sides! Now comes a time where plots are getting juicy and ready to have that bow tied over them! Especially with what the hell is going on behind the scenes with White Collar and Cassandra! Chapter 3 was when things started to change. Chapter 4 is when things do change and that's a promise I hope I can keep :D
Either case, hope you enjoyed the start of a beautiful Chapter! Let me know some details about what you liked and disliked! Criticisms? Other comments? Want me to write a crossover of Danganronpa and Total Drama? Hell no! But feel free to tell me that too if you want XE
(Goddamn! Chapter 4! Feels unreal ;-;)
Prisoners Remaining: 9
Abigail Ellsworth - The Ultimate Equestrian (oddlyillregular) [0]
Arthur Kingston - The Ultimate Snowboarder (SinWriter7) [1,000,000]
Cassandra Mura - The Ultimate Scam Artist (ExtraMeme) [500,000]
Haruto Walker - The Ultimate Former Basketball Player (theotakureader101) [0]
Holland Delaney - The Ultimate Game Designer (Sempi) [1,000,000]
Ina (Hamamura) Kingston - The Ultimate Revolutionary (VividIsSleeping) [0]
Jared Ceartas - The Ultimate Police Officer (Otterplay) [500,000]
Mimi Kazoo - The Ultimate Fairytale Writer (Idraegan) [0]
Zuri Auraline - The Ultimate Bassist (CandleFire45) [1,000,000]