Chapter 6: New World's Eden (Part 3)
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!
Hell was a word used to describe many different places.
It could be a place where your worst fears were realized, both literally and metaphorically. It could be a place where your personal space was sacrificed with a suffocating atmosphere. It could be a place where you are invisible to everyone, reeking of loneliness as you desperately try to cling to someone. But here at St. Esther's…
…Hell was different.
For the four remaining prisoners, Hell was having to endure a month-long torturous Killing Game hosted by the Devil himself. They glared defiantly toward White Collar, who remained seated in his throne as his red jagged eye returned their rebellious glare with a sinister gaze of his own. Because for the first time since they appeared, now was the time in which White Collar was finally getting involved in a Prison Trial…
Finally getting involved and sitting on the seat that belonged to him…
"This is the first time you're here to sit through the whole Trial," Mimi pouted.
"Tch, the bastard finally decided to grab his own front row seats, huh?" Haruto glared at White Collar.
White Collar couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
"Naturally," White Collar remarked, placing a finger over his masked grin. "Without Monohebi, who is supposed to dictate the natural order of these sacred Trial Grounds…"
"Yeah, standing around in this hellish environment and calling it sacred is just…" Abigail shook her head.
"Keh," White Collar simply chuckled as he sat back against his throne. "As a reminder of our deal, your priority is to figure out who killed Miss Terra Pisch. Succeed in doing so, and freedom will come. But failure to find the correct culprit and…"
"...We die," Holland grimaced.
Although his face remained calm and composed, deep inside, he felt as if he were being choked by an invisible force. The atmosphere around him was suffocating and he knew all too well that solving this case wasn't going to be easy.
"Precisely," White Collar responded to Holland's answer with a grin. "Now then, shall we begin our Final Trial?"
There were no objections on that front.
So, calmly, White Collar stood up and slammed his cane onto the ground, allowing the noise to reverberate around the Trial Grounds. All music that would be playing on a Discord Youtube Activity call was cut. This was practically his version of a gavel that he could use to bring order to the court.
Then, with a wicked and sinister grin, White Collar extended his arms outwards and made his announcement:
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"I, White Collar, hereby decree that our Final Trial is now in order. The Trial surrounding Miss Terra Pisch's has now commenced! Let us begin!"
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TRIAL COMMENCE
"Allow me to remind everyone the rules of this Prison Trial," White Collar began, standing up from his large throne that oversaw the 16 podiums. He extended his arms with a sinister grin. Occupying Kane's, Titus', Yuumi's, Mayu's, Carter's, Maggie's, Barracuda's, Jared's, Zuri's, Ina's, Cassandra's, and Arthur's podiums were their respective mugshots with two X's crudely drawn over their eyes and scribbles to represent fire that possibly hinted at the fact that they were burning in Hell. "There is a blackened among you. Your job is to argue amongst yourselves to ultimately come to a conclusion on who you think the blackened is. Once you have come to an agreement, you will be permitted to vote on who you think the blackened is. If you vote correctly, only the blackened shall receive punishment. But if you vote incorrectly, then everyone besides the blackened will be punished and the blackened will be able to escape the facility. Any questions?"
Abigail, Haruto, Holland, and Mimi glanced around their hellish Trial Grounds, noting that the room was glowing and flickering as if they were far in the pits of Hell itself. They watched as White Collar gripped his cane and pointed toward the four that looked ready to begin the Trial.
Their… Final Trial.
One last case before they were allowed to leave.
That was the deal that they had struck with White Collar. And knowing the Devil, he usually was true to his word. But that didn't stop them from thinking that he had something else up his sleeve. After all, this man was adamant about wanting them dead from the very beginning. To hear that he was going to let them go if they fulfilled their part of the deal…
It was suspicious.
"No?" White Collar tilted his head.
Usually they all had something they wanted to say but this time around, it seemed like everyone was getting right into it. White Collar retracted his cane and extended his arms out with that same gleeful yet sinister grin.
"Then, by all means..." White Collar grinned. "Let me ask a simple question: Who is it that killed Terra Pisch?"
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"...Well, in order to figure that out... I believe we should start with the Autopsy Report," Holland stated as he pulled up the Autopsy Report.
"It… doesn't give us a Time of Death," Mimi shook her head before sighing. "As usual."
"Even the Cause of Death is a little obscure," Abigail rubbed her chin. "I mean, says that there are bruises on her neck."
"And that her lungs have frozen over…" Haruto narrowed his eyes. "I mean, what the fuck?"
Another typical Autopsy Report in another typical Trial. More than actual answers, they were instead given much more questions to consider here. A classic thing to experience here at the St. Esther's Killing Game. But regardless, at least with this Autopsy Report, there was one easy thing they could at least figure out…
"...Yeah, it is a little strange, but I think we can at least solve one piece of the puzzle," Holland began.
"Really?" Mimi blinked.
"Yeah…" Holland nodded. "Based on this Autopsy Report, I think the easiest thing we can use right now are the bruises on Terra's neck."
"Right," Abigail nodded. "Those bruises on her neck… Based on what Haruto and I theorized about it, it's probably evidence of…
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…strangulation."
"Yeah, that's the most logical conclusion," Haruto rubbed the back of his neck.
Terra Pisch died from strangulation.
That was a simple conclusion to reach. And there was clear evidence of it in the form of bruising on the neck. And with what little evidence they actually had, the four had no other choice but to pursue this matter intently.
"But if that's the case, then what did the killer strangle her with?" Mimi hummed.
Another good question.
Except this time…
"Erm, good fucking question…" Haruto had no idea on how to respond to that. After all, it was the one thing they had trouble figuring out when he and Abigail investigated together. "Cause you see..."
"There was no evidence of a weapon of any kind found on her body or anywhere in the Swimming Pool," Abigail shook her head. "So, what we could be dealing with here is that maybe the real culprit took it and has it with them right now."
"Um, quick question, Big Sis Abby," Mimi snapped out of her thoughts. "But couldn't there be an easier explanation for why there was no weapon found at the scene?"
"And what do you have?" Abigail folded her arms.
"Well, maybe the killer didn't use an actual object as a weapon… " Mimi began to suggest. "But instead, their own hands. She died from strangulation, right? So, it could be possible that maybe the reason there was no weapon at the crime scene was because their hands were the weapon!"
Mimi made a compelling point. Strangulation was a murder method that could be accomplished in many ways. For someone to strangle someone, they didn't need a murder weapon when two hands and the strength of a security guard was all they needed to do the deed. But one look at Haruto's face made it known to her that she was definitely mistaken…
"Nah, good theory, but… there is proof that a weapon was used to kill her…" Haruto rubbed the back of his neck. "And that's…
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…the bruises on her neck."
"B-Bruises on her neck?" Mimi blinked.
On the front of Terra's neck were dark purple bruises. She imagined that the slight blue coloration of Terra's skin may have darkened the purple shading but regardless, it was clear that the bruises did in fact match up to what the Autopsy Report described. She slowly stood back up and shivered, disturbed by the sight.
"Yeah, when Abby and I searched Terra's body, her neck was the first place we looked," Haruto nodded. "There were these bruise marks on her neck. But only on the front of the neck!"
"Um, so...?" Mimi blinked.
"If you wrap your hand around someone's neck, it isn't gonna show up on only the front of the neck," Haruto declared. "It would show up around the neck! But when we checked Terra's body..."
She was practically going to have to squat back down and look at the body in more excruciating detail. But what choice did she have? She did so anyway and as Haruto told her to, she checked the back. But to her surprise… it was… clean? The back of her neck was clean? What?
"You get it now right?" Haruto folded his arms. "Whatever caused her bruises didn't touch the back of the neck…"
"...the back of the neck was entirely clean!" Haruto exclaimed.
"A-Agh!" Mimi widened her eyes in shock.
"Which is why we can confidently confirm that what killed Terra was a weapon," Abigail folded her arms before glancing away. "But as for what that weapon was... Unfortunately, Haruto and I have no idea what that weapon could be."
"But we do know that the weapon itself is very specific," Haruto nodded.
"...What do you mean?" Holland rubbed his chin.
Haruto thought back to the bruises once more, thinking about its peculiarities that pointed to that fact...
The bruises were shaped like a line that was cut off on both sides of the neck. Not only that, but Abigail noticed the bruising to be a little too smooth. And to add to that, whatever caused the bruises had some distinct pattern to it. Tiny teardrop-shaped patterns that were close together but never connected. It was familiar but Abigail couldn't put her fingers on what it might be…
"Well, it definitely looked like whatever was used was rope-shaped," Haruto rubbed the back of his neck. "Problem was, it definitely didn't have the typical pattern of a rope. No frays or anything like that. Hell, it didn't look like it could've been a typical rope that I've seen. And according to Abby, well, whatever choked the fuck out of her was something smooth."
"But there was a clear pattern to it as well…" Abigail folded her arms. "A tiny teardrop-shaped pattern. So, whatever it was, it had to fulfill all of those requirements…"
Abigail turned to Holland, anticipating an answer from their Trial MVP.
"So, Holland," Abigail narrowed her eyes. "Have any idea what it could've been?"
Something that was smooth and had a tear-shaped pattern. Something that was rope shaped. Something that would have fulfilled all of those requirements. The more Holland thought about it, the more he had to think whether they've seen a weapon like this before. Whether they… He blinked.
Wait a second!
They have!
But the weapon he was thinking of…
What the hell could this mean?
Whatever it meant, he had to shoot his shot.
Because as far as he was concerned, this was the only thing the weapon could've been…
"...Yeah," Holland nodded. "I think I do know what the weapon was…"
"Really?" Mimi looked shocked.
Don't know why. We've seen Holland do this many times already.
"The weapon that was used to kill Terra Pisch…" Holland began to say. "It had to be smooth, rope-like, and have a tear-shaped pattern. Knowing that, couldn't the murder weapon have been…
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…Monohebi?"
"M-Monohebi?!" Abigail widened her eyes.
"The fuck?!" Haruto blinked. "You mean the snake…"
"...was the murder weapon?!" Mimi finished Haruto's thought.
"...Yeah…" Holland nodded. "She's the only one that fits the requirements. She's a snake. And snakes are rope-like in structure. She has smooth skin. And snakeskins often have tear-shaped patterns within their scales. The only thing that would've matched the description of your weapon in this case had to have been a snake."
"But if that's the case, then what you're saying is that the killer we're looking for is Monohebi…" Abigail looked uneasy about this fact.
Holland rubbed his chin.
Was that true? Was the killer really Monohebi? It was the only thing that made any sense. So, without further ado, Holland decided to firmly nod to conclude his thoughts on the matter.
"Yeah, I think the killer very well could've been Monohebi…" Holland said.
"Let me give you a three-pointer," Haruto interjected, gritting his teeth as he took out his basketball of truth from out of nowhere. He allowed the basketball to spin on his finger before continuing. "Holland, with all due respect, I get where you're coming from but there's still something fucking wrong about this."
"...Is there?" Holland blinked. "Like what?"
"Well, I know we said that the marks on the neck were rope-like, smooth, and patterned… but you gotta remember about that other thing we said," Haruto folded his arms. "That the bruise marks only appeared on the front of the neck and that the back of the neck was entirely clean!"
"...A-Agh!" Holland slowly began to realize where Haruto was getting at.
"Yeah, you get it now, right?" Haruto growled. "Think back to how Monohebi actually tries to kill someone…"
Of course, Haruto would know this all too well. He was the one on the receiving end of it from Day 1. And boy, the memories of his own stupidity was pretty embarrassing to relive…
White Collar stared at Haruto before glancing toward Monohebi. Before Haruto could even step a single foot toward the masked man, the snake moved quickly. The snake coiled herself around Haruto's legs, effectively binding them together and forcing him to trip on the ground. With a thud and a groan, Monohebi slowly moved from his legs and wrapped herself around his chest, tightening her hold on him with each coil. Then she moved to his neck… and then she wrapped her body around it.
"Right, she's a snake, so her method of strangling someone would've been to coil herself around her victim," Abigail nodded.
"Like a boa constrictor!" Mimi declared.
"Agh… I see…" Holland rubbed his chin, understanding Haruto's argument. "And if Monohebi truly was the killer, there should have been marks on the back of Terra's neck too. But there wasn't…"
"Sorry man…" Haruto shook his head. "But in the end, that just means that Monohebi ain't the killer you're looking for."
Holland thought about this intensively.
The former basketball player made his point. It would've been impossible for Monohebi to be the killer thanks to that piece of evidence. But even so, the only weapon that could've been used to kill Terra was Monohebi. So… how could this be? If Monohebi was the culprit then shouldn't there have been marks on the back of her neck? Was there just another snake that was used? Was there…
…An alternative way this conundrum could be explained?
Holland rubbed his chin before nodding.
"...I think you're right," Holland said. "Monohebi might not be the killer we're looking for, but that doesn't mean she wasn't used…"
"W-What?" Haruto blinked, glancing at Holland incredulously. "W-What the hell do you mean?! How else could she have been used?!"
Holland considered his question for a brief moment before nodding once more.
He knew he was on the right track with this. After all, it was the only way to answer both questions: What was used to kill Terra and if Monohebi was used, then why didn't she leave marks on the back of her neck?
"I'll tell you how…" Holland said. "But first, you need to imagine Monohebi as not a killer but…
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…as the murder weapon."
"A– A murder weapon?!" Haruto widened his eyes.
"Huh?" Mimi was confused. "But how is that different from what Haruto was arguing about?! If Monohebi was the weapon, then she would've still coiled around Terra's neck right?!"
"...Not exactly," Holland shook his head. "Haruto argued as if Monohebi was acting and moving on her own. If she did that, then obviously, the marks should've been there on the back of Terra's neck."
"But…?" Abigail raised an eyebrow, expecting more to Holland's explanation.
"But… what if we consider it like this…?" Holland began. "That Monohebi wasn't acting or moving on her own but instead being used as a makeshift weapon."
"You mean…" Mimi blinked. "Monohebi was basically just... a murder prop?"
"...Remember, Monohebi isn't an actual animal," Holland said. "She's an artificial robot. We've seen what lies beyond her own skin."
"A-Ah!" Mimi covered her mouth. "I-Is that?!"
Of course, who else would she be referring to but Monohebi and her corrupted look. The peeling skin, the scary robotic look, and the non-stop glowing circular eye that made her look more like a snake-version of the Terminator.
"...P-Please don't look at me," Monohebi's voice broke slightly. "I'm… I'm hideous…"
"Right, a hideous fucking robot thing…" Haruto rubbed the back of his neck.
"Exactly…" Holland nodded. "And like any other robot, they are objects that could be used in many different ways. Monohebi is no different."
"So, you're saying that the killer just used Monohebi as makeshift rope?" Abigail widened her eyes. "To strangle Terra to death?"
"Ligature strangulation with Monohebi?" White Collar mused from his throne. "How amusing…"
"Wait, but if the killer used Monohebi as the murder weapon…" Mimi turned to face the only person that could've used Monohebi as a weapon. "Wouldn't that mean that the killer…
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…was you, White Collar?!"
The room grew silent.
Usually, when that happened, Mimi associated it with someone saying something completely absurd or stupid. But this time, she could see that her peers were with her on this theory. After all, it was a solid theory that made sense. Monohebi was White Collar's right-hand… snake. The only person who would think to use her as a weapon…
It had to be the Devil himself right?!
…So why was he chuckling like this was all so amusing?
"Keh, I was wondering when all of this would be pinned against me," White Collar chuckled. "I have to say, it was much quicker than I expected. Good for you."
"So, you were expecting this, huh, asshole?" Haruto gritted his teeth.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't," White Collar placed a finger over his mask's sinister grin. "But, regardless, I'll still say that Miss De La Vega is wrong…"
"What?" Mimi blinked before pouting. "But my reasoning makes sense! You and Monohebi are tight! You're the only person who could've used her as a weapon to kill Terra!"
White Collar's grin shifted down into a more disappointed gaze.
"...But is that really true?" White Collar leaned back against his throne.
"Huh?" Mimi blankly stared at him.
"Remind me again, Miss De La Vega…" White Collar placed a finger over his masked grin. "But what is it that prompted you all to believe that Monohebi was the murder weapon?"
"W-Well, it was because whatever killed Terra was rope-like, smooth, and had that tear-shaped pattern!" Mimi exclaimed. "Like a snake! And Monohebi was the only thing in the entire facility that has all three things! So…"
"And so, you think that I simply took Monohebi and choked the life out of Miss Pisch?" White Collar chuckled.
"Y-Yeah!" Mimi exclaimed. "Why are you asking me these questions?! That's the truth behind this case isn't it?!"
Abigail paused upon hearing all of this.
That was the truth…?
She had to wonder why White Collar was questioning their logic here until she realized that they had literally forgotten something important. Something they had already mentioned. The reason they said that Monohebi was the weapon was because she had all the requirements of what the murder weapon could've been. But what if… that wasn't true?
Where would that take the discussion then?
"No, I… don't think so anymore," Abigail folded her arms, eyes glazed toward the side in thought.
"Huh?!" Mimi widened her eyes, surprised. "Big Sis Abby?!"
"What are you saying?" Haruto blinked. "That we're wrong about this entire thing?"
"Well, here's the thing…" Abigail began to say. "I think what White Collar is trying to argue here is that Monohebi might not have been the murder weapon. And the reason for that is…
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…her disfigurement."
"W-What?!" Mimi recoiled.
"Think back to what Monohebi looked like shortly after the bombs exploded," Abigail began to say before she thought back to the snake's overall appearance.
Her face, or at least, the right half of her face was now exposed. In fact, some parts of her scaly body had been ripped, exposing what was underneath that snakeskin of hers: a robotic skeleton of her body, metallic and something straight out of a sci-fi horror fic. Most notable was her eye, which no longer was jagged but rather circular and cybernetic, glowing non-stop as she remained horrified by what she saw.
"...She was disfigured thanks to the bombs," Holland said. "If that was the case, then that would mean that Monohebi no longer meets the conditions of what the murder weapon could've been."
"W-What?!" Haruto widened his eyes. "So, I was fucking right to say that Monohebi wasn't… Goddamn it!"
"B-But that means we wasted two thousand words just talking about this!" Mimi pouted. "Now we're back to square one!"
"I…" Abigail rubbed her chin.
She and Holland shared a glance of uncertainty. Were they really back at square one, here? As far as they knew it, Monohebi did fit the requirements before the explosions happened. And as Mimi pointed out, she was the only one in the entire facility that could fulfill that criterion. So, what on earth was happening here? Were they really just… wrong?
Holland shook his head.
"...No, not necessarily," Holland said. "I think we're still right on track. We just need to turn our thinking around."
"Turn our thinking around?" Mimi blinked, confused.
"Right, we know for a fact that Monohebi was the only thing in the entire facility that could've been used as the murder weapon…" Abigail nodded.
"But the fact remains that parts of her skin got burnt off thanks to the blasts of the bombs," Haruto folded his arms. "Which means that all that patterned and smooth bullshit isn't gonna cut it for her anymore."
"...True, but we also need to remember that she was once a suitable weapon for the murder…" Holland specified.
That she was once a suitable weapon for the murder…? What was this boy yappin about?
"H-Hang on," Haruto suddenly realized where Holland was getting at. "You don't mean…"
"...I think this is the only way Monohebi could theoretically still be the weapon used to kill Terra," Holland nodded. "Because what if…
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…Terra was killed a long time ago?"
"Killed a long time ago?!" Mimi widened her eyes once more at this realization. "B-But how can you say something like that?"
"...It's easy," Holland said. "Our theory relies on the fact that Monohebi was the murder weapon. But with her disfigurement, she wouldn't have been able to fulfill the requirements of our hidden weapon. However, if Terra was killed a long time ago, some time before Monohebi was actually disfigured, then the possibility of her being used to kill her becomes more likely…"
Mimi tried to grasp what Holland was saying.
The only time Monohebi could be the weapon was before the explosion. And if she was used to kill Terra, then that would mean that Terra was killed a long time ago, as well. The theory made sense but…
"Well, if you think that's true… then, do you have evidence that Terra really was killed a long time ago?" Mimi pouted. "Because this just… This just sounds crazy to me! There's no way for a body to be kept that long and not seem so fresh!"
This time, Abigail kicked the podium with her foot.
"Actually, there is a way to do just that…" Abigail shook her head. "And that's if…
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…you take a look at Terra's body!"
"Huh?!" Mimi recoiled once more.
"Yeah… Abby's right," Haruto followed this line of conversation, closely. "Because, if I'm not mistaken…"
Abigail slowly placed her hand over Terra's chest, where her lungs would be and instantly retracted her hand. She held her hand and widened her eyes. Because the moment she touched Terra, was the moment she felt an extreme icy husk of a soulless corpse. Wordy fluffy descriptions aside…
"Yeah, she's cold as shit," Haruto grumbled. "I'd even say her body's completely frozen."
"Terra's body was fucking cold as shit," Haruto said. "Not only that, but her skin had turned blue as well. As if she was fucking frozen."
He paused.
"Wait, she was fucking frozen, wasn't she?!" Haruto growled.
"Yeah, I'm willing to believe it," Abigail nodded. "Her body proves it. Which means that Holland's theory is once again, right on the money. Terra Pisch had to have been killed a long time ago and the killer used Monohebi to do it!"
"Which means it still could be White Collar?" Mimi turned to the man in the Devil's mask, who simply looked intrigued by their conversation.
"To me, my hellish rebuke," White Collar suddenly interjected, his jagged red eye glowing and his grin widening as he held out his hand upward, as if he were producing flames like a dark sorcerer. "Keh, the lengths you would all go to accuse me of murder. How fun, yet very tiring…"
White Collar stood up and grabbed his cane that had been leaning on his throne. Then, pointing it toward the group, his grin shifted into something more displeased. It was as he said. With another Trial occurring shortly after the last one, which by the way he was also accused of murdering and breaking the rules, this was most certainly getting ridiculous for him.
"You all say that Miss Pisch died a long time ago…" White Collar stated. "But I call poppycock. Indeed, her body was frozen solid, but that doesn't exactly prove that she was killed a long time ago. For all you know, her body could've been frozen as a result of the murder itself… Don't you agree?"
"Um, no bitch," Haruto rolled his eyes before pounding his fist onto the podium. "We know you're the fucking killer! And we know that you killed her… some time ago!"
White Collar fixed his collar with that sinister grin of his.
"Is that so?" White Collar chuckled before extending his arms out as if he were stuck to the cross. "Then, do tell me. If Miss Pisch died a long time ago, then where was her body kept all this time?"
The four prisoners looked amongst themselves. It was them four against the Devil himself. Meaning, whatever they were going to come up with, they needed to work as a team to come up with an answer. If Terra died a long time ago, then that would also require her body to be hidden. Not only that…
"We know that Terra was frozen to keep her body fresh," Abigail folded her arms. "And if she was killed a long time ago, we also have to realize that her body was hidden."
"...Meaning, what we're looking for is a place where her body could've been both hidden and frozen at the same time," Holland said. "Some place that could knock two birds with one stone…"
A place that could keep a body hidden and frozen at the same time?
Was there really a place like that? Where Terra Pisch could've been hidden all this time without anyone noticing? Abigail, Haruto, and Mimi had little clue where that place could be. Or maybe they had some sort of idea. But of course, it was Holland who had a definitive answer to this conundrum.
"Actually, there is one place that comes to mind…" Holland trailed off.
"Really?!" Mimi beamed, looking proud at Holland.
"Oh?" White Collar seemed more curious than ever. "Is that so? Then, do tell me. Where was Miss Pisch's body hidden?"
"The place where Terra's body was hidden…" Holland thought about this long and hard. "It had to be…
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…in the Ultimate Snowboarder's Cell!"
"Th-The Ultimate Snowboarder's Cell?!" Mimi exclaimed, shocked.
"Hey, that's true," Abigail understood, instantly. "The Ultimate Snowboarder's Cell is a place completely covered in snow. Not only that but isn't it pretty big as well?"
"...Yeah, it is," Holland nodded. "And not only that, but it's one of two other places that can realistically keep a body frozen like this. The only other place being the Freezer."
"And we all know that hiding a body in there ain't gonna fucking work out for anyone," Haruto grumbled. "Especially when it was open access to everyone since the start of the game!"
"Ah, that's right!" Mimi gasped. "Wasn't Arthur's Cell revealed like almost a week ago?"
"It was," Abigail nodded. "Which makes it a much more likely place to hide the body because of the fact that it wasn't revealed until almost recently. In other words, it could've kept the body hidden for a really long time!"
"Keh, I cannot argue with your logic," White Collar chuckled. "All of it is quite sound…"
If that was the case, then why was he chuckling? He knew it was just going to come back to bite him in the ass. So, why was he so damn calm about it? He stood up and pointed the sharp end of his cane toward the four.
"But can you prove it?" White Collar asked, tilting his head as his jagged red eye glowed.
"Well, we can always look back on the footage, right?" Mimi suggested. "The Ultimate Snowboarder's Cell had a camera in it so…"
"Nah, unfortunately, Ina and Cassandra's whole plot caused the Mineshaft to cave in," Haruto muttered. "So, we can't even access the Security Room if we wanted to…"
"...The cameras would've been no use anyway," Holland shook his head. "Because in an earlier Trial…"
Holland remembered it well because he was the one who came up with this tidbit of information.
"Based on the fact that what we've been watching has been nothing more than an unchanging image, yeah," Abigail crossed her arms. "I think we've been watching a still image."
"A- A still image?!" Mimi widened her eyes. "H-How is that possible?!"
"...It's because of the cold," Holland realized, rubbing his chin.
"Th-The cold?" Mimi turned to Holland in bewilderment.
"...Depending on the security camera model you use, extreme temperatures could very well end up having some sort of negative effect on what you may see on the camera displays themselves…" Holland noted. "No doubt, the camera would've still been working but the image it would've shown on the monitor…"
"Would be frozen…" Zuri blinked.
"Right, the extreme cold practically broke the cameras," Abigail folded her arms. "So, obviously, the cameras are out of the question if we really want something to prove that she was in Arthur's Cell…"
"But if that's the case, then what else do we have?" Haruto grumbled.
The cameras were a no go both because they were useless and practically unreachable now. So, what else could prove that Terra's body was in there. Or better yet, what exactly could prove that someone had to have come inside to bring out Terra's body in the first place…? If they thought about it like that, then surely…
"Ah, wait, I think I got this one!" Mimi suddenly had a spark of intelligence and began to contribute a little more to this conversation. "I think I know what might prove it!"
Right.
It was this peculiar thing that made no sense. It was…
"The thing that proves that Terra's body was originally in Arthur's Cell…" Mimi began. "It was…
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…the snow machine!"
"The snow machine?" Abigail blinked. "What in Arthur's Cell? What about it?"
"Ah, I see…" Holland understood where Mimi was getting at. "Well, it's because…"
And within mere moments, the large amount of snow raining down from Hell subsequently subsided, leaving the Cell in a heap of snow that piled on different corners of the room. At the very least, they could finally see the room in its aftermath. The hill itself looked clunkier than it normally did. The snow castle was riddled with snow. And even one of the snowmen had been dismantled to pieces…
"W-Wow, so what was causing the snow to fall was…" Mimi widened her eyes.
"The snow machine," Holland sighed in relief. "It was set to Extreme. And as we just saw, it created a blizzard large enough to cause some snow to leak out of the Cell…"
"...Mimi and I were in Zuri's Cell at the time of the Body Discovery Announcement," Holland revealed. "And when we came out… snow had begun to spew out of Arthur's Cell. When we entered, we saw that the snow machine was set to Extreme."
"So, you mean to tell me that someone turned the snow machine to Extreme and what that did was that it caused like what… a blizzard to hit the inside of the Cell?" Haruto glanced at Holland and Mimi incredulously.
The two simply nodded in return.
"Keh, with all due respect," White Collar fixed his collar. "May I ask how this has any bearing on my question at hand? I fail to see how a faulty snow machine proves that Miss Pisch's body was there in the first place."
"No, the snow machine was definitely not faulty!" Mimi declared.
"...She's right," Holland nodded. "The snow machine was intentionally set to Extreme."
"And why would anyone want to do something like that?" White Collar asked with an amused smile on his face.
"Isn't it obvious?" Holland challenged the Devil. "The only reason the snow machine would intentionally be set to Extreme is so…
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…the culprit can hide the evidence!"
"Hide the evidence?" it was Haruto's turn to be a little slow. "Like… what kind of evidence…?"
"All of it…" Holland simply said. "Think about it this way, if the snow machine wasn't set to Extreme and the culprit went to retrieve the body, what do you think would be left behind as a result?"
"Footprints…" Abigail answered.
"Exactly," Holland nodded. "By creating a blizzard inside Arthur's Cell, the culprit would effectively also be creating enough snow to pile onto their footprints, where Terra's body was hidden, etcetera. That is the only reason why the snow machine was set to Extreme in the first place!"
Holland made sure to point his finger toward the Devil himself as he made his accusation. And yet, as before, Holland noticed just how intrigued he was about all this. White Collar's sinister grin never wavered as he pointed his cane toward Holland, specifically.
"...If that is the case, then please answer me this…" White Collar slowly said, his grin widening and his jagged red eye flashing slightly. "If Miss Pisch was hidden in Mister Kingston's accursed Cell, then, where exactly was she?"
Holland blinked.
No, all four of them blinked.
"You claim that Miss Pisch was hidden inside that snow-filled Cell, and yet, you also have to remember that the room was opened ten days ago," White Collar reminded. "If her body really was there... Then where was she? You all had ten days to check… Not only that, but Mister Kingston frequented his own Cell, and even he was unable to find the body. What does this tell you…?"
One thing.
Fuck.
"Allow me to supply you an answer…" White Collar chuckled, placing a finger over his masked grin. "Miss Pisch was not hidden in Mister Kingston's Cell. Because unless someone can pinpoint where exactly her body would have remained without being detected…"
White Collar leaned forward, allowing his masked grin to intensify and his jagged eye to glow darker than before:
"...Your theory is wrong…"
White Collar made a strong point.
Even though the Ultimate Snowboarder's Cell wasn't open to them for a long time, it did open about ten days ago. That should've been enough time to find the body. And yet, no one did. Not until the body was actually removed. What? Were they really so busy with all the drama that not once did anyone see anything?
"Well, maybe, you came in, took the body, kept it somewhere, then put it back and– Okay, actually, no…" Mimi quickly shut herself down. "That sounds like too much work…"
"Yeah, and besides, the body had to have been taken out recently," Abigail said. "If the snow machine being turned to Extreme is anything to go by…"
"Yeah, and when I went to find Holland at Cell Block S…" Mimi began to say.
Mimi stopped dead in her tracks when she saw that the path to Mineshaft had pretty much caved in.
It wasn't something she should be too surprised by. One of the bombs Ina and Cassandra had planted around was the Grinder and the posthumous explosion would've caused catastrophic damage to the Cell Block. Fortunately for her, that meant one less possible location Holland could've been in. Not that she needed it…
Mimi already knew there would be only one place he would be in. She hurried into the large circle of Ultimate Cells that surrounded her, feeling the chilly air seep out of the Ultimate Snowboarder's Cell and promptly walked straight into the Ultimate Bassist's Cell.
Zuri's Cell…
"There was barely any snow leaking out at the time so the snow machine being turned to Extreme had to be very recent!" Mimi nodded enthusiastically.
"So, in other words, we can count on the fact that Terra's body was in Arthur's Cell," Haruto sighed, grumbling to himself. "But this asshole wants us to show where exactly… Does it really matter…?"
"...Unfortunately, yes," Holland nodded. "Because if Terra's body was in Arthur's Cell, we need a reason as to why someone like Arthur would've never found it in the first place… Where Arthur would never think to look…"
Where would he never expect to find a dead corpse in his own Cell? Where exactly could that be…?
Holland thought long and hard about this before he slammed his hands onto the podium. Yeah, he had an answer. There was only one place in that entire Cell in which someone like Arthur would've never thought to check. That one place… It had to be…
"I got it…" Holland said before looking up toward White Collar. "Terra's body… This was where she was in Arthur's Cell…
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"A snowman…?" Haruto turned to Holland as if he was crazy. "You've gotta be kidding me."
"...No, I'm not," Holland shook his head. "I have proof…"
"Proof?" Abigail blinked.
White Collar leaned against the edge of his throne, awaiting Holland's answer. His grin shifted into a look of curiosity as Holland thought back to what exactly proved that Terra's body was hidden in a snowman. Course, there was only one thing it could've been…
"The proof…" Holland began. "...that Terra was hidden in a snowman was…
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…the remains of the snowman!"
"Th-The remains of the snowman?" Haruto blinked.
"...Yeah," Holland nodded. "Mimi can attest to the scene. When we went to go turn off the snow machine…"
He wasn't someone who knew too much about Arthur's Ultimate Cell. Of all the times he's seen it, it was through security camera footage that was frozen. So, all he really knew was that there was a hill, a chair lift, a castle that would've been cut off from the angle of the camera to the hill, and the snowmen. But what was peculiar about the snowman was…
"Aww, it seems like one of the snowmen got destroyed by the blizzard," Mimi pouted.
The snowman Holland was checking out was a snowman that had been broken into pieces. Any kind of repair done on it would be impossible. As for its friends, well they all seemed to be in perfect condition. Standing still. Smiling. The blizzard had barely affected and yet…
"...Right!" Mimi nodded. "All of the snowmen were intact except for one! I thought maybe the snow pelted one too hard but if the body was originally hidden in there…"
"Then, the snowman being completely broken apart makes much more sense, doesn't it…?" Holland nodded. "Terra's body was hidden inside that snowman all this time. Once the time came, the body was taken out. In order to cover their tracks, the snow machine was turned to Extreme. Then, all the culprit needed to do was toss her body into the Swimming Pool. And there was only one person that could do this, undetected…"
Holland pointed his finger directly toward White Collar, with a more defiant yet stoic glance.
"...You! White Collar!"
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Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
White Collar smacked the palms of his hands together to create the most condescending echo in order to match the amused expression on his mask. His jagged red eye flickered. Whether it was another addition to his amusement or something else, the four weren't exactly sure. But what they did know was that this case was far from over.
It was only the 6K-7K mark after all!
"Fantastic work, Mister Delaney," White Collar mused. "Your intelligence in solving cases continues to impress… Perhaps you truly are worthy of your so-called Talent…"
He said that last line with notable distaste.
"I suppose after a wonderful argument you've made; I have no choice but to admit it," White Collar chuckled. "Indeed. It was me. I was the one who took Miss Pisch's body out of hiding and tossed her in the Swimming Pool for you to find."
"Can't help but notice that you aren't exactly owning up to murdering her, though," Abigail narrowed her eyes.
"Why own up to something I simply didn't do…?" White Collar chuckled, placing a finger over his masked grin. "All I'm guilty of is moving the body…"
"Bullshit, you are!" Haruto clenched his fist. "I can list many reasons as to why you're the fucking killer, goddamnit!"
"Then, by all means, list them all out…" White Collar leaned back against his throne.
"Great!" Haruto pounded his fist onto his podium. "First reason. We already said that the murder weapon was Monohebi. That's what led us into this tangent in the first place. The bruises on Terra's neck had specific requirements of what the murder weapon could've been. Monohebi checked off all the boxes in that regard! And since you hang out with her the most, you'd have an easy access to a goddamn murder weapon."
"Second reason," Abigail jumped in. "Arthur's Cell. We proved that the body was hidden in Arthur's Cell this entire time. None of us had access to that Cell until ten days ago, when it was finally opened to us thanks to the removal of that first cave-in. The only person who did have access… was you!"
"Third reason!" Mimi added. "You confessed to moving her body out yourself! Why else would you do that if you're not the killer?! And it's not like this was the first time you actually killed someone too!"
White Collar listened to all of three of these reasons extensively. But the only person who had yet to say anything was Holland. Because he knew all too well that he had something else on his sleeve. Something else to prove that he wasn't the killer…
"All good points," the man in the Devil's mask extended his arms as if he were pinned to the cross. "It seems you all believe that you've reached a proper conclusion. And yet, there is still more to the mystery that you've all seemed to have forgotten…"
White Collar paused before letting his jagged red eye pinpoint toward the one person who seemed to have an idea on where this was going.
"...Or rather, one part of the mystery that only one of you seems to remember…" White Collar glanced at Holland. "Isn't that right, Mister Delaney?"
Holland didn't say anything.
Instead, his eyes glanced off toward the distance as he gave it a long and hard thought. Only one part of the mystery… Of course, this part of Terra's mystery had yet to be answered. The question of…
"...Right…" Holland simply nodded.
"Right?" Abigail blinked. "What is he talking about?"
"...Isn't it obvious…?" Holland asked. "He's talking about…
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…the Body Discovery Announcement."
"W-What?" Abigail blinked.
"A-Ah fuck!" Haruto rubbed his head in anguish. "Y-You're right!"
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"Attention all prisoners," the same recording of the late Monohebi's voice echoed throughout the facility. "A body has been discovered. After a certain amount of time has passed, the Prison Trial will begin. That is all."
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Their moment of acknowledgement was cut short with a sudden announcement playing over the speakers. Monohebi's recorded voice blared across the facility, allowing Holland and Mimi to shoot their glances up toward the ceiling in shock. Once the announcement finished saying what it needed to say, the game designer and fairytale writer shared similar glances of shock.
"W-Was that the Body Discovery Announcement?!" Mimi exclaimed.
Holland remained quiet for a moment before his mind snapped back to reality.
"...W-Where's Haruto and Abigail?" Holland questioned her.
"Only Abby and I were there at the Swimming Pool when the Body Discovery Announcement played…" Haruto gritted his teeth. "Holland and Mimi didn't come in until much later. Which means… there's still one person who we haven't accounted for that might've seen the fucking body."
"W-What?!" Mimi blinked. "B-But th-that can't be right…!"
"...No, it is…" Holland grimaced. "Mimi. You were with me when the Body Discovery Announcement played. And if Abigail and Haruto were the ones to come across the body…"
"Then, who the fuck is our third person?" Abigail narrowed her eyes.
"Keh…" White Collar chuckled. "That is not the question you should be asking here. The question you should be asking is… who is the true culprit?"
"Hey, hey, wait a fucking minute, you can't just–" Haruto clenched his fist.
"And why not?" White Collar tilted his head, extending his arms out once more. "After all, this whole conundrum can be cleared up if you simply turn your thinking around. That perhaps…"
White Collar leaned forward, his jagged red eye glowing like mad.
"I… am the third person who discovered the body," White Collar's mask grinned to a monstrous degree. "After all, as I confessed before… I was the one who moved the body. And since killers can't exactly be the ones who discovered the body, well, you understand the rest…"
Holland silently recoiled as he flipped his hoodie over his head.
"A-Agh!" Abigail took some sprite damage too.
"N-No!" Mimi gasped as she took some of it.
"F-Fuck!" Haruto too.
Actually, the former basketball player had more to say on the matter and slammed his fist onto his podium before pointing his finger toward the man in the Devil's mask. Glaring heatedly, he began to bark out a counterargument.
"F-Fuck off!" Haruto exclaimed. "You can't do that! It's in the fucking rules!"
Haruto held out his eHandbook and scrolled through towards the Rules app. Then, hoisting it up into the air for White Collar to see, he gestured directly toward Rule #10.
"See?!" Haruto exclaimed. "Rule #10. The Body Discovery Announcement will play when three or more prisoners discover a body. You're not a fucking prisoner!"
"And yet, you can all accuse me of murder even though I am not a participant?" White Collar mused. "Doesn't seem fair, now does it?"
"Fuck," Abigail cursed. "...We kinda walked into that one. If he can be counted as a suspect, then vice versa, he could be counted as someone who could trigger a Body Discovery Announcement…"
"W-What?!" Mimi widened her eyes. "B-But… that's… that's… That's so…"
Mimi couldn't find the right word for it. Unfair would force White Collar to counter with his own piece on the matter. And right now, Mimi didn't want a lecture from the man in the Devil's mask. What she wanted was answers. Answers that could help them prove that this bastard really was the killer…
That this bastard… who was chuckling on his throne… was…
White Collar stood up and held onto his cane, pointing it toward the four as his red jagged eye glowed menacingly. With a widened grin, he continued to speak…
"Thank you so much for proving my innocence…" White Collar chuckled. "I sincerely could not have done it without your assistance. Thank you all…"
The Devil was met with glares and frustrated looks.
Was this really the truth? Because for all they knew, this just felt like White Collar was making up rules as he went. Obviously, it was something he was prone to doing quite a lot. And yet, right now, they didn't exactly have any way to counteract this effect he had placed upon them. Seriously, what could they do?
What was their next move…?
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"...Your innocence is far from proven…"
Everyone turned to see that an extra Voting Chamber had arrived, stationed there who knows how long. Or at the very least, however long it was stationed there, didn't matter. What mattered was who came out of the Voting Chamber. And who else would it be? Who else but a blue-haired, pompous looking…
"...Arthur Kingston," White Collar's jagged red eye glowed immensely at the sight of the Ultimate Snowboarder. "Keh, so the prodigal son lives…"
In an attempt to refrain from showing just how bruised up he was, he straightened his posture and made his way to the podium, shoving the standee with his mugshot out of the way. Though, all of them could see just how bad of a limp he had as a result of his failed execution. By the time he reached his podium, he could see the surprised and yet surprisingly relieved look of his peers.
"Well, goddamn," Haruto grumbled, folding his arms. "You really are a fucking cockroach. You survived a whole barrage of attempts on your life throughout this fucking game…"
"Haruto," Abigail tried to speak up but Haruto shook his hand.
"You know none of us here's actually forgiven you for making our lives a fucking hellhole in the last case, right?" Haruto gritted his teeth. "Or rather, forgiven you for all the other shit you did…"
"Um, Haruto it's…" Mimi tried to say but Haruto raised his voice.
"Arthur Kingston," Haruto pounded his fist on his podium. "You're a goddamn piece of shit of a person! You're a fucking scumbag! And you fucking suck! But goddamn it…"
Haruto placed his hands over his hips and sighed.
"...I hate to fucking say it, but it's good to see you're still alive…" Haruto grumbled.
Arthur glanced at Haruto.
Everything he had said about him was true. He really was a bastard and a scumbag. But despite that, to hear that someone here actually was happy to see him alive. No wait. He glanced toward the other three, and it was clear to him that they all shared the same sentiment. Despite everything that happened, they were here in the endgame. Right here, in the end…
…together.
"I should've died," Arthur folded his arms and nodded. "Even now, the injuries of that execution still pain me. However, it is as the old saying goes…"
Arthur pointed a cold glare toward White Collar. Then, he pointed his finger.
"...I am a Kingston," Arthur said. "A Kingston always gets whatever they want. And right now, all I want is for all of us to finally put an end to this accursed game."
"Finally, you've said stuff here that actually sounds pretty damn cool," Abigail couldn't help but smile.
"The part you played in Yuumi's death is unforgivable," Mimi began to say. "I know you know this. But I'm still glad you're with us, Arthur…"
Arthur couldn't help but smile solemnly to himself. Then, his eyes landed on Holland, who simply gave him a look of acknowledgement.
"So, tell me, what is the situation?" Arthur ordered.
"...Terra Pisch's body was found in the Swimming Pool," Holland explained, giving Arthur the full rundown of the details. "We concluded that based on the bruises around her neck, our killer utilized Monohebi as the murder weapon. We also found out that Terra had to have been killed a while ago and hidden inside a snowman in your Ultimate Cell until today…"
"White Collar also admitted to being the one to move the body out of her hiding place," Abigail added. "But because of the Body Discovery Announcement rule, he's insisting that he was the third person to see her body. The other two being me and Haruto…"
Arthur rubbed his chin at the thought.
"Oh, I think we should also mention that we made a deal with White Collar," Mimi pointed out.
"You what?" Arthur sputtered.
"Nothing too bad!" Mimi assured him. "If we find out who killed Terra, we win! But if we fail. We die! Same old Trial rules!"
Arthur blankly stared at Mimi over how nonchalant she was about this. Even if the deal was pretty much the rules of a typical Trial, he still wondered what prompted them to do something like that…"
"Oi, please tell me you did some investigating before coming to the Trial…" Haruto crossed his arms, snapping him back into reality.
"...I did," Arthur nodded.
"And what did you find…?" Mimi asked.
Arthur didn't say anything.
What he had discovered during his part of the Investigation, it wasn't information he was ready to disclose just yet. After all, the most important thing now was to help his fellow prisoners get out of the tight mess that they were in right now. That, being the question of… How could he disprove that White Collar was not the third person who saw the body…?
"...You say that White Collar has claimed himself to be the third person to see the body?" Arthur asked once more. "I see… Then, the only way we can prove him wrong is if we provide another possibility…"
"Another… possibility…?" Mimi blinked.
"Like you mean, another person who could've seen the body and just… what, not have said anything?" Abigail deadpanned. "How the hell could someone be stupid enough to not realize that they've seen a dead body?"
"...If that someone just happened to not have realized it at the time…" Arthur simply said.
Arthur thought back to one instance in which that could've happened. A moment in which someone saw the dead body in the snowman in his own Cell and not have realized that what they saw was a dead corpse. He nodded. Yeah, he knew for a fact who on earth could've been the one to see the body.
"I know who it is," Arthur said before pointing his finger toward the culprit at hand. "The true third person who discovered the body was…
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He pointed directly at Ina's portrait.
"I-Ina?" Mimi widened her eyes. "Y-You mean, she saw the body and didn't realize it?! W-When?!"
"When my Ultimate Cell first opened," Arthur answered.
"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…
"As I made my way up the snow hill, I noticed that Ina had knocked over the head of the snowman and subsequently fixed it," Arthur explained. "If Terra truly was in that snowman as you said, then that would have been the best moment in which my sister would've been the first person to unknowingly discover the body."
"...And Terra Pisch wasn't exactly a tall person by any chance," Holland added. "She was relatively short. Meaning Ina probably wouldn't have seen her face or anything like that but probably her blonde hair."
"No way…" Mimi blinked, shocked to know that the discovery of the body had happened practically ten days ago.
"Ha, so in other words, your little excuse of being the third person to see the body fucking sucks!" Haruto exclaimed, pointing his finger toward the silent White Collar. "Ina was the person who found her body first! Then, Abigail… and then me! Because it was once I arrived that the Body Discovery Announcement played!"
"That's right, and let's not forget that you also confessed to moving her body as well," Abigail nodded.
"...In the words of gaming history…" Holland nodded. "You played yourself."
White Collar didn't say anything for a while.
His silence was very odd. But it was clear on his masked face that he was annoyed. Irritated that once again he was being bested by the Kingston he just could not kill. The Kingston that truly did not deserve to live. That bloody cockroach! White Collar's jagged red eye glowed immensely as he fixed his tie.
"So, you still think I was the one who did it…" White Collar chuckled. "Very well, I suppose I have no choice but to allow this Trial to continue…"
White Collar stood up and grasped onto his cane.
But the moment he did that, the entire room's atmosphere started to change and grow darker. The bright fiery lights of Trial Grounds seeped into something darker than red and orange. A color that represented Hell itself as he pointed the sharp end of his cane toward the five prisoners.
"...I ask you all another question," White Collar's mouth turned hollow black, no longer showing off his sharpened teeth. "If I am the killer, then pray tell me, when exactly would I have killed Miss Pisch?"
"W-When?" Mimi blinked.
"Need I remind you?" White Collar slammed his cane on the ground. "You have all reached the conclusion that Miss Pisch was killed a long time ago. But unfortunately, you have all never seemed to figure out when exactly "long ago" actually is…"
"D-Does that really fucking matter?!" Haruto glared. "We can say whenever the time of the day it is, and it'll still be you who killed her!"
"I wouldn't be so sure of that…" Arthur shook his head.
"W-What?" Haruto turned to Arthur. "W-What the fuck are you talking about?"
"There is a reason why White Collar asked us this question…" Arthur looked away, slightly unnerved. "Because he knows it'll prove his innocence…"
"P-Prove his innocence?" Abigail asked. "What? Are you really expecting us to believe that White Collar is actually innocent behind this?!"
Arthur didn't say anything, allowing Holland to jump in and take the lead over this conversation.
"...It doesn't matter what he thinks," Holland simply said. "What matters is the truth. And if Arthur believes that answering White Collar's question may lead us to some truth then… We have no choice but to answer it."
"Yeah, but how the hell are we supposed to know when this bitch was killed?" Haruto was starting to sound more frustrated by the minute. "I mean… A long time ago could be any damn time in the fucking world."
Holland considered his choices carefully.
If he thought about it hard enough, there was really only one answer that would make the most sense. They weren't looking for something specific. There was no need for dates or time or whatever. The answer they needed was something much broader. Something that would make the most sense.
When did Terra Pisch die…?
"Not necessarily…" Holland shook his head. "I think what makes the most sense here is if Terra died…
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…before the Killing Game began."
"Before the Killing Game began?" Abigail glanced at him in disbelief. "How could you say that?"
"It makes the most sense…" Holland rubbed his chin. "Think about it. Not once did we ever see Terra Pisch because all this time she was hidden in Arthur's Cell. We knew she existed, and we knew she was a big part of whatever happened here… so much so that for her body to show up now… it can't be a coincidence. Terra Pisch had to have been involved with the game somehow. And the fact that we've seen no hint of her existence till now means that she had to have been killed before our Killing Game began."
Abigail just stood there and listened to Holland's deductions.
Terra Pisch being killed before the Killing Game actually began was admittedly a solid theory. She couldn't imagine any other time in which Terra could've been killed. It was like what Holland said. Terra's existence in this prison was nonexistent till her body was taken out of the Cell. She couldn't deny that much. But if that was the case…
"Which leads us to our next question…" Arthur began to say, narrowing his eyes. "What exactly was Terra's involvement in the game…?"
That was a fantastic question.
Terra Pisch was someone who they had both little and much information about. They knew that she was involved in the experiments here at St. Esther… But in terms of the Killing Game, what was her role in that? Theoretically, when it came to the Killing Game, there were really only three options she could've been…
"Maybe she was the mastermind!" Mimi exclaimed.
"I thought White Collar was the mastermind…" Haruto blinked.
"Well, maybe he became the mastermind after he killed her!" Mimi exclaimed. "That's right! Like all the classic tales of two brothers scenario! It was a power struggle between two villainous people!"
"An interesting theory, but there is no evidence supporting that notion," Arthur shook his head. "However, there is evidence pointing to one other answer…"
As you may have noticed, the options have been narrowed down just for you!
If Terra Pisch wasn't the mastermind, then who was she? What was the role she played in the Killing Game? There should be clear evidence to support the only possible role she could've been. So knowing that… What was her role?
"...The role that Terra Pisch played in the Killing Game…" Arthur began. "She was…
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…a participant."
"A– A participant?!" Mimi exclaimed.
"Wait, what?" Haruto blinked, confused. "You mean to tell me there was a 17th fucking prisoner hiding in the Prison? Fucking Terra Pisch?"
"I… don't buy it," Abigail bit her lip. "If you think she was a participant, then you have to have some kind of proof, right?"
Arthur folded his arms.
Of course he had proof. He wouldn't say something so outrageous without it. He just needed to think back to one piece of evidence that he found during his time scavenging through White Collar's personal office. That one piece of evidence that hinted at the possibility of there being a 17th prisoner hiding amongst them.
"Yes, I have proof…" Arthur nodded. "That proof being…
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…this eHandbook."
Arthur held out the eHandbook he had found in the desks of White Collar's office. The very same one that just would not open no matter how much he tried…
Based on looks and touch, this was an eHandbook that looked exactly like the ones everyone else had. In fact, he had his eHandbook now and just by comparison, it was pretty much the same. But the question was, whose was it? There was only one way to answer that question and it was by…
…it wouldn't turn on.
"I found this in White Collar's office…" Arthur said, pointing a stare at the Devil who had only shared a look of distaste toward him. "It doesn't turn on. But I would say the existence of a 17th eHandbook is enough to show that a 17th prisoner did exist. In other words… Terra Pisch."
"Hold your horses!" Abigail interjected. Her eyes narrowed and her purple hair fluttered as she pointed a finger toward Arthur. "Just because you have an extra eHandbook doesn't mean that Terra Pisch was a participant!"
Abigail kicked her podium with a frown.
"Couldn't the extra eHandbook have been a spare eHandbook that White Collar has lying around?" Abigail asked. "Or maybe better. It's White Collar's eHandbook!"
"...I highly doubt that," Arthur shook his head.
"True, but those are just examples of what I mean," Abigail retorted. "You can't just conclude that Terra Pisch was a participant based on an eHandbook that doesn't even open. Because unless you can either open that eHandbook or use something else to prove that Terra was a participant… I'm not willing to believe we had a 17th participant with us this entire time!"
Proof that Terra was a participant this entire time?
Arthur wasn't sure that he had in his disposal that could help but he needed something fast. Something that could prove that Terra Pisch was indeed a participant. Something located in this facility… Something that shows that Terra Pisch's inclusion was originally and intentionally for her to participate in this Killing Game…
Wait.
Of course!
"Very well, I have just the thing," Arthur smirked, folding his arms.
"W-What?" Abigail looked at him, surprised. "N-No way! What do you possibly have that could prove it?!"
"Isn't it obvious?" Arthur smirked once more. "If you want proof that Terra was a participant, then why don't I state something for you to understand…
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…Terra Pisch has her own Ultimate Cell."
"W-What?!" Abigail recoiled in shock. "W-Wait but that…"
"Right… Monohebi mentioned that…" Holland rubbed his chin as he thought back to their first day and their first introductions to Ultimate Cells.
"...Doors with Handbook readers like these are known as Ultimate Cells," Monohebi explained. "There is one for every participant in the game. A little 'get-to-know-your-roots' kind of room. In order to access them, they must be unlocked with an eHandbook-"
"...There are Ultimate Cells for every participant in the game," Holland nodded. "So, if Terra has one… That could very well be proof that she was a participant."
"Yeah, but none of the rooms we've seen are called the Ultimate Therapist's Cell, now is it?" Abigail glared at Arthur. "Or can you prove that one does exist?!"
"Hmph, I believe you answered your own question," Arthur smirked.
"H-Huh?" Abigail blinked, surprised by how easily Arthur seemed to have taken this.
"Oh yes, an Ultimate Therapist's Cell," Arthur folded his arms with a blank expression on his face. "If only there was another room that fits that exact function… Why couldn't it be…
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…the Therapy Room?"
"A-AGHHHH!" Abigail felt the winds of truth blow against her, forcing her to nearly do the splits.
"Of course…" Haruto gritted his teeth. "That file Mimi found… Terra was on it as the Ultimate Therapist. Jesus Christ, and if that's the case, then the Therapy Room would be her Ultimate Cell…"
"But… I don't think any of us unlocked it when we first discovered it…" Abigail frowned. "I mean, don't Ultimate Cells require you to unlock them first…? At the time…"
Similar to Cell Block B, Cell Block C opened up to a hallway, only it was much longer than Cell Block B's. And however, instead of leading up to a large grassy terrain like Cell Block B did, the end of Cell Block C's hallway led to a single door with no eHandbook reader. In fact, this entire hallway was practically a part of Cell Block C, as on the left side of the hallway was a door with a plaque on the side that read: 'Therapy Room'. There seemed to be an eHandbook reader on the side but the door itself was currently already opened. Also on the left side was a branching hallway that piqued their curiosity but even more so was what could be openly seen on the right: a door with a large window at its side that showed what exactly was in the room. And judging based on their view from the outside, they could easily tell that this room was none other than an Infirmary.
"It was already open!" Abigail exclaimed. "So I don't get…"
"Why it was open…?" Arthur shook his head. "Why it had a plaque that read 'Therapy Room'? Tch, I imagine it to be an attempt at a cover-up instigated by White Collar and her killer."
"A cover-up?" Mimi blinked. "But why?"
"Think about it this way…" Arthur folded his arms. "White Collar and Terra Pisch's killer went to great lengths to prepare a spectacular Killing Game for all of us. To do so, they made sure to implement Ultimate Cells for all of us. But what would happen if Terra Pisch was suddenly killed before the Killing Game would even begin…? What would become of her Ultimate Cell? Or rather, what would we all begin to think…?"
"...We would start to question why there was an Ultimate Cell for someone else," Holland answered. "And begin to realize the existence of a 17th prisoner…"
"Perhaps, but not just that," Arthur smirked. "I believe that at the time, it was solely done to hide the existence of a mastermind…"
"The existence of a mastermind?" Mimi blinked. "W-What is going on now?"
"Yeah, on with you on this one…" Haruto was lost on where this conversation was going. "Where the fuck are you going with this? Are you saying there was a mastermind with us this entire time as well? Again, I thought it was fucking White Collar!"
"Yeah, I mean, this is just…" Abigail gritted her teeth. "I just can't…"
"I have proof," Arthur said, folding his arms.
He closed his eyes and thought about it briefly. This is the moment to present that piece of evidence. The evidence to prove that there was a mastermind amongst them this entire time. The evidence that everything he had just said was the truth. That evidence was…
"...The evidence that proves that there was a mastermind amongst us…" Arthur began. "That proof is…
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…this letter."
Arthur took out the letter that he had also found in White Collar's desk. He didn't need to read it again. He remembered all too well what it said…
It had been opened meaning White Collar would've read this at some point. So, now it was his turn. He opened up the folded letter and noticed that the writing was very neat. Handwritten even. Clearly from someone who liked doing it the old classic way of writing letters. His eyes scanned through it and slowly read through each word:
To White Collar,
We have received your request loud and clear. Along with this letter is a new eHandbook as you have asked.
Good luck!
~ NWO
The letter was brief.
"This letter was given to White Collar," Arthur explained. "But I request that you all pay attention to this specific line. The one that reads: 'Along with this letter is a new eHandbook as you have asked.'"
"O-Okay…?" Abigail was beginning to believe everything Arthur was cooking here. "B-But what exactly does that…"
"...A new eHandbook…" Holland rubbed his chin as he grasped Arthur's deductions. "I see. If the eHandbook that belonged to Terra was the one that doesn't turn on, then the new eHandbook had to be for the mastermind."
"B-But why the mastermind?" Mimi asked.
"Why else?" Arthur smirked. "After killing Terra, the mastermind…
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…became a participant, themselves."
"A-Ah!" Abigail widened her eyes. "Y-You mean…"
"That's right," Arthur nodded. "The mastermind killed Terra at the start of the game. But because everything had already been set in stone, the mastermind and White Collar needed to make some last minute adjustments. They had to turn Terra's Ultimate Cell into a random room and they needed someone to fill in for Terra, now that a slot had become empty."
"...And by bringing in a new eHandbook, it allowed the mastermind to participate in the game undetected," Holland nodded.
"That's right, and you of all people know how easy it is to steal an eHandbook," Arthur folded his arms. "If the mastermind used Terra's eHandbook instead, they would've been found out immediately."
"...Yeah…" Holland grimaced slightly.
Those were memories he did not want to be brought back.
"So, how about it, Ellsworth?" Arthur folded his arms. "Have I convinced you yet…?"
Abigail said nothing.
She couldn't believe it. Terra Pisch was a participant this entire time. She was killed before the Killing Game had started and the mastermind took her place. All of this sounded plausible and Kingston had the evidence to boot. Truthfully, she had been convinced from the beginning… She just hadn't realized it then…
"But if the mastermind was one of us… then… who is it?" Mimi pouted. "Who's the mastermind?"
"...I think... we might've already figured it out a while ago..." Holland came to a realization.
"The identity of the mastermind…" Haruto grimaced. "Fuck… Could it be…?"
Holland flipped his hoodie over his head.
But instead, it was Abigail who answered. She was no longer keeping silent. The mastermind that was amongst them was obvious now. And honestly, there was no need to hesitate in saying it now. So with a frown and a strong look of confidence, she took in everything that was just explained to her and came to her own conclusion…
"...The mastermind…" Abigail frowned. "It's them, isn't it? It's…
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…Titus Erskine. Also known as, Prisoner #66."
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Silence.
Not only was Titus Erskine the fabled Prisoner #66 they heard so much about. He was also the mastermind of the Killing Game. The one who assisted White Collar in organizing this whole thing. The one who had been hiding amongst them… The one who had…
"Keh, so you finally figured it out…"
White Collar had kept quiet throughout their little brain blast. To see the five figure out that Titus Erskine was the mastermind behind this Killing Game this entire time was a thrilling experience for him to say the least. Most notably, his mask had curved into a vicious yet sinister grin. As always, he pointed the sharp end of his cane toward them.
"Well then, I suppose you can make your own conclusions here now…" White Collar chuckled, sinisterly. "The true killer of Miss Terra Pisch… Just who do you think it is now…"
"Still you, fuckface!" Haruto exclaimed with a growl.
"It's not him," Arthur shook his head, folding his arms. "It can't be. Killing Terra Pisch… For White Collar to do that. It doesn't make sense…"
"And Titus killing her does?!" Haruto gritted his teeth before pausing.
He had realized what he just said. When he put it like that… suddenly his own questions were answered with the basic instincts of realization. White Collar killing Terra Pisch made no sense. But Titus Erskine…?
"...Of course," Holland grimaced. "Titus was #66. And Terra was his therapist. To be experimented on… He would have had reasons to want her dead. Clear motives to do so…"
"And if we apply everything we tried to accuse White Collar of…" Mimi pouted. "It… fits well with Titus."
"He, just like White Collar, would've had access to the murder weapon, Monohebi," Abigail listed. "He would've had access to the entire facility if he was the mastermind. Damn it. Is this really… the truth…?"
"Fuck…" Haruto grimaced. "Fuck!"
Silence.
Then…
White Collar fixed his tie and grinned sinisterly toward his subjects. As his jagged red eye started to flash, they watched as that devilish mask curled that grin to a more wicked angle. He slammed his cane by his podium and chuckled darkly.
"The truth is an idea that can be so easily corrupted," White Collar mused, placing a finger over his masked grin. "Terra Pisch knew this very well. And desperation was her teacher."
White Collar started to laugh.
"She was a naive little girl," White Collar revealed. "Doing Noshino's dirty work with the false hopes of becoming the Ultimate she always dreamed to be. Her greatest greedy desire made her oblivious and ignorant to all of the madness that ran afoul in this facility…"
White Collar began to clench his fist.
"Titus Erskine was originally going to be no different than all the other 65 prisoners she had helped lead to their deaths…" White Collar's mask shifted into a frown. "Those prisoners were simply desperate young students looking to fit into this New World of ours. You see, his dream was to go back to his home country. That was the whole reason why he got involved in this Project in the first place. Noshino and Pisch showered him with the promise of a free ticket back home. And unlucky for him… an unfortunate miracle happened…"
White Collar's mask curled back into his signature grin.
"Titus Erskine survived as the legendary Prisoner #66," White Collar revealed. "And suddenly, the game changed. Miss Pisch went from therapist to a simple agent meant to keep track of him at all times. Noshino never fulfilled his part of the bargain and kept him around for more tests. And the longer Mister Erskine stayed, the more pain and torture he had to endure…"
White Collar stood up and extended his arms out, bathing in the hellish atmosphere of the Trial Grounds.
"Titus Erskine was effectively killed in 2010," White Collar explained. "But what came out after was someone else… Someone different. Someone that was most eager to become my co-conspirator in this fun game we have designed together."
White Collar noticed the uncomfortable looks of his subjects when he said this.
"St. Esther's was the place in which this all started for the both of us…" White Collar added. "Unfortunately for him, it just so happened to be where it ended for him. Ironic isn't it? The man known as #66 died in the prison he was born in. But not without taking out one of the people that caused him so much pain and grief during his time here…"
"So, it's true, is it?" Arthur frowned. "Titus Erskine truly did kill Terra Pisch…?"
White Collar tilted his head, and his grin grew wider. He remembered stepping into the crime scene all too well…
White Collar simply leaned against his cane as he examined the scene before him.
Terra's body laid unmoving on the floor. Abigail's body remained unconscious beside her. Monohebi's eyes were practically flashing like crazy. And there stood Titus Erskine, exhausting large amounts of breaths as he stared at Terra's body with that murderous rage in his eyes. He huffed and puffed and stared at his hands, wide-eyed yet relieved. It was a sight to behold when it came to his partner.
"M-Master, please believe me when I say that I was unable to control myself!" Monohebi spoke, panickedly. "#66… #66 just grabbed me, I–"
White Collar said nothing.
Instead, he gestured to the snake to leave the two alone for a bit. There was little emotion of White Collar's mask for the first time. A little cue for the snake to tip her head, obediently, and slither off out of the Dungeon. Whatever that meant for Titus, it wasn't good. Or at least, that was what Monohebi had believed.
Once the snake had left, White Collar simply walked up toward Titus and handed him his handkerchief. The deed that the test subject had committed had worked up a sweat for the young boy. Yet, Titus never bothered to wipe his face after all of it. He simply kept his gaze and frozen body pointed toward Terra's body.
"You gonna lecture me, Gramps?" Titus asked, his eyes starting to break with tears. "Gonna tell the NWO about how badly I fucked up? How I fucked up our own game before it even started…?"
He said this with a forced smile.
But the man in the Devil's mask simply kept his gaze fixed onto the body, just like him. He placed his hand on Titus's shoulder, sharing in the sentiments over the life that was lost before them.
"Keh, you could've tried a little harder to show some restraint…" White Collar shrugged. "Grandmaster made our rules abundantly clear."
"Ha, don't give me that, Gramps," Titus turned to face White Collar. "Don't act like you're a saint about the rules. I know you wanted to do the same to that Kingston kid in Cell #08. Watch. That kid is going to go far and you're not gonna get any closure out of it…"
"And yet, you're the one that shed the first blood," White Collar released his hand from his shoulders and faced the test subject, his jagged red eye glowing. "Who here is truly in deep water… I wonder?"
Titus didn't say anything.
He turned back to Terra, knowing full well how right the man in the Devil's mask was. Titus Erskine was in deep trouble. If the others caught wind of this, the game would be shut down before it started. They can't start with an uneven number! That would be…
"But…" White Collar spoke up. "There is a way we can salvage this game…"
Titus turned to glance toward White Collar, curious. Seeing the older man turn to him and tilt his head, White Collar placed a finger over his grinning lips.
"It'll just require you to make some friends with your own kind…" White Collar stated. "Think you can do that…?"
"Ain't no way you just said that bud, but yeah…" Titus folded his arms before looking at the man in the Devil's mask questionably. "What about you? What are you going to do…?"
"No need to worry," White Collar shook his head and pointed the sharp end of his cane toward Titus. "Just leave the rest to me…"
Titus didn't say anything but nodded in acknowledgement.
This game was salvageable.
And Titus had White Collar to thank for it…
"After that, well, I got to work…" White Collar said. "For the time being, I simply moved Miss Pisch's body into the unused Cell #09. By the time the Killing Game officially started, I had Monohebi hide her body in Mr. Kingston's Ultimate Cell. And the rest is history…"
"So, all this time… Titus was just pretending to be against you?" Mimi blinked before shivering. "Th-That's so creepy!"
"Um, I should be the one that's creeped out here," Abigail looked bewildered. "You're telling me that while I was unconscious, Titus went ahead and killed someone in the same room as me and then swapped places with her? What the actual–"
"To give credit where credit's due, I suppose Mister Erskine had a change of heart when I gave him his own motive video," White Collar began to say.
"What do you mean?" Haruto folded his arms.
"Mister Delaney…" White Collar turned to Holland. "When you stabbed Mister Erskine in our first incident, do you remember what peculiar thing was never really answered during the Prison Trial?"
Holland blinked.
Just when he had thought to himself that remembering all of these memories were absolutely foul for him, he was forced to relive those memories again. He closed his eyes and thought back to the first Prison Trial. A minor thing that was never answered and yet still felt strange. Yes… there was something like that wasn't there…
Rubbing his chin, he nodded.
"Yeah…" he said. "It was the fact that…
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…Titus was carrying a molotov bottle…"
"Oh fuck, that's right," Haruto blinked, remembering the same thing that Holland did.
"...That's because... Titus was the one who had the bottle," Holland revealed, finally remembering such an important detail. "I… didn't think of it then but before I attacked him… Before I stabbed him, he was holding that bottle in his hands."
"And let me guess," Abigail looked at Holland. "When you stabbed him, he dropped it."
Holland nodded.
"We… never really went over why he had one in the first place…" Holland said. "W-What exactly was he trying to do with it…?"
When Titus Erskine had the molotov bottle, he was in the Prison Lounge. That was where Holland had stabbed him and that was where he was eventually killed. But the question that needed to be answered was why? Why did Titus Erskine have a molotov bottle? And why did he have it in the Prison Lounge of all places?
Only one person had the answer and that was…
"I… believe I may have the answer," Arthur folded his arms. "The reason why Titus Erskine had the molotov bottle in the Prison Lounge was probably…
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…to kill White Collar."
"Um, hang on, what?" Abigail looked at him confused. "But you just said that he was in the Prison Lounge. What? Was he supposed to meet White Collar there?"
"Not exactly," Arthur shook his head. "I suspect he was planning on going to White Collar's office from the Prison Lounge, itself."
"Okay, now you're just making no sense," Abigail remarked. "I mean, how the heck would he go from the Prison Lounge in Cell Block A to White Collar's office that's literally on the Basement Floor?"
"Why, it's simple..." Arthur gave a sly smirk as he knew the answer himself. "The only way the Prison Lounge would allow him...
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…through a secret passageway."
"A-A secret passageway?" Mimi looked at Arthur, surprised. "But how do you know this?"
"Because I came out of a secret passageway that led me into the ruins of the Prison Lounge itself…" Arthur revealed. "And I had come directly from White Collar's office…"
"Th-This is…!"
When Arthur pried open the wall that emitted a source of light through its seams, he had realized that he had stepped out into a room that was practically half-coated with soot and old ash. It was a room that he recognized very deeply as he could see leftover moldy food burnt to a crisp and tables toppled over. It was clear that the room wasn't exactly what it was left as, but the fact that a fire had once hit it as well as that old jukebox and gramophone…
Yeah.
All that information told him everything he needed to know…
"...W-What on Earth am I doing in the Prison Lounge?!"
"W-Wait, you mean to say that the fucker was going to outright end the game for us by killing this fuck?!" Haruto glanced at Arthur, bewildered, as he pointed to White Collar.
"Meaning… if I wasn't so stupid all of this would've been…" Holland glanced down and flipped his hoodie over his head.
Once again, everything he did came biting him right in the kneecaps. Why did he fall for it so hard? Had he just not done what he did, hardly any lives would've been lost. They wouldn't have suffered for so long. Zuri… Damn it. Damn it! Holland felt himself stare directly at his own podium in shame over this revelation.
All that hard work Mimi put for him… undone by one single revelation. And Mimi noticed it all too well and shook her head angrily.
"B-But this still doesn't make any sense!" Mimi exclaimed. "I mean! Titus was pretending to be against White Collar! He was the mastermind of the game! He killed Terra! And all of a sudden, he was trying to kill White Collar?! None of this makes sense! Why would he just suddenly change like that?!"
"It's because of his motive video…" Holland slowly said. "That was what triggered it, wasn't it… White Collar?"
White Collar tilted his head as the five thought back to the video that Jared had shown them all regarding Titus's past.
"Oh, and one more thing," White Collar continued, leaning back against his scarlet red throne. "Be it as you may, there is the matter of your Disadvantage to speak about. Something to teach you not to trust anyone, especially in a game like this… How about…"
…
White Collar leaned forward with a distorted laugh.
…
"If no one dies within the next 24 hours, your mother and grandmother will both die by my own hands. How is that for a disadvantage?"
"Oh yes…" White Collar didn't seem to smile at this. "I did threaten to kill his mother and grandmother now, didn't I?"
"So, he did it for family?" Mimi blinked.
"That and it must've been tied to his fucking memory problems…" Haruto rubbed the back of his neck. "I remember when he first spilled the beans about it…"
"...Well," Titus chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "It's kind of embarrassing to say but I relatively don't remember much of my life before I got here. Like I know I had a family and everything but all I can remember is small flashes here and there."
"What are they about?" Haruto asked, crossing his arms. He normally wouldn't be too invested in a topic like this but a guy who can't remember much of his life compared to the rest of them? That itself was strange.
"...My mom and grandparents," Titus closed his eyes, playing with his neon braids.
"Keh, you would be right," White Collar simply said as he leaned back against his throne. "You see, the experimentation that Mister Erskine had to endure came with a nasty little side effect. I'm sure you all already have an idea on what that side effect may have been…"
"The side effect that Titus suffered..." Holland rubbed his chin. "Well, it had to be...
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...Amnesia, right?"
"Correct," White Collar nodded. "To be a subject of this experiment would mean that any memory of being involved with it would disappear altogether. Suppressed in the back of one's mind. Unfortunately, because Mister Erskine was the first to actually live through it... He suffered a more severe version. And as a result, Mister Erskine was unable to remember most of his life before he became #66. And Noshino and Pisch utilized that to their advantage. They faked some paperwork and announced to the world that Titus Erskine was dead. Died so soon…"
"Which explains..." Abigail slowly remembered.
Static. The video changed its perspective to show what exactly Zensyth and Flora were talking to. They had long left, but the scene was enough to send shivers down Jared's spine. For the scene showed nothing but a gravestone with the following engravings:
...
Here Lies...
TITUS ERSKINE
The Little Titan of Zensyth Erskine
(1994 - 2010)
...
2010? No. That can't be. It's the year 2015 now. At least, it's the year 2015 when Jared was last taken. But whatever the case is, according to Zensyth and Flora Erskine, Titus has been dead for about 5 years now. Died at the age of 16.
"...His grave," Holland looked downcast.
"Indeed," White Collar chuckled. "And for the rest of his life, memories of the experiments were all he would remember until five years later, I generously gave him his little video… I suppose just seeing them was enough to get him to remember why he was here in the first place… Enough to change the entire plan and try to do the idiotic thing he tried to do…"
Everyone turned to look at the portrait of Titus Erskine.
Ultimately, they all knew that whatever truths they could get about Titus Erskine was lost with him and only him forever. They could come up with as many theories as they liked. But the point still stood that Titus Erskine was a complicated young man.
He was a desperate young student who just wanted to go home. To do so, he partook in an experiment and came out as the first surviving subject. And yet, whatever they did to him afterward, was enough to break who Titus once was. In the end, what little humanity Titus had in him had effectively perished with the tortured soul known as #66.
Perished in the burning flames of his own making… Forced to bleed out in Hell itself. That was the tragic tale of Titus Erskine, the Ultimate Conductor, and the one they called Prisoner #66…
…
White Collar slammed his cane onto the ground. Then, he stood up and extended his arms, graciously, as if he were Jesus himself.
With that grin on his face, the feeling of resolution behind their case seemed imminent. Their ticket to freedom was one verdict away. But despite that, no one seemed content with the results that have been presented to them. To think that one of the co-conspirators behind this Killing Game had been dead for a long time… That they were the true culprit behind the case they were in…
It all seemed so…
"And so… you've all reached the conclusion of the case…" White Collar grinned, pointing the sharp end of his cane toward the five. "As per our deal, once you put an end to your final Trial, you will be free. I am… of course… a man of my word…"
The man in the Devil's mask noticed the slight look of discomforts on everyone's faces.
"Keh, what seems to be the matter?" White Collar asked. "Do you all not agree with the conclusions you have come to? Does the truth of the matter scare you…? There's no need for such fear… You should be proud of yourselves. Look how far you've come. The deceased are proud of you from below… They see that you have won!"
"Then, why doesn't this feel like a fucking victory?" Haruto looked away.
White Collar didn't say anything. Instead, he gently set his cane firmly on the ground as he tilted his head. His mask shifted its expression to slight disappointment over how his subjects were acting regarding this.
"...As I said before," White Collar fixed his tie. "The truth is an idea that can easily be corrupted. No one ever said it would be easy to accept the circumstances as is. So, why don't we put this behind us? The past has already been paid for! And all of you deserve a good pat on the back for your participation in this Killing Game…"
White Collar bowed, his mask shifting back into his signature grin.
"Now then, let us ready the vote–"
"No…" Arthur interrupted White Collar and folded his arms. "I don't believe this case is over. Titus Erskine may have been Terra Pisch's killer, but there is still something that has been troubling me for quite a while."
White Collar glanced at Arthur with a look of dissatisfaction on his face.
"Leave it to a Kingston to ruin a momentous occasion for everyone here," White Collar glowered, his red jagged eye sparking a slight fuse. "What else could there be? Your main job was to find Terra Pisch's killer and you have done just that. Why continue pining along for unnecessary details…"
White Collar tilted his head and placed a finger over his grin.
"Unless there's something in your blood that just seeks the thrill of Killing Games in general…" White Collar chuckled darkly.
Arthur grimaced slightly before shaking his head.
"If we are going to end this Trial, at the very least, I want one thing answered…" Arthur frowned. "White Collar. What is your motive in all of this…?"
White Collar tilted his head further.
"Whatever do you mean…?" he asked.
"We have answered the question of who killed Terra Pisch and how it was done…" Arthur rubbed his chin. "But what's been troubling me is the why. More specifically…
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…Why did you choose to keep Terra's body around for this long?"
"Wait, that's… actually a good question," Abigail folded her arms and turned to White Collar.
"R-Really?" Mimi blinked, glancing at the equestrian.
"Well, think about it this way…" Abigail frowned. "Terra was killed before the Killing Game began, right? But White Collar went through a lot of trouble to keep her body frozen and hidden in Arthur's Cell for pretty much the entire Killing Game only to take it out for today's Trial… That kind of action is just…"
Right.
It was suspicious at best. If Terra was killed at the start, the best thing for anyone to do was probably to just dispose of her body. But White Collar made it a point to hide her body. He made it a point to keep the body around. And if he made it a point to do that… Then…
"...Yeah, it makes no sense," Holland had to agree. "The only reason White Collar would keep a body like Terra's around is if he planned to do something with it."
"But that's the problem here…" Haruto rubbed the back of his neck. "All he really did was dump her body in the Pool for us to find. I don't really know what that accomplished but here we are now, I guess…"
Holland raised an eyebrow.
'Here we are now, I guess?'
Wait… did then that mean…?
Holland shook his head and slammed a hand onto his podium, giving White Collar a serious yet stoic stare.
"...I see, I think I know why you kept her body around…" Holland frowned. "You did it for this moment. You did it…
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…to intentionally bring us in for one final Trial."
"W-What?!" Mimi recoiled in shock. "You mean, White Collar planned for us to have this Trial?! From the very beginning?!"
"No, I don't think it's like that," Arthur shook his head. "I think it's more like this… White Collar kept Terra Pisch's body in the off chance that something would go wrong. If things went off the rails, he would simply dump Terra's body at a place where we would find it and have us be involved in another Trial…"
"B-But why?!" Mimi asked.
Great question.
And Arthur had an answer. Yes. This was how that tied into this. This was White Collar's motivation behind this Trial. There was no other thing he needed to say. No other moment of hesitation required. He was ready to announce his answer. With a slam of his hands and an icy cold wind of truth by his side, he coldly glanced at White Collar.
"...The reason why you wanted this Trial to happen…" Arthur began. "It's so…
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…you could stall your execution."
"I'm sorry, did you just say execution?" Abigail turned to Arthur, bewildered. "How the heck do you know he was going to be executed?"
"Because I witnessed his conversation with a member of his little organization," Arthur narrowed his eyes, remembering the conversation between White Collar and Credence.
"Well, firstly it's 'the' not 'thy'," White Collar corrected, putting the framed picture back and turning toward the knight. "And I'm afraid killing me is out of the option, Credence."
Credence kept his sword raised.
"And prayeth, telleth me why is that…?" Credence tilted his head.
"Because we are in the middle of an Investigation," White Collar walked closer toward the knight. "And as Grandmaster has dictated…"
White Collar pointed the sharp end of his cane toward Credence's chestplate.
"...Interrupting a game in the middle of its Investigation and Trial periods are punishable by death, as well," White Collar told him. "Grandmaster expects a fair game after all…"
"...New World Order?" Mimi blinked.
"Whoever their agent was mentioned that White Collar was to be executed for his misdeeds in his own game," Arthur shook his head. "However, due to Terra's body being discovered, the execution had to be stalled until after this Trial finished. A rule that is in place between White Collar and his group that I believe he utilized to his advantage. Therefore, that is why he had us partake in one last Trial…"
"But wouldn't he still get executed anyway?" Haruto frowned. "I mean, you said it yourself. After this Trial is done, White Collar would still get killed. There's literally nothing different about the circumstances except the fact that he gets to live a little longer…"
True.
Either way you see it, White Collar was going to die anyway. So, there was little point in having to stall an execution by forcing everyone into one last Trial. As Haruto said, the circumstances were pretty much the same, besides the fact that White Collar's life expectancy shot up by a couple hours. Unless…
"...No, there is something different," Holland shook his head, understanding where this was headed. "I think… I think I know why White Collar needed this Trial to happen and why he needed to stall his execution…"
"He needed to do those things?" Abigail asked, raising an eyebrow. "But why…?"
Holland rubbed his chin.
Was he really sure about this…?
"...The reason he needed all of this to happen…" Holland said. "It was so…
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…he could kill us all."
"W-What?!" Abigail widened her eyes.
"F-Fucking hell!" Haruto cursed.
"A-Agh!" Mimi covered her mouth. "You mean…!"
The moment those words left his lips, he knew he was right. He could see the shocked looks on Haruto, Abigail, and Mimi's faces. He could see that Arthur had come to the same conclusion he had. And what's more, he could see White Collar's jagged red eye intensify its dark red gleam. He clenched his fist. This… This was all him…
"Yeah… this entire time, White Collar had laid out a trap for us…" Holland said. "A trap to get us all executed…"
"Precisely so…" Arthur nodded. "To see him be okay with voting for the right answer..."
"...Because he knew that the conclusion we reached was wrong…" Holland frowned. "And if we had voted wrong…"
"All of us would've been executed," Haruto gritted his teeth.
"And that's why he stalled his execution!" Abigail understood. "Because if he didn't move Terra's body out in the open, he would've been executed and we most likely would've been left alone! For someone like White Collar, who was hellbent on trying to make us suffer as much as possible around here… that was probably the last thing he probably wanted before he died…"
"So, that was his plan from the very beginning?" Mimi looked at White Collar disgusted. "To get us killed before he was executed? That's… That's… How petty could you be to lose like that?!"
The more the five talked about this, the noisier they had gotten. To reach this turn of events was crazy! To think that this entire Trial was one big plot to get them all killed! Some had to admit that White Collar was pretty damn crafty to come up with something as messed up as that. But at the same time…
"That seems to be the truth behind what this Trial truly is…" Arthur grimaced. "And now that we know, I believe we will have to press on and reevaluate just who the true culprit of Terra Pisch really is–"
"There is no rest for the wicked now, is there?" White Collar suddenly interjected.
He pointed the sharp end of his cane toward Arthur and kept a finger over his grinning lips. His jagged red eye was glowing like crazy, to the point that staring at it reminded one of staring into the deepest darkest pits of Hell itself.
"A plot to kill all of you by initiating a Trial?" White Collar laughed. "That is a fantastic plot only the most Ultimate Fanfic Writers could come up with! But I'm afraid you are all lacking one particular thing…"
White Collar pointed the sharp end of his cane, defiantly, toward Arthur, specifically.
"Motive…" White Collar spun his cane around before leaning against it. "Why would I want to kill you all?! You may have had a point over my motivations when I supposedly killed Miss Mura… but why would I bother doing it to all of you…?"
"Well, because Arthur Kingston is here, and you hate him!" Mimi suggested.
"No… Under normal circumstances, I would agree but…" Holland shook his head. "Remember, the people he made the deal for this Trial were us four. And I don't think even White Collar knew that Arthur was still alive at the time… So, his motivations against Arthur wouldn't be valid in this case…"
"Oh," Mimi looked down before looking confused. "But if that's the case… then yeah. Why would White Collar want us dead? He only had biased hatred against Arthur so…"
"Precisely!" White Collar's mask curled into his sinister grin. "Therefore, you can't verily say that I wished to use this Trial as one big scheme to kill without a proper motive, now, can you?"
White Collar pointed the sharp end of his cane toward Arthur.
"Try harder next time, Mister Arthur Kingston…" White Collar leaned forward, his jagged red eye glowing.
Arthur coldly glared back at the man in the Devil's mask. He wasn't one to give up. And he knew the discovery of the facts was getting him all riled up. That was how he knew that he was right about this. But how was he to go about this? There was no way he could know what his motives are without…
He smirked.
"...True, I suppose you're right," Arthur smirked. "I don't know what your motive is. But I believe if we can pave a path to figure it out…"
"K-Keh, and how will you go about doing that…?" White Collar fixed his tie, noticing the confidence that the Kingston was sporting.
"It's simple," Arthur folded his arms. "If we are to figure out your motives, all we need to do is figure out…
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…your true identity."
"G-Grk," White Collar's red jagged eye started to spark through the small cracks within it. "You bluff…"
"Arthur, is this true?" Abigail glanced at Arthur, seriously. "Do you really know who White Collar is…?"
Arthur thought back to all the evidence he had found in White Collar's office. All the evidence that pointed to his true identity. He had a feeling he knew but why was he hesitating so much? Why did he suddenly feel fear? Fear over what he was about to say? He tried to calm his nerves and yet, he still felt himself struggling to speak…
"Of course he doesn't…" White Collar glowered toward the snowboarder. "Unless he has something that can tie me to a specific name, he doesn't have any clue on who I am… Do you, Arthur Kingston…?"
Arthur closed his eyes. He let all his worries subside. This was no time for hesitation. This was the time to bring the truth out in the open! Of course he had something specific that could reveal White Collar's identity! He's seen it in his office!
"...I… do…" Arthur narrowed his eyes before taking out the evidence at hand. "The evidence that reveals your true identity is this…
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…this framed picture."
He took out the framed picture that he had accidentally dropped to the floor shortly after Monohebi's announcement called for everyone to join the Prison Trial.
As he moved the bookshelf back, he noticed a framed picture slowly begin to wobble off. He instantly grabbed onto it, finally putting the bookshelf back where it belonged. Then, he pushed the framed picture inside more and…
His eyes landed on the picture.
It was of a father holding a young girl up into the air. He blinked several times. While he couldn't exactly see the father's face, the young girl's cheerful face was clear as day. And even though in the photo she must've been six-years old or something, she looked awfully familiar to him. What did White Collar say to him before he was sent off to get executed?
"G-Grk…" White Collar suddenly jolted back, his jagged eye taking a solid crack over its lens. He placed a hand over it and seethed behind his mask. "That photo? It's just a photo of some man and some girl. It means nothing to me!"
"Unlikely," Arthur shook his head. "This photo means everything to you! You wouldn't have it in your own office, otherwise! Because this is not a photo of just any random man and little girl. It's a photo of…
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…a father and his daughter!"
"A-Argh!" White Collar jolted back once more, his jagged eye sparking another hit. He held that part of his mask gently, breathing through his mask and trying his absolute best to regain his composure. "A father and his daughter? Keh. And I suppose you're going to say that I'm the father in this picture? You don't have evidence of that at all!"
"Hmph, I do not, but I believe I can figure it out by simply figuring out the identity of the daughter in this picture…" Arthur countered.
"Keh, you don't have anything…" White Collar growled.
"No, I very much do…" Arthur folded his arms, glaring at the man in the Devil's mask. "The daughter in this picture can easily be identified if I simply present this next piece of evidence…
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…her execution video!"
"An execution video?" Mimi widened her eyes. "You mean…"
"Yes, there were execution videos of the students from the Tragedy of Hope's Peak…" Arthur folded his arms. "And one of the students just so happens to bare a resemblance to the girl in the picture."
He glanced to White Collar, who remained oddly silent as Arthur continued...
"A girl with purple hair…" he added.
"..."
A girl with purple hair was strapped to a classic classroom desk that was practically bolted to a conveyor belt. Her eyes and face remained expressionless, almost as if she had remained resigned to her fate. Her gloved hands were on her lap and it was clear that she was headed toward a trash compactor.
This one was painful.
Not because of whatever the teddy bear had decided to teach her. But because this video was aggravatingly slow. Almost as if it were made just for its viewer to suffer. The conveyor belt slowly moved the girl closer to the trash compactor. And with each bang and slam, the bluer her face got. Despite how expressionless she looked, it was clear that she was scared.
Scared for her life.
She closed her eyes as the desk got closer and closer to the trash compactor. Until finally…
SLAM!
And her blood splattered everywhere…
White Collar said nothing.
The sparks in his jagged red eye were beginning to flicker more and more. The man in the Devil's mask was clearly on edge. Arthur knew he was reaching the truth. And there was no reason for him to hesitate. He might as well double-down and end this. The true identity of White Collar. The true identity of the man and the young girl…
"...Your daughter was a participant in a Killing Game that occurred five years ago, wasn't she…?" Arthur narrowed his eyes. "She was one of the victims of the Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy. And her name was…
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…Kyoko Kirigiri, wasn't it…?"
White Collar didn't say anything, allowing Arthur to continue.
"...And if that's the case…" Arthur grimaced. "That would make your true identity…
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…Headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy…
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…Jin Kirigiri…"
The room grew quiet.
The hellish atmosphere seemed to cool down and the dark, bloody red lights seemed to dim over this revelation. Arthur lowered his hand, feeling the truth slowly seep into everyone's minds. Mimi looked absolutely horrified by this revelation. Abigail was shocked. Haruto looked as if he just couldn't believe it. And Holland looked flabbergasted. To think that all this time… the cruel person that had subjected them to a month of torture was none other than…
The Headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy?
Jin Kirigiri…?
"Am I right, White Collar?" Arthur narrowed his eyes. "Or should I say… Jin…?"
White Collar kept his head down. There was no sign of amusement or sinisterness or cruelty… As if the Devil that had been so adamant about their deaths had taken a backseat to let a grieving father take control of his own body once more. As if he truly was…
"Keh… You think I'm Jin Kirigiri…?" White Collar slowly lifted his head, revealing his jagged eye to be much more cracked than it was before. "I believe you are sorely mistaken…"
"W-What?" Arthur blinked, surprised by this turn of events. "You still deny it?"
"Of course I do," White Collar placed a finger of his widening masked grin. "Because it simply lacks logical perspective…"
"...What do you mean?" Holland frowned.
"Mister Kingston…" White Collar turned to Arthur. "You made it a point to say that you found all this evidence in my office and yet you have yet to present the one that will destroy your entire case…"
"Wait, you mean there's something there that counter everything you just said?" Haruto turned to Arthur.
"Of course there is…" White Collar grinned. "Well then, Mister Kingston? Why don't you go ahead and show us…?"
Evidence that disproves that White Collar is Jin Kirigiri. That disproves that White Collar is Kyoko's father…? With much thought, Arthur realized exactly what White Collar was talking about. And he knew it was going to come to this in the long run. This tidbit of information by his side…
"I believe…" Arthur folded his arms. "You must be referring to…
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…a segment from that news article."
"Indeed!" White Collar extended his arms out with a valiant grin.
"News article?" Mimi blinked. "What did it say on it that disproves everything…?"
Arthur remained silent for a moment before reciting word for word on what it had read…
He shook his head and set the letter to the side and reached inside the cabinet for the last item: the newspaper article. Or rather, a segment ripped from a newspaper article. And from the looks of it...
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–Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy. The sole survivor, who has chosen to remain unnamed, has disclosed a witness account of the incident. According to the survivor, they describe their captor as an unidentified person wearing a Devil's mask and a black suit. Although the identity of this person is unknown, authorities have–
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Arthur blinked.
"...It read that the sole survivor of the Tragedy had disclosed a witness account of the incident…" Arthur folded his arms. "It was there that they revealed that the instigator of that incident was a man wearing a Devil's mask. In other words, White Collar…"
"You see…?" White Collar tilted his head. "The incident from back then was also instigated by a White Collar! Kyoko Kirigiri was one of the many participants there! And if I was Jin Kirigiri, her father, then you realize how nonsensical this is, correct? That the father of one of the victims would put his own daughter into a death game? That, in itself… is why I cannot be Jin Kirigiri!"
"Well, maybe you were a really bad father!" Mimi made another one of her silly suggestions. "And you hated your daughter!"
"No… if he hated his own daughter, he wouldn't be keeping a picture of his daughter with him at all times," Holland shook his head. "Just the fact that White Collar keeps a framed picture of his daughter is enough to prove he loved her..."
"Precisely," White Collar placed his finger over his masked grin. "And it is no secret that Jin Kirigiri also loved his daughter. So, there is really no motive for him to do something so terrible to her now is there…?"
He was right.
Jin Kirigiri couldn't be White Collar in this case. It just wouldn't make sense. And yet, it was clear Arthur was trying to come up with a response… A counter to White Collar's claims. White Collar had to be Jin Kirigiri. The motivations of his character and the framed picture proved that possibility. But with this little debacle on their hands, how exactly could they go on about this…?
Holland rubbed his chin before looking up and taking back the reins of this conversation.
"...You're right, there is no reason for Jin Kirigiri to do such a thing to his own daughter…" Holland said.
"Holland?" Abigail turned to him, surprised.
"So, what if there was another alternative to the scenario at hand…?" Holland asked. "We know that Jin Kirigiri is White Collar. But we also know that Jin isn't someone who would go and kill his own daughter. So, the question is now… Why is there a contradiction between the White Collar now and before…?"
"Um… why?" Mimi asked.
Holland remained silent as he thought about this more clearly.
The contradiction stemmed from the fact that if Jin Kirigiri was White Collar, then he couldn't have masterminded the game from the Tragedy. But here he was now, accused of being Jin Kirigiri in this game. What could be the cause of this overlap…?
"...I think the answer is simple if you think about it…" Holland said, before pointing his finger toward White Collar. "Here's my alternative to this scenario…
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…there are two White Collars!"
"G-GRK!" White Collar jolted back, his mask shooting out sparks from his jagged red eye. He made sure to cover it with his gloved hands.
"W-What?!" Abigail blinked.
"H-HUH?!" Mimi gasped.
"Alright, this is getting out of hand!" Haruto gritted his teeth. "Now there's fucking two of them?!"
Arthur said nothing. He simply folded his arms and shared nods with Holland. This was something that he had come to figure out during his own Investigation. And for a while, it had haunted him to know this truth. But now that the cat is out of the bag…
"H-How?!" Abigail kicked her podium. "How the heck could there be two White Collar's?!"
"...It's simple…" Holland flipped his hoodie over his head. "The argument stands that White Collar cannot be Jin Kirigiri because Jin Kirigiri would never do something so atrocious as put his own daughter in a Killing Game. But… that's only if we assume that the White Collar in the Tragedy is the same person as the White Collar standing before us today…"
"W-Wait, you mean that the White Collar before…" Mimi slowly began to realize. "The culprit behind the Tragedy… was a completely different person?!"
"That's right…" Holland nodded. "And if we put it into that perspective, then suddenly the possibility of Jin Kirigiri being the White Collar standing before us today becomes much higher than we initially expected!"
"G-Gah!" White Collar recoiled once more, covering his jagged eye. "B-But… if that's the case, then you…"
White Collar tried to regain his composure. He straightened his posture, placed one hand behind his back, and pointed the sharp end of his cane toward the five.
"...Th-Then… Then you forget one thing…" White Collar tried to bring back his signature grin, but it was clear they had him on the hot seat.
That's right, it's Pressing Pursuit baby! And they got the Devil cornered right where they needed him.
"...If Jin Kirigiri was not the mastermind of the Tragedy, then there was no other role he could've been involved with!" White Collar countered. "The Tragedy was an incident that was kept in wraps. The police had it all disclosed as a field trip gone wrong! Not many people knew about the details! And that would be the same for a measly Headmaster!"
"He's… not wrong," Arthur folded his arms. "The details of a man in the Devil's mask wasn't from any public news article that I remember. In fact, I'm willing to bet that the news article kept in White Collar's office was unpublished. Something not many would've had access to, especially the Headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy."
"What?" Mimi blinked. "But he would still know of the Tragedy and everything, though… So…"
"True, a Headmaster may control the school, but that's all what their powers can reach, the school," Arthur explained. "The other tasks are left to others. So, the Headmaster wouldn't have known many details unless he was strictly involved with the Tragedy, somehow…"
White Collar spun his cane around and slammed it against the floor.
"Precisely…" White Collar argued. "And the only role Jin Kirigiri would've been was the mastermind of the Tragedy! That is the only way he could've known about the details of the case at hand! But we all know how false that is!"
"No… No it's not!" Holland's face looked determined. "There is one more role Jin Kirigiri could've played during the events of the Tragedy!"
Yes.
One more role.
The only role he could've been!
Holland slammed his fist onto the ground and pointed his finger toward White Collar. The identity of the one who had placed them all into this game was soon to be revealed. And the way to reveal it was to showcase what role Jin Kirigiri played during the events of the Tragedy!
"Jin Kirigiri…" Holland declared. "The role he played… He was…
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…the sole survivor of the Tragedy of Hope's Peak!"
"G-Gah!" White Collar felt his mask blow a fuse. He tried to cover his mask, but the damage had already been done.
"That's right… the only other person who would've known the specific details would've been the sole survivor of the Tragedy," Abigail realized. "Because they were literally the ones who gave a witness statement over what happened."
"The sole survivor knew what exactly their captor looked like," Haruto nodded. "They knew everything that had happened during that incident!"
"And they lost their daughter in that same incident…" Mimi closed her eyes.
"There were two White Collars," Arthur simply said, folding his arms and looking away. "One in the past. One in the present. And the one in the present's identity has now been discovered…"
"Right…" Holland nodded, pointing his finger toward White Collar once again. "The identity of the present-day White Collar… Your identity… It's without a doubt…
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...Jin Kirigiri, the Headmaster of Hope's Peak, father of Kyoko Kirigiri, and the sole survivor of the Tragedy! What do you have to say about that?!"
White Collar held onto his cane for support. He kept his hand over his smoking mask. Yeah, that's right. Smoke was beginning to seep from the cracks of his jagged red eye. And not only that, but his jagged red eye was glowing intensely, almost like it was about to explode. He was no longer grinning. And frankly, it just looked like he was in pain.
"G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G…" White Collar tried to say before suddenly:
He extended his arms out and let out a frightful scream. The room shook as if God was creating an earthquake. Smoke started to flow out his own eyes. And suddenly, an explosion that knocked his head back and forth. And suddenly, his eyes erupted in flames as he felt himself being forsaken by the omnipotent God he had cursed.
"G-GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
DANGANRONPA: CORRUPTED HOPE
And here it is, Part 1 of 3 for the Chapter 6 Trial :D
And what a thrilling reveal! It definitely took a while until people finally started figuring out who the hell White Collar is and now you have your confirmation! Great job to you folks who said it was Jin Kirigiri who was White Collar! For those of you that said Zuno Noshino, well, better luck next time in my shameful mention of my story, Danganronpa: Twisted Tragedy! Go check it out because after I'm done with Corrupted Hope, I'm heading straight over there to write that one :D
Definitely the second longest chapter, with Chapter 4 Trial Part 2 practically beating it out of the ballpark. It's definitely mostly because I have pretty much reached my limit of 20K but there was just so much to reveal in this one chapter that I kind of needed all the words! So, hope the logic was good! Hope this Trial is starting off strong! AKA, here's my usual comment of... Hope this Trial is good as well! Because I kinda have to say it now out of tradition XD
I don't really have anything else more to say so if you liked this chapter, please don't hesitate to let me know. If you didn't, please hesitate but still let me know! And as always, just let me know how I'm doing overall! We have three more parts until Chapter 6 ends and four more parts until the entire story is complete! Stick around for the haul because Chapter 6 Trial Part 2 is coming out soon some time... probably tomorrow or so!
At least, that's the hope ;D
Really depends on my readers trying to catch up -.- Cough. Cough.
Prisoners Remaining: 5
Abigail Ellsworth - The Ultimate Equestrian (oddlyillregular) [1,000,000]
Arthur Kingston - The Ultimate Snowboarder (SinWriter7) [0]
Haruto Walker - The Ultimate Former Basketball Player (theotakureader101) [0]
Holland Delaney - The Ultimate Game Designer (Sempi) [1,000,000]
Mimi Kazoo - The Ultimate Fairytale Writer (Idraegan) [0]