Chapter 1: Burning Lights, Burning Spirit (Trial Part 2)
Warning!
This is a Danganronpa Fic, so expect dark and serious themes! And also expect some choice words that might upset people - thanks to a certain Gas Station Manager! But also expect fun and whimsical themes as well! I hope you enjoy!
[Pheme's Room]
"Ah..." Pheme stretched her arms out in her chair and relaxed. She was having a very good day so far! Her and The Figure had just begun figuring out who they want to put in her Killing Game! And now?
"We are onto the third member of the killing game, aren't we?" The Figure asked Pheme to be sure.
"Indeed we are!" Pheme was clearly excited. In fact, she didn't want to waste any time in this flashback with filler dialogue! She wanted to get right to it! She pulled out the fresh stack of documents she's been working with. She's already found two wonderful candidates for their killing game... and now it's time for the next one! "Let's see... oh! Already found it!" She held up a document.
"That fast? Let me see." Surprised that Pheme had already found a third one, The Figure took the document out of Pheme's hands. "Interesting. Rival Seizon. The Ultimate Backing Vocalist? I indeed see the potential."
"Doesn't that miserable boy have so much potential?! Let's see!" In the blink of an eye, Pheme had already pulled up a video from the playlist that The Contact had provided for them.
"I didn't expect her to be so excited..." The Figure muttered before joining Pheme in watching the video...
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[Kingston Park]
"Rival? How are you feeling? Are you ready?" A girl approached Rival Seizon, who was currently relaxing on a bench in Kingston Park.
Rival Seizon was currently relaxing on a park bench. It was an absolutely perfect day out. The breeze, shade, temperature, it was all perfect. Maybt a bit too perfect, as almost found himself drifting off into a nap. But no. He can't do that! "Sorry Hanako. I'm ready." He smiled as he sat up on the bench.
Hanako smiled as well. "Alright. Good!" She took Rival's hand and pulled him off of the bench. "Let's get going! We have a pretty decent crowd today!"
"Really? Nice. How many people do you think?" Rival asked.
Hanako tapped her finger against her chin as she thought about it. "I mean... it's definitely the biggest performance that Kingston Park has seen? That's for sure!" She cheered. "But if I had to give a number... a couple hundred?"
"H-hundreds?" Rival's eyes widened. "Can the performance stage here in the park even fit that many people?"
Hanako giggled. "Well... no! People are kinda overflowing a little... but that's okay! It's just our adoring fans! We can't let them down, no matter how many there are!" She nodded determinedly.
"...You aren't wrong." Rival sheepishly smiled. "I never would've expected Shinsenna Niku to get so popular..." He scratched the back of his head. "But I guess I can't complain!" He sighed.
"That's the spirit!" Hanako took Rival's hand. "Now come on! Our show is about to start, and you need performers for a show!" She started to drag him along.
And Rival let himself be dragged along. He didn't really vocally object whenever Hanako did it, so that just made her do it more. And truthfully... it wasn't like he hated it.
But after thirty or so seconds, both Rival and Hanako were up on stage, infront of their crowd of fans. Considering that, at this point in time, that "Shinsenna Niku" was pretty much a local thing... the fact that they had so many fans clamoring over the duo was impressive. And they were getting talked about online I suppose.
Anyway, that's enough narration for now. "Hey everybody! It's me, Ally Seizon, here to perform for you all!" Hanako struck a pose. Cheers erupted from the crowd. "But it's not just me! I have my wonderul partner Rival Seizon here too!" She motioned over to Rival. Admittedly, Hanako was vastly the more popular member of the duo.
"Hey... how are you all doing today?" Rival tried to sound all cool and mysterious. But like the narration was saying, just because Hanako was the more popular member of the duo, that doesn't mean that Rival didn't have his own fans. A few squeals from Shinsenna Niku's female fans erupted from the crowd at the sound of Rival's voice. Their fans were still mostly males, but Rival managed to drag in some female fans too.
"Alright everybody~!" Hanako struck another pose. "Are you all ready?"
More cheers erupted from the crowd.
"Yes! I love you Ally!"
"Have my babies Ally!"
"You're so cool Rival!"
"Give me babies Rival!"
Wow. Some of these fans are unhinged. But security at the park was pretty good. Their boss was a pretty rich man. So if anyone got too weird, Rival and Hanako didn't have to worry about it.
"Alright then~!" Hanako and Rival got into position. "Our first song for you all... is going to be "Eyes Closed!" Are you ready? Here we go...!"
Rival and Hanako then started to perform for their crowd of hundreds. And it started in the hundreds. The park heads debated closing the park down because too many people were coming in to see Shinsenna Niku. But they couldn't deny that it was great for business. So they let them keep going.
Hanako and Rival's voiced were almost made for each other. Their voices melded together to form an amazing performance. It's no surprise that they've garnered so many damn fans.
"I could, I could do this with my eyes closed~..." Rival sang out the last part of the song. Hanako and Rival let out a quick breath after they finished their song.
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After a few seconds, the claps and cheers started.
"Woohoo! That was awesome!"
"Both Ally and Rival are amazing!"
"I love your chemistry!"
"Please have my babies Ally-" The security got rid of that guy before he could finish. Good riddance.
"Thank you! Thank you everyone! We're so glad you enjoyed!" Hanako waved to the crowd. Rival just gave a simple and cool smile.
"Alright! We're gonna take a short break, and then we'll be back for our next song!" Hanako announced to the crowd. "It'll be "Racing Into The Night!" I hope you're excited~!" She gave their crowd another quick wave before departing the stage, with Rival in tow. He once again didn't fight against her dragging him around.
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"Okay! That went good!" Hanako and Rival sat down on a bench together. The Kingston Park security was kind enough to monitor them, without being too intrusive on them. They had to make sure no rabid fans stabbed one of them or something.
"Yeah. That was nice." Rival got back to relaxing on the bench. Once again, it really was a perfect day.
Hanako giggled. "You got right back to relaxing didn't you?"
Rival shrugged. "Yeah. Can you blame me?"
"I guess not!" Hanako sighed, the started to relax a bit too. "Let's just enjoy this break together..." She closed her eyes.
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"Hm? Who are you?" Someone approached the Kingston Park security. They got on guard.
"Oh! I didn't mean to disturb!" That someone handed the guard their business card.
"Ah. I see. You're..." The guard eyed the business card. "You're good." He gave that someone the approval to go and meet with Hanako and Rival.
"Thank you." The man gave the guard a quick bow before going over to Hanako and Rival. "Excuse me?" He said gently, as both of them had their eyes closed.
They both opened their eyes in unison. Hanako looked at the man. Her first instinct was to go full "Ally" mode, but he didn't look like a typical fan of theirs. "Hi. Can I help you?" She chose to stay professional.
Rival stayed silent, opting to observe what was about to happen.
"Yes, you are Hanako I assume?" The man basically ignored Rival.
Hanako ever so slightly narrowed her eyes. "Yes. That's me! Do you have business with me?"
"Indeed I do!" The man handed Hanako his business card. "I am a talent scout with Hope's Peak Academy!"
Hanako raised her eyebrows. Rival did too. "Oh wow..." She glanced at his business card. "Do you mean...?" She had a feeling where this was going.
The man chuckled. "I see you are busy, so I'll keep this short. Hope's Peak Academy would like to offer you, Hanako, a place at our wonderful school as the Ultimate Lead Singer! What do you say?" He held out his hand.
Hanako stared at him for a few seconds. "Me? Just me?"
The man blinked. "Well... yes! How does it sound?"
It didn't take long for Hanako to decide. "I'm sorry, but I refuse. I appreciate the offer." She rejected the man's handshake.
Both Rival and the talent scout widened their eyes. "What? Are you sure?" Both of them said in unison.
Hanako nodded. "Yes. While I'd love to be to given the chance to he an Ultimate..." She looked over at Rival. "I won't go without Rival. Our fans would probably love if I became an Ultimate... but I don't want to split up Shinsenna Niku in any way." She crossed her arms.
Rival had no words. She... really said that? He...
The talent scout widened his eyes. He was rather surprised. But he quickly got a look like he had an idea. "Give me a moment." He pulled out his phone, and started to look out something. It only took him about thirty seconds before he looked back at the duo. "Okay... I understand."
Hanako tilted her head. "You do?"
The talent scout nodded. "Indeed. If that is your wish, we should be able to accommodate. How about this? You would be the Ultimate Lead Singer, and Rival would be the Ultimate Backing Vocalist. Does that sound good?"
A bright smile instantly spread across Hanako's face. "Yes! That sounds great!" She looked to her partner. "Rival? How about it? You want to be Ultimates together?"
Rival still had few words. Did she really just do that? For him? He... "Alright. That sounds good." It naturally flowed out of his mouth. An Ultimate? Maybe... maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe fame wouldn't be so bad. And if it could help Hanako achieve her dream... then maybe it'd be alright.
"Awesome!" Hanako took Rival's hands. "This'll be great!"
Rival thinly smiled. "Yeah. It'll be... great."
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[Pheme's Room]
The video cut off. Pheme had a curious look on her face. "That was... very interesting." She leaned back in her chair.
"Quite interesting indeed..." The Figure looked over Rival's document. "Why... I believe he'd be perfect for the Killing Game. Do you agree Miss Pheme?"
Pheme narrowed her eyes. Rival Seizon... hm... oh. She just got a wonderful idea. She jumped up out of her chair. "I do indeed agree! Rival Seizon... such a miserable and apathetic boy. So foolish to the world around him. He dares to shut himself away? Well I say... he doesn't deserve to be alive." She gave The Figure a creepy stare. The Figure didn't care.
"Very well then. I'll arrange for him to be brought here. And..." The Figure glanced between Bessie's form and Rival's form. "I understand your idea." The Figure gave a creepy and unnerving smile. "That ignorant boy... he'll be perfect!"
Pheme sighed, satisfied. Three down. Thirteen more to go! Their Killing Game was going be amazing...
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[Grand Court]
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"I'm sorry? Could you repeat that Adam?" Aurora had indeed heard what Adam had said, but she couldn't just casually acknowledge it.
"Adam? You sure you didn't take an addy before this trial? TF you mean a robot?" Raiha couldn't believe it either.
"..." Rival chose to say nothing.
"I k-know it sounds ridiculous and sci-fi..." Adam took a deep breath. "But it w-would fill in some missing dots we've had in this c-case."
"Okay." Yoshino crossed her arms. "Ade... I don't know man..."
"A r-robot? Really?" Even Ayaka joined in on the disbelief train.
"Hold on." Ji-hoon stopped anyone from boarding the disbelief train. "I don't think Adam is wrong. I think Bessie might've been a robot."
"Even you Ji-hoon?" Aurora had no idea where an accusation like this could even come from.
"Yes." Ji-hoon confidently nodded. "I think that Bessie really was a-
"I'm not staying in the background this time!"
All of a sudden, a gust of wind got blown Ji-hoon's way, almost knocking off his glasses. "What the-?" He hadn't expected to have been countered so quickly. "Who even-?"
"Me." The person made themselves known.
Huh. Ji-hoon shouldn't have been surprised. "Rival? What is it?"
Rival had his eyes closed. "Are you... seriously suggesting... that Bessie was a robot? Are you out of your damn mind?!" Rival showed some emotion that wasn't just nothing for once.
"Rival, at least let me-" Ji-hoon couldn't get his chance to explain.
"No! That's... ridiculous!" Rival was actually raising his voice for once. "I can't believe that! You can't.. go accusing genuine human beings of being robots! What the hell?"
Ji-hoon rolled his eyes. He guessed he should've expected Rival to eventually show some resistance to the whole "Robot Bessie" thing. "Rival, will you let me talk?"
"I...!" Almost like he realized how loud he was, Rival slowly pressed the metaphorical volume down button on his voice. "Sorry." He looked away. "Is she... really a robot?"
Ji-hoon slowly nodded. "Yeah. I think so. Adam and I joked about it during the investigation...
Adam observed the wires that Ji-hoon showed him, then chuckled. "W-wow, it's almost like B-Bessie was some sort of robot."
Ji-hoon slowly looked up at the academic. "Are you serious?"
He quickly shook his head. "N-no. J-just a passing thought."
"I see." Ji-hoon went back to Bessie's body. A robot? Surely not... unless? Nah...?
but I think it's the truth." Ji-hoon continued his sentence.
"I-if I may?" The metaphorical spotlight shifted onto Adam. "I could explain our t-theory, if you'd like me to Rival."
Rival closed his eyes tight. "Fine."
"A-and it'll be good to s-share this with everyone too!" Adam tried to stay chipper. But it's hard to stay chipper while looking at 16 other faces absolutely dripping with doubt. "F-first... that slab of metal."
"Hm... I suppose we never did find out where that came from did we?" Damien slowly crept onto the belief train. "Are you supposing that it was a part from our dear Bessie?"
"Yeah. We are." Ji-hoon took back over. "I was the one who investigated her body. And one of the things that stood out to me was her head. Her hair hid a rather nasty head wound. And I remember saying to Adam...
Ji-hoon quickly nodded. "That's what I said. It's just that... her skull feels rather weird."
"W-well what do you mean by weird?" Adam wanted clarification.
"It just doesn't feel like a skull. Or what I expect a skull to feel like, I guess." Ji-hoon explained. Already the first investigation and it was going in a really weird direction.
about how strange Bessie's skull felt." He finished his thought.
"C-correct." Adam nodded. "I think one of t-the important details here is that Bessie's "skull" was able t-to be touched. Theoretically, that s-shouldn't be possible. But we know that the c-crowbar has to be what caused Bessie's head wound."
"Are we super sure on that-nya? What about the trumpet-nya? Wasn't that also a possibility-nya?" Kuroko wanted to be super sure on that apparently.
"Fair point to bring up." Ji-hoon crossed his arms. "But we know it has to be the crowbar. Bessie's head for pretty much ripped wide open. There was a massive gash. The only thing within the vicinity of the boarded-up room that could do that is the crowbar."
"B-but this is where we encounter a p-problem." Adam took back over. "Normal skin... can't be so easily torn through l-like that. So-"
"I see your point." Darren suddenly interjected.
Adam blinked. "Y-you do?"
"Yeah." Darren nodded. "In the case of this robot theory... Bessie's skin was made of a different material than normal skin right? So that's how it was torn through."
Ji-hoon seemed surprised. He hadn't expected Darren of all people to catch on. "Yep. That's it."
"We have any science experts in here who can help confirm this?" Kei asked the group.
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Nope. Guess not. "Then I feel alright going with that then." Kei was satisfied enough.
"So Adam and Ji-hoon propose that our dear Bessie's skin was of different material, and that caused the crowbar to tear through her flesh with ease." Damien recapped.
"Right." Ji-hoon continued. "After Bessie got the gash in her head, her... er, wires would've been exposed." He wasn't sure of the right wording.
"Oh." Rival slightly widened his eyes. "I think I get it." His voice sounded distant. "After the killer hit Bessie... she probably fell down right? Or at least ran towards the corner of the room. And that corner had... the bucket and gasoline."
"You accepting this Rival?" Ji-hoon raised an eyebrow.
"Just continue." He bluntly answered.
"Hm... Adam and Ji-hoon have explained enough of the theory... I think I understand now." Aurora sounded a little defeated. "After being hit, Bessie, through some way, shape, or form, I think...
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she caused the bucket full of water to fall down." Aurora theorized.
"R-right..." Aelia wanted to join in. "I'm no electrical expert... but... if Bessie's exposed wiring met the w-water..."
"She would've been electrocuted..." Rival eyes were fully widened.
"Picking up from that..." Ji-hoon took back control of his theory. "I think that after Bessie was electrocuted, two things happened. First. The slab of metal got shocked off of her head. I'm no machinery expert, but that's the most likely explanation I can think of for that."
"And the second thing..." Sorry Ji-hoon, it's Lake's time now. "Was the blackout. Oh my gosh..." It still hadn't sunk in for Lake just yet. "Bessie's electrocution must've... been because she hooked up with the wiring in the walls or something..."
"And the fire too." Genjiro crossed his arms. "Wasn't it a fucking electrical fire? How about that?"
"That's f-fairly simple." Adam adjusted his glasses.
Ji-hoon looked behind him. "I forgot to tell you this Adam, but I think I at least have some details about the fire started. There was gasoline on Bessie's face. The smell of it anyway."
"J-just like with the b-bucket, the gasoline presumably f-fell onto Bessie's face after she tripped from being hit with the crowbar." Adam reasoned. "Or something similar. And if-"
"Oi. I get it." Alpha cut in. "Quadruple B bitch's electrocution must've caused the circuits to overload and shit right? That'd cause the fire. The gasoline would just make the shit worse." Their resident gas expert commented.
"R-right." Adam chose not to comment on that, and just let Alpha steal his spotlight time. "But there's m-more. T-the bloodstains are, t-theoretically, further proof of that."
"The bloodstains... oh!" Aurora had a realization. "I believe I know what you mean!"
Adam hadn't really either, but Ji-hoon was right. Bessie had a dark violet bloodstain eminating form her head. "W-well that shouldn't be a surprise. B-Bessie being hit on her h-head would cause her to bleed."
Ji-hoon shook his head. "I know that. I point it out because of that other bloodstain." He pointed behind Adam.
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"Thank you Damien." Aurora returned the smile. "But this black bloodstain is strange isn't it?" She got back on topic. "It's different than the one from Bessie's head, and this one is very small too. It was rather hard to see."
"I believe I see your point Adam. Are saying Bessie's bloodstain is a different color due to her blood being a different color than normal blood?" Damien thought.
Adam nodded. "Y-yes. Blood w-will naturally turn black when exposed to f-fire. But turning d-dark violet... isn't normal."
Yoshino crossed her arms. "Gotcha. So that small bloodstain is from one of us then? Damn..."
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"Was she... r-really a robot?" Rival's voice shook a little.
"YK... it would kinda explain... something that Bessie would usually do..." Raiha thought back for a moment. "I remember something she did way back in the Comedy Studio..." Raiha chose to ditch the slang for now.
But Bessie wasn't happy. She didn't seem happy at least. She looked deep into Raiha's eyes, like she was trying to find something. Bessie's intense glare was starting to freak Raiha out. But there was still... something about it. Something she... couldn't put her finger on. Raiha started to look into Bessie's eyes too, but their staring contest was cut short.
"And Aurora bestie? Do you remember? All of her... "we're the same" stuff?" Raiha continued.
Aurora shifted her eyes downward. "I... do."
"Awesome guys~!" Bessie seemed excited, but her general... vibe changed rather quickly. Bessie twitched her head. "We... all of us... are the same." Bessie lost any sort of hint of happiness she might've had when she was announcing her friendship with the girls. "Yes... us girls... we all... are the same."
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But after that moment was up, it was like a wire in Bessie broke. Because out of nowhere, she charged up to Aurora and Raiha with a... strange look on her face, then put her hands on their shoulders. "We really are... the same... aren't we besties..."
"I wonder if that was like... a glitch in her system or something." Raiha reasoned. "I'm gonna love the girl even in death, rest in power, but she was weird."
You know, under normal circumstances, one would probably get mad at Raiha for saying something like that. Calling the dead weird is pretty rude! But this time... nobody could really get on her for that...
Rival slowly blinked. "I've had so many strange sentences with her... I've seen so many strange movements from her... her head twitching, her nodding and shaking her head at insane speeds... and..." Wow. How the hell hasn't Rival noticed this before? "She was pretty emotionless too."
Again, that's a rude thing to say about the dead. But... he wasn't wrong. "I don't think I ever saw that bitch laugh, cry, smile, or anything. Her tone of voice never even changed. That's fucking wild man." Genjiro recalled.
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All eighteen of them needed a moment of silence. So many of them wanted to go "No, that's wrong!"
But... they couldn't. It was technically just a theory from Adam and Ji-hoon. But it made too much sense. Bessie... is a robot. Was a robot.
"That's wild..." Yoshino muttered.
"Shit..." Genjiro muttered too. He couldn't even be bothered to raise his voice or anything. Even he was a bit blown back by this.
"So when I met her... in the Comedy Studio..." Joji's eyes were wide. "She wasn't even a real person? Seriously?"
Ji-hoon crossed his arms. "I'm sure Pheme has plenty of details about this if it is true..." He quickly eyed Pheme. "I'm assuming you're not going to confirm?"
Pheme shook her head. "Nope!" And that's all she said.
But all eyes soon landed on Rival. "I..."
People were still trying to process this revelation. Bessie being a robot. Everybody has so many questions that they had to accept that they probably wouldn't be able to ask. Rival probably most of all.
But... "Damn it." Rival balled his hands into fists. "Who the hell even was Bessie... she was a robot? What is this shit..." He closed his eyes hard. "Hanako..."
"Now that we've established that, let's-" Ji-hoon was more than ready to keep this trial moving, but his train of thought was interrupted by Rival's last comment. "Hold on. What did you just say Rival?"
Considering Rival is a backing vocalist, it's a little ironic that eyes are being drawn towards him now! Because with him muttering that name, eyes got drawn back towards him. "H-huh?" He opened his eyes. He wasn't aware of what he said.
"Rival?" Aurora tilted her head. "You said "Hanako," didn't you?"
"I-" Fuck. Did he just really mutter Hanako's name?
"Hanako?" Ji-hoon looked baffled. "Who's Hanako?"
"Oh." Aurora didn't realize that she hadn't explained that to the rest of the group. "Well, Raiha and I took Bessie's Star-Phone from the scene. You saw that didn't you?"
"I did..." Ji-hoon wasn't sure where this was going.
"So after that, Raiha and I took her Star-Phone to Raiha's studio." Aurora continued her story. "It got broken, and we knew it was a low chance, but we wanted to see if we could somehow fix it."
"Yas, that's right." Raiha sighed. "We finnaed hooked up her Star-Phone to one of the computers in my studio. IDK if it was gonna do a thing, but why not right?"
"Yes..." Aurora took back over. "Raiha actually managed to hook it up to one of the computers in there. We didn't get much information out of it... but we were able to see... Bessie's Profile."
Rival visibly flinched.
Ji-hoon was visibly interested. "Keep talking." He commanded.
"Well..." And keep talking Aurora did. "I'll state what it said. In her profile... it said...
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Name: Hanako Yamamoto
Gender: "Female"
Ultimate Talent: Backup Dancer
Birth Date: "May 20th"
Height: 5'5
Weight: 110 lbs
Blood Type: N/A
all of that." Aurora finished recounting.
"Okay-" Ji-hoon had a lot to say about that, but...
"I-!" Rival slammed his hand down on his podium. No gusts of wind this time unfortunately. "I... don't believe that for a second!"
"Uh??? Why not?" Raiha couldn't understand why Rival wouldn't believe them.
"Because..." Rival gritted his teeth. Was he really going to explain this? One part of his mind was telling him to just shut his mouth and back away from the conversation. But another part of his mind was just telling him to say this damn information already.
Perhaps against his better judgment... "Because... I've seen Bessie's profile before." Rival dropped that bombshell.
"N-no way... really?" Aelia wanted in on the conversation.
"Yeah..." Rival muttered.
Bessie's Star-Phone? She must've dropped it accidentally. Rival groaned. Another annoyance. Whatever, he'll keep it safe for now. As Rival was handling it, the screen suddenly turned on. He didn't want to snoop or anything, but the phone was open to Bessie's profile page. It wasn't like he was purposefully trying to look at her info, his eyes kind of just... happened to glaze over it all. It took him a few seconds to process it. And when he did...
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Rival instantly felt sick to his stomach. His eyes widened as fear and shock washed over his face as he looked at Bessie's info page. No way... this wasn't real right? He felt his breath start to quicken. He felt light headed. He sat back down on his bed. "No way... no fucking way... this can't be real..." He muttered to no one.
He looked back at his open door. "Hana-" No. No way. He wasn't going to believe this shit. "This has be Pheme fucking with me... god..." Rival fully laid down on his bed, closing his eyes tight. He didn't even know if he wanted to question Bessie about what he saw on her profile.
"She... dropped it after we talked with each other... a few days ago. We planned our damn show with that talk." Rival's emotions have been going back and forth in the latter half of this trial, but now he's back to his more usual self.
"Okay." Aurora felt like she should approach this gently. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like what you saw on Bessie's profile and what we saw on Bessie's Profile was different."
Rival slowly nodded. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but it was...
Name: Hanako Kaneko
Gender: Female
Ultimate Talent: Lead Singer
Birth Date: May 28th
Height: 5'5
Weight: 111 lbs
Blood Type: O
...that." Rival closed his eyes.
"What? Really?" Aurora had trouble believing that. "Hanako Kaneko? Who's that?"
"..." Rival stayed silent.
"Okay hold on a second." Ji-hoon needed them to slow down for a moment. ""Hanako Kaneko?" "Hanako Yamamoto?" What the hell are you talking about?" Ji-hoon's mind was going in circles. "What?"
Raiha furrowed her brow. "Ji-hoon kinda-bestie, WDYM? What's the problem?"
"Surely you don't know Bessie by another name do you?" Aurora wasn't sure if she could take any more of these name shenanigans.
"Bessie..." Ji-hoon initiated more name shenanigans. "She told me her name was Kioka Yamamoto."
Bessie bit her lip for a second, then let out a deep breath. "You sure are interested in my secrets, aren't you bestie?" She wagged her finger again. "But okay! If you must know, my real name is Kioka Yamamoto! Don't be spreading that to all of my little helpers now! And not to Rival either! A star needs her secrets~!" She struck a pose.
"So what are you talking about?" Ji-hoon, considering how smart he was, was very confused.
He wasn't the only one who was very confused here. "Guys... what's happening?" Lake was lost.
"Why the hell does Bess have three... no. Four names?" Yoshino was lost too. "Bessie B. Blossom, Kioka Yamamoto, Hanako Yamamoto, and Hanako Kaneko. What the fuck is happening?!"
"I'd say that everyone has their secrets..." Alpha narrowed her eyes. "But having four different names is fucking crazy secret."
Rival stayed silent, but you could tell that he was thinking about hard about something.
Aurora and Raiha were silent too. Everybody was silent.
Ji-hoon started to think out loud. "Bessie could've been lying about her name being Kioka... but if her name is Hanako... then there's a question I really wished I could've asked her."
"A question you wanted asked her?" Kei asked. Someone had to not be silent here.
Ji-hoon crossed his arms. "A question about her past. That's all." He turned to Rival. "Rival? Kiok- ah, Hana- fuck. Did Bessie ever tell you anything about her past? Anything at all?"
Rival was still deep in thought. Did Bessie ever tell him anything about her past? Or just herself in general?
Bessie continued to stare, unblinkingly. "My manager? Oh, you mean my boss? Yep yep, his name is Ryuji Yamamoto~! He's a nice guy! He has me do dancing, singing, interviews, and all sorts of things all day!"
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Bessie nodded her head freakishly fast. "Yeah yeah! He constantly tells me things like "You don't need to rest Bessie" or "Stop slacking off, you're not suppose to relax." Stuff like that~!"
"Just... about Ryuji Yamamoto. Bessie's boss. Or manager. Or whatever. That's... it." Rival slowly answered.
"I see..." Ji-hoon slowly nodded. "Then-"
"Hold on. Forgive me for butting in, but Ryuji Yamamoto was Bessie's manager? Really?" Aurora spoke in disbelief.
"N-no... he was Bessie's manager?" Ayaka's voice shook as she for some reason butted in as well.
"I've heard rumors about him..." Lake muttered.
"No shit? That fucker managed Bessie's ass?" And now Alpha of all people spoke up.
Aelia looked around in confusion. "W-wait... am I missing something h-here?"
Damien furrowed his brow. "Indeed... could one of you care to fill in us clueless on this "Ryuji Yamamoto?""
"I certainly can." Ji-hoon sighed. He knew plenty about Ryuji Yamamoto. But he was also curious to see just how much Lake, Aurora, and Ayaka knew about him. And he zero idea why Alpha of all people would know him. "Ryuji Yamamoto is a talent manager, and Bessie's father. Or- huh. Is he even her father? Because she's a robot..." That particular fact hadn't dawned on Ji-hoon, or anything else yet for that matter. "God..." He shook his head.
"I want to let you finish your thought Ji-hoon..." Rival spoke up, just loud enough to cut the celebrity detective. "But her name is still messing with me. Who... even was Bessie B. Blossom?" Rival posed a valid question.
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It feels like this was a question they've asked so many times so far. A robot? Four different names? What the hell? What the hell does it mean? Nobody knew the answer. Well, nobody besides for...
"Pheme? You know anything?" Kei decided to ask the lady herself. He was fairly curious to learn about Bessie too. At this point, everybody wanted to learn about Bessie.
Pheme giggled, then stood up. "I do indeed know all there is to know about the girl you know as Bessie B. Blossom!" She put her hand on her hip and tapped her finger against her chin. "And I'll promise you one thing!" She held her finger to her masked lips. "If you're successful in this trial, I will tell you all you wish to know about Ms. Blossom! But only if you successfully figure out her killer!" She sat back down. "If you want my recommendation? I'd say you all get back to it! You'll have plenty of time to converse about Ryuji Yamamato after the trial! So get to it!" She urged them back along the path to figuring out Bessie's killer.
"Bitch kinda has a point." Genjiro crossed his arms. "This robot shit and whatever is pretty fucking crazy, but does it really move us any closer to figuring out who killed her?" He pointed out.
Huh. Rare Genjiro W. He had a point here. Right now, they were just focusing on Bessie's story and past. They weren't worrying about who killed her, even though they probably should. "Damn..." Ji-hoon muttered. "She's right. We got to find out who killed her first before anything. Then we'll get our answers."
Rival clenched his teeth and turned away. "Damn it..." He desperately wanted to learn more about Bessie and he wanted to know who killed her. He was very frustrated, but he tried to hide it.
Raiha and Aurora slowly nodded. "Right..." Aurora closed her eyes.
"B-but..." Lake's voice started to quiver. "Where do we go from here?"
Aelia's eyes slowly widened. "Is t-there anything else... we cloud even t-talk about? What's l-left?"
Aelia posed a good question. What was left? The code, the room, and Bessie's injuries have all been covered. It felt like they were missing a big puzzle piece... but what was it?
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"Wait." Rival spoke up again. "I can't believe I almost forgot... but what about... when the spotlights almost fell on me?"
"Huh?" Rival promptly looked up.
It was like slow motion. That agonizing slow motion... of seeing a spotlight falling... and it was falling directly... onto... Rival...
"Right... I almost forgot about that too-nya!" Kuroko nodded her head.
"Hm? Oh that?" Kei seemed oddly casual about it. "I think that's fairly simple."
"Really?" Lake tilted their head. They apparently didn't think it was simple.
"Yeah." Kei stretched. "It was...
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Bessie's electrocution."
-The victim was Bessie B. Blossom, the Ultimate Pop Star.
-Her body was found inside of the boarded-up room on the first floor of the Studio.
-Bessie's cause of death was immolation. Bessie was also electrocuted, and there is evidence of a single blow to Bessie's head from a blunt object.
-Bessie's time of death was 7:51 am.
"Since we've gotten a pretty concrete theory with the whole "robot" thing, the electrocution makes a lot more sense." Kei continued.
"Ah! I see where you're going Kei!" A metaphorical lightbulb got lit up above Damien's head. "Her electrocution short-circuited not only the wires in the building itself, but the remote and her Star-Phone too, correct?"
Kei calmly nodded. "Pretty much." Kei then turned to Adam. "Hey Adam? You're probably the resident technology expert here out of anyone. Could the remote being short-circuited cause all of its features to be activated at once? Or something similar?" He finally dropped the basis of his idea.
Rival nodded in understanding. "Oh..."
"W-well..." Adam had to think for a second. "That is t-theoretically possible. All it's of it's f-features going at once, I mean. But in my opinion, it think it's a b-bit more likely that the electrocution c- caused the w-wireless signal with the spotlights to experience an error. T-then that error would cause them to fall." Adam summed up nicely.
Kei seemed satisfied with that response. "Thanks Adam." He then turned to Rival. "Are you satisfied with that?"
Rival let out a deep exhale. Yeah, he was satisfied with that. The solution to that was a lot simpler than he had expected. Truthfully, a small part of him thought that Bessie might've tried to kill him for some reason. But no... that'd be ridiculous. Right?
Anyway, Rival still needed to reply to Kei. "Yeah... I'm good."
Kei smiled. "Good." He adjusted his hair. "Now where do we go from here? Even I'm not super sure."
"Right..." Damien decided to copy Kei, and adjusted his own hair. "It feels like we're missing a big puzzle piece still..." Damien looked around the room. Judging by everyone's faces, they were all thinking as well. Thinking... about the killer. They've made it far in this trial. They've figured out a fair bit. But it's just one last hurdle... it's one last hurdle that's blocking them here... Damien hated to do it, but perhaps it was time he-
"Hold on." Oh. Nevermind. Damien didn't have to do anything, as Rival apparently had something else on his mind.
Lake gave him an eager look. "Rival? What is it? Do you have an idea?"
"What's up Val? What's on your mind?" Yoshino asked. Nobody cared who offered the ideas now, they just needed the ideas themselves.
"I want to... ask about something I experienced... two days ago." Rival said ominously.
"Two days ago?" Damien had to think back... oh! That was the day the motive was announced!
"What it is Rival? Don't keep us waiting in suspense?" Kei gave him an expectant look. Sorry Kei, but suspense is important in a trial!
"Well..." Rival started his story. "It might be nothing. But two days ago, at night... as I went up to the VIP Quarters to go to bed..."
He did as the note told, and scanned his Star-Phone. Sure enough, it promptly unlocked. Rival was about to step inside. But...
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He sensed two people behind him. He quickly turned around, but there was nothing there. Huh. Must've been his imagination. Shaking his head once more, Rival headed up to bed... to get some sleep.
"I sensed two people behind me. But... when I turned around... there wasn't anyone there." Rival slowly blinked. "Could be going crazy... but I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about it."
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"Guys?" Rival looked around. Judging by people's faces, they just... weren't sure what to think about that.
"That's one of the most random fucking things you've said." Alpha partially stuck out her tongue. "But does that apply anyone here? If this is real, may as well fucking ask before Rival goes full emo mode from us fucking up the trial."
Rival didn't appreciate the insult thrown his way, but he wasn't objecting against Alpha's more assertive presence getting his question out there.
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But still, nobody answered. Was Rival really just going crazy then? He really thought this might've been a turning point in the case. But... maybe... not...
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"At night two days ago? That was me."
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Huh? "Huh?" Rival repeated the narration.
"Wait, so he wasn't going fucking insane?" Apparently Alpha thought that Rival really was losing it.
"Interesting. Who said that?" Damien looked around.
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"I said it."
Damien's eyes immediately darted in the direction of the voice. "Oh. You?"
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"Darren? What do you mean?" Damien wasn't exactly eager to be talking with Darren.
"Wait, that was you I sensed Darren?" Rival was grateful to know that he wasn't losing his mind, but Darren wasn't on his suspects list.
"Yeah. I think so." Darren said startlingly casually. "Well, not just me. It was Cathy and I."
Cathy shot Darren a glare that borderline broke the sound barrier. "Human! Why did you tell them?!" Cathy seemed more than a little annoyed, but Darren shrugged in response.
Cathy was right about to begin ranting at Darren, but Ji-hoon stopped them. "Hold on! Before you rant Darren's ear off, I believe you two have a story to tell." Ji-hoon went serious mode.
Cathy groaned and crossed her arms. "It's not fun having my exploits exposed like that..." It seemed like she was just going to pout about it. "Oh well! Alright bartender human, explain it to them!" Wow that was a mood swing.
Another classic Darren shrug ensued. "Sure." He let out a short cough, then started to tell his story. "That night... I was having a drink in the Comedy Studio. Now that I think about it, I was out rather late past Pheme's "curfew," so I guess that was the first example of her lax rules." He leaned to the side of his podium. "Anyway, after I left the Comedy Studio, I was barely able to make out Cathy sneaking around in the cover of darkness."
Cathy stomped her foot. "I still can't believe how you sensed me out there, human! I now see you're not to be underestimated." She went back to pouting. "But he's right! I wasn't one to be held down by something as foolish as a curfew! So I left my room and went to prowl around! My first destination, for no particular reason, was the Grand Theater!"
Darren causally nodded. "Yep. I saw her out there, and followed her in there. Wasn't sure what to expect. But she did find a remote in there. One that Ji-hoon would know."
Ji-hoon didn't expect his name to be brought up. "Me? A remote I would know- oh!"
"I'd love to Mr. Jo!" Pheme walked up to a bare wall next to the bar Ji-hoon and Darren were at. She then pulled out a remote from somewhere and pressed a button on it.
...After a quick second, a thin door outline appeared on the wall. Pheme beckoned the men closer, but Ji-hoon was the only one who went closer. Pheme opened the new door, and showed off to Ji-hoon what was inside.
"Pheme's bar remote? Why was that there?" Ji-hoon shot Pheme a quick look. She didn't seem very pleased.
"Nyahaha!" Boy, I wonder whose laugh that was? "I believe that silly goddess dropped it in there! From what I've heard from the rest of you humans, an amount of you were gathering in there that day, and that includes that goddess!" Cathy pointed cockily at Pheme. "I think she dropped it when she left there!"
"A gathering... oh! I remember!" Aurora apparently remembered.
Like how Pheme mentioned in the first scene, Bessie and Rival had gone to the Grand Theater to start the main planning for their show. Aurora and Aelia joined them there out of curiosity, and out of excitement.
"Oh boy oh boy~!" Bessie jumped up onto the stage of the Grand Theater, seemingly excited about it, even if her expression or her voice didn't show it.
"When Raiha, Aelia, and myself gathered to see Rival and Bessie prepare for their show!" Aurora recalled.
"No way?? So Pheme dropped something when she left then? Crazy." Raiha seemed relatively interested now.
Pheme rolled her eyes. "I suppose I might've." She didn't sound very happy. "I'll hold my tongue for now, and I'll let Mr. Taylor and Ms. Munchkin continue to explain."
"Nyaha! You're a sore loser!" Cathy kept pointing at Pheme. "But anyway, when I found that remote, I had to take it! I didn't even care that the bartender human was still following me! He didn't seem hostile anyway."
Darren slowly nodded along. "I considered trying to stop her from messing with anything dangerous, but I realized that'd probably be more trouble than it's worth."
"Nyaha! That's correct!" Cathy continued to laugh. "When I got my hands on that remote, it had plenty of capabilities on it! I was amazed! Amazed that that goddess would leave something so valuable lying around!" Cathy kept teasing Pheme. Luckily for her, there aren't any rules against insulting or making fun of Pheme, so Cathy is free to do this as much as she wants.
Rival narrowed his eyes. He had one big question he wanted to ask, but he wanted to keep this moving. "So... did you do anything with the remote?"
Cathy proudly nodded. "I did! I clicked a few buttons on it, and I believe I ended up causing some error with the motive apps, or something like that!"
"No shit? That actually was you?" Genjiro had almost forgotten.
"Ah yes! That I can explain!" Pheme straightened her posture. "Well I know that you may not find this relevant due to your "pact to not use the motive apps" that I so wonderfully provided for you, but I'll elaborate anyway!" She sounded a bit offended. No one cared. "In the middle of the night last night, from about 12:00 am - 2:00 am, the motive apps experienced an error, where none of the three would work. The apps simply wouldn't open if you tried to boot any of them up." Pheme explained. "And before you ask, no, I cannot explain why I know that Ms. Munchkin is the culprit behind that act! I'm afraid I just simply do know!"
Cathy just laughed in response. "Indeed! It was I!" She sounded very proud of herself. "I didn't do it on purpose, but the result of it was rather entertaining!"
"Okay..." Ji-hoon was slowly processing this. "What did you do after that?"
"I escaped of course!" Cathy still sounded proud. "It was my feline instincts calling out to me! Telling me that'd it be foolish to stick around! So I quickly made for the exit! I did unfortunately leave the remote behind for the goddess to find." She went back to pouting.
Darren, like he usually does, just seemed rather casual about this. "Yep. I joined her in leaving then. But... when we left, we saw something weird walking around in the darkness."
Aelia seemed curious. "W-w-what... d-did y-you s-see?" She stuttered more than usual.
"We saw something very strange indeed!" Cathy decided to take back over. "We saw a shadowy figure walking around in the darkness! And it was definitely a human too! They were saying some nonsensical things too!"
"Fuck you mean nonsensical? Don't just fucking leaving it there pussy cat, explain what you heard!" Alpha didn't like cliffhangers.
"Nyaha! Calm down gas station manager human! I'm getting there!" Cathy laughed, like she usually does. "The figure kept ranting about "needing to talk to the pop star human". They kept whispering it to themselves as they kept on walking around."
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Wait. What?!
"Wait. They said... they wanted to talk to Bessie?!" Rival was the first one to have a reaction, even slightly raising his voice a little.
"Hold the fuck on! They wanted to talk to Bessie?! The victim?! That's insanely suspicious!" Joji was next.
Kei closed his eyes. "That's quite interesting..." His reaction was a lot more muted.
"That's fascinating..." Damien's reaction was rather muted too, but he was thinking about something. "And what did you do after that my dear Catherine?" He wanted the cat burglar to continue her story.
"Nyahaha! I gave chase to the figure naturally!" Cathy then side eyed Darren. "The bartender human merely went back to his room, as far as I know. Boring." She rolled her eyes. Darren silently nodded in response.
"Okay?! What happened after that?!" Yoshino, and probably everyone else, was getting a little sick of Cathy pausing her story.
"Calm yourself horror novelist human! I'm having fun telling my story, and I'll do it at my own pace!" Cathy giggled. "After I started to sneak behind them, I saw them approach the boarded-up room! They fiddled around with the door a bit, talked to Pheme, got three things from her, then quickly went back to their room. I expected something more exciting, but I begrudgingly went back to bed too! It was a rather interesting night!" And Cathy finally finished her story.
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Also. What the hell?!?!
"What the fuck?!" Genjiro slammed his podium, but no gusts of wind manifested. "This shadow wanted to talk with Bessie, and it tried to get into the place she got fucking murdered?! They also talked to Phelgm?! That's not a fucking coincidence!"
"That's really scary..." Lake hugged themselves.
"Damn right it's scary..." Rival slowly shook his head, then lightly slammed his podium. "But what the hell Cathy? And you too Darren? Why didn't you share this? This is... clearly important." Rival wasn't an inherently angry person, but he was still trying his best to stay calm.
Darren shrugged. "No one asked."
Cathy laughed. "I thought it'd be fun to hold this until the final hour of this trial!"
Wow. What ridiculous answers.
"Seriously?" Ji-hoon wasn't mad, he was just disappointed.
"D-did you really have to h-hide all of that?" Ayaka almost seemed hurt at that.
"I'm all for some secrets and gossip..." Raiha crossed her arms. "But that's just ridic. That's vital info!"
"W-wow..." And Aelia didn't even know what to think.
"Now now..." Damien urged them to calm down. "Whatever feelings we may have about them... it's no doubt that they've given us important information here. Now, our focus should be on using this information, not getting mad at them." He had certain choice words he wanted to say to Darren and Cathy, but he knew it was better to just let it go for now.
"You're right-nya." Kuroko took a deep breath and nodded. "I don't want to waste anymore time-nya."
"Yes. Let's think about this..." Aurora and everyone else started to think about this.
On the night of the motive announcement... Cathy saw somebody who was saying that they needed to "talk with Bessie." So... how should they think about this? Perhaps... they need to think about people who explicitly said that they wanted to talk with Bessie? It'd have to be yesterday at some point...
Aurora closed her eyes. She felt like she had this. Was there... anybody... yesterday... who said... they wanted to talk... to Bessie? Think Aurora! Think! Raiha, Rival, and herself are the most likely suspects of this, but they've all been cleared. Who... who was it?
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"Ah!" Aurora held onto her chest like she just got shot. "No... no... that can't be right... no...!" Her eyes widened and her breathing quickened. "Was it..."
Raiha quickly noticed this. "Aurora bestie? What's wrong? Are you good?"
"Aurora? What's up?" Ji-hoon eyed her suspiciously.
"W-what's wrong Aurora?" Adam was concerned too.
Everybody quickly started to ask if Aurora was alright, naturally. But she stayed silent, her eyes still wide.
But there were two people who put Aurora's well-being to the side for now. "My dear Aurora? Have you... figured it out?" Damien spoke plainly.
Rival's eyes widened a little too. "Seriously? Do... do you know? Do you know about someone who wanted... to talk with Hanako?"
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Aurora slowly and shakily nodded. "Yes. Yesterday. I came across someone who said... that they wanted to talk with Bessie." Aurora's hands were shaking.
"Say --? Did you have a reason for standing out here? Were you looking to talk to one of us?"
-- looked a little shocked. She didn't expect a question to be asked of her. "N-no..." She almost whispered.
"Really?" Aurora gave her a suspicious yet gentle look.
"F-fine... yeah. I actually wanted to t-talk to Bessie. But I also wanted t-to talk with you as well!" -- relented.
"Oh?" Aurora hadn't expected that. "Well... alright. What did you want to talk about?"
You might expect some of the more aggressive and impatient ones to urge Aurora along, but even they stayed silent. Just like the whole room. It was pure silence. Everybody was just waiting... for what Aurora was going to say.
"Aurora?" Ji-hoon spoke surprisingly gently. "Please. Tell us."
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"Okay." Aurora took the deepest breath of her life. "Yesterday... I talked with someone who first said that they wanted to talk with Bessie. It..." Wow. Aurora was really about to say this. Was she about to condemn Bessie's killer? She didn't want to think too far ahead. But... "The person I talked to yesterday... the person who said that they wanted to talk to Bessie... was...
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Aelia."
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"W-w-w-what?!" Aelia was understandably the first person to have a reaction to that.
"R-really?" Ayaka widened her eyes a little.
"Aelia..." Both Rival and Ji-hoon muttered her name and glared at her at the same time.
"My dear Aelia?!" And Damien understandably had a reaction to that too. "Whatever do you mean?!" The beautician seemed very concerned.
"No way Aurora? FR FR?!" I don't even have to say anything for you to know who said that.
"Yes..." Aurora spoke distantly. "Aelia. Yesterday, you were outside of Raiha's studio. I met you out there when I left to use the bathroom. Was... was that a coincidence? Aelia...?" Aurora was the type to keep up an elegant persona at all times. But even she could feel her hands shake as she spoke. She was... was she? She knew it could just be...
"It's m-my time in the spotlight now!"
Aelia felt like she could feel power coursing through her. Not actual power. But this was it. Aurora might've been connecting her to the murder. But in Aelia's mind, she couldn't care less. All seventeen eyes, eighteen eyes if you count Pheme, were on her. She could hear people clamoring, questioning her on what Aurora just said. God this felt great.
Aelia built up a charge of confidence, then delievered a powerful slam to her podium, sending the strongest gust of wind yet in Aurora's direction.
"Kya!" Aurora let out a sharp, short yelp as she felt the wind reach her. Her parasol got blown out of her hands. It even got to the podiums adjacent to Aurora's, being Rival's and Rosalind's. The latter two managed to endure it though. "A-Aelia?" Aurora managed to let out, reaching behind her for her parasol.
"Aurora! That... uh..." You know, now that Aelia was here, she didn't even know how to defend herself. She had to think of something to say. "M-me wanting to talk to Bessie was a c-coincidence! There must've b-been... plenty of other people who w-wanted to talk to Bessie yesterday!" She countered.
"Hah!" Alpha scoffed. "You got to deflecting real quick didn't you? It's not like the bitch accused you of the murder?"
"Well..." Aelia looked down at the ground. Okay, maybe she did jump the gun a little. "A-alright..." She took a deep breath.
"Indeed my dear Aelia..." Damien tried to calm her down. "Just explain why you wanted to talk with our dearly departed Bessie. Surely you can do that, can't you?" He urged his dear Aelia along.
"R-right... yes. I can!" Aelia confidently nodded. "S-so..." Right when her words were about to come out of her mouth, she realized how suspicious it might sound. "I just w-wanted to talk to Bessie... because I t-think she's cool! T-the way she commands a presence... it's r-really cool!"
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Everybody was silent at that. Really? That's the reason? "Really? That's the reason?" Ji-hoon repeated the narration, not sure if he believed her.
"Y-yes!" Aelia frantically nodded.
"Huh." Kei didn't have many words. "That's... neither believable nor unbelievable. You just thought she was "cool"?" Kei raised an eyebrow.
"Y-yeah!" Aelia frantically nodded again. "I k-know it sounds strange... b-but it's the truth!"
Hm... was that the truth? Aurora closed her eyes. She remembered something that Aelia said to her during their conversation.
Aelia fidgeted. "Well... I guess I don't k-know the right way to say this. B-but you're... really cool! Honestly, I didn't k-know too much about you... p-prior to this whole thing. But it's just the way you... command a p-presence. It's really... well, c-cool!" The puppeteer confidently stated.
Was she... reusing the reason? Or did she feel that way about both Bessie and Aurora? She didn't know... should she believe Aelia? Or not? The feeling of distrusting someone was rather unpleasant. But... did she have to? She...
"Pardon me for intruding into the conversation, but I have a suggestion for how to procede." Damien quickly butted in.
"Oh?" Kei raised an eyebrow. "What is it Damien?"
"I know we are questioning my dear Aelia right now... but may I suggest going over everyone's alibis once again? If seems as the questioning of my dear Aelia may not go anywhere, so if it will not go anywhere, we may as well talk about our alibis one more time." Damien's chuckled at the end. He posed a valid point.
Aelia let out a quick and relieved breath. As much as she loved the attention, it was starting to get a little suffocating.
Ji-hoon slowly blinked, then narrowed his eyes. "Okay..." He got strange vibes from Damien there. Weird. But he'll humor him. "Well, Adam and I can back each other up. We were both in the Horror Studio from about 7:30 am to, well, the body discovery. Neither of us left during that time. Adam didn't do it."
"That's c-correct!" Adam adjusted his glasses. "And it'd be impossible f-for Ji-hoon to be the culprit as well!"
Damien slowly nodded. "Very good then. Who next?" He looked around the room.
"Well..." Lake raised their voice a tad. "Kuroko, Kei, myself, and Rival are all safe. The time of death would prove we all are safe!" They cheered.
"Yep-nya! Lake, Kei, and Rival are all safe-nya!" Kuroko agreed with Lake. Kei didn't say anything, but one could tell he was silently agreeing. Rival also didn't say anything... but he wasn't exactly alright right now. So that can be excused.
"Hell yeah! Joji and I are good too!" Genjiro slammed his podium.
Joji nodded determinedly. "Yeah! Genjiro, Kei, and I triggered the BDA anyway, so that prooves we are safe!"
Damien nodded along. "Indeed... very good! Who is next then?"
Aurora was... feeling rather weirded out by this. Something didn't feel right. "Are you playing at something Damien?" She asked.
Damien merely chuckled. "Don't worry about it my dear Aurora. All I ask of you is that you humor me. It'll all... make sense soon." He said ominously. "Now, you and Raiha can account for each other correct?"
Aurora warily nodded. "That's correct. Raiha and I were together until the body discovery announcement. I... know she's safe."
While Aurora might've been wary about this... but Raiha seemingly didn't care. "Like yeah? Aurora and I are v safe! Deadass!"
"I see..." Damien kept nodding. "Now, what about you my dear Catherine?"
Cathy scoffed. "Ha! You think I'd tell you where I was early this morning? I'm not one to casually give up wherabouts to a human!" Damien felt a bit of dejavu.
"That pussy cat and I were in the fucking Action Studio." Alpha crossed her arms. "I go there sometimes for some peace and fucking quiet, but she just had to be there I guess. She unfortunately didn't off Bessie." She stated with a healthy amount of contempt.
Cathy rolled her eyes, but said nothing. Everyone assumed that was her way of agreeing.
"I'm glad to hear that my dear Alpha!" Damien smiled at Alpha. She didn't like that. "Now then, my dear Rosalind, my dear Yoshino, and my dear Ayaka. You can all vouch for each other, yes?"
Yoshino confidently nodded. "Yep! I spent a good bit of the morning trying to wake up Rosa and Aya! Had to get em' up for the show!"
Ayaka darted her eyes around. "Y-yeah... she was out there f-for a while. Yoshino couldn't have done it."
"Indeed." Rosalind slowly nodded. "We three can account for *cough* each other."
Damien closed his eyes. "Alright... then that leaves myself, Aelia, and Darren." He side-eyed Darren. "I was with my dear Aelia when we found him in the Comedy Studio. It was after the BDA and after Bessie's time of death... but it would've been impossible for Darren to get to the Comedy Studio in that short of time."
"Yeah. I'm just a bartender. I'm not that fast." Darren pulled a drink from the void and took a sip.
"So that leaves you and Aelia then?" Aurora tilted her head. "Can you account for each other then? Or-" Oh. Aurora got it. She knew what Damien was doing.
"Y-yes!" Aelia answered for Damien. "We met up with each other near... t-the outside of the Horror Studio! And it was b-before-"
"No amount of makeup can hide the truth from me!"
"Let me stop you right there my dear Aelia." Damien elegantly slammed his podium. No wind appeared.
"Damien?" Aurora knew what he was doing now.
"D-damien? What is i-it?" Aelia heart started to beat faster.
Damien stayed silent.
"D-damien...?" Aelia repeated herself.
"I think I finally see what you're doing Damien." Aurora casually twirled her parasol around in her hands. "You... you know who the killer is. Don't you?"
Aelia's heart started to beat even faster. "D-does he... really?"
"No way? On the real real?" Raiha put her hand on her hip.
Ji-hoon narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.
Kei chuckled. "Is that so? Care to share then?"
...
...
...
Damien let out a deep exhale. "I'd love to share."
Aelia started to sweat.
"I've known ever since the investigation in fact."
Aelia felt her breath get caught in her throat.
"The killer..."
Aelia started to shake.
"Is..."
What was she feeling right now? Was it...?
"You..."
Aelia's trashed love note to Damien popped up into her mind.
"My dear Aelia." Damien announced, not needing any elipses for suspense.
Aurora flinched. "Was I right then? Was it not a coincidence? Then-?"
"The goddess arrives at the climax of the show!"
...
...
...
Pheme snapped her fingers.
...
...
...
And caused Damien, Aurora, and Aelia to dissapear in an instant.
Ayaka immediately got on alert. "W-where did they go?!"
"The hell?" Rival looked around. "How... did that happen?"
Pheme couldn't help but giggle at her the confused looks on all of her precious stars. "Mr. Seizon. Ms. Naganohara. And others." She stood up. "It's time for the climax of our wonderful trial!" Pheme stomped her heel-clad foot onto the ground, and several screens started to descened into the Grand Court.
"Again?" Ji-hoon looked up. "Just like the Horror Studio..."
"Guys? What is this?" Lake looked around warily.
"Mr. Jo. Mx. Beaumont. And others. I ask you... to just enjoy!" With another snap of her fingers, darkness fell upon the remaining fifteen currently present... as they were forced to...
watch...
[???]
"Ugh... what just happened?" Damien slowly got up off the ground. He wasn't sure what happened. It was like he blinked, then he was in a completely different area.
Before him... was a luscious plain of green grass. It was beautiful. "Wow..." Damien couldn't help but he awestruck at the sight before him. "What a sight..."
"Ow..." Damien heard a sudden voice from behind him.
When he quickly looked behind his back, he saw his dear Aurora. And she was... "Goodness..." Damien couldn't help but say... that Aurora was wearing quite the... outfit. Her usual attire had been completely replaced. She was now wearing a dark purple leotard that covered her arms, with black tights under it. She then had on black highheels, dark purple... devil wings? And dark purple devil ears too. But now wasn't the time to get distracted. He held out a hand to Aurora. "My dear Aurora, are you alright?"
Aurora blinked her eyes a few times. She still needed to get her bearings. "Yes... I'm alright." She took Damien's hand. When she got pulled to her feet though... "Damien? What exactly are you wearing?"
Damien seemed confused. "What am I wearing? Why, I'm wearing the same clothes as-" He looked down at his clothes. "Ah. I see what you mean." Just like with Aurora, Damien's clothes were completely replaced as well. He was now wearing a dark blue police officer's uniform, with dark blue uniform pants as well. He had on dark brown loafers, and a dark blue police hat.
"Well then." Damien seemed surprised, but not necessarily mad. "It appears both of our attires changed didn't they?"
"Both of ours?" Aurora somehow hadn't noticed yet. She looked down at her clothes. She immediately started to blush. "W-what is this?! What are these clothes?!"
"I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that question specifically..." Damien looked up at the beautiful blue sky above him. "Listen... do you hear that?"
Aurora stopped her blushing to comply with Damien's ask. She slowly looked up... and... she did hear something.
...
...
...
"Here we are Rodriguez! The plains of destiny!" Eirene extended her hand over the vast and luscious landscape before her and Rodriguez. "This is our first stop on our Journey for the Spirit Stone. Our first order of business is to find the Spirit Sage, who resides in a small hamlet in these plains. Are you ready?"
Rodriguez nodded determinedly. "I've been ready for a long time! It's time to seize my destiny!" He turned to look at Eirene. "And with you at my side, right Eirene?"
Eirene giggled. "Of course! How could I leave a sad sack like you alone? I'll be by your side whether you like it or not!" She winked.
Rodriguez looked relieved. "Okay. Good. Not sure what I'd do or how I'd do this with you Eirene. I lo-" He stopped himself. "Yeah. Thank you Eirene."
Eirene wrapped her arm around Rodriguez's shoulder. "No problem my dear Rodriguez! Just know that you can tell me anything!" She took his hand. "Now let's go! It's time to embark on our Journey for the Spirit Stone!"
...
...
...
After those words were spoken by an unknown voice, who else would descend from the sky... but Aelia?
Like some sort of wicked angel, she descended... and she was connected to a variety of puppet strings. "Damien... Aurora..." She spoke clearly. And just like them, she was dressed a bit differently. Though unlike them, her new clothes were a bit more conventional. She now wore a white long-sleeved lolita shirt, a long maroon sleeveless overcoat, black suit pants, and white lace gloves too.
Aelia eventually stopped being lowered down by the mysterious force in mid air. "Damien... Aurora... you really think I'm t-the killer? Really? Y-you really think... that I k-killed Bessie? Really?"
Ah. Damien understood what this was. He looked over to Aurora, and they shared a look of understanding. This was... a fanfiction rendition of an Argument Armament.
The... Stardom Finale.
Damien and Aurora both knew what they needed to do. They needed to finish this. For... Bessie. For... everyone.
Aelia on the other hand, was an absolute whirlwind of emotions. On one hand, she was scared out of her mind. But on the other hand, she was getting undivided attention from two people she loved. It... it felt... "Damien... Aurora... if you two really want to claim I'm the killer..."
Damien and Aurora got on guard.
"THEN PROVE IT!" Aelia sent out a swarm of small puppet-like creatures. All to attack Damien and Aurora.
"Get down!" Damien yelled out.
Both Aurora and Damien ducked behind a large rock to avoid the puppet creatures. "You okay?" Damien was already panting a little.
"I'm fine." Aurora wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. "But... what are these?" Aurora held up a trident she now held in her hand.
"I can only assume their purpose..." And Damien held up a pistol he now held in his hand. "My dear Aurora... this is it. We both know..." He closed his eyes hard. "We know that Aelia is the killer. And this is her resistance. I can't begin to guess how Pheme is doing this..." He opened his eyes.
"We must show her the power of truth and logic. Is that your train of thought?" Aurora finished Damien's thought.
Damien nodded. "Correct. Let's aim for the strings holding her up in the air. And there is more than a few pieces of evidence and observations that we can use as ammo."
"Right." Aurora quickly went over what they hadn't used yet. Yes... he was right. "I know that Pheme is making this into a sick show... but we'll play along. We'll show Aelia... and everyone else... the truth. Yes?"
Damien smiled and nodded. "Yes. Let's do this." He quickly looked over his shoulder. Aelia was still firing her puppet projectiles all around them. Damien wasn't a tactitian... but considering the terrain around them... yes. They could do this. "I'll go first."
Aurora nodded. "Be careful."
Damien smirked in response, then waited for the right time to go...
...
...
...
now!
Damien ran out from behind the rock, snd immediately started firing shots at the puppet creatures.
"Damien... why? W-why am I the killer? W-what proof do you have?" Aelia might've been talking strangely, but rest assured, it was Aelia Celani.
Damien couldn't let up for a second. He didn't know how much of this was real or special effects... but he couldn't let his guard down. "My dear...!" He took a shot at one of Aelia's strings. He missed. He's no Yumi Gundo, but he's trying.
"My dear..." He took another shot. He missed again. It didn't help that Aelia was moving along with him. But he... just needed... to focus... and think. Think! What could he hit Aelia with first?
...
...
...
Ah! That's it! Damien loaded up a certain Truth-Bullet into his pistol... then took... another... shot!
Damien took his shot. And... he hit one of her strings! He saw Aelia get dazed for a moment. This was his chance! "My dear Aelia!" He yelled out! "You know I lied about out alibi! Where were you prior to meeting up with me? We met up a little after the Body Discovery Announcement... so where you before that?!" He took another shot! And he hit!
"Good job Damien!" Aurora encourged him as she went out onto the field to encourage him.
"I..." Aelia was still a little dazed. "I w-wasn't doing anything! I was just wandering around the h-hallways! I didn't go into any r-rooms either!" She started unleashing more of her puppet projectiles.
Both Damien and Aurora split up to start running. "Wrong!" Damien yelled out as he took another shot, and he hit! He dazed Aelia once again! "My dear Aelia! That's wrong! That's not what I heard!"
"Attention my glamorous stars! I have something very important to tell you all! What is it? Well... a body has been discovered! Everyone, please report to the boarded-up room at once!"
"What?! A body?!" Damien exclaimed. He was currently outside the Comedy Studio.
Within seconds... he saw Ji-hoon, Adam, his dear Raiha , and his dear Aurora run past him. "My dears?!" The girls nor the boys didn't hear him.
*thud*
...
...
...
*thud*
Hm? What was that? Damien peeked around the corner from which the previous four came from... and he saw Aelia coming his way. "My dear Aelia! Come! The announcement!" Damien urged her his way.
Aelia looked to be sweating. "O-okay!" She pocketed something. Damien didn't notice.
"After my the boys, my dear Raiha, and my dear Aurora ran past me to get to the crime scene, I heard a door open, then close, within a few seconds! And that proves it! So my dear Aelia? Care to explain what you were really doing?!" Damien took another shot, and he hit again! Maybe he was a natural gunslinger?
"Grk...!" Aelia flinched. She could slowly feel herself getting weighed down. "What..." Her breath quickened. "WHAT'S YOUR POINT?!" She screamed, then fired off her puppet projectiles once again, nearly getting hit by one.
"Damien!" Aurora ran over to him, and helped him move behind cover. "Are you alright?"
Damien smirked. "I'm fine." He glanced over at Aelia. They still had work to do, but they were making progress. "My dear Aurora? Are you good to go?"
Aurora confidently nodded. "Yes! I know what to do!"
Damien kept smirking. "Very good. I'll cover you. Get out there!"
"Right!" Aurora mentally prepared herself. She peeked out from behind their cover. Aelia was still firing away like a madwoman. But... she had to do this. She had to show Aelia the truth. Soon enough, Aurora saw her opportunity...
...
...
...
and went!
Aurora was definitely more agile than Damien. She had much more ease dodging Aelia's attacks. She had at least a little experience in action movies, though it's not like she ever did her own stunts. So this was basically all new for her. She didn't even know how Pheme was accomplishing all of this... but even she couldn't deny that this wasn't the least bit exhilarating! She tried to focus on that aderenline to push down the fear bubbling up in her.
"Hah! Hah! Hah!" Aurora was being unintentionally flashy, calling out every time she dodged one of Aelia's attacks. But she couldn't dodge forever. She needed to hit her where it hurts. Her strings.
She ducked behind a rock, and prepared. Damien said he heard a door closing right before he met up with her. That... that could only connect to one thing! With her confidence burning up from within her, she loaded up a Truth-Blade into her trident... and ran out again!
Aelia's attacks were getting more fierce, but Damien kept covering Aurora. Aelia flew close to Aurora. "Damien... h-he's wrong! Even if he... h-heard a door close... that doesn't mean ANYTHING!" She let out a supercharged puppet projectile, but Aurora still managed to dodge it.
"Aelia!" Aurora saw her chance. Aelia was still recovering from that last shot. She ran up to her, close-range... and slashed some of her strings!
"GRAHHH!" Aelia let out a shrill scream as she lost her balance.
This was Aurora's chance! "Aelia! You say Damien doesn't have a point? What about Ji-hoon's account?!" She took her chance to slash a few more strings off of Aelia. She was successful!
"Urgh...!" Aelia held her arm in pain, even though she wasn't even hit there. "W-what about Ji-hoon's account?!" She pointed at Aurora with her other hand.
"Do you remember what Ji-hoon said?!" Aurora called out.
"I will." Ji-hoon cleared his voice again. "At 7:52 am, I saw...
2 in the Action Studio.
2 in the Horror Studio.
3 in the VIP Quarters.
1 in the Comedy Studio.
3 outside the Comedy Studio.
1 in Raiha's Studio.
3 in the Boarded-Up Room.
3 in the Grand Theater.
and that's it." Ji-hoon recounted.
"As soon as he heard the Body Discovery Announcement..." Aurora continued. "He checked his Map (T) app! And he saw vairous things... but do you know the main thing he saw?!" She pointed her trident at Aelia. "He saw a new Star-Phone signal pop up in Raiha's Studio! And Aelia..." The starlet got ready... "You were the only one in that area!" Aurora jumped up and slashed more of Aelia's strings. They were doing good! "Damien can attest that Raiha and I left, so it can't be us or Damien!"
"What... what does that..." Aelia was slowly getting weaker. "W-what does that prove?! That's... a coincidence!" She might've been getting weaker, but she wasn't out yet. She immediately began to return fire on Aurora.
"Ow!" Aurora got her arm grazed as she worked to avoid the attacks. But she was fine. She couldn't give up. "Aelia!" She kept yelling to her. "That signal... was the spare Star-Phone in Raiha's lab! I know you have it!" Aurora didn't know for sure that Aelia did have it, but it was good guess. "And... and think about Kei's Account too!" She threw her trident at Aelia's strings, and managed to cut another one. It luckily promptly reappeared in he hands right after. "Kei said he saw one signal in the boarded-up room! Ji-hoon saw three!"
"No!" Damn it. Maybe it was Aelia being hopeful, but she really was hoping they didn't know that. But no. She wasn't going to give up. She needs more. She craves more of the spotlight. She can't just throw it to the wayside like that. She couldn't. "No! Y-you have no proof that I t-took it!" Aelia was getting desperate.
"But think about Kei and Ji-hoon's accounts. Maybe you left behind your Star-Phone... and it ended up breaking!" Aurora took another slash. More strings cut! "Then you made your way to Raiha's lab!"
"ARGGHHH!" Aelia let out a yell. "No! No! Shut up!" Aelia's intensity increased and she she started dodging Aurora's attacks much easier now. They needed to rethink their game plan.
"Ah! Damien! Look out!" Aurora called out.
Aelia had shifted her focus away from Aurora and onto Damien, who was still providing covering fire for the starlet. "Oh? She comes this way now does she?" Damien didn't have long to think of a plan.
"Damien! Why... aren't you covering for me? W-why... aren't you supporting me? I thought..." Aelia closed her eyes. "I thought I could always turn to you! So please! Help me!" She cried out desperately as she unleashed a hectic volley of attacks on Damien's cover.
Damien smiled as well. "You needn't worry about it. Just know that you can always turn to me. I'll listen to you whenever you'd like." Damien turned towards the door. "Shall we go? There are much better places to converse than this dank place."
Ah ha! That gave Damien the perfect idea. He didn't even need a Truth-Bullet this time. He had the actual evidence he needed on him. He pulled it out, and made sure he had it ready. Aelia was unleashing an intense volley. But he was just waiting on... there she is! Aurora was distracting her. Now's his chance...
...
...
...
to go!
Damien ran out from behind cover and began shooting at Aelia's strings. He kept missing, but he wanted her attention back on him. Finally, Aelia turned around. "Damien... why... why are you doing this?! I thought you'd back me up! Were those w-words just lies?!"
Damien kept running. Lies she said? He wasn't sure if he'd use the word "lie" exactly. But now wasn't the time to split hairs. He stayed silent as he kept firing. He didn't have to worry about reloading, but he still couldn't get a hit on her.
"Damien...!" Aelia started to yell again. "W-what..." Damien sensed his chance was coming. "What about t-that note?! I know you saw it! I know you saw my love note to you!" She announced to everyone. She really was getting desperate. "But y-you...!"
"This here is the other example." Damien pulled out a pristine piece of paper out of his pocket. "This here... is a note written by my dear Aelia." Damien's voice sounded like he knew he was doing something wrong, but he didn't care. "I'll withhold the contents of the note. But after comparing it to my dear Bessie and my dear Aurora's notes..." He held them up next to each other. "The handwriting is different."
"You defended me! You s-said the handwriting w-was different! So why?!" Aelia started to slow down ever-so-slightly.
Damien's chance had arrived. He knew what he had to do. He stood in place to line up his shot perfectly. Aelia's shots were getting more sporadic. "My dear Aelia..." Aim... "That's simple..." and... "I lied." Fire!
"KYAAAAA!" Aelia let out a scream as she got knocked back in air. Damien had hit multiple strings! They were getting closer! "You... l-lied?" Aelia started to fly around slower and lower. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.
Damien stood his ground. He could tell Aelia was too dazed to attack for now. "Indeed my dear Aelia!" He revealed the two notes he had prepared. He first revealed the one he showed off earlier. "Do you see this my dear? Do you see what it says?"
Dear Damien,
I like you.
-Aelia
It didn't hit Aelia immediately. "Y-yes... that's my- wait. NOOOOOOOO!" She instantly got hit with a memory of yesterday.
"Oh! H-hi Damien!" Aelia instantly started blushing, but she tried to hide it. "And for what I was talking a-about... don't worry about i-it!" She discreetly crumpled up and threw the note she was writing in the trash can next to her.
"You... what..." Aelia couldn't believe it. "That's not my note!"
Damien chuckled. "Indeed it is not. This however... is your note!" He now revealed the other note he had. And as one might expect, it was very crumpled. It read:
Dear Damien,
I like you
And that was it. Aelia's eyes instantly widened. "That's my note..." She admitted. "Why... why do you have two notes?! How... why... wait! Was it... back then?!"
"I'm g-getting nervous..." Aelia hugged herself. "D-Damien? Could you-" Aelia looked around. Wait. Where was Damien? She could've sworn he walked in with her and Ayaka. Ayaka had already separated from her... so where did Damien go? Aelia went and looked out the Grand Theater doors. "Oh!" She tried to keep quiet, as she saw Damien and Pheme talking to each other. Huh. She'll just wait for him then. She closed the door, then got to waiting patiently.
Aelia had a realization. "It was right before... the trial... you were talking with Pheme..." She started to shake.
Damien smirked. "Indeed I was. But isn't that something?" He pulled out Aelia's real note and Bessie and Aurora's notes. "My dear Aelia... these do match!"
"GAHHHH!" Aelia felt herself getting thrown back.
"And if you doubt any of this..." Damien smugly continued. "Darren, Kei, and you can enforce this claim... but where do you get paper from?" He lined up his pistol for another shot. "You get it... from Pheme!" He fired. Another string down!
"AAAGGGHHH!" Aelia let out a yell as she started firing away once again. Damien... why would he do that? Why would he make two notes?! She didnt... why...
Damien immediately went back behind cover. Aelia's shots grew more intense. He needed to think of a plan.
"Damien! Are you alright?" Aurora ran over to him and joined him behind cover.
Damien nodded. "Never better." He looked over his shoulder at Aelia. Not many strings left now. But she was getting desperate. He needed to be careful.
"Damien?" Aurora got his attention. "Why'd you lie? Why have the two notes?"
Damien slyly smiled and shook his head. "I'll explain everything after the trial. For now..." He looked back over at Aelia. "We need to focus. We're almost there." He looked back at Aurora. "Are you ready?"
For as much as Aurora wanted answers, she knew that showing Aelia the truth was more important. "I'm ready." She took a peek at Aelia. "And I think I know what we need to do next."
Damien smirked. "I see. Go get her then. I'll cover you."
Aurora nodded. "Right!" She peeked out from behind her cover, and waited for the right moment. With Damien's lie revealed, the possibility of Aelia being Bessie's killer became a lot more likely. They just... they just had a little more to go. Aurora loaded up a Truth-Blade. And...
...
...
...
she went!
Aelia's shots were somehow both more focused and sporadic. It was choatic. But Aurora wasn't a starlet for nothing. With all the things she has been in and experienced, a little chaos is nothing for her. For now, she needed to focus on dodging Aelia's attacks and waiting for the right moment to strike.
"Aurora...!" Aelia cried out. "Please! Please believe me! I didn't do anything!" She flew closer to Aurora.
Aurora shook her head. "I'm sorry Aelia. But I have a duty to perform!" She slashed at one of Aelia's strings. She missed.
"Please!" She released a charged-up puppet projectile shot at Aurora. She narrowly managed to dodge it. "I had nothing to do with this! It's... all coincidences! I wasn't anywhere near the scene of the crime! Never! And D-damien..." She didn't want to speak ill of him, but she had no choice. "He's lying! About all of it!" She dove at Aurora. She managed to dodge her attack.
There. That was it. She wasn't at the scene of the crime? Never? She knew what to do. Aurora didn't have anything conclusive... but if Aelia was the killer... she needed to have a certain something on her body. "Aelia!" She readied her trident. "I know that's a lie!" She pointed her trident at Aelia.
Aelia stopped, but kept firing. "How? How could you p-possibly know that? You have no proof I was ever at the scene of the crime!"
Heh. The perfect set up. It's these extremely rare moments in life that make Aurora glad she's an actress. She knows how to make this dramatic. "Really Aelia? Then how about this?" Aurora stopped pointing her trident at her strings, and instead pointed at her knees. "Show me your knees!"
Aelia couldn't help but blush a little at that command. "W-what?!" She stayed stationary.
Aurora looked Aelia right in the eyes. "Aelia? Do you remember? Do you remember that small bloodstain in the boarded-up room?!"
"Thank you Damien." Aurora returned the smile. "But this black bloodstain is strange isn't it?" She got back on topic. "It's different than the one from Bessie's head, and this one is very small too. It was rather hard to see."
Aelia chose to stay defiant. He firing had stopped. "Yeah? W-what about it?!"
"We can assume that that bloodstain isn't Bessie's! It was far away from her own pile of "blood" and the colors were different too! Bessie's being a robot is likely the reason for that." Aurora explained.
Aelia steadied herself. "Okay? What's y-your point?!"
It looked like Aelia was getting ready to fire again, but Aurora stood her ground. "We know it was a bloodstain from one of us then! And do you remember what Ji-hoon said?"
Ji-hoon squinted his eyes. Aurora was right. It was hard to discern it from among the burnt up floor. But it was there. "It's times like these where I wish I had more medical knowledge..." Ji-hoon ran his hand over the bloodstain. "But this seems like a bloodstain from something like a scraped elbow or scraped knee to me." He inferred.
"KYAAAAA!" Aelia let out a scream as she realized where Aurora was going with this.
"You know what I'm about to say, don't you? This wasn't something we pursued immediately from the beginning... because we wanted to figure out the whole truth! Not just a part of it!" Aurora's eyes shook with conviction. "So? Care to show off a bit? Your knees are covered by those new dress pants of yours aren't they? What are you hiding... Aelia?!" Aurora jumped up, slashed at more of her strings, and managed to rip off a part of her dress pants, leaving her knee exposed.
"N-no! Don't look! PLEASE!!" Aelia tried begging, but it was too late. For Aurora had revealed... a scraped up knee. "NOOOOOO!" Aelia immediately started flying around and firing once again.
"Aurora!" Damien yelled out as he tackled her, drawing her into safety behind cover. "Are you alright?"
Aurora giggled a little. "We really are asking that question back and forth aren't we? But I'm fine." They both peeked out from their cover. They were almost there. Two strings left! They were so close! Despite whatever might've happened between Aelia and Bessie... they hoped the pop star was watching them. Robot or not, it doesn't matter.
Damien and Aurora shared a look of understanding. "Are we on the same page here?" Damien asked her.
Aurora nodded determinedly. "Yes! Just one more piece of evidence! And... it'll be done! Let's do it!"
Right. They were almost there. They were so close... they just needed one more piece of evidence, and that'll do it! Both Damien and Aurora had one last idea in mind. Everything up until now has technically been circumstancial. But... this would be definitive. If they could just do this...
"Damien! Aurora!" Aelia called out. "This... is n-nothing!" They could tell she was getting weaker. She had very few defenses left. "Everything... everything has been circumstantial! My knee? I scraped it yesterday! Ji-hoon's account? He must've s-seen it wrong! And Damien's account about me...? That... proves...
NOTHING!"
Aelia fired an intense blast of puppets at Damien and Aurora's cover, and broke it.
No time for thinking, they had to move. Damien and Aurora got moving, bothing working together to deflect Aelia's attacks.
"D-Damien!" Aelia planned to continue her defense as she focused her fire on her crush. "You also said... I might've took the spare Star-Phone in Raiha's lab! But that's impossible!"
Damien could feel himself start to sweat as he ran to avoid Aelia's barrage. "Impossible you say? And why is that?" He still needed to wait for the right moment. It... was almost here.
Aelia stopped her flying around to stay in place for a second. "Because of this!" She pulled out "her" Star-Phone, while conviently not showing the back of it, where her initials would've been. "I have my Star-Phone! If you say that this isn't m-my Star-Phone... then where is it?!" She continued to fire. Damien dodged with ease.
So that's Aelia's game. Very well. Damien could play along. "Where is it you say? Well..." He didn't know for sure. How could he? But he thought back... to a moment him and Aurora shared...
Welp, guess she wasn't internally thinking today was she? Aurora, and then Damien, looked over and saw -- digging and scavenging around the broken down door. -- and Rosalind had chosen to investigate the door together. To Aurora and Damien, it looked like -- grabbed something from under it and snatched it away. Eh, probably just some kleptomania tendencies. They didn't want to assume, but they wouldn't be surprised.
That's it. That has to be it. That has be where Aelia's Star-Phone is. That's the only thing that makes sense. If they didn't find it anywhere on the first floor... and if they didn't find it in the boarded-up room... then they had to have it!
Aurora and Damien shared a look. They knew it was time to end this.
"My dear Aelia!" Damien got her attention as he kept running. "You asked us about your real Star-Phone? And where it is?" He kept distracting her. He could see Aurora sneaking behind Aelia.
"Y-yes! That's exactly it!" Aelia shouted over her barrage of puppet projectiles. "Even if this isn't my real Star-Phone... you have no proof on w-where my real one is!"
This was their chance. It was time. "Oh, but I'm afraid I know exactly where it is!" Damien pointed his pistol at Aelia's two remaining strings.
"W-w-what?!" Aelia was shocked. She stopped firing. Perfect.
"Now Aurora!" Damien called out.
In the blink of an eye, Aurora jumped up, and slashed off another of Aelia's strings! One left!
"AH! NO! NOOOOO!" Aelia felt herself slipping closer to the ground.
"Finish it Damien!" Aurora yelled out.
"Of course!" Damien ran up to the slowly falling Aelia.
Aelia had stopped firing her projectiles. She wasn't flying around the sky anymore. She... was done? No. That's impossible! "There's no way... you k-know where it is...! Y-you can't!" She said weakly as she became stationary in the sky, a mere few feet above the ground.
"I do know Aelia." Damien pointed his pistol point-blank at her one remaining string. "Aurora and I saw it. A certain someone rummaging around under the broken down door." He slowly blinked. "If we are right in that you left behind your own Star-Phone when you ran out..."
"N-no..." Aelia muttered.
"Then there can only be..."
"Stop it!" Aelia was defenseless. She didn't want this to end yet.
"One person... who has your Star-Phone now..."
"Please Damien! Please! PLEASE!" It was useless. She...
"That person..."
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
"Is Catherine, isn't it... my dear Aelia?!" Damien fired his last shot, immediately breaking Aelia's remaining string.
Aelia sloly felt herself falling to the ground like a rag doll. "No... That's not true... she doesn't... I didn't..." Aelia looked up at her crush's eyes one more time.
"No..."
"Damien..."
"DAMIEN..."
"DAAAAMMMMIIIEEEEN!!!!"
Aelia cried out... but no one heard her...
...
...
...
And so, the noble heroes of Rodriguez and Eirene defeated the evil puppeteer queen... which in doing so... brought peace back to the plains of destiny and to the goddess's land...
...
...
...
Act 1: This whole case started with Pheme giving us our first motive. A motive to kill. The motive consisted of giving us all specialized apps on our Star-Phones. Apps that we could use to spy on everyone trapped here with us. You were able to get the camera feed, audio feed, and you were able to track the signals of the Star-Phones of others. Truly despicable.
Act 2: We all vowed to not use those apps as a group. Using them would be willingly falling into Pheme's trap of course. And at the moment, we all thought that we would honor that vow. But with all that we know now… everybody certainly did not honor that vow. A few people ended up using the apps at some point. And it's fair to assume one of those people… was our dear killer.
Act 3: We can infer that they ended up using the apps on the very same night after these apps were given to us. Why do we know this? Why, because of Darren and our dear Catherine of course! Unexpectedly, those two were up to no good that night…
Act 4: We've learned that, even prior to Pheme officially changing rule three, that Pheme was rather lax with that rule. People could indeed stay out of their rooms at night for as long of they'd like to. Darren and Catherine were some of the first people to realize that, it seems, as they both ended up in the Grand Theater that night. Rival's testimony of sensing two people behind him corroborates this story as well.
Act 5: Earlier that day, Pheme, Bessie, Rival, Aurora, Raiha, and our dear killer gathered in the Grand Theater. Pheme and Bessie were planning the intricacies of Bessie's show. The killer happened to be there by pure chance. But after Pheme eventually left them… evidently unbeknownst to everyone still there, Pheme left behind a little remote.
Act 6: Back to Darren and Catherine. From what we learned, Darren was leaving the Comedy Studio when he ran into Catherine, who was sneaking around in the cover of darkness. He saw her enter the Grand Theater, and decided to join her. Why? I'm afraid even I don't know the reason. But nevertheless he did.
Act 7: This all happened at around midnight. Catherine just liked to sneak around, and when she did, she happened upon Pheme's remote. We know not if Darren attempted to stop her mischief or not. We know not what exactly she ended up doing, but she ended up disabling the motive apps for roughly two hours that night. Afterwards, using her feline instincts, Catherine decided to flee the scene, leaving the remote behind. Darren was close behind her.
Act 8: When they reached the doorway of the Grand Theater, that was when they happened upon a certain shadowy figure going about the Grand Lobby. We know this shadowy figure to be our dear killer. According to Catherine, the figure was whispering "I must talk to Bessie" over and over again. Darren, not wanting any part in this, left to his room. Catherine however, did not. Sneaking behind them, she saw our killer go to the boarded-up room, fiddle around with it, get three things, which would've been three pieces of paper, then go back to bed. Feeling underwhelmed by her findings, Catherine retired to bed as well.
Act 9: Come the next day, our killer's goal was to talk with Bessie. We still do not know what about. We can only assume they heard something ghastly through the motive apps. But their first goal was to track down Aurora and Raiha, as they spent a fair amount of time around Bessie. So our killer's first place to stop by was the Ultimate Trendsetter's Studio. They saw that the group of three girls were together, and intended to come back later. But they got accidentally roped into a conversation with our dear Aurora. After their conversation had ended, Bessie herself sped out of the studio, putting another blockade in our killer's goal.
Act 10: The next part of the killers plan took place at the Special Event that Pheme prepared. Pheme hid a code in an audio log she showed off to us. A code that was for the Boarded-Up Room. Raiha and her ever-insatiable trendsetter curiosity, figured out that code, and afterwards, left to go and test it. She was able to successfully open the door to the room, but due to the boards, she wasn't able to actually enter. Our dear Raiha gave up for the moment, but not without making sure she wrote down the code she figured out. Alas, she left it unguarded in her studio.
Act 11: Come last night, the killer was now very determined to get their chance to talk with Bessie. And they had a plan in mind on how to do so. The killer went to Raiha's studio, and found the note she left, as well as the crowbar there. It was then where the killer's plan started to really take form. They wrote two notes. One was slipped under Bessie's door, and it stated "Come to the Boarded-Up Room. It'll be open." And the other one was addressed to Aurora. It stated "Don't leave your room, someone will try to kill you if you do." We still do not know why the killer gave Aurora that note.
Act 12: Armed with the crowbar and code, either in the middle of the night or in early morning, the killer broke in the Boarded-Up Room and waited for Bessie there. It was a rather risky plan. They had no guarantee that Bessie would show up. But… she did. Bessie wandered into the room in early morning, and proceeded to "talk" with our killer.
Act 13: We can only assume it turned violent rather quickly. Our killer ended up hitting Bessie's over the head with the crowbar, which tore a fair bit of Bessie's fake skin off. Which exposed… her inner wirings. Unbeknownst to the killer and the rest of us… our dear Bessie was a robot, and that… might be the unfortunate reason why Bessie died in the first place.
Act 14: After being hit, Bessie would stumble on over to a nearby shelf in the room, which held two very important things. A bucket full of water, and a canister of gasoline. After she hit the shelf, both would fall onto her. It was then that a freak series of events would happen. After being doused, Bessie fell onto the floor, with her now exposed wiring facing a wall in the room, which also had exposed wiring. The wall's exposed wiring would up connecting with Bessie's wet wirings, which caused three separate things.
Act 15: First. Our dear Bessie was electrocuted. Bessie also had her Star-Phone and a remote than Pheme gave her in her pockets. Being electrocuted caused both of those to short-circuit and break. The remote breaking was what caused Rival's near-death experience as well. Second. It caused a blackout. The circuits must've been overloaded through the electrocution. And third. It started an electrical fire due to the gasoline covering Bessie's face.
Act 16: Flames consumed Bessie's body and the entire room rather quickly. The killer in that moment knew they had to escape. So went to run to the still open door. I can only guess what occured next... but I believe I know what happened. The killer must've fallen and tripped for whatever reason, and it caused them to drop their Star-Phone as well. They did not realize that thwy dropped it, as they quickly got up and ran out, leaving Bessie to her demise.
Act 17: It was sometime after leaving the room when they realized they dropped their Star-Phone in there. They obviously couldn't go back, so they opted to go for the fake Star-Phone residing in Raiha's studio. And they smartly took the long way there, to avoid the wide open Grand Lobby. And in doing so, they managed to avoid Genjiro and Joji, who got to the room mere seconds after our killer left.
Act 18: Upon getting to Raiha's studio, they found that Aurora and Raiha were still in there. But luckily for them, the BDA drew the two girls away from the studio rather quickly. The killer then quickly ran in and nabbed the fake Star-Phone. But as they left… they came across me. I was seeking out the others to make sure they were safe, and I happened upon our killer. And in my foolishness, I merely embraced their safety, and escorted them to the crime scene right after checking on the Comedy Studio.
Perhaps if I had better judgment… perhaps if I had less faith in my dear… this case wouldn't been solved quicker. But there's no denying this fact.
There's no denying that the killer could only be you! My dear Aelia Celani, the Ultimate Puppeteer!
OH BOY! HERE WE ARE!
Trial Part 2 baby! There was a chance that I was going to merge this with Part 1... but I'm glad I didn't.
First... Bessie's killer was Aelia Celani! Were you surprised? Did you expect it? Tell me all!
I'll save my thanks for Wotch for when we reach the epilogue... but I am sad to see Aelia soon leaving. She was a lot of fun.
Second... the Stardom Finale! How was it? I was really excited to get to the point of writing it, and I thought it came out pretty good! In case you couldn't tell, Damien and Aurora took after Rodriguez and Eirene, who were Aelia's puppets. I thought it was pretty cinematic!
Third... did you enjoy the trial? The trials were easily the part of the fic I was the most nervous to write. If anyone has any constructive criticisms, or even any compliments, please do tell me! I'd love to make these trials better as I go forward.
Now... I think that's it. At this point in time I still need to write the investigation... but we're almost there! We're almost done with Chapter 1! But for now, I hope you look forward to the epilogue, and to Aelia's demise! :pheme_yay:
Glamorous Stars Remaining: 18
Adam Brooks - Ultimate Academic [PROJECT DRAMA]
Aelia Celani - Ultimate Puppeteer [theycallmewotch]
Alpha - Ultimate Gas Station Manager [Epifanio Therion]
Aurora Beaufort - Ultimate Starlet [WolfieRed23]
Ayaka Naganohara - Ultimate Violinist [Sempi]
Catherine Munchkin - Ultimate Cat Burglar [Nekoja]
Damien Lux - Ultimate Beautician [oddlyillregular]
Darren Taylor - Ultimate Bartender [Otterplay]
Genjiro Mashimoto - Ultimate Wrestler [Grandma Sue]
Ji-hoon Jo - Ultimate Celebrity Detective [TheRoseShadow21]
Joji Kaneshiro - Ultimate Carpenter [SureJahn]
Kei Aikawa - Ultimate Lawyer [theotakureader101]
Kuroko Kurobara - Ultimate Hypnotist [MrUtenaHolic]
Lake Beaumont - Ultimate Ballet Dancer [KadachiNova]
Raiha Miyahara - Ultimate Trendsetter [Prince PokePersona]
Rival Seizon - Ultimate Backing Vocalist [SinWriter7]
Rosalind Reinhardt - Ultimate Cinematographer [Orlando Butler]
Yoshino Akiyama - Ultimate Horror Novelist [DeathlyJazzHands55]