I do not have much to say here, except thank you to everyone who read and reviewed, thank you to Candle and Sempi for betaing, and thank you to my server for going on this crazy ride with me. Enjoy!

When Akihito reached the third floor, he found himself running forward, leaving Ren, Hibiki and Arisu behind.

"Wooooooow!" he gasped as he looked around. "This is so cool!"

"I don't think that's the right word, Akihito," Ren laughed lightly. He reached Akihito's side and patted his shoulder. "But it definitely is something."

Akihito didn't care what word Ren used, it didn't change that the third floor was absolutely not what he expected, even compared to the second floor being a legit winter forest. The third floor, in contrast, looked like a maze turned upside down. The floor was a brilliant blue with clouds moving across it, though whether they were holograms or another weird thing about this place, while the ceiling showed green grass and trees stretching down towards the floor, with a wind that Akihito could only see rustling the leaves. Further in, Akihito could see the color scheme and design shifting, giving the illusion that the floor was becoming the ceiling and the ceiling the floor.

There was also a sharp turn that Akihito could see, hiding what remained of the rest of the floor which seemed almost labyrinthine at a glance. Akihito grinned brightly, excited by the prospect of exploring the entirety of the floor himself.

"Fuck, this makes my head hurt," Hibiki groaned, rubbing his forehead. "Is the damn bear trying to make me lose my mind?"

"I think, Player Hibiki, it's more likely that he's lulling us into another game, and not a fair one either," Arisu frowned, crossing her arms. She looked around, examining the single door that they could see in this area. "Hmm, what could be behind door number 1?"

"Let's see! Would you like to do the honors, Host-san?" Akihito grinned, gesturing dramatically to the door. Arisu smiled brightly, nodding in agreement as she skipped over to the door and opened it.

When Akihito peeked inside, he found what looked like a picnic spot, with the checkered blanket and basket set under a large tree, the walls painted to look like hills and flower fields in the distance.

"Oh fuck," Hibiki groaned as he stepped inside, looking around with exasperated eyes. "I thought that fucking sitting room set-up was just something only modern rich assholes used."

"Like your grandpa?" Akihito asked, ignoring Ren's shushing from outside of Hibiki's line of sight.

"Yes," Hibiki stated firmly, glaring down at the picnic basket.

"Is there anything in here?" Ren asked, changing the topic with zero subtlety. Without waiting for a response, he kneeled down and opened the picnic basket. Inside were various sandwiches, which seemed harmless at a glance until the door suddenly opened.

A masked servant stood there, holding out a scroll for Akihito to grab. He grabbed it flippantly, more concerned with how the servant was dressed in a Victorian era costume, top hat included and everything.

"Player Aki, what's it say?" Arisu questioned, bouncing to his side.

"Let's see!" Akihito grinned her way as he unrolled the scroll.

Lord Monocaw sends his regards to King Monokuma's court and invites them to partake in the appetizers he had prepared.

They are each a surprise flavoring for all to enjoy, ranging from the classic turkey sandwich to the brand new and amazingly delicious arsenic spinach pie!

Chef Sempkuma is open to any and all feedback on improvements she can make!

"Soooooooooo does that mean—"

"Don't eat a fucking thing here," Hibiki cut in, stopping Akihito as he grabbed the scroll. Without a word, he closed the picnic basket and laid the open scroll on top. "Give me a pen."

"Here you go," Akihito agreed with zero hesitation. He passed a rather fancy fountain pen to Hibiki. He was quite proud of that swipe. Ahh, memories.

"So fast!" Arisu gasped, clapping as Hibiki wrote on the back of the scroll in harsh capital letters. "When'd you get that?"

"Oh, that old thing?" Akihito grinned. He crossed his arms and leaned closer to Arisu's side. "Actually, it's a funny story—"

"Please don't influence Ari to steal," Ren stated, cutting in with a placating smile.

"Aww," Akihito and Arisu whined in unison. Hibiki just rolled his eyes at them as he stood up and pocketed the pen.

"Are we done in this death trap of a rich asshole's home?" he asked aloud.

"I think so, there doesn't seem to be anything else to look at here," Ren hummed. He ran a hand along the wall, probably searching for more hidden rooms or cracks in the walls like some of the other rooms had. "Yes, it seems this room is just as it appears to be."

"Then down the rabbit hole we go!" Arisu declared, pointing dramatically at the door. Hibiki groaned aloud as Akihito looped his arm through Hibiki's and Ren's while Arisu looped her own arm through Hibiki's on the other side before the two of them dragged their friends back into the hallway.

"This is a Wizard of Oz reference, actually!" Ren pointed out as Arisu began to skip without a care.

Akihito simply laughed as the twisting sky and ground walls transitioned into the rabbit hole in question, with flowers, tables, chairs, mushrooms and doors mixed in.

When they reached the end, Akihito gasped in excitement as he saw the twisting aesthetic had remained, but now instead of a regular sky and ground, it was colorful bursts of flowers, mushrooms and an ever changing sky. The hallways remained twisting and seemed to have LEDs built in to trigger the changing colors. He was also pretty sure he could hear a tea party in the distance and the drone of a caterpillar who spent far too long puffing his drug of choice around a corner.

It was like his childhood dream come to life.

"Fuck, this hurts my eyes," Hibiki groaned, rubbing his eyes as he spoke. Arisu turned to him, concern in her eyes, but he waved her off. "I'll be fine, just get me the hell out of this hallway."

"Right." Akihito nodded, glancing around for the next door he could find. Hidden against a nearby mushroom, he could just see a door with a heart crossed with a wand emblazoned on it. "Hey, Ren! This looks like your room, let's go here!"

He didn't give the others a chance to respond before he opened the door and ran inside, hearing Arisu laugh brightly behind him as she followed him inside.

Bright music trilled through the air and Arisu was unable to stifle her smile as she took in what was no doubt Ren's Talent Room.

The area they stood in currently looked like a café, with a full coffee shop included alongside the wall and comfy looking chairs near tables which were obviously designed with couples in mind. There was even a loveseat which looked big enough for many people to share! The walls were a warm cream color with hints of blue and gold, as if magic was curling through the air.

Slightly off to the side, she could see folding stands which seemed to be hiding various other small areas that branched off from the café, creating privacy in an otherwise open concept. Honestly, she personally thought this would be the perfect place to host a game night, she already could see the set up in her mind as well as where she'd stand to host the whole thing!

There was also a door on the wall, which was a pale blue and labeled 'Matchmaking Consultation' in curly gold script. Curious, Arisu made her way through the door, only to find what looked like an office of some sort. All along the walls were various charts and tools, including blood type charts and astrology signs. Tarot cards were stacked on the uniform desk set up on the side and though it may seem strange at a glance, none of it felt out of place. The entire room gave off a professional air, but the open concept left it approachable, like Ren.

"Amazing! You've got a lot of tools here, Player Ren!" Arisu praised as she made her way to the desk, happily jumping to sit on the spinney chair and spinning round and round with a giggle. Without a care, she began to open the drawers, reading over the personality tests she found inside. "Do you really use all of these?"

"Of course," Ren smiled, coming to stand behind her and examine the tests over her shoulder. "There's many ways people can be matched, after all, and if I want to help my clients find love then I need all the possible tools at my disposal."

"Why the fuck does that sound like experimentation?" Hibiki drawled sarcastically, causing Arisu to giggle. She returned the tests to the drawer before moving on to the next one, which contained a thick black photo album.

"I assure you it's no such thing, Hibiki!" Ren cried, sounding scandalized.

"Ah, c'mon, he's kidding!" Akihito grinned, patting Ren on the shoulder before he held out a small, glittering cuff link. "Diamond for your thoughts?"

"I won't be taking your falsely acquired payment, thank you, Akihito," Ren sighed fondly. Arisu laughed when the track and field star turned to Hibiki instead, only for the dispatcher to dramatically reach up and turn off his hearing aids.

With a light feeling in her heart, Arisu took out the photo album and flipped to the first page.

"Oh…"

"What's wrong?" Hibiki questioned, instantly on alert as he turned his hearing aid back on.

Arisu wasn't sure she could even say the words aloud, her throat had closed up so suddenly. She had been doing…not very well, but okay recently. She was getting by and even smiling, secure in herself with Hibiki and the others supporting her and the sun necklace secured around her neck.

But now it was as if she had tripped and stumbled back to where she started, her eyes burning with tears she promised herself she would not shed anymore. And yet, how could she do anything else?

Silently, Akihito took the album from her limp hands and Arisu made no move to fight him on it.

She wasn't sure for how much longer she could stand to stare at the wedding photo of her and Tori which emblazoned the very first page.

"How is it even possible for these floors to become even worse?"

"Well, gee, fuck face, if you stopped complaining so much, maybe it wouldn't suck so much now would it?" Nat drawled, glaring at Irusu when he turned an affronted look their way. "Don't give me that, you're the one who decided to tag along with us."

"A decision I am regretting with every further moment spent in your company." Irusu glared, even as he kept perfect pace with Nat and Rinka as they explored the third floor.

"I'm certain we'll find…some place soon," Rinka insisted, trying to keep the two of them focused on their objective. Nat could see where she was coming from, but god damn was Irusu a prick to deal with. If Nat had it their way, they'd rob him blind and leave him with nothing.

Once they reached the end of the 'rabbit hole' hallway, the path branched into two. Before Nat or Rinka could say a word, Irusu had already turned right and began to make his way toward an area where smoke was rising between too large flower petals.

"A-Ah, Irusu!" Rinka cried, already running after him like the good girl she was. Nat let out a groan but followed after the two.

"Ya know exploring alone won't kill him, right?" Nat questioned once they caught up with Rinka.

"Y-Yes, but we should still stick together!" Rinka insisted, her eyes tracking every turn they took in the confusing halls. "It would be terrible if one of us got lost and couldn't find their way back!"

Nat was surprised at how careful she was actually being, considering how difficult it must be for her to keep up. Nat, in comparison, was having a much easier time remembering the path they took. After all, they had taken much more convoluted escape routes from their heists and nothing could compare to the game of chance they played with the police on the regular.

"Why're ya leading us this way, anyway?" Nat called out to Irusu, who was sternly marching ahead of them. "It's just a bunch of fucking smoke."

"Smoke which most likely is caused by stage machinery of some sort," Irusu explained, seemingly entirely focused on the path ahead that he didn't have the brain power to be snarky about it. "For all the inexplicable things that occur here, I recognize the quality of that smoke from a glance. If there's equipment here that I can use, then it's more likely I'll be able to find something of value with which we can at best utilize in some form of escape."

"And at worst?" Nat asked, morbidly curious.

"It can serve as another method of murder," Irusu admitted, pushing aside a large flower which was inexplicably blocking the path, which caused it to snap back. Nat barely managed to grab Rinka's arm and pull her back before it would have smacked her in the face.

"T-That's not a good thing!" Rinka cried, her eyes wide and her face pale.

"Which is why I'd like to destroy it as soon as possible," Irusu scowled as he glared back at them. "Unlike the other fools in this place, I don't intend for my talent to be used in such a despicable way. Least of all by someone who understands how this machinery works."

"Meaning…you think we should be worried about Nima?" Nat questioned, raising a skeptical eyebrow. Nima, honestly, didn't strike them as a murderer.

Then again, neither had Rosamie.

Nat shook the grief off like a shroud they absolutely did not want to wear and instead focused on the field the three of them had finally emerged in. Irusu remained silent, neither confirming nor denying Nat's statement.

The field they were in was large and full of branching pathways, as if they had stepped into the center of the labyrinth. Flowers littered every part of the floor, hiding any semblance of paths or an actual floor for them to follow. In the center, a giant leaf unfurled and on top of it was a giant caterpillar, a hookah in its hand. It was bright blue and blew out smoke with each breath it took, yet Nat couldn't smell any of the far too familiar scent of marijuana. It was almost as if the smoke was…odorless.

Their hackles raised at that. Marijuana or smoke, it didn't matter, it should still smell like something.

"Hmm, interesting…" Irusu hummed, before he stepped closer to the caterpillar, intent on examining it. "It looks as if it were an animatronic, yet there doesn't seem to be any place for it to obtain power."

"S-Should we be worried?" Rinka stuttered, looking unsure as she gazed up at the creature.

"Of course not, how could a caterpillar harm us?" Irusu scoffed, as if she were being ridiculous.

"I wouldn't rule it out yet, fucko," Nat warned. "I don't like that smoke."

"How…rude…" the caterpillar said, though it sounded more like 'rooode'. "Perhaps if you…asked polit…ely…I would deem to…tell you…"

"It's not marijuana," Rinka confirmed, sniffing the air slightly. She didn't explain how she knew, but Nat was partial to believe her considering they had seen her Talent Room.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Irusu questioned, raising a derisive eyebrow at the two of them.

"How about we get the fuck outta here?" Nat suggested. Just then, the caterpillar looked down at the three of them, took a deep hit of whatever the fuck was in that hookah and blew a breath of smoke their way.

Irusu, the closest to it, instantly began to cough loudly and Nat had just about had enough of this shit.

They grabbed both Rinka and Irusu's wrists and ran down one of the paths, uncaring of where the fuck they ended up. Anywhere was better than there.

When Nat finally stopped running, they were beginning to wonder if the damn bear had just decided to do away with all of them on this one floor alone. The paths made absolutely no fucking sense and instead of seeing a familiar section they'd passed earlier, the three of them now stood outside of a hedge maze, watching as card men were dancing around, painting white roses with red paint.

Standing nearby, observing the cards, was Maria and Sayuri.

"Oh!" Sayuri gasped, surprised once she saw them. "We hadn't expected to see the three of you together. You're also exploring the floor?"

"And avoiding that fucking caterpillar but yeah, sure, let's go with that." Nat rolled their eyes. Maria winced sympathetically at their words.

"Yeah…we ran too. Sayuri wasn't doing too well as soon as we entered the clearing," she explained. Sayuri looked down at the floor, a blush staining her cheeks pink. "Why'd you guys stay so long though?"

"Irusu thought the caterpillar might be some sort of stage equipment," Rinka explained. "He was hoping to dismantle it so nobody could use it in a-a…murder."

"Fat lot of good that did," Irusu scowled, crossing his arms. "Whatever the hell that thing was, it had no similarities to the equipment I know about."

"Hmm." Maria tilted her head slightly as she hummed, glancing at the hedges before them all. "Well, maybe there wasn't anything there you could use, but what about in here?"

Nat followed her gaze, finding the camouflaged door relatively easily. Somehow, it was built into the hedge itself and the emblem on it showed a half comedy, half tragedy mask. It couldn't have been any more blatant in the fact it was for Irusu.

"Have you gone in?" Nat asked, curious.

"No," Sayuri admitted, holding her hands close to her chest. "It's…disconcerting, due to its location. The physics of it don't make sense."

"Sounds about right for this fucking hellhole." Nat rolled their eyes. They pushed their shoulders back, straightened up their spine and marched over to the door in question, kicking it open dramatically before they glanced back at the others, who stared at them. "Well? You fuckers coming or not?"

They just barely saw Rinka running towards them before they ducked inside.

Rinka startled as soon as she stepped into the room, not for any particular reason other than the sudden noise that rang in her ears. Compared to the relative silence of the hedge maze outside the door, the music echoing throughout the room was in direct contrast and left her stumbling.

Maria's hand landed on her shoulder, gently squeezing as she found her stability before the two of them stepped further into the room in question.

Outside of the music, the room was pretty basic at a glance, resembling a workroom of some sort. There was all sorts of machinery littered throughout the room that Rinka couldn't even begin to identify, though she did recognize some recording equipment along with the bright theater lights and chairs lining the walls. The walls in question alternated colors, with the wall behind the chairs and directly across from it being a plain beige while the other two walls were blue with various canes, shelves full of bubbling chemicals that seemed far more suited to a green haired chemist than Irusu or Nima, and other assorted items which could be used, Rinka assumed, to make sound effects.

The room was otherwise really bare and organized, everything put into the exact place it belonged.

"How the fuck did we not hear this outside?!" Nat screamed, glaring at Irusu as he examined the equipment spread throughout the room. "And for fuck's sake, how does this even work?!"

"The room is soundproof, which is why we heard nothing outside," Irusu explained, rather calmly all things considered. "I do not, however, understand how this room's physics work."

"M-Maybe we should just not worry about it?" Rinka suggested. She remained on the room's edge, worried if she touched anything that something might go wrong. She didn't want an explosion or, worse, Irusu to yell at her.

"It's not like anything else here makes any fucking sense," Nat begrudgingly agreed, crossing their arms.

"I believe I can understand why most things are in here, but what about these chemicals?" Sayuri asked, pointing carefully up at the shelves.

"They aren't part of my work, I can certainly tell you that," Irusu sniffed in a rather snooty manner. "I wouldn't be caught dead bringing any of those near such delicate equipment."

"Then why…" Sayuri trailed off, confused.

"Good question!"

Rinka let out a yelp as Monokuma suddenly pushed himself between her and Maria to enter the room. He stared at them all for a few moments, his hands resting on his hips before he slammed his staff against his skull.

"Ughhhhh! Enough already! No more references or I'll gut you!" he growled, though Rinka had no idea who he was talking to. With that strange statement delivered, he straightened up and cleared his throat. "In any case, those chemicals are there courtesy of Dr. Jekyll himself!"

"I did not—"

"Not you, my good doctor!" Monokuma cut Irusu off mercilessly, his red eyes staring up at him in a menacing way. "I mean the original Dr. Jekyll. What, you think you're the first Jekyll? Ha! Good one!"

"W-Why would Dr. Jekyll need these chemicals?" Rinka stuttered, her hands clutching her crystal tightly. Robbie, please…give me strength!

As if in reply to her prayer, a cold wind seemed to wrap around her, chasing away the heat that fear lit in Rinka's heart, if only a little bit.

"Haven't any of you ever read the stories? What a bunch of uncultured swine!" Monokuma sniffed, raising his nose at all of them. "Dr. Jekyll is the mad scientist of all time! He uses these chemicals to mix his own formula so he can justify his actions as Mr. Hyde and ignore that pesky Victorian shame they're all so fond of. Wouldn't you like to experience such a thing? No shame, no fear, just pure action! And don't any of you Frankenstein fans come at me, he wasn't even a doctor! Mary Shelley has my love, but Dr. Jekyll is the superior mad scientist!"

"Who the fuck are you even talking to?" Nat sighed, looking particularly exhausted. Nobody provided an answer to that, though Rinka suspected Nat wasn't seeking one.

"So basically avoid any suspicious liquids," Maria summarized, nodding. "Anything else, we should know about?"

"Puhuhuhu…you think this is so easy…but you'll regret this lax attitude of yours, Snow White," Monokuma giggled, sending shivers down Rinka's spine. "I think you'll find a certain apple is approaching you, quite quickly too. Lest you want to meet such a fate…"

The threat hung in the air heavily, so loud that even with the music blaring through the speakers, a pin could fall and it would echo throughout the room.

"Oh, and to you audience members," Monokuma added, staring at something that Rinka couldn't see. "If you even think about meddling even further into my tale, I assure you…you won't like what happens next."

As if in response to his words, Nat suddenly bent over, clutching their head in what looked like agony.

"Nat!" Rinka and Sayuri cried, running towards the phantom thief without paying Monokuma any mind.

"Fuck! What the fuck have you done to me, bear?!" Nat demanded. Tears were forming in their eyes as they struggled to stay standing even with Rinka and Sayuri helping. "Whatever it is, stop it now before I break your fucking precious rules!"

"Me? Oh, no, no, no, my dear Lupin," Monokuma tsked, grinning sharply at them all. "This isn't me at all."

"If it isn't you, then who is it?" Maria asked. Rinka turned towards her and Monokuma, finding Maria far paler than she could remember her being as the bear king focused entirely on her.

"Wouldn't you like to know? I'm sure my friends on the outside would like to as well," Monokuma chuckled menacingly. "After all, should they continue trying this, there might be an…accident outside. And we wouldn't want that now, would we?"

"Whatever is causing this, stop it!" Irusu shouted, his knuckles bone white where he had them clenched at his sides. Rinka couldn't tell if it was worry for Nat or the disruption of his Talent Room which was causing such a reaction from him.

"Fucking hell!" Nat screamed, their fingers digging into their hair now as they trembled in Rinka's grasp. "Just…let…me fucking…go, assholes!"

As if those words were a knife, Nat suddenly collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

Monokuma's laughs filled the air as Maria ran over to help Rinka and Sayuri support Nat. Irusu remained where he was, simply staring at them in silence now.

In the end, it was Monokuma who broke the silence again.

"Don't you see now? There's no escaping this. This story, my story, is an eternal, never ending fairy tale. I truly hope you all enjoy, my dear audience."

And there we are! Shout outs to my three surprise cameos, Sempi, SilverMark16 and a character from Otterplay's Algorithmic Alteration! They are all fantastic and the references were simply too easy to include. Shout out to Candle as well who helped me figure out this damn floor, which is honestly a large part of why this chapter took so long. Also, music! Ren's Talent Room is, of course, Bippity Boppity Boo while Irusu's Talent Room is the instrumental of Alive from the Jekyll and Hyde musical which I just learned tonight is a thing.

Two more Talent Rooms and another half a floor exploration to go! I can't wait to see what you all think! Also, happy birthday to Fuwari's creator, PrincePokePersona! It's an almost late gift, but it's a gift nonetheless (even if your girl isn't here...next time, I promise!)!

Okay, now bye!