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"Vile is dead."

X was sure for a moment that not Spider, Axl, or Aero believed him. He tried - wanted - to elaborate on what he just saw, but all words failed him. Spider was the first to recognize the shock in his features. Not a moment after he went into Vile's room without a hint of hesitation. Axl noticed him move out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey, wait!" he called out as he got up to follow Spider. "It could still be dangerous in there!"

With Axl and Spider now inside Vile's room, Aero helped X back onto his feet.

"Are you hurt?" she asked in genuine concern.

X just shook his head. Aero nodded right back, understanding his nonverbal communication. She then tried to head into Vile's room as well, but X stopped her by taking a quick hold of her wrist.

"You don't want to see what's in there."

Aero looked him over. She gave a glance at Vile's door, as if debating staying or going, before finally -and gently- getting herself out of X's grasp. His eyes betrayed a slight desperation in watching her go in. It almost felt like he'd never see her again. A thought like that scared him more, and so X went back to Vile's room.

He looked everywhere other than the body.

Aero had stopped in her tracks at seeing the destruction of the room. Axl had gone as pale as a sheet in seeing Vile. Spider had pulled his hat down to prevent them from getting a good look at his face.

"Wonder how we're going to tell the others." Spider mused, mostly to himself.

To answer, a loud siren went off. All four of them flinched at its sudden presence. It left just as quickly; X was sure everyone else's ears were ringing as badly as his.

"A Maverick has killed." Lumine's voice said over an intercom system. "I repeat, a Maverick has killed. Please review the body at your pleasure in Vile's dorm room, then report to the auditorium for further instructions."

"Well," Spider then mused, "I guess that's how."

"At your pleasure…" Aero bitterly repeated, looking back down at Vile's corpse. X couldn't remember the last time he had seen anyone look so angered.

. . .

The walk to the auditorium felt like a waking nightmare. Going into the auditorium itself didn't help that illusion much either. The room now had 14 debate podiums set up, much like the one Lumine had used earlier for their initiation. One podium had a picture frame, supported by a short stand, that had Vile's face on it. It was a grim reminder of why they were back in the auditorium. X couldn't help himself from looking up at the spot where Vile had tossed the Molotov cocktails the day before. They were still scratch free. It didn't even look like anything had happened.

"Find your places, and get to them quickly." Lumine told the captives, standing at their own podium- still placed in the front of the room for undivided attention. "We have quite a bit to cover before we discuss our Maverick in detail."

Everyone did as they were told. They all looked at Lumine for the next step.

"Oh, don't look so glum," Lumine said. "It's our first debate. This will be over before you realize it."

No one looked too sure of this.

"You see, lab rats," Lumine went on, "We considered having a trial to give the Maverick a fair chance to explain themselves- or cover up their crimes. However, we found that having a time debate was a lot more cost effective. The Maverick will be revealed to you immediately. From there, they have a set amount of time to bring the rest of you to their side. If they succeed in convincing a third of you to their thought process, then they may go free.

However, there are rules for this. If you agree with the Maverick, you too will be branded as one. All Mavericks must die. We are an eye-for-an-eye sort of folk, you see. Moreover, if all of you do not agree with the Maverick, then only the Maverick themselves will be put to slaughter. Do you rats follow me so far?"

With various tones of agreement, they did.

"Excellent," Lumine nodded. A small smirk etching itself onto their face. "Remember, while the rules may be simple, there are people who are known to lie. Good lies become truth and fact. Even if you think you can trust each other outside of this room, you can not here. Everyone is guilty. Everyone is Maverick.

"So, without further ado, let's reveal the first Maverick. Yes?"

Lumine gave a snap of their fingers. The main lights went dim and a bright spotlight came on in their place. It came from the rafters, casting its harsh light onto the Maverick: Massimo.

Massimo's whole body froze as he realized everyone was looking at him. His breathing started to pick up, the spotlight becoming more blinding as the others looked at him in shock, surprise, and hurt. He could feel his mouth flounder as it tried to find the right words. Every syllable got lost in a terrifying shock. Even as the spotlight dimmed for the main lights to come back on, the heat of its bult still hit Massimo like a volcano sauna.

It was Marino who pulled the trigger.

"Why'd you do it?"

Massimo quickly turned to her- you could see in his eyes the hurt of her asking such a thing. He had come to admire her these past few days. For her to ask that was worse than being kicked in the shin.

"And -although we pretty much know- why Vile?" Spider asked as well.

The look Massimo then gave Spider was a lot more angered.

"It had to be done!" Massimo declared, quite loud and clear. "Vile was dangerous! He was going to hurt all of us the moment he got the chance! We all knew it would happen!"

"I didn't think Vile was super dangerous…" Cinnamon mused out loud. "He liked a good boom, but nothing beyond fireworks."

Massimo shot Cinnamon a cold glare.

"Do you not remember yesterday?" he snapped. "Vile had constructed Molotov cocktails out of bourbon bottles, nail polish remover, and his own bed sheets. He made a dent in the ceiling, for God's sake!"

"So he got a bit overzealous in his escape plan," Dynamo shrugged, "Doesn't make him a criminal. Maybe a thrill seeker- but not a criminal."

Massimo gripped his podium with deadly force.

"B-but what if he didn't throw one of those grenades in the right spot?" he argued. "What if it landed towards one of us instead? You saw the damage it made on the ceiling. A whole dent was there! He made them so strong, at least two of you would be dead, and everyone else would be seriously injured!"

"I guess that's true…" Iris slowly agreed.

"You could smell that nail stuff a mile away." Axl also concurred. "He could have just as easily turned it on us, knock us out, then throw the cocktails wherever he liked."

"We wouldn't have even been aware of him hurting the school foundation!" Palette realized.

"Exactly."

Agreeing murmurs started to fill the auditorium. The only ones who remained silent still were X, Zero, Alia, Marino, and Aero. Even then, hearing the majority vote allowed Massimo to relax quite a bit. Seeing him think he was out of the woods made X fidget slightly.

"Vile was trying to help us yesterday…" X softly said- more to himself than everyone else.

Lumine tilted their chin upward.

"What was that, X?" they asked, drawing attention to him. "You need to speak louder for your fellow lab rats. Timid squeaks are not tolerated in a debate."

X looked at Lumine. Then he carefully trained his attention to Massimo.

"Vile was trying to help us yesterday." X said once more, this time clear enough that his voice carried well around the room. "He said as much himself. 'I make a way out of here, and you can thank me later.' He wouldn't have used the acetone to knock us out. He just wanted to get out without waiting for someone else to help him."

"A rather generous retelling of events, X." Lumine hummed. "Would anyone like to concur?"

"I agree with X." Zero said. "For that reason, and quite a few more. Vile was a nuisance at best, and a demolition derby at worst, but that meant he knew better than all of us what that meant for him in the long run. When he threw the cocktails at the ceiling, he did so with purpose. He was aiming for a single spot the entire time. If he really wanted to go after one of us, he would have done it while we were in the cafeteria. Instead he chose a room that wouldn't cause too much damage should it collapse. A room where the rest of us were safe while he was playing kamikaze."

"Before we came in and took away the cocktails." Alia added. "Layer and I even washed out the bottles so they didn't smell like acetone anymore."

"Exactly," Zero nodded. "Vile had the power to hurt us, and he didn't. Instead he was trying to get us out."

The murmurs in the room now started to shift. Everyone was more in agreement of this stance now. Massimo knew it, and a new round of panic swept him like a tidal wave. Zero looked to Massimo, giving the man a cold stare.

"Do you remember Vile's last words to you?" Zero challenged. "If I had to guess, it was along the lines of 'damned if I do, and damned if I don't.' He knew he was going to die- either by your hands or at the conclusion of this debate. And you still left him in a pool of his blood. Leaving his door closed, no less, so none of us knew. You didn't even try to tell any of us what had happened. You wanted to hide it. You're trying to justify it. From how I see it, that makes you a Maverick, Massimo."

"No!" Massimo screeched. The vibrations could be felt through the entire auditorium. "No, no, no, NO! You guys don't understand, he was going to do it no matter what! He had a bomb in his hands when I got in there! He was going to hurt us, I know it!"

"You might want to stop talking now," Dynamo smirked at him. "Because the more you babble, the less credible you sound."

"No! He was going to hurt us! It had to be done! IT HAD TO BE DONE!"

"And I believe that's time." Lumine announced. "How do the lab rats concede with the Maverick?"

One by one, everyone turned in their vote. A simple 'yes' or 'no' ballot that appeared on their debate podium for a moment, then disappeared once they had checked the mark.

"Interesting, interesting…" Lumine mused as they looked over the results. Once all the votes were in, Lumine snapped their fingers. The spotlight came back on to place focus on Massimo once more.

"Well, Massimo, the votes are in." Lumine said to the nervous, burly man. "And unfortunately, the rats are smarter than they look. You were alone in your choices. You are a Maverick, and you will die for your sins."

"No." Massimo cried. "No, no-! He would have hurt us. I did what needed to be done! It had to be done!"

Lumine laughed as they pressed a button hidden under their podium. Not a moment more Massimo let out a scream as his podium lit up with bands of pure electricity. Several of the girls gasped in horror as they all watched Massimo twist and contort under the currents passing through his body. It was an odd, macabre dance that Massimo himself had no control over.

All the while, Massimo kept shouting the same mantra. "It had to be done! It had to be done! It… had… to… be… DONE!" until his eyes slid to the top of his skull. His only sounds then were gargled and strained. Lumine kept the dangerous shock going for a few moments more before finally ending it. Massimo's body immediately dropped.

The auditorium became deathly silent as they stared at Massimo's body, slumped over the podium, never to move again.