Danganronpa: Obscurity’s Disgrace (SYOC) Chapter 16: Burning Lights, Burning Spirit (Part 9), a dangan ronpa kibou no gakuen to zetsubou no koukousei fanfic

Chapter 1: Burning Lights, Burning Spirit (Epilogue)

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!

[Grand Court]

After the group witnessed Damien delivering the final blow to Aelia's strings, Pheme snapped her fingers.

...

And almost instantly, Damien, Aurora, and Aelia were transported back to the Grand Court. They were back in their normal clothes too. Damien and Aurora were trying to catch their breath. Aelia was kneeling, her hands shaking as she started to cry.

"What... the fuck was that?" Alpha seemed baffled by what their witnessed.

"Wow. That was quite the spectacle." Kei stuck his hands into his pockets.

Kuroko's eyes were wide. "That was... crazy-nya."

Everyone had their own comments on what happened. But after everyone said their piece... "My dear Catherine... if you would?" Damien, having caught his breath, held out his hand expectantly to Cathy.

After a few seconds, Cathy groaned. "Whatever you say human." Cathy took something out of her pocket and tossed in Damien's way.

Damien caught it with ease. It was... "A broken Star-Phone hm?" Damien checked the back of it. "I see..."

Pheme held up the phone again. "So like I was saying, this Goddess-Brand Star-Phone(tm) or just the "Star-Phone" for short, will be your guide through out Goddess's Movie and Media Studio!" She set the phone down and made a hand motion over all nineteen of them. "Like you can see, there are nineteen of them! So one for each of you! They've been pre-assigned, so search for the one with your initials on the back and grab it!

Damien saw the intials on the back. He wasn't surprised. "A. C." Aelia Celani. "If anyone of you still have your doubts, feel free to look upon the Star-Phone that Cathy stole. Rest assured, this is no lie. My dear Aelia is the killer." He offered to pass around the Star-Phone, but nobody wanted it.

"Shit..." Genjiro balled his hands into fist. "This little bitch murdered Bessie?! What the fuck?!" He pointed at Aelia.

"I-I-I-I-I..." Aelia was crying so much, it was impossible to hear whatever she was saying.

"Aelia..." Aurora slowly shook her head.

Ji-hoon just scoffed at Aelia. He didn't say anything

"S-she... is the killer?" Ayaka backed away from her.

"I'm afraid so my dear Ayaka." Damien put his hands on Ayaka's shoulders. Both of them!

Ayaka backed a little more away from Aelia's podium. As much as she could anyway, considering they were right next to each other.

Raiha looked down at her feet. She didn't say anything.

"How... *cough* unfortunate." Rosalind closed her eyes.

"Hmph." Cathy crossed her arms. "So that's it then? The puppeteer human is the killer?"

Joji slammed his podium. "I... fuck. I guess so..."

"Did Aelia really...?" Lake looked shakily in Aelia's direction.

"I-I'm... I j-j-just wanted to...it w-w-was... t-the..." It was no use. Her tears made her almost in audible.

"Oh please." Alpha crossed her arms. "This whole fucking thing was a waste of time anyway. Let's just get voting or whatever over with."

"Wait! We should at least hear her-" Aurora, despite starring in the Stardom Finale, and helping Damien to bring down Aelia, still wanted to at least hear the puppeteer's words.

"Yeah..." Rival muttered. "I need to hear why she-"

*clap*

Aurora and Rival's pleas were cut off by the sound of clapping. "Bravo! Bravo to you all!" It was Pheme's clapping. "I'm so proud to see that you've all made it to the end of your first Studio Trial! And you have your prime suspect do you? Very well! Are you ready to vote then?"

"But-" Aurora tried speaking, but she was cut off.

"Ms. Beaufort! Mr. Seizon! And any others who might be curious in the hypothetical motives of your hypothetical killer, I please ask you to save those questions for after the Studio Trial is finished! Please and thank you!" Pheme curtsied.

Rival groaned. "Whatever."

Aurora just looked down sadly.

"Hm..." Damien looked around the room. He avoided the sight of Aelia, who was still crying on the floor. No one had to attempted to comfort her at all, including Damien. "I'd say we are ready to vote." He crossed his arms.

"Already said I was." Alpha seemed done with this trial.

"Yeah... I think we're good." Kei shrugged.

Ji-hoon started scrolling through the evidence app on his Star-Phone one more time. "I'd say we're good too. Get it going." He said without a hint of remorse for Aelia.

Aelia finally, shakily, stood up. She looked around at everybody. Tears stained her face, and those stains would get washed away by more tears. Nobody was looking at her. She didn't say anything.

"Very well then!" Pheme clapped her hands. "Alright my glamorous stars... I think.. it's Voting Time!" Pheme snapped her fingers.

All of sudden, everyone got a notification on their Star-Phone. As soon as everybody pulled theirs out, they saw a new Voting App. When they opened it up, twenty pictures appeared. One of those pictures was merely Pheme at the top, winking. Clearly mocking them for the fact that they were about to condemn someone. And in case it wasn't obvious, the other nineteen pictures were of the glamourous stars. The pictures were in alphabetical order, with a red X over Bessie's face. It was obvious what Pheme wanted them to do.

Nobody looked up from their Star-Phones. Voting for the killer was definitely easier for some people compared to others. People like Damien, Genjiro, Alpha, and Ji-hoon locked in their votes quick. But for others, an act like this was vastly more difficult. People like Lake, Adam, Joji, and even Aurora stalled their votes a bit. It... wasn't easy. Not at all. But after a minute or two...

"Okay! It looks like everyone has voted!" Pheme cheered. "Now... let's see the results shall we?" With another snap of her fingers, Pheme caused a monitor to descend from the ceiling behind her. A monitor that showed the votes. The votes...

...

Aelia: 17

...

"I see! It appears all of you, barring Ms. Celani herself, voted for Aelia Celani! I suppose that makes sense, considering Ms. Celani broke her Star-Phone. She couldn't exactly use it could she?" Pheme's eyes lit up. "But anyway... let's see if you're correct!" Pheme snapped her fingers, like she usually does.

The lights in the Grand Court darkened a bit. Then suddenly, a spotlight appeared above Pheme's head. But it didn't stay there for long, as it suddenly started to spin around the podiums of the glamorous stars, just like a roulette wheel. The spotlight started on Cathy, and it rapidly spun around for a few seconds. Until it finally landed on...

...

Aelia Celani. "Ms. Aelia Celani!" Pheme pointed at the killer. "You are guilty!"

...

The spotlight disappeared. The lights in the room returned to normal. Pheme clapped her hands.

"The Studio Trial... is finished!"

...

[Grand Court]

"Congratulations everyone! You got it correct! Ms. Aelia Celani murdered Ms. Hanako Yamamoto!" Pheme sat back down on her throne. "I'm so proud of you all! You did such a great job! What a wonderous performance!"

"Huh." Rival muttered. "Is that her actual name then...?"

But Rival seemed to be the only one actively caring about whatever the hell Bessie's real name was at the moment, because as soon as the trial officially ended, attention was suddenly drawn onto Aelia. It's like what the puppeteer has always wanted... right?

"What the hell Aelia?!" Joji slammed his podium. "WHY THE FUCK DID YOU KILL BESSIE?!" A raging flame burned in his eyes.

"I-I..." Aelia stammered.

"No... this is a mistake... right Aelia?" Lake looked to the guilty puppeteer with pleading eyes.

"I-I-I..." Aelia stammered again.

"Aelia... please." Aurora looked to her as well. She desperately wanted an answer on why Bessie had to die. Raiha was staying silent throughout everything. Aurora couldn't blame her though.

"I-I-I-I..." Aelia kept on stammering.

Damien finally deigned to look at her. "Aelia..." He dropped the "My dear."

"I didn't mean to kill her! I didn't mean to kill Bessie! I didn't..." Aelia started to sob again.

"Wah wah wah." Alpha mocked her. "You killed a bitch. She might've been a robot, but you still fucking killed her. The reasons don't fucking matter."

Yoshino rolled her eyes. "C'mon Alpha. Even for you that's messed up. You can't just act like that!" She clearly didn't care for Alpha's attitude.

"Nah, the bitch is right." Genjiro scowled. "Why should we give a shit about "ohh I didn't mean it" type things?"

"Seriously bro?!" Joji looked surprised. "You don't want to at least learn why Bessie died?"

Ji-hoon crossed his arms. "I don't disagree with Genjiro. But..." He glared at Aelia. "Before anything happens to you... you will tell us why Bessie had to die. I'm not about to let the death of an innocent victim go by like nothing. Because I'm not buying this "didn't mean to kill her" shit."

"W-what?" Aelia look at Ji-hoon in shock. A thought appeared into her mind. Back when they first met...

"Interesting." Ji-hoon examined it more closely. "Good find Aelia." He said, not even looking at her. But because he wasn't looking at her, that meant he missed Aelia's bright and beaming smile after being complimented.

...

Ji-hoon back away, not wanting to actively deal with that smell. "That's quite the find... good job again Aelia." Aelia smiled again as Ji-hoon went and started to note down a few more things.

"T-thanks for the compliment Ji-hoon...!" Aelia blushed a little.

To think that it would end up like this...

"Hey. Aelia?" Ji-hoon got her attention. "Don't go shutting down. You will explain why all of this happened. Understand?"

"Aelia..." Damien once again dropped the "my dear" for Aelia. For the poor puppeteer, it was like having her heart break in two. "Aelia. I would like to hear an explanation as well. Why would you kill our dear Bessie?"

"You know..." Kei glanced at Genjiro and Alpha. "It feels like no matter what we say on if we care about motives and tragic pasts and stuff, I feel like Pheme would explain it anyway." He gave the goddess a look.

Pheme giggled. "You know me so well Mr. Aikawa! Again, that's why you're my favorite!" She stood up. "It's like he said. It'd be a boring ending to the trial if we skipped right to the good part!"

Aelia shuddered. The good part...

7. If the guilty party is exposed via majority vote during the Studio Trial, them and them alone will be punished.

Oh god...

"Now Aelia!" Pheme ditched the honorifics for their first guilty party. "Shall I explain what happened between you and Ms. Yamamoto, or would you like to? This would be your last chance in the spotlight you know!"

Aelia shuddered again. It felt like she was still crying, but no more tears would come out. She looked to Damien. She could tell he wouldn't comfort her. It's all her fault.. she finally found a person who cared about her... and she screwed it up!

"Ugh..." Swallowing her dread, Aelia tried to get her bearings. "I'll... explain." Everyone's eyes were on her. In another life, she would've loved this. But now... it was a horrible feeling.

"Please..." Lake fought to hold back tears. "Just... why?"

Rival stared silently. He merely glared at the guiltly puppeteer, eager to hear whatever she had to say.

"Aelia." Raiha finally said something. "Please..." She implored her. The trendsetter's voice had no brain-rot nor emotion.

"O-okay... I'll start from the beginning." Aelia gave a slow and hard blink. Damien staring at her with such... disdain? Is that what it is? Well whatever it is... it's going to make this a lot harder. "It was... the n-night Pheme announced the m-motive." She officially started her explanation. "T-to cut right to t-the chase... I didn't h-honor our vow..."

Words of agreement slowly spread across the group, to the satisfaction of the leader-types. "Alright then." Kei smirked. "So we're on the same page? We won't be using those apps. We won't worry about them. We'll just go about this "daily life" as normal, and for now, we'll look forward to Bessie and Rival's show. That's the plan yeah?"

"Ah. I see." Damien shook his head. "You used the motive apps did you?"

Oh god of course Damien would take the forefront for her confession. "Y-yes... I d-did..." Aelia shamefully nodded.

"Okay..." Yoshino crossed her arms. "You gonna explain why you did?"

Aelia closed her eyes. She didn't say anything for a moment. "I... h-honestly? I w-was... curious. Curious if I c-could catch anyone... s-saying something interesting I g-guess."

Cathy shook her head. "You were in the goddess' claws that quick? Pathetic." She chastised the puppeteer.

"I k-know... I know I'm pathetic..." Aelia opened her eyes. "I h-have... no excuses."

"Alright. Am I assuming right in that you overheard something our dear Bessie said?" Damien urged her along, not caring for her wellbeing.

"Uh... y-yeah. T-There really is... no need to h-hide it is there?" She smiled shamefully.

"Indeed there is not." Damien crossed his arms.

"R-right..." Aelia took a deep breath. "On t-that night... I f-first checked the Map (T) app. It w-was there... where I s-saw some weird movements."

Kuroko raised an eyebrow. "Weird movements-nya?"

"Y-yeah..." Aelia took a moment to recount it. "M-most of the signals were n-normal... but one of them w-was weird. All n-nineteen signals were in the VIP Quarters, and in t-their rooms... at first. I don't r-remember the time... but I remember s-seeing one of the signals leave their r-room... and go to the boarded-up room."

Cathy got a smug smirk on her face. Darren's expression didn't change, but you could tell he realized where this was going. "I see... that explains what I heard on that night then!" Cathy announced.

"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!"

...

"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."

"So that strange signal you saw was from the pop star non-human then?" Cathy surmised.

Aelia shakily nodded. "Y-yeah. I left m-my room, and realized it was B-Bessie's signal after I checked on w-which room belonged to w-which person again."

"W-what did you do after y-you realized it was B-Bessie who left?" Adam asked.

Aelia glanced at Damien for a split second. "A-after that.. I checked on B-Bessie's audio and camera through the motive a-apps. Her c-camera was just all black... I g-guess she had it in her p-pocket or something. B-but the audio I heard..." She trailed off as her eyes widened.

"Hey! Don't pause your damn story!" Genjiro stomped his foot. Despite his earlier objections, he seemed to be interested in Aelia's explanation now.

"Well..." Aelia darted her eyes around the room. "I don't k-know if you'll b-believe me if I... t-tell you what I heard."

That got quite a few confused and intrigued looks to go Aelia's way. "You think we wouldn't believe you? Why's that?" Ji-hoon wanted to know what she meant.

Aelia slowly shook her head. "It's less t-that I don't think all of you would b-believe me... it's more t-that I don't think Aurora and Raiha would b-believe me..."

Raiha furrowed her brow. "What does that mean?" She still was ditching her brainrot.

"Yes... that's quite the thing to say..." Aurora seemed concerned.

"If you can't say it Aelia..." Pheme smirked at her from beneath her mask. "I could always say it. I have those audio recordings you heard saved naturally!"

Aelia seemed surprised. "Y-you do?!"

"Indeed!" Pheme happily nodded. "Now shall I steal the spotlight away from you, or would you still like it?"

Aelia internally groaned. When she words it like that... "O-okay. I'll say it... I'll s-say what I heard."

"Very good! Proceed!" Pheme urged her along.

"Yeah... what's the deal Aelia?" Raiha crossed her arms.

"What is it that we wouldn't believe?" Aurora slowly twirled her parasol around in her hand.

"F-fine... okay." Aelia took the deepest breath of her life. Because it really felt like she was about to metaphorically suffocate. "What I h-heard on the audio app f-for Bessie... and the reason w-why I w-went after her... like what Cathy and Darren saw... was... because..."

...

"It w-was because... I heard that Bessie was the traitor."

...

An absolute deafening silence ensued. You could hear a pin drop in the Grand Court right now.

"W-w-w-w-w-w-what?! Huh?!" Raiha gave an exaggerated yet understandable response.

"Bessie was the traitor?!" Aurora held her hand over her heart. "You can't be serious?"

Rival had a dead look in his eyes. "No... way. I don't believe it."

"Huh." Ji-hoon began to think about something. "The traitor?" He muttered.

"Interesting!" Kei seemed oddly casual. "A robot and a traitor is quite the combo."

Damien heaved a heavy sigh. "I would hope you are not merely giving us excuses." He didn't even say her name that time.

"I-I'm not! I k-know what I heard!" Aelia slammed her hands on her podium.

Ayaka narrowed her eyes. She didn't know Bessie well enough to truly have an opinion on whether Aelia is right or not. But because... well, because of their "connection" through Damien frankly, she still wanted to know what exactly had happened. "S-so what exactly did you hear?"

"Ah! An excellent question to ask that girl my dear Ayaka!" Damien praised his dear Ayaka.

Aelia started to try and recall what exactly she heard. She...

"I can fill in these gaps!" Pheme absentmindedly twirled her arm around, causing the chain on her handcuff to go in circles. "I said I have those audio recordings! Would you like to hear them?"

"W-wait! I c-can-!" Aelia didn't want the spotlight to be stolen away from her, but it was a bit too late for that.

Without actually waiting for anyone to chime in saying that they wanted to hear what Aelia heard, Pheme snapped her fingers, which caused a monitor to descend from the ceiling. On the monitor was a spectrogram. "I will now play the audio recording that Aelia was referring too! I hope you're ready!"

It took a few seconds to start.

...

"Ms. Yamamoto. I wish to remind you of your misson." An insanely muffled voice spoke, seemingly to Bessie.

"Yes Boss. What is it?" Bessie sounded more robotic than she usually does, which is saying a lot.

"Your mission is to work for me, and do what I say. Am I clear?" It was impossible to tell who the muffled voice belonged to.

"Yes Boss. I understand. I'll do what you say." Bessie responded.

"Very good. Now first you must watch over the killing game participants for me. Report back to me any big changes regarding... you know what."

"Yes Boss. I understand Boss."

"Then after that... make sure that a certain someone ends up dead. Make sure that-"

The audio recording stopped.

"What the hell? It was getting interesting!" Genjiro threw up his hands. Guess he was really invested in this now.

"What was that?!" Lake had a look of dread on their face. "Was that Bessie's voice?"

"And.. who the F was that muffled voice??" Raiha brought back a bit of her slang.

"Huh." Kei narrowed his eyes. "Maybe Aelia wasn't lying then. Sure sounds like Bessie was the traitor."

"Was..." It was difficult to describe the emotion on Rival's face right now. "Was she actually the traitor...?"

"No..." Aurora slowly looked up towards Pheme. "Is... is this true?" Her voice shook a little.

Pheme closed her eyes and shook her head while absentmindedly twirling her dagger around in her hands. "Unfortunately... yes. Hanako Yamamoto was the traitor working for me." Pheme groaned, then stood up. "What a miserable and stupid girl... I give the perfect chance for fame, and what does she do with it? She screws it up!" Pheme threw her dagger at Bessie's podium, hitting her death portrait right in the face. "To think she'd get herself killed so early... I should've known she'd make for a lousy mole..."

"Hey!" Rival slammed his fist on his podium. "Don't talk about Hanako like that!"

"Yes!" Aurora didn't slam her podium, but her voice carried an energy like she did. "Don't call her stupid or miserable!" Aurora tried to hold back tears.

"Uh Pheme non-bestie? NGL, this sounds like pure cap." Raiha shook her head. "I feel like you're leaving out a metric ton of details here."

"B-but..." Aelia's hands shook. "I know what I heard... I k-know I didn't hear wrong..."

"And hear wrong you didn't Aelia!" Pheme's dagger reappeared in her hand, and she pointed it at the puppeteer. "I unfortunately made a mistake trusting a girl like Hanako Yamatomo... and there was the fact that she was a robot... tch." She scoffed. "I thought it'd be easier to use her that way."

Ji-hoon slowly balled his hands into fists. "It's clear you hate all of us for whatever reason... and it's clear you have your own insane reasons for doing this..." He took off his glasses. "But speaking ill of the dead, much less a victim, is low." His voice dripped with disdain. "What gives you the right to do that?"

Pheme rolled her eyes. "Oh please Mr. Jo. You hate celebrities too don't you? Don't act all innocent."

Ji-hoon definitely noted Pheme explicitly confirming that she hated celebrities. "I'm nothing like you at least."

"Oh yes? Is that correct?" Pheme taunted him.

Ji-hoon stayed silent, not wanting to humor her anymore.

"Boring." Pheme got back to twirling her dagger around in her hands. "I'd be happy to speak more about how idiotic Hanako Yamatomo was, and I will do that, but how about you continue your story Aelia?" She pointed her dagger at the puppeteer.

"H-huh?" Aelia didn't expect the spotlight to shift back over to her.

Pheme giggled. "Well you need to explain what all you did no? You got stopped right at the beginning of your story!" She reminded her.

"R-right..." Aelia slowly closed her eyes. Once again, the spotlight, and everyone's attention was back on her. It's what she wished for her entire life. But now...?

"Yes... *cough, before we hear anymore about Bessie, I'd like to hear from Aelia." Rosalind is here Nathan, just in case you forgot.

"Hmph. Verily, my dear Rosalind." Damien crossed his arms. "So Aelia? What did you do after you learned that our dear Bessie was the traitor?" His voice held no care or remorse for his former dear Aelia.

Most everyone besides for Rival, Aurora, and Raiha were back to focusing on Aelia. She may as well continue explaining then. "A-after I heard that... oh! Well... the r-recording cut off." I'm not going to flashback to it, just scroll up a little if you want to see what Aelia meant.

"That's right-nya. It did cut off nya!" Kuroko adjusted one of her cat ears.

"I p-presume that w-was due to Cathy? She did m-mess with the motive apps a-after all." Adam reminded everyone.

"Nyahaha! That's correct academic human!" Cathy stood proudly of her deed. And Pheme's scowl towards her made her even more proud. "But now that I think about it, that's ny-ot what I thought would happen when I fiddled around with that goddess' remote!" Cathy took out one of Darren's rings, and started to play with it. "It sounds like I was the reason the puppeteer human went down to investigate the pop star non-human's whereabouts! Because the audio cut off, that was why you went down right?" The smug smuggler smugly grinned.

"B-basically... yeah." Aelia look up at a spotlight shining over her in just the right way to where she didn't burn her eyes. "A-after it cut off... it just made me m-more curious of what Bessie was up to. So I w-went downstairs."

"And you kept repeating "I need to talk to Bessie" over and over again?" Darren of all people jumped it.

Aelia slowly nodded. "I d-didn't expect anyone e-else to be down there... so I w-was talking to myself I guess-" Aelia suddenly stopped. She got reminded of something.

He sat down next to her. "To tell you the truth my dear, I happen to talk to myself sometimes as well. I don't mean to excessively praise myself, but studies have shown that people who talk to themselves have very sharp minds." He smiled at his dear Aelia. "So my dear Aelia, you talking to yourself is just proof of how special you are!"

She looked at Damien, feeling the urge to cry again while doing so. Because she didn't feel very special right now...

"Okay. W-was the rest of Cathy's story t-true then?" Damien's new main dear, Ayaka, urged Damien's former dear along.

Aelia's eyes shook a little looking at Ayaka. Damien currently had his hand on her shoulder. God... "Y-yes it was. Since Bessie's s-signal was in the boarded-up room... I went t-there. It didn't o-open though."

"And that was when I found her!" Pheme interjected. She could only allow the spotlight to be on Aelia for so long after all.

"Hm? Ms. Celani? Whatever are you doing?" Pheme appeared from the void of the darkness of the studio, right next to Aelia.

"P-Pheme! Hi!" Aelia was currently messing around with the door to the boarded-up room.

"You want in the room do you?" Pheme walked closer to her. "You know it's past 11:00 pm don't you?"

"Uh..." That truthfully slipped Aelia's mind. "I-I..." She tried to think of an excuse.

Pheme put her pointer finger to Aelia's mouth, urging her to be quiet. "No need to fret Ms. Celani. I'll look the other way for this little violation."

Aelia took a step back. "U-um... thanks I g-guess."

"Now you better hurry off to bed Ms. Celani. Unless you... need something from me?" Pheme spoke oddly sensually.

"I t-think I'm goo-" Wait. She did want something. "Hold o-on actually. D-do you know where I can g-get... paper?"

Pheme raised an eyebrow. "Paper? Why would you-" Oh. Pheme realized why. It was because of Damien. This feeble girl really fell for him that quick? How weak. But Pheme didn't care! It adds to the drama after all! "I can provide to with some paper Ms. Celani!" She pulled three pieces of paper and a pen out of the void better known as Yoshino's Ultimate Studio. "Here you go!" She handed them to the puppeteer.

"T-thanks..." Surpressing a blush, Aelia ran off back to her room. She hadn't forgotten about Bessie. But talking to her in the middle of the night admittedly wasn't ideal. So she'd find the pop star tomorrow then!

"Like what Ms. Munchkin said, Aelia messed with the door to the boarded-up room, then walked off after receiving three things from me! Which were pieces of paper, as you now know!" Pheme recounted for her stars.

"I see. That was when you got the paper you used for your love note towards me." Damien pulled out the crumpled note and silently scoffed at it.

Aelia silently nodded.

"You could speak about something like that with a little more tact Damien!" Yoshino defended Aelia to an extent. Damien didn't respond.

"A-anyway..." Aurora's voice shook as she wiped away a single tear. "That lead you to talking with me right?"

"Mm hmm." Aelia silently confirmed.

"Say Aelia? Did you have a reason for standing out here? Were you looking to talk to one of us?"

Aelia 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!" Aelia relented.

"I wanted to talk w-with Bessie... but I ended up talking with Aurora instead." Aelia's face went from a light smile to a look of despair in an instant as she remembered something that Aurora said.

"You know... allow to suggest something. After Rival and Bessie have their performance, I had the idea of... continuing the trend, so to speak. A fair amount of the Ultimates here are the performing type. So, perhaps we could keep up performances, for the sake of keeping spirits up? What say you Aelia? We don't have to decide on anything at the moment... but perhaps I could act out a show while your puppets act as well? What do you think?" Aurora explained her idea.

Aelia's eyes instantly lit up at the idea. "T-that sounds amazing! I l-love the idea!" She frantically nodded.

"Very good! I'm happy you think so! And... while I'm not sure how it could go, but perhaps I could give you lessons in "commanding a presence?" I don't think I'm all that skilled, but if you think so, I'd be delighted to help you out." Aurora suggested.

If Aelia's eyes lit up any brighter, Aurora would be blinded by now. "Y-yeah! If you wouldn't mind!" She exclaimed.

That... definitely wasn't happening anymore. Aelia felt her legs start to shake.

"Did you ever *cough* find Bessie after that?" Rosalind adjusted her sunglasses.

"N-no. S-she was with Rival f-for... basically the w-whole day after that." Aelia held on to her podium tightly.

Rival bit his lip. He didn't say anything.

"So what was your next move after your little convo with Aurora?" Kei seemed to be getting serious.

"A-after that... it was basically n-nothing for the rest of the day. It w-was when n-nighttime hit..." Aelia seemed shaken.

"Aelia non-bestie? You seem shook. What went down at nighttime?" Raiha dropped the "non-bestie" extremely casually. That was another blow to Aelia's will.

It took Aelia a second before she continued. "S-since I never got to t-talk to her that d-day... I went and checked on her... audio and c-camera again at night. And..." Her arms shook as he gazed at Aurora.

It took Aurora a moment to realize what Aelia was implying. "Did you-"

"Hold on! This sounds like a job for me!" Pheme butted back into the conversation, wanting to steal Aelia's spotlight again.

"P-please! Just l-let me-!" If Aelia was going to die, she at least wanted to be in the spotlight before she perished. And while she was in the spotlight right now, Pheme really like stealing it away from her. The monitor with the Spectogram hadn't actually ascended back yet, so with a classic Pheme snap, she started another audio recording for her stars to hear. This time, featuring whatever Aelia heard last night...

...

"Hanako. It is time." The muffled voice was back. "After your show with Mr. K-"

"Yes Boss. I understand Boss." Bessie cut the voice off.

"Very good Hanako. Then you know who you must kill then?"

"I do Boss. I must kill Aurora Beaufort, like you said Boss. I'll do it Boss." Bessie's voice bore no human emotions or feelings.

"That's a good girl Hanako. Very good. Your mission is to kill Aurora Beaufort."

"Yes Boss. I'll go rest up now Boss."

The recording cut off there. Aurora seemed mortified. "W-what was the meaning of that?! Bessie was going to kill me?! Aelia? Was that why you..."

Aurora. Don't leave your room. If you do, someone will try to kill you.

"Yeah... it w-was. When I heard t-that on Bessie's audio..." Aelia took a deep breath. "It f-felt like a massive pit in my s-stomach. I-I didn't know what to do."

"...Your first thought was to write Aurora a note then?" Rival still couldn't bring himself to fully believe all of this, but he might as well see what Aelia ends up saying.

"Mm hm." Aelia kept her eyes on the ground. "Pheme g-gave me... multiple p-pieces of paper. So I w-wanted to use one of them... t-to make sure Aurora stayed safe." She gave the starlet a guilty smile.

"Oh Aelia..." Aurora didn't know what to say.

"So that is your note to my dear Aurora explained I see." Damien closed his eyes. "This voice told our dear Bessie to kill Aurora... how disconcerting." Nobody bothered to ask Pheme questions about that muffled voice. They knew she wouldn't answer.

"M-my main goal was to k-keep Aurora safe. But also... I really w-wanted to confront Bessie." Aelia had a bit of confidence leak into her voice. "S-so that's why I wrote the n-note to her. To get her to the board-up r-room."

"What I don't understand..." Joji was trying his best to keep calm. "Is why didn't you tell anyone about this traitor shit?!"

"W-well..." Aelia was embarrassed to admit the answer.

"I think I get it." Raiha smiled sadly. "It's the credit, isn't it? You wanted to say "hey guys look at me, I got the traitor to confess!" or something like that? I get the feeling..."

"When I saw that door... and after I heard from Damien about what Pheme had said about the door... I wanted in. I thought... it'd be crazy if I could get in there! I wanted that moment of "wow Raiha, that's real impressive you got in there! great job!". I wanted the credit. So I thought about what the code would be... I thought about the special event... and it was like a gut feeling. I guess."

"That's it R-Raiha." Shame spread across Aelia's face. "That's w-why I didn't t-tell anyone. I was... h-hoping to make her c-confess... or give details a-about Pheme... or something. And that's w-why I wanted to confront her." She explained.

Raiha slowly shook her head. "That's why you went to my Studio then? To nab the crowbar?"

Aelia coughed. "Y-y-yeah. I didn't k-know about the code for the door at the t-time, so I thought only the c-crowbar would work."

"You grabbed the fucking plum prostitute's note though right?" Alpha took off her sunglasses.

"I d-did. I kinda just... g-grabbed it I guess. It w-was only when I realized the six hinges and all of that... that I thought t-that Raiha's note was a code to t-the door." Aelia stared at nothing. "And it w-was. After t-that... I just waited for her."

It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened next. But Kei had another question first. "Before we get to... the nitty gritty I guess I'll call it, I want to ask you about the boarded-up room itself. Since you're the... only alive person to have seen it before it got burned down, I want to know if you have any details to share about it, prior to it's blazing end."

"O-oh!" Aelia hadn't expected to get asked a question like that. Was there anything important that she remembered? Or... "Y-you know... there was one thing."

"Oh?" Kei raised an eyebrow. "And what's that?"

"T-The poster with those five shapes."

"Y-yeah… it did." Aelia and Raiha looked upon a rather strange poster that covered the entire right wall. Large parts of it had been burnt off, but five shapes were still visible on it. Going from left to right, it was a house. Then a car. Then a gun. Then a chair. Then a bomb.

"I remember it c-catching my eye... and I remember it h-having a few words above it." Aelia recalled.

"A few words? I'd like to hear them." Damien urged her along.

It still felt like a dagger twisting into her heart every time Damien spoke to her now. "T-the words..." Aelia tried to not focus on that feeling. "All it said above it w-was... Special Events-MS."

Adam furrowed his brow. "I-interesting. "Special Events-MS"? I assume i-it means the e-event that Aurora and I were a part of... as w-well as what happened in the Horror Studio." Adam didn't like recalling either.

"That makes me wonder though..." Aurora was pining for something to take her mind off of everything, and she thought this could be it. "I wonder what MS is?"

"That could mean a lot of things." Ji-hoon put his glasses back on. "But it's awfully interesting..." He tapped his fingers on his podium.

"Eh." Alpha took out a paint roller and began to absentmindedly paint her podium. "Shit is probably important, but do we really fucking care right now?" She pointed her paint roller at Aelia. "Shouldn't we be worrying about this bitch? She was getting right to the part where she offed Bessie's traitorous bitch-ass."

Raiha, Aurora, and Rival still didn't like being reminded that Bessie was seemingly the traitor.

And Aelia flinched as she got reminded of her crime.

"This is a rare instantce in which I agree with you my dear Alpha." Damien narrowed his eyes at his former dear. "I'd appreciate if you could explain the rest if your story. Because I remember something you yelled out a little earlier..."

"I didn't mean to kill her! I didn't mean to kill Bessie! I didn't..." Aelia started to sob again.

"Would you care to explain that, Aelia?" Damien emphasized her name.

Aelia shut her eyes tight in attempt to stop herself from crying again. "O-okay." Everyone got back to looking at her, the metaphorical spotlight drifting back over to her. "I w-wrote the note... then I waited for her in there. Then-"

"Hold on a moment Aelia!" Pheme once again couldn't let the dirty and murderous puppeteer being under the spotlight. "I have a visual recording on what exactly went down between Aelia and Ms. Yamamoto in the room! Would you care to hear?"

"Can't you a-atleast let me explain it m-myself?!" Aelia pleaded with her as she started to cry again.

Pheme wagged her finger. "I'm afraid I can't allow that! The visuals make the scene a bit more impactful when compared to your words!" Pheme laughed haughtily.

"P-please! If you're going to k-kill me, can't you j-just-" Aelia was slowly starting to break down.

Pheme shook her head and ignored Aelia. "I hope you all enjoy!" She snapped her fingers, and the monitor descended once again. It took a few moments for the video to start. Raiha, Aurora, and Rival all felt their hearts starting to beat faster.

...

"Hm? Hm? Hm?" Bessie said to herself as she slowly walked up to the boarded-up room. She didn't know why she received that note...

Bessie. Come to the Boarded-Up Room. It'll be open. I need to talk to you

But she wanted to answer it! Why not? Bessie left the note behind, but that's okay. Not like she necessarily needed it.

Anyway, Bessie approached the door, and found it open, like the note said. She didn't have a lot of time, considering her show was soon, so she had to make it quick. She stepped inside, and immediately saw Aelia standing inside, with a crowbar in her hand. That explains the wooden planks that were outside.

"Hey Aelia bestie! What's up~?" Bessie walked in without a care on the world.

Aelia stood there, visibly shaking. She tried to stop herself from sweating. She couldn't. "H-h-hi B-Bessie..." She tried to stay calm.

Bessie went up to Aelia, and stood in front of her. But first, Bessie noticed a shelf behind her. "Hm? How interesting~! Is that a bucket and a canister of gasoline?" She noticed the strangest things. She also noticed a leak in the ceiling. The bucket appeared to be collecting water from the leak.

"U-uh... B-Bessie?" Aelia got her attention.

Bessie turned around at supersonic speeds to face Aelia. "Oh yeah! Aelia bestie? What do you need~? Tell me~!" She said emotionlessly.

Aelia started to really shake. She was getting nervous. "I-I-I..." She started taking deep breaths. "I k-know who you r-really are!" She pointed the crowbar at Bessie.

Bessie's expression didn't change. "Hm? What do you mean Aelia bestie~?"

Aelia tried to stay confident. This was her chance. "I k-know... that y-you... are..." C'mon Aelia. This was your chance. A chance for attention. For the spotlight. She felt her spirit burning. She knew she had to say it. "I k-know you're the t-t-traitor Bessie! So f-fess u-up!" She still couldn't stop her voice from shaking.

Bessie stared unblinkingly at Aelia. "Traitor? Huh? What do you mean Aelia bestie~?"

Hmph. Aelia partially expected to play dumb. But she remembered what she heard! "D-don't p-p-play dumb with me!" Her arms started to shake more as she kept on pointing the crowbar at her. "I h-heard y-you talking w-with a mysterious v-voice! They t-told you to watch over us or something... a-and..." She took a deep breath. "T-t-they told you to kill Aurora! B-but I warned her already! So y-y-you won't get your way!"

Bessie kept on standing stationary like a robot. She didn't move at all. "Aelia bestie? You're so silly~! Kill Aurora? Mysterious voice? Sorry, I don't know what you are talking about!" She kept playing dumb.

Aelia frantically started to think about what to do next. "B-but I heard your voice o-over the motive apps! I'm sure... I'm s-sure I could g-get the r-recordings from Pheme! So g-give it up!" She kept standing her ground.

"Aelia bestie..." Bessie slowly blinked. "Even if Pheme did have those recordings, I don't think she'd share them with you! If I was the traitor, she wouldn't want to implicate me silly!" She said with the slightest hint of cockiness.

"B-but..." Aelia felt like she was being gaslit. She wasn't going crazy! She wasn't! But Bessie kept playing dumb. "J-just admit it! I won't l-let you leave until y-you do!"

Bessie started to walk around, not staring at Aelia anymore. "Bestie... if I was something silly like the traitor, I'd admit it~! So because I'm not admitting it... that means I'm not!" She gave a rather robotic response. "Sorry Aelia bestie... but I need to go meet up with my partner Rival! We can talk more about this later yeah~?" She didn't leave yet, instead waiting for Aelia's response.

Aelia's arms started to shake like crazy. She... wasn't going insane! C'mon! This was finally... this was finally her chance! She wanted the attention so damn bad... she wanted that spotlight so damn bad... and she was still being denied?! Why?! What did she do to deserve this?! She needs recognition... she needs it! She wanted to make Damien look at her... she wanted to make him like her. She wanted the admiration of an actress like Aurora... and Bessie just...

Aelia took a step forward.

"Aelia bestie?" Bessie stood right in front of the wall with some exposed wiring.

Aelia took another step forward. What was she doing? With what strength she had, she lifted the crowbar above her head.

"Hm? W-what are you doing bestie?" Bessie's voice actual shook a little.

This was her chance... this was Aelia's chance. She needs fame... she needs the attention... she needs it! She refuses to be denied of it any longer! If the world hates her enough to deny her of her wishes... she'll take matters into her own hands. She... didn't want the traitor to be a problem. For her, or for anyone.

Bessie kept on standing still. "Aelia? W-what are you~?"

Damien... Aurora... Mom... Dad... she... was finally going to get the spotlight... no matter what!

"Bestie-" Bessie noticed what was happening too late. "Wait! Stop-!"

*WHAM*

Aelia brought the crowbar down onto Bessie's head.

"Aeli-" Bessie could barely get out another word before she started to stumble backwards. Aelia's crowbar hit had more of an effect on her than she thought. She tried to… hang on to… consciousness… but she… just couldn't…

Aelia watched Bessie start to stumble with wide and shaky eyes. Oh god. What did she just do? She didn't… she didn't want to…

Despite whatever mental objections she started to have, Aelia had to choice but to confront her fate. She dropped the crowbar. "Oh god Bessie are you-"

And so, the deadly domino effect kicked in. Bessie stumbled into the shelf behind her, which held the bucket full of water and a canister of gasoline. The shelf was flimsier than she would've thought, as it collapsed instantly upon impact with Bessie. Water and gasoline quickly got onto Bessie's body. "Bessie!" Aelia yelled out, but it was too late. Because after being doused, Bessie fell down with her head facing the exposed part of the wall.

*BZZZZZZZZT*

Aelia didn't know how it happened, but Bessie instantly started to get electrocuted. "W-w-what is happening?!" The puppeteer was shaking like crazy. And in the next instant:

Darkness. A blackout occurred. "W-wait-!" Things just… started happening after she hit Bessie. She fell down onto the floor in the darkness. She didn't know what to do. But it was when the lights turned back on a few seconds later:

"W-w-what the hell?! AHHHHHH!" Aelia screamed as she saw fire start to ravage Bessie's body. "Oh god oh god oh god what do I do what do I do-" Aelia started to panic. What the hell just happened?! She needed… she needed to run! The fire was spreading like crazy. The ceiling already started to come down. "Oh god l'm so sorry Bessie I'm so sorry!" She cried out as she went to run out the door.

But right before she reached it… "Ah!" She felt something grab her leg, causing her to fall down. "What was-"

It was like something out of a movie. Aelia couldn't even understand how she could still move. But Bessie had moved over to her, and grabbed her leg. The fire ravaged her skin fairly quickly. "aElIa... bEsTie... hElP..." Her voice got warbled.

"W-w-what are y-you?!" Aelia kicked at Bessie's arm, not noticing her Star-Phone falling out of her pocket in the process. "Stop! Stop it!" With one last kick, Aelia knocked Bessie's hand off of her leg, got up, and ran out.

Bessie could feel her life... or whatever "life" is for a robot... leaving her body. What... was this? Why did Aelia do this? What did she do...? Now... she can't... "KiOkA... hElP mE..." And those were the last words Bessie spoke, before succumbing to the fire.

...

The video stopped.

"What the fuck?!" Genjiro nearly broke his podium. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!" He pointed at Aelia.

"I-" Aelia couldn't find the right words.

Joji closed his eyes and turned away from everyone. He really didn't want to get too angry here. "That scream..."

In the camera app, I saw flames. In the audio app, I heard a scream. A scream that wasn't Bessie. I'm confident in that. But it was muffled anyway. And that's why I went to the Boarded-Up Room immediately after waking up. That's all." Joji went quiet.

That explains what he heard then...

"That was... horrible..." Lake looked away.

"So... you really did kill Hanako..." Rival glared at the quivering puppeteer. Maybe it was strange of him, but prior to seeing the video, he held out hope that it somehow wasn't Aelia. It wasn't like he was close to her or anything... but she was the first person he met here. And the fact that she...

Raiha eyes were wide. She went back to having no words.

"How... chilling." Aurora hugged herself.

"I now see what you meant by "didn't mean to kill her"." Damien crossed his arms. "It's clear that you mean didn't mean to electrocute or immolate her. But that's no excuse in the slightest for what you did Aelia." He shook his head disapprovingly.

"You know..." Yoshino had a scowl on her face. "As fucked as that was... don't act like you're completely clean Damien."

Damien chuckled innocently. "Why, whatever do you mean, my dear Yoshino?"

"Huh. Good thing you brought that up Yoshino." Kei stuck his hands in his pockets. "I know your former dear Aelia is the focus here, but how about you tell us why you lied?"

"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?!"

...

"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."

The will of the world shifted focus away from Aelia and onto Damien, once again refusing the wishes of the puppeteer. Damien chuckled once more. "I see. I'd be happy to explain why."

Aelia waited with bated breath to hear Damien's reason for lying. Even at this point, she really had no idea why he did lie. Because if he did reveal his lie, say, way earlier in the trial... she probably... would've been caught a whole lot sooner.

"So. My reasons for lying..." Damien started to address the whole room. "Was... a test let us call it."

Ayaka tilted her head. "A t-test? What do you mean by that?"

"My dear Ayaka, the answer to that is simple." Damien continued. "Remember that I said I knew who the killer was from the investigation?"

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.

"Yes... you did say that-nya." Kuroko started to absentmindedly swing around a pocketwatch.

"Indeed my dear Kuroko." Damien nodded sadly. "And I knew ever since Aelia and I found the notes in the VIP Quarters."

"The n-notes adressed to Bessie a-and Aurora, correct?" Adam summed it up, removing the need for a flashback.

"That is correct Adam." Damien pulled out a crumpled note. "This note, as you all know now, was a confession note written to me. It was written by Aelia. She confirmed that fact for everyone during the Stardom Finale."

"Bitch, can you stop stalling and get to the point?" Alpha pocketed her paint roller from earlier.

Damien couldn't help but chuckle. "I was going to get to the point, before you interrupted me, my dear Alpha." He shot her a smug glare. "Anyway... after finding those notes, I promptly compared them to Aelia's note. Covering my bases and all. And... they unfortunately did have matching handwriting. It was then where I made a choice."

"A choice to lie? I still don't get it." Lake, being as innocent as they are, couldn't understand lying in general. Why do it?

"Well my dear Lake... like I said, I used it as a test." Damien reminded them. "In that moment, I very well could've said that the handwriting matched, and I could've put Aelia in the figurative hotseat. I could've even blackmailed her if I wished too. But I of course did not do that. That'd be awfully manipulative and evil of me, and rest assured, I am not manipulative and evil."

"Hm..." Rosalind narrowed her eyes from beneath her sunglasses. "I know you *cough* say that, but if I'm correct in what your test was... then one could say that is *cough* manipulative."

Damien shook his head. "Some may agree with you on that my dear Rosalind. But just know that that was not my intention. My intention... was to test Aelia. Aelia. Tell me this." He gave his former dear a glance. "At that moment in time, you were aware I was lying, correct?"

Aelia didn't think she could feel worse right now, and here she was, about to feel even worse. "I w-was aware..." She shamefully nodded.

"Indeed." Damien pulled out the pristine note. "When I lied to you, and subsequently the rest of our group, it was mainly a test of your character, Aelia. I knew you were the killer. You knew you were the killer. And you knew that I knew. Yet, you stayed silent. What? Did you think, "The man I admire is covering for me? Great, now I can get away with my heinous crime!"? Was that what you thought Aelia?"

Aelia started to rapidly shake her head. "N-no that w-wasn't it at all-!"

"I'm afraid I don't believe that." Damien cut her off. "You let me cover for you Aelia. You were more than eager to skirt by in the Studio Trial, sacrificing our lives so you can escape, just because you knew I was lying for you. That is shameful Aelia." He turned his lie completely around onto his former dear.

"B-but wait! That's n-not-!" Aelia tried to cut in.

"Aelia, I am not finished." Damien cut her off again. "I didn't just lie about your note. I lied about our alibi as well, remember?"

"Oh yeah. You did lie about that didn't you?" Kei was the Alibi Hunter(tm) during the investigation, so fair enough he's interested in this. "Lying was awfully bold of you... but it's good to know your reasons for it, at least."

"Right." Damien sighed, before shifting his focus back onto his former dear. "The fact that you actually let me lie for you... the fact that you were willing to sacrifice our lives... frankly, it's repulsive. Aelia... you are repulsive. You tried to betray everyone's trust. I can't believe I ever held a modicum of faith in you." He shook his head disappointedly.

"..." That was it. Aelia's heart had broken in two. He hated her. God she screwed this up... "...Damn it..." Aelia layed her head down on the podium. This truly was peak irony. She was getting the attention she had always desired. That's great right? No. It wasn't. She felt... despair... at the attention. That's all. Yet she still wanted it all the same. She started crying again. She didn't know and couldn't tell if anyone actually cared.

...

"Beautician human? Answer me a question!" Cathy had something on her mind.

"Oh? What is it my dear Catherine?" Damien moved on from his former dear rather quickly.

"I get why you lied... but why make that fake note?" Cathy pointed out.

Right as Damien was talking, Cathy somehow snatched the "Aelia note" right out of his hands. "Hey! Damn feline-!"

"Cathy! No-!" Aelia tried yelling out, but it was too late. "Wait. Is that m-" Aelia stopped herself.

Cathy turned her back to Damien. "I agree with the gas station manager human! I don't trust the beautician human for a second!" Cathy started to read the note. It read:

Dear Damien,

I like you.

-Aelia

"Ah. I see." Damien seemed unperturbed. "That was... how shall I say it... another part of the test, I suppose? I wished to see how long Aelia would keep up with my lie... and to do that, I knew I'd likely have to pull out her actual note. And if I'd do that..." He gave Cathy a quick glare. "There'd be a chance that someone would snatch that note, and expose the lie early."

"Nyahaha! You're shadier than I would've thought!" Cathy laughed at him. "But I get it. Wanting to preserve your lie... geez. You sure are manipulative aren't you? Playing with the feelings of the puppeteer human like that?" She gave him one of her signature smug grins.

Damien smiled. "I haven't a clue what you mean. My test for Aelia was also out of trust, mind you. Her note and her seemingly stealing that spare Star-Phone were hardly definitive proof she was the killer at the the time. So... I held onto those pieces on information... out of hope that she wasn't the killer. But when the evidence started to stack against her... I had no choice but to reveal it all. It's a sad tale really. I placed my trust in the wrong person..." He shifted the entirety of the blame onto Aelia. "But anyway... does that satisfy you, Kei and my dear Yoshino?"

Yoshino groaned. "I don't really agree with what you did... but yeah. It does."

"Same with me." Kei smirked. "Interesting that you did it like that... but I hardly have room to judge."

"I also can't bring myself to agree with your methods Damien." Ji-hoon sighed. "But... it definitely showed... a side of Aelia, to say the least."

"But..." Lake struggled to hold back tears. "That's not fair to Aelia at all! The guy she likes started to cover for her... and it probably felt comforting, in a way! I don't think she deserves all the blame here!"

Ayaka shifted around uncomfortablely. "I d-don't agree with that." She really didn't like being next to Aelia's podium. Suffice to say, the stringpullers ship has officially crashed and burned. "Damien's lie was out of t-trust in her anyway... and she more then b-broke that trust." Trust was important to Ayaka. And she definitely couldn't trust Aelia at all anymore.

"Yeah, Damien's new cocksleeve is right." Alpha was being her classic Alpha self. "Damien's a bitch. But Aelia fucking killed someone. Don't think the robot part matters. Let's not forget that." She reminded everyone.

Not everyone was willing to admit it... but Alpha was right, in a sense. Aelia... was a murderer. Damien might've been playing his own games... but in the end, he helped exposed that fact. Some people still hung onto trust, like Lake. But most others looked at Aelia with disdainful looks on their faces.

Including... "In the end... that's it?" Rival's voice was hollow. "That's everything. That's... the whole case." He left his podium.

That quickly got Pheme's attention. "Mr. Seizon? Where are you-?" The goddess stopped herself when she saw that he wasn't headed to the exit. Instead... he was heading to Aelia's podium.

"Hey." Rival poked Aelia's shoulder.

Aelia was surprised she could still cry, and still cry she could do. But she slowly looked up at him. "W-what?" She didn't know what to expect from him.

"You... you..." Rival grabbed Aelia by the shoulder. "You really..." He was struggling for words. "Hanako... damn it!" He let go of her shoulder and turned to Pheme. "Hey!" He actually raised his voice volume for once. "Pheme. Can you... fufill your promise already?"

Pheme raised an eyebrow. "Promise you say? Please elaborate for me Mr. Seizon!"

Rival groaned. "Don't play dumb. You... remember perfectly well what I mean."

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.

"I want to learn about Hanako..." Rival closed his eyes. "And what the hell her deal was already."

"Yeah..." Raiha tried to force a smile. "We didn't get any time to be besties at all... and that's just not slay. So... tell us all her tea. Yeah?" She sounded fairly sincere.

"I am in agreement." Aurora nodded. She's been through a whirlwind of emotions this trial, and learning about Bessie could only further that. But even still... she wanted to know.

"If you really so have info on her..." Ji-hoon crossed his arms. "I'd like to hear as well."

"Yes!" Joji punched his podium. "There are too many mysteries about that girl... mysteries that I want to know!" The first person Bessie met in this place was Joji after all.

"Hm..." Pheme thought for a second. "Are you sure Mr. Seizon? Do you want everything?"

Rival took a deep breath. "If you have everything... I'd like to hear it."

"...Alright! You are rather spirited over the late Ms. Yamamoto aren't you?" Pheme giggled. "I suppose I can fufill my promise. You wonderful stars have earned it after all!" She snuck a quick glance at Aelia. "And it would be rather humorous to continue depriving Aelia of the spotlight too!" She mocked the poor, dirty killer. Aelia didn't respond, though she still did want to learn about Bessie too.

"So... how are you going to do it? More videos?" Lake asked a fair question.

"Ah! That's a fair question Mx. Beaumont!" Pheme repeated the narration. "I will explain parts, and have pictures to accompany them!"

"Hey Pheme? Quick question!" Kei had a question before they even started.

"Hm? What is it Mr. Aikawa?" And Pheme seemed eager to humor him.

Kei chuckled. "These pictures are of... what? Bessie's life? If so, how'd you get them? Steal her family's possessions or something?" He asked a fair question.

"Ah. That's a fair question Mr. Aikawa!" Pheme liked repeating after the narration. "It's a fair question, but also a tad impatient! I haven't even started yet!" She wagged her finger. "But if you must know... I had a certain Contact get them for me!"

Kei and Ji-hoon immediately shared a look. "That's an interesting name you used there." Kei narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah..." Ji-hoon used his eyes. He connected a few dots in his mind. "You wouldn't happen to be referring to Johnny Harte, would you? The Former Ultimate Stalker?"

Pheme actually flinched at the mention of that name. They managed to catch her off guard a little. She quickly went and checked her Star-Phone and muttered something to herself. "I'm afraid I'm not sure what you're talking about!" Pheme decided to deny it. "Anyway, shall I start now?"

"Interesting that she skirted past it." Kei whispered to Ji-hoon.

"Right... just something to keep in mind." The celebrity detective whispered back.

"Hey, you want to keep it down?" Joji, who was between Ji-hoon and Kei's podiums, whispered to them both.

Kei chuckled. "Sure sure. Alright... let's see what she's got for us."

Everyone, but mainly Raiha, Aurora, and Rival, waited with bated breath to see what Pheme was going to share.

"Alrighty everyone! I hope you're ready for the narration of Ms. Yamamoto's never meant to be documentary... narrated by my wonderful voice!" Pheme stood up, the lights in the Grand Court darkened a bit, and a spotlight shone down on her. She then pulled out a document. "To tell the story of Hanako Yamamoto... you must start with her upbringing." Pheme snapped her fingers, and two pictures appeared on the still descended monitor. "Ms. Yamamoto didn't have real parents due to her robotic nature. But... here are her... parent equivalents, let us say." She pointed to the monitor. "Her "father" is one you already know. His name is Ryuji Yamamoto, and he is talent manager. Her mother is one you do not know about yet. Her name is Aimi Sonohara. And if you know your Hope's Peak knowledge..." She gave Kei and Ji-hoon a quick and silencing glare. "Then you'll know her as the Former Ultimate Roboticist."

Pheme snapped her fingers, and the picture on the monitor changed. Now, it was a picture of Aimi working on and adjusting a robot, with Ryuji in the background. "I should clarify that Ryuji and Aimi were not in a relationship. They were merely... business partners. Aimi desired to make a proper robot. One that could pass as a human. One that had proper emotions. And Ryuji, a powerhungry and selfish man, wanted the perfect star. One that... well, wasn't human, and one that didn't have human needs and worries." Pheme paused. "He wanted a slave. It's as simple as that. A slave that was meant to help a certain girl get famous... a girl named Kioka Yamamoto."

After another Pheme snap, a picture of Kioka Yamamoto appeared on screen. Ji-hoon finally got an idea for why Bessie lied to him about her name. "Now... Hanako's early years were filled with the dark dinginess of a basement, as well as television and radio. The latter two being used to input data into her robotic body." Pheme looked up a little. "Their joint venture to create a robot was going rather well. They had gotten to a point where Hanako was almost at a semi-complete point. But... all of a sudden... Aimi Sonohara disappeared." She said ominously. "But she didn't dissapear without putting in one final chip into Hanako. A... human chip, let us call it. One that enabled more expression and emotion out of the girl."

The picture on the monitor changed to one showing Kioka and Hanako talking to each other in a basement. "Ryuji was understandably thrown off by his partner's disappearance." Pheme continued. "He worked tirelessly to find people to continue upgrading and repairing Hanako. But that attracted attention... namely the attention of his actual daughter... Kioka Yamamoto. Hanako was based off of Kioka's features. When the two eventually met after Kioka wandered into the basement... she wasn't creeped out at all. Hanako's prime objective was to aid Kioka. Yet... the two quickly developed a relationship... befitting of sisters. Kioka was the one who actually gave Hanako the name "Hanako"."

The monitor changed to a picture of Hanako and Kioks getting interviewed by paparazzi. "Kioka had no one in her life. Her father Ryuji Yamamoto had barely a single care for her. That single care he possessed for her... was just his intense desire to make his daughter famous. He merely saw his daughter as an object. Scum of the earth..." Pheme scowled. "But since Kioka never had anyone to talk to, she naturally grew close to her "sister" Hanako. It didn't matter that she was a robot. Kioka desired someone to connect with... and Hanako desired... she wanted to aid Kioka in whatever way she could. And she did! These "twins" quickly become pop sensations!"

The picture changed to show Ryuji overseering Kioka and Hanako. "In the public eye, Ryuji never claimed Hanako or Kioka to be his daughters. They were merely... his talent. Talent to leech off of. Talent to use for his own means. Hanako specialized in dancing, and Kioka specialized in singing. Hanako had a photographic memory, and that made dancing a breeze for her." Pheme giggled. "And for what Ms. Miyahara and Ms. Beaufort found out about the late Ms. Yamamoto..."

Name: Hanako Yamamoto

Gender: "Female"

Ultimate Talent: Backup Dancer

Birth Date: "May 20th"

Height: 5'5

Weight: 110 lbs

Blood Type: N/A

"Now you know the origin of Ms. Yamamoto's real ultimate talent!" She pointed out to them. "Hanako's purpose amounted to being Kioka's personal backup dancer. That was Ryuji's order to Hanako. But Hanako never minded it. Kioka was meant to be the star. The one in the limelight. And if Hanako was meant to support her... then so be it, she thought. Kioka's vocals and Hanako's dancing made for a fantastic pairing."

The picture on the monitor changed to show five girls, two of which being Hanako and Kioka. "After the "twins" had garned enough fame, Ryuji formed "The Seismic Sisters," a group consisting of five girls. The other three girls had their own dreams for fame... and you know what? Did they achieve those dreams? Not in the slightest." Pheme shook her head. "That sleazebag Ryuji Yamamoto put a lot of preferential treatment onto his real daughter. Kioka was always in the spotlight. No exceptions. Hanako didn't have a problem with that. But the other three girls most certainly did."

The picture on the monitor changed to one showing Ryuji yelling at three girls. "Hanako was forced to watch as these three girls were emotionally and verbally abused by her "father". They were forced to reach and perform at impossible heights, to even get a chance in the spotlight. We'll get back to those girls soon, but for now, just remember that one of them was named Gina Lenora, a foreigner." Pheme took a breath. "Hanako watched emotionlessly and uncaringly as these girls got abused. Why should she care? She was a robot after all. Ryuji still held no genuine love for Hanako, but he did instill in her one thing. That was to never trust your instincts, and to always follow orders from others. To just aid her "sister". That was it. Hanako watched as the three girls got slowly kicked off of the team. And she felt... empty."

The picture changed to one showing Hanako and Kioka performing together. "Hanako had realized just how easily replaceable stars were. So she surpressed whatever emotions she had... and chose to focus on her sister and her father. After all, if it wasn't for them, she'd be worthless! In her own eyes anyway. So she continued supporting Kioka. Kioka still had an honest love for singing, despite how horrible her father was. And Hanako's job was to support that love. Luckily for them, that love brought them far. Far enough to reach Hope's Peak Academy!" Pheme cheered. "The girls were happy of course, but Ryuji was ecstatic. Kioka was the Ultimate Pop Star. And Hanako was the Ultimate Backup Dancer. Truly a duo for the ages. So to celebrate... he decided to hold a special show to showcase his ultimate children. Wonderful right? Well..." Pheme trailed off.

The picture on the monitor changed to a familiar one.

Next, it was a picture of Bessie, looking horrified at the sight of a spotlight crushing a human body.

"Bessie B. Blossom"

It was the picture they all saw at the beginning of the trial.

Pheme cleared her voice. "Do you remember Gina Lenora? Well, she felt an awful amount of rage after being kicked off of the team. So much so..." A creepy shade was cast over Pheme's face. "That she decided to kill Kioka. She sabotaged the show to make it so a spotlight would fall upon Kioka's head, ending her miserable life. Gina was quickly caught and jailed. But Hanako... how could she proceed? She just lost her reason for living. Her life's purpose... was gone. What was she supposed to do? Well, she didn't know what to do." Pheme sighed. "My glamourous stars..." She went to address the group. "You all have seen how... strange Ms. Yamamoto could be yes? Well that was due to the death of Kioka!" Pheme got back into narration mode. "Kioka's death caused Hanako's programming to get rather strange. Hanako become very scared of death, and she realized how cruel the world could be."

The picture on the monitor changed to one showing Bessie B. Blossom. "After Kioka's death, Ryuji was scrambling. His daughter... the one he actually held a modicum of care about... was gone. But... he wasn't out of luck yet, as the show Kioka died at was private. So... he made it that Kioka never died. Because he forced Hanako to become Kioka. They were essentially twins, so she had no problem taking over her sister's life. But... she still wasn't human. And acting solo... just felt wrong to her. But Ryuji couldn't care less about her feelings. He needed a perfect star. And Hanako was going to be that, whether she liked it or not. After a fair bit of reprogramming and analyzing trends... "Kioka" Yamatomo had transformed into Bessie B. Blossom."

The monitor changed into a picture of Bessie performing for a crowd. "Hanako's new personality as Bessie was completely and utterly manufactured. Her creepy and eerie side still did sneak in though... causing her music to get both demonic and peppy. It was quite the combination, and it drew a lot of fans to her. Ryuji toon an even more manipulative role in her life, turning Bessie into something that was more akin to a puppet than a robot. Her new goal that was programmed into her, was to pose as Kioka... and fufill her dream herself. Bessie's desire for fame became rather intense. It was essentially her prime objective after all. After her graduation from Hope's Peak Acadmey... her prime objective only grew. But something else also grew..."

The picture changed one final time, to one showing Bessie with a darkened shadow over her face. "Bessie's uneasiness in herself also grew. Was this everything she wanted? Was serving her father and her late sister all she existed for? Did she... did she have her own wants? What did Bessie want to do? It... it plagued her. She eventually came to a conclusion. The conclusion that... she wanted a heart. A soul. But she didn't know how to express that. So her performances became more intense as a result... it her was screaming out, for anyone to hear her. But... no one did. And... she couldn't get a heart. Or a soul. Because all she was... was a dirty and broken husk of Kioka. She wasn't the real deal. She knew that. Why was she still here? Why was she performing? It was all... for Kioka. For her. Even if she was a broken husk... that husk was going to make sure that Kioka Yamamoto lived on... even if it meant erasing Hanako Yamamoto from existence... and turning herself into Bessie B. Blossom... the Ultimate Pop Star."

...

Pheme smiled from underneath her mask. The lights brightened up, and the spotlight stopped shining on her. "And... sent!" She blinked. "So Mr. Seizon? I gave you everything! How was it? Did you enjoy it? Did you enjoy diving into the decrepit and miserable life of Bessie B. Blossom?!" Pheme jumped off of her throne and got all up in Rival's face. "So? Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!" An utter aura of lunacy covered Pheme's face.

...

How... could Rival respond to that? How could anyone respond to that? Everyone looked up in horror and/or shock at what they just witnessed.

"Holy fuck." Alpha seemed serious. "I knew that fucker Yamamoto was shady... but god..."

"That was..." Aurora felt her body start to shake. "That was horrible.. oh god... Bessie..." She felt awful for her fallen bestie.

Raiha looked up at the monitor, her hands covering her mouth. "That was..." She had no words. None at all.

"Bessie... that poor girl-nya..." Kuroko closed her eyes.

"S-so she really was managed by Ryuji Yamamoto..." Ayaka started to frantically look around. Damien put a hand on her shoulder. It helped her to calm down a little.

"What the..." Joji started to take deep breaths. "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THAT GUY?!" He almost broke his podium. "YOU CAN'T TREAT FAMILY LIKE THAT! WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Rosalind quietly closed her eyes and shook her head. "Bessie..." She softly mourned.

"Wow." Ji-hoon crossed his arms. He didn't have anger issues like Joji... but even he was struggling to hold back. "So that was what happened with the Seismic Sisters... with Kioka and Hanako... huh." He had his own theories about what happened that day, but learning the truth was rather enlightening. "And... the allegations about Ryuji Yamamoto were true then." He frowned. "Fucking scumbag..."

Rival still stared emptily at Pheme. "I..." Bessie... Hanako went through all of that? Yet she acted all... carefree... god. Rival never fully understood that girl. And now... he couldn't. Because of Aelia... and this killing game. But... but the main thing on his mind. "Pheme! Bessie wasn't my Hanako!" He raised his voice. "So why... why the hell did I see Hanako's information on Bessie's Star-Phone?!"

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.

"Oh that?" Pheme's aura had been replaced by a casual one. "That was... that was..." It seemed like Pheme was struggling to hold back a laugh. "That... was fake!" The goddess of fame started to laugh like crazy.

Rival's eyes widened. "What... the fuck... do you mean by that?"

"Oh forgive me Mr. Seizon, I know this is..." Pheme really found this funny. "I know this is unbecoming of me..." She took a deep breath to compose herself. "Okay... alright. You want to know why you saw the information of your Hanako? It's simple! I did that just to mess with you!" She cupped Rival's chin with her hand. "Hilarious right?"

Rival immediately took a step back. "What?! No!" It was weird seeing Rival so emotional. "You did it to "mess with me"? Seriously?!"

Pheme giggled. "Yes! Seriously! Oh the look on your face back then..."

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.

"It was utterly..." Pheme took Rival's face in her hands. "Enthralling! Amazing! Euphoric!" She lightly pushed him back. "So don't worry! Bessie B. Blossom and Hanako Kaneko are completely different people!"

Rival just stood there. It was these moments where he was glad he had self control. Because if he didn't, he'd be beating the shit out if Pheme right now. But he couldn't do that. So all he did, was just emotionlessly walk back to his podium, an empty look in his eyes.

"Rival? How are you *cough* faring?" Rosalind thought she may as well ask.

Rival didn't answer. He pulled the hood of his hoodie over his head. Nobody... knew of Rival and Hanako Kaneko's relationship. Well Ji-hoon probably did. But he, and the rest of the group knew now wasn't the time to press that.

"So? That was the full story of Hanako Yamamoto." Pheme gazed at Aelia. "How was it?"

Aelia didn't even realized she was being talked too. She was zoning out.

"Real quick Pheme..." Raiha interrupted her. "Bessie bestie's story was... a lot. But... there's something I'm lost on. Why the frick would Bessie work for you? Why would she be a traitor?"

Kei narrowed his eyes. "Raiha has a point. That's the one detail about Bessie that you haven't really explained yet." He raised an eyebrow at Pheme. "But it doesn't feel like you will explain, will you?"

Pheme shook her head. "You know me so well Mr. Aikawa! You're right! The reason why Bessie was the traitor... that's something you'll have to figure out for yourself!" She challenged them, but she got a chorus of scoffs and groans in response. "But nevermind that..." Pheme strutted up to Aelia's back. "My dear Aelia..." She mocked her. "How was it? How was it learning about the person you murdered?"

Aelia's arms shook. "I..." She felt a massive pit in her stomach. If she could go back in time, she would. If only...

"You still have no words in the face of the past of your victim? Hmph." Damien shook his head disapprovingly.

"B-but..." Aelia truly... couldn't...

"Ah! I have an idea for a lark!" Pheme stepped away from Aelia, and went back up to her throne. "What say you all to learning about Ms. Aelia Celani? A certain Contact of mine provided me with plenty about her as well. Including..." She looked smugly upon the quivering puppeteer. "Including... your mom and dad."

"W-w-what?" Aelia quickly and shakily looked up at Pheme. Oh god, now everyone was going to learn about her? At any time, this would be a dream come true. But now...

"So my precious stars? What say you?" Pheme posed it as a genuine question.

Genjiro seemed baffled. "I really couldn't care less about that bitch."

"Nyahaha! I feel the same as you, you muscly human!" Cathy snickered.

Aurora glanced uneasily at Aelia. "If you are truly giving us a choice... I'd like to learn."

Damien closed his eyes. "I'm afraid I don't feel strongly one way or the other."

"I a-agree with Damien." Ayaka timidly nodded.

Ji-hoon sighed. He was rather split on this too... "I wouldn't mind to learn about her."

It was awkward answering this question with Aelia herself in the room, but she definitely isn't in the best mental state right now to comment anyway.

"So most of you would like to learn? Perfect!" Pheme threw her dagger at Aelia's podium, narrowly missing her. "Aelia! Pay attention! People are finally going to pay attention to you! Isn't it your dream come true?"

"I-I..." Aelia started to look up at the monitor. She somehow didn't even flinch at Pheme's dagger at all. But was this her dream come true? Well... yes. The attention had turned suffocating... but also... wonderful. It felt like a double-edged sword, one that stabbed her and one that carressed her at that same time. "Y-yes..." She timidly replied to Pheme.

"There we go! That wasn't so difficult was it?" Pheme stood up. "Now... in Aelia's case, my Contact wasn't able to find as much as he could compared to Ms. Yamamoto. But that's alright! Because I have a series of videos I'm sure you'll all love to see!" Pheme's voice dripped with excitement... before she snapped her fingers. And... a video started to play on the still-descended monitor.

...

"Ugh... what are we going to do Gio?"

"Silvia... I don't know."

Giovanni and Silvia Celani currently sat in a hospital in Italy, holding their new baby girl. Their daughter Aelia.

"Hmph." Silvia scoffed at the sight of her new baby girl. "I know we should've used protection. And now we have to deal with this."

Giovanni frowned. "Let's... not worry about it Silvia. We didn't ask for this... thing. Let's just go home. You ready?"

Silvia groaned. "Ready as I'll ever be."

The two parents begrudgingly worked to get Aelia ready to be sent to their home.

...

After having Aelia sent home, Giovanni and Silvia did the absolute bare minimum to support their new daughter. They didn't want her, but they didn't want to get charged with child neglect too.

"Silvia! She's crying again!"

"Gio! I don't know what to do! I don't care!"

"Ugh! God she's annoying!" Giovanni didn't even do anything to help calm his daughter. He just let her keep crying.

"Gio! Come over here!" Silvia called him.

"I'm coming!" Giovanni then left their baby girl to cry and cry... with no one to watch her.

...

The video flash forwarded a few years.

"Dada! Dada! I want to play!" Aelia, now a toddler, found some old puppets, and wanted to play with them with her father.

Giovanni rolled his eye. "No. Not right now." He said coldly before moving to another room.

That didn't stop the toddler Aelia. She went and found her mother. "Mama! Mama! I want to play!"

Silvia copied her husband's eye roll. "God she's annoying..." She muttered before leaving to another room, completely ignoring her.

"Mama...? Dada...?" The toddler Aelia looked around sadly. Why... why did her mom and dad not want to play with her? Did they not like her? Why wasn't she getting attention?

...

The video flash forwarded a few years.

"Mom! Dad! Look! My teacher gave me a gold star!" Aelia had just gotten home from school, eager to show off what she had achieved today.

"Can you be quiet Aelia? Just... shut up." Silvia could barely stand being around her own daughter.

"Yes, don't bother us Aelia." Giovanni shooed her away. "That damn kid..."

Aelia's smile quickly faded. "O-oh... okay." She left to go to her room.

...

The video fast forwarded.

"Mom! Dad! Can you sign this paper so I can go on the school field trip?" Aelia showed them a paper.

"Gio? We're traveling out of town right? C'mon, let's get going." Silvia held a suitcase in her hand.

"Right Silvia. Let's go." Giovanni and Silvia walked out of the Celani home, not paying a single bit of attention to their daughter.

"Um..." Aelia blinked as she watched her parents leave. She... didn't even know they were going out of town. She didn't know for how long too. "I g-guess... I... won't go then..." She gripped the paper tight in her hands as her tears started to stain it. "Why... w-won't they pay attention to me..."

...

The video fast forwarded.

"I think I'll c-call you..." Aelia held up a male puppet. "Rodriguez. I l-like that name. And y-you..." She held up a female puppet. "Eirene. I like t-that name too!" Aelia smiled. A moment later, she saw her parents approaching her. "Mom! Dad! These are Rodriguez and Ei-"

They walked right past her and out the door. "I'm so excited to have a night all to ourselves Gio! Just us! No one else!" Aelia heard her mom whisper to her dad.

Aelia watched silently as her parents left.

...

The video fast forwarded.

"And... t-there." Aelia had just finished the first act of her show, and she was about to take a quick break before the second act. What she didn't expect but didn't object against seeing was that she had a pretty decent audience! She looked at her phone, and it was 1:15 pm.

Anyway, even with school ended, Aelia had a decent crowd of people sticking around to see the latest adventures of Rodriguez and Eirene. But soon as Aelia revealed herself to take a quick break, interest started to wane rather abruptly.

"Oh it's done? I'm gonna go." They walked away.

"I'll see more of it later I guess." Another person walked away.

"And it was just getting good..." And another person walked away.

"I wanted to see more of Rodriguez and Eirene... damn." Yep, another person walked away.

Aelia's eyes widened as people started to spontaneously leave. "H-hold on guys... I'm just t-taking a break...!"

But everyone left anyway. Aelia stomped her foot. "W-why..."

...

The video flash forwarded.

"M-Mom! D-Dad! Come look! I... I made it into Hope's Peak!" Aelia burst through the door, eager to tell someone about her recent achievement. But... they weren't even there. She sighed. She didn't know why she was surprised. They're never around anyway. They're never around... and they never care to give her attention.

...

The video flash forwarded one last time.

Aelia walked through the door to her home, diploma from Hope's Peak Academy in hand. She had a few assorted acquaintances she met in Hope's Peak... but no one who she was actually close to. No one to actually pay attention to her. She quietly dropped her diploma on the counter. Giovanni and Silvia were currently eating out at a fancy restaurant, as far as Aelia knew. Fame... why was that so unachievable? She didn't get it.

But you know... she never did give up trying to achieve it. Aelia looked at herself in the mirror. Fame... Recognition... Attention... she wants it at so bad... and you know what? "I'm going to get it." She nodded determinedly. She wasn't going to give up. Not that easily.

...

The video stopped. "And... sent!" Pheme grinned from beneath her mask. "How did you all enjoy that?" She addressed her stars. "And how about you Aelia Celani? Did you enjoy it?"

Aelia was back down on her knees, her shaking and crying had picked up watching that video. "H-how..." She didn't face Pheme. "H-h-how do you h-have all of that...?!"

Pheme groaned. "I've told you this multiple times now. A certain Contact provided me with these wonderful videos and pictures! But anyway.. did you all enjoy that?" She adressed the rest of her glamorous stars.

Lake certianly wasn't shaking as much as Aelia, but still... "Aelia...! That must've been...so hard...!" Lake started to cry. They were ever the empath.

Aurora closed her eyes. She... definitely understood why... Aelia said the things she said during their FTE. And to think it'd end up like this...

Kuroko sighed. Parents not being interested in your own interests... huh...-nya.

Ji-hoon silently scoffed. As sad as that was, that's no excuse for what she did.

Rival didn't have any feelings on it one way or the other. In all honesty... he wasn't even really there anymore.

"Fucking scumbag parents..." Alpha shook her head. "God." She rolled her eyes.

"It's fucking stupid when a parent can't take... care of a kid." Genjiro crossed his arms. "But it's not a fucking excuse. She killed Bessie. End of fucking story."

...

The most eerie and haunting silence fell upon group. They... had learned about Bessie and Aelia. Their stories. Their hardships. The ones who knew how killing games worked... they had a sinking feeling on where this was going.

But first...

"D-Damien...?" Aelia softly asked. She was drained. She was exhausted. Her mind was scrambled. She... didn't know what to think anymore. Tears still stained her cheeks as she began to speak. "Damien... c-can I ask you a q-question...?"

Damien stood rather emotionlessly after what he had just witnessed. "What?"

"My n-note." Aelia stared at nothing.

Damien stared at Aelia's lowered head. "Your note? Your love note? What about it?"

Aelia closed her eyes. "D-did you... feel the same way? I k-know you don't now... b-but... did you ever f-feel the same?" She shakily asked.

"Ah. I see." The silence was deafening in the Grand Court. "Aelia." Damien walked up to her podium. "Hey." He turned around around, and made her look at him. It was clear to Damien that his former dear was an utter wreck right now. "Aelia..." He caressed her cheek. He felt a bit of warmth return to it. "Did I feel the same way? Well..."

...

"How in the world could I?" He gently pushed her back. "Forgive me... for I don't associate with killers...

...

Celani..."Damien wasn't even calling her by her first name anymore. Just... Celani. That was it. She was done. Her heart... was annihilated. She had destroyed her will.

"Celani... why would you ever think I could be interested in you?" Damien pressed her a bit harder.

"B-b-because..." Aelia held her head in her hands. "You... you... y-you were the only p-person in my life... w-who ever gave a shit a-about me. T-that's why."

"I see." Damien then wordlessly walked back to his podium. The deafening silence fell upon the Grand Court once again.

...

"How are you all feeling?" Pheme sat back down in her throne. "Did you enjoy learning about our first two victims?" Pheme held her head in her hand.

"You're d-deranged..." Ayaka threw an insult at Pheme. (Sorry Sempi!)

"I'm deranged? I'm sorry?" Pheme seemed offended as she got up. "I am not deranged."

"Nah... you kinda are." Alpha spat out.

"I'm afraid nobody asked you Ms. Alpha." Pheme started to get sassier than usual as she stepped down to Aelia's podium. "But back to what I was saying..." She grabbed Aelia's shoulders. "I suppose one could argue I am deranged. But..." She turned Aelia around, so she could see her face. Oh wow... the sight of Aelia's face was absolutely intoxicating. "Aelia is the deranged one!" She reminded everyone. "Aren't you...?" She whispered sensually to the poor puppeteer as she took her face in her hands.

"But!" Pheme took a step back. "You know what happens to deranged ones! Barring me of course!" Pheme closed her eyes... then repopened them a second later. And when did she... an unspeakable malice filled her eyes. "The deranged ones receive execution!" The goddess of fame laughed gutturally as she pulled out a remote. "We're running behind schedule as is... so why don't we get it started?"

Truthfully, some of them had forgotten that execution was the natural conclusion of a trial. "No! You're seriously gonna kill her?" Joji smashed his podium.

"Why are you upset Mr. Kaneshiro?" Pheme spoke smugly. "Weren't you screaming at the girl earlier, and asking her why she killed Ms. Yamamoto? Did you have a change of heart?"

"It's... fuck!" Joji smashed his podium again. "That doesn't fucking matter now! It's just... you can't just kill her!"

"Mr. Kaneshiro-"

"Stop it bro." Genjiro stepped up in Pheme's place.

"Bro?" Joji was agitated.

"Joji... I want to stop this shit as much as you want to... I really fucking do!" Genjiro balled his hands into fists. "But fighting this is suicide you dumbass. C'mon man." He pleaded.

"But-!"

"Genjiro is right Joji." Kei shook his head. "I know you argued over Pheme's rules earlier. But...

7. If the guilty party is exposed via majority vote during the Studio Trial, them and them alone will be punished.

"Rule seven, out of any of them, is gonna be the most absolute." Kei gritted his teeth. "No matter how painful it is."

"No...!" Lake hung onto their podium. "No!" They couldn't accept it.

"God..." Ji-hoon muttered as he closed his eyes. He wished so damn hard that he could do something.

"This... damn it!" Yoshino held her head in her hands. She felt powerless.

Darren closed his eyes. He said nothing.

Ayaka huddled closer to Damien. And Damien merely gazed at Aelia, without a hint of emotion on his face.

"I... c-can't watch t-this..." Adam turned away.

"Aelia..." Aurora didn't know what to do. She knew what Aelia did was horrible... but... "I'm sorry..." She couldn't help but apologize. Why? Even she didn't know.

...

"It appears... we're ready." Pheme walked closer to Aelia and pulled her to her feet. "Aelia Celani. The Ultimate Puppeteer. Your execution awaits you. Any final words?" She granted her a small mercy.

Aelia honestly thought about that for a second. Final words...? Did she have any? Aelia's spirit felt broken, bruised, and battered. What was the point? Nobody was even going to... wait. No. She had some final words. She definitely had some. Yeah... a small part of what remained of her spirit flared up. She hated that it took so long for her to say these words... but... "Everyone. L-look at me." She spoke surprisingly assertively. Most everyone did actually look at her... heh.

Damien wordlessly raised an eyebrow.

"I h-have some... final words. I want to... n-no. Final words I n-need to share." Aelia took a deep breath, and immediately continued, not wanting to give anyone else a chance in the spotlight. "About m-my story... of h-how I killed Bessie? I... lied. I lied about something."

"What? Lied?" Aurora seemed apprehensive but interested.

Ji-hoon's narrowed his eyes. "Explain." He knew she didn't have much more time left.

"I didn't..." Aelia took another deep breath. "I didn't come up with this plan on my own." Alright, here goes nothing. If she was going to go down... "Someone t-told me to k-kill Bessie for them!" Aelia wasn't an inherently petty girl... but there was no way she wasn't going to let this person get off scot-free. Especially because...

"W-what?!" Aurora took a step back.

"Someone told you to kill Bessie-nya?! What do you mean-nya?!" Kuroko's eyes widened.

"Explain. Now." Ji-hoon ordered her.

Aelia got a little fire back. "I told someone... a-about what I heard... that f-first night. And they slowly gave me a p-plan... and they told me to k-kill Bessie!" Aelia bit her lip hard. A steady trail of blood started to leak. "I k-know I should've explained earlier... but..."

"Hah! I call bullshit!" Alpha snarled. "This has to be a fucking-"

"Shut up Alpha!" Ji-hoon raised his voice. "Aelia! Who told you to kill Bessie?! Who?!" Even if this was an excuse, this wasn't something he just couldn't hear.

"It was..." Oh god Aelia was about to say it. "It was... them-"

"Not on my watch!" Pheme suddenly clicked a button on her remote, causing rapid chains with collars to descend from the ceiling. In an instant, before Aelia could reveal anything, collars got attached around her wrists, ankle, and her throat and mouth. She got hoisted up into the air and silenced.

"No! Pheme!" Ji-hoon had a fire burning in his eyes. "Let her explain!"

"I know begging Pheme for stuff is useless..." Kei seemed oddly serious. "But I really wanted to hear what she was about to say."

Pheme scoffed. "Ha! You think I'd let Aelia reveal a twist like that this early? In your dreams Mr. Jo and Mr. Aikawa!"

"Damn it..." Ji-hoon balled up his hands into fists. "Aelia!" He yelled up.

"No! Aelia!" Lake looked up.

"Shit! No!" Joji struggle to stay calm.

Aelia was immobilized, forced to watch her fellow stars look up at her. She saw Damien look up too his uneasy eyes. Huh. She closed her eyes and smiled. Her whole life had been a struggle for attention. No one caring about her. But despite whatever she went through... she never gave in. That desire for fame and attention always persisted, no matter what. And to her surprise, it persisted even up to this moment. She knew she was about to die. But even now... and despite how crushing the attention has felt through out the tail end of this trial... she still wanted it. And... here she was, getting it.

Aelia wished she hadn't hung onto her secret for so long. The fact that one of the remaining seventeen stars told her to kill Bessie. But you know what? Aelia tried to think about the bright side. They'd... they'd be thinking about this. Even after she dies... they'll be thinking about who was the person that told her to kill Bessie. So... even after death... she'll be getting attention. It's funny how that works.

"Alrighty everyone!" Pheme spread her arms wide open. "I've prepared awonderful punishment for Aelia Celani, the Ultimate Puppeteer!"

Aelia heard everyone yelling out for her. Ji-hoon, Aurora, Raiha, and everyone else. Damien wasn't... but... that's okay.

"Get ready everyone!" Pheme was getting ecstatic.

Aelia gave everyone one last look. She... didn't want it to end like this. But you know what? She got attention. She got recognition. Maybe not in the way she would've thought... but once again, that's okay. Her tears were all dry, and her shaking had stopped. She felt... strangely at peace.

"It's punishment time!" Pheme shot her hands up into the air as she clicked a button on her remote.

Aelia was content enough. She owed Bessie a major apology... but she'd be able to do that when she got to where she was going. But as she felt herself get pulled up even higher... she had a single wish in her heart. That no one else... would be joining her and Bessie. As she almost ascended out of view, she saw the face of the man she believed could accomplish that.

"AELIA!" Ji-hoon gave out one last yell to the puppeteer.

Yeah... Aelia was finally getting attention. She... was content. Her burning spirit... felt quenched...

The Journey for the Spirit Stone - Final Act: Ultimate Puppeteer's Execution

After Aelia felt herself ascending into the ceiling, she found herself in the plains of destiny, where her Stardom Finale had occurred. She was hovering in the air, the chains attached to her collars were replaced by strong puppet strings. She looked up, and saw a gigantic Pheme holding her strings. Her mouth was still covered, so she couldn't even speak. But... she could still hear.

"Let's do it Rodriguez! It's the final battle of our journey!"

"That's right Eirene! Let's do it! The Spirit Stone is almost ours!"

Like they suddenly phased into existence, the real Rodriguez and Eirene appeared, dressed in their normal outfits. It wasn't Damien and Aurora this time.

"There Eirene!" Rodriguez pointed his pistol at Aelia. "The evil puppeteer queen has returned! And look... look at her chest!"

Her chest? Aelia looked down, and saw the Spirit Stone embedded in it. Hm. She knew where this was going.

Eirene giggled. "To think we'd return to where it all started... how fitting!" She pointed her trident at Aelia "Evil puppeteer queen... we'll put you down! For good this time!" She winked.

Aelia steeled herself. She didn't know what was about to happen. But she tried to be ready. Immediately, she felt Pheme control her strings, moving her around in air.

"Go Rodriguez!" Eirene called out to her partner.

"I got it!" Rodriguez started to run after Aelia. "Evil puppeteer queen... take this!"

*BANG*

He shot his pistol at Aelia, hitting her shoulder.

"MMMPH!" Aelia let out a quiet cry from beneath the collar over her mouth. That... that was a real bullet! She tried to move her hand over to cover her shoulder, but Pheme still held control over her.

"Nice shot Rodriguez!" Eireen cheered.

Aelia knew she said she was content with this end, but not being able to fight this was rather painful. She didn't even have her puppet projectiles this time. She was just... a regular ol' puppet.

*BANG*

Rodriguez caught her other shoulder with a bullet as she continued to fly around.

"MMMPPPPH!" Aelia let out another strangled cry.

"We're wearing her down!" Rodriguez yelled out.

"Weird how she isn't fighting back... but who cares!" Eirene prepared a spell. "Now... it's my turn!"

*WHOOSH*

Eirene sent a gale of flame Aelia's way. But it didn't attack her body. It attacked her strings. Flames started to run down them.

"Remember Rodriguez! Target her strings! Her weak points!"

"Right!"

Pheme steadily moved Aelia around, not making her counterattack her own puppets.

*BANG*

Rodriguez took shot after shot, hitting Aelia with each.

"MMPPHHHHHH!" Aelia kept crying out, but to no avail.

*SLASH*

Just like her partner, Eirene kept slashing at Aelia, inflicting burning wounds with each slash.

"MMMMMMPPHHH!" Aelia's cries did nothing to make her puppets cease.

"Ah! Her first string is almost gone! Her right hand!" Eirene pointed out.

Aelia frantically looked over to right hand. Eirene was right, the fire was mere inches away from the shackled around Aelia's wrist-

"MMMMPPPPHHHHH" When the fire reached Aelia's wrist, it caused the collar to cut her hand off. The pain got kicked up to eleven.

"Let's go Eirene! Keep it up!"

*BANG*

*SLASH*

Rodriguez and Eirene kept up their assault, impaling and filling Aelia with more and more wounds. The pain was unimaginable... but she just couldn't die. No... it was like she wasn't allowed to die yet.

"Look Eirene! Her left hand!" Rodiguez yelled out.

"MMPPH?" Aelia looked frantically over to her left wrist. Oh god not again not again not again- "MMMPPHHHHH!" Her left hand was gone. She felt like she was about to pass out. Her consciousness was on the brink of fading, but not just yet.

"We're making good progress Rodriguez!" Eirene twirled her trident around.

"Yes! Let's keep it up!" Rodriguez's confidence was at an all-time high.

*BANG*

*SLASH*

"MMMPPHHHHH!" It hurt so bad. Aelia didn't even know she had this much blood in her body. But it just kept pouring and pouring out with each new wound.

"Look Eirene!" Rodriguez pointed his pistol the string connected to Aelia's left ankle.

"MMPH! MMMPHH!" Aelia felt Eirene's flames start to encroach, but she could do nothing to fight it.

"MMPPHH!" Aelia's cries got weaker as she felt her left foot get chopped off. God this was so painful... how was she still conscious?

"We're almost there Rodriguez! The Spirit Stone is almost ours!" Eirene dripped with confidence.

"Yeah! Let's keep it up!" Rodriguez pumped his fist.

*BANG*

*SLASH*

Aelia couldn't even cry out anymore. One of Eirene's slashed pierced her voice box. She was barely hanging onto life. But her puppets... were still brimming with it!

"And lookee there! About to lose your right foot, aren't you Ms. Evil Queen?" Eirene mocked her.

Aelia slowly and unsteadily looked down. Eirene was right. The fire... was almost at... her right ankle...

"MMPH!" Aelia let out a quiet cry as she felt her right foot get chopped off. Only one string held her up in the air... the one connected to her neck. Asphyxiation started to kick in.

Rodriguez and Eirene got serious. The Spirit Stone was almost theirs! They just had a little more! And the evil puppeteer queen was almost dead! They were so close!

*BANG*

*SLASH*

Aelia's eyes started to flutter. Blood was leaking from the collar covering her mouth. She could barely breath. She was covered with more blood than skin at this point. She didn't need Rodriguez or Eirene to call it out. She felt the final flame coming.

Rodriguez and Eirene stood silently as the flame ran down Aelia's final string.

Aelia's mind had ground to a halt. But... as she felt death start to overtake her... Damien and Aurora flashed into her mind... and she formed the best smile she possibly could...

*CHOP*

The top of Aelia's head and the rest of her body tumbled onto the ground. Life... had left her.

Aelia Celani... was dead.

Eirene stood triumphantly. "Huzzah! We won!" She tore the Spirit Stone out of Aelia's chest. "And this... is yours... my dear Rodriguez!" She handed the bloody Spirit Stone to her partner in crime.

"Thank you Eirene..." Rodriguez smiled. "I guess you could say... we went on a Journey for the Spirit Stone... didn't we?"

...

[Grand Court]

Nobody could believe their eyes. What they just witnessed... was horrific.

"God damn it!" Ji-hoon stomped his foot.

Lake fought back the urge to vomit. "Oh- Oh my god..."

Raiha closed her eyes tight. "That was... ugh..." She couldn't think of a better way to describe it.

Damien shielded his dear Ayaka's eyes from the horrible sight. Ayaka was thankful to not have to see it. And Damien just narrowed his eyes at the grotesque sight.

"Tch... fucking overkill..." Alpha muttered.

"Aelia... oh god..." Aurora started to cry.

"That..." Yoshino's mouth was agape. "That was real?"

"Hm..." Kei closed his eyes. "That was as real as real is Yoshino."

"Oh yes! This is very real Ms. Akiyama!" Pheme's voice took on a haunting tone. "Oh my goodness... that was wonderful...!" Pheme seemed very excited. "I'm glad that idiotic girl is gone from the face of this earth..." The goddess turned to her remaining seventeen stars. "Take it from me my glamorous stars... attempting to reach for the spotlight... always ends in failure. How do I know? ...Call it personal experience."

Ji-hoon was a bit agitated, so Kei went and took a mental note of that last statement Pheme made. "Hey Pheme?" Kei kept looking away from the monitor, which still showed Aelia's body. "You really hate us don't you? It sure seems like it."

Pheme narrowed her eyes. "You watch a girl get mutilated and you instantly go to asking questions of me Mr. Aikawa? I knew you had a particular personality from your form, but still..."

It was easier to get bits of information from Pheme than he thought. Form? Interesting. He'd ask for more, but it felt a bit pointless. Kei went back to closing his eyes. Pheme still didn't change the image on the monitor.

"Are you going to change that?" Rival's face didn't show it, but he was very shaken up.

"Hm... no!" Pheme turned back to the the monitor. The sight of the mutilated body of Aelia was just... mmm. Wonderful. "Well then... would you look at the time?" She spoke with her back turned to her stars, then snapped her fingers.

An announcement started to play from the speakers. "Attention my glamorous stars! It is now 11pm, and that means it's night time! It's time to go to bed, and get a good night of beauty sleep! Sleep well my stars!"

She turned back around. "We've been at this all day! I'm sure you all are tired aren't you?"

No one replied.

"Well even if you aren't, it's high time we put an official end on this trial." Pheme stepped down off of her throne. "Our first chapter together is over it seems." She shook her head. "But I hope you all are excited for out next chapter... Chapter Two!" Pheme sauntered behind her throne... and disappeared.

As soon as she left, the doors to the elevator opened back up. Nobody had any words to share. Pheme's nighttime announcement reminded everyone's bodies of how tired they were. No one wanted to fall asleep... the images of Bessie's and Aelia's bodies were still fresh in their minds... but they had no choice. One by one, the remaining seventeen filtered onto the elevator. Nobody shared any words. Only emotions were shared. Lake and Aurora still shed tears, Ji-hoon and Joji were still frustrated... but even they knew that they needed to sleep...

[Grand Lobby]

Once everyone reached the lobby, most people went back to their rooms. Two people found themselves standing silently in the darkness in the Grand Lobby. Almost like they read each other's minds, they headed to a certain location.

[Comedy Studio]

"Want a drink?"

"Just give me a beer."

Darren and Ji-hoon had went to the Comedy Studio. Darren was a natural night owl... so he wasn't ready to sleep just yet. Ji-hoon on the other hand... couldn't.

He took a sip of the beer Darren poured for him. Ji-hoon tried to convince himself that Bessie was the victim here. Not Aelia. But he knew he shouldn't apply his own notions in a place like this. He remembered Lake telling him something about "personal biases" during the trial. Heh. He certainly was biased in some capacity. He certainly couldn't deny it.

"What's on your mind?" Darren was behind the counter.

"Death." Ji-hoon bluntly answered, then took another sip.

"Fair enough." Darren nodded as he took a sip of his own drink. "Want to elaborate?"

Ji-hoon was silent for a moment. "I was too carefree with us nineteen. I should've been more careful... but here we are." He took another sip. "Moving forward... I need to be careful. I need to be... a leader. Especially because..." He trailed off.

Darren blinked. "Care to finish that thought?"

Ji-hoon sighed. Was he really about to trust Darren with this information? Actually... of all people to trust with information in this place, Darren was probably a pretty good one. "Especially because..." He resumed his thought.

...

"Because Aelia isn't the only murderer here." He took a long sip. "Two other people here have killed a person before... and I need to keep an eye on them..."

...

[Pheme's Room]

"Ah! The first Studio Trial was amazing!" Pheme twirled around.

"Indeed. It was rather... interesting." The Figure sighed. "Hanako Yamamoto and Aelia Celani are now gone from the world... hm. I'm eager to see their reaction to it." The Figure picked up a piece of paper.

"You're quite right!" Pheme smirked from beneath her mask. "I wasn't sure about revealing essentially their entire backstories at first... but your idea sounded wonderful! So-" Pheme saw the piece of paper The Figure was holding. "Oh? Is that-?" Her eyes lit up. "Wait. Is that from Achlys?"

The Figure nodded. "Indeed. It's-"

"It's your name, isn't it?" Pheme already knew. "Did Achlys...?"

The Figure heaved a heavy sigh. "Correct." He bluntly answered.

"Oh my! That's great!" Pheme held The Figure's hands. "I'm so excited! I'm so excited to finally call you by a proper name...

...

Asclepius."

I have no words. I've reached the end of Chapter 1! Somehow! I started this SYOC on a whim... and here I am. Already finished with the first chapter. I'm a fairly over-emotional guy... but man. I feel really proud of myself. This feels really great. Man...

But enough about me! How about we move on to out killer?

Thank you so much to theycallmewotch for giving me Aelia! Even now, I absolutely adore her. I knew I wanted her in my story from the instant I read her app, and I'm so glad she was here. Aelia was simple and to the point... but in the best way possible. She was a joy to write, and I really hoped you enjoyed her Wotch! Her fate was to always die in Chapter 1... and I'm glad for that, in a strange way. She had some great dynamics... namely with Damien. But... she was just really great. And I'm glad I got to debut your first OC in an DR SYOC too! Im excited to see your future OCs too! You're a talented creator!

And now, the chapter title! It's admittedly not anything too fancy. Burning Lights, Burning Spirit, referred to Bessie and Aelia respectively. For Bessie, the spotlights metaphorically burned her soul, in a few ways. Through Kioka's death, and her death severely changing her too, and having to perform under that spotlight... all while feeling so lost on she wanted to do. It... burned her.

Aelia's is a bit more simple. Her spirit burned for fame and attention, no matter how ignored she was. She had a burning spirit and a burning will, to say the least. And the most obvious part of the chapter title is the "burning" part, as Bessie's burned to death, and there was the Special Event showcasing the house burning down too.

In the end, I feel like I could've done the trials a little better, but I'm satisfied with the case. Someone like Aelia killing Bessie made for some delicious irony. I am kind of sad to lose these two... they were very fun characters. But what do you do?

You know what you can do... is be excited for what character's will be lost in Chapter 2! Chapter 2 will start uhhhh soon probably.

But... I think that's it. It's still crazy to me that I've made it this far. Before we end it... I want to give one more thank you to CandleFire45 and theycallmewotch. I hoped you liked what I did with your characters! :D

Yeah. I'd like to thank all of my other readers too. It's you guys that give me the motivation to continue to do this... so thank you! :D

Alright, now that's it. I hope to see you in Chapter 2!

Glamorous Stars Remaining: 17

Adam Brooks - Ultimate Academic [PROJECT DRAMA]

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]