Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The raindrops fall down the windows in his room, racing down to the bottom of their respective frames as the weather makes it perfect to simply remain at home as the night slowly settles in. After so many disappointments, delays, and frustrated attempts, John finally has the chance to play a game with his three best friends. It’s been a long time since they last had the chance, which ended in an absolute fiasco as the beta they were supposed to play never came out. At first it was just a few days, then a few weeks, then… total radio silence. And with Dave’s ironic aloof personality, Rose’s dabbling with anything that catches her interest (along with her rather secretive hobbies), and the fact that Jade lives alone in an island in the middle of absolute nowhere, Pacific Ocean; it’s been particularly hard to have another opportunity like the one they had in the past, ripped away from them. An opportunity to be together, to have an adventure together.

But one day, long after everyone simply moved on, they found in their mailboxes something none of them were expecting: Copies of a game they had long ago resigned themselves to never receive. Even Jade got hers in due time. And, of course, that was matter of instant talk between them.

EB: Guys! You won’t believe what came in the mail today!

TG: Let me guess.

TG: Your copy of the old ass beta which came back from the dead.

TG: Like some shitty Shaun of the Dead b-class knockoff.

TG: Where’s Simon Pegg when you need him.

TG: Downing a bottle that’s where.

TG: Mf is in a campaign of extermination against alcohol.

TG: Anyways is that it.

EB: Wow, how did you know?

TT: Apparently, we all received the same copy too. And though I’m yet to find anything on the internet related to this groundbreaking event, it seems that even Jade got her own copy somehow. She told me that not long ago.

EB: Neat! I’m going to talk to her right away so we can all play together.

TT: John, do I need to remind you she lives on a very different time zone? Don’t be rude.

TT: Let the sleeping Jade lie.

EB: Whoops. Hehe, my bad, alright.

EB: But still, we’ve got to talk to her as soon as possible!

EB: Because this means we can finally play something together.

TG: She’s gonna see this entire thing when she wakes up.

TT: Then how about we start in a few hours? That way Jade has enough time to actually wake up while we sort out the disasters we call our lives and set the game up.

TG: Yeah why not.

TT: See you soon guys, then. I still have to clean the wizard-induced psychosis that I have to call home while she’s away buying even more booze.

And with those departing words, the three of them left the chat for the time being to face their daily lives. Of having to maintain the tidiness of a luxurious house on top of a waterfall; of having to dance like a ballerina extraordinaire around puppet proboscis traps to acquire take-away food; of having to deal with slightly overwhelming fatherly care in the form of obscene amounts of bakery products made only for him.

By the time they are ready, the sun may have begun to set on the horizon behind the clouds, but the night is only getting started for them.

EB: So, is it just me or…

EB: Does this feel a bit weird?

TT: I don’t know, John. You tell me. You were the one most eager to play this.

EB: I mean, I still am. Jade’s here with us and that’s so freaking cool!

GG: :D

EB: But at the same time… something about this feels a bit off?

EB: How the game got seemingly cancelled and went under, and now it’s in our hands without notice.

TG: Dude what are you talking about this is absolutely normal.

GG: It’s okay to listen to your gut John!

EB: Well, my gut says screw it I don’t want to lose this chance to be with you guys.

TG: Okay whatever it is we are gonna find out soon.

TG: Game’s ready.

From the loneliest girl in the world, to a prank master in the rain; from a boy surrounded by puppets but free from the usual scorching heat, to a young lady enjoying the snow with a hot cup of coffee. They are all prepared to play a game together, to be together. And with everyone ready, they load the game, eager for what’s to come.

But then, the world turned white, and their consciousness immediately faded.

. . .

In a different respiteblock, in a different world, maybe even in a different universe, a young man is ready to play a game too, but for vastly different reasons. He’s just one sweep away from having to enter the trials, from being shipped off planet to fight and die in a galactic war in the name of the Condesce, if he’s lucky enough to even survive that long. Knowing how ruthless this planet and its society are, he knows that after tonight he won’t have many more chances like this. To play a game with them, to have something resembling fun with those he’s unlucky enough to call his friends. And Karkat won’t let that opportunity go to waste. This alien boy is ready to play a game.

It's fair to say that some things never change, even if across universes and species.

CG: You.

CG: Hey you stupid dumbfuck are you ready.

CG: Or are you still busy asphyxiating your depressed knotted bulge in your recuperacoon.

TA: Hey dude.

TA: Can you please, like.

TA: Stop being up in my fucking face for just one single night of my life? that’s all I ask.

TA: I’ve got enough stuff in my nutrition plateau already to be dealing with your shit right now kk.

CG: Oh, fucking excuse me then.

CG: I’m so sorry for trying to check if you are actually okay and not dead from your nightly overdose of self-pitying bullshit.

CG: Sorry for trying to act like something ever so slightly resembling what you could call.

CG: I don’t know.

CG: A fucking friend?

TA: I don’t have the time for this, nor the energy.

TA: If you want me to join this absurd shit then let me actually finish what I’m doing.

CG: What the hell are you so damn busy on to be even more of a prick than usual?

TA: Remember that two-teams game we set up all those sweeps ago that didn’t work out in the end?

CG: Yeah, that whole thing was a hilarious tragedy from the start.

CG: I still remember how much of a moron I was about being the leader at all costs.

CG: What about it.

TA: Well if you’re not a brain rot-ridden jackass you will have noticed that a lot of things have subtly changed since then.

TA: The dreams of violence everyone had have stopped.

TA: The voice of the imminently deceased went silent too, I gradually stopped hearing them after that.

TA: Tldr things have been almost imperceptibly weird since that night.

TA: And one of those things is my computer.

TA: It’s been behaving strangely as of late.

CG: Sollux, have you even thought about the possibility that maybe.

CG: Just maybe.

CG: You infected your own computer with one of all those viruses you coded yourself or downloaded from the shadiest networks in the middle of bumfuck nowhere?

CG: For once, I invoke the legendary killosopher Ockham and his blade to impart his mighty wisdom upon this poor soul, you two-folded ivory tower FUCK.

TA: Kk don’t be fucking stupid. unlike you, I know what I do with computers.

TA: This is different. I’ve been using mine for so long that I know how it works.

TA: And when it doesn’t.

TA: I can’t specifically describe it, but I know something’s off.

TA: I’ve been trying to find what’s wrong but nothing shows up in the scans at all.

TA: I’ve been unable to find even a single file that I don’t recognize, and nothing stands out in the logs either.

TA: It’s very weird. And when I say it I mean it.

Sollux is very intrigued about this mystery he seemingly can’t solve. His entire life he’s aced anything involving computers and coding, yet now he’s pretty much dead in the water when it comes to this one challenge of finding out what’s going on. One of his theories is that, somehow, it’s related to the ~ATH virus he downloaded from a place far beyond Alternia many solar sweeps ago, which simply froze and ceased to work for all he knew. Still, he said he’d play this game with everyone else, and he intends on keeping his word. Besides, someone asked him to take part in it; if anything, at the very least for them to have a good time together.

TA: Okay I’m gonna be there in just a minute.

GC: Jeez, what took both of you so long?

CG: That’s none of your business, so go ahead and search for somewhere else to stick your tongue in.

GC: Believe me, I’ll do it. >:]

CG: Oh, for the love of fuck. Now we don’t have the time for this shit.

CC: Glub, am I perceiving tension in the WAVES? 380!

AG: Are we really wasting time on this? I’m getting so damn bored here!!!!!!!!

CT: D --> This is such a disgustingly ineighppropriate waste of time it’s making me gag.

CG: Oh, look, the entire fucking circus came out. Please by all means go ahead and make a show out of this, we literally have nothing better to do at all.

CG: Except the damn game we all agreed to play.

CG: So, I have done everyone a favor by unanimously deciding right the hell now it’s time to get that nauseating bullshit behind us and focus on what we have ahead.

CG: Is everyone ready?

GA: Yes, I am.

AC: :33 < Yes, I’m ready!

AG: Yes, cap’n.

TC: Of course I am, my motherfucking brother. :o)

CA: Yeah let’s just get this over with.

CG: Ok I’ll assume the rest is also ready otherwise fuck you, you had more than enough time to prepare with all this nonsense going on.

From a cave in the forest and a hive in the desert, to a ship wreckage and a palace deep in the ocean; twelve trolls are finally ready to play a game. It’s been a long time since they last tried something like this, but now nothing stands in their way to achieve what they seek: an adventure full of deadly stakes and grand ambitions, just like them.

With everyone prepared, they load the game, but…

What they don’t know is that they are not getting into an adventure filled with their hopes. Instead, they are getting into one full of nothing but despair. And before they can react, before they can even realize what is about to happen, their world warps black as every single one of them simultaneously loses their consciousness. One after the other, they all drop like alien flies onto their desks and down to the floor. And soon enough, all lights go out.

…

. . .

…

“What… just happened?”

After an unknown amount of time, in an unknown place, someone wakes up. Dizzy and disoriented, they raise their head from the table it was lying against, feeling a slight headache. They open their eyes, only to quickly close them due to the unexpected brightness of the room; it feels like they have just come out of a long, dark tunnel. For a moment, they stand still to try and collect their thoughts and memories, trying to make sense out of the situation. They feel like they’ve been asleep for a long time yet, at the same time, it feels like it was barely mere moments ago that they were in their own room, ready to play a game with their friends. And out of nowhere, all lights suddenly went out and they woke up here, with one single question in their minds right now:

“Where… am I?”

It takes them a couple more seconds for their eyes to fully adapt to the light coming from the ceiling. Carefully, they press their glasses against their head to adjust them to then have a slow and confused look around. First, they see a big empty blackboard mere feet away, and a camera looking directly at them. As they slowly turn their head, to avoid intensifying that subsiding headache, they see more chairs, more desks, and come to a sudden realization:

“Wait… is this… a school?”

Chapter Text

John is confused, how did he end up in a classroom? Why are metal plates bolted to the wall? Why is there a camera looking directly at him? So many questions, not one single answer. But just as he is about to wonder what happened to the others and if they are okay, he hears noise coming from right behind him. John turns around, and sees another three students slowly waking up one after the other at their desks, all with visible expressions of confusion in their faces.

But they aren’t just any students, they are his friends.

DS: What.

DS: The fuck.

RL: What?

RL: Just.

RL: WHAT???

JH: What the HELL is going on—

JE: Guys!

John greets them with glowing eyes, maybe because of the pure enthusiasm he feels for seeing them in person for the first time in his entire life, or maybe just because of the lighting in the room. He, despite the distress of the situation, smiles at them, and it warms the classroom for everyone even if just a little bit. It doesn’t matter that they have never seen each other in person before, they all immediately recognize each other. They may be trapped in a borderline surreal place, an almost prison cell-looking classroom, but being together in this situation makes them feel strangely soothed, relieved knowing they are not alone here.

DS: So was I the only one.

DS: Or did all of you get blacked out too.

DS: KO’d by Mike fucking Tyson.

JH: That happened to me too! It’s weird and I can’t understand it.

JE: I clicked the game like we said we would, and it loaded for a second or two. But out of nowhere everything first went very bright then black then…

JE: I fainted, I guess?

JE: It’s kind of hard to tell for yourself when you’re unconscious, though.

JE: Then I woke up already here just seconds ago.

RL: And that was the case for me, too.

RL: To summarize, we all experienced the same event by executing the same game, and woke up here at around the same time.

RL: That would be an awfully convenient coincidence. Let alone impossible to even explain.

RL: I think it’s very clear it was intentional, and caused by the game itself, somehow.

JH: Yeah, I think so too.

JH: My entire life I’ve been trapped with Bec in my island and I couldn’t even go to the temple.

JH: And the moment I play the game I wake up here in a place I have never seen before not even in my dreams. D:

JH: but still, I’m very happy to see you guys even if I don’t have any idea where we are!!

JE: Yeah, it’s so cool to finally see you jade. :)

JH: Aww, come here John!

DS: Okay guys I’m all in for huggle-snuggle-cuddle time.

DS: Completely ironically of course.

DS: But how about instead of that we actually try to figure out where we are right now.

Dave interrupts. Although the sunglasses hide his eyes, the others can tell he’s still a little bit freaked about what happened, even with him trying his hardest to bury it under an aloof expression.

DS: Democracy it ain’t your time for beddy-bye yet it’s voting time and I vote for enlightenment like Michelangelo the ninja turtle.

DS: Fuck that’s the renaissance just forget it.

DS: Anyways we should also figure out where this saw-ass classroom is located.

DS: Because if a pale balding puppet comes out of nowhere riding a tricycle I’m going fucking ballistic.

RL: This time I’ll side with you, Dave. It’s for the best to leave any displays of affection for later. For now, we need to concentrate on our current situation to see if we are in any danger.

All four of them begin to thoroughly explore the classroom in search of any potential clues. Besides the metal plates, the camera, and the fact that seemingly there’s no one else here, they also notice a turned off screen, and an envelope on the teacher’s desk. Rose grabs it and notices a letter inside; she reads it out loud for the others.

“Thanks for participating! This life-changing experience will begin shortly. In the meantime, get accustomed to this, your new home. Sincerely, the headmaster.”

JH: A headmaster?

RL: The person in charge of a school. This one, if I had to make a natural assumption.

JE: So this really is a school… but I’ve never heard of a place like this before.

DS: No shit John of course you haven’t this is literally part of the game we ran.

JE: Oh, right. but if this is a game… there must be more to it, right? even the letter said it.

JH: I think so too. It’d be a pretty lame game if this was all it had to offer. :/

JE: Then why don’t we explore what’s outside this classroom?

DS: Yeah let’s bounce.

Having seen everything in this room, they open the door that leads them to a purple-tinted corridor. It’s large, and empty, yet at the same time it feels so oppressively enclosed and almost claustrophobic by design. It doesn’t give them a good feeling in the slightest, but they don’t have time to delve in their own feelings about this strange new place as right when Rose is about to close the door behind them, they begin to hear sounds coming from the classroom next to theirs, multiple loud voices. With intrigue, and somewhat anxiously, they head out of classroom 1-B directly into 1-A. And with a tense almost-stiff hand, John opens the door and quickly steps inside alongside the others.

What they see on the other side, is a sight of something they were not expecting at all.

KV: What the fuck is this shit.

AM: I was not expecting something like this. 0_0

NL: :33 < *Nepeta is slightly confused, but also very excited at this unfolding of events!*

EZ: D --> Now is not the time for your nonsense. I command you to stop immediately.

NL: :33 < Okay, sorry. :((

NL: :33 < But we are going to do it later you whether like it or not!

TN: Uh, guys—

EZ: D --> Until we asses our situation and have a clear image of all threats presents here, I will not allow you to pawnder on your own.

EZ: D --> Excuse me, I meant wander.

NL: :33 < <33

GM: Whoa, that was one hell of a motherfucking wicked miracle.

GM: How we went from our hives to here and shit, it’s so crazy yo.

GM: Honk.

VS: Whoever’s joke is this just knock it off!!!!!!!!

TN: Guys I think—

VS: Oh, could you PLEASE just SHUT UP?

EA: Yes, shut up your fuckin drooling flap. Can’t you see we are busy freaking out over here? have some consideration you dimwit asshole.

TN: S-sorry, but we are not the only ones here…

Everyone is loudly talking at the same time, arguing with each other trying to find any kind of explanation about their situation and who caused it. But with them creating a magnificent cacophony of alien shouting, it first takes the trolls a couple of seconds to even listen to Tavros and what he’s saying before looking to the side and noticing there are now four extra people in the room. But once they do, the entire classroom falls into a cold, tense silence. A few moments pass where everyone just stands still, trying to analyze this scenario, and carefully decide their next move. But eventually, the silence is broken by one single voice, a loud voice.

KV: Whoa, who in the ever-loving fuck are you.

DS: You see.

DS: We are likeminded soul bros because I’ve got the same exact question.

DS: Who the fuck are you.

KV: No, I asked first. I have the absolute and unmistakable right to know your identity before I eviscerate you.

EA: Speak up. What kind of weird looking aliens are you and why you’re even HERE.

TP: Okay everyone stop being a bunch of stupid wigglers and shut up.

Terezi interrupts, done with all the pointless shouting. She has already enough of it with just one troll, she doesn’t need more with the entire group freaking out over what’s basically nothing. For her it seems like the trolls in classroom 1-A are even more startled than the humans, who after the initial shock are by now just seeking any answer they can get.

TP: First of all, your name.

JE: … John?

TP: Okay, John.

TP: Are you and your group behind all of this?

JE: We wanted to ask you the same thing!

JE: We woke up in the classroom next door without knowing as to why or how, heard some noise, came here to check it, and found you causing one hell of a ruckus!

JE: I thought that maybe you guys know more about this than we do.

JE: Or that perhaps you caused it, I don’t know.

TP: John please don’t be so stupid. I literally asked you that mere seconds ago.

JE: That’s what I thought two minutes ago!

KM: Excuse me.

KM: But I think it’s clear both our parties are equally confused.

KM: And lacking any kind of information about our current situation and whereabouts.

RL: So it’s fair to say that everyone in here suffered the same unfortunate outcome of ending up here in this school, without a clue as to how or why, after running a game we were about to play.

KM: Yes, I am afraid that is the case.

RL: And if this is part of that game as I’m guessing, then I see no reason why to think of us as enemies or rivals when we have no conflict of interests, and are in fact in pretty much the same situation. Let’s put our verbal weapons aside for the sake of cooperation, shall we?

KM: That seems like the best course of action.

TP: Yeah, I thought so too. And I can sense they are saying the truth.

TP: Thanks Kanaya, for being a voice of reason here, it’s appreciated.

KM: You are welcome.

TP: And you too…?

RL: Rose.

TP: Cool name. Thanks Rose, for being smarter than the dumbasses next to me. >:]

SC: Oh my god just shut up.

What at first could have been little more than just a tense interaction that quickly devolved into cold hostility between two wary and confused groups, is now turning into something much calmer and more relaxed, knowing they aren’t in imminent danger for the time being. But once the tension started to dissipate, Sollux interrupts. He’s still sitting at his desk, with both hands on his face, covering his eyes to block all light. He looks clearly annoyed, or at the very least extremely unpleased with the situation, and his voice reflects just how much he despises everything right now.

SC: Could everyone just shut up? My head hurts like it hasn’t done in sweeps and I just want to kill myself right now.

VS: Me too! And all this blabbing doesn’t help at all. ::::(

AM: I have a headache too, but I didn’t think it was worth commenting on that.

TN: I also—

VS: Ok that’s enough. We get it dude; we are all in a rough spot right now.

Aradia gets up and walks towards Sollux, putting one hand on his shoulder. And he, instead of rejecting it, just buries his face deeper into his hands; he’s struggling hard with a headache he simply can’t understand why he’s having it right now.

FP: What do we do now?

DS: Why don’t we explore outside.

DS: We were about to do that when we heard y’all having a party in here.

JH: I wonder if there’s an exit nearby.

JH: Because I’m already thinking that maybe—

But before Jade is able to finish her sentence, she and all the others hear a sound coming from the speakers in front of them.
A sound so innocent, yet one that will haunt them for the rest of their lives.

The screen alongside the speakers lights up, and a darkened figure appears in it.

"Am I on? Can everyone hear me?"

"Wait, of course you can. I see it in your precious distraught little faces right now."

"Okay, well then..."

AM: Who’s there?

SC: I’ve got a very bad feeling about this…

"To all incoming students: I would like to begin the entrance ceremony at... right now!"

"Please make your way to the gymnasium at your earliest convenience."

"That's all. I'll be waiting!"

And just like that, the figure disappeared just as abruptly as it appeared on the screen.

KV: Hey, what the actual FUCK was that.

TP: I just heard a voice out of nowhere, and it didn’t even let me lick it to see where it came from. >:[

RL: Well, everyone heard it. It wants us to go to the gymnasium. And disregarding the fact that we literally have no idea where it’s located, I think it’s for the best if we go now. If anything, it could at least give us a clue of what’s going on.

JH: Yes, I don’t want to see what happens if we don’t listen to the strange voice.

With everyone agreeing they have to go there, both the trolls and the humans quickly leave the classroom and head to the gym, after finding a map of the floor layout pinned to the wall in the corridor. Silently, and with a tension that could be felt in the air, they get past the room with all the trophies and the red carpet leading them into the gymnasium. It’s large, very large, but mostly empty with only a stage on the opposite end, and chairs for them in the middle where the red carpet leads them. Once they are all inside, it could finally begin.

He appears on the stage, in front of an awestruck crowd who could not believe what’s in front of their eyes.

MK: I am Monokuma, the headmaster of this school. And now that everybody is gathered here, we can commence this most splendid welcome ceremony! First, we need to talk about what your student life here will consist of. You few students represent the hope of two species, two worlds. And I’m going to be the one of taking care of such hope, here in this academy.

MK: Though it’s a shame it’s going to break and fall apart right away once you face your enemies!

MK: It’s going to be sooo despairing!

His devil-may-care attitude and carefree tone from the get-go shocked even further those in front of him. For the trolls, he’s half lusus, half something entirely else; for the humans, he’s simply… incomprehensible. But even with what feels for them like an almost surreal horror unfolding in the stage, Monokuma is just getting started. A proper student life cannot begin without its corresponding ceremony after all.

MK: What enemy, you may ask? Well, to put it simply…

MK: Yourselves. You are going to be your own enemies in this heart-pounding game.

Monokuma stops for a second to see the confusion and anxiety in their faces. For him it’s simply so perfect to see their hopes and dreams begin to slowly crack and erode, leaving space in their souls for something much more exciting.

MK: Because, make no mistake, this is a game. One you wanted to be in.

FP: When did we agree to something like this?!

MK: W-what? Don’t you know? And I thought you guys would at least read about what you’re going to play before you do it! What are kids even doin’ nowadays!

Monokuma feigns surprise so well it’d almost look believable, if it weren’t because almost instantly his smile grows even wider full of malice, showing off his sharp teeth. He knows these students had no way of knowing what they were getting into, but doesn’t that just make things even better?

MK: A long time ago, you all agreed to play a certain game.

MK: But that game had an… incident. And little old me was plugged into its code.

JH: Are you talking about…

MK: Yes, indeed! I took that shoddy piece of convoluted crap and turned it into pure art!

MK: The Art of a Killing Game.

JH: A… what…?

JE: Y-you can’t be serious there’s no way you—

MK: Would be able to do this? But you already know I can.

MK: Just take a look around, how did you think you ended up in a place like this? One second you were all comfy in your rooms, next you’re here with me in a place you’ve never seen before.

MK: I made that happen, I am the mastermind of this game.

MK: But worry not, dear students. I intend on delivering exactly what you wanted: A thrilling heart-pounding game filled with death.

Monokuma coughs for a second, almost as if it’s just another part of his speech.

MK: With that explanation out of the way, I think we can proceed with the ceremony proper. And I hope no one interrupts me now.

MK: This game consists of mainly two elements. The first is the new communal life you students will have. You will all live solely within the confines of this academy. Don’t worry, I will make sure to attend your needs. You won’t lack common conveniences. I’d be an awful headmaster if that were the case. And in regards to the end date of this new life of yours…

MK: Never. You will remain here until the day of your death.

EA: What...? For… ever?

MK: But that, my dear students, is just for as long as you don’t graduate. After all, what is the purpose of every school, and the aim of every student, if not graduation?

MK: Graduation is the end goal of this game, for you at least.

MK: And you can graduate from this semester with one simple condition.

MK: Murder someone, and survive the ensuing trial.

For almost everyone, the entire gymnasium grew even colder in the blink of an eye in the aftermath of hearing those words. Almost everyone, except Monokuma, who is just relaxedly sitting on the stage podium, watching how the students gradually fall into the despair of this game and their new reality.

MK: That’s the nature of this game! If you want to ever leave this place, if you want to graduate from this Semester of Killing, you must kill someone and get away with it, which means not getting discovered as the culprit.

MK: Find someone, murder them however you like, survive the trial. Graduating is as simple as that!

MK: Doesn’t that sound just perfect for a game of mutual killing…?

JE: B-but what about if we don’t want to play y-your stupid game?! Of course we’d refuse doing something like that!

MK: Hm? I thought I was clear when I said that you’d be here for all eternity. And I’m a bear of my word.

JE: I refuse to believe that! I know we can find a way out without playing your dumb thing!

MK: Oh, my dear foolish student. Remember, I am the mastermind of this, the game you were supposed to play. It means not only I have absolute control over the game itself, but its resources too. In other words, you’re completely trapped within this academy until you finish the game.

MK: You cannot leave this place, unless I allow it.

MK: And you don’t have to worry about an outside world…

MK: … Because there is not one for you to escape to.

MK: You can yell, you can scream for help all you want, but no one will come to save you. The only way of getting out of here, is by graduating from this school, by killing someone.

John wants so hard to deny what he says, but hearing those words left him cold, stunned, and frozen in place. He doesn’t want to believe it; how can he believe he’ll be forced to do something like that to his friends? He’s spent an entire life desiring to meet them, and as soon as that happens, he’ll be forced to kill them? What kind of twisted joke is that?!

JH: T-there’s no way something actually bad will happen right?

JH: A-after all this is just a—

MK: Before you say it, yes, this is a game. I’ve been saying it for a while now.

Monokuma interrupts nonchalantly.

MK: But one you play with your own lives.

MK: As real as reality itself, capisce?

MK: Or do you want to see if I’m lying?

The humans, and most of the trolls too, they all try to desperately cling on to any kind of remaining hope that this is all just part of the script of a very immersive game, that this isn’t real and dreadful as it feels. They hope it’s nothing but a bad dream, a nascent nightmare they can simply wake up from.

Yet Monokuma, with every word he says, is effortlessly crashing down all those hopes, destroying and replacing them with nothing but absolute despair.

VS: Okay I’ve had enough of this bullshit.

Most of the trolls, because there is still one unfazed by what she sees as little more than just well-made bluff. She’s seen this a million times already, guys who are nothing but bark with zero bite, even more so during the countless nights she’s spent on the Brigantine killing them all. If he has what it takes to back up his words, then he’s going to need to prove it.

VS: I don’t know what this is, or even what you are, but you are going to need a lot more to make us cower, freak.

MK: Oh? You want me to use you as an example for all the others? Works for me!

MK: Step ahead if you dare, and I’ll make sure every single one of you gets the message very, very clear.

Vriska isn’t the one to back down from a challenge, not at all. She steps forward until all the other students are behind her, stopping right in front of Monokuma, who is still sitting on the podium carefreely with a wide smile across half his face. She stretches her organic hand forward, while putting two metallic fingers on her temple. Vriska prepares to use her psychic powers to just get this over with right here and now. She puts herself into position and…

…

Nothing happens.

Her entire body tightens, Marquise Mindfang tries even harder to channel all her powers even with the awful headache growing stronger and stronger the more time she spends trying to use them.

…

But nothing happens at all.

MK: Oh right. Thanks to your little interruption I forgot to tell you guys one other thing. For balance reasons, I have… messed with your brains a little bit here and there. Don’t worry, I didn’t leave anything nasty in there, and all your dirty secrets are safe with me~

VS: What… What did you do?!

Even with an overwhelming pain coming from inside her head, Vriska is still becoming more and more furious with every passing second, and every word he says.

MK: You see… It wouldn’t be fair if someone used their cute powers to mind control another student into killing someone else.

MK: The controlled student would have no agency over their own actions, and the spotless students would have no means of tracing the murder back to the one who really caused it. No trial would ever be fair in these conditions.

MK: And if it isn’t fair, it isn’t fun. And I’m all in for making these trials as fair as possible for everybody involved, even if I have to squish and squash a few things inside you~

VS: So you messed with all of us?!

MK: Nah, only you really… and those three guys in the back. I just didn’t like your powers; the rest is fair game.

MK: Psychic powers are like straight up cheating! And you know what cheaters are like?

MK: They are garbage! Scum! They deserve to be frowned upon by even the lowliest of beasts!

MK: …

MK: So, yeah, tough luck, I guess. But I really hope you can bear this as the Ultimate Lucky Student.

MK: I really want you to achieve these violent ends, for my violent delights~

Monokuma ends with a seductive wink at her; perhaps to charm her, perhaps to piss her off even further.

VS: …

VS: ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!

MK: Hey! Having a body in good shape is nothing to be ashamed about! I shall never stand in the way of the physical prowess of my students!

MK: Besides, wouldn’t it be funny if someone used their superior strength to maul someone to death…?

He glances at Equius while licking his sharp teeth.

MK: Puhuhuhu~ People say a pen is stronger than a sword, but I’m yet to see one that doesn’t break into pieces when slashed. With enough force, you can get away with a lot of things, like stealing, killing, or even forcing yourself on the person you like…

MK: The possibilities of murder and despair are just so heart-pounding!

She wants to scream at him, she wants to rage against him, for having her powers taken away just for the whims of a glorified teddy cholerbear and the infuriating things he says. But for now, she knows there isn’t much she can do against the mastermind, but to survive no matter what. She steps back slowly, never taking her livid eyes off him.

RL: I’ve got a question.

MK: Huh? What so?

RL: Before, on the screen, and now during this entire ‘ceremony’, you’ve told us multiple times this is a school, an academy. Can you at least tell us exactly where we are right now?

MK: …

MK: Puhuhuhu~

MK: Of course I can tell you. After all, I am the headmaster of this place.

MK: Everyone…

MK: Welcome to Hope’s Peak Academy.

Chapter Text

MK: … And here at Hope’s Peak Academy, just like in any other school, we have a few rules you must follow. Failure to comply will result in a swift and harsh response.

MK: Bzzt-bzzt! Cough cough! Ka-boom!

MK: You know, death.

MK: The rules of this Semester of Killing are as follows:

MK: In regards to a few of those rules, they are to assure you guys that, for the most part, I will not interfere with your new student life here at Hope’s Peak Academy, much less intervene when you kill each other!

MK: And don’t worry, I totally am a stickler for the rules. You know my opinion of cheaters already; I will never become one of them.

TP: Why would we ever believe you?

MK: What? I literally just freaking said it! I’m a bear!! Bears do not lie!!!

Monokuma sounds genuinely pissed off as Terezi questions his integrity. But at the same time, that display of something other than outright carefreeness makes it more believable that he won’t murder them in their sleep for no reason at all.

MK: But if you are so desperate to see if I’m saying the truth, go ahead. I won’t stop you from breaking any rules. But be assured that the ensuing punishment is going to be your own fault, and yours alone.

MK: Besides, if I really wanted to kill any of you…

MK: I would have done so already.

MK: …

MK: But that’s not what I want. I’ll leave all the mutual killing to you guys.

MK: Because, after all, every single one of you is an Ultimate Student, meaning you all excel in a field specific to you as a person.

MK: And that’s why you were chosen to assist here at Hope’s Peak Academy! And to participate in this thrilling Semester of Killing.

MK: I would never allow some random weirdo to come here just because I felt like it!

MK: And being honest, I’m not having any of that reserve course nonsense.

MK: Whoops, right, you guys don’t know about that. My bad!

MK: If you want to know more about your ultimate talents, and a reminder of the rules, please check your e-handbook.

MK: Yeah… those on your seats… those I arranged specially for you guys that you never used… no hard feelings at all.

Monokuma once again theatrically feigns, this time dejection, as the students grab the e-handbooks from their seats and read them.

TP: Come on crabby pants tell us what’s your ultimate title. >:]

KV: The HELL I’m gonna do that. The day I do it is the day I swallow razor wire, pull the end out of my ass and floss myself to death.

DS: Come on dude we all opened up. Legs spread wide open, and you’re rejecting me like that.

DS: You’re hurting me man.

KV: Oh fuck you too. And even harder because I hate you now.

Due to Alternia’s ruthless and brutal society, Karkat has always been very distrustful to others about revealing his identity, just for his own safety, just to not get culled. That wouldn’t change in a deadly game, and he will keep his a secret for now.

MK: And remember everyone.

MK: Every single one of you wanted to play a killing game.

MK: Now you get to be in one.

MK: The hope of two worlds.

MK: The hope of two universes.

MK: Facing against the despair of mine, in a brand-new Semester of Killing.

MK: Doesn’t that sound just so positively heart-pounding?!

MK: That’s all, my dear students. Welcome to your new deadly life here at Hope’s Peak Academy!

With those departing words, Monokuma jumps from the podium to disappear behind the stage. Humans, trolls, students; they are all now free to explore the academy and settle in their new life and home at their hearts’ content.

JH: What do we do now?

KV: I don’t know about you, but I’m done with this. It clearly was a mistake for dreadfully ignorant past me to play this awful thing, and I’m going to search for a way out. For how much I infinitely despise and hate these guys, I will never do something against any of them. Not even in a glorified Flarp game.

KV: If there’s a joke in all this, I’m sure as fuck I didn’t find it anywhere.

KV: So good-fucking-bye, I’m out.

VS: I’m off. But unlike that coward, I’m intending to win. I’m not going to lose this game; not to you, not to him, not to anyone.

The two of them storm off the gym. And with no real reason to stay there, the rest quickly leave the place too. But once outside, they all realize there isn’t much else to do, so they begin to explore what’s available of the academy for them, many on their own.

The hours pass, and about 90 minutes before nighttime the students begin to trickle in to the dining hall, hungry after hours of exploring and having not eating at all ever since arriving here. First it was the humans, who explored the academy together as a group to avoid any unnecessary risks, and enjoy the physical company of their friends. Then, most of the trolls slowly one by one stumbled into the dining hall almost by accident. They’ve never been to a human school before, or any school at all for that matter. There, they share what little information they gathered as they dine.

RL: So, did you guys find anything we might have missed?

RL: If we intend on either staying or leaving, everyone would benefit from knowing as much as possible about this academy.

FP: Me and Mr. Ampora didn’t find much on our own besides the fact that the upper floors are locked, and I doubt the others found anything either. 38(

FP: But something interesting is that near here there’s a room with strange rotating machines to put your clothes in!

EA: Fef for the love of glub, those are washing machines. They are EVERYWHERE.

EA: We just don’t use them because we live in the fucking OCEAN.

EA: That’s why we don’t have them in our hives, because we are surrounded by water all the glubdamn time.

FP: Stop glubbing me like THAT, mister.

EA: I’ll glub however the glub I want. I didn’t even want to come here or to play this dumb thing in the first place. But I knew you really wanted and I didn’t want to make you upset so I quietly accepted the invitation.

EA: I’m sure they didn’t want me to accept it, and just sent out of politeness.

EA: And now I’m stuck here in a dirty peasantblood education facility with people that don’t even want me here, like probably everyone else but you.

EA: So.

EA: Glub.

FP: You will be punished accordingly for this rude tone in due time. Now I already miss the ocean a bit, there isn’t a place here for me to swim in. 38(

JH: Wait, you guys actually live out in the sea too?

FP: Yes, we just said it, you silly.

EA: Couldn’t you tell the fins or gills?

FP: But you don’t have them… perhaps do you live in an island? That would be really cool 380

JH. Yes!

JH: Well, I used to. Now I’m stuck here like everyone else. :/

EA: Before you even think about it, no. I charge dearly for anyone to touch them.

EA: Well, if you ask nicely maybe I…

JH: WHY WOULD I EVER DO THAT.

Evidently, it doesn’t take long for the conversation to derail, but at the very least the ice is lowly melting away between the trolls and the humans. And without the presence of Monokuma and his words, the atmosphere here feels lighter too, even if ever so slightly.

JE: Guys… I don’t think we’ll be able to talk to everyone today. And even if we could before nighttime and whatever happens then, I doubt everyone will even come here in the first place. Perhaps some have already gone to their rooms because they felt real tired.

JE: And being honest I’m getting very sleepy too. Today’s been a very weird day and I just want to sleep.

DS: Then let’s just call it a day and meet here tomorrow for breakfast. Monokuma you better have some garlic breadsticks by then or shit will hit the fan real soon.

John, Dave, Jade, Rose, they agree with the trolls to meet tomorrow here at the dining hall after the morning announcement. Then they all head to their assigned rooms, designed according to their ultimate talents and needs. For the trolls it takes them a few extra minutes to get accustomed to such alien environment and the lack of a recuperacoon to sleep in. But just like the humans, they are forced to get used to this place whether they like it or not, it’s not like they have any other options after all. And in their beds, in the darkness of their new homes, for a few minutes everyone tries to make sense about what took place. Of Hope’s Peak Academy, of this insane killing game, of this new reality seemingly designed just for them. But for the time being, only one thing is for sure.

The first day in this academy of death is over.

Chapter Text

But just as one day ends, another one begins.

The next morning (almost) everyone wakes up to Monokuma’s announcement, and promptly heads to the dining hall for breakfast and to start the day. John and Rose are the first ones to wake up, and after meeting in the corridor they head together to their destination. But in there they meet someone they didn’t expect to see.

RL: It must be said that, given the circumstances, I was not expecting someone else to be here already so early.

GM: Life works in miraculous mysterious ways, sister.

GM: If you open your pineal lookstub, you’ll them motherfucking miracles. They are everywhere.

GM: Like how this place has so much food and shit just for us.

GM: How this looks like a schoolhive without being one. Who told this place to look like one.

GM: Miracles, sister, I’m telling you.

GM: Honk.

RL: That is… certainly a way to look at things.

GM: Exactly. :o)

JE: Did you sleep well last night? I collapsed on my bed right away and I’m still feeling tired.

GM: Wait a minute.

Gamzee's eyes open wide in a blank, almost psychotic stare for a split second, before immediately returning to their barely-open dilated selves. John and Rose are slightly thrown off.

GM: Were we supposed to sleep during the night?

GM: Shit’s motherfucking heretic yo.

JE: That’s what everyone does during the night… right? they sleep?

GM: My brother in honk you are talking the deep heresies right now. What in the motherfuck are you talking about?

JE: Never mind. I guess you don’t, that’s alright, I think.

JE: Were you awake in your room all night?

GM: No, I didn’t know I had to go there. I just wandered around wondering where everyone went. I was in the dark all alone with my thoughts and shit, so mirthful.

GM: Now it turns out ‘Kuma wants us to sleep at night and act during the day.

GM: He’s spitting some crazy stuff. Don’t know if I like that heathen talk.

GM: But at least he’s got me covered with the miracle pies and Faygo, so he can’t be all that bad.

JE: He prepares pies for us?

GM: Well, I don’t know about you, my dear brother, but at least he made a bunch for me and left them in my room.

GM: You’re free to go there and eat some if you want. :o)

GM: A true brother is always down to pie his bro in his room. All warm and viscous and creamy pie.

RL: You… really didn’t have to phrase it like that.

JE: I’ll… pass.

JE: But I hope you enjoy them!

GM: I will do, my motherfucking friend, I’ll do.

GM: Honk.

Gamzee slowly walks his way out of the dining hall to his room, having learned he actually is supposed to sleep during nighttime. One truly does learn new things every day. But just as he walks out of the dining hall, other people start coming in. Soon enough almost everyone is in there eating breakfast. Despite being from different species from entirely different planets, the humans and the trolls quickly begin to get used to each other. Camaraderie in adversity is one hell of a way to create bonds after all.

JH: How did everyone sleep?

DS: Meh. I’ve slept worse. This ain’t got shit on what bro made me go through in our apartment. So I’m fine I guess. Feels weird not being in immediate danger of any traps tho, but at least I’m not waking up sweating fucking bullets because I felt Cal watching me from the dark.

JH: And you guys?

Jade asks looking at the trolls. She is genuinely willing to bring the two groups closer together, as she believes being divided would just make everything a lot more difficult, and unpleasant.

TN: I, uh, slept fine I guess, but I still think it’s very strange for that thing to asks us to do it in the night.

TN: And not during the day like it should be? But it’s okay, I’m not complaining.

TN: At least I don’t have to crawl out of my recuperacoon for several meters just to get to my four-wheeled device every time I wake up.

TN: So is not all bad, accessibility-wise speaking, for the physically impaired like me. In fact it’s, uh, a lot better than what my own hive ever was, actually being designed with my own capacities in mind.

VS: How could you EVER be okay with that?! Being a sad pathetic crippled doesn’t mean you should get things easy!!!!!!!!

VS: If you don’t struggle and push yourself to the limit, you’ll always be this useless loser who can’t offer anything to the world.

TN: I guess you’re right, in some ways, but at the same time I don’t think that struggle should include, things like, crawling up and down a ramp because you left me like this. Other things maybe, but preferably not this.

VS: And here you go again, being a sore weak grub who complains about the past and just can’t move on. It’s been sweeps already! I’m soooooooo sorry for trying to help you be a better person.

KM: … As much as she’d love to steal the spotlight as she often does, this time I will not give her the pleasure.

KM: At least for me this schedule isn’t so bad. I’m used to being awake during the day. Colors are much more vivid under sunlight. It’s quite perfect for sewing and gardening.

JE: So he was right… you guys all are nocturnal, like really cool aliens!

JE: But then why did Monokuma made everyone sleep in the night? Is he… human like us?

RL: Good guess, John. And not only that, but if you think carefully, you’ll also notice Monokuma used what you could call ‘human’ terminology and rules.

RL: If there’s someone in the shadows controlling him, I’m fairly sure they are human too. Or at the very least he was designed by one.

RL: Everyone, I propose something.

Rose gets up from her chair to get her message clear across the dining hall.

RL: In advance, I do recognize this all will seem very foreign to you due to our cultural and societal differences, but I think it’s for the best if we unify as a single group instead of two.

RL: So, I propose the following:

RL: For the sake of cooperation, unless they warned everyone else beforehand, no one should get out of their room at night.

RL: Indeed, you do have a nighttime schedule, opposite to our diurnal one. But given the rules imposed by Monokuma, and the fact that some areas get closed at night, it’s evident this entire thing is designed around daytime activity, and a daytime schedule. It’s better for us to work around that, instead of against it.

RL: Any objections?

KM: I know some may want to disagree, but I’m actually on board with this idea.

Kanaya first speaks to everyone, but then turns to the trolls.

KM: We all know that, unless we act first, we will mentally wear out quite fast. More than a suggestion or an annoyance… it’s a necessity for us, given our current circumstances.

The jadeblood then turns back to the humans, and specially Rose as she’s been the one most proactive with the interspecies interactions until now. For her, Rose’s clearly the leader of the humans, or at the very least should be, thanks to her intelligence.

KM: Excuse me, I too think it’s necessary for us to get closer. And one quintessential element for building trust is getting to know each other better. I think you need to know something.

Kanaya then proceeds to talk very briefly about something that, if Monokuma did all the effort to bring them here, he must know very, very well. The trolls, by their semi-engineered nature, are very aggressive and lethal when compared to the humans, having a much greater affinity to violence. It is no surprise then that many of them also are much more willing to kill others for any reason, even if just because they felt like it. The highbloods can do it for pleasure, the lowbloods may do it just out of necessity; but death in Alternian society is always, always present. Another fact that cannot be overlooked for her is that, for the most part, trolls are used to live spread apart back in their planet. Because of their very affinity to violence, aggression and murder, living spread apart has been both a commodity and a necessity for them for countless solar sweeps, with communal blocks becoming rarer and rarer over time, mostly limited to lowbloods who can’t afford something else. And, because of that, living here on such a confined space won’t take long at all before they begin to get slowly but inexorably mentally worn by it. To be on edge, stressed out, or maybe… something even further than that. Perhaps Monokuma knew it all along when he planned this killing game, because trolls living in a confined space is just a timebomb waiting to go off. How long will it take, it’s anybody’s guess.

In the end, most agree that if there’s no way out and they’ll be forced to live with each other here, it’s for the best that they at the very least try to get to know each other and make things easier for everyone else. Otherwise, this new life would be even unhappier here. And that’s exactly what he would want for this killing game.

But even when things begin to look brighter amidst a sea of uncertainty, all it takes is one single wrong turn, and every single one of them is force to look at reality.

JH: So… we all looked out for an exit, but didn’t find anything.

JH: But we can’t give up! We need to keep searching for an exit because there must be one.

JH: If we somehow got in here then there has to be a way to get out!

EA: Yes, there is.

EA: By killing someone.

EA: Is that what you want?

JH: W… what?

EA: Don’t play dumb now human, you know very well the rules.

EA: We all do by now.

EA: If you want to get out, you must graduate by murdering someone else. That’s our only way out whether you like it or not.

EA: The sooner you accept it, the better your chances of getting out of here alive.

All the warmness, all the optimism, all of that is gone in a second, vanished by those words. All that’s left is a cold, tense atmosphere at the mere thought of it. As much as they dislike it, as much as they despise it, he’s right. They can’t deny it. The only way to get out is to… kill someone.

Everyone finishes their breakfast in silence and rather quickly departs to any other part of the academy available to them. They now have an entire day ahead of them, and Monokuma is again nowhere to be seen after his morning announcement.

What will they do?

In one of the door rooms, two trolls sit on the bed, sharing a calm moment together. After how relentless the past day was for everyone, they finally have some time to spend together without worrying about anything else.

AM: How do you feel, Sol? How’s your headache?

SC: Being honest, it kind of went away during the night after I went to sleep.

SC: In retrospective, it became clear when Monokuma said it in the ceremony. He removed our powers extracting them directly from our heads.

SC: The fucker literally lobotomized us out of our powers and our brains went haywire because of it.

SC: No wonder I felt like absolute crap yesterday. It was the worst I've felt in sweeps.

SC: Wait oh shit I’m an insensitive fuck, you also had to deal with that. I’m sorry for not asking earlier.

SC: How do you feel?

AM: I’m fine actually, my headache also went away yesterday as time went on. It wasn’t as severe as yours.

AM: But I appreciate you asking nonetheless, and there’s no need for apologizing.

SC: If we are both okay, then why don’t we go somewhere else? These respiteblocks are boring as fuck.

AM: It sounds okay; do you feel like going to the AV room?

SC: Yeah sure, let’s go.

Together they get up from the bed, and walk out of the room. It doesn’t seem that there will actually be anything for them to do today (or seemingly any other day for that matter), so they take their time gently walking to that room to share the evening together watching whatever’s available there. The movie is about a human working in a yellow scuttlebuggy who uncovers the powers that be. And they chase him with a helicopter to his own hive stem and fire at him with a missile to silently take him down. It’s 1997’s Conspiracy Theory.

Jesus fucking Christ that’s one hell of a shitty movie. From the very start Monokuma’s pulling all the stops in this game for the look of things. Well, it’s better than nothing you guess. And they certainly appreciate the hours alone, as Monokuma is nowhere to be seen and the other students are spread across the first floor of the academy.

In a different place there are another two trolls, who rummage across the countless boxes in the supply room, without looking for anything specific.

NL: :33 < Why did we come here in the first place?

EZ: D --> Because we need to know the location of useful items stored in here in case we ever need them.

EZ: D --> It seems like Monokuma took your claws away while we were unconscious, and I need to find you something else to defend yourself with.

NL: :33 < I’m gonna be fine, jeez! I can defend meowself just fine and I don’t need a stupid knife or anything fur that.

EZ: D --> This is not up for discussion. I command you to comply with this.

EZ: D --> Under these circumstances I can’t fully trust those lowbloods and neither should you.

NL: :33 < You can’t be serious. I trust them and I know they won’t do anything bad to me!

EZ: D --> You cannot be sure of that.

NL: :33 < Bluh bluh bluh.

NL: :33 < Yes I am, because I know them! I am their friend and they are my friends!

NL: :33 < But you’re always pawshing them away, and that’s so sad! Everyone has tried to get closer to you over the sweeps but you reject them all the time.

NL: :33 < For stupid reasons like their blood color, and you just shoo them away!

NL: :33 < Then they just stop trying and I’m left being your only company.

NL: :33 < It almost feels like you don’t want any friends!

NL: :33 < And what will you do the day I’m not here?

Equius’s almost frantically search among the piles of boxes comes to a sudden stop as soon as he hears those last words she says, and his entire body tightens. He’s frozen in place for a few seconds. And beneath his damaged sunglasses, his gaze sinks down to the floor. He looks… defeated.

NL: :33 < S-sorry! I didn’t want to make you feel bad!

NL: :33 < I-I just want you to be happy and have lots of friends because you’re important to me!

EZ: D --> … That brings me to another point I’d like to address.

Equius sighs, and looks directly at her.

EZ: D --> I’m sorry, Nepeta.

NL: :33 < Huh? Fur what?

EZ: D --> I beg your forgiveness for what happened yesterday. I did not mean to be rude in our first physical encounter.

EZ: D --> I just wanted to make sure you were not in any danger.

NL: :33 < Hey don’t worry, no hard feelings!

EZ: D --> But I do worry, because I never intended to dismiss you and your feelings the very first time we ever met.

EZ: D --> I’m very sorry, that was extremely unseemly of me. It’s just…

EZ: D --> For a long time I’ve wanted to go visit you, to see you, to be with you.

EZ: D --> And the first time we do, is in this lethal game where I don’t know who or what could harm you.

EZ: D --> But because of it, because I was so focused on making sure everything was safe.

EZ: D --> And I did not hug you in our first ever encounter. And I…

The more he speaks, the more he struggles to get his words out of his mouth. Equius feels… nervous and embarrassed, and it takes him an extra moment for him to say what he really wants to say. He is one of the strongest trolls alive, and quite likely the strongest of the entire group, yet he’s at his most vulnerable with the one he cares about the most.

EZ: D --> Now I would like to correct that.

NL: :33 < …

Nepeta jumps forward at him, almost as if trying to tackle her meowrail. But instead of throwing him down to the floor, the Ultimate Huntress fiercely surrounds her prey with her arms and buries her face into his chest, as her tail affectionately wraps around one of his wrists. Equius freezes for a moment, not knowing what to do or how not to hurt her with his own strength. But eventually, feeling soothed by her presence and touch, he hugs her back, resting his head on hers.

After what has been far too long, for both of them it feels so beautifully perfect to finally embrace each other, to feel each other in their arms. Nepeta hugs him with all her strength, showing how much she has wanted this and for how long. And Equius, despite his overwhelming excitement, he’s being the gentlest he has been in his entire life.

EZ: D --> I don’t want something to take that away from me. To take you away from me.

EZ: D --> I want you to be safe, Nepeta. That is why we are here, that is why yesterday I… acted like that.

NL: :33 < I promise I will be safe, because I will be with meow friends!

NL: :33 < I just ask you to trust in them.

EZ: D --> I don’t trust them, and I doubt I will, but…

EZ: D --> I trust you. And for now, I think that will be enough.

NL: :33 < And I know I will be super extra safe, for one extra reason.

EZ: D --> Huh?

NL: :33 < Because you’re here now, with me.

By the time silence settles in the supply room, neither of them is willing to let the other go. For both Equius and Nepeta it feels almost unbelievable to have each other in person, even if it’s in the middle of this killing game. And considering their circumstances, they are perfectly fine with hugging each other for as long as they like; they have no reason to cut it short anyways, not now, not here.

And so, with everyone spread across the first floor spending their time either alone or along other students, the second day of this academy, the second day of this deadly game, is quickly coming to an end. The students first go to the dining hall to have the last meal of the day, and then to their door rooms to sleep after Monokuma’s nighttime announcement. And given what took place just yesterday, almost everyone is more than perfectly okay with a calm, uneventful day.

Yet, there is still something they cannot deny, something they cannot ignore. The game is just getting started, and it seems awfully unlikely things will be as positive as they were today. But for now, everyone goes to sleep and rest trying to take their minds off that fact.

Chapter Text

The third day on the academy commences, but hopes of things being the same as they were the day prior don't take long to fall apart piece by piece. Everyone heads to the dining hall for breakfast and, despite the efforts to bring the students closer together to stand defiant against Monokuma and his game, small arguments and friction quickly begin to appear between the trolls, as some of them even start to avoid each other while preparing their own meals. The atmosphere in the dining hall is much tenser than what it was yesterday. The humans feel slightly worried, but there isn't much that they can do about it.

KM: I suppose it’s due to the enclosed nature of this schoolhive, but being forced to live here together with little personal space or amenities is affecting us even faster than I anticipated.

KM: And the ever-present nature of Monokuma’s game doesn’t help us at all. If things go at this rate, perhaps in a few days he might… persuade someone with the idea of being able to get out of here forever, by just complying with his game.

KM: Doing you-know-what.

KM: I don’t want it to happen, but I cannot look away from reality.

RL: And personally how do you feel, Kanaya?

KM: Quite fine, actually.

KM: Back in our planets, those of my blood caste more often than not were selected to live in cloister inside brooding caverns for the reproduction of our species.

KM: So we jadebloods are used to live in confined spaces, for the most part. Obviously, that doesn’t include murder games, but I’m doing quite well, given the circumstances.

KM: Thank you for asking, Rose.

RL: If this ship sinks, we all go down with it like a particularly invested admiralty. I want to make sure you’re alright at the very least.

JE: Where’s the other guy? His name, um, Gamzee?

In that moment, Karkat appears in the dining hall, walking straight towards the kitchen. But as soon as he hears John ask that question, he stops and looks at him.

KV: Since yesterday that idiot has locked himself in his room. He says he has everything he needs in there for his clown church-whatever bullshit.

KV: Well dumbass, guess what.

KV: You’re going to FUCKING STARVE TO DEATH IF YOU DON’T EAT.

KV: And guess who’s the idiot that’s taking care of his friend so he doesn’t die.

KV: What did I do to deserve such a mentally handicapped imbecile as friend.

KV: I’m even putting my own time to prepare him more pies so the ones in his room don’t run out.

KV: I cannot BELIEVE I’m encouraging the same behavior I once despised so much. Fuck me.

JE: Oh yeah, yesterday I met him here and he offered me some.

KV: John, do yourself the biggest favor of your life and stay the FUCK AWAY from his pies.

KV: And now, if you are not bereft of a functional think pan, excuse-fucking-me, I need to go take care of him before I can even have my own breakfast here.

With those departing words, Karkat goes back to his original objective and enters the kitchen, leaving the rest to finish their meals and begin a new day in this academy, even if tenser and slightly more hostile than before.

What will they do today?

After knocking on his door and leaving a plate of food, a pie and a bottle of Faygo (Why the hell does Monokuma have Faygo in here?), Karkat returns to the dining hall, finally able to prepare something for himself. But instead of finding the place empty like he expected (and wanted), he finds a troll and a human in there, doing nothing at all but sitting on one of the tables talking to each other until they notice him.

It’s Dave and Terezi.

TP: Hi KK, we were waiting for you. >:]

KV: Oh fuck me.

KV: What the fuck are you even doing here? Couldn’t either, preferably both of you, be a waste of oxygen literally ANYWHERE ELSE?

DS: We are here because we worry about you dude.

DS: Make sure little Timmy is getting properly fed after a long day working in the coal mines.

DS: Daddy what’s jam and why does it go on bread.

DS: Dude doesn’t even know he’s a metaphorical character.

DS: Fucking saddest story I’ve ever heard.

KV: I don’t know what the fuck a little Timmy is but I abhor you even more now for comparing me to it.

KV: I haven’t even had breakfast. Can’t you guys wait just ten minutes before being a pain in my ass for the rest of the day?

KV: As if it wasn’t torment enough already having to deal with one fuckass, now I have to deal with three.

DS: So you can only take on one dude at a time. Note taken.

KV: FUCK YOU AND EVERYTHING YOUR EXISTENCE STANDS FOR.

TP: Come on Karkat, don’t be so cranky, we just wanna hang out with you.

Karkat sighs. He knows he isn’t getting out of here on top, not when tactically outnumbered like this, and strategically countered by the fact they are between him and the kitchen.

KV: Okay you win Terezi. But for the love of your chalk, please let me at least prepare my own breakfast on my own.

KV: I don’t need either of you in the meal block telling me my cooking skills are so goddamn atrocious.

TP: But you cook really well, what are you talking about. >:?

KV: How the fuck can you be sure of that, I’ve never even prepared something for you.

TP: My intuition. >:]

KV: Well that’s wrong and your intuition is absolutely crap for once.

TP: I’ll be the one to decide that when you come back from the meal block. Wink wink.

KV: Real fucking smooth, Terezi. Might as well prepare a buffet for your delicate tongue and leave myself to bite the dust.

TP: Oh my, it seems you’re learning really fast how to treat a lady. >;]

DS: Yeah dog, if you know how to cook you’ve got some real moves. You’ll be practically drowning in damped hoes in no time.

DS: Damped hoes and damped bros whatever you like that’s fine.

DS: Anyways we’ll be waiting here for you.

TP: Don’t forget I like some red on my plate. >;]

KV: Well then I’ll give you a fucking apple and call it a day.

TP: >:O

After having to take care of his highblood friend, and dealing with these two knuckleheads, Karkat is finally able to go to the kitchen and prepare for himself some good fucking food, like the nutrimercenary Gordon Ramsay would say. He is very tempted to just make them go fuck themselves, but in the end decides that if he’s already there, he might as well make something simple for both of them so they shut up and don’t annoy him when he’s eating in a few minutes down the line. Once he’s done, he sits down on a table in the dining hall, and they follow suit to eat alongside him. Both Dave and Terezi genuinely appreciate the gesture – even if in their own ways – given neither of them is anywhere near decent in a meal block, unlike him.

Karkat can finally enjoy his breakfast in peace.

In one of the dorm rooms there are two trolls who never before had the chance to interact in person due to the distance between their hives. Tavros sits on his bed as Kanaya looks around, keeping the tidiness of the place according to his preferences and privacy. In there she also finds a couple of small animals in cages spread across the room. Despite everything, Tavros is doing his best to take care of them.

KM: So

KM: Do you need anything specific?

KM: The rules don’t mention anything about not modificating our respite blocks so, given our limited resources, I could attempt improving this place even further.

TN: Thanks Kan, I really mean it.

TN: But, uh, I don’t think so.

TN: This place is pretty great as it is.

KM: Yes, the accessibility has been greatly improved for you.

KM: From non-existent to pretty decent, I must add.

TN: I spent the last couple of sweeps, very often crawling across half my hive, because usually the ramp I had made my four-wheeled device, kind of fly off away from me.

KM: I always wanted to go visit you and adapt that place to suit your needs, but I never did because of the distance between our hives.

KM: I’m sorry, I should have had a more fuck-it attitude and gone there nonetheless. It would have saved you a lot of trouble.

TN: Don’t sweat it, it wasn’t your problem to deal with anyways, and neither were you the one who… uh, caused me this.

TN: So, no big deal, but I appreciate the intention.

TN: Besides, it wasn’t all that bad back then after the incident.

TN: Usually when it wasn’t about poor designing choices, it was, uh, her, going there to visit me, even though I guess I never invited her in the first place.

TN: But one time she dragged me out of my recuperacoon when I couldn’t on my own. And even though it was to force me to play with her when I didn’t want to, doing stuff that made me uncomfortable when she got too close, it means it could have been worse, right?

KM: Tavros, darling.

Kanaya takes one hand to her head and buries her face in it. Not out of disappointment, but out of trying to just keep what she really wants to say inside her. Speak no evil, after all.

KM: Whatever helps you with your self-esteem.

TN: Yeah, I’ve… been working on that, following your advice. Rufioh is doing great.

TN: And these little friends are also great help.

TN: Seeing them thrive in here makes me feel, quite good actually, it’s great.

TN: I’m going at least once a day to the supply room, to get them food and any other thing they might need. If I can’t find it, I build it myself however I can, so, I’m learning to take care of them even better! And that makes me take care of myself even better because I feel better.

KM: That sounds lovely, my dear. If you ever need help with anything, just tell me.

TN: I appreciate the offer, really, but I can do it on my own. And I prefer to do it by myself.

TN: Vriska may be mean, and hurt me a lot, very frequently, but she’s right about something. If I always rely on others for everything, I will never, uh, be able to stand on my own, metaphorically. I need to get stronger, on my own. And Rufioh says I’m doing that every day, even if just little by little.

KM: I guess she… isn’t always strictly bad. But still, you should distance yourself as much as you can from her.

TN: I’m doing that. And here it’s easier, because the doors are unpickable and, uh, she can’t get in here even if she tries. She tried. So, I feel very safe here, given the circumstances.

For a few more minutes, Kanaya helps in taking care of the place, and giving it an extra touch only someone like her could. By the time she finishes, she says goodbye to Tavros and leaves him to keep taking care of the many cages filled with small earth creatures. They all seem very adorable, and much less lethal and violent than what they had back on Alternia.

Another day here in Hope’s Peak Academy goes by, relatively calmly. And even though the atmosphere is undeniable tenser the longer everyone is trapped here, everyone goes to sleep after the nighttime announcement, still hoping for an ending to this game free of blood and death.

Hope that, perhaps, will soon prove itself to be little more than just a fragile illusion.

Chapter Text

By the fourth day things have gotten noticeably worse and more hostile between the trolls as the humans try to keep a low profile to avoid getting caught in their crossfire. Many of the students would clearly rather not be there, and instead be on their rooms preparing everything there on their own if they could, even if just to avoid more conflict.

After a small discussion, Eridan and Vriska are the first to storm off the dining hall in opposite directions, having barely even touched their own breakfasts. Feferi goes after Eridan to check on him, while John decides it’s his time to take the initiative, and goes after Vriska. Left behind are the rests of the students, who can feel the atmosphere getting thicker and thicker in the dining hall, almost oppressively so. They all finish their meals rather quickly to get out of that place as soon as possible. They want to get out of here, go back to their homes, But Hope’s Peak Academy is now their new home, their new world. This is their new life.

A life which is taking its toll on the students. And trapped here, there isn’t much they can do about it, but try and endure it for as long as possible. Not only for them, not only for their friends, but for every single student trying to survive here alongside them too.

After getting out of the dining hall, Eridan quickly locks himself in his own room, absolutely unwilling to interact with anyone else. She used to be his kismesis many sweeps ago, but now she’s thrown him away like everyone does. Well, like almost everyone does.

On the other side of the door there is the heiress, who despite everything, is still trying to look after him. She knocks on the door a few times, and he eventually caves in.

The Ampora opens the door.

FP: Come on Eridan, cheer up!

FP: I even brought you another breakfast so you can eat somefin.

EA: You can throw that thing away, I’m not hungry.

FP: It doesn’t have to be now, but please do it eventually. 38(

EA: I’m fucking fuming can't you see, I don’t want to eat anything AT ALL.

EA: Let alone this piece of crap probably someone else discarded.

EA: How did she had the GUTS to just treat me like that.

EA: After our runs as the best team to ever roam the high seas she should still treat me with some respect.

FP: Eri.

EA: Vriska is seriously the worst, I can’t believe I’m still after that hook like the sad brinesucker I am.

FP: Eridan.

EA: We are all trapped here why can’t have some empathy that backstabbing bitch.

FP: Ampora.

EA: And if she wants to treat me like that so be it, I’m a master of this kind of warfare. I can make anyone HATE me if they so wish.

EA: Well... I’d love for someone to hate me, like she once did. Anyone.

FP: …

EA: Fef.

FP: Yes?

EA: Is it really that bad to prefer to be hated than to be ignored?

FP: Oh my cod.

FP: I cannot deal with this anemonemore. I seriously can’t.

FP: Whenever we escape from here.

FP: Do yourself a favor, Ampora.

FP: Please go out, and touch some ALGAE.

EA: I cannot BELIEVE that in this place and time you can find the energy to keep making stupid sea puns.

EA: Excuse me, EELIEVE.

EA: I’m just asking for some time alone in my own fucking respite block and here you come knocking at my door to make unrequested puns. And get mad because I’m too sad to follow along your own mood when you’re too stubborn to leave or to take a no.

FP: You know why I’m here?

FP: Because you’re always like this! You never EVER change.

FP: You’re a jerk to everyone then cry and whine and be a dramatic mackerel because others get away from you!

FP: I even made prepared a breakfast just for you and you go and treat me like this!

FP: Honestly it’s exhausting having to deal with you all the time, not even Gl'bgolyb is this tiring.

FP: Vriska is THE drama queen, and even she ditched you.

FP: Like I should have done a long time ago.

EA: …

Ouch, that seemed to have stinged him hard.

EA: Fef you’re right, I’m so fucking stupid.

EA: I don’t deserve her at all.

EA: I don’t deserve you at all.

EA: God I’m so dumb for wanting to be important to someone else. I don’t deserve that from anyone and I never did.

Eridan sighs as he looks down to the floor on his side. He leaves the door wide open and begins to walk back into his room, welcoming her in. All the anger he felt minutes ago was like a raging fire that burned twice as bright, yet for only half as long. And when the ashes settled, he’s left feeling just dejected.

FP: Are you serious?

Feferi, on the other hand, is genuinely upset with him now, after having to endure yet again him trying to play those old and predictable manipulative tricks on her. He’s done them time and time again over the sweeps, being aggressive and rude to then collapse and be just a sad nervous wreck which she has to console on top of all her other duties as a fuchsiablood. She can barely stand him now, and it doesn’t help the Ampora at all, who is breaking down bit by bit in front of her. From being stuck here, from being barely tolerated by everyone else, from now being just one wrong turn away from losing the person he cares about the most.

FP: No, not this time. I’m done with your self-deprecating codcrap.

FP: You think I’m gonna pity you now? No! I’m done with your stupid manipulative-wannabe carping!

EA: No Fef I’m genuinely fucking sorry. I never wanted to manipulate you I never tried it even just once.

EA: I’m not a demented asshole, I never even wanted to kill the land dwellers for real or anything I just wanted her and your attention.

EA: I just don’t know how to properly handle some things but I’m serious please don’t leave me now.

EA: Please. I beg you.

FP: Eridan.

FP: I don’t want to hear any more of your dumb excuses. That ship sailed a long time ago.

FP: And it was. Your. Fault. Understood?

EA: …

FP: I want an answer now.

EA: Yes Fef, I understand. I just screwed up hard like I always do.

EA: Why can’t I ever do something right. Why am I always…

EA: Just a disappointment.

FP: Ugh.

It’s going to be a long and tough day for him – and for the looks of things, for her, too.

On the other side of the first floor, outside Despair INN and inside the school’s shop, there is Vriska who, after storming off the dining hall just as mad if not even more than him, just wanted to get her mind off everything this schoolhive and game represent. Obviously, that’s impossible given she’s trapped here alongside everyone else, but the small thrill coming from a luck-based game like the MonoMono machine is better than nothing, and certainly better than anything else the first floor has to offer for her.

John followed her out of the dining hall after watching all the other trolls do nothing about her, looking almost relieved she was gone, and with her (and Eridan), the worst of the tense atmosphere. For a moment he hesitates, but decides after a few moments to enter the school’s shop to at the very least give her some company. No one should be alone in this place.

VS: What are you doing here?

JE: I’m checking on you.

VS: I know that already, dumbass. It was a rhetorical question.

VS: I didn’t ask you to come, and you don’t gain anything from this conversation.

VS: So why you’re here?

JE: I don’t know how things are where you come from, or even between your friends, but I’m not like that!

JE: I’m not trying to gain anything or do some underhanded trick!

JE: I just wanted to see if you’re alright, and if you need anything.

VS: I don’t need ANYTHING from anyone, let alone your pity. Save it for yourself.

VS: I’m perfectly okay on my own as it’s always been. I’m fine here.

JE: If you say you’re doing fine…

JE: Then are you okay with me staying here?

VS: …

VS: I won’t force you to leave.

Vriska doesn’t force him out of the shop, but for a while all she does is slowly spending her daily allowance (provided by Monokuma) in the machine earning various prices, which then she just breaks and throws away. John accompanies her in silence, watching her play the machine not for the rewards which she doesn’t even want, but for the diminishing thrill of it.

VS: …

JE: …

VS: …

After a few minutes, Vriska herself breaks the silence. If he hasn’t left this room already, then… there must be something different to him. She can sense it. He isn’t like the others; he isn’t like the rest. Others would have left or berated her for her actions, yet John’s is just standing there, accompanying her without speaking a single word. It feels a bit refreshing for Vriska.

VS: You wonder why everyone felt so relieved when I left, don’t you.

JE: Yeah, I guess so. I would be lying if I said I didn’t.

VS: It’s a long story, I don’t feel like talking about all that right now.

VS: But… I think I could give you the short version. You must be bored to hell already anyways.

VS: My entire life I’ve been forced to… do awful things, just to survive.

VS: To feed a deadly giant lusus countless people just so my neck isn’t the one next in her chopping block, or my friends’.

VS: Almost getting killed by your partner in crime. And having to blind her in return for being a backstabber.

VS: Being hated because you want your friends to be better and stronger, because the weak always die. Always.

JE: How do you feel about it? Because it sounds pretty awful to me.

VS: You think I like that? Of course I fucking don’t!

VS: But to survive, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. There’s no other way.

VS: There has never been one.

VS: Now I’m stuck here, in yet another survival game. But now it’s one I couldn't even prepare for.

VS: Man, my luck is so goddamn awful.

VS: So getting the Ultimate Lucky Whatever Bullshit feels almost insulting!

VS: Whatever Monokuma assigned me, he was dead wrong.

VS: But that won’t stop me. Nothing has ever done, and nothing ever will.

VS: I will still win this game no matter what it takes. And no matter what others think.

JE: So you’re… you’re going to kill me eventually?

VS: You?

Vriska stops to analyze John from top to bottom for a moment. She lets out a small laugh.

VS: Nah. For whatever it’s worth, I will not kill you.

VS: That also includes not letting you die in case someone else ever becomes the culprit.

VS: I will not let anyone else get away with it, until I do. I will win this game no matter what.

VS: But until that day comes… I think we could keep talking, if you’re down with it.

For a little longer she kept playing with the machine, wasting her last coins on it. Afterwards, they went somewhere else to talk for some more and blow off some steam.

In the laundry room there are two girls who are waiting for the washing machines to clean their clothes. It’s been four days already in this academy, four days of living trapped here, and despite everything slowly falling apart around them, they are two best friends who can and will endure hell together to survive.

RL: Despite the fact I’ve been doing it my entire life, it always surprises me how fast can clothes pile up for washing.

RL: It almost feels like I’m sharing the same one wardrobe with all other Roses from alternate realities.

JE: Well at least these machines seem to be pretty good at their job!

JE: After this I want to take a long bath. Today’s been pretty rough and that I know that will make me feel a whole lot better.

RL: Yes, things are not exactly what they used to be a few days ago.

RL: But given our current position, for now all we can do is to hope we are already rock-bottom. Otherwise… things will get very bad.

Both girls fall quiet on the laundry room, with the only thing keeping the silence at bay being the washing machines at work. Rose has no problem talking to others if needed (or wanted), but at the same time she’s never been particularly talkative, and is perfectly fine with the silence and background noise. Jade, on the other hand, has something she’s been unable to take off her mind lately and wants to talk to her about it, but struggles for a few moments to find the right words and the initiative.

JH: Rose…

RL: Yes, Jade?

JH: I feel awful thinking bad about our new friends, I really do!

JH: But I can’t avoid thinking that if the moment ever comes, and poop hits the fan…

JH: I want you to know that I’ll be there to protect you.

JH: I’ve never shot a living being in my entire life. But if things come down to it… I’ll protect you guys, no matter when, where or how. Even without my firearms, I’ll be there.

JH: I’ve spent my entire life wanting to be with you guys, to stop being alone trapped in an island. And now that I have you, John and Dave with me, I don’t want someone else to take you guys away from me.

JH: I’m willing to defend everyone if needed. I won’t let any of you get hurt.

RL: It’s good to know that I’ve got the ultimate markswoman watching my back, I genuinely feel safer now. And, also…

RL: Jade…

RL: I promise I’ll be there for you too.

Rose smiles at her, and she smiles back. Not only they can and will endure hell itself together to survive in this academy and this game, but they’ll do it to protect each other too. And it’s going to take a lot more from Monokuma to even think about ever breaking that bond.

A few minutes pass by, and when the washing machines are done with their job, both of them go back to their respective rooms to take a shower before dinner.

A dinner in the dining hall, which would happen only for the humans and a few other trolls. The rest is still unwilling to come back to the dining hall so early after what happened merely hours ago. They’d rather wait for when it’s less crowded, more solitary.

A sign that no one in there feels good about.

DS: Let’s just get this over with.

Now, not even the humans can say they aren’t stressed, that they aren’t on edge, when their very environment has that feeling of uncomfortable uncertainty seeping into their minds with every passing day, with every passing hour, with every passing second.

Eventually, everyone goes back to their rooms to sleep.

…

. . .

…

Next morning, everyone meets back in the dining hall once again. The humans feel relieved when they see each other alive and well, even if for just another day. They prepare their breakfast, sit together, and eat as the trolls slowly trickle in one after the other, barely talking to each other.

It is in that uncomfortable silence that everyone eats, until eventually Karkat comes back from attending Gamzee, leaving his breakfast yet again right outside his door. Once he’s back, he notices something missing, and breaks that cold, very cold silence.

KV: Where the fuck is Tavros? I haven’t seen that dude in a while.

VS: Who cares about that dweeb?

EA: We are all on edge, that peasantblood might as well have just wanted to be alone in his room, like I know everyone else here wants deep inside.

EA. It’s natural for us to be tense in a situation like this, let alone in a fucking MURDER GAME. Just let him be, Kar.

EA: Besides, if anything, he’s one less problem to care about here in this room.

EZ: D --> We all have our nutrition plateaus full right now. If the lowblood wants to lock himself up, it’s his problem.

EZ: D --> I’m just expecting him not to be planning on… doing something unfavorable.

EZ: D --> I’ll be forced to preemptively act otherwise.

VS: As if that crippled loser could ever do that. He can’t even function without having his ass carried around. It’s his loss if he starves or whatever.

JH: You guys are okay with that?! You’ve got to be kidding me.

JH: He’s your friend!

JH: It’s okay if you have problems, everyone does, but you still have to see if he’s doing well!

JE: Yeah, it’s kinda unfair how you’re treating him now. I wouldn’t want to be treated like that by my friends.

EA: You’ve got some gills calling that rustblood my friend.

EA: I would never let myself be associated—

VS: I’m done with all this fucking yapping.

VS: Want me to go and check on him? Fine, just shut up.

VS: Be right back.

And with those words, an annoyed Vriska walks out of the dining hall towards the dorm rooms, towards the respiteblock of the Ultimate Animal Caretaker. In the past she felt very confused about him. In one hand, he represented practically everything she despised: a weak troll who refuses to do what’s needed to become stronger. She, thanks to her blood color, could have killed him a long time ago, and barely anyone would have made a fuss about it (except maybe her ex-scourge partner), yet she never did. Despite everything, Vriska still cared about him just enough to try and make him, in her eyes and vision, a better person. That’s the reason why, even more than the annoying blabbing of the other students, she volunteered right away to go check on him, even if it’s just something short and stupid, to get it over with quickly. She’s now outside his respiteblock, and she knocks. No response.

She does it again. Nothing at all.

Her heart races; she doesn’t know why. Vriska grabs the door’s knob; it’s unlocked. She pushes it back with force, and opens the door.

And when she does… all that she sees…

... 

Terezi smells something off from the dining hall, and immediately sprints off towards Vriska, following that smell of trouble and rust. The other students, now slightly worried and confused, follow behind her. She enters the now-open room, and Jade does so too just moments later. And when they see what’s inside, it takes them aback just as much as it did with Vriska moments ago. A body resting on top of a wheelchair, facing directly at them, with the throat slit, and the blood bathing the entire body and clothing with a layer of dried bronze, forming a pool right beneath the corpse down on the floor.

It has an expression of pure helplessness in its eyes. An expression full of despair.

It was all that Tavros Nitram, the Ultimate Animal Caretaker, felt right before he died.

That expression, that pain, that despair, is what the three girls see and feel before hearing something from the nearby speakers. It's that bell sound again. But this time, with five words that would bury in their minds for all eternity. Five words that will chase them until the day of their deaths.

Chapter Text

The air reeked of the smell of blood, which long ago stopped rushing out of his slitted throat like cattle in a slaughterhouse. But he wasn’t one, Tavros wasn’t cattle in a place like that. He was a student, he was a friend, he was a student here at Hope’s Peak Academy and an unwilling player of this demented game.

Now he’s dead. Dead in front of everyone.

MK: … And it was one of you who killed him.

JE: Are… you serious…?

MK: Yes! Remember the rules, everyone.

MK: A student who murders someone, and survives the ensuing trial, will graduate from the academy.

MK: Whoever did it, they are playing by the rules. Is there really something wrong with that…?

JH: O-of course there is! There is literally someone dead because of it! Because of this stupid game and you!

MK: Oh… a student of mine insulting me… my feelings are truly hurt and my heart aches…

TP: Monokuma. I have a question.

MK: Ask away, runaway!

Terezi steps forth towards him. She usually has a quite playful and somewhat derisive demeanor, willing to mess around with her friends just to have a good time. But now, all of that is gone. In the span of just a few minutes, she changed entirely, and now looks like a very different troll. Her expression is much more serious and focused. She has no time for any nonsense at all now. Like a true legislacerator at work.

TP: How do we know it was one of us who killed Tavros?

TP: In other words, give me even one reason to believe it wasn’t you.

MK: Wowie! You truly live up to the title of Ultimate Legislacerator, don’t cha? you make me so proud as your teacher I could hug you.

MK: But your hands are pretty full right now, so that will have to wait!

MK: And answering your question…

MK: If you can believe me when I say you’re trapped here for all eternity, you can believe me when I say I didn’t kill anyone. B’sides…

MK: I already know who killed him.

MK: If they wished so, they could confess right away. But everyone knows why they won’t.

MK: It’s up to you to find who they are.

MK: And, because I feel like you’re the one most capable around here… let me tell you something. A little tip from me to you.

Monokuma gets closer to Terezi, and raises his hand to his mouth, almost as if trying to half-cover it with his palm while ‘whispering’ a secret just for her.

MK: If you play your cards right, you might even get them to confess during the trial.

MK: But that’s only if you know what you’re doing!

He then turns to the rest.

MK: And I know the rest of you pretty much don’t. You aren’t experts at this kind of thing with corpses and such. You’re still just young and foolish students.

MK: Which is why I’ll give you something else to help you with your little investigation.

MK: Let me present… the Monokuma File!

MK: This file has all the relevant information about the death in question. You can check it as much as you want.

Monokuma passes it to the students, who immediately read it in search of some, any answers.

JE: The hell?! It doesn’t say who killed him!

MK: And why would I reveal you that?! It’s up to you to find them!! Not me!!!

MK: It’s your job to uncover them. My job is to know exactly how everything went down in full detail.

MK: Besides, if I didn’t have this information, how could I ever pass a fair and accurate judgment during the trial?

MK: It’s my duty to know everything to make a proper decision for the final punishment.

TP: So, we do everything by ourselves. And in the end, you just say if we are right or wrong.

MK: Pretty much!

TP: Okay, that’s everything I wanted to ask.

JE: You didn’t touch anything in here, did you?

JE: Because we have no way of knowing if you are in cahoots with the culprit!

MK: Have you guys forgotten already about rule twelve?

MK: You can rest assured that I have not interfered with the crime scene at all.

MK: All that you see is exactly how the culprit left it. Just as with knowing who did it, there couldn’t possibly be a fair trial if a third party was involved.

MK: …

MK: Puhuhuhu~

MK: And one more thing, my dear students.

MK: Either blackened or spotless, either a killer or an innocent, no matter what you are now…

MK: Your lives are on the line. Never forget that.

MK: Goodbye!

And with that, Monokuma disappeared from the room, leaving behind the students to untangle its deadly mystery.

Only them, and a very, very cold corpse.

JH: What should we—

TP: Slit throat; sharp weapon. Profuse bleeding; the killer must have been partially covered in blood. Severed jugulars and carotids… at least it was fast. For more information, I need to analyze in depth the crime scene and other places.

Terezi thinks out loud. Quite loud. Her eyes may be of a faded red from the induced blindness she suffered a long time ago, but even through her lost gaze and red glasses, there is an expression of pure concentration and dedication to her job in her eyes.

TP: Equius, Feferi. I need you here.

FP: Huh?

EZ: D --> What do you need.

TP: If we don’t want to die here, we need to find the killer. And for that, we need to check every potential evidence or clue they might have left.

TP: I will check on various places, but because that means leaving the body alone, the culprit can mess with it while I’m gone.

TP: And if they get rid of even more evidence, we are done. We already don’t have much to work with.

TP: Given you’re the two strongest students here, I need you to stand guard in this respite block, and make sure no one interferes with the crime scene.

FP: Glub! Okay!

EZ: D --> It’s… an understandable request. I’ll do my best.

JE: I… I’m not good at this kind of thing… so I’ll leave it to you Terezi.

JH: Me too… I don’t like having to look at corpses. But if you need anything, just let me know!

TP: I don’t know how much time we have to investigate, so we better split up to cover as much terrain as possible. We can’t afford to look over any piece of evidence.

TP: Rose, Kanaya. You’re smart and make a good team together. I need you to go check all other respite blocks. Perhaps the culprit left something in their room they couldn’t get rid of.

RL: Understood.

KM: Yes, of course.

TP: Serket, you’ll go with them.

VS: Why????????

TP: I need everyone to keep eyes on each other, and only pairs isn’t enough for that.

VS: Well, whatever. I’ve got nothing to hide anyways. Might as well find the loser who just signed their death warrant by trying to defeat me.

TP: About that. Everyone, open the door to your respite blocks. We need to check every possible place, and that includes here the dormitories.

KM: If someone were to try and avoid us checking their respite block…

RL: It would be awfully suspicious.

KM: Yes. It’s a good idea.

TP: John, Dave, Jade, check on the other half of the first floor. Classrooms, av room, gym; whatever you find there let me know.

DS: Yeah sure. We’ll Sherlock Holmes this shit.

EA: Why are you bossing everyone around?! You should know your—

TP: Do you want to lead the investigation? Go ahead, do it, Ampora. Tell me your plan to uncover the truth. Because if my work as a legislacerator isn’t good enough for you, tell me what you would do better.

EA: …

EA: Fine, whatever.

Eridan snorts annoyed.

TP: Eridan, Aradia, Sollux. Go check the supply room. See if you can find in there the weapon the culprit used.

SC: Why not. Let’s go Megi. We’ll check that place together.

AM: It will be a pleasure to help as much as I can. Perhaps I can unbury something there. 0u0

EA: Aren’t you forgetting about someone?

SC: I don’t think so.

EA: Fuck you.

TP: Nepeta, Karkat, stay with me.

NL: :33 < Sure!

KV: Your assertiveness now is kind of freaking me out, but okay.

Being now ready and having given the instructions to everybody, she sighs and turns around to face the students. The time to relax in this academy is now over. There is a dead body next to them, a mystery to solve, and a culprit to find. And Terezi Pyrope will not stop until Justice has been dispensed.

TP: Okay everyone, remember what Monokuma said.

TP: Our lives are on the line here. If we fail, His Honorable Tyranny will make musical instruments out of our bowels.

TP: And I intend not only on surviving, but on solving this case too. We can’t let the culprit get away with it.

TP: If you have any complains, stick those up your asses because I’m not hearing them now.

TP: Everyone, read the Monokuma file again. For the time being, that should be enough for you to look for anything on your own.

Terezi stops for a moment and takes her glasses off, revealing her blind eyes to everyone in the room. Every single student can see the seriousness in them.

TP: In this room there is a killer, someone who killed our friend Tavros.

TP: I don’t know who you are, but I’m going to find you no matter what.

TP: You will be punished according to law in due time. You will not get away with murdering our friend. My friend.

TP: You can be sure of that.

Terezi puts on her glasses again and continues.

TP: Search for anything out of the ordinary, and never take your eyes away from the other students. We don’t know yet who did it, but this way they won’t be able to cause any further harm. Now, go.

Being more or less dismissed, all other students leave Tavros’s room and spread across the first floor of the academy.

Inside now there are only five people, and a body. Equius, Feferi, Terezi, Karkat, Nepeta.

TP: KK, you are not going to be of much help here so please don’t interfere.

KV: Then why the fuck did you ask me to stay?

TP: Because I’ll need you later if we have enough time.

TP: Nepeta, come over.

NL: :33 < Roger that. What do you need?

TP: You’re the best huntress I’ve ever known, you’ve done this your entire life. You know how to track your preys in the wild, and use your senses to determine all you need to know. Tell me how old is the wound.

TP: It smells like old rust to me but I can’t be more precise than that without being able to look at the blood.

NL: :33 < Understood!

Nepeta first takes off her long green trench coat to avoid staining it with blood, and leaves it in Karkat’s hands. She then moves closer to the body, and leans over to examine it carefully from his head to his feet, not missing one single detail. But to be sure, she needs to do something else, one more thing. Nepeta inhales deeply, closes her eyes, opens her mouth, and…

Licks Tavros’s neck very slowly across its wound, to then taste the blood in her tongue.

KV: WHAT THE FUCK NEPETA. GROSS.

EZ: D --> That was unfathomably inappropriate behavior for—

NL: :33 < Shhh!!!

She then takes a few more moments to be completely sure about her verdict. She unconsciously moves her closed mouth while tasting the blood.

NL: :33 < He died about three hours ago.

TP: And what time is it?

FP: About 9:10 a.m. according to the clock here!

TP: Thanks, I can’t really lick the hour in this place, and the colors aren’t enough for me to smell them clearly.

TP: So, the Monokuma file is right. Tavros died around 6 a.m.

TP: Needed to check that to be sure Monokuma wasn’t lying. Now we can properly begin.

Terezi goes silent as she analyzes the entire room. First, she begins with the body itself on the wheelchair, but then she smells something, and moves on to the bed, somewhat away from the corpse, in which she notices something… small at first, but then just impossible to even ignore.

There’s blood on it too. A lot of it.

Then, on the floor, right next to the bed, she notices the color of rust. There’s a small pool of bronze blood, and very faint tire marks of that same color leading to where Tavros’s body currently is, alongside marks of dried blood drops on their sides.

NL: :33 < What could this mean…?

TP: I have some hypotheses, but I can’t confirm anything until I have more information.

TP: I need to keep on investigating the crime scene.

They can’t afford to fail, not here, not now. Terezi carefully examines every possible detail she can; she may not be able to notice every potential little thing, but her abilities and resolve are absolutely impressive and second to none when it comes to murder scenarios like this. Even Nepeta, the ultimate huntress herself, would have struggled to see faint bloodstains Terezi sensed right away with her color-smelling and touch. The rust in her fingertips contrasted immediately with the eerie tranquility of the deep blue of the tiled ceramic floor.

But even then, that isn’t enough, not when it comes to solving a murder mystery like this one. Alone she can’t solve it, there just isn’t enough time for her to do it. Terezi, Nepeta, Karkat, Equius and Feferi, everyone in this room needs the other students to do their part, and work together if they want to survive the upcoming trial.

…

Vriska, Kanaya and Rose, they are currently investigating the dorm rooms of all other students as requested. Before everyone departed to their assigned locations, they all opened their own rooms for those three to analyze carefully. First, they began with the humans’ rooms, but found nothing out of the ordinary there. Then, they moved to the trolls’ dorm rooms. Monokuma assigned the rooms the following way: The humans at the end of the corridor, then from back to front the trolls, slowly working the way up the hemospectrum, leaving the highbloods the closest to the dining hall.

Aradia is clear, they skip over Tavros’s to not interfere with Terezi, who is still sensing her way through the case in there. No one seems to have anything suspicious, but when they go over Kanaya’s dorm room, Vriska won’t waste the chance to tease her a little bit. Oh, this will feel so good for her. It’s time for some retribution for her relentless meddling, à la Vriska style.

VS: Hmmmmmmmm, what will we find here?

VS: Maybe… THE CHAINSAW you used to kill Tavros?!?!?!?!

KM: I was bereft of my belongings when we loaded the game. I do not have my lipstick with me.

RL: Though an interesting field of study, I am no expert in criminology. But even then, I really doubt a chainsaw would leave a clean wound like that. It’d be far gorier.

VS: Fair enough, maybe Kanaya used something else to kill him. Using her chainsaw would have been far too predictable and cliché anyways.

VS: You’re a smart cookie with very sharp fangs after all. :::;)

VS: But you’re not in the clear yet!

VS: You’re a mastermind of cunning manipulation and deceit, I know it from experience. D::::

KM: That is you. Everyone knows that.

VS: Everyone THINKS I am, which is all the more reason why you’re the culprit! No one would suspect you! it’s the perfect plan!

VS: Frankly, I’m in awe. You truly thought of everything. Rose, we’re clearly dealing with a criminal mastermind here. Don’t take your guard down or you will be the next in line.

RL: Note taken. But for now, let’s just focus on finishing inspecting this room and moving on to the next one.

VS: Yes, there is still one more place here we need to check…

Vriska walks past all the drawers full of needles, sewing machines, fabric, among other things like books full of notes. If Kanaya wasn’t already the Ultimate Meddlesome McFussyfangs, Vriska would genuinely believe she is the Ultimate Fashionista or something. She ignores all of that in her room and walks straight into the bathroom, and snorts in an incredibly dramatized way full of false surprise.

VS: Why is the bathroom still humid?!

KM: Because I take a bath every morning to begin my day.

VS: To… wash off his blood! Suspicious!

KM: …

KM: Rose, please give me strength.

RL: Request taken. And granted.

VS: Okay for real this is fucking useless; we aren’t finding anything at all. These are all just normal boring respite blocks and humid bathrooms!

VS: Is there anyone who doesn’t take a shower in the morning?

VS: Can you even take a bath during the night? I do it before nighttime anyways.

RL: I—

But then, Monokuma appears, and interrupts the loving conversation between this group of totally real friends. Yeah, the friendest of friends.

MK: I’m happy you noticed!

MK: Yes, you can take baths after the nighttime announcement.

MK: Here at Hope’s Peak Academy, the water runs at night too. As this is a game, you don’t have to worry about stuff like the water supply running out, getting contaminated or anything, so water is free to access for you, as long as it is responsibly.

MK: Because still! You should be environmentally conscious! Humans and trolls are very awful wasting everything! And water is one of those things. Do you know how much water is wasted in a thirty-minutes bath…? It really is a lot. And countless people do it every day too!

MK: Humans and trolls are the real monsters here, not poor ol’ Monokuma.

MK: So, today’s lesson from me to you is…

MK: Don’t leave the water running at night, students! It will get you in trouble!

And with that, he disappeared once again.

VS: Okay that was useless as shit.

VS: Even if we now know you can take a bath during the night, what does it change?

VS: We are still at square one.

Vriska begins to feel a little bit frustrated by their lack of progress. And it’s hard to blame her when every life in this academy is on the line. But…

In another dorm room just a few minutes later in the future…

VS: Wait, there’s something off here. I’m serious.

KM: What is it?

RL: What did you find?

VS: Everyone takes a shower and everything, sure… but even then… why does this bathroom feel like it was just used?

…

EA: What are we even looking for here?

Three trolls are in the supply room, rummaging across its countless boxes. If the killer used a weapon or a tool, the chance that it came from here cannot be ignored. They need to check everything carefully, while also keeping eyes on each other.

It’s going to take a long time, but it’s something that must be done. Otherwise, the culprit will have it even easier to graduate from this academy. And everyone here knows what that implies for them.

SC: If we already knew we wouldn’t be here, dumbass. In fact, the case would have been solved a long time ago probably.

AM: Exactly. 0u0

AM: If we always knew where to dig up old bones and remains we are looking for, death would lose a lot of its secrecy. And a lot of its beauty too.

AM: There’s something beautiful in death, but also in the art of being able to uncover the truth it tries to hide with the passage of space and time.

EA: Have I ever told you that you creep me the fuck out sometimes?

AM: Everyone says that.

AM: But it doesn’t matter to me. My focus isn’t on the living anyways.

AM: Dead trolls tell no lies. And that’s something important to have at this moment.

AM: As I intend to stay alive, unlike the culprit.

AM: Who won’t be for much longer.

SC: Yeah I don’t want to die stuck here in a random schoolhive in the middle of nowhere just so a random murderous jackass can get out.

SC: FUCK them. Tavros didn’t deserve to die just for your stupid shit.

AM: Even if quite vulgar.

AM: That’s the perfect attitude to have right now. 0u0

EA: Okay then let’s focus on searching this place because it’s fucking huge.

AM: That sounds perfect. We have a lot of room to cover this time.

EA: Wait, I can’t believe you are making puns at this time and place.

EA: It feels like a very stupid déjà vu.

EA: What does the hemospectrum even mean when both Fef and you make the same stupid puns at the worst possible times.

EA: Are you like, wiggle sisters or somefin.

EA: Wait here I go making those. What’s wrong with ME.

AM: Are you having an epiphany, Eridan?

SC: The fucker is just realizing the hemospectrum is nothing more than an oppression tool for the powerful to keep control of everything, and that blood color doesn’t mean shit about a troll. Just let him alone for a minute, let’s keep searching.

AM: Sure.

The weapon used to kill Tavros? Perhaps some item the culprit used to force the door open or to lower his guard? They don’t know what they can find here, or IF they will find anything at all. But if this effort is going to help everyone survive what’s to come, they’ll keep searching in the supply room until there isn’t even a single box that hasn’t been thoroughly checked.

EA: I… I have an idea; I want to share it with you guys.

AM: Hm?

EA: Everyone knows how hard Vriska wants to win this game to get out. She literally told us that back when we arrived.

EA: Wouldn’t that make her a prime suspect?

SC: Sounds likely, but I won’t put the blame on anyone until we have a bigger picture to look at.

AM: Even if I enjoy watching things break, fall apart and wither away, I don’t support taking rash actions right now. Not when failing means… our own deaths.

EA: That sounds reasonable.

EA: Let’s just hope this works out for the best in the end.

AM: … And that the culprit dies a slow painful death too. 0u0

There’s still a whole lot to check in here. But with the three of them in a relatively good mood and atmosphere, they might just do it in time.

…

Three humans are outside Despair Inn. After checking the A/V room, the classrooms, the gym, the entrance hall and the shop, they are stuck in the water having found nothing worth noting.

DS: What the fuck can we even Sherlock Holmes here.

DS: There is literally nothing.

DS: We checked everything real carefully and nope nothing at all.

DS: I’m sure the killer didn’t even come here.

DS: Like why would you even need to come to the gym or school shop to kill that dude. His room is on the other side of the first floor.

DS: Does the MonoMono machine have a fucking katana or something.

DS: Pretty cool if true, though.

JE: I have no idea, but Terezi asked us to check this entire side of the first floor, so we have to do it as best we can!

JE: It’s the least we can do for her and for everyone else. Perhaps the culprit didn’t think we would check here.

JE: Or perhaps she just wanted us out of her way, I don’t know. She’s pretty fucking weird sometimes.

JH: I don’t know who did it… I have no idea really.

JH: But I’m sure it was one of the trolls.

DS: What makes you think that.

JH: Because I know you guys, and I know you would never do something like that.

JH: I don’t know them that well just yet, but I’ve been with you guys my entire life, and I’ll unconditionally trust you forever.

JH: I’m fairly sure neither of you did it, and I will defend you in the trial if someone accuses you!

DS: Sweet. I’ve got Jade Wright watching my back ready to objection my way into innocence.

DS: Just don’t flirt with some Edgeworth girl and we are set.

JE: I’m also sure you didn’t do it Jade! And I don’t need dumb proof, evidence or whatever to know and be sure of that.

JE: You’re one of the coolest and kindest girls I’ve ever known and I will defend you too no matter what.

JH: Awww, you’re so sweet!

DS: I will warn Rose about you being onto her, though.

JH: Heh, come on.

DS: Just kidding, you’re pretty cool and everyone here knows it.

JH: Thanks, Dave. You’re cool and sweet too. :)

DS: T-thanks.

DS: I’ll take the first part but the second is only for ironic purposes.

DS: Too fucking smooth to ever be sweet or cute.

DS: So don’t call me that ever again, Jade.

JH: And what if I do? Because you’re very cute to me right now. ;)

DS: Okayhowaboutwegobacktosearchingtheroompleaseletsdothatrightnow.

Dave almost trips over his own words as he blushes and gets very nervous in front of them. Not even his sunglasses can save him now that he was effortlessly caught off-guard by Jade who’s just messing with him.

They will keep on searching for anything out of the ordinary around here. Some to help Terezi and the case, others to leave that embarrassing moment far, far behind.

...

But back in Tavros’s room…

TP: I know it’d be useless to ask everybody what they did during the night. Even if we asked the culprit directly, they’d just say they were sleeping like everyone else. We need to go over the case by rebuilding it from front to back.

TP: Everyone, tell me what you did today after you woke up.

EZ: D --> I woke up before the morning announcement. I use that extra time to do some stretching and mane exercises in my room to not lose strength. Then I took a shower. Afterwards I went outside to the corridor and waited for Nepeta. Together we went to the dining hall and met everyone else that was there. Today we were almost the last ones to arrive.

NL: :33 < I can attest to that! I struggle with waking up in time so I’m always a bit late during breakfast! And Equius always waits for me so I take a proper nutritive meal. We’ve been doing it for a few days meow.

NL: :33 < Today I woke up, went to take a shower, and met with Equius. We went together to the dining hall. Everyone was there except Karcat... and Tavros.

FP: I… woke up, and took a long shower. They make my gills and fins feel so refreshed, glub! So I always take long showers. Then I just went to the dining hall. But because my showers tend to be long, I was one of the last ones to arrive. I went alone.

FP: Sorry for not having any helpful information Terezi. 38/

TP: Don’t worry. For all we know this was the heinous work of just a single mind during nighttime. Most people here won’t have anything worth telling.

TP: And what about you, Karkat? You always had a knack for getting involved in stuff that isn’t your own business.

KV: Well fucking thanks you for the stray bullet, very much needed and appreciated.

KV: I would have felt so damn awful without you pissing me off for no reason as usual. Really. I missed that.

TP: Back to the point, Vantas.

KV: Fine.

KV: I woke up early and took a quick shower as usual. After Monokuma’s morning announcement I went to the dining hall to take care of Gamzee’s breakfast. But… I wasn’t the first there. Somebody already was in the meal block.

TP: Who?

KV: Eridan. I saw him preparing his own breakfast in silence. He didn’t seem like in the mood for talking so I just let him be while I minded my own business, Terezi.

KV: Although I wasn’t expecting him to be there so early, there wasn’t anything suspicious about that dude, he was just absent-mindedly preparing his own food. So I guess he just woke up earlier to avoid Vriska or some bullshit reason like that. Can’t really blame him.

KV: And while I was preparing Gamzee’s breakfast, the humans arrived… then you. Then I left to leave his meal outside his door like usual. And when I went back to the dining hall, all hell broke fucking loose.

KV: I just remembered I haven’t eaten anything all day long. I’m not even hungry with all this blood around us. Fuck.

Terezi thinks in silence for a few moments, processing all this new information in her mind, trying to reconstruct the events. There seemingly isn’t anything out of the ordinary with their accounts, but she knows way better than to discard information just like that.

TP: So, to make a summary of what you guys told me together with what I have right now…

TP: The murder took place around an hour before Monokuma’s morning announcement.

TP: Equius, according to his own testimony, woke up early. And after the announcement he waited for Nepeta outside her room. This behavior has been the case ever for few days now, as told by Nepeta herself. Then they went to have breakfast with all the others. They arrived late.

TP: Feferi woke up, and after a long shower she went to the dining hall on her own. She was one of the last ones to arrive.

TP: Karkat was one of the first to wake up. After the morning announcement, he went to the dining hall to take care of Gamzee’s breakfast. He wasn’t the first there, as he found Eridan in the kitchen, preparing his own meal in silence.

TP: No one saw or heard anything suspicious, according to their own accounts.

TP: And… there’s me. I woke up after the morning announcement. And by the time I arrived to the dining hall, Karkat was already preparing that breakfast for Makara. The humans were already there. Then Karkat went back to Gamzee’s door to leave the food there.

TP: When he came back, he noticed Tavros was missing, by which point… everything unraveled.

TP: It’s a lot, but I need to remember that.

TP: Feferi, Equius, stay here. I need to check another place.

TP: Karkat, Nepeta, come with me.

Having examined the entire room, the Ultimate Legislacerator moves towards her next destination: The Dining Hall itself. More specifically, the kitchen. Other than the supply room, that’s the most likely place where the culprit could have obtained the weapon used for the crime.

Knowing they probably don’t have much time left, Terezi walks rather fast towards the dining hall, then to the kitchen, and the main thing she’s after: The knives.

But they… are all there, and all clean. Neither she or Nepeta can detect any blood traces in them. They are fully clean, almost as if never used at all.

But then, before Terezi can disregard them, she senses… something off. It was hard to determine at first, but after a few moments of carefully analyzing them up close, even taking the blades to her tongue to taste if there’s anything out of the ordinary in them, she realizes what she sensed at first: It’s the smell of dampened wood.

One of the knives was cleaned so thoroughly that the wooden handle absorbed the water, and didn’t fully dry off in time. Why it needed to be cleaned even more extensively than the others, is yet to be determined, but Terezi knows there’s something strange at least about one of them.

...

Wait… is that actually strange? Am I serious...?

Terezi abruptly stops, and thinks about everything going on for a moment. Is this really related to the case? Genuinely anyone could have used this knife to cut something for their breakfast, which then they washed and for whatever reason they left it wet, with the wood dampening afterwards. Is this something she's really going to take as evidence?

She… isn’t sure, she isn’t sure if this clue is anything really worth caring about, or if she’s even doing a good job at all right now. Tavros is dead, and she couldn't save him. She may be just looking for clues where there aren’t any, and it’s all in her mind, making up baseless theories just to have something to grasp on, and don’t feel like a failure when everyone needs her the most. Perhaps she’s not even a great legislacerator to begin with. Perhaps... she just isn't good enough. Right now, after having such a resilient and stoic attitude while investigating the murder, Terezi Pyrope suddenly feels like a fraud who simply can’t make a change in the world, nor can she even protect the ones she cares about. Maybe it was just a mistake to try and lead everyone in this case—

KV: Hey, Terezi, are you alright?

KV: You seem… anxious out of a sudden, you freaked me the fuck out.

KV: We need you, everyone does. If something's wrong please tell me because I can't afford to lose you now.

With those words, with his voice, she snaps out of it.

TP: Y-yes, I'm okay. I was just... thinking about something. Let’s continue, we still have two more places to go.

No matter what, if Terezi is to make a solid case for His Honorable Tyranny, she will inevitably need much stronger evidence than just a dampened knife. And she has an idea of where to maybe get it.

It’s time to check that dorm room. Perhaps it may contain the evidence she needs. They also have to check on him, the one Karkat has been taking care of.

But before she could even get to that respite block, a message resounded across the academy, coming from the speakers. And a figure appears in it, it’s Monokuma.

Whatever plans Terezi had to gather more evidence, whatever hopes everyone had to find more information, are now gone, gone with just a single announcement.

TP: I guess this is it.

KV: We will find that fucker and we will make them pay.

NL: :33 < I know we will, because you did a great job Terezi!

TP: As a legislacerator at law, I'll do my best to expose the culprit, and hang them with my own hands if necessary. I... have to do it, for him.

KV: I know you will. When it's about law and justice, you're one of the fiercest trolls I've ever known. And I'm sure as all high fuck that won't change now.

TP: Thank you.

Everyone in here knows that Tavros deserved better than what he got, that he deserved better than all the bad things he had to endure his entire life. But now he’s dead, and he won’t ever come back to life. He suffered a lifetime of abuses because of the whims of other people, and now he died because of someone else, too. It’s up to those who are still alive to avenge his death, to make justice in his name, and to not let the culprit escape this academy. It’s the very least they can do for Tavros Nitram, the one who used to be the Ultimate Animal Caretaker.

The time for investigations is over, now it’s time to expose the truth in the class trial. Whether they succeed or fail, is yet to be seen, but neither the blackened nor the spotless will go down without a fight.

And for Monokuma, this couldn’t possibly be any better.

Chapter Text

As the fifteen students go through the red door into the waiting room, they all know— they all feel something entirely else is waiting for them on the other end of that elevator. Something caused by them, something performed by them, something designed… just for them.

Well, whatever it may be, there is no time for hesitations and doubting, because as soon as everyone is inside, the monitor next to them lights up. Monokuma is in it, carefreely sipping from a drink before talking.

“Please, board the elevator. It will transport you to the courtroom. Puhu. I’ll be waiting for you down there, where all your fates will be decided~”

Ominous.

KV: Okay I hope everyone is prepared because we can’t afford to slip and miserably fail.

KV: If any of you have a death wish you better fucking postpone it because I refuse to go down with you.

EA: Whoever the culprit you better be sweating cold because we will find you.

VS: Can we save this talk for when we are actually in the courtroom and not standing here like idiots?

SC: Yeah, standing here will get us nowhere. We have to get on with this trial asap, but I’ve got a question first.

SC: How is Gamzee here? Dude didn’t even show up in the entire investigation and now is here like nothing.

MK: Rule number 4, students!

Monokuma, once more, shows up out of nowhere to talk to them in person. By now, everyone is more or less used to him suddenly appearing like that.

MK: When a murder takes place, all surviving students must participate in a class trial.

MK: Whatever you do during the investigation is your own business, but participation in the class trial is mandatory!

MK: So I dragged him out of his room all the way to here. He didn’t resist really, but didn’t know what’s going on either.

MK: If I wasn’t his teacher, I would say he’s a lost cause not worth the trouble. Whoops!

GM: I was in the middle of creating an altar for the mirthful messiahs.

GM: But then this heretic motherfuck…

KV: Hey hey hey, I’m here dude it’s alright, everything’s alright.

KV: We are just going to do something really quick, then you can go back to your room.

When Karkat saw Gamzee’s pupils abruptly shrink in a fixated stare, a chill went down his spine as he immediately did his best to calm his moirail down, fearing what would happen if he were not to do it right away.

GM: Whatever you say bro, but this better not take long.

GM: Honk.

KV: It won’t, I promise we will find Tavros’s murderer right the fuck away.

GM: So… t-dawg really is dead, dang.

GM: There was so much shit I wanted to say to him.

GM: So much slam poetry I thought just for him.

GM: …

GM: To the bastard who killed my t-dog. I will gouge your own eyes out with my bare hands to then force-feed you them as you wear a mask I’ll make out of your own fucking ripped skin.

GM: Understood, motherfucker?

The fixated psychotic stare in his face appears again, but this time with an increasingly agitated breathing. But then, he’s both interrupted and distracted by Monokuma.

MK: That’s my job, not yours!

MK: If you want to host your own sadistic killing game, that’s fine! just don’t do it while inside my own, jeez!

MK: I would be out of a job if someone replaced me… my soaring popularity would plummet… and no one cares about an out-of-fashion mascot…

KV: We will find them and they’ll be punished for their crimes, I promise, Gamzee.

GM: Better motherfucking hope so.

GM: …

GM: Honk.

TP: Are we done? We need to go inside. This case isn’t going to solve itself.

JH: You’re right, and I’m done standing here talking about the case but not doing anything about it!

DS: Everyone, you better be packing your biggest hottest verbal irons, because this bitch is about to get some heat.

DS: On your hip, on your mouth, on the beat, whatever just be ready real fast.

RL: Let’s go, I doubt Monokuma will give us all day.

With those words, everyone stepped into the elevator, and with heavy mechanical sounds and a noticeable vibration, it promptly started to descend.

Descend to a deadly deception, descend to a deadly debate.

Descend to a deadly class trial.

MK: Nyohoho! So you’ve finally arrived!

MK: This place is the courtroom, here you will hold this and all future class trials until either the culprit gets away, or only two students remain.

MK: Now hurry, hurry! Find your assigned seats.

They all quickly do exactly as they’re told. The air is heavy, the atmosphere tense and uncomfortable, just like in a real courtroom about to go in session.

MK: Your seats are arranged in a circle, so that everyone can see each other at all times.

MK: It makes you feel vulnerable, exposed, on edge.

MK: Just perfect for a class trial like this one!

MK: Because if you make even just one tiny teeny mistake, it all could come crumbling down.

MK: But whether that happens or not, it’s up to you, the blackened and the spotless.

MK: This class trial is your new battlefield, the ultimate clash between hope and despair.

MK: Who will win? Who will claim victory…?

MK: I’m just dying to see!

And so, the curtain of the first case of this Semester of Killing opened.

One dead, one killer, fifteen survivors. All battling against each other in this court room to find the truth, or to win it all. Whatever happens next, is up to them, and only them.

Class trial. All rise!

MK: Okay, so, before you begin, lemme do a basic explanation of the class trial. So, your votes will determine the results.

MK: If you can figure out “whodunnit” then only they will receive punishment. But if you vote and pick the wrong one…

MK: Then I’ll punish everyone *besides* the blackened, and the one that deceived everyone else will graduate!

MK: Okay, that is enough for the preamble. Get ready to get started!

TP: Before we actually start. I have one question, Mr. Vanilla-Carbon chalk. It’s about how these class trials work.

MK: … Yes?

TP: When someone is accused, what happens then? What does your jurisprudence dictate?

MK: What makes you ask such foolish things?! Of course they can refute whatever it’s thrown at them! Everybody is equal in the democracy of the class trials, and everybody can attack others and defend themselves however they see fit!

TP: The accused… has the chance to defend themselves?

TP: That’s… interesting.

TP: So these trials aren’t like the ones we have back in Alternia, where the moment you make it to the stand, your fate… is already sealed with a hole in the ground, and a plate for your bowels.

MK: Oh, right, I forgot that in your little gray planet your ‘trials’ are a little bit different. Nah, here they are as fair as the word fair itself can be!

TP: I see. There instead they are just a show. Not for His Honorable Tyranny, but for the audience. To… cower them into compliance.

MK: A show for the audience, you say? Puhuhu~

TP: What?

MK: Nothing, I just find it funny. That such a sacred thing like a trial would ever be used as a tool intended for the audience.

MK: But that’s enough! You’re taking way too long to start this! The culprit is falling asleep with this asinine chitchat!!!

TP: Okay, I got the answer I was looking for anyways.

Terezi sighs, and puts both hands on her podium. Behind her glasses, there are two red eyes lost in the distance, frantically searching for the best course of action to take in this class trial. One way or another, someone will die here, to add yet another corpse to the body count of this killing game. But the fact that the prosecuted has the opportunity to mount a defense of their own, is a refreshing idea for Terezi, who wants to protect them, her friends, everyone in here including the humans, from an impending death if things go wrong. She feels extremely frustrated she couldn’t protect him, but she’ll do her best to at the very least uncover the truth behind this murder to save everyone else. It’s the least she can do.

TP: I think… we should start by making a summary of the case.

TP: By sharing whatever information we all found during the investigation, we have a better chance at discovering the culprit.

TP: I suppose I should begin since I was the one examining Tavros’s room alongside Karkat and Nepeta.

NL: :33 < You’re really great at purr job Terezi!

RL: Indeed. It must be said that, given what little time we’ve had so far, and the unorthodox circumstances we’ve been thrown in while getting to know each other, your apparent derisiveness completely disappeared as soon as we found the body.

RL: And now you’re leading us all in something that’s closer to your field of expertise, than it is to any of ours.

RL: If anything, I find that quite admirable.

TP: Thanks, but let’s not get distracted now.

TP: He’s… dead, and I must find the culprit. I can’t let that go unpunished.

RL: Of course, let’s go back to the main topic of this class trial.

TP: First of all, we personally confirmed the information given in the Monokuma File is right. Nepeta checked that thoroughly.

KV: Just… don’t ask how. Please.

TP: I know it seems obvious, but we can’t take anything for certain until it’s been proved beyond a shadow of a doubt.

TP: Tavros Nitram, the Ultimate Animal Caretaker, was murdered in his room at around 6 a.m. by an unknown culprit.

TP: The weapon used in the murder is unknown as of right now, but it can be assumed to be a sharp object. I can’t think of another kind of weapon that would leave such a clean and deep wound.

TP: Reason of murder? Simple: The graduation from this killing game.

TP: Given the circumstances it cannot be doubted that is the reason why it happened.

VS: Do we really need to go over things so obvious? It’s obvious they killed him to get out of here!

TP: Yes. As a Legislacerator I cannot let any loopholes or ambiguity be of advantage to the prosecuted in any way, shape or form.

TP: Besides, if we intend to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that the culprit did it, we cannot overlook even the simplest of elements. Everything is required to arrive to the correct conclusion: the truth.

TP: Also shut up, Serket.

Terezi isn’t the same girl she was sweeps ago, who played in her own hive fictitious cases with scalemate plushies while having delusions of changing the world by herself and protecting all her friends. This isn’t past her, and this case isn’t fictitious.

It is all too real.

Like the blood which stained her hands, like the corpse she analyzed not long ago.

And if she has to act like a true legislacerator to bring justice to this case, so be it. If she has to be the fiercest, most cunning legislacerator this academy has ever seen, she’ll put all those solar sweeps of practice and preparation into action right now. She may not exactly be a detective, she isn’t able to discover all possible clues, but her ability to see the truth amidst an ocean of lies, betrayal and deceit, is going to make her succeed where many others would fail.

And it all started with this very case, the second she saw his dead body.

TP: But that’s not the only thing we found.

TP: There was also blood on his bed, and on the floor right next to it.

NL: :33 < We also found tire marks made out of his blood leading to where we found him!

TP: At that moment, I couldn’t think of an immediate reason as to why that was the case.

TP: But given what we know so far, it’s logical to assume that Tavros Nitram was not killed where we found him. Instead, he died facing his own bed.

TP: Then, for some reason I can’t figure out yet, he was carried from there to near the entrance, where we found him.

TP: Otherwise things would not match the crime scene, if he died somewhere else.

TP: For now, that’s all the relevant information. What did you guys find?

JE: For our part, we didn’t find anything on the other side of the first floor. Sorry. :(

DS: Yeah we checked everything real carefully and nope nothing at all. If the killer ever was around there, they’re a fucking ninja, because nothing seemed out of place. Av room, shop, gym, you name it, all normal.

TP: That’s what I suspected. The culprit had no reason to go outside the dormitories to either commit this murder or make it easier.

TP: Well, we had to check the entire first floor anyways, even if just to be sure they weren’t there.

TP: Now we can confirm the culprit didn’t exit the dormitories to commit the crime. Or if they did, it doesn’t have anything to do with the case.

TP: Aradia? Eridan? Sollux?

SC: We checked literally every single box in the supply and found jack shit.

EA: It was absolutely useless. NOTHING that could even be considered a potential weapon was in there. Some interesting and fashionable genderless clothing though, but that’s off the point.

AM: Yes, there was no bones for us to dig up. In fact, it all seemed very fine and orderly until we arrived to usher chaos in the name of the law.

AM: But personally, I think we had a great time there, thinking about how the culprit will inevitably fall and die. And I’ll enjoy closely watching their entire plan slowly break apart, and the hope in their eyes wither away. 0u0

KV: What the fuck.

SC: Before you ask, Terezi, yes we checked those things REAL CAREFULLY. I made sure Eridan wasn’t just glancing at the boxes like some x-ray motherfucker.

EA: What did I do to deserve such comment? You know perfectly well I was taking it completely seriously. Your partner talking to me didn’t distract me at all.

SC: Yeah whatever dude.

SC: Point is, unless the killer somehow decided to use the edge of a blister package out of all possible things… no, we didn’t find the weapon there either. Just a whole lot of everything, and nothing useful at the same time.

TP: That’s useful to know, thanks.

AM: Hm? How so?

TP: Because it narrows down the list of potential places the culprit could have gotten their weapon from.

AM: When we finished checking the supplies, we went on to check the laundry room, and all the washing machines, but didn’t find anything there either.

SC: The culprit is not stupid enough to leave their own bloodstained clothing in open view there.

TP: That’s also useful to keep in mind, the culprit must have done something else to their clothing. But for now, let’s continue.

TP: After I was done examining the crime scene, I went toward Gamzee’s room to check on him with Karkat, but ran out of time in the corridor.

TP: Kanaya, Rose, Vriska. What did you find in his room? And the others?

GM: Honk.

KM: We wanted to check Gamzee’s respite block like everyone else’s, but… the smell was so pungent we just took a quick look and left.

KM: Nothing particularly stood out. If for nothing you mean everything being quite off-putting and clown-related.

VS: Man, you’ve got to learn to clean your fucking room. This isn’t our hives with all that fresh air, that place fucking stank.

GM: Whatever you say, my wicked sister. Might as well do so.

GM: Maybe you should come to my room and help me clean it. You might even witness some miracles happen. :o)

VS: How about I fucking don’t.

VS: You know what? It’s fine, never mind. Just asphyxiate yourself to death in that place however you want. It doesn’t smell worse than you anyways.

JH: Guys, did can we go back to the case? I literally don’t care if Gamzee smells or whatever, that’s not important right now!

GM: :o(

KM: Yes. We are losing focus.

KM: Besides his, we examined all students’ rooms thoroughly. Our method was to begin with the humans then move our way forward through the corridor. Most rooms didn’t have anything worth nothing, as expected. After all, only one of us is the killer.

KM: But… there was one room that stood out from the rest, if you ignore Gamzee’s and Tavros’s.

KM: It was Eridan’s room.

VS: All other rooms were so boringly generic I can’t even remember one detail from them. But his room was so fucking humid like if the dude had just taken a shower there.

KM: We checked the bathroom, and it was the only one who had condensed steam in the walls.

KM: But of course, that hardly counts as something resembling evidence, it’d be quite a stretch to call it that. So, Eridan, to clarify that I want to ask you right now—

VS: How do you explain having the bathroom practically drenched when we arrived?! Were you washing his blood off and sneaked out just before we arrived????????

KM: Vriska, you’re not helping.

EA: In case you have forgotten Serket, I’m a sea dweller, I have needs related to my semi-aquatic physiology.

EA: One of which is keeping my body FUCKING HYDRATED. Just ask Fef over there she’ll tell you the same.

EA: Besides, long baths make wonders for my skin and make me feel quite refreshed.

EA: I take long showers before starting my day, and to end them. Sometimes in between too depending on my mood.

EA: Does that answer your question, Kan?

VS: …

KM: I suppose so.

KM: Feferi’s bathroom also was somewhat humid just not nearly as much. Other than that, we found nothing else worth reporting.

Terezi takes off her glasses and puts them in the podium as she gazes off into the distance with her blind eyes, in silence. To say they are in a rough spot, is to fall dreadfully short. She knows the simplest cases tend to be some of the hardest, just because they have less variables that can go wrong. A complicated plan requires just way too many things to go right, while a simple knife to the throat just requires not getting caught in the act. How can they advance? Or more precisely, how can she make things advance?

But after a few moments of thinking in silence, something… appears in her mind.

They all talked for a while; of how they treat their skin, of the longs bath they take, of how frustratingly little they’ve achieved thus far. All of the students took turns to talk, yet she stood silent in her spot.

But then, almost as if out of nowhere, after having such a serious, nearly emotionless façade for so long, her lips begin to slowly widen. Terezi smiles.

No, it’s a smirk.

TP: You know guys, I have a theory.

KM: And that is?

TP: After thinking carefully about it, I don’t think Karkat’s the culprit. And I have a very good reason to think so.

KM: Why?

TP: He’s simply too stupid to pull it off.

KV: …

TP: Hehehehe. >:]

… Whoa. That was sudden, to say the least.

KV: Oh wow, what a FUCKING whiplash I just got from you. My neck broke like a damn twig.

KV: Real fucking constructive, you stupid dumbass.

TP: Oh come on, Karkykat. I’m just defending you here, and you insult me like that. That’s not how you should treat a lady, let alone one who’s defending your harmless ass.

TP: You really are just a dumb wiggler who’s way too stupid and can’t pull off something that requires actual intelligence. >:]

For what it’s worth, the usual Terezi is back.

KV: You know what? I won’t even dignify that with an answer. Fuck you.

KV: Can anyone say something actually productive that doesn’t make me want to puke?

DS: What can I say, bro. She roasted you so hard I’ll advocate for your innocence from now on. I’ll be the Edgeworth to your Wright.

DS: Wait that means I’d go down on Terezi she’s your lawyer here. Never mind.

KV: Oh fuck you too, Strider. What the FUCK are you even talking about now.

DS: Little Timmy when this is over we’re gonna have a talk about the birds and the bees.

TP: Winky wink Dave. >;]

She really did say that out loud.

KV: WHAT THE FUCK EVEN IS A LITTLE TIMMY.

FP: But he is innocent!

Feferi interrupts with a concerned face.

VS: What gives?

FP: We have mutual alibis that make us innocent, glub.

TP: Explain yourself.

KV: Finally, SOMEONE says something that makes fucking sense. Thank you, heiress. This shit was getting so stupid it was giving me an aneurysm.

FP: Yesterday was pretty rough for everyone, including me. I was up to my gills with that! So, while everyone was sleeping last night, I met with him to blow off some steam.

TP: Wha—

EA: Excuse me Fef you did fucking what.

KV: WE JUST TALKED FOR A WHILE BEFORE GOING TO SLEEP THAT’S ALL.

Karkat exclaims, both flustered and ever so slightly blushing for how blunt Feferi said it. For fuck’s sake, why can’t anyone here take things seriously like him? Is he really the only one who actually doesn’t want to die to that bear over there?

FP: Glub, he’s right!

FP: I wanted to get my mind off all that happened yesterday because I couldn’t sleep. I even took an extra nightly shower, but it didn’t really work, so I went out for a walk instead. And that’s when I found Crabkat! He was leaving a couple of Faygo bottles outside Gamzee’s respite block.

VS: But the dining hall is closed at night, so how did you get it Vantas????????

KV: I don’t know the reason why there is Faygo in this place in the first place, let alone refrigerated in the fucking supply room. But hey, I’m not complaining. Makes it easier to take care of the stoned fucker over there.

GM: Honk.

FP: Anyways, you sea, after I met him we walked around the first floor talking about glubever thing we could think of to distract ourselves. And after a while, we parted ways in the middle of the night, we were incredibly sleepy at that point!

KV: I didn’t watch the clock but it must have been pretty damn late, probably around 2 or 3 a.m.

KV: And the point is, we were both so fucking exhausted we weren’t in a position to commit a literal murder.

VS: Okay, whatever you say, you’re both innocent and exhausted and blah blah blah. Why were you outside in the first place Karkat?

KV: I couldn’t sleep well either. All this shit kept me waking up constantly so after a while I just said fuck it and went outside, taking care of Gamzee was just something I thought of once I already was outside.

SC: This is getting us nowhere. Can we move on please?

TP: Not the strongest alibi I’ve ever heard, but I don’t think you’re lying, so let’s just forget that and move on.

For a brief moment, even though her playful self is back, Terezi seemed unusually annoyed at what those two said.

EA: Anyways, because we are totally dead in the water like hunted down lusii.

EA: Our current approach is clearly not working, so let me propose something different.

EA: Something I’ve been thinking for a while now.

RL: What’s your idea?

Eridan takes a second to lean forward on his podium, both hands on it, before speaking.

EA: Oh, it’s very simple.

EA: Vriska’s the culprit.

VS: …

VS: What the fuck?

EA: Yes, you are. Didn’t you always say you had way too many irons in the fire all the time?

EA: Well, guess what, Ser. I just caught your hands on one. The hottest of all.

VS: The hell are you talking about?

EA: Consider this masterful display of wits my retribution for what happened yesterday.

RL: What makes you assert such bold claim?

AM: Right, that’s one of the things he talked to us about in the supply room. 0_0

EA: I have very good reasons to think that.

EA: But it all comes down to two points:

EA: The first is that, as everyone knows, she hated Tavros, way beyond any caliginous quadrant would allow.

EA: You don’t go and throw your kismesis off a fucking cliff anyways and leave them crippled for the rest of their lives.

EA: In fact, you all know she tried to kill him that time, it’s just that she succeeded this time.

VS: Don’t believe him! I didn’t want to kill Tavros back then. If I really wanted, he’d have been cold dead eight feet under for a long time now.

EA: Second of all, as you can all remember, she explicitly said she was going to win this game.

EA: I vividly remember her words, in fact.

EA: “I’m off. But unlike that coward, I’m intending to win. I’m not going to lose this game; not to you, not to him, not to anyone.”

EA: She wanted to win the game, knowing full well it meant graduating by killing someone else.

EA: And now, out of all people, Tavros is dead.

EA: What does that make you think but that she’s the one to blame for this murder?

VS: …

Eridan has a smug smile as he adjusts his glasses by the bridge. The Ampora has been carefully thinking about it long before the trial even started. He took his time once inside it, waiting for the right moment to strike swiftly and hard, like a true legendary general or admiral would. Now that she’s dazed and confused, all he has to do is to finish the job, to deliver the final blow, and she’ll go down like a zeppelin in flames.

EA: No need to thank me for my fearsome intellect. Psychological warfare is but one of my many areas of expertise.

EA: Come on, I know you guys can join the dots. Put two and two together and tell me what it forms.

FP: A fish? 380~

EA: …

EA: No Fef, for fuck’s sake. It’s not a fucking fish at all.

EA: Vriska is the culprit, and all evidence points to that.

EA: It is outright undeniable at this point.

VS: You cannot be serious dude.

Vriska simply can’t believe what she’s hearing right now. How can he say such things????????

VS: I feel soooooooo offended right now.

VS: See, if I did it, if I killed Tavros, I wouldn’t have made such a piss poor job of covering the murder.

VS: I would have done the perfect crime. Not this embarrassing amateur bullshit.

VS: I would have even dissolved the body in the bathroom using whatever acid is in here.

VS: Does anyone seriously—

KM: I… I guess that’s right, Eridan. It sounds logical, at least.

KV: I think so too. Out of all the most psychotic demented girls I’ve ever known, which are just a troll caegar a dozen in Alternia, I’m sure as all fuck that you take the crown, Serket.

VS: …

FP: Glub. 38(

JH: I don’t like to blame anyone, let alone my friends, but when you put it like that…

DS: Shit’s outta luck.

EZ: D --> It sounds very reasonable to put the blame on you, Vriska.

NL: :33 < Sometimes you’re very mean and meowful!

AM: Yes, I could not possibly agree more with that, Nepeta.

AM: Also, this sounds an awful lot like Vriska. If someone were to kill Tavros to win a game, it’d surely be her.

SC: Yeah, you literally tried to use me in the past to kill Megi. Betraying your friends is just par for the course for you.

VS: That was ages ago! Why does everyone hold grudges for no reason?!

VS: Come on, someone has to believe me, I’m not the culprit, seriously!

At first Vriska was confused with the Ampora’s words, completely sure everyone would just dismiss his seemingly nonsensical accusation. But as practically every student instead started to believe the idea, she’s no longer feeling confusion, but the mounting pressure of having her back firmly against the wall with no way out, no way of feasibly defending herself. Not just against her ex-kismesis, not just against his accusation of being Tavros’s killer, but practically against all her friends too.

VS: C-come on Terezi, you’ve got to help me in this! You know I would never kill him!

VS: W-we are the scourge sisters, remember? We even got our truce going on, you can’t just abandon me when you know they’re wrong!

TP: …

Terezi struggles internally with a frown in her face. In the past this would have been extremely hard for her, to choose between her mind, and her heart. She maybe would have even conceded in circumstances like this, just to defend her best friend. But Terezi is no longer that small girl, and after a brief moment, she loudly sighs with a tired and worn expression.

And Vriska’s heart comes to a sudden stop as soon as she realizes what’s about to come.

TP: You know I don’t like to judge without carefully analyzing every single piece of evidence available. Let alone in a trial like this where all our lives are on the line.

TP: But Eridan’s account is very logical. And because of our lack of more evidence, clues and alibis, I cannot dismiss what he said. That is to say…

TP: You’re a suspect now.

VS: ::::(

TP: Vriska, if you’re innocent, you have to prove it, you have to make us believe that’s the case.

TP: Please do it. I don’t want to believe it, but I can’t look away from the truth, nor can I ignore the mounting evidence.

VS: I-I…

She can’t think of anything right now. And how could she? Not even the best alibi could demonstrate her innocence when… everyone thinks of her like that, even Terezi. That’s how much they all trust her. To be the first to truly play this twisted game, to be the first to dance to Monokuma’s tune, to be the one who killed Tavros.

Vriska feels both hurt and betrayed by them, but it hardly matters to her right now because, ironically enough, she has hotter irons in the fire at this very moment. Being able to prove her innocence so she doesn’t die a horrible death, is one of them.

VS: What about Gamzee?!

VS: He’s a psychopath lunatic that gives everyone the creeps! He could have done it too!

GM: T-dawg was my invertebrother, I would’ve given my life to protect the miracle that was him.

GM: I remember the nights I slammed out hardcore poetry just for him when he felt the universe was denying him the miracles of joy and mirth. His smile meant the fucking world to me.

GM: And now… he’s gone.

GM: Because of you.

GM: Don’t forget I am the motherfucking Ultimate Subjugglator. Mark that in fire in your aberrant think pan.

GM: If you ever say again that I killed my t-dog, you can be sure the Dark Carnival will have a new offering made out of fresh cerulean flesh and blood very fucking soon, Serket.

KV: Wow okay calm down dude, I know you’re angry, I am too but please don’t go apeshit now I beg you.

KV: This isn’t the place or time for that. It won’t do jack shit to avenge Tavros.

KV: I’m here everything’s fine, we will make her pay in due time. Just relax, okay?

GM: …

GM: Honk.

EZ: D --> I don’t think it was him. This method is… unfitting for someone of such noble and perfect blood, even if he’s a distasteful disgrace to it. And although I want him to express his righteous authority in a more.

EZ: D --> Dominating, and forceful.

EZ: D --> Way, I still do not think this looks like something he did.

AM: You’re right, Equius. It’d have been a lot…

EZ: D --> More elegant? Exquisite? Assertive?

AM: Gorier. And very gross.

EZ: D --> Fiddlesticks.

AM: He would have made an absolute mess, not just one clean wound.

TP: You… You’re right, Aradia. I don’t think it was him either.

VS: You defend him but not me?!

TP: …

EZ: D --> So we can all agree to cross his name out of the list of suspects. It’s disrespectful.

EZ: D --> Now that we have cleared the name of our superior.

EZ: D --> It’s worth noting that our mane suspect is still you, Vriska. As of a lower blood caste than his perfect purple, you are more likely to snap in circumstances like this, and the logic still points toward you.

EZ: D --> You are, after all, a lesser being than him.

VS: Oh shut up!!!!!!!!

VS: I can’t believe everyone is trying their hardest to kill themselves in the stupidest way possible and you still manage to come up with your hemospectrum bullshit.

VS: Wait, actually, how fitting. You’re just as much of a weirdo if not even more than Gamzee, and he has that fucking psychopath twisted clown church going for him.

GM: Honk.

EZ: D --> It is neigh but the truth. Even though you’re much stronger and nobler than the lowbloods and everyone below you, Gamzee is still above you. As such, you should respect him and acquiesce his innocence.

VS: Fuck off!

VS: How many times do I have to tell everybody I’m not the fucking culprit?! Are you braindead????????

RL: I won’t advocate for anyone’s innocence or culpability just yet, Serket, but I’m sure you might want to reconsider your strategy and approach.

Vriska Serket, the Ultimate Lucky Student, is running out of options, time, and everyone’s patience pretty fast. And unless something changes…

VS: W-wait! I just thought of something.

VS: Eridan, you accused me of killing Tavros, right?

VS: You didn’t even say how could I’ve done it. Explain that!

EA: Oh? Easy.

EA: You either convinced him to open the door, or just forced your way into his room.

EA: Everyone knows you’re capable of manipulating him, or forcing your way in. Not even the first time anyways.

KM: Wait, that cannot be possible.

… Or she hits the jackpot.

VS: Thank you Kanaya! I knew I could trust you to watch my back all the time and not leaving me alone like OTHERS.

VS: I owe you a big one.

KM: … Although Vriska needs to be punished for her actions, and she certainly did hurt Tavros a lot constantly, she is not the culprit of this case. I’m sure of that.

EA: What.

Eridan both sounds and look surprised, as if he genuinely didn’t expect someone to refute his words. He’s left stunned.

KM: I just remembered something, thanks to what you said.

KM: I talked to Tavros before he died, two days ago to be exact.

KM: He said that his room made him feel safe.

KM: Because Vriska couldn’t get in.

KM: He even told me that she tried to get inside, but to no avail.

KM: And if that’s the case…

RL: How could have Vriska gotten inside in the first place?

KM: Exactly.

EA: Who said you can’t somehow force a door open? What if he was lying?

KM: I don’t think Tavros—

MK: Glad you asked!

Monokuma interrupts, it’s the first time he’s talked since this Class Trial started. From his almighty throne of law jurisprudence (and pretty comfortable seat), he speaks in a laidback pose and tone, with his head leaning on his left hand.

MK: The doors leading to each room have been specially designed to completely protect against tampering or lock-picking, and the remaking or duplication of their keys is quite troublesome to do, even for me!

MK: So, yeah, they can’t be forced open unless the owner of the key allows it.

EA: W-well, maybe she couldn’t lockpick the door open, but she’d have still been able to sweettalk him into opening the door. He was way too much of a fucking pushover anyways.

KM: But that could not have happened either.

KM: I told him to stay away from her, for his own good. And he said he was doing so. I trusted in him, and if he told me he didn’t open his door to her, I choose to believe him.

KM: Simply put, I don’t think he would have opened his door to Vriska, no matter the circumstances.

RL: And if she couldn’t get inside…

KM: There is no way in which she could have been the one to commit the murder. That is to say:

KM: Vriska is innocent.

TP: I think that sums it up, then. Vriska, you’re clear.

TP: Now let’s move on.

VS: That’s all you’re going to say? Really?!

VS: Everyone ganged up on me, including you, with no real evidence!

VS: If it wasn’t because of my iron will, you’d have voted for me as the culprit and we all would have died!

TP: Don’t take it personally Vriska, I’m just doing my job here.

TP: Discovering the culprit, saving everyone, and dispensing Justice. Kind of like what we used to do back then.

VS: Well good fucking job you’re doing then. Thaaaaaaaank you for saving our lives. I’m sure even Tavros’s corpse is very thankful for protecting nobody and almost dooming us all.

TP: …

Terezi tries her hardest to seem unfazed by those words, but inside she knows very well Vriska pulled out all the stops to hit where it’d hurt her the most, intentionally or not. Still, a court room and a class trial are no places for her feelings, so the Ultimate Legislacerator just moves on. No matter what she feels, there's still a culprit to catch.

VS: And what about you, Eridan?! You started all this! You’re clearly trying to put the blame on me because you did it!

EA: What. Just because my logic was flawed, which I openly admit it was, though for reasons I couldn’t possibly know in advance, it somehow turns me into the culprit?

EA: Grow up, Ser. You’re just desperate because you realized you are alone. And you being innocent doesn’t change that fact. In fact, it makes it worse.

EA: But what-the-fucking-ever, I’m above petty attacks that won’t take us to the culprit.

EA: We are back at square one, for the most part. Does anybody have any new ideas?

Yes, they have. Or at least some of them. But all of that will have to wait just a little bit longer.

Class Trial, suspended!

Now that the Class Trial is well underway, it’s a good time to make a little checkup.

After all, I, Monokuma, worry dearly about our spectacular viewers.

Are you drinking enough water?

Are you eating enough vegetables?

Have I disabled your automatic breathing and blinking yet?

Are you in a correct posture, my cute little shrimp?

Of course you are, you don’t want to end with back problems in less than five years from now on!

Well, that’s all for now. I’m sure you’re dying to see who’s the culprit behind this murder!

So, goodbye everyone, see you in the class trial after this break.

And don’t forget to like and subsc— wait that’s doesn’t go here!

Sorry for that. I truly am.

I’ll make sure that whoever wrote this amateur script pays a visit to Davy Jones's locker.

You know, send him on a trip to Belize.

After all, it’s all good, man!

Chapter Text

Class Trial, resume!

Those words Eridan said, they resonate within Terezi’s mind, who after setting the trial in motion took a rather secondary role to analyze what everyone says, and the way events unfold to join to try and make sense of this case. But that can’t be the case anymore, the trial is dead in the water unless she acts, unless she solves this murder mystery. And Terezi Pyrope won’t allow the group to fail.

(TP: He… he’s right, we aren’t getting anywhere. But are we really in a dead end?)

(TP: Are we really unable to expose the culprit?)

(TP: It almost feel like that’s the case, but… does it really mean we are done?)

(TP: Maybe I could… wait, wait a minute.)

(TP: I just remembered. With everything going on, I forgot about his account.)

(TP: He may be the key to finally solve this.)

(TP: But I can’t afford to make even one mistake.)

(TP: The culprit must be on the alert after what just happened.)

(TP: I need to play my cards right, so first…)

(TP: Cherry cheeks, you’ve got to help in this.)

TP: Hey Vriska, I’m sorry for that, I should have been even more skeptic of his claim.

VS: …

VS: Whatever, this is how you used to be when we played together anyways. Fucking ruthless.

Now that the pressure and heat of the class trial is no longer on her, Vriska quickly recovers her normal cool self. No horrible death incoming to her and her friends makes wonders for peace of mind after all, though she’s still hurt they all threw her under the omniscuttlecoach. Still, she’s never been the one to show her battle-scarred neck to her enemies, and this place is a battlefield.

VS: Eight eyes and I still didn’t see it coming from a blind girl. How ironic is that? I’m getting rusty in here, but you haven’t skipped a single beat. I’m impressed, Redglare, I genuinely am.

VS: Still we have hotter irons in the fire to deal with right now. This murder is not solved yet.

TP: Exactly!

TP: Can I ask you a favor, Marquise Mindfang?

VS: Sure.

Terezi leans forward on her podium, toward Vriska. Her quite characteristic smirk appears yet again, showing off her sharp teeth and even her tongue, as she holds her glasses with two fingers next to her head.

TP: Can you call Karkat for me?

KV: What the fuck?

KV: I’m literally NEXT TO YOU TEREZI.

TP: >:O

TP: >XO!

Terezi theatrically feigns dramatized surprise as she turns to her side.

TP: Didn’t see you there.

KV: Real funny. I’m tearing my own guts apart from the very audible laugh I’m having right now at your self-deprecating joke. Ha. Ha. Ha. See?

TP: Hehehehehehe.

TP: Kaaarkaat, come on, don’t be so cranky. >:]

KV: You know we’re in the middle of a fucking trial, what do you even need from me?

TP: I want your opinion about the case. You might have noticed something I overlooked.

TP: We’re pretty stuck here, so another perspective might help us. If anything, it’s worth a shot at least.

TP: Who do you think is the culprit?

KV: Well, what the fuck do I even know. You’re the one who examined everything, and Nepeta over there is the fucking creep who licked the neck of a dead body to see how old is the wound with her own tongue.

NL: :33 < aye!

RL: What did she do??????

JE: The heck?! Gross!

JH: It is, but I’m sure she had a great reason to do exactly that!

 KV: And I just stood there embarrassingly like a glorified coatrack with her clothes in my hands. We couldn’t even go to check on Gamzee which is the actual reason you asked me to stay in the first damn place.

KV: Fuck me, I’ve been so useless it’s almost unfathomable. I feel disgusted with myself for how useless I have been in this whole case. I hate myself even more now and that’s saying something.

KV: You sure you want my view on this? For all I know it could be the shittiest take the entire universe has ever had the utter disgrace of witnessing.

TP: Karkat if I’m asking you, it’s for a reason. The reason being I want it now.

KV: Okay, whatever you say Terezi, I guess. At least it won’t set us back. Pretty damn hard when considering our current position.

KV: Me and Feferi cleared up our names long ago, no need to delve into that shit.

KV: Vriska and Gamzee also are innocent for the look of things. One because of her burning every possible bridge with almost fetishistic enthusiasm, the other, well, let’s just not open that can of clown dirt noodles.

GM: :o)

KV: That makes it five out of sixteen students completely on the clear. Tavros for pretty damn obvious reasons makes it five.

KV: Hu-fucking-rray, we’ve been here for who knows how damn long and we haven’t cleared even a third of us.

KV: If we go chronologically linearly just for once to avoid time passage-induced headaches, we can state that Tavros voluntarily opened his door because Mr. McFuckface over there says the doors can’t be forced open. That’s got to count for something other than discarding the Serket as potential culprit.

KV: Tavros got killed while we all slept. No way we can identify the culprit through only accounts and alibis because of this.

KV: Hours later, and we all begun to wake up and meet in the dining block. I wake up early to feed Gamzee something actually fucking edible.

KV: There I find Eridan making his breakfast, so I mind my own business as he does with his.

KV: Hours later, when everyone was on the Dining Hall, noticed Tavros was missing, so I asked for that dude.

KV: You know what the fuck happened next. And that takes us to now.

KV: Being honest I have no idea who—

TP: Wait!

Terezi interrupts abruptly, with her tongue sticking out of her mouth and one finger strongly poking Karkat’s arm; he flinches. For everyone here it looks like, after taking the investigation so seriously, she’s just taking the trial as a game. But for her, the Ultimate Legislacerator, it’s precisely what she wants. He also did his part brilliantly for her, even if unbeknownst to him.

KV: OUCH THAT FUCKING HURT. CLIP YOUR FUCKING NAILS TEREZI, THEY’RE WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION JESUS FUCKING CHRIST.

TP: Shut up I just noticed something.

TP: Is that right, Eridan? Were you in the meal block when Karkat arrived?

EA: Yeah.

EA: Just didn’t feel like seeing Vris face to face after yesterday, so I went there early.

EA: What about it?

TP: >:O!

TP: It’s okay, there’s nothing wrong with that. Can’t blame you for not wanting to be with her.

VS: ::::(

TP: But this isn’t all.

Terezi slowly turns around to face Monokuma, who is still sitting on his grand throne of the law, to ask him a question. She regrets not having her Neophyte Redglare attire in this academy, as it’d help her in what she has in mind. Besides, she’s sure she’d look pretty cool with it and her cane sword in this court room, in front of His Tyranny, ready to bring an end to this case.

TP: Your Honor, I request permission to ask more questions to this gentleman right here named Eridan Ampora.

MK: Don’t need to ask me permission for that, but sure! Do it at your own pleasure.

Having her request granted, Terezi smirks as she turns back to the students in an overly performative fashion like almost a play of, or a very confident, legislacerator at work. For one last time in this trial, she puts on her red glasses, leans on her podium, and interrogates her prosecuted.

TP: In today’s morning, you were the first in the dining hall. Am I correct?

EA: Yes. I was the first, as I said, it was to avoid Vriska. Karkat was the second to appear then the humans came.

TP: What were you cooking?

EA: Sea food including fish, which I assume are from earth because I do not recognize them. Still, they are extremely nutritive and tasty, though I miss caviar in this peasant place.

TP: What did Karkat prepare?

EA: He was cooking for Gams. With countless sweeps of drinking Faygo and all that stuff I doubt he even has any kind of taste left, so I doubt Kar really cared about taste, focusing more on the nutrients. He prepared vegetables.

GM: He’s my motherfucking best friend. If he says I must eat that to “have a diet consisting of things actually meant to be fucking eaten”, what the fuck can I do other than to listen to my bro.

GM: I know he’s looking after me, just like I’m looking after him.

TP: Okay, so seafood, including fish, and vegetables were being prepared in the meal block early this morning, interesting.

TP: Did you wash your utensils, Eridan?

EA: Yeah, I’m not a fucking uncultured lowblood swine with a death wish. I washed them thoroughly.

TP: When did you arrive to the dining hall?

EA: Well pretty much as soon as it opened after the morning announcement.

TP: Was there someone already?

EA: No, the rules say it’s closed at night so I was the first one to arrive.

TP: Did you answer all these questions honesty?

EA: It’s just breakfast why would I even lie about that.

EA: Also why are you asking these—

TP: Your Honor, your honorable jury, that’s all I wanted to ask.

TP: I think this case is over.

EA: W-what are you talking about?

TP: …

Terezi stops for a moment to tightly hold everyone’s attention. What she is about to say needs to be clearly heard by everyone in this court room.

TP: Eridan Ampora, the Ultimate Aristocrat.

TP: You are the culprit behind Tavros Nitram’s murder.

TP: Allow me to explain, as I’m sure everyone here wants to know my reasoning behind it.

Sly deceit, cunning wits, cutthroat politics and mind games. Terezi long ago mastered the art of being a Legislacerator, the art of making everything out of nothing, using only her intelligence to win mental wars in the battlefields of a court room. From the very moment she realized, she knew the answer to this murder mystery lied not on her, but on the culprit themselves. And if she wanted to prove their culpability beyond a shadow of a doubt, she couldn’t expose them, they had to do it themselves. Now, with their job done, all Terezi has to do is to deliver the coup de grace.

TP: Eridan, let’s recapitulate some of your statements, alright?

TP: Everything I’m about to say, is exactly what you’ve already told us.

TP: First of all, you were awake before the morning announcement. As you went into the dining hall as soon as it opened. Again, that’s what you told us.

TP: Morning announcements are at 7 a.m. every single day, according to the rules themselves.

TP: In there, not long after, you found Karkat, who came in to make Gamzee’s breakfast.

TP: Then you washed the utensils you used to make your breakfast and ate it.

TP: Have I gotten everything correctly, fish fins?

EA: Y-yeah…

TP: But there’s a problem with that account. One. Big. Smelly. Problem.

TP: Eridan Ampora, if you were in the dining hall since at least 7 a.m.…

TP: Why did you say you took a long bath during the same timeframe?

EA: …

TP: Remember, that’s your explanation as to why your respite block felt so humid, Mr. Ampora.

EA: W-well I…

KV: Wait what the fuck that’s right.

KV: You were there preparing fish medallions with a knife when I entered the dining hall. It couldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes after Monokuma’s announcement.

KV: Either you took a bath before the announcement or…

TP: He didn’t take one at all. But neither of them explains why his bathroom was recently used when Kanaya, Rose and Vriska checked it.

EA: I… Well okay you got me.

EA: I accidentally left the water running after taking my bath. When everyone was checking the body I remembered and went to my room to turn it off.

MK: Puhuhuhu~

EA: What.

MK: Puhuhuhu~

RL: Wait, that can’t be the case either. When we were checking the rooms, Monokuma appeared and told us that we don’t have to worry about water supply, as long as we use it responsibly.

MK: Exactly! As long as you’re using it for something, I don’t care how much water you use. But if you leave it running without a purpose at all… I’ll cut it! And you’ll be punished without water for the entire day to make you learn not to waste it!

MK: And this is nothing new for you guys. It’s the same thing I have already told ‘ya, so I’m not intervening with a huge plot twist or anything.

RL: This means Eridan… if he was not using it for himself, as he was in the dining hall, had to be for something else.

TP: And what possible reason could there be… other than what we’re all already thinking?

KV: Hey, Eridan, did you… did you really kill Tavros?

EA: …

Eridan is starting to breathe more and more agitated, feeling the desperation of this situation, getting closer to an execution in the hands of Monokuma. His hands grab tightly onto the wooden podium as his eyes frantically look from side to side searching for a solution, for an answer to this increasingly hopeless situation, being backed more and more against the wall with every passing second, by none other than the Ultimate Legislacerator herself, Terezi Pyrope.

FP: I-if I knew that it would lead to this, I’d… glub.

Feferi says to herself; she sounds absolutely disheartened. The look in her eyes falls down to the floor, and her fins and gills slowly stop moving. She has always been very expressive, a source of joyful energy for everyone around her, but now she feels just like she sounds: disheartened. She feels like not only she failed Eridan, but all her friends by being unable to contain herself that morning, when she went to visit him. 

TP: What are you talking about?

FP: As you know, the last couple of days have been rough for everyone, all of us were unhappy one way or another.

FP: Because of that, yesterday Eridan and Vriska had their argument in the dining hall, and after that I went to his respite block to check on him.

FP: I even prepared him another breakfast so he could eat something!

FP: But he was still pretty mad and agitated, and… I should have had more patience with him.

FP: We ended up having an argument, and things quickly got out of hand.

FP: I… I said awful things because I was really pissed off at him.

FP: And now this happens.

FP: It’s my fault he killed Tavros. I’m sorry. If I had just…

NL: :33 < Don’t say that, It’s not purr fault!

NL: :33 < You didn’t force him at all, he chose to do it.

NL: :33 < He didn’t have to go to Tavros’s respite block, and neither he had to… do what he did.

NL: :33 < But he did it anyways!

NL: :33 < Efurrything that happened is his fault and his only.

FP: You… really think so?

NL: :33 < Yes!

FP: Thanks.

TP: So that explains it.

Terezi interrupts with a hand on her chin.

TP: Eridan is the killer, there is no doubt about it, but I still didn’t know what pushed him to do it.

TP: Now I know the reason.

TP: And for the record, I don’t think it’s your fault either.

TP: You didn’t blackmail him, force him, not even suggested him to do it. Neither you assisted the murder in any way shape or form. You’re as free of charge as they come.

TP: But back to the case.

TP: Now that we have almost the entire picture, I think it’s time we go over the case one more time.

TP: To make it clear for everyone, beyond any reasonable doubt.

TP: His Honorable Tyranny is expecting us to deliver the verdict soon, and we can’t disappoint him.

Terezi clears her throat. She knows this is it, this is the culmination of all of her investigation and everyone’s effort. It’s time to put an end to this case. It’s time to let Tavros finally rest in peace.

TP:  It all began not last night, but the very first day we arrived at Hope’s Peak Academy.

TP: Everyone was confused and distressed, but there was much more to than just that.

TP: Us trolls have been used to living spread apart for countless sweeps. And being suddenly thrown into this confined space in the context of a killing game, was a recipe for disaster from the start.

TP: Our mental state began to slowly but steadily worsen with each passing day, until… it happened. Someone snapped.

TP: Last night, when everyone was sleeping, or at least trying to sleep in their rooms, someone was fully awake.

TP: Being the only weapon easily available, before nighttime, the culprit grabbed one of the knives from the kitchen without being seen.

TP: Then, in the middle of the night, they carried out their deadly plan.

TP: Either they woke him up, or he was already awake, but they managed to get Tavros to open his door. Unfortunately, that was the last mistake he’d ever make, as it would end in his demise.

TP: Tavros was a good friend, but sadly, he was too nice for his own good. For his entire life that meant other trolls could bully him freely. He even remained friends with the person who threw him off a cliff.

TP: In the past, being nice meant problems for him. Now, it meant his death.

TP: The culprit used that in their favor to manage to get into his room. And in there, they killed him in cold blood.

TP: Using the element of surprise, they slitted his neck, killing him quickly, though leaving a mess with the spilling blood, which stained their own clothing.

TP: Being stained with the victim’s blood, the culprit knew they had to either hide their clothes— and hope no one would find them, or clean them thoroughly. They chose the latter.

TP: Deeming too risky to use the washing machines in open view of everyone, they chose to do it in their own room.

TP: Leaving the water running in their bathroom, they changed clothes just in time for the upcoming morning announcement. And with it, the opening of the dining hall.

TP: Because they had taken it from the kitchen, the culprit had to return the knife as to not raise suspicions. But first, they to clean it carefully, as it was bathed in the victim’s blood.

TP: Still, being seen carrying a knife would mean certain failure and death for them, so they chose to go immediately to the kitchen, and there wash it as quick as possible.

TP: They were probably finishing washing the blood off the knife, when they heard someone walk into the dining hall, it was Karkat. To keep a low profile, the culprit began preparing their own breakfast with the weapon. Afterward, they just cleaned it again.

TP: And in the end, that was what made them do their job so well. Too well, in fact.

TP: Because they drenched it in water to clean it, the wooden handle absorbed it and became dampened to the point it still was when I arrived at the kitchen to check them.

TP: All the knives were clean, but only one of them had the handle dampened.

TP: That was the clue that led me to know two things. One, that the knife was indeed the weapon used in the murder.

TP: And two: Whoever cleaned it, was the very culprit of this crime.

TP: And, according to even their own explicit account, who was the first person to visit the dining hall in the morning, as soon as it opened?

TP: None other than: The Ultimate Aristocrat.

TP: I don’t want to say it, but I have to.

TP: Eridan Ampora, you are the killer of Tavros Nitram.

Break!

TP: Is there anyone who can still state otherwise? Remember, our lives are on the line here.

KV: No, you’re right. But fuck, I still can’t believe it.

KV: That he… did it. That he killed Tavros.

MK: Looks like you’ve reached your verdict! Then are we ready to cast our votes?

MK: You all have a lever in front of you, grab it to make your selection!

MK: And, just to make things clear, make quadruple sure you’re voting for someone. You wouldn’t want to be punished for something so minor, right?

MK: Who will you elect as the blackened this time around? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one?

MK: What's it gonna be? What's it gonna beeee!?

And with those words, everyone, all fifteen students, cast their votes. Dismay, perplexity, even despair, that’s what they are all feeling as the screen right next to them lights up. And just as if it’s the screen of a slot machine, in it the faces of every student begin to move one after the other in three columns.

They move, they all move circling around in the screen time and time again, filling everyone with a deep sense of extreme anxiety and dread until… it comes to a stop, with the face of Eridan Ampora at the forefront. And one highlighted word underneath.

GUILTY

FP: Eridan… is that right?

FP: I… I want to hear it from you. I need it.

EA: I can recognize when I’m defeated.

EA: In the end, I couldn’t even do it right to save my own gills.

EA: God, I’m such a mess.

Eridan lets out a dejected, sarcastic, self-deprecating laugh.

EA: Yes, I killed him.

EA: After what happened yesterday, I couldn’t take this anymore and felt like I had to do something.

EA: I got him to open the door by saying I wanted to talk to him about how he dealt with a certain someone.

His body doesn’t move and his head barely tilts, but his eyes give a quick and obvious glance toward Vriska.

EA: I knew that, with the right words, he’d open the door to basically anyone but her. That’s why I chose him.

EA: He did it right away. In fact, I didn’t expect him to be awake so early. He said he was taking care of those small animals.

EA: We talked for a while, and when he said he was going to sleep for a bit longer, I… took the chance, and did it from behind.

EA: Still, congratulations Terezi, you proved a formidable foe.

EA: You have earned my utmost respect.

TP: Eridan, I won’t fall for your games. Don’t try to masquerade this with a dirty smelly lie.

TP: You killed Tavros, now you have to pay the price. No game is ever worth someone’s life.

EA: If that’s how you choose to see it, so be it.

EA: Excuse me, figure of speech.

TP: But… one thing I still don’t understand.

TP: Why did you take his dying body away from the bed?

TP: What did you intended by leaving him facing the door? That’s what I just can’t get.

EA: Oh, that? Being honest, I knew from the start that wasn’t needed to kill him at all. I didn’t do it for him.

EA: I did it for you. For all of you.

EA: Because, if you’re going to inevitably find the body, why not leave as big of an impression as possible?

EA: I have always liked to do things this way. For me, if you don’t matter to no one, if no one hates you or loves you, that’s death itself in life.

EA: And discovering a dead body as it looks at you in the eyes with absolute despair, leaves quite a memorable one, I’m sure.

EA: If you know one way or another you’re going out, it will always be better to do it big.

EA: To aim high, and go out with a bang.

EA: Goodbye everyone, I wish you the best of luck.

Eridan stops for a moment, and looks at the jewelry in his hands. In the past they were a symbol of his status and wealth, now… they feel meaningless to him. But it doesn’t have to be like that, at least not entirely. He pulls a ring out of one of his fingers and holds it in his hand.

EA: And Fef, please be happy.

And gifts it to her. One final departing gift. She takes it.

EA: I know I was the shittiest moirail any troll could have ever asked for, but… don’t forget me, please. That’s the last thing I’ll ever ask of you.

In his final moments, in the face of death and despair, Eridan’s voice sounds very calm, much to the surprise of the others who had expected him to break down like many times before. Maybe, just maybe, he had accepted his fate long ago, that he’d die one way or another, be it either by his own hand or someone else’s. Of course, he doesn’t want to die, of course he wishes things had turned out differently, otherwise Eridan wouldn’t have gone through with the murder at all. But when you live in Alternia, one has to eventually learn that death is inevitable, for everyone, for him. That there, in that planet, to live is to die. And now, in his final seconds with the group, he feels… tranquility, as he says his final farewell to the group.

MK: With you students having correctly cast your votes, it’s time for us to get to what everyone’s been eagerly waiting for!

EA: C'est la vie.

MK: Now then, I’ve prepared a very special punishment for Eridan Ampora, the Ultimate Aristocrat!

EA: C'est la guerre.

MK: Let's give it everything we've got! It's...PUNISHMENT TIIIME!

EA: C’est la mort.

From his seat, Monokuma presses a red button in front of him, and the lights in the court room immediately go out. A door opens, and with a rope, he drags Eridan through it, into his imminent death.

But at the same time the screen on their side, on the other hand, comes back to life. It comes back to life playing a red, black and white 8-bit animation no one will ever forget.

The screen fades to black before flashing into a brightness that illuminates the entire court room, yet it replaces darkness itself with something even darker. A spotlight which shows Eridan with a noose tightly around his neck, whose rope is tied to the bowsprit of a wooden ship filled with priceless treasures and jewelry. He stands still on the main deck, but as the waves crash against the ship, the Ampora quickly gets drenched in the saltwater. It feels so familiar to him, even nostalgic.

He looks back, in direction of the stern. Another light turns on, revealing across the main deck a crew of disgruntled Monokumas mutinying against him. Then, one more light flickers on, showing a Captain Monokuma sailing the ship to the high seas in the middle of a thunderstorm. Eridan quickly realizes that this is the place he once called home: Alternia. And now, he’s returning to it for one last time, to end his life down in the planet of the rising moons.

The ship sails forth into the night, and a card temporarily fills the screen.

Having his wrists tied together with a leather strap, Eridan struggles to stand afoot as the ship waives from side to side. Yet, he still manages to maintain a serious, almost stoic expression as the mutiny grows closer until it’s in front of him, demanding a proper punishment to their former captain. Eridan barely flinches an eye, but deep inside he feels more nervousness and anxiety than ever before.

But then, one of the Monokuma grabs him by the torso and throws him off the side of the ship, falling down to the water with the noose still tightly around his neck.

Being hanged and thrown off would have meant a broken neck and a relatively quick death for most trolls. But because he’s a violetblood, one of the highest and toughest blood castes in the hemospectrum, for him death wouldn’t come so easy, so fast, so painlessly.

Now he’s right next to the ship’s bow, being violently thrown over and under the waterline by the ship itself. But because of the noose around his neck, not only he can’t breathe through either his nose or mouth, but his sensitive and delicate gills are getting heavily damaged by the ruthless friction to the point of bleeding.

Yet, there is more to his punishment. Much, much more than just that.

The sail started slow at first, but as the ship gains more speed, and the waves grow harsher, Eridan faces something far worse, and far more painful. His body now gets pushed against the razor-sharp barnacles stuck to the bow, which quickly begin to slash his skin open, creating more and more wounds from which a warm violet liquid starts to pour out: his own blood.

With his survival instincts now fully kicking in, Eridan sets himself free from the leather straps in his wrists and grabs the rope with both hands. And using all the strength of his upper body, he lifts himself up just enough so he can breathe as the barnacles continue slashing his body mercilessly.

All the while, Captain Monokuma slowly loses control of the ship’s helm through the voyage. The growing storm, the increasingly violent waves, and the enormous weight of the treasure and wealth the ship carries, they all make him eventually lose control over the helm. And once it happens, Captain Monokuma orders the crew to abandon the ship in the lifeboats carrying nothing but themselves only.

Yet, even with the thunderstorm and the merciless waves, Eridan still manages to keep himself in this position, enduring the pain of being slammed against the ship’s bow, now tainted purple, and slowly be cut apart through countless wounds. He can even hear the Monokumas abandon him and the ship. But he endures it, he endures it all until…

He sees them in the distance.

Fins of underwater creatures, getting closer, and closer, and closer.

They are sharks. They are going after him.

His desperate breathing becomes even more agitated. He tries to lift himself back up to the ship, using nothing but his raw violetblood strength. And for a while he succeeds, he even manages to get half his body off the water for a couple of seconds.

But then, he feels it. A feeling of a burning, indescribable pain coming from his lower body. He looks down to the water and…

One of his legs, half of it, it’s now gone.

The pain and shock made Eridan abruptly drop the rope and fall back to the water, now profusely bleeding. He can’t breathe, he can barely move, but he still manages to keep fighting. Once again, he tries to grab the rope, but this time as soon as he does it, he feels a strong pull which slammed him against the hull. Being slightly numbed by the lack of air, it takes a moment for him to look to his side. But as soon as he does, he notices it.

His entire right arm, is now gone too.

With him slowly passing out from the lack of oxygen, the sharks slowly devour Eridan piece by piece until he’s left motionless amidst a violet ocean.

But just as if that wasn’t enough, as the last Monokumas escape the sinking wreckage, one of them throws a torch back into it, setting the ship on fire as they disappear into the distance. The screen fades to black.

And the show is over.

Chapter 1 – Welcome To Hope’s Peak Academy

The End.

Surviving Students: 14

To be continued.

[MONOKUMA THEATER]

“I’m sure you must be asking:”

“Oh, Monokuma, how did you defeat the First Guardian? He’s so powerful!”

“You know, Doc Scratch. Well, I’ll tell ‘ya.”

“One day, I went to his mansion on the green moon, and knocked on his door.”

“He was a most excellent host. He offered me some treats and a good sake.”

“But alas, in the end I did what I had to do there.”

“Beat the crap out of that glorified dakimakura!”

“He said that someone like me cannot be predicted or foreseen, which is why I was able to easily defeat him.”

“He also said he had a grand scheme for the planet down below which he perfected for eons, now thrown into the garbage bin because of me.”

"It doesn't matter if you spend years on a so-called magnum opus, when someone can come and take it all away in front of you."

"Existence itself is about first come, first serve."

“That should teach everyone a lesson.”

“Perfection is the enemy of perfectly adequate.”

Chapter Text

By the time the curtain falls, in front of the screen there is a group of students who just witnessed the brutal death of one of their friends, many of them knowing him for an entire lifetime. Yet, it isn’t the trolls who are the most distraught by Eridan’s execution, but the humans. They are visibly affected by the gruesome death, never having seen something like that ever before, or at least never in real life. Jade instinctively clutches Rose’s hand, and the Lalonde does the same in return. Dave hides a shocked expression under his sunglasses, and John feels utter disgust. The trolls, on the other hand, try their best to hide their emotions under stoic expressions.

For a few seconds, everyone stands still in the court room.

MK: … Guys? What are you waiting for? The execution is already over, you know?

MK: Go back to your rooms!

… But their life here continues.

JE: What do we do know?

JH: You heard him, we have to go… back to the first floor.

JE: I know! It’s just…

JE: How are we supposed to just move on after something like that?!

TP: John, whether you like or not we have to do it.

TP: Everyone knew the rules from the first day here. You all saw them in your palmhusks. I licked mine.

TP: Eridan knew them as well. And despite everything, he still went forward with the plan.

TP: He killed Tavros. He was discovered. He got promptly executed.

TP: That’s all there’s to it.

JE: How can you be so calm about it? I would be totally freaking out if one of my friends died like that!

KV: John, stop being stupid. For once, please be mindful of cultural and societal differences between species from different planets.

KV: Alternia is a pretty fucking hard place to live in. People there get culled all the time for whatever bullshit reason you can come up with. Mrs. Spidery Psychopath over there is the living embodiment of killing just for fun if you didn’t know already.

VS: I didn’t kill for fun back in Alternia! I was forced to feed my lusus!!!!!!!!

KV Boo-fucking-hoo, I’ve heard that excuse a million times before.

KV: So we are more accustomed to violence like this than you humans, I suppose given our current situation.

KV: Of course, that doesn’t make it fucking okay to kill someone else just for the sake of it. That’s simply a disgusting and outright wrong idea.

KV: It just makes it not as… unthinkable for us than it may be for you, humans.

TP: And it sure wasn’t an unthinkable option for him. After all, fish fins took on the one he thought was the easiest to kill, and thus the easiest ticket out with a quick clean murder.

TP: But he made one grave mistake: In a place like this, it doesn’t matter who you kill.

TP: The ones you have to worry about are those who are left alive.

TP: He made that mistake, and paid the price.

DS: Yeah man, they are right. We can’t say jack about how they should or shouldn’t react by their friend’s death. They grew up on another planet, let alone different environments than ours.

RL: Oh my. Mr. Strider is certainly taking notes from the psychology textbooks I’ve sent him over the years. Pavlov must surely be celebrating.

DS: Whatever, I was bored back then anyways. Let’s just skedaddle for now. I bet Monokuma’s feeling the itchy trigger finger disease by now.

Some of them look back, only to see Monokuma already having fell asleep on his seat. He really got that bored waiting for so long them to get out of here.

DS: Dude’s snug as a bug in a rug what the fuck.

VS: Well better for us not having to deal with that maniac for the time being.

The fourteen students board the elevator back to the first floor of Hope’s Peak Academy. The day is almost over after all that happened, but none of them have had any food since breakfast, so everyone heads to the dining hall for dinner before it closes for the night.

But, once in there, most of them simply eat their meals rather quickly before departing directly to their rooms. After the trial, after the execution, after the death of both Tavros Nitram and Eridan Ampora, they all want to leave this day far, far behind.

Yet, by the time everyone leaves and nighttime is just a few minutes away, two trolls remain in the dining hall, talking to each other now that the other students are gone.

KV: Explain something to me that for the love of the Thresh Prince of Bel-Air I can’t comprehend.

KV: Earlier today, after we found Tavros, you… changed.

KV: Fuck, Terezi, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like that before.

KV: You simply set your mind on investigating the hell out of the case and didn’t let anything get in your way. I would lie if I say I wasn’t in awe for a moment there. And I know way too damn well you catch those fast.

TP: Yes. They smell way too much! And it’s a nasty-nasty smell I hate.

KV: But then in the trial you go back to being your normal self out of nowhere, giving me a columnsnap. Goddamn irritating, frustrating and… the Terezi I’ve always known.

KV: Logic says that’s the moment when one should take everything the most serious because we are one wrong vote away from cholerbear damnation.

KV: But hey, logic’s long gone six feet under in this weird human place, so what hell does my think pan even know.

KV: That’s why I wanted to ask you this, now that everyone else’s gone.

KV: Because no sane legislacerator would ever publicly reveal some trade secret or whatever.

TP: And what makes you think I’ll share it with *you*, Karkat?

KV: …

KV: Fucking ouch.

KV: I was just trying to talk to you and you go and cut me with the fucking coldest ice Alternia’s ever known. Now I know how Dave felt the other day, fuck.

TP: I’m just kidding, of cooouuurse I’ll tell you, dumbass. >:]

TP: I trust you way more than I ever trusted the cape douche.

TP: During the trial I realized it was Eridan who killed him. Every piece of evidence pointed toward him. And most of all, his account and yours conflicted with the bath thing.

TP: But if I went after him right away, I wouldn’t be able to actually *prove* it was him.

TP: Circumstantial evidence would never be enough if I wanted to demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was the killer.

TP: So, I decided that if I couldn’t expose the culprit, I would let him do it. He would provide the critical evidence for me.

TP: And for that, I needed to first lower his guard. If I kept acting all serious like that, Eridan would have never lowered it.

TP: But if I started acting like usual instead, he’d be more likely to relax and make a mistake. And one other trick up my neophyte sleeve was to bombard him with trivial questions, one after the other, relentlessly.

TP: He’d open himself up to answer everything, every time thinking less and less about it because they are such harmless questions.

TP: Until BAM! The one million caegars question. And the prosecuted falls right into it all orderly and nicely. >:]

TP: Textbook legislacerating 101.

TP: It was all intentional, Karkat, even if I came up with it on the spot.

KV: I see. Wow.

KV: Let me make a gigantic mental note to never fuck with you because I don’t want to get eviscerated. I wouldn’t stand a single chance.

TP: That’s why I know you’ll never kill someone here. You’d make me veeery mad and I’d kick your ass in court and you’d die a lot. >:]

KV: I’m sure as hell I don’t want to piss off a Pyrope in trial. So don’t worry about that.

KV: But okay, granted, acting like a court block buffoon was part of your Machiavellian plan to bring Eridan down.

KV: But did you really have to piss me off there too poking my arm? I’m still feeling your finger there holy fuck.

TP: No, that wasn’t needed at all.

TP: I just like to tease you. >;]

KV: Oh.

KV: Fuck you then.

TP: Now that I revealed you some of my deepest most private secrets.

TP: Will you tell me what is your ultimate title?

TP: I promise I won’t tell anyone. >;]

KV: No, I’d rather not to. I don’t feel comfortable sharing that here.

TP: Come on, we’re alone here having a private time. No one else will ever know—

MK: Hm, guys?

Monokuma suddenly appears, taking both of them by surprise.

KV: Jesus fuck, what are you doing here.

MK: I’m sorry for interrupting all your flirting and stuff.

KV: What the FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT.

MK: I know you’re young, and your hormones are raging like a wild fire inside you as they should.

MK: You must be thinking about some very steamy things you want to do to her right here and now~

Monokuma loudly gasps for air as he blushes and takes both hands to his chest. He’s suggesting something more than just flirting, but the two trolls simply ignore it.

TP: Leave us alone, we are just talking! >XO

MK: But this is no place for that! It’s nighttime and this place is about to close!

MK: Go away! Shoo, shoo!

They spent so long calmly talking to each other that neither of them realized it was already nighttime, way past the announcement. And to avoid any problems, or a furious Monokuma for that matter, Karkat and Terezi quickly depart to their respective rooms. And just like everyone else, they don’t take long to fall asleep after a long, long day.

It’s been a few days already since they arrived here at Hope’s Peak Academy, and forced to participate in a killing game. It’s been a day since everything broke loose with the discovery of Tavros’s death, and it’s been just a few hours since the trial which resulted in Eridan’s execution. To say that things have radically changed for all the students in that short amount of time, is to fall awfully short. But for now, for the next couple of hours, it’s time to rest and recover. Because this game, this academy, they will not stop.

…

Ding dong, bing bong.

“Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!”

Next morning everyone meets once again in the dining hall for breakfast. This time even Gamzee got out of his room, following Karkat’s request to not isolate himself from the others. But even after a night of respite, they can’t fully take their minds off what happened yesterday. The humans, the trolls, everyone; they are all still affected by those deaths, and dealing with them in their own ways. Some visibly on the outside, some deep inside under detached façades.

One of the students who is still visibly affected by these recent events is Feferi Peixes, who’s sitting on her own in a corner of the dining hall, barely touching her food. In the past she was a beacon of joyful energy for her friends, but now she looks like she is just moments away from collapsing into tears of sadness and frustration. She’s struggling hard with her own conflicting feelings about her moirail’s death, about what he did, and happened to him. Of course she’s mourning his death, with the memory of his last moments still vividly repeating over and over inside her mind like a twisted movie. She’s known him for her entire life, ever since she was a little wiggler grub in the caves. They were there for each other for their entire lives. But now he’s gone, he’s gone with the waves and he’ll never return. She wishes things had turned out differently, that he didn’t succumb to the despair of trying to escape this madness by killing Tavros Nitram, that she didn’t snap at him that afternoon, that led to all of this. Yet, at the same time, in another part of her mind, in another part of her heart…

How wrong is for her to also feel ever so slightly relieved that he’s now gone?

Is she really a bad person because of it?

…

Feferi just can’t find an answer, and feels awfully guilty because of it. He was one of the most important trolls to her, yet, at the same time… he killed so many people in Alternia, and countless times threatened to kill even more. And the only person who kept him in check, who kept him from kill them all, was her, the Ultimate Heiress, time and time again. But before she can delve deeper into those feelings, she and everyone else notice how the monitor screen on the wall lights up.

It’s Monokuma.

“Guys? I hope you’re eating well and all, but I’ve got an announcement to make. Please make your way to the gym at your earliest convenience.”

JH What does he want now????

DS: No idea, perhaps the dude wants us to, I don’t know, make some sick MC faceoff in front of the cameras or something.

DS: Who the fuck knows.

JE: I hope it’s nothing bad, I’m done with this awful game already.

JE: Why can’t he just let us go?

RL: I admire that optimism, but I doubt things would ever be so easy. He seems hellbent on making us play this game to the bitter end. For now, let’s attend and see what he wants.

Slightly confused about what this will be about, the students quickly finish their breakfasts before walking to the gymnasium, the same place he, both the mastermind and headmaster, received them in the past. But instead of eagerly waiting for their arrival, Monokuma is napping on his podium on the stage, having fell asleep from waiting so long for the fourteen of them. Some could swear they are even hearing him snore for a moment. But he wakes up as soon as they are all inside.

MK: So you finally arrive, huh.

MK: You had me waiting for a while there, I got all cozy and sleepy I almost entered hibernation.

KV: What the fuck do you want now? Why did you call us here?

MK: Right, let’s get to the point. I doubt you guys are interested in doing with me some space yoga right now.

VS: I don’t know what that is, but it sounds so fucking lame you can count me out on that already.

MK: I’d in fact like to make an announcement!

MK: Because this is a game, I think you students deserve to be rewarded.

MK: Every time you overcome a class trial, just like in any other game when you defeat a boss, a whole new level will open up for you!

JH: A new... level?

MK: Yeah. This would be a pretty small and crappy game if all it had to offer was just the first floor. You must be sick and tired of it already.

MK: Besides, it’d be tragic if I didn’t have anything new to stimulate your minds from time to time.

MK: I know my students. ADD and ADHD can be a real struggle for you, fellow youth.

MK: Of course, I don’t have to deal with those things. I’m a bear, and bears don’t have to deal with silly little things like severe existential dread and crippling social anxiety.

MK: So, because you survived the last trial, from now on I’ll grant you access to the second floor of Hope’s Peak Academy! You’re free to explore it at your heart’s content.

MK: Puhuhu~ I wonder if you’ll find the secret I left there just for you.

Monokuma catches the attention of every single student with those words. Even more than before, they are now listening very carefully to him.

JE: What secret are you talking about?

MK: Oh, it’s nothing special really. It's just…

MK: The reason why you were chosen to participate in this academy and this Semester of Killing.

The entire gym falls silent in a single second. The answer as to why they are trapped here, forced to participate in a killing game, is somewhere on the second floor…? It may not help them escape immediately, but they have to know it. They have to know why they were forced into this madness. They must. And after a few moments, Monokuma speaks again.

MK: Don’t tell me you really believed just clicking the game was all there is to it…? Don’t be so naive!

MK: There’s just oh so much more. But you have to find that on your own.

Then, Monokuma continues speaking nonchalantly.

MK: And one more thing. I think you guys deserve yet another special reward for overcoming the last trial.

MK: I’m proud to announce I’ll be giving every single one of you another uniform to wear!

MK: I’m far too sure you must be getting tired by now of wearing the same-looking clothes day after day. So, I’ll give you something else so you can have some variation. Its usage is completely up to you.

MK: Variety is the spice of vice, after all!

JE: Isn’t it of life…?

MK: No need to thank me. My generous kind heart knows no bounds. I do all these sorts of stuff selflessly so you love me and become willing to die for me with a dagger in your heart and poison in your lips like a true Montague for me, your Capulet.

VS: Selfless my ass. You know that isn’t gonna happen right? No one here would ever die for you, you twisted psychopath.

MK: Don’t sweat the small stuff, Ultimate Lucky Student. I’m sure you don’t want some acid tube ulcer or however it’s called back in your planet.

Monokuma turns back to the rest of the students.

MK: As I was saying, your new clothes have been designed specifically for each one of you. So feel free to try your alternative uniform if you want. It’s completely optional, and just something I thought I’d do for you guys for being such diligent players of this killing game!

MK: You arrived, and I just had to tell you to kill each other for you to do it. You make me feel so proud, dear students.

MK: That’s all, you can go ahead now and look around all you want. Enjoy your reward, everyone!

And with that, he’s gone once again. Now in the gym there are only the fourteen students, just as confused as before if not even more.

JE: So, the second floor is open, for the look of things…

JE: Do you think guys it has an exit?

JH: As much as I want it to be true, I doubt so. But it is still worth at least checking out!

JH: We just can’t give up hope, John.

RL: Considering we don’t have much else to do, why not. I’m sure everyone in here will check it out too. That includes searching for the secret, of course.

RL: When we’re done, let’s meet back at the dining hall for dinner and there we’ll share our findings.

AM: Sounds like a good plan to me.

The fourteen students exit the gym, and once outside the trophy room they notice that the stairs leading to the second floor are now open to them. In previous days, and even just a few minutes ago, an iron gate blocked the path, but now it’s gone. It’s time to explore this new floor, and see what it has to offer.

After walking upstairs, the first thing the students notice is the changing rooms. Because of the training and water-related equipment, Equius Jade and Feferi are the most drawn to this new place, while the others move forward.

… But the massive mounted machine gun pointing straight at them sure is scary.

MK: Hello!

FP: Glub! 3X0!

MK: If you wanna unlock your locker room you’ll have to swipe your personal e-Handbook across the card reader there next to the door.

MK: However, to ensure maximum security and some basic decency in this academy of good, only a boy’s handbook can open the boys’ locker room, and the same goes for the girls.

MK: Grrrr! I’m always watching, so don’t even try to pull off something sneaky for your own indecent depraved fantasies!

MK: That’s what the little thing on the ceiling is for.

Monokuma points to the gatling gun, ready to make alien Swiss cheese out of any rule-breaker, or just regular human Swiss cheese.

EZ: D --> I don’t think anyone here would ever stoop that low to partake in such indecorous behavior, even the lowblood filth.

JH: This is definitely the last place any of us would ever do something like that.

FP: But what’s on the other side of these locker blocks?

MK: Well, why don’t find that by yourself? I’m sure you’d like it, Ultimate Heiress!

FP: Huh? 380!

FP: I’ll go and see!

Monokuma leaves, and the three of them quickly enter their respective locker rooms, explore it, and come out the other side to see it right away.

A massive swimming pool, just for them.

FP: G-Glub! T-this is just so perfect! Glub glub glub glub!

Still in her own standard uniform, Feferi just can’t resist the temptation and throws herself right into the pool, feeling all that water soak her as she intentionally sinks down to the bottom to touch the pool floor with her fingertips.

Her delicate fins, her sensitive gills, her own body soaked from the water surrounding her; it feels just so perfectly refreshing and relaxing for the Peixes to finally be underwater, soothing her soul from what has recently happened. Very excited, Feferi immediately begins to swim from one side of the pool to the other many times, while Equius and Jade keep exploring the room itself in search of anything, be it either a way out or the secret Monokuma told them about back in the gym.

Although most of the students are either in the library or the swimming pool, given those are the biggest and most prominent rooms of the second floor, there a few others in the classrooms, exploring them on their own, in search of anything worth noticing and sharing. In one of them, for Nepeta this search means not taking her eyes off Dave, the only other student in that classroom. This is the first time she’s had the chance to spend time with one of the humans.

NL: :33 < *AC curiously glances at her prey like a predator before striking*

NL: :33 < *But striking in a playful manner and not deadly at all!*

NL: :33 < *Ac doesn’t want to hurt him*

DS: You know you’re saying those things out loud, right.

NL: :33 < *Ac says that she knows that purrfectly well*

DS: Sure, wanted to do the heads-up just in case.

NL: :33 < *Ac is thankful for to concern, but she says she’s fine with this*

NL: :33 < *She’s much more interested in her prey though*

NL: :33 < *Will it be a friend? A foe? Tasty dinner purrhaps?*

DS: Oh, shit, you’re doing some RP. Took me a second to realize that, my bad.

DS: It’s fine, I don’t mind really. Feel free to go on.

NL: :33 < *Ac is glad her new friend is okay with that*

NL: :33 < *But now she’s curious if he’s interested in it too*

DS: As long as you—I mean Ac knows it’s under ironic purposes, yeah sure why not.

DS: Don’t have anything better to do anyways.

Dave officially abandons all intents of finding anything in the classroom and walks closer to Nepeta. Then, he sits on one of the tables.

DS: Fuck, how is he called. It’s been a hot minute since I did it with Jade.

DS: *I, Akwete, twitch my cute as fuck whiskers toward the catwoman who definitely knows where to get the good dank nip around here*

DS: *here kitty kitty kitty I wanna play a game*

NL: :33 < :DD!

NL: :33 < *Ac is extremely happy her new furriend knows how to have some great fun!*

NL: :33 < *She wants to play with him and have a good time in this scary alien place*

DS: *Damn, barely ten seconds into existence and Akwete already has an alien catgirl friend who wants to have a good time*

DS: *Akwete’s got some game*

DS: *Rejection? Never heard of ‘er*

NL: :33 < *I think that you, er, AC thinks that Akwete is really fun!*

DS: *Same*

NL: :33 < *The deadly huntress is looking forward to spending more time with her meow pal*

They might have not found the secret or an exit to this Semester of Killing, they might even be here trapped for all eternity. But in the end, they found something more important than a chance of actual survival:

Friendship.

DS: Okay for real tho, why are we searching for a way out in a classroom.

DS: Shit’s wack.

DS: Listen everyone we are in session and today’s class is about.

DS: Where not to look for a way out of an academy.

DS: Location: right the fuck here.

DS: Yeah I know, crazy, right. Who could have thought.

NL: :33 < Well, it was worth at least a shot checking this specific cave out.

DS: Fair.

Dave and Nepeta give up on their search, having found nothing in there but a Monokuma drawing in the chalkboard, and just more of the same. They sit down, and talk for a while as the other students keep exploring the rooms. Despite having never talked before, they quickly get along quite well.

But in the other classroom of the second floor, there are three trolls who struggle to do the same.

GM: How did Kuma take off the iron bars to get us here to the second floor?

TP: He simply remo—

GM: Miracles. Mother. Fucking. Miracles.

GM: Even this wicked place is full of them.

TP: >:[

GM: They are everywhere. And one’s gotta learn to embrace them.

GM: They take your heart and motherfucking ASCEND IT.

VS: … What did I do to end up with you two here?

GM: Fate’s a motherfucking mysterious thing, my wicked sister.

GM: Perhaps the three of us have to do something here. :o)

VS: Hahahahahahahaha.

VS: I can’t believe it.

VS: I can’t believe I’m stuck in the middle of bumfuck nowhere with the stoned clown and the girl who hates me.

VS: How shitty can my luck get? I can’t wait to see.

TP: But I don’t hate you.

TP: Why would I? >:?

VS: Why?! You’re supposed to hate me because I blinded you!

VS: That’s like half the reason I did it! To teach you a lesson and one-up you in our personal cloak-and-laser vendetta schemes!

TP: Vriska I’ve told you countless times that I don’t care about that anymore.

TP: I’m comfortable with who I am. I truly feel like myself with my current senses.

TP: I even like them. They are very cool. >:]

VS: I fucking manipulated your lusus to make you look straight into the sun to painfully blind you, and you STILL manage to feel comfortable with yourself while spiting me in the process?

VS: Man, that was a game lost from the start.

VS: How was I supposed to win that?

TP: It wasn’t a game. It never was.

TP: It was just something awful. We both got hurt a lot for petty reasons.

VS: Well it can be BOTH a game AND awful at the same time.

VS: Just look at us right now in this place!

TP: >:/

VS: Right, sorry.

GM: It seems both of you are opening your souls to one another.

GM: This miracle is so motherfucking beautiful I might shed part of my dismay fluid.

GM: Do I get you an ice-cold beverage or something?

GM: Honk.

VS: Why don’t you go away and disappear, preferably forever?

GM: What did I do now. :o(

VS: Existing. That’s sickening enough as it is.

GM: That’s pretty motherfucking harsh to me, but if that’s what your heart feels.

GM: That’s okay. Because we need to listen to our hearts. The truths they speak to us.

GM: It’s the correct thing to do.

GM: Otherwise we would just be.

GM: Unhappy. :oC

GM: The same goes for you, Neophyte Motherfucking Redglare.

GM: What truths does your heart speak right now? What feelings do you have bottled up?

He turns around to look at Terezi, slowly licking his sharp teeth with an open mouth. She now feels uncomfortable in this classroom, but can only manage to ask one thing. The rest, all that she wants to say, she’s just unable to.

TP: How do you know that name, I never told you.

GM: Miracles. They never stop. They never cease.

GM: I know what you need. I can sense it.

GM: And I can give it to you.

TP: …

GM: Sit down in a good pile of horns.

GM: Crack open a cold Faygo.

GM: Eat a delicious warm pie made by a top-notch nutrimercenary.

GM: And let your mind and heart flow, hearing what they have to say.

GM: You’ll be so motherfucking happy like you’ve never been before.

GM: And I’ll be there.

GM: Just.

GM: For.

GM: You.

GM: :o)

GM: Honk.

Gamzee slowly walks toward her, getting uncomfortably close as he sways to his sides with each step he takes. And although neither Vriska or Terezi can sense any malice in his eyes, the Ultimate Legislacerator still backs off, turning around with her red eyes lost in the distance down at the floor.

VS: Okay I take it back. I, Vriska, in an unprecedented event, admit I was wrong.

VS: Wow, soooooooo surprising, I know. Point is.

VS: You take the crown for most off-putting creep in this place.

VS: Equius just makes me laugh. You make me feel fucking sick, Makara.

GM: Whoa, why?

GM: I’m just offering my help to a wicked sister in need.

TP: I never asked for your help nor your advice, Gamzee.

After struggling for so long, Terezi finally feels able to say something. The mind has always been her strong point, not her heart, so complex feelings like the ones she’s having right now are very hard for her to deal with. Even then, she felt she had to say that no matter what.

TP: Let’s just forget this and go back to searching for clues.

GM: Whatever you say, Neophyte Redglare.

TP: … Don’t call me like that, please.

In the end, none of them find noteworthy in the classroom. The secret Monokuma told them about, is hidden somewhere else in here.

In the middle of the second floor, down the hallway, past the locker rooms and the toilets, there’s another quite big room: The library. And next to it, the archives.

Inside, there are many the students exploring every inch of it. From Rose and Kanaya reading the books to know their content, to Karkat looking for the secret… by also analyzing the books, to Sollux and Aradia busy with their focus put right away into something that stood out for them as soon as they entered: The laptop on the desk.

SC: The fuck is doing a husktop here?

AM: Can you turn it on?

SC: I don’t think so. It seems something’s broken inside.

AM: What a shame.

SC: If I’m too bored, I might fix it soon.

SC: I have the equipment back in my respite block, even soldering wouldn’t be an issue.

SC: If MK left it here it means it must be salvageable. Otherwise, why even bother.

MK: Hey! you found it!

Monokuma appears again, this time from the other side of the desk.

SC: Fuck dude you’ve got to stop doing that. Shit’s scary.

AM: 0_0

AM: … 0_0

AM: You took me by surprise.

AM: 0_0

MK: Consider it a little gift from me to you, the Ultimate Hacker, and to all the other students too!

MK: I left this little laptop here so it can be repaired by one of the students. If you can manage to fix it, inside there’s something waiting for you~

AM: What’s inside? Is it the secret?

SC: Megi for the love of your bones, of course he wouldn’t say th—

MK: Do you really want me to say it?

SC: …

SC: I don’t care.

AM: Yes. 0u0

MK: Aw shucks, you guys. You make me blush so much.

MK: But if you desperately want to know, who am I to not tell you?

MK: I’m proud to present… Monokuma ^tm The Dating Simulator!

MK: It’s the hyped-up most romantic despair-inducing game everyone’s been waiting for!

MK: Here you’ll be able to befriend and date the sexiest bears in town!

KV: Wow, who the FUCK WOULD WANT TO PLAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

KV: Holy fucking SHIT that sounds awful.

Karkat shouts from the other side of the room, right after hearing him announce the game. Not even him would play something so bad even he won’t defend. And Karkat has always been the first to defend romance, even if it’s the worst hill to die on from time to time.

MK: I… put a lot of effort into it just for you guys… I feel so hurt right now…

Monokuma looks down dejected at the floor. No one believes him. Or even if they do, they definitely don’t care about him to feel bad in the slightest.

MK: But it doesn’t matter! Because I know there must be at least one among you who wants to date the curviest hips in this academy. You’re some thirsty young students so I’m sure one of you will try it out.

MK: I’m waiting for your review so I can improve the sequel~

MK: Monokuma 2 Dating 2 Simulator – Despair is Sexy.

JE: Jeez, that sounds even worse…

AM: I… definitely don’t want to play that.

AM: Couldn’t you have done something different?

MK: But before any of you have some funny idea… No! Neither this laptop or this game contains any clues about your situation or anything like that!

MK: That’d be a plot device so predictable and crappy I’m sure I’ve seen it somewhere else in the past.

MK: No secret data hidden in there! I just put a game in there as a reward for you guys overcoming the last trial, so you can have some fun playing it while you live your lives here. Dating in real life must be tiring so I’m offering you the chance to do it in game… with me!

MK: Well, the point is that this thing has no useful data, nor the secret you’re looking for. I’m better than that!

AM: Is there really nothing other than… that thing?

MK: Yeah, but feel free to check it out yourself.

MK: That’s all, goodbye!

Monokuma turns around and begins to walk out of the library. But before he can get out and disappear, he’s interrupted right at the entrance.

KM: Wait, I have something to ask.

MK: Huh? What?

MK: Now that he’s… gone from here.

KM: What will happen to Tavros’s creatures?

KM: Are they still in his room? Or will they get…

MK: What are you thinking?! Of course they won’t get harmed! They are innocent beings which deserve to live!

MK: Just like I wouldn’t kill a spotless student, I won’t do any harm to them.

MK: I guess I’ll just take care of those things until this is over or something.

Despite the reassurance, Kanaya isn’t fully convinced yet by Monokuma. For her, it seems like those animals would simply receive food and water to not die, but little else. She’s willing to go further, now that she knows they’re alright, even if just for the time being.

KM: That is a relief, but…

KM: Could I take care of them?

KM: Wherever he is now, I’m sure he’d be happy to know one of his friends is taking care of his animals as they deserve.

MK: …

KM: I will take good care of them, I promise.

Kanaya won’t ever beg to him, but she’d rather have the animals receive proper attention and care, than only the bare minimum given by Monokuma.

MK: … Yeah, sure, if you say so. I’ll continue bringing food and other supplies for their needs to the supply room as I’ve done thus far.

MK: I’ll leave them in your room, knock yourself out.

KM: Thanks.

Monokuma leaves, and Kanaya goes back to reading through the countless books alongside Rose, who seems particularly invested in secretive ritualistic books and a small section of cosmic horror, reading with great interest. From compendiums of the history of witchcraft, to how to commune with eldritch beings beyond mortal comprehension through dark rituals and the forbidden sciences, she reads everything with great enthusiasm.

But after around half an hour of nonstop lecture, Rose decides to do something slightly different: explore the archives. After all, not one has gone in there just yet, but she also feels stragenly drawn to that mysterious place. She enters that room on the side of the library. And inside, she finds countless files and documents about crimes and deaths that happened on Earth. But among all of them, there is one in the middle of the floor that immediately catches her attention, one that in its cover has just a single sentence.

One sentence, two words.

The Tragedy

Chapter Text

From the changing rooms next to the stairs, to the classroom on the far end, the students spend the rest of the day exploring the second floor of Hope’s Peak Academy. And by the time it’s around an hour and a half before the nighttime announcement, they all go back to the dining hall for a shared dinner. After everyone prepares their own meal and sits down, Rose is the first to speak, having read all the information that file had inside.

RL: Before anything else, did anyone else find anything related to either the secret Monokuma told us about, or something resembling an escape route?

JH: I checked with Equius and Feferi the changing rooms, there’s nothing interesting there.

FP: Just a big swimming pool to be in. It’s perfect. 380~

EZ: D --> There’s also some training equipment in there, which will prove useful for exercise purposes.

DS: Checked classroom 2-B, shit’s just a regular-ass looking classroom.

NL: :33 < There was meowthing there, sadly.

DS: We bonded over shared interests though, so no big deal.

VS: Don’t get me started on me, Terezi and Gamzee. We checked the other classroom.

VS: Nothing at all. Let’s just leave it at that.

VS: What about you guys in the library?

SC: I have something.

SC: If you were in the library of course there’s no need for me to tell you, but for everyone else…

SC: I found a husktop there, non-functional. I’ll try to repair it.

SC: Monokuma also appeared and told us it has nothing inside, but it’s worth a look at least. I don’t have anything else to do here anyways.

SC: I’m so useless in here it’s incredible. Who needs a fucking expert in electronics when there’s only one husktop in the entire schoolhive, and it might as well be empty.

SC: Fuck.

AM: Don’t worry Sollux, I’m sure the time will come where all of us will need your help in something only you can do.

AM: I know you’re very good with your hands, so I know something will come up in due time. 0u0

SC: Yeah, like offering me as a sacrifice to the gods because I’m so useless it’s the smallest loss the group would take.

JE: And what about the AV room? There are lots of computers there, can’t you do something with them?

SC: Checked those already. They have no wireless connection, and work only through ethernet wiring in an isolated network. We can’t reach out and the outside can’t reach us. In other words, they are useless for us.

SC: I don’t even know what’s outside for us to reach to anyways.

SC: And I doubt MK would allow us to tamper with them, so hivebrew modification is out of the picture.

SC: That applies to the palmhusks too. With the husktop I can write some rootkit to take over them in an hour with my eyes closed and both hands chopped off, but I’m sure the moment I upload it to the palmhusks MK will make lusus food out of me, and I don’t have a death wish of joining the dead just yet.

SC: FUCK, I can’t do anything here it’s so frustrating. But I’m getting sidetracked.

SC: Tomorrow I’ll repair the husktop. I’ll tell you guys if I find anything interesting there.

RL: Is there anyone else who wants to share some piece of information?

Rose waits for a few seconds, but no one speaks. She takes a deep breath before continuing.

RL: Understood.

RL: I spent the entirety of the afternoon in the library, meticulously reading every book cover and their content. I found nothing relevant in there.

RL: Then, I went to the archives, inside the library. In there, I found a lot of files from a lot of criminal cases, reports, and many other things which aren’t relevant to us either.

RL: But, among all those files, there was one which caught my attention as soon as I saw it. It stood out from the rest noticeably. The cover has only two words, but they speak by themselves.

RL: The Tragedy.

RL: Of course, I had to read it immediately, because there was absolutely nothing like that in the entirety of the archives in the library.

RL: So I did, I read it all, but…

RL: I don’t know what to think of it. I really don’t.

RL: I’ll share it with you, and together we can try to make sense out of it. I brought it here.

Rose puts the file on the table for everyone to see. Images of extreme riots, reports of deaths in the millions, documents about how society itself began to collapse on Earth like a domino effect, one country after the other inexorably, mercilessly, like a terminal disease with no cure at all. And all of that, the chaos, the suffering and death, caused by one single thing, one single root of all that destruction: Despair. Despair was the cause of the downfall of human civilization.

And the file promptly called it: The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History.

VS: Hahahahahahahaha.

VS: Whoever named it needs to be fired, that name’s a fucking joke.

VS: Who calls such event like that?

VS: I can’t even take it seriously.

RL: Before you say it, yes. To say it’s hard to believe is to put it too nicely.

RL: Which is why I’m showing you the files so you actually believe me. Needless to say, for us humans…

DS: This didn’t happen at all.

JE: It would have been all over the news and everything!

JH: I know I can’t quite stay up to date with every single news in my island, but I’m sure even I would have noticed something like that if it happened.

DS: Yeah, there’s no way I could have missed it online. If something happens I’m the first to know it.

DS: My F5 key hasn’t known the word rest since ’95.

RL: That would naturally imply this file is false. But… I don’t think it’s that easy. It would be a big mistake to have such a simple-minded approach in this case, or this game in general.

RL: Every single other file in the archives is veridic. I know for a fact that is the case.

RL: They all are about crime cases which did take place in our world. I can give my word for it. I’m not an expert, but I know my fair share about this kind of stuff.

JH: Yeah, we used to watch a lot crime documentaries together, and murder ones too!

JE: You did what?

DS: John, you have no idea. Girls are the biggest fans of murder stuff. Kinda worrying when she knows how John Wayne fucking Gacy operated, so she can take you out in your sleep with no problem, and then bury the body in the basement. But hey, it is what it is.

JH: It’s gross and very fascinating!

Jade eyes gleam with excitement. She really is into this kind of stuff.

RL: I have also read other books about this topic to enlighten me further, but that’s beside the point.

RL: If every single other file in the archives is legitimate…

RL: Why is this the only false one?

RL: Or, put in other words.

RL: Why would a file like this, so over-the-top and false, be what he said is related to us?

Rose quickly points at the surveillance camera in the dining hall with her eyes.

RL: Because, frankly, I’m sure this is it.

RL: But I can’t find an answer as to why just yet.

For the next few moments, everyone in the dining hall remains in silence thinking about it. This has to be the secret Monokuma told them about back in the gym, right? But, if that’s the case, and it didn’t happen to the humans, let alone the trolls back in Alternia, what does it have to do with them?

How is The Tragedy related to these sixteen students?

No one can think of an answer to that puzzling question. Not the humans, not the trolls.

No one, but her.

TP: I have an idea.

Terezi says after biting an apple. It’s tasty, and the color makes it even better.

TP: I can’t say for sure. Despite this being a human schoolhive, Monokuma isn’t exactly teaching us a lot of things.

TP: That includes human history.

TP: But judging by the fact you humans deny it happened, yet everything pointing toward this being the real deal about the secret.

TP: This has two likely scenarios.

TP: Either it didn’t happen at all in your world, and it’s only related to this game.

TP: Or… it somehow did.

TP: You just didn’t know it yet.

The humans feel a void in their stomachs which leaves them speechless and stunned at the mere thought of it. Even Rose and Dave, the two most stoic and resilient of them, need a few moments to simply process that possibility.

Did… D-did that really… happen?

How…? How could that be…?

Then, what happened to…

TP: I repeat, I have no way of proving either option. Or even proving there isn’t more.

TP: I’m just stating the two most likely outcomes.

TP: Your world is either gone, or just as you remember. Whatever you choose to believe it’s up to you, not me.

VS: This is so stupid.

Vriska interrupts. Her voice sounds almost annoyed, like she doesn’t want to be here.

VS: We are wasting our time on something fakey fake from Fakeland.

VS: Who says Monokuma didn’t just make that thing up to make us go in circles around the academy just for his own amusement?

VS: I bet he’s laughing right now, because we are arguing and arguing about something which he pulled out of his ass.

NL: :33 < That’s not a good thing to say. :((

VS: But it’s a possibility no one can deny.

VS: Even Terezi can’t prove I’m wrong.

TP: …

TP: You’re right, I can’t.

TP: If that’s what you choose to believe, so be it.             

TP: But I choose to believe this will amount to something.

JE: … Monokuma said he never lies, right?

JE: Then if this is the secret, and I choose to believe Rose when she says it is, then there must be something in all of this.

JE: If not, at least we’ll have learned to never trust his word ever again.

JE: We can’t give up, no matter how frustrating this is!

RL: John, you always look for the positive side of things, no matter how hard it is, don’t you.

JE: It’s just that I don’t want to see you guys feeling bad.

JH: The feeling is mutual, John. :)

DS: Okay but back to the point.

DS: I gotta agree with you, John.

DS: Monokuma’s hellbent on this killing game thing, on making it happen to the very end.

DS: He even seems to have planned everything to the tiniest detail. Hell, he somehow took the Ampora guy to the fucking high seas to kill him like some Jack Sparrow motherfucker.

DS: From what we know of this guy, it’d be awfully weird of him to expand our living space just for the sake of it. Like why would he even give us more space to live in when we’re supposed to kill each other.

DS: You’re supposed to reduce the available space, not increase it like some kind of avant-garde experimental battle royale.

DS: The dude’s gotta have some shady motive in all of this. And I’m sure what Rose found must be part of it.

JH: Then we have to keep investigating everything. We just can’t give up.

RL: Well, whatever the case, I think we can all agree now that unless something new arises, this must be the secret Monokuma told us about.

RL: But we cannot do much with this file alone, it is not enough for us to jump to any conclusions.

VS: Is there anything else someone found? Something that’s actually useful to us right now?

FP: Glub, after I finished swimming, I went back to the first floor. I noticed the door opposite to the dining hall was open, so I went there to sea what’s inside.

FP: First, there is a changing room where I found Equius, and together we went on to check everything else through the door on the other side.

FP: There are baths in there, and even a sauna! 380~

FP: I want to go there soon; I’ve never been to one!

FP: The closest I’ve ever been to a sauna is getting near the hydrothermal vents deep in the oceans. 38(

EZ: D --> Can I add something else, heiress?

FP: You don’t even need to ask that, you dummy. Go ahead.

EZ: D --> I need everyone to follow me.

EZ: D --> It’s an order.

Equius gets up from his seat and walks out of the dining hall, everyone follows suit. He and the other students enter the changing room on the opposite side of the hallway.

EZ: D --> I found something in here. Or more specifically, the lack of thereof.

EZ: D --> There are no surveillance cameras in this room.

KV: You’re right, what the fuck. They are everywhere else, why isn’t there one here?

EZ: D --> For reasons I expect everyone to get by yourself, I could not tell you about this in the dining hall, even if just as a precautionary measure.

RL: We can’t risk anything with Monokuma always watching us.

EZ: D --> Indeed.

EZ: D --> I also found there are no surveillance cameras neither in the baths or the sauna.

EZ: D --> That’s all I have report.

RL: In those places it actually makes sense. The lenses would be covered in steam and rendered useless, let alone the overheating in the sauna.

RL: But that doesn’t explain why there aren’t any here.

RL: Evidently, Monokuma doesn’t care about privacy, lest we forget the cameras in our rooms.

TP: I have no idea either, I can’t find an explanation.

TP: But this may prove useful in the future, maybe even important if we ever need to get away from him.

TP: Thank you for sharing this information.

FP: Good job, Equius! You’re great. 38D

EZ: D --> T-thank you, y-your heiress. It’s a-appreciated.

Equius blushes in his distinctive indigo blue as he instinctively wraps his finger around his long hair on the side of his face. Being complimented by the heiress herself? He might even need a towel soon. He can’t help but smile, while Nepeta’s mind is racing a thousand ideas a second. She needs to create her wall again in her room very soon.

DS: Okay if this is all I’m going to my room.

DS: Big Bro and everything, I’m still tired. It’s been a long-ass day exploring everything.

KV: Me too, Strider. Examining the creative output of your species with a critical eye is very tiresome.

KM: You spent the entire afternoon reading exclusively the romance section.

DS: You did what?

KV: Kanaya, you know I hold you dear. But, please, do me a favor and

KV: SHUT UP.

KV: There’s NO need to throw me under the omniscuttlecoach like that just for your sadistic pleasure.

KM: I have no idea what are you talking about, Karkat.

Kanaya says with such blatant sarcasm in her words, and a smirk in her face that she might break into laughter if she’s not careful. She’s definitely enjoying it. Rose is too, letting out a small subtle giggle. Vriska, for her part, is loudly and mockingly laughing. She doesn’t care; in fact, she wants Karkat to hear her to piss him off even more.

DS: Damn dude, had no idea you were into that stuff.

DS: You meet alien literature and the first thing you do is to check how to smooch them. Noted.

KV: Oh FUCK you.

DS: Hey no big ideal, that’s not a problem for me. You do you.

VS: Strider, do yourself a favor and never ask him about his opinion on romance. He won’t shut up in a million years.

After laughing at Karkat, the next natural step for Vriska is to seize the first chance and herself make fun of him.

DS: Sure.

DS: If I ever have trouble sleeping, I’ll just call him over and he’ll bore me to sleep. Bouta have him on speed dial for that.

KV: You know what? Fuck you Serket, fuck you Strider, and fuck the entire universe, I’m out.

KV: Good-fucking-bye.

Flustered, Karkat is the first to leave the place and go back to his room, but he’s far from being the only one who does so. One by one, everyone leaves the newly-unlocked changing room and goes back to either the dining hall to finish their dinner, or directly to their dorm rooms. It’s been a long day, the first one since the trial and death of two of their friends, yet the madness goes on. A way out of Hope’s Peak, the Tragedy and its meaning; there’s still so much they do not understand, so much they do not know.

And there’s him, Monokuma. Always watching from the cameras, always just a moment away from appearing and disappearing anywhere in the school, with an unknown agenda beyond making everyone in here kill each other.

The killing game doesn’t stop, and neither can the fourteen students still alive.

…

Ding dong, bing bong.

“Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!”

The second day after the trial begins actually rather well. Having had a relatively calm day to rest while exploring, and an uneventful night to sleep, the fourteen students wake up feeling refreshed and reenergized, like they haven’t felt in a while since arriving here. The deaths of Eridan and Tavros of course still weight in their minds, but now every single one of them feel like they are completely ready to keep facing this deadly game at Hope’s peak, even Feferi herself.

After Monokuma’s morning announcement, one by one they all go to the dining hall for breakfast, and together eat in a calm environment. Even Gamzee is now accompanying them for breakfast before returning to his room. And the opening of the second floor means there are now brand-new options for the students to spend their time in.

What will they do today?

Free Time

Instinctively, Sollux still can’t get used to the idea of the bees' honey being completely harmless and healthy, even if they are from Earth and not Alternia. Nonetheless, after eating a breakfast made by Aradia sweetened with that delicious honey, both the Captor and the Megido return to the dorm rooms together. Sollux said he’d fix the laptop, and he intends on keeping his word.

SC: I know this will most likely be just a waste of time. No, I’m sure of it.

SC: But at least it’s going to keep my mind focused on something.

SC: And because I don’t have anything else to do, why the fuck not.

SC: Also, thanks for being here.

SC: It means a lot to me.

AM: Don’t worry, Sollux.

AM: I enjoy your company. 0u0

SC: At least I’m being useful to someone in here.

AM: You don’t have to constantly work for others to prove your worth.

AM: Being alive with us is more than enough.

SC: Yeeaah, whatever you say, Megi. I still have the feeling I’d be in the gutter if it wasn’t for you all these sweeps.

SC: For now, I’ll focus on fixing this thing. I don’t want to get rusty, and taking a closer look at alien electronic architecture might even prove interesting if it's advanced enough.

SC: To see how their structures differs from ours in a macro and micro level.

SC: I’ll bifurcate the analysis into the software and hardware. Might as well see what secrets they hide in there.

SC: I wonder if I can make T-ASM work in this thing to communicate directly with the architecture. Should be easy for me even if this is literally an alien piece of tech.

AM: That sounds very complicated and time-consuming, but I know you can do it.

AM: Can I do other stuff while I’m in here in your respite block?

SC: Sure, do whatever you want. Make yourself at hive.

SC: Just don’t dig holes in here okay.

AM: You broke my heart, I was looking forward to that.

AM: What kind of archeological findings could I make if I began to dig right underneath your human recuperacoon?

AM: But now that’s been cruelly denied to me.

SC: Haha real funny.

AM: I’m joking right now.

AM: But maybe I will not…

SC: Aradia.

AM: Next…

SC: Please don’t.

AM: Time.

AM: 0u0

Aradia immediately smiles wide with her mouth open as her eyebrows swiftly go up and down while looking at him. On the other hand, Sollux groans at such bad joke.

SC: Oh for fuck’s sake.

AM: Come on, I know you liked it.

AM: I know you very well.

SC: That’s the worst part.

SC: That’s literally it.

SC: Because I did.

SC: When did my taste disappear into oblivion and I started enjoying your jokes FUCK.

AM: That’s good to hear. 0u0

Aradia lies down in his bed as Sollux first disassembles the laptop with his toolkit while waiting for the soldering iron to heat up on his desk. Perhaps it’s just a cut wire somewhere in there, perhaps it’s a transistor that needs to be soldered, or replace a bulging capacitor. Either way, weak grubsauce for someone who specializes in this kind of stuff. Any hacker who respects themselves needs to know how to modify the hardware itself if they aspire to ever master the code it’ll run.

It's going to be a busy yet entertaining and stimulating day for him, and a relaxed day for the queen of death herself, Aradia, who’s testing the floor tiles behind his back to see if there’s a loose one to pull it out and dig a hole in its place. But, needless to say, they are not the only ones in the academy today.

What will the others do?

Free Time

Hope’s Peak Academy has an air-conditioning and air recycling system of the highest quality, so inside the academy it is always cool and fresh, perfect for anyone to wear whatever they feel like. All of the students tried their new clothes in the morning after the announcement. For the humans, Monokuma simply designed clothes based around their current tastes and interests, while for the trolls he adapted their ancestor’s clothes for them. Terezi found Neophyte Redglare’s uniform; Vriska found Marquise Spinneret Mindfang’s. Even Feferi tried out Her Imperious Condescension’s tight black suit.

Yet, while many are trying out their new alternative uniforms, three boys are currently lacking them.

After the sauna was unlocked the day prior, and today feeling energized enough to give it a try, Dave Karkat and John went into it during the afternoon to spend some time there together, feeling the heat around them.

Even if half-naked with just a towel on their bodies.

John and Dave are sitting on one side, while Karkat is on the other. Due to the nature of all saunas, they can’t really move a lot, so John looks down at the floor and to his friend to the side, while Dave and Karkat occasionally glance at each other.

DS: Won’t lie, John. Back in my apartment I never thought that when I’d meet you, we would end up alone together in a sauna with an alien dude.

DS: But I won’t complain, feels good to just relax for once. Shit’s been fucking wild around here with everything going on.

JE: Yes, after everything that has happened since we appeared here, feels nice to actually have one day where you don’t feel like life is on the line.

JE: It’s very relaxing.

KV: This place feels like daytime back in Alternia, holy fuck it's hot.

KV: Wow, congratulations, I didn’t expect some place in here to make me feel like back at my homeworld.

KV: I want to puke now because of it.

JE: You guys have talked a few times about Alternia. How is it there? How was your life like?

JE: It must be so exciting to live in an alien planet!

KV: I hated every fucking second of my existence there.

JE: Oh.

KV: Our giant red sun means you can’t go outside during the day. If you do, even just for a couple of minutes, you might as well be digging your own grave, because you’re going to die real fucking soon.

KV: At least the dirt noodles would have a toasty meal with your corpse.

KV: Only Kanaya and those of her blood caste can be exposed to direct sunlight and not die.

KV: Which is why we trolls are nocturnal beings, and we had some trouble adjusting to this schoolhive’s rules at first.

KV: And all of that doesn’t begin to even scratch the surface of the iceberg. Oh, absolutely not.

KV: I could go on and on for days on end just listing every single thing which can get you killed or brutalized there. It feels like everything was engineered specifically to be as violent and deadly as possible.

DS: But now you’re here, dude.

DS: Chilling in a sauna with another two alien guys.

DS: I mean objectively speaking it’s not the best we are still trapped in who knows where.

DS: But it could be worse, right.

KV: I guess you’re right. This actually doesn’t feel all that bad.

KV: After having to watch Tavros’s body and Eridan’s death…

KV: Fuck, thanks for the invitation. I needed this.

JE: Have you ever been to an alien sauna, Karkat?

KV: If you mean something like this and not some contrived bullshit.

KV: No, never.

DS: Well, that explains it.

KV: Explains what?

DS: Why you’re blushing.

Karkat is taken completely by surprise by him, he would have even jumped in his seat if it weren’t because of the burning-hot air. But what Dave says is true. Due to the room’s high temperature, Karkat is blushing from the heat, he’s even softly gasping. The Strider simply can’t take his eyes off that hilarious private show.

DS: It’s your first time after all.

KV: Fuck you, I’m not blushing.

DS: Come on, dude. You’re all red. You can’t deny it.

KV: FUCK you. I CAN and WILL REJECT THOSE LAUGHABLE CLAIMS OF YOURS, STRIDER.

DS: Have you never seen shirtless dudes sweating from the heat?

JE: Have you, Dave?

JE: Because you’re getting red too!

DS: Dude I’m from Houston.

DS: This sauna ain’t got shit on me. I’m colder now than when I drop some sick-ass bars on the beat.

DS: I’m cold but my lines are burning hot.

Yet his face is getting flushed from the heat, too.

DS: I could even free-style something in here no problem.

JE: Do it! You used to improvise when we chatted back then.

DS: Okay gimme a second, gotta get in the zone first.

Being unable to move all that much makes it harder for Dave Strider to focus. But even then, this is no enemy for the Ultimate Rapper. He lightly shakes his head up and down as he stares off into the distance.

And after a few seconds, he begins.

DS: Me and my friend.

DS: Like two sweet peas in an even sweeter pod

DS: That’s my friend and my friend’s named John.

DS: Like the devil knows hell I know John well.

DS: Well enough to tell you ‘bout his ’09 smells.

DS: Well enough to tell you he’s a hell-a-swell fellow.

DS: Well enough to tell you that we know each other better.

DS: Than we know our selves like freaks of a feather.

DS: We rap together I know John well.

DS: But I think he knows me better.

Dave takes one hand to his mouth to beatbox for a few seconds to the absolute awe of John. Even with the blazing-hot air almost burning his skin with every move of his, he doesn’t even flinch; he’s fully focused and on his zone.

DS: He’s as close to me as a friend can be.

DS: I’ll be standing by him and he’ll be standin’ by me.

DS: Just another half of the two-headed freak.

DS: But I need him like my heart needs to beat.

Then, Dave stops to pant for air. He may be a mean, lean, proficient rapping machine, but he’s still a human freestyling in a sauna, and that takes its toll quite rapidly.

JE: That was so freaking awesome!

JE: You’re really the best, Dave!

DS: Thanks.

KV: It’s not bad, I guess.

KV: I’m more impressed by your capacity to endure the heat.

DS: And for you, K to the V.

KV: What are you even going to say now.

He looks at Karkat right into his eyes for a few moments, holding one hand on his mouth, and the other in the air. He stands still in that pose for a second, looking at him, being looked at by him. Then, it changes, his previous rhythm changes to something far slower and groovier, almost like one of a nightclub. Dave now feels something far… different, by looking at him. Something unique, something enticing. And he doesn’t mind it at all. After all, this is what he feels after looking in silence at Karkat in the eyes for a few moments, and he’s more than okay with it. Feeling ready, Dave simply lets himself go with the flow.

DS: This is where I’ll be.

DS: So heavenly.

DS: So come and dance with me Karkat.

DS: So sexy, I’m sexy.

DS: So come and dance with me Karkat.

DS: I’m all that you see, that you wanna see.

DS: So come and dance with me Karkat.

DS: Karkat you’re the boy with all the leather hips.

DS: Sticky hair, sticky hips, stubble on my sticky lips.

DS: Karkat you’re the only one I’d ever want.

DS: Yeah the only one, the only one I’d ever want.

DS: Beautiful boys on a beautiful dance floor.

DS: Karkat you’re dancing like a beautiful dance whore.

DS: Karkat you’re waiting on a silver platter now.

DS: And nothing matters now.

Karkat is, ironically enough, frozen amidst all the heat, not knowing how to even react, with the candy-red blush in his face grows even stronger. John, on the other hand, is even more awestruck than before. It doesn’t rhyme like the freestyle Dave did for John, but it feels just as soulful. And his capacity to come up with two very different rhythms and beats on the fly impresses John even more; he can barely talk in a place like this.

By the time they decide to come out of the sauna, it’s nearing nighttime, so they quickly put their clothes back on before heading to the dining hall. What happens in the sauna, stays in the sauna.

When they get in, they find everyone else in there already. From Rose to Gamzee, everyone shares a calm dinner before departing for their dorm rooms, shortly before Monokuma’s announcement.

For the three of them, for Aradia and Sollux, for everyone else in here, today was a relaxing day. Having gone through a lot recently, they needed an uneventful respite day like this one. Some are even thinking that, unlike before with the confined space and its uneasy atmosphere, no more deaths will happen here anymore, that now everyone can focus on bloodlessly finding a way out of Hope’s Peak Academy.

But no matter what they all want to think, what they want to believe, this is just the calm before the storm. Monokuma himself is about to show them that.

[MONOKUMA THEATER]

Oh, Earth.

I wish you could see it the way I do. It’s so… perfect.

So full of beauty, so full of despair.

And so painfully boring.

You must be wondering how I defeated its First Guardian.

It’s actually a very interesting story.

After I appeared here, I met a funny-looking dog.

He followed me everywhere I went, to the point where it got kind of annoying.

But when I tried to shoo him away, he had the gall to attack me!

Well, I guess I kind of startled him by trying to scare him off with my claws.

What ensued… I don’t think I can say it in a place like this.

But it was vicious, ferocious.

Unlike the old cueball guy, this guardian fought to the bitter end.

There’s one extra thing I can say about it, though.

And it’s that dogs…

Are natural preys of bears.

Chapter Text

Ding dong, bing bong.

“Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!”

Everyone wakes up to a new day here in Hope’s Peak Academy. And as they exit their rooms and meet each other in the hallway, they find that some of them have already begun to use their new alternative uniforms. Vriska and Kanaya absolutely love their new outfits, and from the very first day they wore them, while students like John and Nepeta like them as well.

KM: I must appreciate the fact that we can now have more than one single outfit in our closets.

KM: And it certainly feels tailor-made just for us. It’s comfortable.

JE: Although this doesn’t make our situation any better, we should take the W wherever we can.

RL: Given we are at an all-time low on positive prospects, that is a wise strategy.

RL: Besides, these new clothes look good on everyone. Specially you, Kanaya.

RL: Karkat wasn’t lying when he told me you had a sharp eye with fashion. So sharp I might even cut myself with it.

JE: Why are you saying that like it wouldn’t be a bad thing…?

On the other hand, there are some students who aren’t really fond of their new clothes. Aradia, Equius and Dave are some of them, and instead they wear their regular previous clothes.

JH: Did you dislike your new uniform?

DS: Not sure if I really like it. Maybe it’ll grow on me down the line or something, I don’t know.

JH: I see, that’s fair! Though I’d still have liked to see you in it.

DS: Noted. Perhaps some other day I’ll do it, when I feel like it.

After talking to each other for a short while, they all head to the dining hall for breakfast. From seafood for Feferi to a vegetarian dish for Equius, everyone is calmly eating their meals and sharing this moment in peace, when they all notice something in the corner of their eyes.

The monitor screen on the wall slowly lights up. And that’s when they hear it, that voice, coming from the speakers.

“Ahem! School announcement, school announcement. All students, please gather in the gym immediately. Emergency! Emergency!”

JE: He has never said that before, right?

JH: For him to say that there’s an emergency, I don’t like the sound of that…

JH: I just can’t imagine it’s going to be good news for us.

This time they don’t even finish their breakfast before quickly departing to the gym. They have been there many times by now, yet it never feels better, they never get used to it. If anything, every single time feels even more dreadful than the last. Now it wasn't the exception. With an unnerving atmosphere, they wait for him to appear on the stage.

Then, he does.

MK: Guys… this isn’t fair, y’know?

MK: I’m all in for positively heart-pounding thrilling excitement.

MK: But that’s hard to achieve when all my dear students refuse to cooperate!

MK: I’m getting bored of all that chit-chat you’re having, and the killings you’re not.

MK: One of you killed Tavros mere days ago, how hard is to make it happen again?

MK: I’m not asking for much, just for you to kill your friends and loved ones… is it really that hard?

Monokuma sighs and looks dispirited at the floor. Once again, hardly anyone believes him.

MK: That’s why I’m going to introduce something new to this killing game.

MK: I’m going to give you some… motivation to kill.

MK: That’s right! They are called motives, and I expect them to give you the necessary push to get back into killing each other again!

MK: People say first impressions matter, and I wholeheartedly agree. If you don’t make a good first impression, things are much more difficult down the line.

MK: And what would be of me, the Ultimate Despair Mascot?! My reputation must not be desecrated with mushy-mushy romcom stuff like this!

MK: B’sides, trolls are quite a tough nut to crack, you get me?

MK: you grew up all oh-so lonely and miserable back in your little world filled with gray. Which means you’re more hardened than the average human.

MK: That’s why I have to go all out in this killing game!

For a moment, he talks specifically to the four humans.

MK: Sorry guys, but you’re kinda outnumbered here, and I gotta make the exchange alien students here in Hope’s Peak feel welcomed too. No hard feelings, alright?

MK: But back to the point.

MK: The first motive of this Semester of Killing will be…

MK: Your deepest fears.

VS: What, are you going to blackmail us or something?

VS: Good luck with that, prick.

MK: No! I would never reveal them to the world or anything. Revealing secrets is so overdone and cliché that it’s almost offensive for you to even consider it! Here at Hope’s Peak we are better than that!

VS: Then what?

MK: Puhuhu~

MK: I have something much better in mind.

MK: Part of your student life here is about growth. Of the desire to kill each other, of the despair in your hearts, but sometimes also about you as individuals. And for you students to grow, you sometimes need to do some… rather difficult things.

KM: What do you mean?

MK: If there isn’t a killing before tonight’s night announcement, each one of you…

MK: Will have to face your own fears.

MK: I have both the knowledge of your biggest fears, and the means to make them a reality right here at Hope’s Peak Academy.

MK: Oh, and believe me, everything will get much, much worse as time goes on without a kill. It will become so unbearable you guys will inevitably fall into despair to make it stop.

MK: To do whatever it takes to make it stop.

MK: If you want to have the hope of this coming to a stop, then first you’ve got to sink to the deepest of despairs!

MK: That’s all for now, dear students. You can return to your relaxing communal lives. But now you know what’s gonna happen if someone doesn’t die today~

MK: A personal hell will be waiting just for you.

And with that, Monokuma disappears from the podium and the gym.

To say that the students are feeling disconcerted right now, is to fall very short.

KV: What can he possibly know about our fears?

DS: Don’t know. Perhaps he’s gonna torment me in my sleep with my bars coming from RhymeZone or something.

DS: Fucking scary man, I’m telling you.

KV: I’m not going to even pretend I understood what the fuck you just said, Dave.

JE: Well, I’m sure that no matter what Monokuma throws at us, no one will die again!

JH: We’ve been through so much already; I know we can overcome this too if we work together.

JH: No one here will be alone agai—

VS: Wow, you two are clueless.

Vriska loudly exclaims in sarcastic awe, not even letting Jade finish her sentence.

VS: It’s so pathetic how naive you two are.

JE: W-what are you talking about?

VS: Eridan killed Tavros on his own. He just snapped, and did it without a motive ever being given.

VS: And now that there’s one, you really think that there won’t be someone in here who will bite the bullet? Seriously, it could be anyone.

VS: Hell, it might even be me if I’m feeling like it.

VS: You’ve got to grow up. Both of you.

VS: You either do, or get killed, like he did.

JH: But I just wanted to—

VS: Is that what you want Jade, or John?

VS: To become the killer’s way out of here?

Neither of them can answer her. They are frozen in silence. And there’s no one in the gym willing to intervene in their conversation. What she’s saying is harsh, perhaps too much, but she’s right in the end; they can’t ignore the possibility of someone falling into despair again if what Monokuma said is right.

VS: I don’t. That’s why I won’t fall for stupid delusions like you.

VS: I know someone will die in here, and I will make sure that someone is not going to be me.

VS: Good luck, John. Because with those beliefs you’re going to need it.

VS: You know what I said to you the other day, just don’t expect me to save you if the moment ever comes.

VS: For that, you’re on your own.

Feeling strangely frustrated, Vriska then turns around to leave the gym on her own, leaving behind a John who, for a brief moment, doesn’t know what to do. And in an uncomfortable silence, they all follow her, leaving the gym for the dining hall to go and finish eating today’s lackluster breakfast. Everyone, including him.

After they are done, just as quickly as they arrived, they leave and spread out across Hope’s Peak Academy. There’s still more than twelve hours before the next nighttime announcement, but the clock is always moving forth.

What will they do today?

Free Time

While eating, Nepeta invited Equius to come over to the swimming pool to spend some time together. Naturally, he accepted the invitation, though he said he first needed to go back to his room to tidy up the place after exercising in there last night, leaving quite a mess after lifting the heaviest things he could find to keep himself in shape. He didn’t take the equipment of the second floor to his room to respect his friends if they also want to exercise with them. But now that he’s ready, he takes a very quick bath to feel refreshed and leave his hair ready for Nepeta to brush it later; he knows she loves to do it, and he does too, it’s very relaxing. Equius exits his room, and walks toward the swimming pool upstairs. Once in there, he finds her, sitting on the side and scribbling ideas in a notebook she took from the supply room.

But she’s not the only one in here.

FP: 380!

FP: You’re here, glub!

Feferi is on the swimming pool, half underwater, this time with a proper swimsuit: A wetsuit variation of the alternative uniform Monokuma gave her. As she is close to the edge of the pool, Equius first walks to her, and she swims toward him.

FP: I was about to swim when miss catfish arrived. I invited her to swim alongside me but she refused. I didn’t know you would come over to be with her!

She playfully splashes some water on him and his black sunglasses.

EZ: D --> Yes, it is my duty to take proper care of my moirail, heiress.

EZ: D --> And I feel great joy when doing so, too.

EZ: D --> As an indigoblood, it is my duty to take care of those below me. But she… she’s special to me.

Equius looks at Nepeta lovingly, who is still oblivious to them and focused exclusively on her notebook. Feferi is now on the edge of the pool too, with her arms on it, looking at him.

EZ: D --> Despite her just barely-acceptable blood caste, she has become over the sweeps one of the fiercest warriors I’ve ever seen. She’s relentless and deadly in combat with her claws, yet she moves with great grace and never-ending dexterity.

EZ: D --> I admire her. I feel thankful to the Condesce for having met her.

FP: That’s good to hear, really!

FP: I wish he’d ever said the same about me… glub.

EZ: D --> Heiress, I think that maybe—

FP: I know, I know. I can’t let my think pan sink me to the bottom of the ocean with those thoughts.

FP: It’s just so hard to get my mind off what happened, and what Monokuma said.

EZ: D --> I know it’s difficult. But it must be done for us to remain in an optimal psychological state for a prolonged period of time.

FP: I’ll keep on swimming; it makes me feel so good, and perhaps later I’ll take a bath in my room.

FP: All that hot water on my body, all that steam…

FP: Glub… 380~

Feferi gets carried away with her thoughts for a split second before snapping out of it fast.

FP: You go and be with Nepeta, treat her well.

FP: It’s an order! 3X0!!!

EZ: D --> It’ll be a pleasure to comply with it, your majesty.

Equius gets back up and walks toward Nepeta, who is still sitting on the stands lost in thought, while the Ultimate Heiress uses her legs against the wall to propel herself back to swimming from one side of the pool to the other. She may not be the fastest swimmer, but she definitely has a lot of strength and endurance.

Nepeta doesn’t notice Equius until he’s right next to her, making the Leijon almost jump on the spot like a surprised cat.

NL: :33 < D-didn’t see you there!

EZ: D --> I was standing there for at least half a minute. You need to be more aware of your surroundings.

NL: :33 < Bluh bluh bluh. What’s going to happen if I don’t, Feferi will soak me in water or something? Is she gonna get me all wet?

EZ: D --> You know I am not referring to that.

Equius adjusts his sunglasses while looking to the side, subtly blushing.

EZ: D --> But it doesn’t matter. You called me here, after all.

NL: :33 < Yes I did! I wanted to ask you something.

EZ: D --> Tell me what’s on your mind, Nepeta.

NL: :33 < I want you to…

NL: :33 < Roleplay with me!

NL: :33 < I know you have always said no in the past, but now with what the headmeowster said…

NL: :33 < I wanted to do this with you, to have a good time together and relax.

EZ: D --> …

EZ: D --> No.

NL: :33 < Equius, please think about it. I know you want to do it!

EZ: D --> I have extensively and thoroughly expressed my opinion on this matter. On this game of yours.

EZ: D --> It is not only a waste of time, but a dangerous one too. Here, we can’t afford to do such foolish things.

NL: :33 < But it isn’t useless or foolish or whatever purr saying!

NL: :33 < It would make us feel better!

EZ: D --> My opinion on this matter has not changed in the slightest.

EZ: D --> I command you to stop immediately.

NL: :33 < But I…

EZ: D --> I order you to stop with this immature nonsense right now, Nepeta. Stop wasting my time, and yours.

NL: :33 < I… I see.

NL: :33 < I was preparing some ideas for us in this notebook. T-that’s why I didn’t notice you at first…

NL: :33 < I’m s-sorry Equius… I j-just wanted to have some fun with you.

NL: :33 < B-but It’s okay if you don’t want to! It r-really is!

She looks very disheartened down at the floor, slightly tearing up, but trying her hardest to hide it from Equius to not hurt him. Yet, despite her best efforts, Equius can’t help but immediately notice the small twitches in her face and how now she tries to look away; he feels like pure scum and filth because of it, for being so awful to her. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings at all, he just wanted her to not get distracted with anything that would put her in danger, even more so now with Monokuma’s upcoming motive. But seeing her like that because of what he did… it’s like being stabbed in the heart a thousand times. It was a mistake to say no to her proposition, he’s sure of it. For her smile, Equius would do everything, even more so for her safety, because she means so much to him. But because of his lack of careful tact, he doesn’t know how to fix the situation, and he doesn’t want to make it worse. He gets more and more tense, more nervous, not knowing how to handle this. He needs a towel now, not for any sweat, but to bury his face in it.

On the other side of the room, Feferi listens to both of them from the pool. But once she sees a sad, forced smile in the oliveblood, who tries to tell her moirail that everything is alright, the Peixes knows it’s time to act, to do something about it.

FP: Oh my glub. What did I tell you, Equius! 3X0!

FP: How embarrassingly stupid do you have to be to mess this up?!

She yells at him as she gets off the pool and walks toward them with a serious expression in her face.

EZ: D --> Oh, heiress.

EZ: D --> I thought you would focus on your physical exercise.

FP: I was, until I heard you reject her like an evil-evil jellyfish!

EZ: D --> I’m not an evil jellyfish, I just—

FP: And if you’re not going to do it because you’re such an idiot, then I’ll do it with her!

EZ: D --> … I did not know you were into this kind of stuff.

FP: Yes I am, because she showed me how fun it can be!

FP: And it pains me to see her so sad, so I’ll do it.

NL: :33 < Y-You really want to play with me?

FP: Of course! I love being with you, everything is always so fun when you’re around. 38D

NL: :33 < I-I… thanks.

EZ: D --> Nepeta, I’m sorry.

Equius interrupts, carefully taking off his damaged sunglasses to look at her in the eyes, for her to look at him in the eyes.

EZ: D --> I did not mean to hurt you, not in the slightest. I just want you to be safe.

EZ: D --> But my behavior was utterly inexcusable, and I…

EZ: D --> I beg your forgiveness, even though I don’t deserve it.

Nepeta looks at his concerned expression, at his vulnerable eyes, at his heart open to her. She knows better than anyone else that, inside all that toughness and lot of muscles, there is a guy who never means any harm, a guy who doesn’t want to hurt her, but doesn’t know how to be gentle from time to time. He may be a very strong highblood, but he’s also her moirail, and she knows how difficult it can be for him to open up about his own feelings, let alone openly admitting his own errors and faults, something he does with her, and her only. She means so much to him, and the Ultimate Huntress knows it very well.

Despite everything she feels very grateful to know him, to be his moirail.

Nepeta sighs, feeling calmer now. She looks at Equius one more time and…

Yeah, she can’t be mad at him, she just can’t.

NL: :33 < Come here!

She extends her arms and tightly hug Equius with all her strength, holding on to him for a few seconds. Looks are quite deceiving, because despite her rather small size, she’s very strong too, something Equius is feeling right now. But he doesn’t mind that, he doesn’t mind it at all. Because seeing her so happy makes him feel very happy in return. She smiles, and he does too, remaining in that position for a few seconds until Nepeta lets go of him. She wants to ask him something, but feels quite nervous right now.

For Feferi is as clear as crystal-clear water what Nepeta wants, and gives her the help she needs right now.

FP: Would you like to roleplay with us now?

NL: :33 < :OO!

EZ: D --> W-well, I…

FP: Please, Equius?

Feferi intentionally begs him with open sea barkbeast eyes and her fins leaning down. That's something he just can’t refuse, let alone to the heiress herself.

EZ: D --> Okay, I will do it.

NL: :33 < R-really?! Are you going to do it?!

EZ: D --> Of course. I would do anything for you

NL: :33 < :DD!

EZ: D --> But… one thing first.

EZ: D --> Your majesty, I have a request.

FP: Jeez, Equius, you don’t have to call me like that or be so formal!

FP: Glub, I’d like if you called me by my own name. I know I’m the technically heiress, but… I’m just like everyone else here, just like you, just like Nepeta.

FP: Can you do it for me?

EZ: D --> Of course, your— Feferi. I’ll call you like this from now on.

Despite Feferi saying she just wants to be treated as an equal, and not like someone who’s superior to others in any way, Equius can’t help but feel honored the heiress herself is allowing him to call her by her own name. If that is what she wants, of course he’ll do it.

FP: But what did you want to ask me? 38?

EZ: D --> I know I said yes to the roleplay request already, but…

EZ: D --> I would like… if you…

EZ: D --> If you commanded me to do it.

He blushes as he gets a little nervous. Unlike other things, this request feels much more personal for him, like something he truly wants.

And Feferi can see that right away.

FP: If that’s what you want…

FP: Shore. 38)

With great spirits, they spend the entire afternoon playing together in the swimming pool. Creating their characters, roleplaying as them, having a good time the three of them. But most importantly, they manage to take their minds off the threat that is now mere hours away from coming into action. Not just for them, but for everyone in Hope’s Peak.

What are they doing about it?

Free Time

After a very quick breakfast, Vriska went missing for almost the entire day, with no one having any idea of where she could be, nor any interest in checking on her. At first, John just let her be to avoid annoying her any further. But with the nighttime getting closer and closer, and with it the motive Monokuma introduced earlier today, in the final hours he went to look out for her across the academy. He began with her dorm room; no luck. He searched across the entire first floor, nothing either. Then, he went upstairs looking for her; from the swimming pool to the classrooms, nothing. As the last remaining place, he enters the library, finding it empty as well.

But then, he hears sounds coming from the archives. He opens the door and sees her in there.

VS: Where did Rose leave that stupid sh—

JE: Hey! You’re here!

Vriska got startled by his words. He took her by absolute surprise as she was so absorbed in her search of the file Rose found then brought back here.

VS: Oh, hey.

VS: Didn’t see you there.

VS: What are you doing here?

JE: No one has seen you all day long and I wanted to make sure you are alright.

VS: Did someone send you here?

VS: Please tell me it wasn’t Kanaya.

VS: Or even worse, Terezi.

VS: Fucking yuck.

JE: No, I just came here because I was worried about you!

VS: Haha, nice joke, good one.

VS: Hahahahahahahaha.

VS: All eight of them, see? ::::)

JE: I’m serious! I was really worried you just disappeared. And kinda freaking out now that I couldn’t find you anywhere.

JE: Remember what Jade said in the morning?

JE: No one here deserves to be alone.

JE: I don’t know the details of what you did back in your planet and everything, but…

JE: No matter what problems you have with your friends.

JE: That applies to you too, Vriska.

JE: You don’t deserve to be alone here, no matter what you did in the past.

VS: You know you’re doing all this for someone who in the end is gonna kill you, right?

JE: Yes, I do. But I don’t care about that! That’s problem for future me, not present me.

JE: I wouldn’t feel comfortable with myself knowing I’m abandoning a friend.

JE: Because you’re a friend to me, Vriska.

VS: …

Her eyes open wide when she hears words she definitely wasn’t expecting to hear. How can he say that? She's been awful to him, and last time they talked she explicitly told him she was not going to save him if he ever was in danger. How is he so… frustratingly positive?!

VS: I know I’m so fucking awesome and all, and that everyone wants to be my friend.

VS: But you might wanna rethink that, dude.

VS: Not having each other as potential targets is one thing. Talking from time to time, sure.

VS: But becoming friends with the one who’s gonna be your doom? Not a good idea.

VS: We are in a killing game, don’t forget that. And we both know the killing part far too well.

JE: I’m not sure about that. I know what I said, and my stance is the same.

JE: I don’t care about what happened in the past back in Alternia. I wasn’t even there to begin with! So I don’t know what’s true or not.

JE: But whatever happened there, whatever you did or felt you had to do, you’re no longer the same person.

JE: I’m sure you changed, that present Vriska is not past Vriska.

JE: I’m not past me, and I’m sure future me won’t be current me.

JE: I won’t judge you by who you were and what you did in your planet. I’ll only judge by who you are right now, and what you do.

JE: And sure, all that talk about winning and killing me sounds scary and all, but we are in a freaking killing game!

JE: What can possibly be normal in a place like this?! I don’t blame you for wanting to return to your home. I want to go home too. And wanting that doesn’t make you someone awful.

JE: Vriska… you’re not a bad person to me.

Well, he got the reason why very wrong, she despises her life back there with her psychopathic lusus and that manipulative cueball douchebag, though it’s something she won’t tell him just yet. But, even if that’s the case, even if he’s just a naively optimist human… she can’t really be annoyed at him, not when he’s willing to judge her by her actions in the present, rather than what she did in the past. He seems to be willing to always move forward no matter what, and that’s something she can respect, even if he does so by all the wrong reasons. She threatens him with killing him by winning this game, and he stills wants to be her friend? She can’t help but feel even intrigued by him and his unrelenting optimism through stalwart skepticism.

VS: Are you sure about that? Because it’s gonna bite you in the ass sooner or later.

JE: I am. The only true bad person in here is the one who’s forcing us to play this demented game!

Despite everything, it feels good for her to know out that out there, there’s at least one person who doesn’t think she’s a heartless monster. He really is different to everyone else.

VS: That’s… actually really nice to hear.

VS: I see you’re not all that stupid after all. ::::)

JE: Heh, thanks.

Sadly, not all good things are meant to last.

KM: So you’re here.

Kanaya interrupts them from the doorframe, making Vriska groan.

VS: Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.

JE: Hi Kanaya!

KM: Hi, John. Are you busy with her right now?

VS: Yes, we are.

JE: No, we were just talking about some stuff, nothing too important, I guess.

KM: That’s good.

Kanaya looks at him in silence for a few seconds with her eyes wide open, head leaning forward. It takes a few moments for him to catch the hint.

JE: Oh.

JE: Wow, it looks like you guys are gonna have some girls-only talk or something.

JE: Gotta go!

VS: Wait! Did you bring her here?!

But it is of no use, John is already exiting the library, and Kanaya well inside the archives.

VS: John, I swear you’re gonna pay for that!!!!!!!!

KM: John has no involvement in me being here, other than me casually hearing both of you talk.

KM: I simply decided I have to talk with you. Now.

KM: With nighttime approaching, I thought now it’d be a good time to talk. Just you and me.

VS: So you came here just to be Miss Meddlesome McFussyfangs with me again?

VS: Perfect. Just. Perfect.

VS: Give me a fucking break.

KM: You’ve been on your own all day long. I’m sure that more than qualifies for a break.

VS: And here you go again. You’re so damn lame.

VS: Always, always putting your nosy nose wherever you can. No wonder your ultimate title is exactly that.

KM: We are just an hour away from the motive coming into effect, Vriska.

KM: Everyone is somewhat nervous, but more or less prepared to face it in their own ways.

KM: But I’m sure you are not.

KM: I don’t know the level of information Monokuma has about us, or his capacity to enforce his most recent words.

KM: But should the worst case arise, we need to make peace with our own minds. For everyone’s sake.

KM: You need to make peace with your own mind.

VS: Fuck off. I don’t need a jadeblood grubsitter looking after me. I’m more than fine as I am. I don’t fear shit so good luck Monokuma finding anything to scare me with.

KM: Vriska, I’ve known you for almost my entire life. And despite the theatrics you always put up to confuse everyone about your true intentions, I know you very well, whether you like it or don’t.

KM: And I know what you fear, even what you fear the most.

VS: Shut up!!!!!!!!

VS: You don’t know me at all!

VS: Because we were moirails in the past doesn’t give you the right to say you know who I am or whatever!

VS: John was right. Past me is past me. I’m not the one you used to know back then.

KM: You can lie to me all you want, but you can’t lie to yourself.

VS: Did you really come all the way here just to give me some useless lecture? REALLY?

VS: Are you seriously that desperate to pick up things where we left off?

KM: I don’t. I’m not doing this because of any interest in you.

KM: Those feelings died a long time ago. Long before we arrived here.

KM: I’m doing this because I care about our friends.

VS: So not even you care about me. Wow.

KM: Stop being so dramatic, Vriska.

KM: Excuse me, my bad. After all this time I should have learned that is impossible for you.

VS: I must admit it, when did you develop such a sharp tongue?

KM: Knowing you for a lifetime makes you learn a thing or two.

KM: Still, back to what I was saying.

KM: No one wants another murder to occur, including me. That is why I’m checking on everyone, including you.

VS: I was doing just fine until you arrived and scared John away. I was even relaxing with him.

VS: Don’t you realize your meddling fangs make everything so much worse?

KM: … Now that you’re conscious about what will take place in less than an hour, I won’t extend my stay here. I’ll go back to the first floor.

KM: I hope you can endure whatever happens next, for your own sake, and everyone’s.

VS: Yeah, yeah. Thanks for the heads up. But between you and me, it’d way more useful if you saved those prayers for someone who will actually break under pressure. I don’t know, Karkat or something.

KM: Goodbye Vriska.

VS: Bye. And tell John he still has to pay for bringing you here.

KM: If I come across him, I may do it.

And with those departing words, Kanaya follows the human’s steps and also exits the library to go back to the first floor for dinner. For her, this was an absolute annoyance, but one she had to do no matter what. In the past she was much closer to Vriska, but after a lifetime of her schemes and shenanigans back in Alternia, those feelings of attraction and care are long gone, replaced by just disapproval of her. But even then, even when there are many things Kanaya doesn’t take any pleasure in doing, she still has a resolute determination to get them done for the greater good when necessary. Checking on Vriska to see if she’s doing well, is one of them.

Vriska sighs. No matter how much she dislikes it, Kanaya is right, nighttime is quickly approaching. She leaves everything as it is, papers and pictures spread wide across the entire floor, and returns to the first floor too. She has always been one to trust her own gut over what anyone else might say, but even she has the feeling that things won’t be good very soon, so the Serket feels the need to get as much rest as possible now in the first night, because nothing guarantees her she’ll be able to do so tomorrow.

With the exception of Gamzee, who is in his room, and Karkat, who is in the kitchen preparing him more and more sopor slime pies like a one-man bakery army, everyone is having one final meal before the motive comes into play. The ambient is tense, and the anxiety of some students can be felt in the air. They all know what Vriska said is painfully right: On his own, one of them snapped, and killed someone else. And now that they’ll be forced to face their own fears…

What’s going to happen now, with Monokuma pushing them to the very brink of insanity and despair?

They are about to find out very, very soon.

A few minutes just before 10 pm, everyone goes to their rooms to sleep. And in their rooms, feeling the dread of every passing minute, they finally hear it from the speakers. The announcement is here.

Ding dong, bing bong.

“Mm, ahem, this is a school announcement. It is now 10 p.m. As such, it is officially nighttime. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited.”

“This also officially marks the beginning of the new motive for this killing game. Be ready to face your own nightmares, students, or soon you’ll experience a despair you never even thought possible~"

“Okay then...sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite...”

With an awful sensation in their stomachs and anxiety in their minds, the fourteen students close their eyes and fall asleep, one after the other. But just like Monokuma said, a personal hell is waiting for them.

Chapter Text

The first night passes more or less calmly for the fourteen students. Bad dreams for some, waking up every few hours for others, but overall, nothing too out of the ordinary just yet. And by the time they all wake up for good, around half an hour before morning announcement, many of the students are puzzled as to why the mastermind didn’t go all out on them from the start in their sleep. If the objective is for a murder to occur in Hope’s Peak, if the objective is for them to kill each other as soon as possible, why would the mastermind take their time?

But if there’s one thing that Monokuma knows very well he has in his favor, among many other things, it is exactly that: time.

He has it; they don’t.

Trying to maintain their daily routines despite the heavy atmosphere, everyone goes to the dining hall for breakfast. Things are very tense, and there’s an uneasy feeling hanging in the air. But even under those hard conditions, the comradery of the students endures. Unlike last night, they all talk to each other to at least try and make things somewhat better, given the circumstances.

JH: So… Monokuma’s motive started last night.

JH: But we aren’t really seeing anything different… or feeling for that matter.

JH: How long will it take before we start noticing its effects?

DS: Could be a day, could be a week.

DS: Who knows really.

JE: I’m not sure what will actually happen… but as long as we remain together, I’m sure we can do it. We can get through this no matter what Monokuma throws at us.

JE: Whatever he has, I doubt it will ever break the friendship we have formed over the years!

DS: Damn.

DS: I better pay you the big bucks to be my motivational coach.

RL: That optimism is almost contagious on its own.

DS: Yeah.

VS: I must grant it to the bastard.

VS: The real stuff hasn’t even begun and we are already wearing ourselves out with all this talk.

VS: Congratulation wherever you are, asshole. I know you’re watching us anyways.

TP: You… you’re right.

TP: The more we think about it, the more we worry about it, the worse we make it for ourselves.

RL: If it weren’t because of the fact that we are trapped here with our lives on the line, I would find such masterful move admirable.

RL: Slowly and unwillingly, we are doing the job for him on our own, yet again.

EZ: D --> Then it is our job to not repeat our mistakes again.

SC: Otherwise we are as good as dead. Almost like we are now anyways.

VS: Yeah, but that’s easier said than done for some of you. After all, he himself said it.

VS: Things will start boringly easy. Then they’ll go aaaaaaaall the way to hell.

VS: Wanna bet where we are right now, and where we’ll be later? ::::)

KV: Vriska shut the fuck up, now it’s not the time to—

But just as they were talking, before Karkat can even finish his sentence, everyone in the dining hall begins to hear… something. Heavy steps coming from the hallway, one after the other, getting closer and louder with every passing second until they see it. They see him in the entrance.

It’s Gamzee.

What was before just an unnerving feeling in the air caused by the abstract motive, has now become something very real and tangible, something that is standing right next to them. They have seen him before many times during their entire lives; they have eaten with him before time and time again. Yet, it is that exact fact what now has the other nine trolls extremely tense and alert. They know him, they know what he’s capable of, if something goes horribly wrong.

Then, the Makara greets them all.

GM: Hello, nasty motherfuckers. :o)

GM: Honk.

For a few seconds, there’s no response, no one speaks. Nothing at all, until Karkat steps forth.

GM: Wait why’s everyone so motherfucking quiet.

KV: How… how are you feeling?

GM: Feelin’ motherfuckin’ great, like the entire universe is spreading wide open just for me.

He smiles wide, his sharp teeth showing off with dripping saliva, unsettling Karkat even more.

KV: I’ll… I’ll go bring you something to eat. What do you want?

GM: Whatever your little heart tells you, I’ll eat it thinking of you, and only you.

KV: Fuck, just sit and wait right there, and don’t even think about doing anything else.

GM: Not even breathing? :o(

KV: Of course you can you stupid sack of shi—

Then, Karkat suddenly stops, actually scared of if he had finished his rash sentence. He gulps saliva, and continues, burying his nails into his thighs to keep his cool.

KV: Just. Stay calm. Okay?

GM: Sure, brother.

GM: Honk.

He finds a seat in the nearest chair, sitting on his own away from the others. He’s smiling, undisturbed, unfazed as ever. He’s so hungry that he came out of his room to eat and spend some quality time with his friends.

Yet that’s the exact reason why every single troll in the dining hall can’t relax at all, instead feeling tenser and tenser, keeping their distance and never taking their eyes off him, even Vriska herself looking sideways at him from time to time. Under any other circumstances they simply would not care about him at all. But with Monokuma’s motive and its still yet-to-be-seen consequences, they can’t help but fear the worst being near him. After all, at any moment he could simply…

The humans, without saying a single word, follow suit. Thanks to the last trial, they know the Makara can be erratic and unpredictable; for them, it is just better to mind their own business and not ask for any more trouble. And it is like this, in an even more uncomfortable dining hall, that everyone (minus Karkat and Gamzee) finishes their meals and get out of there as fast as they can. The real first day has begun.

What will they do—

No.

They know very well what they have to do.

What they don’t know if they’ll be able to achieve it.

Or if they do, for how long.

…

With the library open for everyone, and now being in dire need of a distraction for peace of mind, it was inevitable that the Ultimate Occultist Rose Lalonde would go there to read for hours on end. She’s intrigued by many books in there, and also interested in the plethora of files available in the archives, especially those of cryptic deaths, human sacrifices, and supernatural phenomena. Despite her open interest in some science fields, she has always been strangely drawn to that which cannot be explained. For her, there’s something very enticing in the things that are beyond human comprehension.

Once inside, she grabs some books from the shelves to pile them up in a desk to read later. Next, she goes to the archives for the files she’s interested in. She turns the knob, open the doors and… finds the mess someone left behind not long ago.

Rose sighs very annoyed as she kneels down to sort all the papers and pictures. But as she’s fixing this disaster, mostly because all the files are so mixed up and impossible to read, she hears the sound of a door in the slight distance slowly open behind her, followed by gentle steps. Intrigued, she turns around and sees her checking the shelves. It’s Kanaya.

RL: I wasn’t expecting to see you here.

KM: Oh, hi Rose. I didn’t either, but given how things are, I wanted to do something else after taking care of the animals. There’s only so much you can do in your routine before thinking about you-know-what.

KM: I thought I could read something to pass the time. But given the lack of troll literature in here, I’m at a loss as to what to choose.

RL: I can’t blame you. It isn’t easy to choose between a Poe or a Stoker, or even a Shelley, when they are long-gone aliens from the other side of the galaxy from a civilization you didn’t even know existed.

RL: I guess this further corroborates the idea that whoever created Monokuma is also a human.

KM: Given the fact that you are more experienced with human literature.

KM: Rose, would you be kind enough to recommend me a book?

The Ultimate Occultist lets out a small, innocent yet sincere laugh. She had already thought of countless options of novels to show her the moment she first stepped into the library the other day, fantasizing with a moment like this. She gets back up, and answers the jadeblood.

RL: Sure. In fact, let’s read something together. I’ve got an idea.

The elements of the occult Monokuma left in here will have to wait for a little longer, as Rose has new plans to spend the rest of her day inside the library alongside the Maryam.

But they are lucky to have one another, because just as they have found a good plan to keep their minds off the motive and the killing game, that is hardly the case for anyone else here in Hope’s Peak. As the day went on, everyone began to felt progressively worse. And in the afternoon, down in the school shop, there is a student who’s beginning to feel how things are changing. One who had the misfortune of hitting the jackpot, yet again.

At first, she wanted to keep reading the file about The Tragedy, but as Rose and later Kanaya got there first, she abandoned that plan to not deal with those two. Instead, she headed for the two classrooms in the second floor, and by sheer luck found Monocoins which she is now spending in the MonoMono machine.

She spends the first few coins, getting various rewards which she either keeps or throws away almost randomly depending on her level of interest on them. But after pulling the lever of this monochromatic one-armed bandit (well, it’s a toy machine like those of commercial blocks, but she prefers to see it that way) one more time, Vriska hears something right behind her. She swiftly turns around by instinctive reaction, but all she sees is… nothing. Not the room’s decoration, or even its walls. Nothing at all.

Except the door, which she previously had left open, now closed without making a sound.

She turns around back to the MonoMono machine. But in the reward slot, instead of the normal reward she was about to grab, she sees something different in its place. At first, she thinks it’s just a black sphere, but once she grabs it with her robotic hand, she notices a blue triangle on the other side. Her first reaction was to turn it around and look straight at the blue mark. But as soon as she does it, she feels it.

Why. That sensation. Again.

Her heart racing, her body tightening, lack of air and a faster and faster breathing, her organic hand uncontrollably shaking until she presses it against her robotic one to bring it under control. At that moment, she sees a faint message on the blue triangle, slowly becoming clearer with every passing second. Unable to concentrate on anything else, she reads it:

“Honestly, did you really think we are done? Don’t be so foolish, little girl. Or I’ll have to punish you.”

Vriska stands frozen in silence, not even breathing or blinking, until her own instinct makes her shake her head to forcefully snap out of it. Once she does, everything around her feels back to normal, like nothing ever changed, like it was just her imagination. She looks down at her robotic hand and…

It’s just a normal reward. A white cueball with a small tag which says:

“A billiard ball made for pool. It is most excellent.”

Vriska feels something she can’t even begin to explain. A mixture of anxiety, slight panic, and a deep burning hatred which makes her crush the cue ball under the pressure of her own robotic hand, shattering it into countless piece before collapsing down onto the floor, sitting on it with her back against the counter. Her gaze is lost in the direction of the floor, and remains so for a long while.

That’s when she remembers it, that she’s alone in this, that she’s got to do whatever it takes to survive, like she’s always done. First in Alternia, now in Hope’s Peak Academy.

It was during the afternoon that things started to quickly become progressively worse, and by the evening everyone is feeling the consequences of the motive, one way or another. 

In another room of the first floor, this time inside Despair Inn, there is two trolls in one of its many rooms. And one of them is experiencing some of the worst effects any student is feeling right now.

SC: Fuck, Karkat.

SC: I… I thought I would never have to go through this again.

SC: Entire sweeps without having to suffer it. Everything felt so perfect when it went silent.

SC: Why now again. Why.

SC: Why it is back.

SC: Why are they back.

SC: They’re here, and I’m listening to them.

SC: I’m hearing their voices again.

SC: The voices of the doomed.

Sollux is feeling extremely agitated, with a rapid breathing and both hands in his face. His nails dig against his own skin, scratching himself in the process. Karkat knows how much this affects him, but he can only wonder how it feels to hear those never-ending voices talk. In the light, in the dark. In the multitude, alone. Always, always talking. Always, always whispering.

KV: How can you hear them?

KV: Fuck, that was such an imbecile question I’m sorry.

SC: They are whispering.

SC: I can hear their whispers.

SC: I can’t make out what they say. They are still too subtle and faint, but…

SC: They are there, I know. I’m sure of it.

SC: I can hear them in the back of my head. Their voices digging through my brain no matter how much I try to ignore them.

SC: I don’t want this.

SC: I don’t want to have to deal with this again.

KV: I-I don’t know what to say, fuck.

KV: I don’t know what to do.

KV: I’m always so useless I’m sorry.

Karkat feels extremely frustrated he can’t do anything for him right now. A sensation of deep self-loathing burning even harder now inside him. But then, something appears in his mind. An idea.

KV: I know I’ve told you countless times how much I despise you.

KV: But if you ever need something.

Karkat puts both hands on Sollux’s shoulders, and slightly bends down to look at him in the eyes between his spread fingers. Karkat looks at him with a concerned face and a feeling of anxiety, but he knows what he has to do. He knows what he has to say to him, the fucker unfortunate enough to have Karkat Vantas as his friend.

KV: Just tell me, okay?

KV: I know I can’t do much. But no matter what it is, I’ll be there no matter what.

KV: Please hold on, Sollux.

KV: I need you to do it. Everyone does.

SC: I’ll do it. I did it sweeps ago, and I can do it again. It’s just…

SC: After going through an entire life without experiencing the word tranquility, or what is real silence.

SC: After so long without having to hear their voices after they went silent.

SC: Having to go through this again.

SC: It feels like a joke.

SC: A very fucking bad one.

Now they know it. Now they feel it. The motive has finally come into action. The first motive of this killing game.

And just like the Ultimate Lucky Student said.

It is all downhill from here.

This time there is not even a shared dinner in the dining hall. At some point before the announcement, many of the students go in their own toward the kitchen to prepare their meals before departing to their rooms to eat them in there. And the few students that do remain in the dining hall, don’t feel like talking at the moment. As a result, their dinner is just a silent, uncomfortable one.

Eventually, they all go back to their rooms, and try to fall asleep as fast as possible. Then, the announcement sounds.

“Mm, ahem, this is a school announcement. It is now 10 p.m. As such, it is officially nighttime. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited. Okay then...sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite...”

But this time the night announcement wouldn’t mark the end of their day, or the end of this night.

It marked the beginning of something even worse. Something waiting just for them, the fourteen students.

At first minutes pass by, then entire hours, yet not a single student can fall asleep. The stress, the anxiety, the dread, it all keeps them from falling asleep. But just like Monokuma warned them, the doors to a personal hell are opening for every single one of them. Alone in his room, Sollux can hear eerie whispers trapped beneath his pillow. Their memories, their sufferings, their voices; they won’t let him sleep.

At the end of the hallway, in one of those four rooms assigned to the humans, there is one who hears the creaking sound of the doors slowly opening. The locks being forced open, steps getting closer and louder until he opens his eyes and frantically looks around, even if he knows he’s in the dark.

That’s when Dave sees those crystal eyes, stalking him, glowing in the dark, moving across the entire room in the blink of an eye, with a maniacal laugh in the background that refuses to ever cease as the eyes move closer and closer to him. He can’t move, he can’t scream, something pins him in place and tries to pull his clothes and—

Then, he wakes up, sweating very, very cold. He tries his hardest to convince himself it was just a dream, that it must have been one because… he’s not there anymore. But even then, when he closes his eyes to try and sleep again, he fears that it’ll be there again, waiting for him in the dark.

Every single student goes through similar nightmares of their own during the entire night. Some perhaps even experience hallucinations during these darkened hours. After all, it’s particularly hard to discern what’s real and what’s not, when the line between lucidity and sleep is blurred beyond any normal recognition. Something like this could hardly ever be considered a rest for anyone, let alone the fourteen students of Hope’s Peak Academy, the players of this killing game.

Yet, this is just the first day, this is just the first night. And Monokuma can’t wait to see what will happen to them, to see how they will break and let despair consume them whole.

Chapter Text

Ding dong, bing bong.

“Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!”

The second day begins. And to say they are anywhere ready for it, is to simply lie. They are not.

After the morning announcement, one by one the students slowly get out of their rooms and make their way to the dining hall. They are all visibly tired, having had very little time to actually sleep, if any at all. But even now, they are trying their best to endure this living nightmare, to continue moving forward no matter what. Yet, at the same time, it is simply undeniable for them that the lack of proper rest (sleeping or otherwise) is starting to take its toll on them, wearing them mentally more and more. Their bonds and feeling of comradery might be giving them just enough to hang on and survive, enough to not concede to Monokuma and despair, but even the most optimistic of the students is starting to realize that this is temporary at best. At worst… it is better to just not think too much about it. And with no ending in sight, any hope left of things somehow getting better is vanishing.

JH: I hoped I’d be the only one who got the short end of the stick.

JH: But I guess everyone else slept like poop too.

DS: Yup. Snug as a bug in a rug hours are over.

DS: We bouta get mindfucked in the academy casting couch.

DS: ‘Kuma already has the camera in place and everything.

DS: Motherfucker thought of everything.

FP: Even if we are in a pretty glubbing messed up situation right now, we have to endure this!

FP: If not, things will get even worse very soon. 38(

RL: Indeed. We can’t forget why we are doing this.

RL: What we seek to avoid.

They are trying their hardest to avoid another death, another execution, another trial.

But if they’ll even be able to achieve it, remains to be seen.

TP: Where’s Karkat? >:?

TP: I haven’t been able to smell him all morning long.

AM: I left my room just before the announcement.

AM: Didn’t want to be there anyways.

AM: I saw him standing in the hallway. He was impatiently shaking his foot right outside the dining hall. He had puffy eyes; I doubt he even slept last night.

AM: And as soon as it opened, he went directly into the kitchen to prepare breakfast for Gamzee. I guess he’s still in his room, making sure he is actually eating everything, and not… making weird food subjugglator-rituals or something.

TP: That idiot is overexerting himself for the Makara every day, right when we need to hold on for as long as possible.

TP: He’s a poor dumb idiot and I’m worried about him. >:[

AM: It’s hard to blame you for it.

AM: He’s… quite set in his ways. And when that involves deciding he has to be the one to carry the burden of taking care of Gamzee, it’s natural for a friend to care about him just as much as he cares about us.

AM: Let’s just hope he can keep up with the mental wear of his self-assigned task. Otherwise, I wish you the best of luck trying to change his mind, because I doubt he will.

TP: I should had made him promise me that the other day. I’m an idiot too.

AM: Promise what?

TP: That he won’t do anything stupid. If he does, I’ll be very mad and I’ll kick his ass in court. A lot.

AM: I’m sure you’ll have the opportunity for him to promise you that. It is never too late to take matters into your own hands and fight against the powers that be.

TP: I hope you’re right.

The students finish their breakfast, and in a slightly slower manner than normal, they spread across the academy.

It is a new day in Hope’s Peak, but the nightmare hasn’t stopped at all. If anything, it has become even worse, and they have to face it whether they like it or not.

…

Up in the second floor, inside the swimming pool gym, there are two trolls sitting on the stands. For the first time ever since this floor was unlocked for them, Feferi isn’t around. Instead, it is just Equius and Nepeta alone in there, sharing a calm moment together.

Calm… if it could ever be called like that in a situation like this.

They could swear that in the corner of their eyes the water in the swimming pool behaves abnormally, aggressively shaking by seemingly no real reason. But when they look at it, it doesn’t move at all; after all, there’s no one in the pool. They are also sure that for a fraction of a second every few sporadic moments, the lights in this room go out, only to return right away before they can even fully notice it. But despite the strange behavior of their surroundings, they try their best to just ignore everything around them, and focus on the only thing that matters for them right now: Their moirail who is next to them.

NL: :33 < Where is Feferi?

NL: :33 < I thought she would be here.

EZ: D --> I was making my way toward my respective locker room, when I found her standing right outside hers. She wasn’t moving, she was almost completely motionless with the exception of her fins, slowly waving in the air.

EZ: D --> I greeted her as I should due to her royal status, but she didn’t answer. So I decided to walk into the boy’s locker room to train with the equipment in there.

EZ: D --> But before the door closed, she talked to me. She said she was sorry for not saying anything.

EZ: D --> She also told me she’d go back to her respite block, and take a long hot bath instead.

EZ: D --> If that’s how she thinks she’ll make herself feel better, I respect her decision.

NL: :33 < Well, that’s a shame. But I won’t complain about some private quality time with you!

EZ: D --> I think the same. It is always good to have you around. It is… very reinvigorating to see you every day, after being unable to for so long.

They smile at each other without saying a single word, they aren’t needed right now. But after a few moments of that comfortable silence, it returns to their minds. The reality of their almost-hopeless situation, the motive of this killing game.

EZ: D --> Can I ask something, Nepeta.

NL: :33 < Sure! Feel free to ask whatever purr heart wants.

EZ: D --> How are you feeling? I mean in both a physical and psychological sense.

EZ: D --> It is mandatory for me to check into your wellbeing. Strength of body is strength of mind, and vice versa. One must not allow either of them to falter.

NL: :33 < I’m fine, really. When I lost my hive all those sweeps ago and Pounce carried me away into the woods… I truly felt like that was the end for me. I’ve felt better, but I’ve also felt worse.

NL: :33 < I do miss her a bit though. :((

EZ: D --> We all have our grievances and regrets, but we must be strong enough for them not to overwhelm us. We cannot allow this game’s mastermind to defeat us.

NL: :33 < Equius, can I share something with you? It’s a secret, so please don’t share it with anyone else!

EZ: D --> Of course you can. It will be of my utmost duty to never speak a word of it to someone else. You have my word for it.

NL: :33 < It’s my… deepest fear. With the motive and everything, I thought that you deserved to know it.

NL: :33 < And now that we went through a very bad night and all… it’s losing you.

NL: :33 < Equius, please, I don’t want to lose you. Not now. Not ever. Please don’t die.

Nepeta instinctively grips her clothes and looks down. Equius reacts by immediately putting a hand on her shoulder, but makes sure not to apply too much pressure or force on her body. With Nepeta, he tries his hardest to be the gentlest.

EZ: D --> That will not happen. I promise.

EZ: D --> I have no intention of bending a knee to this heinous fiend. Or allowing either of us becoming a victim to someone else.

EZ: D --> Nepeta, I promise you that for as long as I can fight, I will refuse to play this game.

NL: :33 < T… Thank you.

EZ: D --> It is only fair for me to also confess my deepest fear, I suppose.

EZ: D --> He won’t get anything from me with it. But… even then I know it will be hard.

NL: :33 < What is it?

Equius goes from looking at her, to looking at the distance, to the other side of this room. Under his damaged sunglasses there is an expression of concern and doubt, of hesitation and pain. Nepeta notices those nuances in his face, and grows intrigued as to what it could be.

EZ: D --> One day being forced to… choose between you, or my duty to the Condesce.

EZ: D --> That’s what I fear the most.

That feeling of intrigue and curiosity she felt is immediately replaced by one of annoyance and hurtfulness. She knows he doesn’t want to hurt her, but he can be too blunt from time to time. Slightly hurt by his words, she punches him in the arm to vent out her feelings. But oblivious to her reaction, and absolutely unfazed by her punch, Equius keeps looking at the other side of the room as he continues talking.

EZ: D --> I fear that, because I already know my choice. This place made me realize that.

EZ: D --> I would never betray you. I will never leave your side no matter what.

NL: :33 < …

EZ: D --> That’s why the decision kills me inside.

EZ: D --> Because I’m willing to turn my back on what I’ve prepared for my entire life, to protect what I love the most.

Nepeta, already regretting her rash reaction, hugs him as tightly as she can, taking Equius by surprise as he was too absorbed in thought. As the seconds pass, her embrace doesn’t let go of him; if anything, it becomes even tighter, making Equius slightly sweat as he doesn’t know what to do. He wants to hug her back, but doesn’t want to interrupt her.

NL: :33 < Equius.

EZ: D --> Yes?

NL: :33 < Hug me. That’s an order.

She slides her hands underneath his arms to keep hugging him, while now allowing him to carry on with her request.

EZ: D --> I’ll do.

And he complies, wrapping his arms around her to hug her gently as he now puts even more effort into being gentle enough to not hurt her. Things are going downhill with every passing hour, but they are sure that for as long as they have each other, they’ll be able to hold on and endure whatever Monokuma and this killing game throws at them.

That's something everyone in Hope’s Peak Academy craves for, for a personal reason to continue no matter what, for a reason to endure hell in here. Some students have one… others don’t.

John and Jade are down in the AV room, watching one of the movies Monokuma left for them in there when they arrived. After breakfast, John wandered around the academy to pass the time as far away from his room as possible. But after a while, and with seemingly no apparent reason, he began to feel progressively worse with a deep sensation of guilt and powerlessness, to the point he was completely overwhelmed by those feelings in the hallway, and decided he needed to do something else as soon as possible; he needed to distract himself, now. He walked into the AV room, and inside he found that movie which he immediately thought of sharing with Jade, inviting her to spend the afternoon with him in here. With their world slowly crumbling apart, it is as a good time as ever to simply plug their minds off for as long as they can.

But as they watch the movie, John begins to feel that things bordering on the paranormal are happening, this time with him fully conscious and lucid, unlike last night. Things so obvious that he can’t ignore them, yet so subtle and faint that he isn’t sure they even happened in the first place. Sudden screeching sounds in the audio, distorted low-pitched lines, almost imperceptible sounds drowned out by his headphones, even distorted psychotic frames in the video itself that appear and go away before he can notice them, making him feel confused and uneasy. He’s anxious, but Jade doesn’t react to it at all, he doesn’t hear her say a single thing, it’s almost like he’s just… imagining everything. He tries to convince himself that is the case. And by the time the movie is over, John takes off his headphones. He wants to talk to her about everything that just happened, but as soon as he looks to his side, he sees her.

She’s crying uncontrollably in silence. Almost without making any sound, impossible to hear under the headphones, but that doesn’t stop the tears running down her face, even forming small puddles in the floor. And despite all those strange events, John feels awful now for not noticing her earlier.

JE: Crap, are you alright, Jade? Do you need something?

JH: S-sorry John, i-it’s just…

JH: I n-need a moment. Now. That’s all.

JE: I can leave if you want me to.

JH: N-no, please stay!

JH: Please don’t leave me now.

JH: I-I’m scared, John. Please don’t go.

JE: S-sure, I’ll stay, no problem really. Just let me know if there’s anything you need.

JH: R-right now… I just want your company.

JE: What happened? What made you… cry?

JH: Being with you, watching a movie together…

JH: Made me realize it.

Jade takes a moment to breathe and calm herself down. She really dislikes losing her cool, and breaking down into tears, becoming a mess of herself. She feels so pathetic, selfish and cowardly weak doing so when there’s so much on the line for everyone. Yet, she couldn’t hold it anymore, she had to vent out those feelings. And being with John in this room, having a calm uneventful moment together, felt almost cathartic for the Ultimate Markswoman.

JH: John, what’s your biggest fear?

JE: I? Well, let me think.

JE: Last night I had a ton of bad dreams, but they were about a lot of things, so I don’t know what exactly just yet. But if I had to guess something…

JE: Maybe it’s the idea of you guys actually not liking who I am?

JE: That would feel very awful, because you are so important to me.

She lets out a very small giggle. Despite that she was crying mere seconds ago, he still manages to make her smile, even if just a little bit. That kind of uplifting charm really makes him live up to his ultimate talent. It may not be a prank, sure, but he really can make her feel better by simply being that impossible-to-hate dork.

JE: And what’s yours?

JH: It was on my mind for a long time, but now I’m sure of it.

JH: John, my biggest fear… is to lose you.

JH: Rose, Dave, you… I don’t want to lose you guys. I’ve been on my own for so long, that I don’t want to be alone again.

JH: That’s why I asked you to stay.

JE: I see. I can’t even begin to imagine how lonely it must have been to live on that island on your own for so long, or how you must have felt during that time.

JE: It’s comprehensible that you don’t want to lose this, to lose your friends after waiting for so long to meet them. It really is. And there’s nothing wrong with that either!

JE: So, I’ll promise I’ll never leave you no matter what. That’s what friends are for, right?

JH: Thanks, John. It means a lot to me.

She smiles.

JH: And just so you know.

JH: I’ll never hate you. That’s a promise too.

JE: Hehe, thanks. I’m glad you feel better now.

JE: Wanna go pick up some ice cream from the supply room?

JH: I’d love it.

With the movie over, they get out of the AV room. But as they go through the door, as one last act, John can swear he sees in the corner of his eyes the screens of all the PCs light up at once and display… something, perhaps a message designed just for him. Yet, as soon as John turns around, there’s nothing at all. Nothing. Even the lights went out in that fraction of a second, and the room is now dark. But with Jade waiting for him in the hallway, and wanting to leave all of this behind, John tries not to think too much about it. It must have been a prank from Monokuma to unsettle him. That’s what he believes.

That’s what he wants to believe.

…

She wanted to let him rest for most of the day. Perhaps Karkat could catch some sleep during the afternoon after taking care of the Makara. But as the nighttime announcement slowly creeps closer and closer, Terezi decides she can’t postpone it anymore, and goes to his room to check on him. She needs to know if he’s doing well, if there’s something she can do for him. Trying to ignore the smell of desolation and despair reeking everywhere, she knocks on the door of his dorm room.

Nothing. Again.

Nothing at all.

She walks around the academy looking for him, until she finds the Vantas in one of the classrooms of the second floor.

TP: What are you doing here? >:?

KV: I just needed a small break.

TP: Then why not in your room?

KV: I… I don’t want to be there right now.

He’s sitting on one of the desks, his back against the wall and looking at the metal plates bolted on the windows with a blank gaze. She sits next to him, and takes off her glasses which she leaves on the table. Taking them off in court is one thing, in the middle of a trial where all is fair to win a case, but doing it outside of that? She only does so in private, with her closest friends. And given they’ve known each other for a long time, and have had each other’s back through very hard times, Karkat is definitely one of them.

TP: Did you sleep well last night?

KV: Ask that question to literally anyone who has the absolute misfortune of being anywhere near this academy right now, and you get my exact answer.

TP: Karkat don’t be so dramatic. I’m doing fine, everything considered.

TP: I’m just tired, like everyone else.

KV: Well, what the fuck do you even expect from me then.

KV: Not everyone is so perfect like you, let alone this fucking dumpster-fire of a pathetic mess that I have to call myself.

KV: That asshole of Monokuma really wasn’t lying. I don’t know how, but he really knows everything about us, knows how to use that information against us, and is willing to do it just because he feels like it.

KV: The douchebag is both powerful and evil. A very fucking bad combination if you ask me.

KV: And what can we even do other than just… survive.

Karkat sighs ever so slightly disheartened. Is there really anything else they can do? He feels so powerless right now.

TP: I don’t know. I’m not perfect like you claim. Very far from it.

TP: I don’t have all the answers, and sometimes I don’t know what to do. I freeze thinking about all potential paths of action, what to choose when there’s no apparent correct option.

TP: All those paths, all those branches and ramifications, and their consequences.

TP: I have to analyze every detail to feel assured I’m not screwing everything up with a rash decision or judgment. Because if I do… innocent people would get hurt. Killed.

TP: Remember that I said I’d kick your ass if you ever did anything stupid?

KV: Yeah, hard to forget a promise like that.

TP: Well, when I’m stuck and I don’t know what to do…

TP: I think about a certain dumbass I care about.

TP: About the veeery boring lecture he’d give me for overthinking it all. >:]

KV: And here I thought I’d finally get the chance to talk to you without getting needlessly roasted like a gobblefiend in 12th Perigee’s Eve.

KV: How naive of me. You sure have been spending time with Strider.

TP: Bluh bluh bluh. >XO

TP: Can I ask you for a favor?

KV: Sure. I don’t have anything better to do anyways.

TP: Well, what I want…

She gets up from her desk and moves toward the Vantas, until she’s right next to him, with her lips next to his ear. Karkat tenses his muscles, not knowing what to expect from her. She exhales through her mouth, letting her breath clash against his warm face before softly whispering.

TP: … is for you to show me the delicious color you’re hiding underneath all that gray, KK. >;]

She uses her cane to playfully poke him in his thigh.

KV: Wow, why the FUCK would you say that in a moment like this?!

KV: Terezi, the hell is wrong with you?!

TP: Wow Karkat, can’t you see it?

She steps back, and now sits in front of him.

TP: It is so obvious even a blind girl can, but you’re so dumb and stupid that you don’t.

KV: What. What is it.

TP: Jeez, you really surprise me from time to time.

TP: But I won’t complain, because it means it’s working at least.

KV: Let me do one of those just for you. Lo and behold:

KV: ?:B

TP: With Monokuma putting more and more pressure on us, with everyone getting so worn out yet again, I wanted to distract you for a little while.

Karkat is listening carefully, but he can’t help but yawn from the exhaustion and sleepiness, though he is quick to cover his mouth with both hands to not let her smell his own color… or breath.

TP: I know you’ve been overworking yourself. Every day you’re the first to wake up, the first to enter the dining hall, and the last to leave before night begins.

TP: Now you’re still doing this even though you didn’t sleep last night.

TP: And if you did, I’m sure it wasn’t enough.

KV: Well, I know it’s a dirty job but someone’s got to do it. Might as well be me.

KV: We can’t run the risk with him, you know that very well.

TP: I know! But we still need you taking care of yourself!

TP: I need you taking care of yourself.

TP: I don’t want you to end up like those two.

With her glasses off, Karkat can see directly into her red eyes, into that expression of genuine concern. She’s worried about him.

KV: I… won’t.

TP: Promise it.

KV: What?

TP: I said promise it, Karkat.

She hits him in the leg with her cane, though without any real strength applied.

KV: Well, fucking fine.

He grabs the other end of the cane, and together they hold it.

KV: Terezi…

KV: I promise you I’ll be alright.

KV: Unlike others, I know very damn well my own limitations and defects. And there are a fucking lot of them.

KV: I know my limit, and I’ll promise you I won’t cross it.

KV: Is that good enough for you?

TP: …

TP: Yes, thanks.

For the first time in a few minutes, Terezi smiles as she sighs in relaxation. And for Karkat, to see her like that, feels very heartwarming.

Yet, at the same time, it is frustrating for him that he just can’t bring himself to confess what’s in his heart, to tell her what he’s gone through, and even does so right now. From the very first night, Monokuma has been besieging him with that pervasive thought, nightmares of its consequences, and hallucinations that it is happening right now. He just can’t bring himself to tell her about it. He fears her reaction, her rejection.

Hers, and everyone else’s.

…

“Mm, ahem, this is a school announcement. It is now 10 p.m. As such, it is officially nighttime. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited. Okay then...sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite...”

The announcement. Nighttime is here. And with it, the gates of a psychological hell open some more.

If yesterday there were just a few students remaining in the dining hall for dinner, tonight there are barely any at all minutes before the doors are locked. They are all exhausted, many are visibly just barely holding on awake. But they know they can’t fall asleep outside their dorm rooms; they don’t want to get punished by Monokuma for it, they don’t want this nightmare to become even worse.

Thirteen students go to their dorm rooms during the next few minutes to get what little rest they can during the night. But there’s one who remains outside, slowly walking across the empty hallways of Hope’s Peak Academy.

Feferi is perhaps the only student who still has enough energy to willingly choose to stay awake now during nighttime. For the most part she actually manages to resemble her normal self, even if with slightly clumsier and slower movements. During the night, it gets colder here in Hope’s Peak, so before getting out of her room she puts on her black wet suit before making her way to the swimming pool, taking advantage of the fact that it remains open all night long. The Ultimate Heiress knows it isn’t safe, that it even goes against the rule they established when they first came, but being underwater at least makes her feel a little better, makes her feel at home. She wanted to swim during the day, but when she was right outside the locker rooms a few hours ago, something suddenly froze her in pose. It was a strange, crippling sensation of thalassophobia, like something was waiting for her on the other side, lurking in the depths of the waters in there. Unable to take even a single step forward, she went back to her room and instead took a long bath with hot water to calm her mind, and wash that fear away. After all, she’s a sea dweller, she has lived most of her life underwater; there’s no reason to fear being there now, there’s no reason to fear something’s in there…

… Right?

Now that is nighttime, and still craving for that sensation, Feferi goes through the locker room into the swimming pool until she’s right at the edge, dipping her feet in the water. For her, it feels very cold, so cold like the oceans back in Alternia. And despite that she’s the only one in here, in the entirety of Hope’s Peak outside the dorm rooms, the water behaves erratically with waves violently crashing against the concrete edges on all sides, frequently overflowing them and soaking the floor. But that won’t stop the Ultimate Heiress from getting what she seeks, so she leans forward, and elegantly falls into the pool.

But as Feferi goes from one side to the other, she feels like she’s swimming against an ever-growing tide, like the water itself is becoming more and more turbulent to the point where she struggles to advance. She doesn’t know why, but she can barely move now.

Then, just like it began, it all comes to a sudden stop, the water goes back to normal, and she violently moves forward. But before even a single second can pass…

All the lights in the room go out, and she’s left in a pitch-black darkness where she can’t see her own hands.

Startled by the surprise, Feferi stops swimming, but remains fully submerged in the pool, breathing through her gills, confusedly looking up at the ceiling. She waits for a few seconds, then a full minute, but nothing happens, the lights don’t return, and she’s left in the dark. But as she looks with confusion and slight fear at the blackened sky above, she begins to hear whispers coming from down below. She looks down to the bottom of the pool.

But there isn’t one anymore. All she sees… is endless darkness, endlessly deep.

And from the depths of this dark ocean, she hears something calling her, something… beyond comprehension, made up of nothing but amorphous darkness. An eldritch horror calling her, demanding her to take her role and place at the top, to become the fuchsia ruler she’s fated to become. To kill countless worthless lives because that’s what she’s destined to do, like every single other empress that came before, and every single one that will come after her.

Feferi begins to feel like the water is swallowing her whole, suffocating her despite her gills desperately breathing life into her body, so she frantically swims up to get out of the pool in this pitch-black darkness. But the moment she gets out of the pool, lies on the floor, and opens her eyes…

Everything is normal. The lights are on, and the water is calm, excluding the waves she caused with her violent moves. Distraught, she makes her way to the girls’ changing room, then to her own room, feeling even more unsettled than before. Unsettled, and very, very tired.

It is not a good night for her, or for anyone here in Hope’s Peak Academy. In fact, it’s worse than anything they’ve faced here yet. If there is a moment in which it could be said that Monokuma isn’t holding back in the slightest in this killing game so far, it is now. Down in the first floor, inside the dorm rooms, he is making his students face every single one of their fears. And all they can do is to endure it all.

Or just try to.

For Aradia, it doesn’t matter if she opens or closes her eyes in the darkness of her room. Wherever she looks, wherever she doesn’t look, they are there. The ghosts of the dead have returned just for her. The ones who accompanied her for back in Alternia, whispering prophecies of death and damnation for everyone she knew.

They eventually went silent after the finding she made in one of the ruins didn’t work. She thought she was finally freed from their numbing company, but during the day she started to see them in the corner of her eyes, feeling their presence in the academy. Now they’re here in her room, lurking in the shadows, stalking her in the dark, tormenting her like they never did before. She can hear them talk, scream about the death of her friends, of herself, of the one she cares about the most. Those voices never cease, their horrific figures never don’t go away, but get closer instead. Aradia can’t sleep, but that doesn’t matter for her now, not when she’s sure that even if she could, they would still be there, with their voices getting louder, and louder, and louder. Deafening whispers of the dead.

A deafening roar of despair.

But if there’s one who is suffering some of the worst parts of the motive itself, it’s one of the humans, John Egbert. When the night began, he tried to sleep this hell away, yet all he managed to get was a relentless assault of horrific nightmares, one after the other. Nightmares of watching everyone around him die, but more importantly, of his own father dying in increasingly gruesome deaths and murders. Murders he committed. In those nightmares he loses control of his own body, feeling completely alienated from his own self, as he kills his own father over and over, looking into the eyes of a broken man who breathes his last breath and life away. John cries, he screams for help, yet no one hears him, no one comes to help him, and he remains asleep in this personal hell, unable to wake up. In these dreams, he holds his agonizing father in his arms as he withers away, leaving behind a corpse full of thing but sorrow, suffering, and despair.

Then, it begins again, and again, getting worse each time, and he can’t wake up. All John can do, is to hope for someone to end this agonizing torture. All he wishes for, is for this martyrdom to end, because he can’t take this anymore.

Jade Harley is, like everyone else, alone in her room trying to survive one more night. But for her, the fact that she’s alone in there is the main element Monokuma is using to torment her, the Ultimate Markswoman. She’s on the floor, unable to stand up. Wherever she looks, the doors, the walls, anything and everything, they don’t collapse on her, but instead drift further away. She feels like everything she cares about, and everyone, is escaping her reach and grasp. Her family, her friends, her everything, they are all leaving her alone and desolated, trapped in her own room, her own cell. Full of nothing but despair and fear, she ends up down on the floor, with her head on her knees, and her arms wrapped around her legs. She tries to convince herself that this is about to end, that something is about to happen, that this nightmare will finally be over soon.

All she hopes, is for someone to take her away from this horrific feeling, because she can’t take this anymore.

Now that they are in this, the third night since the motive came into action, Monokuma is decided to make them face their own fears right here and now. Be it either to make his students grow from this experience, or to make them fall into one of the darkest despairs imaginable.

Screams could be heard from their rooms… if any sound was able to escape from there at all.

Because here, in Hope’s Peak Academy, no one can hear you scream.

Here, in Hope’s Peak Academy, no one can hear you die.

…

Ding dong, bing bong.

“Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!”

A beautiful day, if only for the one who revels in despair.

By the third day, the students expected to feel completely exhausted and worn out, even more so considering the hell they had to go through last night. But instead of having barely enough energy to even function, many of them feel… not well by any means, but definitely not as bad as they were expecting either. Perhaps they were so tired and worn out, that their need to rest overcame the agitation of the motive and its effects…

… Or perhaps not.

Perhaps it was something else, something far more horrific.

John gets out of his room after taking a long bath. He feels physically rested, but after what he had to go through just a few hours ago, he’s going to need much more than that to feel anything remotely close to good or even just normal. The bath helped, sure, but by the time he comes out of his room wearing his old clothes, he still has visibly swollen eyes from the tears that ran down his face during the night. He walks slowly, almost trailing his way through the hallway, until he sees Dave come out of his room. It takes him a second, but notices that his friend is for the first time wearing the optional uniform Monokuma gave them some days ago. Its main feature is a dark red long-sleeved jacket which covers his entire upper body. John had never seen him wearing one before.

JE: Hi Dave...

JE: I wasn’t expecting you to wear that.

JE: You said you didn’t like it and everything.

DS: Don’t know how, but after last night, the academy feels… colder.

DS: Maybe it’s just me, but felt like I was freezing.

JE: I can’t b-blame you. L-last night I…

John tries to finish his sentence, but the words refuse to get out of his mouth. He wants to tell one of his best friends about it, he needs to tell someone about what he had to go through to vent out, but he just can’t, he’s unable to. It feels impossible for him to speak now, even more so when his breathing gets suddenly agitated and his hands start shaking. Dave, sensing his anxiety, interrupts him.

DS: It’s okay dude. You don’t have to talk about it here.

DS: For now we can just… go and eat breakfast. We’ll figure something out down the line.

He’d grab John by the shoulder, but chooses to keep his hands inside his pockets. It is just too cold right now. Far too cold.

JE: Y-yeah… you’re right.

Together they make their way to the dining hall. Before their day can begin, before they do anything else, they have to eat something. If anything, it might make them feel slightly better.

Inside the dining hall there aren’t many students, just a couple of them eating almost in an auto-pilot mode, not reacting to their presence. One of them does, though, the Ultimate Subjugglator, who’s eating a particularly large green pie made by Karkat himself.

GM: Hey there, my space stardust invertebrothers.

GM: Last night I was having some motherfucking big revelations, like the mirthful messiahs themselves graced me with their presence from the Dark Carnival itself.

GM: They talked to me. They spat out the motherfucking TRUTHS. One after the other, relentlessly.

GM: But then, just when I was about to have my motherfucking REBIRTH…

GM: It all went quiet. And they did, too. :o(

GM: Do any of you know what in the motherfuck happened?

JE: Er… no, sorry, no idea.

DS: I doubt anyone knows anything about it; we were all having shitty nights of our own.

GM: Shitty nights?

GM: But they felt so wickedly good for me. :o?

GM: They made me feel like I’m supposed to be someone better, someone entirely else.

GM: Like the one I was made out to be all along.

GM: Like the one I WAS MADE OUT TO BE ALL A MOTHERFUCKING AL—

KV: HEY MAKARA YOU FUCKING IDIOT.

KV: Do me ONE favor and eat what I prepared, NOW.

KV: OKAY? PLEASE?

Karkat heard Gamzee become more and more aggressive the more he talked with the humans, and was quick to interrupt him and shut him down. Everyone has their plates more than full already, and Karkat is scared of the prospect of having yet another problem in their hands, a sadistic psychopathic purpleblooded one.

GM: You…

GM: You’re right, bro.

GM: My bad, I’m sorry.

GM: I’ll clean the plate just for you. :o)

KV: THANK YOU.

KV: What a fucking relief.

GM: Honk.

KV: I don’t know how long I will be able to keep this up. Fuck me.

Being creeped out by the Ultimate Subjugglator, John and Dave depart to the kitchen. And as they prepare their breakfasts. The other students of Hope’s Peak begin to arrive. Sollux, Equius, Rose, Nepeta, Aradia… everyone, everyone but one.

JE: Where… where is she? She isn’t here.

DS: I-I… I don’t know, man.

DS: Maybe she’s just sleeping, we all have barely slept the last few days anyways.

JE: But everyone else is already here, why isn’t she—

JE: No, wait… please, no…

DS: Hey wh—

JE: S-sorry Dave but I have to go check on her!

He promised he would be there for her. He promised it.

John rushes out of the dining hall and into the dorm rooms, running faster than he’s ever done in his entire life. His heart races, almost pounding out of him as he frantically rings the doorbell to her room again, and again, and again.

And again.

Nothing.

He knocks on her door as hard as he can, to the point of bruising his own hands.

Nothing.

He tries to open the door by force.

Nothing.

Feeling desperate, with a horrible sensation in his stomach. John summons Monokuma.

MK: What’cha want?

JE: Open the door, PLEASE!

MK: Why?

MK: Do you have any kind of steamy intentions with the girl inside…? Ara-ara~

JE: STOP JOKING! PLEASE OPEN THE DOOR.

John is gasping for air, trying to contain his tears. His entire body is shaking.

MK: Jeez, fine!

MK: Just stop crying me a river, I don’t want to see your snots!

MK: I’ll open it, but be warned: This will be just a one-time thing.

MK: I won’t allow further violations to another student’s privacy by my own hand. Do it on your own.

He pushes John aside, and summons a duplicate key to unlock the door. He turns around and is ready to disappear, but before he does, he talks to John over his shoulder.

MK: Done, but y’know… I’m allowing this just for one reason. One reason, and one only.

MK: Because this is going to be necessary for the next class trial.

John grabs the doorknob, and frantically enters the room, desperately hoping to find her just sleeping just like she used to do in the past, before they arrived at Hope's Peak Academy. But he forgot one thing. One very important thing.

In this academy, hope barely exists anymore.

Hearing his screams, Rose gets out of the dining hall and races after him. Terezi too, after sensing the smell of trouble. And when they enter the room, that dreaded sound is heard once again.

They hear those five words again, carving themselves into their minds.

“A body has been discovered!”

Jade Harley, the Ultimate Markswoman, is dead.

Chapter Text

When John found Jade’s body, he couldn’t help but let out a loud scream of surprise, pain and despair. He feels his legs become weak and begin to tremble, collapsing down onto his knees not long after. He can’t believe it… he just can’t. He refuses to believe what’s now in front of his eyes: A corpse, with a bloodied face disfigured almost beyond recognition. A corpse of his friend, lying on a pool of her own crimson blood.

JE: N-no… no, no, no… this can’t be… happening…

JE: Y-you… I…

He can barely see her eyes, her forehead and cheeks are bruised and swollen, and her nose is severely broken. Whatever happened here a few hours ago, it was gruesome to say the least.

But no matter how much his mind tries to deny what’s in front of him, of this horrific revelation, the truth is one and one only: Jade Harley is dead. The Killing Game has claimed the life of his friend.

RL: I… I can hardly believe it. Why… why her.

JE: …

DS: What the fuck, man.

DS: How.

DS: Just how. And who.

MK: That’s your job to unveil!

Monokuma appears casually walking out of her bathroom with a towel on his head.

MK: Just like before, it was one of you who killed my poor sweet student in cold blood. How despairing~

MK: … Or was it in hot blood? Who knows!

JE: …

John stares blankly at her body, not even reacting to what Monokuma is saying. Rose, on the other hand, looks at the headmaster with pure disgust and hatred in her eyes.

MK: Such a cold stare I might cut myself to pieces if I’m not careful. That’s so cruel of you…

MK: Even more so now! Because I’m here just to give you something to help you with the case.

MK: That’s right, it’s time for the… Monokuma File!

MK: You did your job of killing someone, now it’s my turn to do mine.

He hands the file to the students.

“The victim was Jade Harley, the Ultimate Markswoman. Time of death is estimated to be around 5 a.m. The body was discovered in her own room, in the dormitory area. Cause of death is the extensive trauma suffered in the head, which caused profuse both internal and external bleeding. This led to the presence of large blood clots in the victim’s windpipe and esophagus. In addition, there are many minor injuries across the upper body.”

MK: That’s all the information I have for you guys. Alongside your investigation, it is more than enough for you to solve the case!

Monokuma takes the towel off his head, and walks out of the room with it on his hand; he can’t allow himself to contaminate a crime scene, even if it’s after a good relaxing shower. Left behind are the thirteen students, who once again have to make sense of pure madness.

Pure madness, and pure despair.

SC: That… is a lot of blood.

AM: Another student bites the dust. This is tragic.

With Monokuma gone, there is silence in the room for a few seconds before John speaks again. He is still down on his knees, and his voice is painfully close to cracking.

JE: What… do we do now.

KV: I know it’s hard. Fuck, I’d leave you alone here if I could so you can mourn her.

KV: But we can’t do that now, so do yourself a favor, to everyone in here, and please leave it for after we’re done. Her death deserves justice.

KV: We’ve got a killer to catch, or we are dead.

JE: I-I don’t know if I can…

RL: He’s right, John.

RL: We are still in a killing game. Soon we’ll have a trial and…

RL: If anything, think about what Jade would have wanted.

Rose looks forward at the body, but it’s very hard for her to keep her eyes on Jade’s brutalized face. She instinctively looks away into the rest of her body.

RL: She was always willing to do everything in her power in order to help us. Sometimes she felt very lonely, sometimes she felt down, yet she was always there for us. Nothing ever stopped her from helping us and being a good friend.

RL: And if the moment came, she was always ready to be the one to burn herself to ashes for us.

RL: But now she’s gone.

RL: She’s dead.

A small tear trails down Rose’s cheek, and a sad smile appear in her face.

RL: I made a promise to her, I promised I’d be there for her, and I failed.

RL: I failed her, and nothing will bring her back.

RL: …

RL: Damn it.

Another tear flows down her other cheek. It is extremely rare for Rose to swear, but she just can’t hold it anymore, she can barely contain herself from breaking down in this room. But this is neither the place or the moment to collapse. She inhales, then exhales, to calm herself down, and wipes the tears off her face.

RL: The least I can do now is to try and solve this case.

RL: And for that, I need everyone’s help. I need yours, John.

RL: I understand if you need a moment alone, but…

JE: No, I get it.

JE: I’ll just… go out for some fresh air. I’ll be right back.

RL: Yes, of course.

DS: Do you want me to go with you, dude?

JE: No, I’ll be fine. Just… help Rose solve the case for now.

DS: Sure, I’ll do.

DS: We’ll find the killer, I promise.

John gets back up, and everyone steps aside to let him out of the room. With him gone for the time being, the twelve students left inside focus on solving this mystery. This time, everyone instinctively lets Terezi take the lead as the Ultimate Legislacerator.

TP: Before we begin, let’s go over the file one more time.

TP: It says the cause of death is the extensive head trauma.

TP: Something blunt had to be used for this.

NL: :33 < Yeah! The wounds don’t match with anything sharp. A weapon like a knife or a razor blade would have left deep lacerated wounds.

Of course, the huntress knows about her craft.

FP: Then it could have been anything, glub.

FP: It’d be impossible for us to find the weapon used. 38(

TP: Maybe, but for now let’s focus on what we have here.

TP: …

Terezi thinks for a few seconds, trying to formulate a course of action, what path to choose.

TP: Rose, I’m gonna need your help.

RL: Sure, what do you need?

TP: I don’t know much about your physiology, but you humans reek of candy. Even underneath all your clothes, skin and everything, I can taste your red with no problem.

Rose doesn't really know how to feel about that statement.

TP: The point is, I’m struggling to make out much of the details of Jade’s body, in her state it’s too diffuse for me. I’ll do my own investigation, but I need you to check it in case I miss anything.

TP: Additionally, Monokuma mentioned she has minor injuries across her upper body.

TP: If there’s someone who should carry the burden of examining her entire body thoroughly, it is you.

RL: Yes, I understand. It should be one of her best friends who does that for her. And I don’t know if either John or Dave could.

TP: But let’s leave that until the end. I don’t want any of you messing with the crime scene until I’m done investigating it.

EZ: D --> Do you want me and Feferi to take guard?

TP: Yes, we don’t have any margin for error, and we can’t give the culprit any advantages.

The Peixes and the Zahhak look at each other, nod in silence, and position themselves in opposite sides of the room.

TP: Rose, come with me. I’m gonna analyze the corpse. Nepeta, you stay too, your skills are more useful here.

TP: Everyone else, spread across the academy and search for anything.

TP: There’s more space to cover now, and there are fewer of us than before.

TP: Decide by yourself who you wanna be with, go in pairs.

TP: Just… don’t be stupid, and don’t get yourselves killed while we’re here.

Terezi sighs and takes a step forward to face everyone in the room.

TP: Three of us have died so far, and one more will be soon enough. I’ll make sure of that.

TP: By the time the trial is over, a quarter of us will have died.

TP: Don’t do anything idiotic that would add you to the count.

Even with her faded eyes hidden behind those red glasses, the other students can feel Terezi’s penetrating stare on them. And with little to do in here, they spread across the academy to investigate on their own. Kanaya decides to repeat her task of checking everyone’s room, although this time with Aradia’s company and help. Karkat takes Gamzee back to the dining hall to make him finish his pie-based breakfast, while at the same time interrogating him; the Vantas just can’t take any chances with the purpleblood. By the time everyone else is gone, Sollux and Vriska are left in an uncomfortable position: with each other, as they check the entirety of the second floor by themselves, barely talking to each other if at all. They’ve never gotten along with each other, now is no different, but they are capable of putting their differences aside for the sake of this case and the upcoming trial.

But what they don’t know yet, is that this time the killer made an even better job at covering their tracks, leaving virtually no evidence at all outside Jade’s room. If Tavros’s death was hard to solve for its simplicity and ruthless efficiency, this one perfected the very art of minimalism. Whether intentionally or accidentally, the students will have to discover it on their own. But this, of course, only makes things much, much harder for them as the killer, what they left behind, is almost an unsolvable crime. Too many questions, almost no answer at all.

And they must solve this case, they must find the culprit. Otherwise, no one will live to see another day in Hope’s Peak Academy. No one, but the killer.

DS: I think I’ll leave the corpse-checking thing to you guys. This ain’t one my skills, I suck ass at it.

DS: Like, look at her body. What can even I say about it.

DS: She died because there’s a metric fuckton of blood everywhere. I’m sure it is hers because there are holes in her face that shouldn’t be there. And because she’s in the middle of it, and she’s not moving or breathing.

DS: That’s it boss, she’s 100% dead I’m sure.

DS: Detective Strider is at it again. Case’s gonna be solved in no time.

DS: Fuck me.

DS: Analyzing dead bodies is not my suite.

DS: Because I’m not good at forensic pathology.

DS: Yeah I know it’s a tautology. Whatever.

RL: Using humor as a psychological coping mechanism to deal with her death. Can’t really say you’re in the wrong for doing it.

TP: Shut up both of you and stop wasting our time. We need to focus on the case.

DS: Sure. I’ll go and check on John before we go somewhere, I don’t know, the shop.

DS: Maybe I’ll ask him about what he did with Jade yesterday.

Wait… that’s right. They might have the answer.

Those words of his, they give Terezi an idea, one of an interrogation. By the end of the day, the culprit will be hanging in a noose made by herself, ready to be delivered for His Honorable Tyranny to feast on. Human jurisprudence, troll jurisprudence, it doesn’t matter for her when a crime needs to be solved.

TP: Bring him here.

TP: I need to ask some question to all of you.

DS: Okay. I’ll be right back.

Dave gets out of the room. Him leaving makes the room smell and taste ever so slightly less insufferable for Terezi. Why today, out of all days, he had to wear that red jacket? Her head still aches from last night, and her mood is not the best in the slightest because of it. But she’s a professional legislacerator at law, and she has a job to do right now.

The Pyrope sighs and leaves her cane leaning against the wall before kneeling right next to Jade’s head. The smell of human blood is quite metallic, almost as much as Tavros’s, but less rusty. She directs her fingertip to the blood on the floor and it is… sticky, very sticky, even more so than in the last case. She doesn’t know how long does it take for human blood to clot, but she’s sure Jade has been dead for hours now.

NL: :33 < Meow that I think about it, the killer didn’t move the body this time. Eridan moved the body to make it face the entrance, but this time the culprit just left her here.

NL: :33 < There are no blood drag marks either, so this is right where she died.

TP: You… you’re right. That’s a good catch.

NL: :33 < Thanks! I’m always doing meow best furr everyone.

Now with a more or less defined image of Jade’s face in her mind, Terezi then continues examining the rest of her body. Nothing stands out too much, except her bloodied hands. They reek of crimson red just as much as her face. Terezi grabs the right hand by the wrist, to put it closer to her face and analyze it.

TP: Rose, come here.

RL: What do you need?

TP: Check her hand. Do it carefully, and memorize all the details.

Rose is a little puzzled but does it anyway, looking at it closely from the wrist to the fingertips.

RL: There’s… a lot of blood in it, on both sides. Is that important?

TP: Yes, I needed a witness to see her hand. Thanks.

TP: Now I can do this.

With the Lalonde having done her job, Terezi is now free to stick out her tongue, get it closer to Jade’s hand, and... begin to slowly lick her bloodied fingertips. She firmly presses her own tongue against them, staining it in red in the process, trying to notice every potential shade of every color in them. In fact, she even notices her nails are polished; the taste isn’t the best, it’s like an oil slick.

FP: 38?

EZ: D --> Can you even begin to tell me what you’re—

But before Equius can even finish his sentence, Terezi gives him a death red glare behind her glasses, something that makes him fall silent right away. The Ultimate Legislacerator is doing her job, and she won’t allow anyone to interrupt her right now.

She continues licking those fingertips, now pressing against Jade’s nails from beneath with both her tongue and her sharp teeth. The taste of rusting and drying blood makes her want to gag. But because of her unique senses, this is the only way she has to check it by herself, and to not rely on a potentially inaccurate account from someone else.

She tastes the blood in her mouth, and smells under Jade’s nails. And after a few seconds, Terezi spits it all to the side, away from the body and the pool of blood around her. She struggles for a while not to gag with the taste still in her mouth. She may lick red chalk every day, but tasting dead people’s blood is just a bit too much for her. Next time she’ll let Nepeta do that part again.

TP: Rose, you can take of checking her body now. I’ve got what I needed from it.

RL: Understood.

TP: But also be sure to check her left hand, including under her nails. If you notice something, anything, let me know. Her hands are covered in blood, that means she either tried to protect herself from the attack, or fought back against the culprit, or both.

TP: And, honestly, I don’t want to do that again.

NL: Also, Nepeta, you can do that now too. With how much you’ve helped me, it’s only fair for you to be able to form your own image and perspective about the case.

NL: :33 < Sure thing!

Terezi gets back up to inspect the rest of the room, but it is at that moment that both Dave and John enter the room again. Now the Egbert seems much calmer, and ready to help the investigation. Dave leans on the wall by the entrance with both hands in his pockets, while John goes a bit further inside to this time properly check the body of his dead friend. He regrets not having chosen his alternative uniform for today like Dave did, it feels very cold in here. The entire academy does.

TP: Good timing.

With those two in here, Terezi grabs her cane and investigates the room while talking. While down on the floor, she found something interesting, but needs more information before she can do anything with that potential clue.

TP: You knew the victim far better than any of us, so whatever you know may prove vital to solve this case. Please, tell me everything and spare no details.

TP: First of all, since we arrived in here, did she invite any of you to this room?

Terezi asks while checking the drawers in the desk behind her bed in search of a bottle of nail lacquer. Nothing.

RL: Yes, she… she invited me here, just yesterday.

RL: And I know what you’re thinking. Yes, I was the one who polished her nails.

So that's where it comes from.

RL: Yesterday in the evening I found her walking back to her room. I noticed right away she had been crying before, so I offered her to spend some time together in her room. She accepted.

TP: What did you do with her?

RL: Well, we talked about our lives, about the things we would do together in the future when we get out of here. She told me she wanted to do so many things she had never done before, because she lived alone in her island for her entire life. Polishing her nails with me was one of those things.

RL: I wish I had done it earlier, not the day before she died.

Rose lets out a sigh with a nostalgic smile in her face.

RL: Sorry, I’m getting sidetracked.

RL: After that, we parted ways, and I didn’t see her until… we found her body.

RL: So, yes, I polished her nails yesterday, but I know that’s hardly anything that’ll get us closer to the killer, that’s why I was waiting for the right moment to mention it. I wish I had more useful information.

TP: …

TP: Yes, you’re right.

Terezi stops for a moment, hesitating about… something, before continuing her investigation across the room and talking as if nothing happened. Rose, for her part, continues checking Jade’s body, gently lifting her shirt to look at her wounded torso, and rolling up her bloodied sleeves to check her arms. Nepeta for her part analyzes the wounds in Jade’s face; their shape, their texture, their color, to determine how they happened.

TP: John, Dave said you spent time with her yesterday. What did you do with her?

JE: Me? O-oh, I…

John was lost in thought looking at Jade’s face, so when Terezi talks to him, it takes him by surprise.

JE: I was feeling kinda down, like everyone else I guess, so I went to the AV room. There, I found some movies, and thought I could watch them. Then, I thought of inviting Jade to watch at least one with me.

JE: We did, but by the end… she was crying. I asked her what was wrong, I even thought the movie was that bad, but what she told me instead was that…

JE: She didn’t want to be alone anymore. She didn’t want to lose us now.

JE: That was her biggest fear.

Terezi stops in her tracks. That piece of information could prove absolutely vital in the trial. She needs to remember that.

JE: Then we went to the supply room to eat some ice cream and… parted ways. I guess that’s when she met Rose.

JE: Sorry I don’t have any useful information.

John looks dejectedly at the floor. One of his friends is dead and all he can say is that he ate ice cream with her? He feels so useless and powerless.

TP: What about you, Dave?

DS: Me? Sorry I... I haven’t got much to report, boss.

DS: Been spending most of my time with some of the trolls, mostly Karkat.

DS: …

DS: Jesus fucking Christ, now that I say it out loud it really makes me sound like the shittiest friend alive.

DS: I should have spent more time with her. As much as I could.

DS: Now I won’t ever have the chance to do it again. Shit.

TP: Is that all?

Dave sighs and looks sideways at the wall.

DS: Yeah. Unless you want me to talk about the casual talks I had with her everyday where she asked me if I’d still be his friend even if she was a seashell or a radioactive demon core.

DS: Like, Jade I’d still be your big bro even if you turned out to be fucking Sauron.

DS: It doesn’t matter that you’re two days older than me and that you’re literally an ancient eldritch deity with endless power, I’d still throw hands for you if things went south.

Dave lets out a small laugh; he got carried away a bit in there, like it sometimes happens. But still, that is true, he’d have done anything and everything for her.

DS: I guess I took her for granted in here, so I spent most of my time with you trolls instead.

DS: But now she’s gone… and I’m here. Fuck me.

DS: The least I can do for her is to survive this game and get out of here.

Terezi abruptly stops, and looks at Dave’s direction. For a split second she felt something… uncanny, coming from him. She looks at him (well, just like someone like her could do), and he looks at her with a nonchalant expression behind his glasses. There’s an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds, before Terezi concedes.

...

She must have imagined it.

TP: Ok, I think that’s all we’re going to get in here.

TP: Rose, what did you find in the body?

RL: I found… while not any broken bones or anything of the sort, an awful lot of bruises.

RL: Whoever did this had no mercy on her.

RL: There’s also a wound in the back of her head, in the scalp. Blood came out of it.

TP: And you, Nepeta?

NL: :33 < I… I think I have something, but I need more time to be sure.

NL: :33 < I’ll continue examining the body.

Terezi nods before putting the upper end of her cane against her chin, while her eyes look in the direction of the body.

TP: John, I have one more question, because you were the one to find the body.

JE: Yes?

TP: What led you to search for her, and come to her room in the first place?

JE: O-oh, I…

John unconsciously looks down at the floor with his mouth ever so slightly open. He doesn’t want to relive that just yet, but if it’s for the good of the case and for her, he’ll do it.

JE: I… I woke up feeling unwell. Well, that’s putting it far too nicely. I felt like absolute crap.

JE: I met with Dave in the hallway, we headed together to the dining hall for breakfast. Not many were there, but after a while everyone else started to arrive.

JE: Everyone except Jade. I started to freak out because I was already feeling pretty bad! and had an even worse feeling about her. So I went to her room out of a hunch. But when I arrived…

JE: I found the room locked.

TP: Wait. The key.

Terezi rushes toward the drawers and starts to hastily search for the key to this room, but finds nothing. Why was it locked, and where is the key…?

RL: What were they trying to achieve with it? The rules implicitly state that for the culprit to get out, the body needs to be found so a trial can take place. If it isn’t, there is no trial, and they won’t be able to leave.

RL: Trying to lock it away just doesn’t make any sense.

JE: Yeah it doesn’t. Jade going kind of missing isn’t a matter of if it’s noticed, but when. And I noticed right away!

DS: No idea. Could be any reason really. Perhaps they thought they could get away with it.

For a few moments silence settles in the room, with everyone trying to find an answer to this.

EZ: D --> I have a theory, if I may add.

TP: Speak up.

Everyone looks at Equius. In that guarding pose, his damaged sunglasses, and his muscular body his presence is even more intimidating.

EZ: D --> I’m thinking that the killer maybe wasn’t trying to avoid us finding the body. Everyone knows the rules very well, including them.

EZ: D --> Instead… perhaps they were trying to just delay the discovery of the body.

EZ: D --> For what reason, I do not know.

Terezi looks to the side in silence. What he’s saying makes an awful lot of sense, in an otherwise almost completely nonsensical scenario. But why would they do it…?

TP: We have discovered a lot in here. I think it’s for the better if we recapitulate everything.

TP: We need to be on the same page, or we are going to be the ones with a noose around our necks.

Terezi puts her cane in front of her, and both hands on it, while her eyes point to the body on the floor.

TP: The murder took place during the night. Assuming Monokuma’s file is right, then it happened around 5 a.m.

TP: A few days ago, Monokuma gave us a motive to kill. It’s more than obvious it is related to Jade’s death in one way or another.

TP: But given the nature of the motive, all individual alibis are rendered useless. That includes mine.

TP: That is why I didn’t ask for your accounts this time, there’s no point in doing so. Everyone was just barely holding on, on their own in their rooms. Anyone could have just gone out and committed the crime.

TP: For now, the only one that matters is John’s, because he was the one who found the body.

TP: The body itself was found on the floor. It is presumed it wasn’t moved by someone else, not even the culprit. The kitchen knives are discarded as weapons, because they don’t match with any of the wounds.

TP: It is worth noting that the door was locked when John arrived, requiring Monokuma to open it to find the body. No key was found in this room.

TP: Many small details, but I think we can begin to build the picture with them.

TP: Now is just a matter of getting out of here and—

But then, at that very moment, a bell sound interrupts her, and catches everyone’s attention. A sound coming from every speaker in the academy, as every monitor lights up simultaneously.

Ding dong, bing bong.

“I’ve been following your second investigation, but I’m getting kinda bored in here, so how about we call it a day with your investigation? It’s time for what everyone is eagerly waiting for… the Class Trial! So please, like last time, go through the red door on the 1st floor of the school! Puhuhu. See you soon!”

The mystery is far from solved, and there are still far too many unknowns. But whether she likes it or not, it doesn’t matter, as one simple fact remains the same: The time for investigation is over. Now it’s time for the trial, to find the culprit behind Jade Harley’s murder, or die in the courtroom trying.

And no matter what happens in there, despair will be born out of it, something just perfect and delightful for the director of this Semester of Killing.

Chapter Text

The thirteen students, for a second time, go through the red door into the waiting room. Unlike last time, there isn’t a feeling of dread about what’s on the other side of the elevator, as they know the courtroom is waiting for them there, but about if they’ll even be able to catch the culprit this time.

No clues, no evidence, nothing at all. Kanaya, Aradia, Sollux, Vriska, Karkat, Gamzee; they didn’t find anything outside Jade’s room. For them their search was just a waste of time. And even those who remained inside her room, their luck wasn’t that much better either. Terezi, for her part, is lost in thought trying to piece together the case with the information she has while waiting for the doors to open.

MK: You seem a bit tired, don’t cha.

KV: Well of fucking course, what do you even expect after putting us through your bullshit.

MK: Hm, you’re right. It do be like that sometimes.

MK: Here, wait just a moment, don’t move!

Monokuma temporarily disappears from the waiting room, before returning with a tray full of energy drinks for them.

MK: I realized that a class trial full of sleepy students who can’t stop yawning is a problem. It’d be way too boring!

MK: So, I decided to give you guys a little gift, just from me to you.

MK: Now you’ll absolutely be at the top of your game down there!

Whether they like it or not, it doesn’t really matter, everyone still takes up on the offer of the drinks. Just like Monokuma said, they need to be both mentally and physically ready by the time the trial begins if they want to discover who killed Jade. If they don’t… soon enough there will be an awful lot of corpses in the courtroom, and a killer set free.

MK: Okay. With everyone ready, now you can proceed. I’ll be waiting for you down there.

MK: I’d say good luck, but I’m sure your brains can handle what’s about to go down!

Monokuma walks out of the room into the hallway as the doors to the elevator open, and everyone boards it one after the other. And after just a few moments of tense waiting, the slow ride down begins.

The heavy clunking sounds of its machinery, the uneasy atmosphere in there, the sensation of betrayal and deceit both in their hearts and around them. It all grows heavier and heavier until…

The elevator comes to a sudden stop, and the doors open.

They open to a deadly deception, to a deadly debate, to a deadly mystery.

They open to a deadly class trial.

MK: Now that you’re here, everyone, please find your assigned seats!

Like last time, the thirteen students still alive do as they are told, although now it’s impossible for them to ignore the three pictures of their dead friends with a big red cross painted on them, though, for Jade, it is made up of a crosshair pointing right between her eyes. Maybe on some other place, perhaps on some other academy, she’d have had the opportunity to show her friends her marksmanship, maybe even defend them with her ultimate talent. But now she won’t ever have the chance to do so, because one of them, one of the students, killed her mercilessly. A blackened, hiding amongst the spotless, waiting for their chance to win this killing game at the expense of the lives of everyone else here at Hope’s Peak Academy.

MK: What can I say?

MK: Every time you students come here to the courtroom, I can’t help but feel the thrills and chills!

MK: It is so… positively heart-pounding exciting!

MK: A new death, a new murder in this Semester of Killing. A new clash between hope and despair.

MK: Who will win? Who will claim victory…?

MK: I’m just dying to see!

And so, for the second time since they arrived to Hope’s Peak, the curtains of a class trial open for them.

Twelve spotless, facing against one blackened. Either way this goes, at least one more body will be added to the count when it is all said and done.

Class trial. All rise!

MK: Okay, so, before you begin, lemme do a basic explanation of the class trial. So, your votes will determine the results.

MK: If you can figure out “whodunnit” then only they will receive punishment. But if you vote and pick the wrong one…

MK: Then I’ll punish everyone *besides* the blackened, and the one that deceived everyone else will graduate!

MK: With that out of the way, let’s get started!

Vriska crosses her arms, Equius uses a finger to put strands of hair behind his ears, and Terezi adjusts her teal-and-red Neophyte outfit now that she’s on her podium. She loved it ever since Monokuma gave it to her a few days ago, and now finally has the chance to use it where it truly belongs.

TP: What did everyone else find?

As most of the students expected, the Pyrope is the one to take the lead, at least now at the start. She looks from side to side while speaking, pointing with her cane while doing so. Even though she can’t see them (well, beyond their color anyways), she knows very well how to act in a trial where life is on the line, as any self-respecting legislacerator would do. Constantly looking around so the culprit instinctively can’t feel safe, is one of those tricks up her red sleeves. Using glasses to hide her eyes and provoke yet another primal psychological effect on them, is another one.

KV: Let me give you the briefing, your honorable legislacerator.

KV: No. Fucking. Thing.

KV: It was a goddamn colossal waste of our time.

KV: The stoned clown we call our friend?

GM: Honk.

KV: As innocent as they come.

KV: The death was brutal but he’s off the hook.

KV: In fact, I’m sure his brain is so fucking rotten he might as well have enjoyed what Monokuma put him through.

MK: Really?

GM: :o)

KV: Yes. And I won’t even dignify that any further. Fuck that.

KV: Back to the point before I get a headache.

KV: Go ahead, interrogate him all you want guys; this handicapped idiot is innocent.

KV: But other than that? Nothing at all.

SC: Yeah, shit fucking sucked.

SC: I had to deal with the Serket for this entire time in the second floor and we didn’t find anything at all.

SC: In fact, I think her contribution is actually negative. Everywhere she went she left a fucking mess I had to clean and tidy up.

SC: How hard is to just put shit back in their place Vriska. Not even organizing them like an OCD sucker, just not leaving them on the floor like a jackass.

VS: I was simply searching thoroughly for any clues, unlike you who were just being the one caegar killmart version of Fussyfangs over there.

VS: But I’m sure we have nothing better to do, so go on, keep yapping Solluxander. ::::)

SC: Don’t even dare to call me that Vriska. Have some consideration you rude fu—

TP: Can you please shut up? Both of you.

TP: Do you want to die so bad? Don’t drag us with you while we have a case to solve.

Terezi interrupts them coldly not even looking at them, with her eyes lost in the distance and both hands on her cane against the podium’s wooden floor. Sollux is the first to concede, while Vriska takes a moment before taking a step back and mumbling out a ‘whatever’. It really looks like those two will never get along in the slightest.

KM: To… continue with the trial, me and Aradia went onto checking most of your rooms.

KM: Everyone who got out of Jade’s room opened their doors to us. We found nothing worth mentioning in them.

AM: Even though we had to almost force Vriska to open hers.

VS: Because the last thing I want is Kanaya checking every single thing in my room like a stalking creep.

AM: … So I had to do it on my own in there. Just a lot of dices everywhere, Flarp pages, and a whole lot of nothing related to this case.

KM: That leaves Equius, Feferi, Nepeta, Rose, Terezi.

AM: We didn’t get to see your rooms basically.

AM: But that’s okay! Because I know none of you killed her!

VS: And how are you even sure of that?

AM: I just have a hunch things will turn out that way. :)

VS: Fucking yikes.

TP: So those of us who stayed in their rooms… understood.

Terezi takes a hand to her chin, with her index finger crossing against her lips as she thinks in silence for a few moments.

TP: The six of you, what did you do after you were done?

SC: We didn’t even finish checking the entire second floor, but I’m sure there wasn’t jack shit in there anyways.

VS: I second that. All I can say is that no books were harmed in the making of this murder.

KV: You have no idea how fucking time-consuming is to make sure this idiot doesn’t go on a rampage against us, and as Terezi and the humans were in the room being way more useful than I’d ever be in there, I took the chance to prepare more food for Gamzee.

GM: Thank you bro, I mean it. :o)

KV: Keep your mouth fucking shut Gamzee, the more you talk the more likely it is for you to get yourself in more trouble for no reason at all.

GM: Whoa, sorry man. :o(

KV: So we stayed in the kitchen preparing food together. I couldn’t risk taking him out of my sight.

KM: … Because we finished our task earlier than expected due to what we already said, we took the chance to go and check the supply room in case we found anything in there.

KM: Sadly, that wasn’t the case.

AM: If the culprit took something from there, they sure made a good job at covering their tracks, like everywhere else.

AM: And then, the bell sounded from the speakers, and it was all over.

KV: In other words, we found absolutely nothing outside her room. Fuck me.

TP: …

Terezi can’t get out of her head those words Karkat said. Is there really nothing useful that can be extrapolated from their accounts…? Or is there something she’s missing at the moment?

TP: Ok, for now, I think we should make a summary of the case with all the information we have collected so far during the investigation.

TP: Jade Harley, the Ultimate Markswoman, was murdered around 5 a.m. by an unknown culprit.

TP: The weapon used… it isn’t determined as of yet.

TP: Pouncellor, what was the assessment you were going to make? I need it now.

NL: :33 < Understood.

Nepeta clears her throat before speaking.

NL: :33 < I checked the wounds in her face very carefully. Tried to look at their details like shape or any limited facial fractures to see if I could determine the weapon used, but…

NL: :33 < No external weapon was used. Whoever killed Jade, they killed her with their fists.

RL: Killed… using nothing but their own hands…?

JE: Who could do something so… brutal?

The humans are bewildered by that statement, while Terezi wishes she could have a concrete answer to their questions.

VS: Don’t be dumb John, it is soooooooo obvious.

VS: It was one of us.

VS: Wanna bet on someone?

VS: I’m sure it was the all muscles no brain guy next to me.

EZ: D --> Don’t forget I was the one who created your arm and connected it to your nervous system.

VS: Oh, right, I forgot, I’m sorry. ::::)

She gives a blatantly false smile.

VS: But that still doesn’t make you NOT a suspect, you’re still absurdly strong and could kill anyone in here with your fists!

VS: Besides, didn’t you use to not use weapons in the past because you were so strong you broke them all? And now there’s someone who died with no weapons involved. Suspicious!

VS: And what about Gamzee? He’s still a fucking murderous creep who nobody likes.

GM: Why are you so mean to me. :o(

VS: And it doesn’t matter that Karkat testified for him. He may even be in cahoots with the killer! D::::

KV: OH, FUCK OFF.

TP: Vriska, can you take this seriously for once.

Terezi interrupts annoyed.

TP: This isn’t a game.

VS: Wait, it isn’t????????

With an overdramatized and blatantly false gasp of surprise, she feigns confusion before going on the offensive, even if just to spite Terezi for what happened in the last trial. And maybe to help with the case too, just maybe.

VS: But I’m sure it is! Monokuma over there said so!

MK: Yes, indeed! While a class trial should never be taken lightly because justice is sacred— and because your lives are on the line and all— it is still technically taking place within the Killing Game!

VS: See? It is a game! And I’ve got the law on my side this time to prove it!

TP: Sure.

Terezi sighs even more annoyed now.

VS: And you know what the best part is, Terezi????????

VS: It doesn’t matter how heartless and evil everyone has tried to make me look like over the sweeps for feeding my lusus with the victims of our Flarping sessions.

VS: It doesn’t matter the things you or anyone says about me, let alone your delusional tower of moral superiority, miss Redglare.

VS: Because we are not so different. You, me, and everyone else in here.

VS: After all, someone killed Jade just for this game.

VS: First it was Eridan, and now it’s one of us! It doesn’t matter how much you try to lie to yourself, everyone in here is ready to kill to escape this place, all they need is just a push in the right direction.

Vriska smiles wide in a smug grin while her words annoy Terezi a lot, and sting John particularly hard. Despite everything, he’s still having a hard time trying to process everything that has taken place in just the last few hours. And what she said feels like a gut punch that visibly affects him to the point where he’s now looking at the floor, trying to contain himself, and doing so just barely.

JE: She… died because of this stupid game…

RL: As much as I hate it, I’ve got to agree with Vriska here. She’s right, someone… killed Jade, to follow the rules of this game, and get out of here.

VS: And the sooner you look at reality as it truly is, the sooner you’ll realize truth itself.

VS: The killer could be the one you expect the least.

VS: Maybe they were hidden in plain sight all along, using your own nature in their favor.

VS: Your own weakness is the biggest advantage of your enemy, never forget that.

Vriska uninterestedly looks at her robotic hand and fingers now that she is done with her talk. She knows very well she is right, no matter how much the others despise it. Terezi, for her part, remains silent, pondering about what her ex-scourge sister said. By the very definition of these class trials and their framework, the culprit is hiding in plain sight right here with everyone else, but…

Is there more to what the Ultimate Lucky Student said?

TP: Let’s… go back to the case itself. We are getting sidetracked with this discussion.

VS: Sure, we still have a killer to catch, and I’m not intending on letting them win.

VS: Like Eridan, you made a very big mistake dumbass.

VS: The mistake of playing a game against me.

VS: So, Redglare, tell us the next step. I’m all ears for you.

Vriska smiles as she puts both hands on the back of her head carefreely as she looks at Terezi. The Pyrope, for her part, knows that even this is little more than another trick, another game coming from the Serket that she doesn’t have the time to play.

TP: I want to go back to what Nepeta said.

TP: I trust her judgment as the Ultimate Huntress, so I’ll rely on her account that Jade Harley was killed by the culprit using nothing but their fists.

TP: I know there is a mathematical chance that it was a blunt weapon, but this is not my field of expertise, nor anyone’s but hers. If she says the victim was killed this way, I’ll work with that.

NL: :33 < Thanks!

TP: Knowing the weapon, or lack of thereof, used in this murder… it was important for me to know. That’s why I asked you.

TP: But the fact that it was made with their fists… it leads me to believe this murder wasn’t planned in advance, but something that happened in the heat of the moment.

TP: Most items, when correctly used, can be more effective as weapons than fists.

TP: But I have another fact to support that theory.

TP: The motive itself.

TP: The motive Monokuma introduced to this killing game… it was problematic.

TP: Needless to say, we all suffered because of it.

TP: My hypothesis is that the culprit couldn’t take the motive anymore, and killed out of desperation and despair.

FP: So we have to talk about the motive, right?

DS: Spit out our fears to see who got fucked over the worst by the motive. Group therapy style.

DS: Seems easy enough—

TP: No.

Terezi interrupts nonchalantly.

TP: We are thirteen in here. Twelve of us can be completely honest for the good of this case, but the culprit has zero reason to be honest about it. They’d just give themselves away.

TP: Besides, if someone killed because of it, it is obvious this motive is far too personal and maybe even traumatic for some to openly talk about it.

TP: We have to expose them some other way.

There is one trick up her sleeve, one that would have worked perfectly for what Dave said, but she’s smarter than that. One thing is to know who is the culprit, to know who is lying, and a very different thing is to be able to actually prove it. And with what Dave proposed, there’s no way she can prove it… or at least she can’t think of one just yet; they’ll have to find another method to find the culprit behind the murder.

But how, how can they do it.

TP: Let’s focus on what we know.

TP: Jade was killed at 5 a.m. by the culprit, who used nothing but their fists.

TP: It can be assumed the death wasn’t planned in advance, but decided in the moment as a result of the motive.

TP: Everyone knows that by now, but there’s more to the case than just this.

TP: The victim presented hands covered in blood, she had a wound in her scalp, and there were no drag marks on the floor. In other words, she died where we found her.

RL: And Jade also presented a lot of bruises across her torso and arms.

TP: I think it’s clear beyond a shadow of a doubt she was beaten to death by… someone in here.

TP: And it wasn’t a quick death either.

Terezi turns her head to Nepeta and nods, letting her take the lead for now. Nepeta takes a small step forward.

NL: :33 < The Monokuma File said one more thing we haven’t mentioned until now.

NL: :33 < Jade purrsented blood clots in her windpipe and esophagus.

NL: :33 < It’s obvious that the beating was what caused her to bleed profusely and to eventually die, but…

NL: :33 < From that, what really caused her death, was choking in her own blood.

NL: :33 < The file didn’t mention it, but with how bad everything looked, I’m sure blood even got into her lungs.

NL: :33 < And furr that to happen… not only the culprit had to have no mercy on her, but they didn’t make it quick either.

NL: :33 < They could have asphyxiated her, or given her a coup de grace to finish her off, but instead… they just left her there to die.

NL: :33 < And she choked in her own blood for a few minutes at least, before eventually dying.

With every revelation, with every statement, with every piece of evidence, this murder becomes crueler and crueler. Who could have even done something like that? Who had in their heart so much… despair?

Nepeta sighs. What she just said is very gruesome and she knows it, but only the Ultimate Huntress herself would know this kind of stuff at this level of detail, something even the Ultimate Legislacerator recognized. She just hopes what she said will help everyone find the culprit, and avoid more unnecessary bloodshed. Done with her part, she looks at Terezi and silently nods in return.

TP: Back to the other details.

TP: They all mean one thing that it is clear by now.

TP: She died in a struggle.

TP: But for now, let’s leave the murder itself, and move on to what happened next. We can’t afford to get stuck.

If it were for Redglare, she’d move across the courtroom, swiftly swinging her cane around from time to time. She can move around without it, but reinforcing the image of her blindness has a lot of psychological benefits for her as the prosecutor in a field where all tricks are fair game. From making it easier to sway the jury in her favor, to making the defendant feel either overconfident or at edge, maybe even both at the same time. It isn’t a lot, it almost never is, but it is just enough so during the trial they may slip one single time, enough for Terezi to rip them apart.

Besides, isn’t justice blind?

TP: John. You woke up today, met with Dave in the hallway, and headed to the dining hall for breakfast. And as everyone arrived in there, you noticed Jade was missing. Having a bad feeling about it, you went to her room to check on her.

TP: But her room was locked.

TP: You called Monokuma, and he opened the door for you to get inside. Then, you found her.

TP: Was everything that I said correct?

Terezi points with her cane at him.

JE: Y-yes, it is.

As soon as she hears those words, Terezi snaps the middle finger and thumb from her left hand over her gloves to maintain everyone’s attention. She isn’t the same grub she used to be sweeps ago playing games of vigilante justice alongside her best friend, now she’s a fully prepared legislacerator who even passed the bar trial at a record age. Many failed and died back in Alternia, but now she’s using this knowledge to lead the group to the right answer, to the right course of action, the one that ends with the killer hanging from a noose.

TP: Then it means the culprit locked the door. We don’t know the exact reason just yet, but Equius gave us a reasonable theory.

She looks at him, he clears his throat.

EZ: D --> The culprit… tried to delay the discovery of the body by locking the door with its own key.

EZ: D --> The rules state that for the killer to get out, they need to survive the ensuing class trial. And for the class trial to happen, first the body needs to be found by three or more people.

EZ: D --> The killer knew that too, so it is very unlikely they tried to bypass the trial entirely.

EZ: D --> Instead, they tried to delay the discovery, and the class trial itself.

EZ: D --> The reason is unknown, but there had to be one. They put on the effort to search for her key and lock the door, so the fiend must have had a reason in mind.

RL: And what reason could it be?

EZ: D --> Unless we ask them directly, it is impossible for us to know. One reason is that maybe…

EZ: D --> They needed more time before the trial. Perhaps to get rid of some evidence.

Terezi falls silent with a serious expression on her face, once again with her hand against her chin, and her index finger pressing against her lips. What could possibly be missing from the crime scene other than the key to the room…?

JE: But in the end that didn’t work, right? Because we found her right away early in the morning!

MK: … Are you sure about that?

Monokuma interrupts the students. He’s sipping a teal-tinted beverage with one hand, and eating popcorn with the other while comfortably sitting in his throne of despair jurisprudence.

JE: What?

MK: Because, right now, it isn’t quite so morning anymore.

MK: Everyone, please look at the screen to your side.

He presses a red button next to him, and the same screen which once showed Eridan’s execution, now lights up, and a clock appears in it.

It is already past 3 p.m.

DS: No fucking way.

Tick.

TP: …? >:?

TP: What is everyone looking at?

Terezi looks at them confused and puzzled. Did they already forget…? And what’s so confusing about whatever thing is in the screen?

KV: Oh right, my bad, sorry Terezi, forgot that for a moment. It’s 3:10 p.m.

KV: Which is, as far as I’m concerned, pretty damn far from early in the morning.

KV: Even taking into account the investigation, we are pretty fucking late to the legislacerator party.

AM: :D

Tock.

JE: But that can’t be true, right?

MK: Yet it is! You all took your sweet, sweet time napping and sleeping today way past my morning announcement.

MK: And because all of you were so tired and worn out ‘cause of the motive, no one even bothered to check the clock before you found her body!

MK: And if you don’t believe me, how often do you really check the clocks on the walls anyways? I can assure you, not more than twice per day, three times at most.

AM: We just assumed it was morning because that’s what we got used to over time.

MK: Yup!

AM: We seldomly question the loops we live in day after day, because we find comfort in routine and patterns.

AM: If ever since we arrived, day after day, we woke up at around the same hour, next time we did so…

KM: We’d simply think we woke up at the same hour yet again.

AM: Exactly.

AM: The creation of loops and patterns over time is something inevitable, yet I can’t help but feel amazed that they are already playing a role in this game.

A loop playing a role in the murder? She talks about the hour, but could it also be related to the motive somehow…?

Terezi ponders deeply; she needs to keep that in mind, Aradia’s statement may prove useful down the line. The Pyrope feels they are slowly getting closer to the culprit, uncovering piece by piece how the murder took place, but there is still just so many unanswered questions, simply too many unknowns left to uncover.

TP: Ten… hours…

She thinks out loud, and continues.

TP: It has been ten hours since the murder.

TP: We discovered Tavros’s body just three hours after his death.

TP: Taking into account the trial and the investigation, we discovered Jade’s body around seven to eight hours after her death.

TP: What did the culprit use that time for…?

If she can find the answer to that, the truth behind the murder will soon be found, or at the very least they’ll get much, much closer to it.

VS: I’d normally say they used it to cover their tracks, but damn.

VS: With everything said so far it doesn’t look like they even attempted it.

VS: I’m actually surprised they’ve managed to remain hidden with how things have gone.

KM: Excuse me, but I have a question.

KM: It is futile to ask for us to confess our deepest fears. Even some of us who are innocent would lie to not reveal such things.

Kanaya briefly glances at Vriska. She would feel offended if that wasn’t 100% true and spot on. After all, why should she give the enemy such information freely?

KM: But I want to delve into the fears of the one student whose fears are relevant to the case, just as much as the killer’s.

KM: I’m talking about Jade. Perhaps this may shed some light on her death, and this case.

AM: You’re right, some of us may lie to keep their selves concealed, but dead persons tell no lies, after all. They say the truth, and nothing but the truth.

KM: Rose, John, Dave, did she tell any of you what her fears might have been?

John steps forth. If there’s a moment to finally be of help for everyone in the trial, it is now.

JE: Yesterday we were all being affected by the motive. The days were somewhat manageable, but the nights were just horrific.

JE: I wasn’t feeling good, not one bit, so I went out for a walk across the academy after breakfast. Out there, once I was right outside the A/V room, I felt like it was… kind of calling me? Or something like that. I did feel drawn to it, though.

JE: So I went into the room, and found some movies to watch. At first I thought of watching them on my own, but then I thought that I could invite a friend to watch them with me. Then Jade popped into my mind, so I went to ask her, and she agreed.

JE: While we were watching it, I thought some weird stuff was happening, but I couldn’t put either my mind, my fingers, or my anything into it, so I just let that be. It probably just was something related to the motive or whatever.

JE: Ignoring all of that, I focused on the movie until it was over. But as soon as I look to the side, I found her crying a lot. I had never seen her cry like that before, so I asked her what was wrong, if she needed space or anything.

JE: …

JE: She grabbed my arm, and told me not to go. She told me she didn’t want to be alone again, nor lose us now.

Terezi heard his account before when she was investigating the body. But now that they’ve had much more time to investigate the case now in the trial, and with a more developed image of the murder, something clicks inside her frantic mind, as it looks for endless possibilities and potential branches of this mystery.

TP: Now I get it.

TP: Her main fear wasn’t losing you per se, it was to be alone.

JE: Huh? What are you talking about?

TP: They may sound similar, but they are not the same, cherry cheeks. Losing a friend is one thing.

TP: Feeling alone and abandoned, is something entirely else.

TP: That explains why, despite what happened to Tavros, she still opened her door to the killer.

TP: The motive subconsciously forced her to open the door during the night, because she felt so alone.

VS: Something the culprit was banking on to go inside and bam! A surprise sucker punch and a kill. Jade never saw it coming.

TP: … Maybe. I can’t say for sure just yet.

Did the culprit know that too…?

TP: John, by any chance, did Jade ever tell you she told that to someone else?

JE: No, we didn’t talk about that. I just focused on making her feel better, and then taking her to the supply room for some ice cream.

TP: …

Of course. There’s no way for her to know the exact details.

Terezi knows they are slowly running out of options and time to solve this case. Something needs to happen; she needs to make something happen to make this case move forward. She failed to protect her closest friends once, she failed to protect the human, she just won’t allow herself to fail to protect everyone else now.

But, if there’s one person who can make everything happen out of nothing in a courtroom, in a trial of death and despair, it is the Ultimate Legislacerator herself.

Class Trial, suspended!

I’ll be honest with you, my dear viewers.

I couldn’t send the writer in a trip to Belize.

They’re the only one writing all of this!

So, if I divorced their soul from their body.

Y’know, ending their life subscription, remove them from the census.

This wouldn’t be able to continue!

And that would most certainly be an absolute tragedy.

So, even if they deserve to be turned into a statistic, they deserve some credit too!

So don’t forget to give them some love.

Who knows, even just one message could make a world of difference to them.

In any case, rest assured, for the despair will never stop!

Chapter Text

VS: Wait a moment.

VS: Waaaaaaaait a moment.

… And the Ultimate Lucky Student, too.

VS: Terezi, you’re making a grave mistake right now. I just noticed.

TP: What?

VS: Don’t worry, everyone makes mistakes, even you in your own playing field. :::;)

Vriska winks at her.

VS: I know that you’re talking about Jade’s loneliness as the catalyst that got her killed, but I want to focus for a moment about what you brushed aside.

VS: That’s right! I’m talking about the other thing John mentioned, losing her friends.

VS: What if…

VS: Maybe, just maaaaaaaaybe…

The Serket takes her sweet time speaking. Partly to be intentionally dramatic about her revelation, partly to enjoy the attention she has right now for longer.

VS: … It was one of the humans who killed her?

…

What…?

Terezi is silent pondering on that possibility in her mind; the humans, on the other hand, are left speechless at that claim. Rose takes a hand to her mouth, John takes both hands to his face while looking down at the floor, Dave uses his sunglasses to hide the shocked expression in his eyes.

JE: H-how…?

VS: You said it. Jade’s biggest fear was to be alone, and to lose her friends.

VS: The killer must have known she’d open the door, otherwise they wouldn’t have even attempted the murder after Eridan’s show.

VS: And they certainly didn’t just randomly knock on our respiteblocks until someone opened, either.

VS: Hey suckers, did you hear someone knocking on your door last night? Even just once?

Vriska asks out loud while looking at everyone in the courtroom. She waits for a few seconds, but no one answers.

VS: See???????? The evidence is pretty damning, if you ask me. No one heard a random knocking in their door, so the culprit knew where to go from the start.

VS: Equius, Gamzee, hell even Feferi or me, none of us knew Jade that closely. And you don’t go telling your trauma to random people you just met, let alone in a Killing Game.

VS: Buuuuuuuut…

She snaps her fingers before making a finger gun with that hand which points at Terezi while looking sideways at her.

VS: Who would know her biggest fears, or deduce them, other than her closest friends?

TP: …

Terezi is silent. She wishes she could be their attorney right now to defend them against that claim, but…

VS: That’s right. John, Dave, Rose…

VS: One of you killed Jade Harley.

VS: And all evidence points to that.

Vriska is right.

She was all along.

The culprit, the killer of the Ultimate Markswoman, hid under her own nose back in Jade’s room, and she never noticed. But how did she not—

VS: … Are you gonna say anything Terezi?

VS: You’re supposed to be the expert here, right? This is your thing and all.

VS: Don’t leave me hanging and having to carry this entire trial by myself.

Vriska snaps her out of it.

TP: Okay. You’re right. Until we gather something, anything, that tells us otherwise...

Terezi looks at the three humans, while leaning with both hands on her cane.

TP: You are the main suspects now.

TP: …

TP: So please, demonstrate your innocence.

How could one of them do it? Terezi didn’t know Jade very closely, or even as well as the others like John or Dave. But even then, even when they first arrived and no one knew a single thing, they seemed like a tightly-knit group of inseparable friends who would be there for each other and willing to go through hell together.

… So how could one of them kill one of their best friends in such a gruesome way?

But with the eyes now on them, and being suddenly accused of her murder, the humans are starting to feel the growing pressure against them.

RL: I didn’t do it. I would never hurt one of my best friends, much less for the sadistic pleasure of whoever’s behind this Killing Game.

Despite the apparent calmness of her words, it is obvious for some of the students that Rose was clearly taken by surprise by this accusation, and doesn’t quite know what to say just yet.

JE: I-I didn’t do it either, I swear! S-she was my best friend, and I’d never hurt my friends! You have to believe me!

The image of her bloodied corpse when John opened the door at first, it is still all too fresh in his mind. The things he’s gone through the last few days… they don’t make things better, not in the slightest. And now being accused of killing her… it is almost too much for a boy who not long ago was simply excited to finally play a game with his friends, and now instead is standing in a class trial for the death of one of them. To say that a lot of things have happened since then, it’s one hell of an understatement.

DS: Innocent.

DS: I said I’d throw hands for her, not at her.

DS: Big difference.

Dave, for his part, spits out nonchalantly those words.

And sadly, as she expected, the three of them claim their innocence. But no matter how much they try to convince everyone else they aren't the blackened, the evidence points to one of them as the culprit behind the murder. All evidence, including the two clues Terezi hasn’t mentioned just yet, waiting for the right moment to bring them onto the trial. But that moment is getting closer, and closer.

And closer.

TP: Please tell me what you did last night.

And, of course, she still has one more ace up her Redglare sleeves.

RL: I spent it in my room like everyone else. The nightmares aren’t so bad once you get used to them, and they become even somewhat interesting when you can recognize the eldritch symbolism they possess. Plus, the psychoanalysis you can make out of them is entertaining at least.

RL: That is to say, I didn’t exit my room until I woke up at some point during the morning like everyone else, and I didn’t go to Jade’s room until… we heard John.

RL: Does that suffice?

Terezi looks to the side, and takes a second slightly longer to answer Rose.

TP: Yes, for now.

TP: And what about you, Dave?

DS: I’ve got a question first.

DS: Didn’t you say back in Jade’s room that alibis are useless in this case?

DS: Like, no problem I can tell you that right away, I won’t plead the fifth or anything.

TP: What fifth are you talking about?

DS: But no one in here has the means to prove it was true or false. The killer can and will use that in their favor.

DS: So what’s the point?

He looks at her in the eyes; the black and red of their glasses pointing at each other.

TP: That does not concern you right now, Strider.

DS: Wow fucking harsh.

DS: But yeah, whatever, no big deal. If you say so, sure.

DS: The motive was a bitch, so I spent the night dealing with it.

DS: Eventually the day started, so I got out of my room and met with John. You know what comes next.

Terezi sighs, it is time to ask the last human for his account. But he seems to be struggling right now with his emotions. Out of the three humans, John is by far the one most visibly affected by the case. It is clear the Ultimate Prankster wasn’t made for situations like this.

But Terezi is.

TP: John, we know you were the one who found the body. But I need you to tell me what happened before that, what you did during the night.

In any other context she’d use unambiguous wording to make her request as clear as possible, but right now, with John still processing the fact that one of his friends killed Jade… she thinks it’s for the best to have some careful tact instead. If anything, it’s for the good of the case.

JE: I…

JE: I never want to have those nightmares ever again.

JE: One after the other during the night, in an endless loop.

JE: Normally I would compare them to, like, a b-class horror movie from the ‘80s or something, but now? I don’t even want to think about it.

JE: I just… don’t. Sorry.

John can’t even bring himself to look at Terezi, with his look still fixedly staring at the ground.

TP: I know it’s hard John, but I need you to solve this case.

TP: What were those nightmares about?

TP: What did Monokuma use as a motive against you?

Terezi wants to believe John is innocent, that he isn’t the killer behind Jade’s murder, but for her to defend this spotless student, she needs to be sure he is not the blackened in the first place. And for that to happen, she needs his complete, truthful account.

JE: Y-yes, I… I don’t want you guys to die because I’m so useless right now. Jade would kick my ass if it happened.

John inhales, then exhales deeply before continuing speaking.

JE: I dreamed, over and over, that I killed my father.

JE: My fear of losing him is what Monokuma used as motive.

JE: And in my nightmares, I killed him time and time again, and each time he died, the nightmare reset, but worse.

JE: But it all stopped once… once Jade died.

…

That is not good. Not at all.

Terezi may not know what a ‘father’ is, but a nightmare like that, a fear like that and how it came to an end, it is not something good by a long, long shot.

All eyes in the courtroom turn to John. But unlike before, these aren’t the eyes of people full of intrigue and mystery in their minds, they are the eyes of people who are now sure they are looking at a murderer.

And they all fall silent. Everyone, except him.

JE: B-but I didn’t do it! I never went out of my room at all last night! I swear!

JE: All I remember is going to sleep in my room, and waking up there, and all that happened after that!

His tone turns more desperate with every passing second, but it is of no use. The noose is slowly tightening around his neck.

KV: You… you killed Jade?

KV: John, what the fuck? How?

JE: I swear it wasn’t me!

SC: Now it fits, it actually makes sense now. You were the only one who possessed the knowledge of her fears because she confessed them to you.

SC: I should have seen this coming. Fuck.

JE: She was my friend, and I would never betray or hurt her!

Before it was his tone of voice, but now his own breathing becomes more and more agitated and desperate, like the walls are closing in, and the floor is collapsing on him.

He needs to act now, or soon the Ultimate Prankster will meet his Ultimate Demise.

This can’t be happening. Did he really…?

FP: We would have never suspected one of you killed Jade.

VS: And because you killed her, during breakfast you ran to her room to make everyone think you found the body by accident, thus taking the heat off you.

VS: Damn John, you may not bark a lot, but you sure have one hell of a bite.

She looks at her robotic hand. But hidden deep underneath her looks, there’s a slight sensation of betrayal in her heart. Her next couple of words almost sounds like she feels hurt by him.

VS: You even almost got away with it, if it weren’t for me.

VS: But now it’s time for you to pay the price for crossing me.

JE: Vriska, you have to believe me when I say I didn’t kill her!

JE: I didn’t believe the others when they accused you last trial of killing Tavros, so please, believe in me like I believed in you!

Those words, they… they hurt Vriska on the inside, much more than she’d like to admit, even making her look away for a split second before reinforcing her stoic indestructible façade, though this time with a much more detached look in her eyes and neutral tone of voice, almost as if she fears getting closer now.

VS: Remember, John. This is a game, one I’m still intending to win no matter what.

VS: You knew the risks when you approached me, so don’t be surprised now.

VS: I won’t die for you, as I don’t expect you to die for me either.

Vriska looks to the side, feeling slightly more drained and number than before. Even her voice sounds empty.

GM: Damn bro, if you’re gonna die at least pour the motherfucking truths out so your soul can be cleansed by the messiahs in the Dark Carnival.

GM: Otherwise.

GM: They won’t let you join them when you flesh dies and your blood dries. :o(

JE: B-but I’m telling the t-truth!

RL: John, please be honest. I’m begging you. If not for me, do it for her.

RL: Did you kill Jade?

JE: O-of course I didn’t!

JE: Rose, I would never… I would never…

Wait, what is that smell coming from his words? Why can’t I—

But before Terezi can delve deeper in that strange smell, one she can’t quite figure out, John abruptly collapses down onto his knees. Tears start to run down both his cheeks; he’s reached his limit.

JE: I-I’d never kill her…

JE: But how c-can I be so… sure?

JE: I mean, I d-don’t even remember doing so, but…

JE: I killed my own father, over and over, in those twisted psychotic dreams…

JE: Stabbing, drowning, choking… again, and again.

JE: I can’t even remember how many times I did it, all because of the stupid motive.

JE: ...

JE: You’re right, how can I be sure I’m innocent of her death.

JE: When I couldn’t even tell what was real from what wasn’t during those final hours?

JE: So what i-if I did it, w-what if I r-really killed her… without realizing it?

JE: I’d be... the culprit.

His voice sounds much more broken, with him looking the same too.

For almost everyone else in the courtroom, the case is over. They’ve found the killer, the one who murdered Jade Harley during the night, who collapsed under the weight of his own sins.

For the spotless, only the culprit would break this way in a trial.

…

. . .

…

But… is the case really over? Did the culprit really just accidentally confess their crime? Or… No.

This is not what it looks like. And I have to prove it.

Ever since she asked John for his account, she remained silent, witnessing how everyone turned on John, including the other two humans, while she thought about the case itself, rebuilding it time and time again in her mind to see if she missed anything. But now that Monokuma seems awfully eager to declare this trial over, Terezi knows she has to act, and now.

MK: Looks like everyone is—

TP: No.

Terezi leans forward, putting both hands on her wooden podium, one on top of the other. It is a calm, yet resolved and fierce pose, making her look like a legislacerator who’s ready to wage war in this trial to the very last consequence.

TP: The culprit might seem obvious now, but this isn’t over yet.

TP: We can’t cast our votes, until the culprit has been exposed and demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt.

MK: Oh? Is that so? Sure, go ahead, but don’t take too long.

MK: Or my itchy-trigger finger will get awfully itchy!

Monokuma sits back in his comfortable throne. It looks like the big red button will have to wait for a little bit longer.

SC: Do we really need to do it?

AM: Normally I’m all in for talking between us, but even to me the killer is obvious now.

TP: I want to highlight something John said for just a moment. Something that caught my attention.

TP: He said that perhaps he killed Jade without even realizing it, thanks to the motive and our sorry states last night.

TP: But… wouldn’t that apply to everyone as well?

TP: We all could have been the one John is describing. If we killed her without realizing it due to the motive, then we have no way of knowing for certain we are not the culprits.

TP: And if we don’t know if we are not the culprits, then how can we be ready to vote him as one?

TP: Of course, to know who might have done it we just have to talk about the specific motive Monokuma used on each one of us.

KM: But then again, we have no way of knowing if our confessions are true or not. Anyone who feels threatened could just lie about it.

EZ: D --> And thus, everyone is a suspect once again.

Well, there is a way to know, but that tool must remain concealed, even if just for a little longer. A legislacerator must always know when to be quick on the draw in a trial, and when to be patient.

EZ: D --> Neigh. Just like that, our mane culprit is escaping our grasp yet again.

VS: But what about Jade’s fear???????? Only the humans would know she’d open the door because of it!

FP: Yeah, that seems pretty glubbing damning to me! For all we knew, no one in this coral reef would open their door to anyone else during the night.

SC: Specially after Tavros’s murder.

TP: That should make only the humans suspects again, of course, but.

TP: Knowing anyone could have killed her, just by knocking at the right door…

TP: Do you really have a way to prove it was not a stroke of luck?

VS: What are you even trying to prove with this? We were so close to wrapping this up!

TP: What I already said.

TP: We can’t cast our votes just yet. Until we have completely confirmed the culprit’s identity.

TP: Until it’s been proved beyond a shadow of a doubt, I won’t allow it.

TP: Because, if we’re wrong…

RL: We would all die.

A frustrating silence settles in the courtroom for a few moments. All that progress, seemingly undone with just one simple rhetorical question of hers.

Well, there’s a reason why she’s the Ultimate Legislacerator after all.

SC: So, if that line of thought is correct, then we are all potential culprits again. Literally all of us.

VS: Yeah, but no need to repeat it.

SC: We are back at square one for shit’s sake.

TP: No, we are not.

SC: Huh?

Sollux looks at Terezi confused. Does that court daemon have a secret trick up her sleeve?

TP: Because I’m sure of something now.

TP: Everyone was right about one thing: It was one of the humans who killed Jade.

TP: But not John.

TP: And I have the concrete evidence to prove it.

VS: Wow, and now you’re telling us about it????????

TP: Before I wasn’t sure, for all I knew I could have acted on a false lead, so I refrained myself from acting on it until I could confirm it. Now I’m sure.

She slowly looks around, sensing everyone’s eyes on her, they are all looking at her. It’s time to bring an end to this.

Terezi Pyrope now knows who killed Jade.

TP: I want to talk about her nails. Or, more specifically¸ what’s underneath them.

TP: Both Nepeta and Rose can testify to what I’ll say.

TP: During the investigation, I saw her bloodied hands, clear signs of a struggle. She wasn’t killed in one swift blow, which means she fought back.

TP: How I know specifically that she fought back, and not just defended herself?

TP: I checked underneath her nails. All I found was crimson blood.

TP: Because so many hours had passed since her death, the blood dried and changed color, so it was harder for me to be sure, so I asked them to check the body too.

Terezi turns her head to the side, to the Ultimate Occultist.

TP: Rose, what did I say is completely correct? Was there only human blood underneath her fingers?

RL: Yes, that is true. I saw her right hand as you asked, and personally checked her left one. I only found our crimson-red blood.

NL: :33 < I also checked there out of curiosity… so that is right.

TP: And blood there means she buried her nails into the culprit’s skin, making them bleed in return.

TP: That proves beyond a shadow of a doubt it was one of the humans who killed her. But there’s more to it.

Terezi then turns her head to the other side, and faces the Ultimate Prankster.

TP: John, I want you to extend your arms forward, and open your hands.

JE: Why?

TP: Don’t be a stupid idiot and do it, now.

John extends both his arms forward over the podium, then open his hands as much as he can for everyone to see.

…

They are not damaged in the slightest. There is not one scratch in them.

FP: I… I guess that proves it, right?

FP: If John had killed Jade, then his arms would be covered in scratches and wounds.

TP: That’s right, and it’s why I knew he wasn’t the killer even if he thought so.

TP: I noticed something… strange, during the investigation.

Terezi leans back, takes off her glasses, revealing her red eyes, and for one last time puts both hand on top of her cane.

TP: First I dismissed it as just a coincidence, but with the accounts and the evidence, it is all too clear now.

TP: Both Rose and John share something in common.

TP: They are both using their default, short-sleeved outfits.

TP: Their arms are exposed, yet not a single wound can be seen in them.

TP: …

Terezi sighs. It is time to deliver the final blow, and put this case to rest.

TP: Who is the only human, who not only is the only one wearing a long-sleeved garment, but also who hasn’t taken their hands out of their pockets all day long?

TP: That’s right.

She turns her head slightly to face him directly into his eyes.

TP: Dave Strider…

TP: You killed Jade.

The moment the three humans hear those dreaded words, the entire courtroom, the entire academy grows ice-cold. What, despite all logic and reason told them, they didn’t want to believe, now virtually proved in its entirety.

Not only one of them killed her, now they know exactly who.

Dave Strider, the Ultimate Rapper.

And he, he can’t even fight back just yet, still stunned by her words. He doesn’t move, he doesn’t even react, his eyes stare blankly into the distance behind his black sunglasses.

TP: Dave is the killer, all the evidence, all the logic, everything points at him.

TP: But I have one more thing to present to the jury and judge.

TP: One more piece of evidence, if His Honorable Tyranny allows me.

MK: Sure! We are reaching the end anyways, you can tie up all loose ends!

Terezi reaches for one her pockets, and grabs something from it which she puts forward over the podium for everyone to see between two of her fingers. It is thin and hard to see, but as a piece of evidence it is very clear and damning. And now more than ever, they all deserve to see it.

A strand of blonde hair.

TP: I found blonde hair in her room when I was investigating the body.

TP: And that is why I asked the humans if Jade had invited any of them to her room.

TP: Rose told me she did, the day before her death, to polish their nails together.

TP: So I knew I couldn’t use this as evidence right away. It was circumstantial at best, a false lead at worst.

TP: But having deduced it was one of the humans who killed her, John and Rose having unscratched arms, and John himself having black hair, that leaves only one other human who fits the description perfectly.

JE: … But why didn’t you tell us about it earlier?

TP: Because I couldn’t risk the culprit learning about it.

TP: If they knew I noticed that… they would have had all this time to think of a counterargument.

TP: Which is why I didn’t talk earlier about her nails either.

TP: The more time they have to prepare, the more convincing their lies will be.

TP: And in a courtroom, freely giving your enemy more time to prepare is just a death wish.

Silence settles for a few moments. It all seems so clear now. After struggling to get closer to the truth and the culprit, they now stand just moments away from casting them into a gruesome execution; it’s the punishment due for a gruesome murder.

And Dave, he still remains silent and shocked, but his breathing becomes heavier and heavier. He knows a mistake Eridan made in his trial was to try too hard to take the lead, creating space for him to make a mistake on his own, so Dave prepared to take the opposite strategy, not make a mistake by not having a sizeable participation, and blend in with the rest as much as possible. But even that plan got thoroughly dismantled by the Ultimate Legislacerator herself.

What can he even do now?

TP: But what I said before is still true.

TP: The culprit’s identity must be demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt.

TP: And with everything we discovered, I think it’s time we go over the case one last time.

TP: Let’s put an end to this case, and let’s allow Jade to finally rest.

Terezi clears her throat; she has talked a lot in this trial. But after all, that is precisely what a legislacerator does in a situation like this.

TP: A gruesome crime took place last night, but its roots trace back to at least a few days ago.

TP: After the last murder, Monokuma introduced a motive to this Killing Game. One directly related to our biggest fears. It weaponized them against us.

TP: After it came into play, we tried to endured it at first. But the longer the motive carried on, the worse it became, and the cracks started to show. And it wouldn’t take long before it broke someone in despair.

TP: During the night, one of us couldn’t take this anymore and decided on the spot… they needed to end this, right now. They felt they had to kill somebody to make it stop.

TP: And they knew one of their closest friends had one massive fear, one they’d use in their favor: The fear of being alone again.

TP: And so, they acted on that knowledge. They went to that room and killed her, the Ultimate Markswoman, Jade Harley.

TP: But because of the motive they didn’t plan this in advance. They didn’t take days, or even hours to plan it. The motive broke them during the night, and it was at that moment that the fate was sealed for both the culprit and the victim.

TP: They went to Jade’s room, and after getting inside, they used the element of surprise and attacked her.

TP: Because this was not a cold-blooded carefully planned murder, the killer didn’t carry a weapon with them. Instead, they relied on their own fists to beat her to death. The lack of a swift instant kill allowed the victim to fight back, and a fierce fight ensued which wounded both of them.

TP: But, of course, the victim wasn’t that much better either, neither physically or mentally, because the motive worn everyone out over time. This, without a doubt, allowed the culprit to gain the upper hand in the fight, eventually throwing Jade down to the floor, causing her a wound in her scalp in the process, alongside a lot of bruises across her upper body.

TP: And once the killer got on top of Jade… it was all over for her. The best she could try to do is to either wound their arms to try and force them to stop, or protect her face from the beating. She probably did both, which explains why both sides of her hands were covered in blood when we found her.

TP: Yet that act gave us a piece of evidence which proved vital in this trial. Because she heavily scratched the killer’s arms with her hands, their blood got under her nails. Crimson-red blood. It proved it was a human who killed her.

TP: Eventually she died, probably from choking in her own blood, which would explain the blood clots in her windpipe and esophagus.

TP: And once she was unconscious, minutes before her death, the culprit left her on the floor, right where she fell, and escaped from the room.

TP: Knowing they were wounded from the struggle, and needed as much time as they could get to heal, or at least make it easier to conceal those wounds, the killer took Jade’s keys and locked the door after getting out, to delay the finding of the body for as long as possible.

TP: In the meantime, they changed clothes to the alternative uniform Monokuma gave us. In their case, it included a piece of garment which covered both their arms, something perfect for them given their state.

TP: But they left something very important behind: because of the struggle, and because Jade likely grabbed them by the hair at some point, strands of their own blonde hair fell to the floor, which I later discovered.

TP: Once Jade died, it is extremely likely the motive came to a sudden stop, allowing us to get the rest we were denied for many days. This, in turn, led us to sleep until very late into the day. A welcomed surprise to the killer no doubt, as it gave them even more time to heal.

TP: Eventually we all woke up and headed to the dining hall. Everyone, except Jade. This made John nervous, and headed to her room to check on her. The door was locked, so he asked Monokuma to open it for him, something he agreed. But once he did… everything unraveled.

TP: A human with blonde hair, both arms covered, and their hands hidden in their pockets to conceal the scratches and wounds. There is only one student who fits this description, and does so perfectly.

TP: It hurts me inside to say it, but…

TP: Dave Strider, the Ultimate Rapper, you are the killer of Jade Harley.

Break!

TP: I hope that clears everything beyond any reasonable doubt.

Terezi looks around, sensing everyone’s colors in their faces, yet all she can hear is a heavy, heavy silence. No one speaks for a few seconds, until one of the humans does it.

JE: I can’t… I just can’t believe it.

JE: Why you… why her…

JE: Dave, you’re a brother to me. Jade was like our sister. It’s been like that since always.

JE: So… why, why did you kill her?!

His voice sounds much more aggressive now. Not because of anger or hatred, but because John feels so emotionally torn apart right now.

JE: What was so awful about the motive that you killed her?!

DS: I… I…

DS: Sorry man. I just…

DS: I just couldn’t take it anymore. I simply couldn’t.

Underneath the sunglasses he’s used for many years now, the same John gifted to him during his thirteenth birthday, two small tears slowly run down his cheeks to his jaw, then fall down to the podium’s wooden floor. If John’s voice is loud and aggressive now out of pain and confusion, Dave’s is much more broken and on the defensive.

DS: The… the things he did to me.

DS: Just even remembering them make me wanna gag. They make me wanna puke.

JE: The hell are you talking about?!

DS: John, you’re like family to me. You know that. You’ve always been part of my family. Rose, you too.

DS: But you didn’t live with me. You lived just too far away from me.

DS: I only lived with him for my entire life.

DS: He was an adult. I was just a boy.

DS: How the fuck was I… supposed to even defend myself?

DS: How. Please tell me how.

DS: He not only was my big brother, he was the only person in charge of taking care of me, of protecting me for my entire life. Him, and no one else.

DS: So who was gonna protect me from the one who protected me?!

DS: No one. That’s who.

His voice breaks even more at those words.

DS: So having to relive those memories again and again…

DS: I couldn’t man. I just couldn’t.

Those two initial tears are followed by more, and more, and more.

DS: But I tried. Please believe me, John. I tried as hard as I could to resist it.

DS: Not just for me, but for everyone in here. You, Rose, Karkat… Jade. I tried. From the first night I had to endure the memories.

DS: The nights in the apartment were just a living nightmare. Not knowing when he’d appear and… do it. If he would, if he wouldn’t, I never knew until… it was too late.

DS: There were nights I just couldn’t sleep because I was sure he was in the room, watching me, stalking me in the dark because he felt like it. Be it to make me tougher or…

DS: …

DS: I felt his eyes on me.

DS: I felt Cal’s eyes on me.

DS: I sweated cold for hours, knowing he was there watching me. And if I fell asleep….

DS: I didn’t wanna remember it, man.

John had a furious expression in his face when he screamed at Dave, now that he knows his best friend killed her. But now that he heard him, the tears fall down of what is just now a confused face. And Rose isn’t much better either, trying her hardest to just cry in silence, still incapable of comprehending how anyone, no matter how heartless they were, would put Dave through… that.

Who could possibly have so much despair in their heart to do something like this?!

DS: And I didn’t. For years I couldn’t remember those things. Or at least the worst. My brain just blocked it, or something like that. Even if I tried, I couldn’t.

DS: But once the motive started, it… it just brought back those memories.

DS: Monokuma knew all of that… and he simply used it against me.

DS: That was his motive against me.

DS: What was I supposed to do, John?

DS: I was just too young to defend myself.

DS: So when I felt his weight on the bed yet again I… I…

DS: I just snapped. I couldn’t take that nightmare again, so I decided to defend myself.

DS: I fought him, I punched him, I kicked him, I did whatever I could not to feel that sensation again.

Dave’s arms begin to shake, while his hands grip tightly his own clothes.

DS: And when it was over, I blinked, and when I opened my eyes I… I saw her, dead on the floor.

DS: I killed Jade, because I tried to fight back against him.

Dave’s breathing is agitated and interrupted by his own crying, while John can barely even open his mouth. Now it all makes sense to him. Because Dave never wanted to kill her, he would never want it, he… just did it without realizing it, all because of the motive. He thought he was fighting against his own brother in a dream, in just another nightmare.

And he was, but in one all too real, too horrifically real. And by the time he snapped out of it, it was far too late, he had killed Jade.

MK: Ok! This angst-ridden stuff is carrying on for far too long!

JE: Wait, I’m still not done!

MK: Now that you’ve reached your verdict, please grab the lever next to you and make your selection!

JE: Just give us one more minute!

MK: Who will you elect as the blackened this time around? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one?

JE: Monokuma… please… I beg you.

MK: What’s it gonna be? What’s it gonna beeee?!

Outright ignoring his pleas, Monokuma orders the students to act, and the thirteen of them cast their votes, not wanting to break the rules for not doing so. And even though they know who killed Jade, it is still not enough to avoid that sickening sensation of dread in them. The possibility that maybe, just maybe, they got everything wrong.

But no matter what they feel, the slot machine in their screens still begins to move yet again. The faces of every student, alive or dead, circling around time and time again very fast, then fast, then slow, then… it stops. And with the face of Dave Strider aligned three times at the forefront, a highlighted word appears underneath, as an awful lot of gold coins are spat out from the machine.

GUILTY

MK: Huh, so it looks like this time… you got it right again! The blackened that killed the Ultimate Markswoman was none other than Daaaaveeee Striderrrr!

RL: I have one question, Dave.

DS: … Y-yes?

RL: If you never intended to kill Jade, and I believe in you when you say it, then…

RL: Why did you lock the door? Why didn’t you just… confess it, instead of making us go through this?

RL: I can understand almost everything, except this. So please, tell me.

DS: W-well I… I…

Why did he do it? … And why is he struggling to find the right words to answer her?

He opens his mouth, but nothing comes out of it.

NL: :33 < I think I can explain it.

NL: :33 < In that state… just like a cornered prey, you don’t think like normal. Your brain doesn't work like that.

NL: :33 < Instead, there’s one thing in your mind, and one only: Survival.

NL: :33 < It is a primal reaction; you can’t control it. When you’re cornered, and life is at risk… it just happens.

Dave nods sadly.

DS: When I saw what I’d done… I just thought of one thing: I had to escape this place.

DS: No matter what, I had to do it.

DS: Because… if I didn’t do something… I was…

But before he can finish his sentence, Monokuma interrupts him with a vicious wide smile in his face.

MK: As you cast your votes, and the culprit has been correctly identified, it’s time we move on to what everyone is eagerly waiting for!

DS: I don’t wanna die, man.

His voice, now more than ever before, sounds exposed, vulnerable, and completely honest. No longer there are layers of irony over irony, masking his true self to protect it from the world and everyone else, a lesson he had to learn the hard way during his life with his brother. But right now, he’s the most truthful he’s ever been.

It is the sound of a man who is afraid to die.

MK: Now then, I’ve prepared a very special punishment for Dave Strider, the Ultimate Rapper!

DS: Please John, I don’t wanna die.

His eyes look desperately at him while his breath is heavy and rapid. The desperation in his eyes, the growing despair in their hearts, this is something John will never forget.

MK: Let's give it everything we've got! It's...PUNISHMENT TIIIME!

From his seat, just like last time, Monokuma uses his judge gavel to hit the red button in front of him, and make the lights in the room go out. And like it happened with Eridan, a hole opens up right under Dave, making him fall to his imminent execution, and imminent death.

At the same time, the screen next to the students lights up once again. But this time it is not to show them what hour it is.

It is to show them a very similar 8-bit animation to the one they saw last time. But unlike in the first trial, it shows the Ultimate Rapper, instead of the Ultimate Aristocrat.

The screen fades to black for a few moments, before a spotlight is suddenly turned on. It shows Dave, who has fallen into a dark room, with only the spotlight lighting up the center of it. The rest, what’s just a few feet away from him, is nothing but pure darkness which neither he or anyone else can see through.

Next to him, there’s three concrete bricks piled up, just like the ones he used in his room to compensate for the lack of wooden furniture, with a pristine microphone on top of them.

Dave grabs it, and as soon as he does, the entire place lights up, blinding him for just a moment as his eyes get used to the spotlights pointing directly at him. And then, he realizes it.

This is not a dark, enclosed room. It is a stage, with an audience of countless Monokumas waiting for him to perform, watching from down below.

He’s standing in one side of the stage, and as soon as he looks to the opposite side, he sees a figure slowly approaching, and a title card temporarily fills the screen.

His red exposed eyes frantically look around for an exit, yet there is none. No exit, no escape, no hope. But what they do see, is the identity of the figure now on the stage, fully lit by another spotlight pointing at them.

It is Karkat. Or at least, a perfect Monokuma replica of him. He holds a mic in his hand, and there’s nothing but pure hatred in his eyes. It is hatred against the human for what he did.

Dave knows this is a trick from Monokuma, using all his tools from the game to make this happen. He knows Monokuma is trying to confuse him, to play with his feelings and emotions to bring him down in one final MC battle, the kind of he’s never lost even once… except to one person. And Dave can’t allow that, because if Monokuma defeats him here… he’ll be little more than a corpse in a casket by the time everything’s done.

But now that both him and Karkat are mere feet away from each other, a beat begins to blast from the speakers as the audience grows wild.

It is showtime.

Dave gets the mic closer to his lips with one hand, while he moves the other to the rhythm of the beat. This isn’t his first battle, and he’ll do his best to make sure it isn’t the last.

DS: Did you never give a damn in the first place.

DS: Now it’s too late cuz the tables have turned.

DS: ‘Cuz in the interests of all involved, I got the problem solved.

DS: And the verdict from ‘em is that I’m guilty as they come.

DS: Are you scared of me now? Then you’re dumber than I thought.

...

To say he was ready to battle against the Vantas in this stage out of nowhere, in front of a ruthless crowd of Monokumas ready to devour whoever loses, is to lie, he wasn’t. But he’s the Ultimate Rapper after all, and after a couple of minutes, he was still standing in the stage, getting his breath back.

His first rival was not.

The sight of what happened to him made Dave instinctively clench his stomach, but he barely has any time to rest at all, because as soon as he turns his face to the side, he saw another figure. A figure wearing red gloves, red boots, red glasses.

And a red glare.

DS: You sum it all in one sentence.

DS: A verdict made for everyone to know.

DS: I’m ready to give it zero pretenses.

DS: I’m ready to make it all fucking blow.

DS: Because when the dust settles and all’s done.

DS: I won’t be the one for you to stow.

His heartbeat increases, his breathing gets agitated once again. He killed Jade, but even though he knows what he sees is nothing but a show, it still feels like a punch to his stomach, watching his rivals onstage fall to their deaths to the Monokumas below while he stands, all because of him. Right now, in this battle, in this stage, he’s a proficient and ruthless rapping machine. One after the other, not ever stopping, not even letting him breathe between the rounds. He knows he can’t spare to slip up with his knife, with his mic.

Yet that becomes much, much harder with each passing round. It is harder to rap against them all, to keep up with no rest at all, to fight against his ultimate demise. And every time he makes a mistake, no matter how small, he can feel it, the stage tilting ever so slightly down, making it even harder for him to stand still on it.

But after what felt like an eternity to him, of coming up with what to say in the spot with barely any time to think, he turns his head to the side once again. And the person he sees there, it almost makes him fall to his knees. He wasn’t ready to see him here, he isn’t ready to face him just yet.

Or maybe he is, but that doesn’t really matter.

His own brother is here.

And the last round is on.

DS: I know it, I know you have the knot.

DS: Your mind is so fucking high.

DS: But let me tell you what is not.

DS: It’s the pain between the thighs.

DS: The cold water and the ice.

DS: Twice, thrice, a defenseless kid for your vice.

When Monokuma dragged him here, his sunglasses fell off to the ground. Now everyone can see him, now everyone can see his raging, crying red eyes.

But his hands begin to shake, one of his feet uncontrollably moves while he raps. Dave is slipping away, while his brother ruthlessly, efficiently fights back without breaking a sweat.

He was the only person Dave ever lost to. The only person the Ultimate Rapper couldn’t defeat.

DS: And now’s too late to say goodbye.

DS: To say goodbye.

He grabs the mic with both hands to contain the trembling.

DS: To the nastiest motherfucker around.

DS: To the one who smeared me to the ground.

His voice cracks as the tears hit the stage, falling from his face.

DS: Why the fuck do you even feel sorry now.

DS: You broke me, and expected me to bow.

DS: …

…

But he can’t do it, not anymore. His breathing is too agitated, his limbs are uncontrollably shaking, and his heart is racing like it never before did. The memories flood back to him, the flashbacks, the pain, and Dave just stands there. Paralyzed, hyperventilating, unable to continue.

Once again, and for one last time, his brother wins. Bro wins. And because of it, Dave’s side of the stage tilts completely, making the Ultimate Rapper lose balance, and fall down to his death at the hands of a fierce public which wastes no time tearing him apart.

And then, from above, his sunglasses fall down to the concrete, breaking apart during impact.

By the time the Monokumas are done, almost nothing from Dave remains.

Only his broken sunglasses, only his mic, and a small puddle of crimson blood.

The show is over, and his life is too.

Chapter 2 – Student Life, For Humans Or Otherwise

The End.

Surviving Students: 12

To be continued.

[MONOKUMA THEATER]

“Being a bear makes you see the world in a special way.”

“You have wisdom no one else possesses. And tonight, I’m going to share some of it with you!”

“For example, if there’s something I’ve learned over the years…”

“Is that life, at its core, is a zero sum game.”

“For you to obtain something, you must give something in return.”

“Be it either money, time, or anything else, you have to give something to get something. Things aren’t granted just because of whimsical wishing.”

“For you to admitted in university or in a job application, someone else must be left out.”

“For an ill patient to receive an organ transplant, someone else must give it to them first.”

“That’s why it’s better to, if you’re determined to get something, make sure what you give in return belongs to someone else.”

“That’s life for you! Make sure to always move forward, not sideways.”

"If not, your time on Earth will be swiftly met with doom."

Chapter Text

The Ultimate Rapper is dead, his show is over, but the game goes on.

His left foot shaking, his trembling hands gripping the microphone, his exposed and vulnerable red eyes frantically looking from side to side. Even when Dave knew from the start there was only one way that execution was going to end, he still gave his all to survive. In the face of certain death, he fought until the end, just like Eridan did down in the planet of the rising moons.

Yet, no matter all those efforts, no matter how much he fought against twisted psychological war waged by a mascot of true despair, he’s dead. Dave is dead, and nothing of him remains.

Nothing, but the memories of the one who once was a friend to the twelve surviving students.

When the screen fades to black, most of the trolls have more or less the same expressions they had when Eridan was executed not too long ago. The exceptions are Terezi and Karkat, who seem particularly annoyed and bothered now that the curtains have fell on the human’s life.

Out of all the trolls, they were the closest to him, after all.

On the other hand, the humans are much more visibly distressed by his death, even more so than after Eridan’s. Rose clutches her hands while biting her index finger, while John is… numb.

Just.

Numb.

MK: Wowie! That sure took a whole lotta effort.

MK: He almost made me break a sweat trying to come up with bars for the battle.

MK: He definitely earned his title as the Ultimate Rapper. But alas, there ain’t no rest for the wicked.

MK: This heart-pounding Semester of Killing must carry on no matter what!

MK: So, for now, go to your rooms and have some rest.

MK: Or eat, that’s a valid option too, you must eat vegetables to stay healthy.

MK: But whatever you do, it sure won’t be here, so shoo! Shoo!

With the trial over, and the execution done, there’s no reason for the surviving students to stay in the courtroom. But even if there were one, they definitely don’t want to stay there either. As soon as the doors open, they all board the elevator that takes them back to the first floor of Hope’s Peak, and from there they head to either their own rooms or the dining hall.

It’s been a day far too long for them, and some of the students have only had half a breakfast ever since they woke up.

One of them is Karkat. And alongside him, there are a few other trolls who feel the hunger after a day of investigating and solving a murder mystery. The two surviving humans, for their part, just go straight into their rooms; they want to leave this horrific day far, far behind them.

KV: Normally I’m all in for coming up with an actual plan to be prepared, so we aren’t taken aghast by the time monochromatic shit hits the thresher yet again.

KV: But right now? I can’t even blame Gamzee for eating those corrosive pies for a living. He barely gives half a damn right now, and I wish I could.

KV: Fuck me. I’m so done with this bullshit.

VS: So what are you gonna do about it, kill someone to get out? Or just cry and whine about it?

KV: Don’t make me fucking laugh Serket.

KV: Out of all the things you can be in the universe, right now you are choosing to be not the clown but the entire fucking circus.

KV: Hahahaha. Nice joke. A good old nub slapper from the most disgusting and vomitive scourge of Alternia that my eyes have had the absolute disgrace of witnessing.

KV: Fuck you.

VS: Don’t be so mad. You know there’s only one thing you can do to survive this game.

VS: Pull your head out of your whiny ass and put both feet on the floor so you can stand your ground.

VS: All you can do is to endure the shitstorm. Anything else is just pathetic naive thinking.

AM: Is that really all we can do?

AM: Because remember what he said it when we arrived. We’ll be here for all eternity if no one dies.

AM: Sure, I’m not going to fall for foolish delusions of a magic solution, but to simply be trapped in this killing game forever…

AM: I want to think that there’s a hidden third option. Something buried underneath this killing game to help us.

AM: And I will find it.

VS: If you do, please tell me. But I used to have eight eyes a few sweeps ago and even then I can’t see anything that’s gonna save everyone still alive from this.

SC: This is a game, right?

VS: Well, yeah du—

SC: Shut up it was a rhetorical question.

SC: It’s a game we all ran on our husktops. Not only us, but the humans too.

SC: And if it’s a husktop game, then it’s software running on code. And if it has code, I can hack it.

SC: And if I can, I will.

Sollux takes a step forward and gets in front of all the other students.

SC: I’m with KK in this, I’m done with this senseless killing spree too.

SC: We lost Tavros already, and I guess Eridan too; I don’t want to lose any more of you guys.

SC: That includes the humans. Because for what it’s worth they… they don’t suck ass too much.

Sollux takes off his bicolor glasses, revealing his red and blue eyes. He looks around; to Feferi, to Equius, to… Aradia.

SC: I refuse to let anyone else die, and I’m done with not pulling my weight like an embarrassing grub.

SC: There isn’t much here to work with, but that never stopped me before.

SC: I can’t say more about it here, but I have a plan.

SC: I told everyone the other day we are in an isolated network. We can’t reach out for help, but…

SC: We are inside it, and thinking about it, that’s all I need.

Give a hacker a Raspberry Pi and enough hatred against something, and they will hack the world, even if only to send a message out of spite. If the cameras are recording everything all the time, then they are sending all that data somewhere for the mastermind to supervise the students. Monokuma must be a robot too, but even if he isn’t, he’d still need to get a lot of data sent from a central processing unit, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to access the video feed from the cameras for the trials. Perhaps Sollux can’t reach the mainframe directly, it'd be a far too amateurish mistake of the mastermind to allow it, but that’s not strictly needed. All he needs to do to cause some real havoc, is to intercept the wireless data transmissions with the repaired human husktop. Once he does, a Troll In The Middle attack will be nothing more than just a grub’s play.

And once he captures those signals, he can and will know where they come from. And with a rootkit and a backdoor, the entire system will be his, and perhaps this game will come to an end. Perhaps he’ll avoid more senseless death and despair this way.

It’s a hard job, and a very dangerous task to go face to face with the mastermind of this killing game like this, but if there’s one student who can do it, is the Ultimate Hacker himself.

SC: I’ll start working on it right now. See you guys tomorrow.

VS: I’m off too. I have the feeling tomorrow’s gonna be a long day.

KV: You don’t need to tell me about it. I still have to take care of Gamzee as soon as I wake up. I’m going to my respite block too.

One by one, all the students leave the dining hall and head to their dorm rooms before the nighttime announcement comes. And one by one, they all eventually fall asleep.

It’s been a long day, but for the first time in almost a week, they are finally able to rest properly, without worrying about their worst nightmares coming true.

…

Ignorance is bliss.

Ding dong, bing bong.

“Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!”

A new day begins, and with it, more despair for the students of Hope’s Peak.

The twelve students wake up, feeling much better than they did yesterday, or the days prior for that matter. They promptly head to the dining hall for breakfast after taking a shower in their rooms.

Equius eats a dish full of Earth’s vegetables and fruits, while Feferi eats seafood, and Nepeta indulges herself a carefully cooked steak. Rose and John for their part eat a rather standard breakfast they prepared together, while Karkat cooks on his own for both himself and the Makara. Having been able to finally sleep decently, they are all much more refreshed and reenergized, yet the thought of Jade and Dave’s death it is still there, in the back of everyone’s mind.

KM: How do you feel, Rose?

RL: I feel, while not well by any stretch of the imagination, not particularly bad either. Losing two of your closest friends in a day will never be something easy to deal with, and twelve hours is not enough time for mourning, but I’m holding on as best I can, given the circumstances.

RL: I’ll survive, but thanks for asking, it’s appreciated.

KM: And what about you, John? Despite our current situation, we have to keep moving forward no matter what, and not cave in to Monokuma. Part of that includes making sure both of you feel well, or doing everything in my power to help you if not.

JE: I… I’ve been better, a lot better, but I won’t give up. It’s the least I can do for them.

He lets out a small, sad, yet sincere and hopeful smile.

KM: That’s a good attitude to have at least.

AM: Is anyone else excited for today?

Aradia, for her part, smiles widely; she seems excited, though oblivious to the human’s lingering pain.

VS: What?

AM: Well, after the first trial Monokuma unlocked a new floor for us, right?

AM: Then now the third floor should be open for us, too. 0u0

KM: That seems logical.

AM: I wonder what secrets we’ll find there.

JE: I guess I’m kinda looking forward to that too.

JE: Because I still need answers! After what we discovered in the archives, I have to know what happened to Earth and our families and everything.

RL: Oh, right, The Tragedy. I had forgotten that with everything going on.

JE: So somewhere in the third floor there must be something that explains further what we found.

JE: Or explains something to the trolls, I don’t know.

JE: I wish I could have more answers about The Tragedy, but giving the trolls some answers seems only fair too.

JE: Heck if I know exactly what we’ll find there, though.

JE: But there’s only one way to find out, and it’s going there.

VS: You’re right, and that’s better than just sitting on our asses here doing nothing about this entire thing.

VS: It may be a waste of time in the end, but when you’re at rock bottom there isn’t much more left to lose anyways.

They keep chatting with each other for a few minutes, enjoying a calm breakfast. But just as they are finishing their meals, a bell sound begins to sound from the speakers, and the screen on the wall lights up not long after, with a bear-shaped figure fading into view.

By now they know far too well who it is.

“How’s everyone doing? I hope you had a good night’s sleep!”

“I know I went all out on my dear, sweet, precious students with the motive. But as I said before, trolls are quite a tough nut to crack.”

“So it’s no surprise a human did after all!”

“In fact, even though in retrospective it was kinda predictable that’d happen, it was still oh-so satisfying to see him fall into despair. It even filled me with despair to watch it all go down on camera.”

“But you’re still my students, so I have to make it up for you one way or another. I am still the headmaster of Hope’s Peak, after all! And I care about all the students that attend this academy.”

 “This is why, in an unprecedented act of sheer kindness and mercy, I will not only unlock the third floor for you guys to explore, but I’ll also give you an extended respite time.”

“I want you guys to rest and recover so this Semester of Killing gets even better from now on. As such, I’ll leave you alone for the next few days, but if there isn’t a killing… you know the drill.”

“A selfless gift will be provided for you.”

“Goodbye!”

And with that, the screen fades back to black, and the students are reminded once again that, no matter how much they try to escape from it, despair will always come back to haunt them. For as long as they are in Hope’s Peak, no one will be free from it.

FP: Where is Sollux?

FP: I haven’t seen him since last night. 38(

AM: He’s still in his room. He said he won’t be able to talk with us for now for… obvious reasons.

AM: And he refuses to get out of there until he’s made some ‘actual fucking progress’ according to his own words.

KV: That dude may be a pain in the ass sometimes but he knows what to do and how to do it. Let’s all agree on leaving him alone for a while.

KV: If he was here, he’d just complain all the time about some pulled-out-of-the-ass bullshit anyways, so it’s a win-win for all parties involved.

FP: I sea, then I guess we’ll have to explore the new floor on our own.

FP: Kelp, it’s time to find out what’s hidden in that reef!

The eleven students finish their meals, and sooner rather than later they head upstairs for the third floor. In the end, it isn’t really like they have much else to do in here.

Walking upstairs, they are met right away with a choice in the third floor: To their right, there are two classrooms; in the center, a recreation room; and to their right, the rest of the third floor.

John is the first to venture forward, walking right into the rec room to see what’s inside while the other students slowly spread across this floor and its rooms.

But soon enough, he’s joined by Terezi who follows him, feeling drawn by something inside.

JE: It sure seems like Monokuma put here a lot of stuff to entertain us.

JE: Darts, a pool table, even a weird game I think I saw my dad play a few years ago.

JE: How was it called? Violoncello? Ocelot? No that’s the animal you stupid smooth-brain.

TP: John what in the human hell are you talking about.

Terezi asks him with her cane over her shoulders. She looks both confused and unimpressed at the same time.

JE: Sorry, I got a bit carried away. I was just thinking about the stuff Monokuma put in here. They don’t really fit with a school.

TP: Well, I don’t know how schools are on Earth, but I’m sure they don’t include mutually assured destruction either.

JE: …

JE: Touché, Good point.

JE: But why did you come here anyways? There are a whole lot more rooms to explore anyways.

TP: I like the smell. That’s all really.

TP: The walls and floor smell like blueberries with licorice. It is…

TP: Deliciously intoxicating. >;]

JE: I’ll never understand how you can… taste colors? How does that even work?

TP: You can see the colors; I can smell and taste them. There’s no need to make a fuss about it.

JE: Yeah, I suppose you’re right. It seems kinda cool, tho!

JE: Like an endless buffet for your senses everywhere you go.

TP: Wow John, you actually said something intelligent for once. I’m impressed. >:O

JE: Huh?

TP: That’s a compliment, you dumbass. Take it.

JE: O-oh. Thanks then!

TP: But anyways, why are you here? You were the first one to move from the stairs.

JE: I just entered this place because it looks neat from the outside.

TP: Oh.

Terezi feels conflicted. At one moment he seems actually very smart and understanding, and half a moment later he’s just this absolute dork. What’s wrong with him?

JE: Oh man, I just noticed!

JE: GameBro!

JE: It feels like ages since I last saw one of their magazines!

John excitedly grabs one of the issues and opens it, and memories flood back to him. After what happened yesterday, he needed something like this to cheer him up.

And yes, they are still as crappy and awful as he remembers them. Quite fun to read for ironic purposes, though. For a brief moment John wishes Dave was here to ironically mock these pieces of 40% recyclable asbestos crap, but then he has an idea.

This one is for him.

JE: Hey Terezi, how much do you know about human literature?

TP: What makes you think I have even the slightest idea about it.

JE: Well, GameBro is basically peak humanity!

JE: Shakespeare can’t hold a candle to this work of art. This is the best thing humanity has done since the Ghostbusters franchise. And that’s saying something.

JE: I 100% recommend you to read all their magazines with your color-smelling thingy.

TP: …

TP: Well, we’re stuck here so why not. I’ll take your word for it, John.

JE: Hehehehe.

The Ultimate Prankster is at it again, it seems. He sighs.

JE: …

JE: I’m sure he’d loved for you to read it.

On the other side of the door, and more specifically, in one of the classrooms, there’s Kanaya. She knew from the start it’d be an unglamorous yet necessary task to explore and analyze them thoroughly, so she chose to do it for the good of the group while the others go to more exciting locations, something which isn’t particularly hard when the bar is set at classroom-low.

Surprisingly for her, not long after she enters one of those rooms, she’s followed by Equius who, after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, tries to break the silence.

EZ: D --> So, you’re here.

Emphasis on tries.

KM: Yes. I, indeed, I am in this classroom. In your immediate vicinity, even.

KM: Quite shocking, I know.

EZ: D --> Nepeta wanted to spend time with the heiress, so I let her be, and chose to come here.

EZ: D --> And… I wanted to talk to you.

Equius begins to stretch his muscles. His arms are surprisingly flexible, taking into account how absurdly strong he is.

KM: Sure. Tell me what’s on your mind.

EZ: D --> Ever since the lowblood died, you have been taking care of his creatures.

EZ: D --> I want to know if… if they are not going through any kind of unnecessary suffering.

EZ: D --> All wild beasts are magnificent, and deserve nothing but the best.

He stares fixedly at one of the oversized bolts from the plates riveted at the walls. Even though he has failed every single time to move one of them even a single inch, he can’t give up, he must try again and again until he succeeds. Besides, such failures have never deterred him in the past anyways; his rather miserable archery skills are the living proof of it.

EZ: D --> I have always been opposed to the suffering of wild beasts, allowing their deaths only for the most basics of needs such as survival. That’s why I have wholeheartedly supported Nepeta in her endeavors, even though they are rather… violent.

EZ: D --> Excuse me, I got distracted for a second there.

Equius puts both hands on the bolt and begins to try and move it clockwise. He knows far too well how hard is to even just budge them, so from the start he puts all his strength into it, and his breathing doesn’t take long to become an aggressive panting, and not long after even sweat begins to fall down his face.

Kanaya, for her part, tries to continue with her search on her own, though the sound of a man like him panting loudly isn’t exactly what she’d like for a moment like this, not in the slightest.

KM: … Don’t worry, Equius. I’ve been giving my best efforts to make sure they are well taken care of, just like Tavros would have wanted.

KM: I have even decorated their little cages in my spare time. They have little hives now.

KM: He always tried to look after them as best he could. And as far as I know, he was the one who treated his own lusus the best out of all of us.

KM: Setting my bar any lower than that would be insulting for both him and me, so don’t worry. They are in good hands.

KM: But I could always use some help, if you’re willing to help me from time to time.

EZ: D --> Absolutely. You can count on me.

EZ: D --> Horsefeathers, this won’t budge.

Equius lets go of the bolt. And once again, like all the others before, it didn’t move at all. He feels frustrated, like he’s unable to do anything to help everyone escape this place, yet he doesn’t give up the hope of being useful for the other students. This may be a tiring job, but it’s one only he can do. And the possibility alone that one may budge, that one of these plates may be loose enough for everyone to escape this hell that’s called Hope’s Peak… that’s enough to motivate him to continue time and time again. Kanaya, for her part, continues carefully examining every single inch of the classroom in search of anything noteworthy, be it either a way out or another clue about their situation. None of them achieve anything useful, but that won’t stop them at all. Instead, they just proceed to the next classroom on the other side of the blackboard.

Down the corridor, past the rec room and the sharp turn to the right, there’s two trolls currently exploring the art room. It is filled with tools such as brushes and easels, but also wooden hammers and chisels, among other things. The two trolls here are a certain oliveblood, and a quite special fuchsiablood, who’s looking at everything in awe.

FP: Glub!

FP: There’s a whale lot of stuff in here. It’s sooo cool! 380!

NL: :33 < Yeah! There’s a meow ton of tools to work with.

FP: It’s a shame I don’t know how to use any of these things, though. It’s hard using a brush to paint when you live in the ocean. 38(

NL: :33 < I know it’s easier to paint in a canvas than in the walls of my hive, but I kinda prefer things like coal, ashes and animal blood instead of all these materials. It’s meow style!

FP: Oh, right! How are your shipping charts currently? I totally forgot about them since we arrived here.

FP: What ships are sailing forth filled with riches, whale others sink hopelessly?

FP: Tell me, I’m curious now!

NL: :33 < It’d be easier to show you them. Things are messy here and my whiskers work non-stop with all that potential romeownce!

NL: :33 < Wait!!!!

NL: x33 < I just had a purrfect idea. The purrfectest of all!

FP: Glub?

NL: :33 < You said you don’t know how to draw because you live underwater, right?

NL: :33 < Then I’ll teach you! We can come here together to practice anytime you want.

NL: :33 < And who knows…

NL: x33 < Purrhaps we could even do a shipping chart together!

FP: That idea sounds just perfect! Glub glub glub glub! 38D

Well, it looks like searching for clues— or an escape from Hope’s Peak for that matter— isn’t going to be in their plans anytime soon. It seems that Nepeta has learned well from the human, because she realized what the true treasure, the true reward of this academy is:

Friendship.

For the next few minutes, the two girls keep exploring the room, including the locked door at the back, looking at all the art tools available in here, and making plans about what to do with them during the next few days. But as they do basically everything but the actual reason why they’re here in the first place, they begin to hear the door they came through not long ago being pulled and pushed.

It is very faint at first, but it quickly grows stronger, and stronger.

…

Then, it finally opens, and someone walks in.

It’s the Ultimate Subjugglator.

GM: Motherfuckin’ doors hard to motherfuckin’- wh-whoa.

Gamzee’s absolutely flabbergasted for one moment as his eyes open wide and gaze at this room.

GM: What in the mother fuck is this place?

NL: :33 < …

FP: Hi Gamzee!

FP: This is the art room, I think!

GM: This shit’s motherfucking wild yo.

GM: My wicked sisters.

GM: …

GM: I like it. :o)

Gamzee walks slowly, gazing with amazement at practically everything in there. Nepeta instinctively keeps her distance from him, while Feferi just watches with curiosity.

GM: I fucking knew it yo.

GM: Anywhere I go, anywhere I see, they are there.

GM: They are here.

GM: With us. :o)

GM: Nobody told the statues to come here, yet they are right in front of my glance nuggets.

FP: But why are you here? I thought you’d follow the otters, like Karkat!

GM: I did, at first.

GM: But when we got to that science place down the corridor, I felt like I didn’t belong in that place.

GM: So I skedaddled the fuck outta there.

GM: And ripping my heart out just for you girls to be as honest as the word honest can be.

GM: This place feels much, much better for someone like me. :o)

GM: Honk.

NL: :33 < My snout doesn’t like the smell of this, Fef…

GM: Huh. Why?

The two girls talk casually –well, one does, the other is somewhat tense— but after just a few moments they begin to hear a rather angry voice shouting from the corridor.

??: Where the fuck did this stoner piece of shit go now. I was watching him just a second ago what the actual FUCK.

??: He’s like a fucking ninja clown holy shit I can’t even relax for ONE FUCKING SECOND.

They all know very well who it is. And seeing the door open, he walks inside and finds the Makara there.

KV: THERE YOU ARE, WHY THE FUCK DID YOU SNEAK OUT GAMZEE.

KV: WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU KNOW I’M SUPPOSED TO LOOK AFTER YOUR CIRCUS-THEMED ASS.

KV: Does the stupid thinkpan inside your nugbone still work? What in the fuck am I saying of course it doesn’t. I shouldn’t even be questioning it.

KV: Fuck me. Why do I have to care so much about you. Just. Why.

GM: Thanks, bro. I appreciate you watching my back as I watch yours.

GM: We always have each other’s rears like true soul brothers. :o)

KV: Shut the fuck up. You’re gonna give me a fucking acid tube ulcer if you keep doing shit like this.

Karkat loudly sighs in relief after finding the Makara in the art room.

KV: Is this moronic idiot causing any trouble? Sorry for that in advance.

FP: Nope! We were just talking. Gamzee likes this reef!

GM: It is so… mystical and spiritual yo, like nothing I’ve seen in this alien schoolhive before.

GM: This place ain’t so bad after all.

GM: I feel like I’m bouta open my third lookstubs at any moment here.

GM: I know it. In this place I’ll have a motherfucking epiphany or something. And I want you to be here with me when that happens, bro.

GM: Just you, me, and a life changing experience.

GM: :o)

KV: Thank you so much for the offer, but while I fucking hate myself like you have no fucking idea, I don’t want my abdominal sausages to be rearranged inside out for some twisted phantom of the shriekingblock reenactment. So, another time perhaps.

KV: For now, let’s just cut this idiotic powwow and go back to the lab, they are waiting for us there.

GM: You motherfucker.

GM: No.

KV: …

Out of nowhere, his voice becomes one much more serious, much more aggressive, much more intimidating.

And very, very sober.

GM: …

GM: I just wanna stay here bro, that’s what my heart tells me and what my soul wants. :o(

GM: Honk.

But before Karkat can freak the fuck out about it, Gamzee’s voice returns to normal, as his expression turns back to a chiller one with a wide smile, and his gaze is lost in the ceiling, almost tripping multiple times.

KV: You know what? Fine. You win, Gamzee. Align your chakras or what the fuck ever here, I’m done.

KV: I’ll come back for you later, so don’t even dare to do anything stupid, or I’ll be so fucking mad an unfathomable amount of hatred never seen before in the entire history of the universe will fall upon you to eviscerate every single fabric of your existence. Do you understand me?

GM: Loud and clear, my invertebrother.

GM: Loud and motherfucking clear.

KV: Ok, I’m out. Goodbye everyone, and good luck with him here. I could use the rest anyways.

NL: :33 < …

NL: :33 < We’ll go with you, Karkitty.

FP: Huh? 38?

NL: :33 < I don’t wanna be here anymore.

KV: Sure, whatever, come with me. Just keep your feline puns in your cave because hearing them makes my neurons commit seppuku en masse. And because I care so much about Gamzee and everyone else, it looks like there aren’t a whole lot of them left in the first place.

NL: :33 < Thanks.

Karkat turns around and quickly leaves the room with Nepeta right next to him, and Feferi trailing behind, feeling confused as to why Nepeta felt so startled with Gamzee here. A Makara is left behind in the art room pondering about the motherfucking miracles of the universe, and his purpose in life while in here.

Back in the physics lab, the three students see that Monokuma is explaining to both Rose and a very uninterested Vriska that the big machine smacked in the middle is actually the reason why they’re alive right now; it’s an air purifier. And if it breaks, it’s on them to fix it so they don’t die a horrible suffocating death.

MK: This place is sealed tight! So don’t even think of some weird scenarios like crawling out through a tunnel then out by the sewers or something. This ain’t no sharky-shark redemption.

MK: Thanks to the game you were all supposed to originally play back in the day, I was able to fully enclose you in Hope’s Peak Academy!

MK: There’s only one way out of here, and it’s through the big entrance back in the first floor.

MK: And it’ll only open when this Semester of Killing comes to an end!

VS: So, if I decide to mess with it, we all die right?

MK: In short, yeah.

VS: Nice.

Vriska lets out a small laugh as she looks at the blue dice in her hand. Out of all the rooms in the floor, she had to wind up at the nerdy one? Hell, her bad luck never stops. Not even once.

MK: Okay, that’s enough exposition for today!

MK: Everyone, the class is over. Being a teacher sure is exhausting, even more so when you’re also the headmaster and a mastermind.

MK: But my dear students, tomorrow I’ll talk about a strange love, and the time I learned how to stop worrying a love a big bad bomb!

Monokuma jumps from the hanging platform and casually walks out of the physics lab, practically ignoring the three students outside.

KV: So what’s with the room in the back?

KV: I couldn’t check it before the idiot went A-fucking-WOL.

RL: You didn’t miss much to be honest, just a whole lot of nothing interesting mixed with an intoxicating smell of formaldehyde.

VS: Long story short, if there’s a treasure for us to find, it sure isn’t here.

RL: Pretty much.

KV: Then where the hell could it be?

NL: :33 < We checked the art room, yet we didn’t find meowthing purrspicious there except…

FP: The door on the back wouldn’t open, and there was no key around either, glub.

VS: It’s clear the reward must be somewhere else then. Let’s go and check it out ourselves instead of wasting our time here.

Vriska is the first to walk out of the physics lab, but she isn’t the only one, as everyone else in there follows suit and walks behind her. Despite being fewer students than last time they were exploring a new floor, they’ve still been at this for a while now, so someone must have found something by now, right?

They walk past the art room, but find no one in there.

KV: I guess the idiot has gone somewhere else already.

Not even Karkat stops there, so they all walk back to the rec room, where they are met by John and Terezi arguing.

JE: You wouldn’t be able to smell quality even if it stood right in front of you!

TP: Just by hearing its name I know it’s gonna suck hard.

JE: Granted, the second movie isn’t as good as the first one, but even in that case it isn’t that bad! And I’m sure it’d still kick the ass of any troll movie you’ve ever watched!

TP: I know it won’t.

TP: Because you’re an idiot with idiot tastes. >:]

JE: Uuuugh! But how can you say that when you don’t even want to give the ghostbusters a chance?

TP: Because I have more than enough with the stuff Karkat keeps recommending and sending me.

TP: So much romance it’s frankly sickening.

Karkat instinctively takes a hand to his chest, feeling utterly outraged and offended.

KV: Well, fuck you too Terezi. You told me you liked them.

TP: I did! At first. But you kept them coming over and over and over again! Passively-aggressively commanding me to watch them.

TP: Even a girl like me has a limit on how much romance she can take.

KV: Fucking pardon me then. Sorry for trying to be a half-decent troll just for you because I actually care about you. I won’t bother you with my favorite movies that I hold dear anymore, you rude prick.

TP: Don’t be so dramatic, Karkat.

KV: I am *not* dramatic. I’m just stating fact as they are.

KV: If anything, I’m fairly sure it is *you* who’s blowing stuff out of their natural proportions.

TP: How. And why would I do it? >X?

KV: Because you like to be the bane of my entire existence.

NL: :33 < …

FP: 38/

VS: This is so fucking embarrassing; I can’t believe it.

KM: I’m at an equal disbelief that I’m actually agreeing with you.

RL: Me too. Guess we do have some common ground after all.

VS: Humans, in the name of all trolls here—no, in the name of our entire species, I’m sorry you have to witness this.

KV: Your mere existence is enough to annoy the shit out of me every night of my life.

KV: Every. Single. Fucking. Night.

KV: There’s no one in the entire universe that has the power to ruin my entire life like you do.

TP: You know what? I feel the same way about you, too. I can’t believe how immature you can be sometimes.

KV: Me? But I’m the fucking model of mature stoicism around here. Open a dictionary and you’ll see a picture of me right there.

KV: And also shut your teal mouth, you don’t know how to pronounce that word either. I know that in advance because I know you much better than you could ever hope to do someday.

KV: So, fuck you. Go fuck yourself. And impale yourself in that fuck slowly so you remember my words. And when you do let me know so I can be personally there when it happens.

TP: Aaaargh! You can be so embarrassing and frustrating sometimes. >X[

KV: You’re the embarrassing one discussing outraging topics in front of everyone in this forsaken human academy.

TP: Bluh bluh bluh. >X[

VS: Our species is usually better than this.

KM: Usually.

VS: Yeah.

JE: … Would you like to bounce down to the first floor and watch some human movies with me, Vriska?

VS: Do they suck ass?

JE: I promise they won’t.

VS: Sure. Works for me.

After a while, their movie-fueled argument cools down, and they are finally able to continue the reason everyone is here for. Kanaya and Equius tell the group that they didn’t find anything worth reporting in the classrooms, while John and Terezi say that they didn’t fare any better in the rec room either.

For a moment it seems that they are all out of luck, that the secret the twelve students were hoping for, never was in the third floor to begin with.

But then, she realizes something. They aren’t quite twelve right now.

VS: Waiiiiiiiit a moment.

VS: Kanaya was with Equius in the classrooms; John and Terezi were here the entire time.

VS: Where the fuck is Gamzee????????

KV: I noticed the same thing a while ago. God fucking damn it.

KV: Everyone, go back to your respite blocks or do whatever the hell you want I don’t care, I’ll keep looking for him. That idiot is my responsibility.

The other students go back to the first floor as Karkat stays in the room to check for any secret vents or anything of the sort, while finding nothing in the process; the Makara is somewhere else. He moves over to the classroom to check them by himself, only confirming what Kanaya and Equius had already said before: nothing at all.

KV: Where the fuck did he go now? Unless he’s back at his respite block, I can’t think of a reason why he’d go downstairs.

KV: He said he likes the art block, but…

Before Karkat gets to finish his own sentence, he feels a shiver running down his spine, and he heads to the art room. He nearly runs down the corridor because he has such a bad feeling, and after mere seconds he opens the door and… nothing. No one’s inside.

But that itch isn’t quite scratched just yet.

Karkat walks inside, carefully looking everywhere for a clue that’ll him where his friend is. The statues, the blank canvases, he looks at everything in the room, but that’s when he begins to hear it: A loud banging against the door, over, and over, and over again. But this time it isn’t coming from the door behind him leading to the corridor.

It’s from the locked door at the back of the room.

His heart begins to pound heavy, his muscles tighten, and his breathing becomes faster and faster. There’s something there, there’s something he doesn’t know what it is, but he’s sure as all high hell that it’s on the other side of that door, banging louder and louder against it. Karkat is nervous and tense, even scared, as he approaches the door, grabs its knob, and slowly turns it before a sudden ramming pushes him back hard, abruptly opening the door in the process, and someone falls down to the floor.

It's Gamzee.

GM: Motherfucking doors hard to motherfuckin’—

KV: HOLY FUCK WHY THE FUCK DO YOU HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS.

KV: FUCK THIS FUCK ME FUCK YOU.

Karkat got scared to hell and back and then some more when he saw a tall figure fall to the ground, only to get even more confused and angrier than scared when he realized who the figure is.

GM: Sorry bro, I didn’t mean to rustle your jimmies. :o(

Karkat inhales, then exhales to calm down.

KV: What the fuck were you doing in there?

KV: No, how the fuck did you get *in* there in the first place. Shit was locked as far as literally everyone knew?

GM: I was just pondering some deep shit, and an orb I think, then out of nowhere I felt asleep.

GM: And woke up in that block somehow. :o?

KV: I won’t even try to make sense out of that. You’re alive, and everyone else is too, that’s all that matters so let’s get just go back and make like this never happened.

GM: Wait a moment dawg. I’ve got something else to say too.

KV: ??????

GM: I found something in there.

Karkat, as soon as he hears those words and sees what he’s talking about, takes him downstairs and calls everyone he runs across over to the dining hall.

VS: What’s the fuss about????????

VS: I was going out for a walk when I saw everyone rush in here.

NL: :33 < Karkitty found something furry interesting in the locked room!

GM: But I was the one who did it, my feline sister…

NL: :33 < So he called everyone here to share his findings!

GM: :o(

They all sit around a large table to look at it. It’s a quite big green scrapbook with bloodstains of twelve different colors decorating it. And in the middle of the cover there is a title made up of white words:

“==> A host, most excellent.”

The twelve students read it, though it quickly becomes apparent that this new clue isn’t meant for the humans, but for the trolls instead. It talks about, through both text and twisted imagery, how the world they thought they knew and called home was extensively and constantly manipulated and controlled by a god-like entity. Fully loaded satellites not in the skies, but beneath the ground, conquering their minds and terraforming reality itself.

All their actions, all their choices, their own free will, it was all planned and thought in advance to perfectly fit in an almost perfectly planned grand scheme of things.

A grand scheme made by someone who they might have known in the past, someone by the name of Doc Scratch.

It was a violent end, designed for a violent delight.

“How would you feel if your entire reason to exist was to be nothing but just a pawn in a grandiose game of chess?”

“What if all the pain, all the death, all the despair you ever endured and felt, it was all meant to amount to something so great you can’t even begin to imagine?”

“Something so far beyond your own comprehension you cannot hope to grasp nor fathom its goals?”

“What is this thing, you ask? Well, if you’re reading this, it’s not like it even matters now! But that’s all for the time being.”

“If you want to keep reading, learning more about your own reason to exist and the fate of your worlds, please keep playing this game and advancing through this very special Semester of Killing!”

KV: …

KV: Excuse me, but.

KV: WHAT THE FUCK.

EZ: D --> What is this utter malarkey.

FP: I don’t like the glubbing sound of this. Who’s Monokuma to say something like this?

FP: There’s already a god in our planet, and she’s Gl'bgolyb! It’s impossible that there’s someone over her!

VS: I knew I should have kept my distance with that stupid creep.

VS: Why… just why.

VS: What kind of monster would push a girl this hard?!

TP: …

Terezi, she… she feels played and used right now. Her entire life she’s put so much effort into logically thinking the implications of every action, the consequences of every decision, the branching of every choice. She spent her entire life analyzing and deducing where their flow of free will would take them.

But not about where that stream of consciousness came from in the first place. Or, at least, she didn’t do so enough. If she did, she’s sure she’d have realized this entire thing much, much earlier.

Well, that’s if, and only if, what Monokuma’s saying is true. But, as much as she dislikes it, as much as she hates it, it makes sense.

An awful lot of it.

RL: Well, I suppose what you guys said last time still applies.

RL: It’s your choice, and yours alone, to believe if what’s in here is true.

VS: Of course it fucking is! Now it all makes sense. All the…

VS: All the things I had to endure and survive, for the sadistic pleasure of someone else with megalomaniacal issues.

VS: My lusus, this white-text douchebag… now it all clicks together. Against my will, I was being prepared for something big.

VS: Something I won’t even get to see anyways because I’m trapped here instead.

VS: I swear I’m going to kill everyone who stands in my way, starting with whoever’s behind this game.

VS: I’m done playing by someone else’s rules.

AM: It’s almost like we have delusions of grandeur in our own DNA.

AM: We want to believe that our choices are our own, that our actions are born out of our own free will. We want to believe so hard, no matter what the cost, that we even avoid questioning ourselves if that’s not the case.

AM: Which makes us, and virtually everyone, very reliable puppets for the powers that be.

AM: Yet, it is the hubris of the gods what sets them up for an ultimate failure, just like us.

AM: That they are too intelligent, too powerful and too big to fail. They are so sure of it, that they don’t even think if that’s not the case.

AM: The same delusions of grandeur, this time in their DNA.

JE: …

JE: All this deep talk is making my head spin, to be honest.

JE: Does all this mean what’s in the scrapbook is true?

TP: It’s a likely possibility.

KM: We can’t say for sure, but…

EZ: D --> The mere possibility these claims are true, make this an outcome we must not ignore.

KM: That’s the case, I’m afraid.

JE: B-but if it’s really true, then that means…

JE: That The Tragedy is also true?

RL: I know it’s an unpleasant scenario, but if one reward is truthful, then I can’t see why the other wouldn’t.

JE: The that means that my dad, your mom, everyone is…

John looks down at the table, with a visible desperation in his face. His hands grip the table hard.

RL: Don’t give in to despair, John. That’s exactly what Monokuma wants. Besides, we don’t know the real outcome just yet.

JE: You… you’re right. If I had that kind of thoughts and got sad.

JE: Jade would be angry with me, and Dave would ironically whip me into optimism.

JE: They wouldn’t want me to be down in a hole.

JE: I’ll hope everything will be okay, no matter how much the mastermind wants me to think otherwise. I’ll reject whatever they want me to believe!

RL: And there it goes again, your optimism through skepticism. I wish I had that trait.

John sighs. This is extremely hard, and will likely get even worse, but as long as he has rose and the trolls by his side, and the memories of Dave and Jade too, he will never give up hope no matter what. If things get down to it, the Ultimate Prankster will just psych at death and despair.

NL: :33 < I have a question.

NL: :33 < We explored the third floor and found the secret treasure.

NL: :33 < But now that we have done what we’re supposed to…

NL: :33 < I can’t help but think about how long will it take for a new motive to be introduced.

The entire dining hall falls silent and cold in a split second. Everyone had forgotten that, should a murder not occur, they will be motivated to do it.

NL: :(( < S-sorry! I didn’t want to ruin the mod furr everyone!

NL: :(( < I just ruined everything, didn’t I.

KV: No, Nepeta, you’re absolutely right. We can’t let something like that take us by surprise again. We have to prepare for everything. Thank you for not letting us forget the bigger picture, so don’t worry.

KV: Fuck, even I forgot about it. *Thank you*, I mean it.

NL: :33 < :DD!

EZ: D --> Taking into account what happened last time, I estimate that we have around half a week before it comes into play.

EZ: D --> He said we have an extended respite time, but I severely doubt he wants us to get completely comfortable in here, making any and all future murders much harder to take place.

EZ: D --> So three to four days is an appropriate educated guess.

GM: So we have only that before ‘Kuma sings us his heretic anthem yet again.

GM: Dang. That’s whack bro, I don’t like it one bit.

FP: The more time that passes, the less I like that stupid idiot clownfish!

Feferi seems genuinely upset, with a fuchsia blush in her cheeks.

FP: At first I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt because I thought they could be a friend full of fun, but I just can’t do it anemonemore!

KV: Your heiress, I’m pretty *glubbing* sure we were never supposed to befriend Monokuma. You don’t go making friends with the people who literally kidnaps you to force you to kill everyone you know.

KV: What kind of Stockholm syndrome type-shit is that.

FP: Glub! It’s just that I think everyone deserves at least one chance at redemption!

FP: But we are now long past that phase. 38/

KV: With all due respect, that idea was dumb as shit from the start.

KV: Whoever’s behind this entire thing is just an irredeemable psychotic fuck.

KV: Four dead friends of ours should be all the proof you need.

FP: Glub… 38(

KM: It is been a long day, and after reading the scrapbook I’m sure we are all tired.

KM: Let’s just call it a day, it’s for the best.

TP: I need it, honestly.

KM: Me too. And considering what hour it is, it’s pretty late already, so we might as well rest for now.

KM: And Aradia, make sure to rest too.

KM: I will take care of Sollux for tonight as he keeps working. He’s my friend too.

KM: Do you need anything Gamzee?

GM: Nah sis, don’t worry. Kar’s got my rear covered.

GM: He knows how to whip his cream better than anyone else. :o)

GM: Honk.

KV: Have I ever told you how much I despise you?

RL: Okay, I guess that’s all for today then. We’ll have some days to rest, let’s make the most out of it for our sakes.

One by one, the eleven students leave the dining hall and head back to their rooms. They are right, it’s been a long day for them, but to say that things will be easier for them from now on… it’s just to be wrong; they won’t. Three to four days of just holding on in the edge, then they’ll fall right off a cliff that will take them to the cold embrace of despair.

Trading time and lives for a way out of here is not a strategy that will work forever; they may have all the time they want, but their numbers are slowly dwindling, one by one, death by death. But for now, it’s all they have to find an escape, to end this killing game.

For now.

Despite them returning to their rooms, this day isn’t over just yet. In one of them, there is a goldblood working tirelessly to create, with nothing but his own knowledge and a piece of alien hardware, the ultimate weapon to fight against the headmaster of Hope’s Peak Academy, and the mastermind of this demented game. But when there’s only one shot at it, one shot that’s all that stands between hope and despair, the Ultimate Hacker wants to make sure these are the best pieces of code anyone has ever done.

All hail the king.

KM: How is your project going?

SC: It’s going fine, but this shit takes time, and I can’t talk about it, sorry Kan.

He tilts his head in direction of the surveillance camera.

SC: Guess that Megi’s sick of my shit already if you’re here. Can’t blame her, I can be an idiot and a half sometimes. Stupid fucking mood swings that make everything difficult.

KM: She’s fine, and she’s not mad with you. I just chose to come here because I wanted to personally check on you. After all, we’ve been friends since we were grubs.

SC: You know how people like to talk about making their magnum opus some day?

KM: Yes.

SC: Well, I think that’s a stupid idea that promotes mediocrity. It’s accepting you’ll never be better so why try to improve if you have already peaked. If I do something big, I want to fucking OWN IT. And next time I’ll aim even higher.

SC: But… starting this thing has put things into perspective for me.

SC: I know technology isn’t your specialty, so I’ll keep it simple.

SC: I’ve done a lot of shit in the past. Sometimes for a good cause, sometimes just because I felt like it.

SC: But this… I’ve never done something like this before.

SC: Thinking you can hack the Imperial Drones to own the system in Alternia is just a delusional death wish for stupid script grubbiez.

SC: …

SC: But that’s hardly any better than what I’m cooking right now. If I fail I’m 100% gonna get culled, and an awful ton of shit can go wrong with this.

SC: But we’ve lost so much, and our backs are against the wall so hard that I still want to do this. For Megi, for you, me, everyone. I’ll do my best to finish the most daredevil project I’ve ever done.

KM: That is simply delightful to hear, that your spirit is so high.

KM: I know that if there’s someone capable of this, it’s you.

KM: But take care of yourself while doing this. You don’t need me to remember the countless times you didn’t sleep or eat from how focused you can get while working.

SC: I promise that won’t happen, because I know you’ve got my back.

KM: I do, Solluxander, I do.

After a few minutes, Kanaya is done cleaning the room and she departs for her own, leaving behind a Sollux who’s heating up a soldering iron and disarming the human laptop while writing some lines of code in a piece of paper to remember how human architecture works. It’s been a little over twenty-four hours since the last class trial came to a close, and the human got executed on stage, yet the twelve students are already planning their next move in advance, and even preemptively acting to not let the future motive break them into despair again.

Whether they succeed or not, that’s an entirely different beast.

They will have to wait and see.

Chapter Text

Ding dong, bing bong.

“Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! As such, I want to remind you that if a murder does not occur within the next few days, a motive will be introduced to give you a lil’ push in the right direction.”

“So whaddya say about giving it a twist to spice things up? I’m sure you agree!”

“For this motive only, I won’t reveal its details until the moment it comes into effect.”

“That’s right! For the sake of keeping you in your toes, I won’t spoil what the motive is for now. No need to thank me, nobody likes someone who gives spoilers. Nobody!”

“I hope you find this special perk heart-pounding and positively thrilling!”

“The desperation, the anxiety and dread about what could it possibly be, about the horrors and despair it could unleash, they all make this oh-so much better.”

“Well, that’s all for now, so… time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!”

And with that Monokuma’s gone, the screens in every room fade to black after he reminds the students that it doesn’t matter if he’s letting them rest and recover for now, they are never truly free from despair in Hope’s Peak Academy.

Sooner or later, they all wake up, and after a while the twelve students make their way to the dining hall. Everyone, including Sollux following her request and not wanting to make her upset. He knows that an upset Kanaya is a very dangerous foe.

VS: So how are you, John? Kicking ass or getting your ass kicked?

JE: Fine, actually. Making sure every day it’s the first, not the latter.

JE: We both are gonna get through this, I swear!

VS: Good, that’s what I like to hear.

VS: If you want to survive, never bend the knee; not to me, not to anyone.

FP: Hey Sollux! How’s your thingy going? I’m already excited to hear your progress, glub!

SC: An empire isn’t built in a day, and it isn’t destroyed in one either.

SC: That’s all I can say.

SC: Please, everyone, stop asking me about what I’m doing. I’ll let you know when it’s done.

FP: Oh, shore! Then maybe we can talk about something else…

FP: … Something like your own feelings, you little nerdy fish!

SC: …

SC: It was a fucking mistake to come here. Fuck me.

FP: Hehehehehe. 38)

Breakfast goes uneventfully, something the twelve students have learned to appreciate in here. Not too long after, they disperse across the academy as the clock begins to tick down in the face of what will happen in just a few days from now on.

The killing game never stops here in Hope’s Peak, but that won’t stop them from trying to live their own lives in the meantime.

What will they do today?

Free Time

Up in the second floor Equius runs laps around the pool; he decided to go there after eating a plentiful vegetable-based breakfast, which he complemented with a human protein mix he found in the supply room. After a hundred and fifty laps, he feels he’s warmed-up enough to begin exercising. He wishes he had at least an omnicscuttlebuggy tire around to use, but he has to make do with what little specialized training equipment there is in here. He sits down next to the door and does five sets of seventy-five sit-ups in sixty seconds separated by a one-minute break, then he turns around and faces down to do a few sets of push-ups, but before he can begin someone walks into this second gym; It’s Feferi.

They have seen each other quite frequently since they arrived, as both of them like to use this place to exercise, be it either on land or underwater.

FP: Glub! Hi Equius!

EZ: D --> Greetings, your highness— Excuse me, Feferi.

EZ: D --> Pardon me for my mistake, but it’s hard to get used to this change of protocol. Still, I am utterly honored that you allow me to call you by your own name.

FP: Don’t sweat it, lil’ horsefish!

FP: I really prefer it this way.

FP: Are you here for your morning exercises?

EZ: D --> Yes, but I also have one other reason.

FP: Glub?

EZ: D --> It seems inevitable that we will have to face conflict in the near future, yet again.

EZ: D --> Monokuma won’t leave us alone for as long as we remain trapped here.

EZ: D --> So it is my duty to be fully prepared to protect Nepeta… and of course you.

Feferi’s eyes open wide as she softly blushes, it took her a bit by surprise.

EZ: D --> But without my robots to fight until destruction, and without Aurthour’s milk either, I’ve been getting weaker over time.

EZ: D --> So I decided to harden my workout routine, adding new elements and sets.

FP: That sounds very interesting! And you know you can ask me to exercise with you anytime you want! Underwater exercises may be the coral of my workout routine, but I still can hold my own on land.

FP: And I’d love to do it with you here. 38)

EZ: D --> If that’s the case, I…. I have a request.

FP: Hit me with your best harpoon!

EZ: D --> I want you to… sit on me.

Feferi almost chokes on her own saliva and loudly coughs for a few seconds because of it. She was not expecting that. Equius in the meantime adjusts his glasses while down on the floor.

FP: Excuse me, what?

She asks both flustered and blushing. Did she hear that right? Did he request that?

EZ: D --> If I don’t want to get any weaker, I must push myself to my limits.

EZ: D --> So you sitting on me as I do push-ups would be of great help.

EZ: D --> You would do me a great favor.

FP: Oh… so you’re talking about that, glub.

She sounds both relieved… and somehow a bit frustrated, too.

EZ: D --> Indeed. Did you have any other interesting workout ideas in mind, Feferi?

FP: N-nothing. Nothing at all.

Feferi averts her gaze.

EZ: D --> I would be grateful if you did, and I promise to help you in any way I can.

Equius stretches his arms and then does a single push up, ready to receive her. And after a few moments of hesitating, and trying not to think about that, Feferi carefully sits on his back, and he promptly begins the next part of his workout routine. For the next few minutes, he keeps doing push-ups as they casually talk with each other. Feferi doesn’t know how to feel about this just yet, but she guesses she’s okay with it as long as they do it here alone for now.

And everything goes well for them. Well, that is until a certain someone walks in.

EZ: D --> Thank you for sitting on me, I needed to do this. It’s been too long since the last time.

FP: Don’t worry, it actually feels pretty fine once you get used to moving up and down!

EZ: D --> It feels liberating to finally do it like this.

FP: Glub!

NL: :33 < …

FP: Gl—

FP: …

EZ: D --> …

NL: :33 < …

FP: …

EZ: D --> …

NL: :33 < ... Do I give you guys some space or someowthing?

FP: N-No! T-This isn’t what it looks like!

EZ: D --> Hello, Nepeta. The heiress sat on me for the last fifteen minutes after I asked her to, so now I’m obliged to do whatever she wants.

FP: Oh my cod Equius you are NOT helping.

Equius may be good at a lot of things like robotry and bodybuilding, but saying the right things at the right time… is not one of them. Feferi steps off him extremely embarrased; not even all the water in the pool could cool her burning and blushing face down.

But in the end, these two moirails know and understand each other better than anyone else here can.

NL: :33 < Ohhh I get it! You’re trying to get stronger, so you asked her for help!

EZ: D --> Exactly.

EZ: D --> Not only that, but I’m sure she could be a great sparring partner thanks to her beautiful blood color. Fuchsia is simply… perfect.

EZ: D --> It’s for a good reason that we are all below her. It’s where we belong.

FP: Hey! I’ve said it countless times that I don’t care about that stuff! 38(

FP: And honestly I find it very dumb that people care about it!

EZ: D --> But your majesty, I am just stating a fact.

FP: No you are not, Equius!

FP: And I’m sick of hearing you talk like my blood color is everything I am! Or whatever the glub my position in the hemospectrum is!

EZ: D --> … It is my duty to know in precise detail how our bodies work and the unique characteristics of each one of us in order to prepare the most efficient workout routines and diets.

EZ: D --> I aspire to be an Archeradicator once I complete the trials and rites of passage back in Alternia, so this type knowledge is implicitly mandatory for me.

EZ: D --> And your body, Feferi, has the unique characteristic of possessing fuchsia blood.

EZ: D --> It allows you to have some of the finest physical traits our whole species has to offer. From superb physical strength to a borderline tireless endurance, you are the apex of our species, anatomy and physiology-wise.

EZ: D --> That, complemented with rigorous training and a balanced diet rich in both calories for the increased physical activity and proteins for the muscles, I’m sure it’d would make you one of the most formidable warriors in the entire galaxy.

EZ: D --> If you did that, even the Condesce herself would sweat cold at the thought of having to face you, following the sacred tradition of dueling the heiress to the death.

EZ: D --> It’s essential to know ourselves, both the good and bad, in order to realize our own potential, so I do not think it’s dumb to have this kind of knowledge, your majesty.

As soon as Equius finishes speaking, with a rather confident tone of voice, he realizes what unholy unforgivable thing he just did: He disagreed with the heiress herself, right in front of her, right after she helped him. Panic sets in his mind, his entire body tightens, his breathing and heartbeat become lightning fast as his fingers grip the concrete floor so hard he could almost break it. But just as he thinks he deserves to be culled for his insubordination, he hears her sigh in resignation.

FP: Glub…

EZ: D --> P-please, y-your majesty, forgive me—

FP: No, you’re right. I shouldn’t have said that.

FP: I’m just tired of people getting hurt because of their blood color, and me being supposed to perpetuate this cycle of endless violence and death.

FP: But that doesn’t excuse me the awful things I just said.

FP: I shouldn’t think I know better than you just because I see things differently as the heiress.

FP: After all, isn’t that becoming what I don’t want to be?

FP: If I think I inherently know better than others, that just makes me as horrible as the Condesce herself.

FP: I… I’m sorry, Equius, I really am. 38(

She looks very disheartened down at the floor.

EZ: D --> P-please, your—

Equius stops for a second to correct himself as he shakes his head for a split second. Nepeta, knowing what’s going on in his mind, can’t help but instinctively smile.

EZ: D --> Feferi, do not ask me for forgiveness. I know you want to implement some… rather radical and unorthodox ideas, but they are born out of your desire to take care of your future subjects. You'll be a magnificent ruler.

EZ: D --> I trust your judgement, and I’ll always be by your side.

EZ: D --> Not only because I’m your loyal subject, but also because I’m… your friend.

The Ultimate Bodybuilder seems particularly tense when speaking out those last few words, yet simply hearing them makes Feferi feel so happy again. Her gills flap back and forth as a wide smile forms in her lips and she instinctively glubs nonstop. Hearing him say that makes her feel much better after feeling like she was an awful patronizing friend to him. She’s been out alone in the ocean for far too long so she doesn't know how to do everything perfectly all of the time, yet now she’s surrounded by the people she trusts with her life, and who trust her just as much in return.

And that feels very, very good for her.

NL: :33 < Yeah! I’ll always be here furr you too, Fef!

FP: Glub! Glub glub glub glub!

FP: Then let’s continue exercising!

EZ: D --> If so, since I’m almost done, I want to help both of you with your workout.

EZ: D --> But first…

EZ: D --> I have one more request.

NL: :33 < Hm???

FP: Huh? 380?

EZ: D --> I want both of you to step on me.

…

Well, it’s fair to say that some things don’t change.

They spend the next few hours together in this secondary gym (or primary, depending on how much time you spend underwater), but this is just one of the ways in which the twelve students of this academy spend their time in here, sometimes even getting close to forgetting they are in a killing game in the first place.

One student that has intentionally kept in mind this Semester of Killing, and its almost overwhelming despair, is a goldblood who tirelessly works in his room. Normally just a single night of coding until the sun comes up (or goes down, if back in Alternia) would be enough time to have a working proof-of-concept about the daemons he’d unleash when he opens the gates of an electronic hell. But because this is alien architecture with zero tools to understand it other than his own knowledge, and that the mastermind of this game is almost one hundred percent aware of his plans already— and they must be almost as good as him in this field to create this entire thing in the first place— Sollux is taking his time making sure this borderline suicide mission isn’t doomed to fail from the start; he just can’t allow that to happen for him, for his friends.

He spent the first two nights removing all spyware and ad-hoc hardware from the laptop. The Ultimate Hacker knew from the start Monokuma wouldn’t just give him a platform to work with and wreak havoc without any ulterior motives. A lifetime of risks and dangers back in his home planet has made him cynic enough to be wary all the time, that’s why he’s still alive, while others die before they can use a single Raspberry Pi. But now he’s done with that phase, he’s finally ready to start his code, to start creating the tools that will take them out of Hope’s Peak. And it all begins with a very basic, yet vital set of lines at the top of the screen:

#include<stdio.h>

#include<stdlib.h>

Chapter Text

Ding dong, bing bong.

“Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!”

The third day of their respite time begins just like the last one, with an announcement from Monokuma reminding them all that in this academy —and this killing game too— despair will always reign supreme, no matter how much they try to fight. Knowing they aren’t in any real hurry, some of the students take their time in long refreshing baths to relax their bodies and soothe their minds, or simply stay in their rooms for longer than usual.

This means that both the kitchen and the dining hall itself are emptier than usual, creating an atmosphere that’s quite comfortable for the students who enjoy more the privacy and silence of not being surrounded by a multitude of other people.

AM: What are you doing?

KM: Since we first arrived we have been more or less just improvising our meals with these earthly ingredients.

KM: I don’t know if it was an oversight from the mastermind or not, but no one told us how to properly use them.

RL: For rather obvious reasons, none of us are experts in alien cuisine.

RL: In other words, I’m teaching her how to cook earthly meals.

KM: In exchange, when we get out, I’ll teach her about Alternian cuisine, though I’ve remarked that it’s far less glamorous than this.

RL: Still, it’s a sacrifice I’m more than willing to make in the name of… an interspecies cultural exchange.

Rose giggles for a moment.

AM: … Can I help with anything? 0u0

KM: I don’t think that—

RL: In fact, yes, there is something you can do. Please, take three salmons and cut them into medallions.

RL: Giving you a taste of what Earth has to offer takes both time and a shameless number of ingredients, so all hands are welcomed.

AM: Understood! I’ll tear the bones away from their delicious nutritive corpses then.

AM: Can I keep some of their bones? I’d like to collect the skulls of alien beings, they are very interesting when compared to the skeletal remains of wildlife I find in archeological sites.

RL: Sure, I doubt anyone else is interested in them anyways.

AM: Thanks! 0u0

Rose stops for a few seconds, staring at the pans she’s using to cook some vegetables before letting out a melancholic sigh.

RL: My mother… she may have frequently drunk more alcohol in a day than I’ll do in my entire life, but she always knew how to prepare a delightful meal, and she was always willing to teach me her secrets.

RL: I hope that wherever she is right now, and wherever we are right now, she’s alright. Or just alive, at the very least.

RL: Given the circumstances, I think that’s one of the few things left I can hope for.

Rose looks down to the side with a sad smile in her face before continuing cooking. Kanaya feels a small heartache when she sees the Ultimate Occultist like that, and instinctively reacts by stepping forth to put herself right next to the human girl, side by side.

KM: Rose, I swear I’ll get both of us out of here, and together we will search for your human guardian. I know it may sound repetitive by now, but I don’t want you to forget that you are not alone.

KM: If you ever need anything, I will always be here for you, ready to do my best to help in any way I can.

Kanaya would never have that, she would never allow the circumstances to bring Rose’s spirit down, and make her feel the despair of longing for home while trapped in here. She’s very patient and resilient, but when ultimately needed, she will always act first, consequences be damned, and even more so when it’s about this human she’s gotten to know so closely.

Eventually, all twelve students eat their breakfasts in the dining hall (or his own room, in the case of Sollux), and begin their new day here in Hope’s Peak. The new motive is creeping closer and closer, but for the briefest of moments, it also feels like it is far, far away.

What will they do today?

Free Time

After they finished eating breakfast, Rose parted ways with the two girls, heading off to the library to continue reading about the occult alone as the Outer Gods would demand, or maybe because she also likes reading on her own from time to time. After taking care of her creatures (With Equius’s help, who carried the bags of food over to her room), Kanaya doesn’t really have any plans for the day, so she’s pondering between attending the others, or sending all to hell and take this day for herself. She’s convinced of the latter option when she runs into someone she talked to not too long ago.

AM: Do you want to come with me to the rec room? I want to learn more about what humans do to entertain themselves.

AM: I find it curious that despite being captured supposedly by a human, and being trapped in this human academic facility ever since alongside some of them, we don’t really know a lot about humanity!

AM: Well, beyond what’s on the av room’s movies and the books in the library anyways. But I have the slight suspicion that those things called ‘vampires’ playing a sport called ‘baseball’ during a thunderstorm isn’t a faithful depiction of ordinary human life.

AM: Though they’d be very interesting if I’m wrong. 0u0

KM: You’re right. I can’t hope to… never mind, I’ll go with you.

KM: I want to learn about human customs and their culture too.

Together they head to the rec room, which is fortunately empty and available for them to use. Inside they first check the magazines, and find that one of them has some things written on the cover.

“You lied to me; I’ll kick your ass as soon as I smell you again. >:[“

How curious.

KM: I have a question, Aradia. Well, it’s more like I’m wondering about something.

AM: What is it?

KM: There’s magazines about quite a lot of topics.

KM: Of course, we can learn about humanity as a whole with these magazines, but…

KM: Do you think the humans, Rose and John, actually like the topics covered in them?

Kanaya seems unusually restive, and invested in getting an answer; Aradia is oblivious.

AM: I think that…  yeah. Sure, they won’t be interested in every single thing in them, but I’m sure Monokuma used them as a baseline as to what magazines put in here, considering there aren’t any trolls ones.

AM: And Dave and Jade too, for that matter.

So she could really like…

A small but enthusiastic smile appears in Kanaya’s face.

AM: I wonder if they could ever teach us how to play these games. Life here can get pretty samey after a while.

KM: That would be splendid, to spend some time together playing.

AM: Well, if we can successfully stand our ground against the powers that be, then pretty soon we’ll be able to escape this place, so I’m looking forward to that.

AM: To when this whole place, this whole game, falls apart and is razed to the ground.

Aradia smiles wide with her eyes fully open, ever so slightly unsettling Kanaya.

AM: Then we'll have all the time to play human games with them. 0u0

KM: I’m looking forward to that too, but I must admit that it’s pretty ironic.

KM: We want to escape this killing game… and return to lives no less dangerous.

KM: I think you know far too well how deadly Alternia can be, yet it's the only place waiting for us on the other side of these walls.

AM: But it doesn’t have to be like that. Or at least not necessarily.

KM: What do you mean?

AM: Well, if we ever beat or escape this game, I’m sure that by design we are supposed to return to our respective planets, But by that point there is nothing that can stop us from doing otherwise, from sticking it up to whoever’s behind this and fate itself by forging our own path with a new choice of our own.

AM: In other words, nothing’s gonna stop us from just following the humans to Earth, or them following us back to Alternia. If this game abides by its rules, then there’s nothing forbidding us from doing that.

KM: So you’re saying we could live with them after this?

AM: Yep. 0u0

KM: That seems… interesting.

Kanaya’s eyes immediately light up, she seems genuinely delighted by that idea.

AM: Do you have anything in mind?

KM: Oh, nothing. Nothing at all.

The Ultimate Caregiver is quick to avert her gaze, with a soft shade of jade in her face as she tries to change the conversation’s topic.

KM: So what has got your attention in this place?

For the rest of the afternoon, they keep learning about human culture, about how they entertain themselves, and even what John and Rose could like from all this. Of course, they do this without ever asking them about it.

At the same time, but down on the first floor, Karkat is aimlessly walking around the academy. He's bored out of his mind right now, but there's hardly anything he can do about it. Both Sollux and Gamzee are minding their business, so of course he won’t go to them like a meddlesome jerk. But his boredom is cut short when he's walking down the corridors, and right next to him a door opens, the door leading to the school shop.

And it is none other than her. He sighs resigned, slows down his walking speed, and she joins him.

TP: Heeeey KK. >:]

KV: Oh hey, I wasn't expecting to see you here. It tends to be the Serket who gambles the MonoCoins away in the machine like a lunatic.

KV: Don't tell me you have a gambling problem too. We all have our nutrition plateaus more than full with one luck-based idiot, we don't need the whole scourge package in them.

TP: Very funny, Karkat. But I was doing actually something different!

KV: Oh, and that is?

TP: I got you a present!

KV: ...

KV: What?

Karkat stops right in his tracks dumbfounded, absolutely bewildered, utterly flabbergasted. Is she joking? She must be messing with him, right? this is all just a prank and he's falling right into it so she can laugh at him. Who in all hells would pity him enough for his pathetic existence so that they gift him something? Is she going crazy?

Is he going crazy? How can he not go crazy in a place like this?

TP: I got some stuff in the machine I thought you'd like.

KV: I-I, w-w-w-w—

Terezi manages to break him for a few moments, as he struggles to even speak, let alone be able to convey his surprise… and gratitude.

He'd never openly admit it, but being cared about like this means a lot to the boy who always cares about everyone else, no matter how much of an endless insufferable pain in the ass his friends may be.

TP: The machine doesn't have a lot, so don't expect much. >X[

TP: But here, take this!

Terezi hands him a few small trinkets and gifts. From a Hope's Peak Ring to a Scalemate costume, Karkat doesn't even know what to do with them other than to save them with great care. These gifts may not be much for some, but this simple gesture means the world to him, though of course he'd reject such ridiculous and frivolous claims.

KV: I-I... fuck, I don't even know what to say.

KV: Shit, thanks, Terezi. Feels like fucking wriggling day came early.

TP: Don't worry KK, it's no big deal. Got these things, wanted to gift them to you, voilà.

KV: It's not that.

TP: ... Or perhaps you want to make something big out of this? >;]

KV: F-Fuck off. You just took me by surprise.

TP: Oh my, Karkat, I must keep my guard up or you'll take advantage of me and my non-mischievous generosity!

TP: You may not bite, but you sure have a lot of bite.

TP: Note taken. >;]

KV: I have no idea how you manage so easily to make me hate you so much.

KV: But I do, so fuck you. And thanks again.

Karkat looks away flustered, and Terezi can't help but giggle a bit.

TP: >:O

TP: I just remembered something.

TP: Wait right here!

Terezi rushes back into the school shop, and comes back after a few seconds.

TP: I forgot something in there.

TP: Something that I'm now gonna give to you. >:]

Terezi grabs... something from her pocket, and hands it to Karkat. For a few moments, both of them struggle to identify what it even is in the first place. It is a hard, reddish wooden shell with a brown topping. It takes them a while to realize is a huge alien nut. But not any normal huge alien nut.

It is a revelation neither of them is prepared for.

A man’s nut.

V: Excuse me, Terezi, but.

KV: WHAT IN THE EVERHATING FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THIS.

TP: I don't know, eat it? >:?

TP: Tell me how it tastes. And if you die a horrible and painful death then I'll have learned not to eat it!

KV: Why the FUCK would I eat a fucking ALIEN NUT for no reason WHATSOEVER AT ALL.

KV: I thank you very much for all the gifts you gave me and keeping me in your mind, I appreciate that dearly Terezi.

KV: But you can go FUCK YOURSELF IN THE ASS if you think I'm gonna put that thing in my mouth.

KV: I'd rather starve to death than having the disgrace of getting whatever this vomitive thing is ANYWHERE NEAR my lips.

KV: I don't know what I was expecting when you told me to wait for something else but it was definitely something far less repulsive and offensive to gift, you teal dumbass.

TP: Awwww!

TP: You wanted me to get you something all nice and special, don't you? You're so cute getting your hopes all high up in the sky with me.

TP: You wouldn’t expect that from Vriska or Equius, so I know I’m special to you!

TP: Winky wink, Karkat. >;]

KV: ...

KV: You know what? Fuck this stupid nut and fuck you a thousand times.

KV: I'm done with this. I'm out.

TP: Right behind ya. >:]

KV: I swear Terezi for the love of fuck, if you follow me I'll tear you in half and I'll enjoy doing so like you have no idea.

TP: Oooooh, I'd love to see that happening. >;]

Karkat heads back to the dorm rooms, with Terezi following him close behind. Despite what he said, he makes no efforts at all to shoo her away, and instead secretly enjoys her derisive company, even if she asks him to reveal his ultimate talent, and what he hides underneath all that grayness of his. But unlike the last couple times, now he answers differently, he says that he'll do so soon enough, he just needs more time to feel comfortable speaking about it, to feel comfortable about saying something he has never told anyone else before about himself. For his entire life he has been very secretive about his own nature, for fear of being culled just because of who he is, so being asked to be open about it, even if for the one he trusts the most, it's something very hard to do.

But after all this time and all she’s done… this is the least he can do for her.

Still, it's nice for Karkat to have her around. She makes this entire thing, the killing game, being trapped in Hope's Peak, the existential dread of life itself and the prospect of a grim future whether he lives or dies, a little bit more tolerable.

Just a little bit.

And deep inside, he wouldn't have it any other way. Well, maybe one other way, but that secret will remain tightly locked inside him for now.

...

Locked inside... that's one way to look at a few things right now. The secret of his blood color; The students trapped in this Killing Game; the Ultimate Hacker who has decided to, for most of the time, lock himself in his room to focus solely on creating the tools that will take everyone out of Hope's Peak.

And it all began with a non-functioning laptop, and a very basic text editor. Give him those two things, and he will wage an interplanetary informatic war.

He brainstormed for a long while about how to proceed with this. He only has one shot before the mastermind reinforces whatever defense measures they have in place, and he's going to do this pretty much blindly, without any real information about how they are protecting all their data, so he had to create a plan both surgical and rugged, capable of quickly bringing the code running this entire game to a halt, while also being able to adapt if things go sideways, as they always do. When he checked the computers in the AV Room many nights ago, he realized this entire place is in an isolated system. No data goes in, or out of this place; they can't reach the outside, the outside can't reach them. But that doesn't mean this place is completely, one hundred percent uncommunicated. The surveillance cameras' video feed must go somewhere, and Monokuma must get it from that same place. And the key to reach that data stream may just be with the host that has brought them so much death and despair: Monokuma himself. Whatever this place is, real or not, on Earth or somewhere else, it has to be in one way or another related to the software they ran in their computers in what feels like an eternity now; in other words, this Killing Game must be at the very least partially a piece of code, a piece of software running in 1s and 0s.

Of course, if it runs on code, then that code can be intercepted, modified, and owned. And who is better suited for that task other than the Ultimate Hacker himself?

The feed from the cameras goes somewhere, that somewhere processes it in a central processing unit, and the updated data is then sent back in for Monokuma. There's an awful lot Sollux Captor just can't know if he doesn't test the waters, but if he does he risks the mastermind taking away his only real weapon, the only hope to stop the game right here, right now. That is to say that he's stepping into the abyss, with no real promise he'll make it back; if he's right, he'll set everyone free, if not... he’d rather not think too much about it. But he knows one thing for sure, there’s at least two actors involved in this network: The surveillance cameras, and Monokuma. And if there are two parties involved, then there’s a data stream between them, and any other potential place it’s sent to.

Intercepting and reading the data that travels between those two actors, that's the exact premise where a Troll In The Middle Attack reigns supreme.

A Troll In The Middle Attack is, in its most basic form —or as Sollux would put it kindly "For illiterate grubs"— a cyber-attack where the attacker acts as an intermediary between two parties, masquerading themselves as the other part the parties are interacting with, so they can read all the data sent between them. In this instance, Sollux knows Monokuma is interacting with at least another party— either the surveillance cameras directly, or with a central processing unit somewhere in or out of Hope's Peak. He has spent the entire day creating a code that will act as that middle troll, receiving (and later relaying as to not raise any suspicion) all the data sent to and from Monokuma. This way, he'll know the enemy he's fighting.

Their encryption keys and methods, the data they manage, where they are located in real time.

But this time, just obtaining and reading all that data in real time would be far too innocuous when they all bank in his informatic warfare to escape this place. He must act on that information, striking first, and striking hard.

And for that, a rootkit is par for the course.

A rootkit has an even simpler function, yet one with deadly potential, and it is to simply infect an electronic device, and take control of it without neither the system or user knowing anything is wrong. Sollux doesn't need to directly infect Monokuma to control him, he just needs to send him a different set of orders to follow to wreak havoc; but if the Ultimate Despair Mascot is in contact with the server that runs this killing game... then Sollux could bring this despair machine to a grinding halt with nothing more than simple malware handcrafted by him.

Either way, as long as Sollux lives up to his reputation and talent, he'll go toe to toe with whoever is behind this madness, and fight them on his own terms, in his own playfield. This act of defiance may save his friends from their ultimate doom.

No, it will.

#include<dsprat.h>

Chapter Text

Ding dong, bing bong.

"Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!"

A new day begins down in the academy of the rising Ultimate Students, and with it, twenty-four more hours of resting from the relentless Semester of Killing they are part of.

Feferi enjoys a long bath of hot water to start the day relaxed. Kanaya reads a few magazines about human fashion in her bed in order to gain inspiration for future outfits. Nepeta actually woke up quite early, to go to Equius's room and make him train his tact and carefulness by together polishing each other's nails and brushing their hair, something he enjoys doing with her. Gamzee prays to the messiahs from the Dark Carnival, while Karkat reads a novel he took from the library, though he wonders how the words Pride and Prejudice will fit in the story.

For the first time, the twelve students are genuinely getting comfortable in here, or at least something that resembles it. They aren't trying to distract themselves, or trying to cheer up; they are trying to live their new lives in here.

It is despairing that this illusion of calmness will not last for long. A storm is approaching over the horizon, and not even a single one of them knows how truly horrifying it is.

Yet.

But until that happens, they must —and will— take this moment of peace for themselves; for some, it may even be the last one.

What will they do today?

Free Time

After deciding he has had enough of fooling around in his room, making plans for future pranks —at least a few for every student— but little else, John walks out of his room, ready to make the most out of this day. He walks out of Despair Inn, past the school shop and the entrance hall up to the second floor.

He walks at a slow pace, not really wanting to get anywhere in specific, just desiring to enjoy the calm moment alone, and after a few minutes he ends up right outside the library.

JE: Hell, why not.

John lets out a relaxed sigh before entering the room only to find a Rose who, had this place have some booze for the students, would definitely be drinking some wine as she tries some cryptic eldritch ritual just because "why not".

Evidently, it his duty to interrupt her to see how she's doing; after all, that's what best friends do.

JE: Hi Rose!

RL: Oh, I wasn't expecting to see you around here, John.

RL: Did the stars align for us to meet in this fateful library?

RL: Or were you just bored out of your mind so you took a stroll around the academy?

JE: I guess the latter, hehe.

JE: What are you doing? What are you reading?

RL: Nothing too fancy, honestly. Just giving another go at the Lovecraftian mythos.

RL: I know this place is small, so it can't have everything stored for us. But I wish this place had more female authors.

RL: Mary Shelley is the mother of modern science fiction, so of course she'd be here. But I wish Monokuma had given us other authors like Emily Brontë or Virginia Woolf.

RL: At least he has Jane Austen in here, so I guess it could be worse.

JE: You really like reading a lot, it's pretty neat to be honest!

RL: I have my interests.

JE: Part of me wishes I'd read that much too, but I'd struggle focusing on that for so long.

JE: In the past I could barely get through a GameBro magazine without getting distracted.

John says as he sits in the table Rose's at, though at a distance to respect her personal space.

RL: Maybe you haven't found the right book or novel for you.

RL: It's hard to keep reading a book when the book itself is of little interest to you, or doesn't delve into something that appeals to your tastes.

RL: Besides, I heavily doubt those magazines qualify as anything resembling either cultural or creative output.

RL: I never liked those magazines anyways, so it's no surprise to me you don't fully enjoy them either.

JE: I guess, though it's hard finding the stuff you like when you don't have any idea where to begin with!

RL: Well John, normally I would respect your boundaries and hobbies, not pushing my luck too hard.

RL: But given we are stuck between a rock and a hard place as of right now and —for the foreseeable future— I think you should give the library a chance. It's not like there's much else to do in here anyways.

JE: You're right. There's only so much you can do, and so many small pranks you can pull of in here, before it gets stale like a three days old cake.

JE: Colonel Sassacre, I need your legendary wisdom now more than ever before.

RL: Well, if you're ever interested, I'd be more than glad to help you pick something from here. Who knows, perhaps the forbidden knowledge of the Great Old Ones could be a secret guilty pleasure of yours in the future.

For a couple of moments, silence settles in the library, with Rose continuing her read for a little while as John looks around. Despite having been here for a good time by now, he hasn't come here all that much. With the pool not far from here, the rec room upstairs, and the AV room with a few movies down in the first floor, the library hasn't had any real priority for him. But who knows, perhaps that will change soon, he just needs the right book to start coming here more often.

And as John is lost in thought thinking about what he could possibly read, he hears a voice calling for him, and he quickly snaps out of it.

RL: John, I have a question.

JE: Hm? I'm all ears.

RL: I hate to ask this, but...

RL: ...

RL: Besides reading, what activity would be fun to do in here with a troll?

... Why would she ask me that? ... And why's she looking away?

Vriska had a few Monocoins to spare as everyone gets a bunch of them after surviving each trial. And without much to spend them on other than the school shop itself, she was planning on going there to see what she could get from there. She doesn't know how, but despite the MonoMachine being relatively small, it can hold an awful lot of things that have no right fitting in there. Well, she guesses it's because this is a game after all, so not everyone will be one hundred percent realistic.

Like, how did they end up here in a human facility after all. Or how, despite being enclosed and sealed off the outside world (worlds?), they have what seems an infinite supply of food, water and other amenities.

Having too many unknowns frustrates her; Vriska doesn't like being in the dark like this, and much less feeling so powerless against the person who's behind this killing game. This frustration, these negative feelings, they sometimes overwhelm her, and today's one of those days. She simply doesn't feel like talking to other people today; her social battery is drained for the time being, so she was planning to spend the evening on the school shop when she finds her already inside. With a good plan already thwarted, Vriska chooses to bounce and go somewhere else instead.

She makes her way to the second floor, then upstairs once again. There, on the third floor, she walks down the corridor until she's right outside the Art Room. When the floor unlocked a few days ago, she didn't really give the place a chance, as she chose to go back directly to her room after the scrapbook revelation and didn’t return. But now, with little else to do, the Serket walks inside willing to do nothing but look around, only to find someone already in there.

Someone.

How can she always manage to come across the people she wants the least to see, let alone talk to? What's wrong with her luck? Is this a sick joke that never ends?

GM: Holy motherfucking shit, Serket. I wasn't expecting you to come over to my second crib.

VS: And I wasn't expecting to go there, either.

GM: What a motherfucking beautiful miracle, my wicked sister. :o)

GM: If you give to the universe, the universe will give it right back to ‘ya.

GM: Equivalent exchange and shit. Alchemy’s motherfucking wild ‘yo.

VS: ... Sure. Whatever you say, Gamzee.

GM: And you caught me purple-handed. I was actually creating an offering to the messiahs of the Dark Carnival.

GM: That's why I'm here. Xo)

VS: And the offering is...?

Gamzee gladfully steps aside, revealing to Vriska something she won’t ever forget. It’s a series of grotesque paintings full of gore, each one made up of nothing but one of the twelve colors of the hemospectrum. Bloody drag marks trailing across the canvases, distorted faces, sadistic twisted scenes; twelve monochromatic creations Vriska wishes she hadn't seen. Twelve monochromatic tales of death and despair.

All of them made by the same guy standing in front of her, who is smiling wide with half-opened eyes and a relaxed demeanor, as if he has just created the most feel-good paintings of his entire life.

She would be quite impressed with his artistic skills, if it weren't for the fact that she's absolutely creeped the hell out right now.

GM: I felt the call, coming from… above.

GM: It was motherfucking calling me, you know that?

VS: ... Yeah? Whatever you say, dude.

GM: Mother. Fucking. Calling. Me.

GM: And I had to answer the call.

GM: But what would the messiahs want from me right now? How was I supposed to know that? :o(

GM: But then, I had a revelation, a big one.

GM: What the old bastard of my lusus told me the very few times I saw him, that isn't going to work for much longer.

GM: Prayers and meditation are quickly being rendered obsolete and insufficient for them. The High Subjugglators are demanding more and more. From everyone. From you. From me.

GM: And I must motherfucking deliver.

GM: Because the show must go on. The Dark Carnival will never stop.

GM: If there's one motherfucking place in this entire motherfucking heretic chapel that can help me with this tethered predicament, is this hallowed creative block.

GM: So I came here, looking for inspiration, and guidance in what to do.

GM: And saw a motherfucking miracle unfold in front of my eyes.

GM: These blank canvases, ready to become far greater they could have ever hoped to be. I knew what to do. They were here when I opened the door.

GM: Do you understand me, Serket? Do you think I'm right?

VS: ...

... What could Vriska possibly say about this? She regrets so much having opened that door, she regrets having passed on the chance to just say fuck it and talk to her ex-partner in crime (and justice, too). If she knew, she'd have just stayed in her room, blaming all the dice lying around for her misfortunes instead of this.

VS: Just to know.

VS: Is Karkat still giving you those green pies, right?

GM: Yeah. He's been one dutiful motherfucker. Gotta love a diligent invertebrother like him, y'know?

GM: I'm still snug as a grub in the groove and he's already in the meal block preparing food because he cares so much about me.

VS: Then I may need to have a word with that dweeb.

GM: Though I've seen him more worried as of late.

GM: Like he's worried during every single meal what he's done is not good enough.

GM: He insists that I can have another pie, and another faygo if I want. Is he worried I'm not eating enough and going hungry? But I'm pretty full already.

GM: Hell if I know what exactly worries him, though.

VS: ... I definitely need to have a word with him at some point.

VS: But for now I'm out. I've had enough, and frankly I just don't care enough to stay here anymore.

GM: Ouch. :o(

VS: Bye.

GM: See ya soon, I guess.

Having made her mind about going back to the first floor, Vriska turns around ready to leave. Yet, as she does so, she feels a hand firmly gripping her shoulder that doesn't let her go. The Serket is ready to turn back around and fight him right here and now, but then she hears a dark, husky voice whisper straight into her ear, sending chills down her spine.

GM: Before you go, I must say it, sister. Just from me, to you.

GM: The times are changin' in this place.

GM: I can feel it, things will soon be very motherfucking different.

GM: And not everyone will like the direction the winds of the carnival are blowing.

GM: Be ready for it, or your crushed bones will be the ashes we're gonna use to paint our faces with, and your blood will be the dripping paint in the walls.

GM: Be ready for it, or your crushed bones will be the ashes used to paint the mirthful faces with, and your blood will be the dripping paint in the tents.

GM: And the messiahs like some cerulean swill in them.

GM: ...

GM: Honk.

VS: ...

Yeah, it was a mistake to come here. Feeling like she'll have to sleep with her eye open for the rest of the solar sweep, Vriska makes her way out of the art room, leaving Gamzee alone to keep drawing and painting on his own. She goes back to her room, ready to stay there for the rest of the afternoon without talking to anybody.

Or at least that's what she'd do, if it weren't because as she walked down the dorm rooms' corridor, she saw the Ultimate Hacker walk out of his room.

And she knows very well what that means.

Without any tools to help him, Sollux had to create a virtual machine from scratch to test his viruses time and time again to make they'll actually work, without destroying the human husktop in the process. But now that he's sure he's done all the test he can feasibly run that don't fall in useless and redundant repetition, he gets up from his desk, and looks directly into the surveillance camera for two seconds before walking out of his room, and heading straight into the dining hall.

Ten students are already there, and they are all looking at him while he looks at them behind his red-and-blue glasses.

SC: I can't believe I have to say this.

SC: But it's time for ablution you filthy idiots. This place fucking stinks.

Then, he turns around and walks out of the dining hall and into the changing room on the other side of the corridor. Everyone follows him because, just like Vriska, they know what this means.

Once they are all inside, and Monokuma is nowhere in sight, he begins speaking.

SC: I've never been one to talk a lot so I'll keep this brief.

SC: As you know, I've spent the last few days working on something to get us out of here.

SC: Tldr, shit's ready.

SC: I told you guys to stop asking me about it because we couldn't risk Monokuma noticing what I was doing. I had to be secretive about it.

SC: He knows I'm cooking something; he isn't stupid, he just doesn't know what it is in detail. The element of surprise is all I have.

VS: Well that sounds fucking optimistic. What did you do that's gonna take us out of here?

EZ: D --> How do you pretend to wage war against the mastermind?

GM: Honk.

SC: Leave that to me.

SC: Monokuma's a robot, and this place runs one way or another on software. That's more than enough for me to fuck shit up as I please with the aces up my sleeves.

SC: Tonight I'm gonna do it. I'll run the attack in a few hours when he's expecting us to be sleeping, so for now go back to your rooms and get some rest.

SC: And for the love of whatever's worth to you, try to be as inconspicuous as possible.

VS: That sounds cool and all, but.

VS: What if it fails?

VS: What happens then?

An uncomfortable silence settles in the room. With everyone hoping so hard for this game to end, most of them don't even want to think about the scenario where things go sideways.

… But he has to. If he's going to pull this thing off in the name of all the surviving students, the least he can do for them is to also have a backup if hells break loose, and not in a favorable way.

SC: Then we never had this conversation, nor any that involved anything we ever said about this attack.

SC: Everything I planned, everything I did, was on my own because I couldn't take this anymore. And that isn't really a lie anyways.

SC: If I'm going down, you guys must not go down with me. Let me take all the blame, so you don't get punished because of me.

SC: If shit goes south, I'll be dead anyways; I'm gonna break the rules, and they'll have the perfect excuse to cull my ass. That, and the fact that I'm literally fighting directly against them.

SC: And if I'm gonna get culled, might as well try to keep the body count as low as possible.

Sollux sighs; he knows this is a suicidal last stand, but he can't allow himself to stand idle anymore as his friends fall one by one to their imminent deaths. This ends now, and it all starts with him. Having made up his mind, he looks at Aradia with a determined smile in his face.

SC: Aradia, do me one more favor and come with me.

SC: I've done my best the last few days to make sure it all goes alright, but who fucking knows the future anyways. If I did, we wouldn't be here.

SC: Point is... I want to talk for you for a bit more.

SC: You always knew how to make me feel better, or soothe my mind when the voices of the imminently deceased went haywire.

SC: And I pretty much could use that help now. I need it.

SC: ...

SC: I need you.

Aradia can't help but smile at him when she hears those words. She simply would never leave him. Whatever happens, they'll face it together.

AM: Of course, I'll go with you.

AM: There is a lot I want to talk about too.

SC: Thanks.

For one last time, Sollux looks at everyone in the room. At the humans, at the trolls... at her. He knows the moment he steps into the AV Room and plugs the human husktop into the network, there will be hell to pay when the daemons of Hope's Peak notice what's going on.

SC: Goodbye everyone. See you tomorrow, once the deed's done.

The thing is, that hell is worth paying for.

Aradia walks up to Sollux, and for the first time publicly, they hold hands as they walk off into the distance, out of Despair Inn. For the rest of the students, one by one they leave the changing room and head back to their own dorm rooms. They have the feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day, so they need to rest as much as they can. But if things go right, then tomorrow they'll finish the day back in their planets, their hives, their homes.

If.

[MONOKUMA THEATHER]

"In this world, sure, there are a lot of grays, and that's okay."

"But when you come right down to it, at its core, beneath every choice."

"There's either a one, or a zero. You either do something, or you don't."

"That's why power belongs to the people who take it."

"It has nothing to do with their hard work, strong ambitions, or rightful qualifications, no!"

"The actual will to take is often the only thing that's necessary."

"Which is why I said what I said not too long ago."

"It's much better a good plan violently executed now, than a perfect plan executed next week."

"That's why—"

"..."

...

. . .

...

"..."

"..."

It’s a new day for the twelve students, and a new day for hope to flourish.

It is a new day in Hope's Peak Academy.

The students wake up on their own, given the lack of an announcement this time around; some earlier, some later, but as soon as they do, they all make their way to the dining hall. They have to—no, they need to know what happened last night, and what they will do now.

FP: Glub, where's Sollux? Or Aradia for that matter.

NL: :33 < Purrhaps they stayed up last night, and they are sleeping right now!

KM: It should be noted that there was no announcement this morning, so they must have done something. It remains to be seen if it was successful or not, but I choose to be hopeful.

EZ: D --> Taking into account that this is the first day there is no announcement from the headmaster, it has to mean things went... according to his plan, at least partially.

FP: I really hope so, I can't stand being here any longer, I’m done with this! 38(

VS: It's really obvious, can't you see it?

FP: 38?

NL: :?? < Huh?

VS: If he had failed, we'd be long beyond fucked station. Monokuma would be already here for some retribution. But he isn't, so he must be deactivated somewhere in this place like a sad pathetic toy that’s ran out of batteries.

VS: If their asses want to take a nap, as long as they don’t take too long, no problem for me. They actually made something happen instead of waiting for someone else to do it for them, so in my book they've earned a break.

VS: Besides, Sollux may be an obnoxious idiot most of the time, but he's smart enough to know if he can actually rest or not.

JE: Then... We really could just go and walk out the main entrance right now, right?

JE: Because for me, that looks like the exit-est room around here.

JE: So, why don't we do it?

TP: I would wait a bit longer before we do that.

Terezi interrupts. She's sitting farther away from the rest with the top of her cane against her chin; it seems like something is bothering her.

JE: Hm?

TP: We could go there right now, but we don't know what's on the other side.

TP: We can't forget we come from two different planets, so where are we is hard to answer, to say the least.

TP: The first assumption is that this place is located somewhere on Earth because everything points to the mastermind being a human, just like you.

TP: But if Eridan's execution was one hundred percent truthful, then we can't discard being on Alternia either.

TP: And if both places are potential places, we can't discard this being somewhere else either, like a middle ground of sorts.

TP: There's just so much we don't know, so jumping out blindly would be idiotic, and being idiotic is a bad thing, John, in case you didn’t know.

TP: Even more so when we can just wait for Sollux to wake up and ask him if he found anything while fighting the mastermind that can answer our questions.

VS: Guess you're right. If he's okay with resting for a few hours after killing this killing game, then we can afford to wait for him to wake up too.

VS: And if all fails, there’s literally zero things stopping us from going to his room anyways.

KV: He's been working his ass to the bone for a few days now, let's not be inconsiderate fucks for once. He deserves us letting him mind his own business.

KV: That includes Aradia too. I’ve known Sollux for so long that I know for a fact he’d be in the absolute gutter without her.

Terezi looks away as her hands grip her cane even tighter. Everything points toward his cyber-attack having worked, that the killing game is over, and all they have to do is to somehow open the locked main entrance, but then...

… Why can't she feel at ease? Why is there a voice in the back of her head that just won't shut up, that keeps telling her there's something off in all of this?

RL: Where's Gamzee? We haven't seen him either.

KV: I was the first to wake up. I could barely sleep last night, this entire thing had me on edge the whole time because how the fuck it wouldn’t.

KV: Like at any time Monokuma could kill us all because Sollux had fucked up or something.

KV: Point is, as soon as the clock marked 7 a.m. I dashed for the dining hall to prepare breakfast for me and him, as I didn't have anything better to do anyways.

KV: I knocked on his door with his breakfast ready, but he didn't answer, so I left it right in front of the door to go back to the dining hall to mind my own meal-related business.

KV: When everyone started to wake up and come here, I went back there to check and the plate was gone, so I assume he just took it inside in the meantime.

KV: And it must have been him, because I heavily doubt anyone here is imbecile enough to be eating that shit out of their own free will. Why would anyone even do it, there’s zero reason whatsoever to rot your mind with that shit if you’re not him.

FP: So, in a beach shell... we just eat breakfast for now, then wait around an hour or two for Sollux and Aradia to wake up to finally get out of here?

VS: Yeah, that’s fair.

KM: In any case, we can use this time to finish our meals and do anything we need before embarking on whatever comes next, so we must still wisely use this time.

With an atmosphere filled with a subtle, yet undeniable sensation of nervous excitement, the students of Hope's Peak eat their breakfast and later return to their rooms, to finish preparing for their long-overdue escape from this place filled with nothing but despair. Practically no one exits the dorm rooms — Despair Inn— let alone the first floor, after all why would they do it? There's no reason to be here anymore, not when they are so close to getting out through the main entrance to whatever's on the other side. In other words, with Monokuma deactivated and the real mastermind seemingly gone too, there's nothing this place can offer to them anymore.

... But what if that's not the case?

What if they are wrong?

Because it would be a horrible mistake to ignore, let alone forget, that there’s one thing Hope’s Peak will always, always have for its students: endless, burning despair. Ignoring that is a fatal mistake.

And a deadly one too.

...

At first half an hour passes, then an entire hour, then two; nothing. The students meet again in the corridor to know their next step, yet nothing changes at all: only nine students are there.

None knows what's going on, why this entire place seems to be frozen in time.

No Monokuma, no mastermind, no killing game.

No Gamzee, no Aradia.

No Sollux.

VS: Okay this is enough.

VS: Wakey wakey you double idiot.

Vriska walks toward Sollux's room, and begins knocking on the door hard with her robotic hand as her organic one rings the bell over and over. She does so for half a minute, yet nothing happens.

VS: I knew I shouldn't have given them the props. Give an inch and they'll always take a mile. That's on me.

Knowing it is useless to continue with him, Vriska begins knocking Aradia's door instead, this time even stronger and faster than before because she can feel the frustration building up inside her just as fast. They are so close to finally leaving this place behind and letting the mastermind bite the dust, so why can't they just wake up????????

But nothing happens again.

Neither of them answers at all, and all the excitement, all the enthusiasm, vanishes in a moment.

And an all too familiar feeling returns to fill that void.

VS: Oh come the fuck on.

KV: Sollux if you are joking let me tell you right now that this shit is not fucking funny at all. Stop being a douchebag and just come out. I know you can hear me, wherever the hell you are, asshole.

Karkat screams, in an even louder tone of voice than normal.

NL: :33 < I really want this to only be a joke, Karkat...

EZ: D --> I’m going to need a towel after this utterly unfunny antic of his.

TP: ...

Terezi stares off into the distance in silence, trying to sniff anything out of the ordinary, although without any luck. It all seems too normal here, and too clean.

FP: No.

FP: Please, no. Not again.

Feferi, visibly more distraught than the rest, turns around and rushes out of the dorm rooms and into the rest of Hope's Peak. Equius, worried for her, decides to follow the Ultimate Heiress after a few seconds. With them now gone, the atmosphere here is not worsening.

It is free-falling without any control at all.

Thinking about a thousand scenarios already, Terezi feels a shiver go down her spine, so she puts the cane in front of her as she walks out of the dorm rooms too.

Maybe... maybe they are just somewhere else, right? Maybe they are simply watching a movie in the av room, or resting in the library together, or in one of the classrooms, and because they all remained in their own respite blocks no one noticed until now. Maybe that's all there is to it, maybe that's just it and there’s no need to worry.

Or maybe not.

Terezi walks past the first floor into the stairs, and smells nothing wrong in there, so she continues her way upstairs. Nothing in the second floor either, nothing other than the smell of clean floor and clean walls, but then… then she notices something. A faint smell, growing stronger and stronger as she gets closer to the stairs again, and her entire body tightens; there’s a knot in her stomach and she feels like she could almost gag at any moment from this sickening sensation. She’s about to take the stairs once more to find the source of this smell, but then, she hears it.

That sound.

That voice.

That despair.

Ding dong, dong ding.

"A body has been discovered!"

But as if that wasn't enough, as if this sick joke hasn't overstayed its non-existent welcome for far too long, it happens again, something she wasn't ready for. No one was.

Ding dong, dong ding.

"A body has been discovered!"

In a single moment, Terezi’s fears stop being a worst-case scenario, and they become something very, very real.

Chapter Text

“… After a certain amount of time, which you may use however you like, the class trial will begin!”

As soon as Monokuma fades from the screens, and his voice goes silent, Terezi comes to a sudden stop in the middle of the stairs leading to the third floor. Her eyes are wide open, yet their redness looks at nowhere. Her hands grip her cane as hard as they can, pushing it against the floor while the Ultimate Legislacerator is lost in thought, lost thinking about what went wrong.

Sollux’s plan succeeded; there was no morning announcement a few hours ago, and Monokuma was seemingly gone, too. But then… why is he back with the body discovery? Why did her friends die if this killing game had stopped?

How twisted can this place get?

Too many questions out of nowhere, and no answers at all. And this time, she fears she won’t be able to find them and uncover the whole truth, because there are only two people who know the bigger picture, only two people that can give her the information she needs.

But justice is blind, not stupid; Terezi knows they are dead now.

Dead like Dave, dead like Tavros, dead like Jade, dead like Eridan.

And dead like she herself and everyone else will be, if they don’t find who’s behind this sickening case.

Terezi adjusts her red gloves, and after inhaling then exhaling one more time to focus on her job, she makes her way to the third floor. There she first finds Feferi sitting down on the floor, her back against the wall. She’s silent, not even reacting to the Ultimate Legislacerator’s presence, with a blank stare in her eyes. Next to her there is a blood trail, reeking of mustard and wine, confirming her worst fears. They are coming from, or leading to, the rec room, so that’s the first place Terezi inspects. She goes inside and finds… nothing—or more specifically, no one; it’s empty. In fact, it doesn’t look like anything happened here at all; everything is where it’s supposed to be, there’s no sign of a struggle here.

Her eyes instinctively look around, even if they can see nothing, while she smells the entire room in search of anything related to the case. After a few moments, she senses the smell of blood in the floor, it is faint, but it’s even fainter the smell of dried droplets in the couch.

TP: If they aren’t here, it’s obvious they were dragged to another room.

TP: But why would you kill someone here, then take them somewhere else?

TP: It’s a deliberate choice that takes time and effort, so what was the culprit trying to accomplish with it?

TP: And if they got killed here, why are there no signs of struggle? Were they caught by surprise?

TP: But that doesn’t explain why neither of them put up no resistance.

TP: You can catch one by surprise, not both. And neither of them would go down without a fight.

TP: How did the culprit accomplish it?

TP: I need to keep investigating.

She talks to herself as she continues analyzing the room, carefully smelling every little detail. She crouches to touch some of the blood with her fingertips; it’s sticky, and it’s been a few hours at least since they died.

Who would do it, and why?

…

As Terezi thinks about the endless possibilities, about the countless scenarios, Karkat is the first to follow her into the third floor, realizing right away what happened.

KV: Hey Terezi, what the hell was—Oh.

KV: You… you have to be shitting me.

One of the things that this academy has taught the students of this killing game, is that when the bells ring, you always expect the worst; there’s no other outcome. There’s never another one.

KV: Sollux. Why.

KV: My best. Fucking. Friend. Dead.

KV: …

KV: FUCK.

Karkat yells loudly from the bottom of his lungs, so loud that maybe everyone in the academy can hear him. It’s a yell full of anger and hatred, but also of frustration and pain.

KV: FUCK.

KV: FUCKING… WHY.

KV: WHY THE FUCK HIM.

KV: MY BEST FRIEND, AND OUR ONE WAY OUT OF THIS FUCKING PSYCHOTIC PLACE.

KV: WHO IN THE EVERHATING FUCK DID THIS.

TP: That’s what I’m trying to piece together.

She responds with a somber tone in her voice, almost devoid of any emotion. She feels his pain, and understands it better than anyone else still alive; Sollux was her friend too, and a very close one that she’s known for a long, long time. But while Karkat is able to vent his pain and hatred out, she can’t, she’s only able to bottle them inside herself, feeling a dreadful knot in her stomach in the process.

TP: It… it just doesn’t make sense.

TP: While previously the culprit had a motive to kill someone, anyone, this time is the complete opposite.

TP: There was no reason to kill anymore, let alone Sollux of all people, who was helping us all get out of here.

TP: And Aradia got along with almost everyone here too. Even the humans liked her.

TP: I have to find out why this happened.

TP: Not only for the trial… but for me too.

Karkat steps into the rec room, calmer than just a few moments ago, and even more determined to find the truth.

KV: I’ll help you.

KV: I know I’m nowhere near you when it comes to solving these things, but I refuse to be a useless fuck who won’t do jack shit for them.

KV: So, Terezi, tell me what the fuck to do. Please.

Terezi thinks in silence for a few seconds, focused only in her thoughts. No matter what happened here hours ago, she still has to investigate the rest of the academy, she needs to follow the blood trails in the corridor to find where the bodies are. But if she does, if she leaves this room… there are only ten students now, their numbers are slowly dwindling with each case, and the Ultimate Legislacerator has to choose between covering as much ground as possible with the diminishing resources she has now—including the time that’s ticking away in the clocks—or to make sure not to give any space for the culprit to interfere with the investigation. In the past they had the numbers to both guard the crime scene and investigate everywhere in groups or pairs to checkmate the culprit, and nullify their anonymity advantage. But now? Now Terezi has to decide if they can even afford to do any of those options at all.

One wrong choice and they will die, without any justice done for the death of their friends.

It’s the thought of what to do, her own pain for their deaths, that’s slowly overwhelming her from the inside, once again. She’s trained to investigate any case, but that doesn’t prepare her to see everyone around her die one by one, creeping closer and closer to her closest friends until they die too.

… What do I do? What do I tell them to do? I don’t know if I’m right or wrong, I just… don’t know. No matter what I do, no matter how hard I try, everyone is just… killing or dying anyways.

Why can’t I do anything about it?

Why can’t I stop it?

Why?

Terezi clenches her hands hard, and closes her eyes as she feels teal tears forming in them; it’s too frustrating for her to feel so powerless, unable to save anyone other than herself. But then, just as she doesn’t know what to do now—whether to order someone to guard the crime scene or make everyone spread out across the academy, or even something entirely else—she feels a hand gently touching her shoulder, and a voice struggling not to crack as it talks.

KV: I want to find out who killed them too. I want to find the culprit, and make them pay for killing my best fucking friend.

KV: But I can’t do it alone, Terezi.

KV: I just can’t. I’m not good enough, I never was in anything.

KV: I need you here and now.

How funny, that’s exactly how she feels about him too. She may be the Ultimate Legislacerator, but she can’t do this on her own. Not when she feels so powerless in this struggle, and that all she does is just to speed up the death of yet another one of her friends, feeding ever more despair to the despair machine that is this killing game.

KV: I need you to guide us like you have done in all previous cases so far. I don’t know anyone else who is better prepared for this than you.

KV: Hell, without your guidance we’d be already beyond fucked. Eridan had us right where he wanted.

Something appears in her mind, it’s the time during the first investigation when something just like this happened; she got overwhelmed by her own mind, by her own overthinking, and he was there for her. Now it isn’t any different.

Even when they are going through hell, no matter if it’s in Alternia or in Hope’s Peak, Terezi knows she can count on him no matter what.

She can trust in him no matter what.

TP: Ok, I’m ready. This is what we are going to do.

TP: If you’re the culprit Karkat I swear I’ll be the one to cut your throat so I can smell you die slowly and painfully.

TP: … But I know I won’t, because you didn’t kill them.

TP: I know you, and I choose to believe in you even if every single legislacerator manual tells me not to, and His Honorable Tyranny would eat me alive if he found out I’m doing this.

KV: Thank you, I promise I’ll sweat blood if needed to bring justice to their deaths.

KV: They crossed us, and that’s a big fucking mistake to make.

TP: I have more ground to cover. I need you to stay here in this room, and analyze everything. Maybe they hid something, or there’s a clue that can tell us what happened.

TP: I found droplets of blood in one of the couches. If I had to make a hypothesis, however they died, it begun here, and got finished off somewhere else.

TP: That’s all I have for now.

KV: Don’t worry. Nobody expects you to solve a case when we haven’t even found the actual bodies yet anyways.

KV: I’ll do what I can here, and I’ll make sure no fucker tries to do anything strange.

TP: Thanks.

They nod at each other, and Terezi exits the room using her cane to guide herself. She can make her way through most places without it, but due to her blindness she can’t see—nor smell—all the subtleties of her surroundings such as the texture of the floor, or even objects if they are of the same color as the floor itself. Out of the room, the first thing her white cane crashes into is Feferi’s feet. While she’s still deeply affected by the case, the Ultimate Heiress has by now recovered a little bit, just enough to talk to Terezi in a numb tone of voice, something very uncharacteristic for her. The Pyrope can sense how not even her fins or gills are moving; she’s almost completely numb, like her mind is both here and in another place at the same time. But even that’s an improvement when compared to how she was not long ago.

FP: I know where Equius is.

FP: Follow me.

Terezi, not knowing what to say and not wanting to make her feel worse either, stays quiet as she follows the heiress, even though she could make her way given the blood trails in the floor. They walk through the entire third floor until they come to an abrupt end right outside the art room; the blood trail ends there. Terezi knows very well what will be inside, but that stops being the main thing in her mind when she notices the smell coming out of the other side of the door.

Not even Tavros’s room reeked this intensely.

Feferi puts her back against the wall, and opens the door without ever peeking inside, in fact she’s looking at the opposite direction as Terezi gives a step forward to smell the room. And once she does, she knows why Feferi has been behaving like that.

It’s hard to even begin to describe.

Like a world painted in blood. Gold and burgundy blood.

When the Ultimate Heiress opens the door, the smell coming from inside takes Terezi aback, yet she’s quick to recover; this isn’t the first time she’s been investigating a murder case, and it won’t be the last, either here or in Alternia, no matter how gruesome it is. She adjusts her gloves, and fully opens the door to vent the room before stepping inside for good.

Half the room is stained with the colors of her dead friends; whatever happened here, it was more brutal than anything this killing game has seen so far.

Having to see this out of nowhere… it’s obvious it would affect her.

The Pyrope has been at peace with her blindness for entire sweeps by now, and sometimes she happily says it has some perks; being spared from having to see the brutal carnage that took place here, and ‘just’ smelling it instead is one of them. She ventures inside, trying not to step into the bloodstains splattered across the entire ceramic floor, but that soon proves impossible given the sheer amount of blood there is everywhere she smells.

Yet, no matter the sickening amount of blood in here, a few seconds later things turn much, much worse when, as Terezi makes her way with her white cane, its tip crashes into something… soft, and squishy, yet heavy at the same time. And as soon as she has a vague idea about what it is, she recoils shocked, almost falling over.

It’s… it’s a dismembered piece of one of the bodies.

Maybe an arm, maybe something else, bloodied to the point she couldn’t even detect it with her smell, like it was ripped apart and used for something else.

Something like those canvases in the middle of the room, painted in burgundy and gold colors.

This level of brutality, the Ultimate Legislacerator wants to believe none of her friends are capable of it, yet she knows far too well by know that’s exactly the case, no matter how much she hates the idea.

But as she’s almost too shocked to continue analyzing the crime scene, someone else walks into the art room. It’s John, who as soon as he sees what’s inside, can’t help but let out a horrified scream before throwing up right next to the door.

They saw Tavros’s slit throat, they saw Jade’s bloodied face, yet they have never seen something like this before, two bodies so thoroughly brutalized that they couldn’t even identify what part belonged to whom.

This entire scene, this twisted sadistic scenery, it was too much for him, and Terezi can’t blame him for his reaction, as it’s the most natural response anyone could have. No wonder Feferi was so shocked; she may have seen countless lusii be torn apart by her own Gl'bgolyb, it may have even eaten actual troll corpses from time to time, yet she could have never been prepared enough to see her friends torn apart like this.

Thinking about the Ultimate Heiress, Terezi exits the room to talk to her. She still seems a bit out of it, but at least now she’s slowly patting John in the back with a concerned expression in her face.

FP: Glub, are you okay?

JE: I… no.

JE: I’m pretty freaking far from okay.

JE: How could I be after watching that?!

JE: … Sorry for the mess, though.

JE: I was not expecting to see that.

FP: D-don’t worry, I wasn’t feeling much better when I saw it myself either.

FP: Nobody would.

TP: Feferi, I need to talk to you.

TP: I have to know, since you and Equius were the first to come here, who was the—

FP: Me. I was the one who found the art room… like this.

FP: I felt a very fishy feeling when neither Sollux nor Aradia were opening their doors.

FP: A chill went down my spine, and I feared the worst, so I couldn’t help but get out of there to look out of for them.

FP: I searched across the entire first floor, then the second one. That’s when I noticed Equius was behind me, following me.

FP: He was worried about me being alone out here, so we explored the second floor together, then we went upstairs.

FP: And found the blood on the floor in front of the stairs. We followed it, and led us here, so I opened the door and…

FP: You can imagine the rest.

FP: Glub.

TP: So you met with Equius on the second floor, and together arrived here, where you were the one to open the room for the first time.

Terezi takes the white cane’s handle to her chin as she thinks for a second.

TP: I should keep all that in mind.

TP: About Equius, where’s him? He wasn’t inside.

FP: I guess… he went to the restroom after I went back to the rec room.

FP: After he saw what happened, he began to sweat a lot.

FP: Maybe he went to the bathroom on the second floor to wash the sweat off himself or something?

FP: Glub if I know for sure, though.

For his entire life Equius has sweated a lot whenever things got intense in most ways, so it’s no surprise for the Terezi that it happened now too, but she still wonders if there’s something more to that other than just the initial shock of seeing those bodies torn apart.

She knows it’s just a hunch, a feeling that won’t go away, but it’s in her nature to always question everything when working; anything less and she wouldn’t be worthy of being called a legislacerator, let alone an ultimate at that.

Asks the questions that no one else will ask, and find the truth no matter how horrid it is, that’s what any tealblood should aspire to.

As Terezi plans her next move in the investigation, and Feferi helps John recover his cool, someone appears out of nowhere, taking them by surprise.

It is a certain despair-fueled someone, who gasps in surprise after watching the crime scene.

MK: Look how they massacred my boy!

JE: Are you talking about Sollux?

MK: Whaddya talking about? Who’s that ‘Sollux’? I’m talking about my sweet dear precious art room!

MK: Desecrated and defiled like this, it pains me to see what they did to you.

MK: A student could have created their next masterpiece of art inside, become the next Michelangelo, but now it just looks like an oversized hot dog!

Monokuma weeps mournfully; yet again, none of the students buy his act. At least it has helped John return to his usual self.

MK: Today I lost more than any of you could ever know.

MK: But now is no time to mourn, now is the time for the… Monokuma File!

MK: Since you’re the guys here like proper detectives investigating the case—and puking all over it too, very gross—I think you deserve the grandiose honor of receiving the file that will help you in your case.

MK: This way you can find the truth behind the murder, and I can give justice to my desecrated art room. It’s a win-win for everyone if you ask me.

With a wide, always-malicious smile, Monokuma raises the file into the air and Terezi grabs it to read what’s in it. She has a very bad feeling about this entire case, so any details that might help are more than welcomed for her.

“There are two victims this time: Aradia Megido and Sollux Captor. Their deaths took place during the night, and their remains are mauled beyond recognition.”

TP: …

… This isn’t going to help her.

JE: Is this a joke?

JE: It doesn’t tell us anything we don’t know already! And this time it doesn’t even have the actual time of death!

MK: Sorry no can do! This is all I can give you.

MK: And it’s all the information you need from the file to solve the case.

MK: Whoops, that my cue to leave before I talk too much.

MK: See-ya-nara!

Just as suddenly as he appeared, Monokuma leaves by walking to the physics lab without a care in the world, leaving behind three students who are even more confused than just a few moments ago.

How is he allowed to give us this useless piece of crap?! How is it going to even be useful to us?!

I can’t stand that stupid jellyfish anemonemore!

…

All the information we need.

Those words repeat in her mind, over and over, that what little information the file has, is enough to solve the case. Monokuma hasn’t lied to them so far, so he must be right following that logic, she just can’t figure out how that’s the case. There’s something missing in all this, and the investigation keeps growing weirder and weirder, and ever more chilling.

Terezi has to go to one other place, now.

JE: I’m… I’m gonna get a mop for the mess I just made before it starts to smell even worse.

JE: Be right ba—

TP: No. Stay here and guard the room.

TP: I’ll take care of it.

She has Karkat back in the rec room, and that’s enough for her there, but she can’t afford to leave the art room unsupervised with two students here already. It’s not that she suspects them, it’s that in a murder case she’ll always suspect almost everyone.

The human's mental state has proved not to be the best in the past, and Feferi is extremely strong in her own right, that’s more than enough for a specific part of her brain to simply not shut up, and to not lower her guard at all.

Terezi backtracks across the third floor to go downstairs, but before she can reach the stairs she comes across the rest of the students, who first went to the rec room, which Karkat is fervently guarding and investigating at the same time.

VS: What the hell happened????????

VS: It’s clear those two suckers bit the dust, but where the hell are their bodies?

VS: And why would anyone drag two bodies on the floor and literally not even try to clean the mess left behind?

VS: I thought we left the amateur murders behind us long ago.

TP: …

TP: If you want answers, just follow the blood trails.

Terezi answers detachedly, as her mind is on something else, and she’s not really focusing on them. During the entire morning there has been something bothering her, something that can perfectly be brushed off as normal or coincidental, yet it doesn’t silence the voice in the back of her head telling her there’s something wrong with it.

Why has Gamzee been missing this entire time?

TP: But I won’t promise you’re going to like what you’ll find.

TP: Also, do yourself a favor and take a scourdray over there, don’t ask why.

Out of an instinctive response to a sensation of fear, and because she’s still used to her old weapon, Terezi grabs her cane not to guide herself, but to fight with it as she goes downstairs on her own, though Vriska follows her out of a hunch she’s having. The rest of the other students go to the art room following the blood trail, and most of them find nothing but despair there. Most, because Rose and Nepeta, after the initial shock, immediately go crouching to analyze the remains spread across the room.

Down in the second floor, Terezi keeps backtracking her way to the dorm rooms, to his room, but she runs across Equius right outside the bathrooms. He seems just like his usual self, and that is to say awfully pent-up.

EZ: D --> I assume you have already discovered the bodies.

TP: …

TP: I did.

VS: Is that a problem, Zahhak?

EZ: D --> Not at all, I say that because if you’re here, Terezi, then you came to the same conclusion as me.

EZ: D --> And you’re on your way to see him.

Terezi doesn’t like how ahead of everything Equius is getting, but that just may be due to her skeptic nature; everyone is guilty until proven innocent, that’s the Alternian jurisprudence she embraced long ago.

But maybe, just maybe, there is more to it than what he’s letting her know.

Still, until she has solid evidence for any hypothesis, anything she thinks or feels is nothing more than conjectures she can’t prove.

TP: Come with me, blueberries. I need you to ask you some questions.

Terezi continues her way back to the dorm rooms, and at the same time she asks Equius for his version of the events, though there’s nothing in his account that she hasn’t already heard. From being worried about the heiress’s wellbeing in a potentially dangerous situation, to her being the one to open the door leading to the art room, at the very least this information mutually corroborates their accounts.

EZ: D --> I know she would never do something like that. Feferi is the distilled perfection of our species, and we both know she would never hurt any of her friends.

VS: … And here we go again. Fuck me.

Vriska rolls her eyes.

EZ: D --> That leaves me as a potential suspect as well, I won’t deny it. But while I am not afraid to say out loud that their blood barely qualifies as liquid filth, not even I would stoop so low with such… unbecoming behavior.

EZ: D --> And without me or Feferi, and the other sea-dweller already dead, there is only one other highblood who possesses enormous strength… yet, sadly, does not respect the nobility his own blood color selflessly provides.

EZ: D --> We all know who it is.

While that reasoning is not bad per se, Terezi isn’t quick to discard either of them from her list of suspects which currently has almost everyone still in it; she needs more solid evidence to be convinced they didn’t do it. Still, it is undeniable all logic begins to point in direction of the Makara. From him going missing, to being both capable and willing to do this macabre double murder, he’s her main suspect for now.

But just as she’s not willing to discard certain students as suspects, she won’t accuse anyone of doing it either, not until it has been proved beyond any shadow of a doubt. Because if they are wrong, it will be their necks the ones hanging from a noose, and it’s up to the Ultimate Legislacerator to make sure her friends don’t meet the end of their line.

By the time Equius is done giving her his account, they are already in front of Gamzee’s room. Knowing how risky it is to interrogate a purpleblood, Terezi—who is still in her Neophyte Redglare uniform—takes a coin out of her pocket. It’s a special coin she got from the MonoMono Machine after the first trial, that she’s been using for certain decisions given the lack of a troll caegar here.

Each side has one of the two halves of Monokuma; one is a rather normal-looking bear, while the other has the wide smile and jagged eyes the students have learned to dread.

One side for hope, one side for despair. One side for she herself opening the door, one side for Equius doing so.

With her left thumb, she throws the coin into the air, catches it, then takes it to the back of her right hand.

…

TP: Equius, open the door.

EZ: D --> Understood.

Equius first tries to do so by turning the door knob, but it’s locked, as expected. Equius rings the doorbell a couple of times; nothing. He knocks the door as hard and loud as he can; nothing.

Gamzee is not in his room, or perhaps…

Terezi summons Monokuma.

MK: What do you want now?! Can’t you see I’m busy?!

MK: Oh right, you can’t. Whoopsie, my bad.

She’s unfazed by his joke.

MK: What’cha want?

TP: Gamzee is not opening the door, and we need to inspect inside. It’s necessary for the investigation whether he’s there or not.

MK: Do you think I’m your personal butler or something?

MK: No-no, you bossy troll Sherlock Holmes!

MK: Remember what I said last time when John wanted to get into Jade’s room?

“I’ll open it, but be warned: This will be just a one-time thing.”

“I won’t allow further violations to another student’s privacy by my own hand. Do it on your own.”

MK: I said it’d just happen once, and you already used your supply of door-opening favors!

MK: You’ll have to figure out how to get in on your own.

MK: I’m still not done fixing the mess someone left behind, so stop wasting my time!

Snorting furiously, Monokuma disappears walking out of Despair Inn. They’ll have to find another way to open the door.

…

So Sollux did screw with the mastermind. I wonder if… if the attack has something to do with his death. Maybe… he did it as a last resort. Maybe Sollux brought down the game, and Monokuma had to get rid of him at any cost, and Aradia too to leave no witnesses. But then, why the brutality? Why tear their bodies apart in the art room?

Was it to send a message…? … Or was this really done by one of us?

What am I missing in all this?

Cherry cheeks, please don’t let me down. I’m counting on you.

Terezi is intrigued. How far is Monokuma, and the mastermind for that matter, willing to go in order to ensure this killing game continues? How likely is it that there’s no blackened among the students, but it’s the mastermind instead? How could she even prove it if that were the case?

Too many questions hang in her mind right now, but there’s one more pressing matter in hand, one that’s right in front of her.

EZ: D --> What do I do now.

EZ: D --> I… I need you to tell me what to do.

VS: I dunno Equius, maybe just bring that whole thing down?

VS: You’re pretty strong, I’m sure you can do it.

EZ: D --> Monokuma would be very unhappy with that, but…

EZ: D --> Is that an order?

VS: Why not. Sure.

EZ: D --> Acknowledged.

Equius cracks his knuckles before ramming against the door with his shoulder a few times, yet to no avail—he kicks it, nothing happens; the doors really cannot be broken through. But after around half a minute of more knocking, punching and banging against the door, the knob rotates.

And the door opens, just slightly, and a face with white-and-gray makeup peeks out.

GM: No need to be so harsh my dawg.

GM: I was tucked all comfy and shit into these human resting plates taking a lil’ motherfucking nap.

GM: Sorry for taking so long tho.

GM: What’s the big fuss about.

TP: …

TP: Open the door, now.

GM: Is there something wrong, Tz?

TP: Just do it.

GM: Seems y’all woke up having chosen motherfucking violence, but who the fuck am I to judge.

GM: Sure, no problem, my motherfucking sister. Gotta follow what your gut says.

GM: Come on in, feel like at your own hive.

Gamzee opens the door wide, without ever hesitating or giving it a second thought.

But what the three of them see inside, it makes the entire investigation all too clear. Terezi, Equius, Vriska, not only they see bloodstained clothes lying on the floor, bug Gamzee himself having his arms practically bathed in gold and burgundy blood, like he didn’t even try to wash it off him, while his face shows a wide smile—which in turn shows his sharp teeth and a salivated tongue—alongside barely open eyes.

An image so unsettling only a purpleblood could give, one just like him.

VS: … That’s it.

VS: We’re done here. We don’t even need the class trial this time.

VS: Gonna call all the others and tell them we found the fucking psychopath who killed Aradia and Sollux.

TP: Wait.

Terezi mutters out, but to no avail; Vriska is already closer to leaving the dorm rooms than to them. The crime is solved, there’s literally only one student in all of Hope’s Peak who has both the strength and the ferocity to commit a double murder like this, and they have just found him with his arms up to his shoulders in blood.

The case is closed.

Or is it not?

As a precautionary measure Equius puts Gamzee against the wall, and grabs his wrists behind his back to immobilize the Ultimate Subjugglator, even if that by itself is a heinous act he’d never do in any other circumstances. To disrespect the hierarchy of the hemospectrum, the purity of his purpleness, is simply horrifying for the Zahhak, but for the safety of everyone else—including the heiress herself—he’ll do this as best he can.

EZ: D --> I beg your pardon for this, but I have to do it.

GM: Whoa bro at least first take me to dinner or something.

GM: Why so rough.

EZ: D --> I-I’m sorry. If this is too aggressive for your liking, I can be gentler.

GM: Don’t worry Z-hawk, I’m just confused as all fuck.

GM: I know I’m not the sharpest crayon in the grubshed, but I have no motherfucking idea why you’re here to begin with.

EZ: D --> The reason will be revealed in due time.

TP: We are just investigating, I think you know why, even with your half-functioning think pan.

Terezi says, sounding slightly more aggressive and hostile than usual.

GM: …

Gamzee looks upward for a moment, slightly confused.

GM: Sorry, Tz, no idea what you’re talking about.

GM: Is it because I left a mess in the art room?

EZ: D --> So you know what you did.

GM: Yeah, but making art always leaves a mess behind, I can’t see why that’d be weird now.

GM: Paint gets motherfucking everywhere. And when you have water to clean the paintbrushes beware of not confusing it with your Faygo and end up drinking it on accident.

GM: Happened to me. More than once.

GM: Fuck, sorry for not taking a shower this week either, I guess.

TP: We are not talking about you taking a shower!

Terezi pokes Gamzee in the ribs with her cane rather strongly, making him grunt in pain in the process, before continuing analyzing the room in search of any more clues to help clear all this case’s details. After opening the door and coming to this horrific realization, to say that she’s been feeling upset is to fall awfully short. Someone killed her friends, someone killed some of the closest people she ever had in one of the most gruesome ways she can imagine, and that same someone is quite likely in front of her right now, acting like an idiot who doesn’t know a single thing.

How can she not be mad?

She’s struggling right now with the anger, the hate she’s feeling at him for killing them, the infuriating frustration of him acting like a devil-may-care idiot about it, while her legislacerator side tries to convince her she can’t tie the noose around his neck just yet until she has actually proven, beyond all reasonable doubts, that he’s the real culprit behind the murders. That even if all points toward him right now, she can’t assume he’s the murderer, no matter how hard she wants to, in order to make him pay for his horrific crimes.

Justice must be done properly, or else it just becomes the same kind of vigilante revenge that brought her so much unhappiness in the past.

TP: You.

GM: :o)

TP: You idiotic infuriating clown.

GM: Honk.

TP: You killed Sollux and Aradia.

GM: :o?

TP: You literally have their blood in your hands right now.

TP: Why.

TP: Tell me why you did it.

Terezi is angry, and willing to use more underhanded tactics in order to obtain what she wants, even if she has to pass lies and facts she doesn't know for sure as truth itself.

If that’s what she has to do, so be it.

GM: Wait, did I kill them?

GM: Motherfuck.

GM: Really? Whoa.

GM: Didn’t know that at all, sister.

GM: Whack. :o(

She’s gripping her white cane very hard right now, containing all her anger and hate, in the name of being an utmost professional legislacerator.

TP: I know you’re stupid, but don’t overplay your hand.

TP: Tell me what you did last night. Now.

TP: And I don’t want to hear any of your asinine excuses. Do what I told you, now.

GM: Don’t get so worked up, Tz, no need for that.

GM: Lemme see.

GM: …

GM: Oh fuck I can’t remember much.

TP: …

Are you serious?

GM: I remember waking up in the middle of the night with one motherfucking strong headache, and not really feeling well at all, so I went to the supply block to get a Faygo and pop it open.

GM: I also felt like eating a slime pie so I searched for some, couldn’t find any. Weird, but whatever, guess the universe didn’t want that for me.

GM: It do be like that sometimes.

GM: After that, things get hazy as shit for some reason, maybe ‘cuz of the headache or something, no idea sis.

GM: But next thing I know for real…

GM: I was in the art room, finishing painting on some canvases.

Despite being immobilized and with his face against the wall, Gamzee looks up at the ceiling recalling everything he can. If Terezi is asking him to do her this favor, who is he to deny her that? Good friends follow orders.

GM: Once I was done, I just went back to my respite block to rest. I was tired as a hard-ass laughssassin motherfucker after performing on the trapeze.

GM: Also, by some divine miracle there was food right in front of the door too, so I took that shit right in.

GM: Changed clothes because they were filthy as fuck.

GM: Closed my lookstubs for a lil’ motherfucking nap… and you guys woke me up.

GM: Wassup with that.

Terezi is biting her lower lip so hard out of frustration she’s almost making herself bleed. How can Gamzee be so shamelessly open about what he did, leaving almost no doubts at all that he killed them, yet doing so without ever actually admitting it? Is he that stupid? Or is he managing to outsmart her right now, knowing she won’t act on him until she’s completely sure about it?

With all that she has analyzed and heard so far, how can she not be convinced by now he’s the culprit?

Yet, at the same time, how can she be sure he is the one who killed them if he didn’t really confess it?

One half of her wants to tie a tight noose around his neck, and hang him herself to smell him die right here, right now—but her other half is telling her not to be a reckless idiot, to not find him guilty of this crime until it has been proved beyond all reasonable doubts, even if it means stalling his execution, prolonging his case, and defending him if needed.

Defending him, even if she hates him, even if she wants to see him punished for his crimes.

Why does this case have to be so hard for her?

Ok. If anything, Gamzee was the one who used the bodies to… paint. I should go back to the art room and see if they have any w—

But her thought process, and all her doubts, are cut short when from the speakers she hears that inevitable announcement, yet again.

Ding dong, bing bong.

“People tend to say third time’s the charm. What do you say about it, my dear students? Will this be the time your luck runs out and you’ll end up being food for the worms? Or will you valiantly solve yet another case? Well, there’s only one way to find out! I think it’s time we call it quits with your investigation, so please go through the red door to meet your fateful Class Trial!”

“Puhuhu~ See you soon!”

And with it, a violent investigation comes to a violent end. By now, Vriska has more than likely told everyone on the third floor what they found here: That Gamzee is the killer of both Sollux and Aradia, and is even covered in their blood. Equius, while much less reckless in comparison, Terezi’s sure that even he believes the Makara is the culprit, and is soon to meet his fate, to pay the due price for undue crimes. John, Kanaya, Nepeta, everyone—Including Karkat and Vriska—are sure by now that Gamzee killed them, that he’s the culprit and what’s to come will be nothing but a mere formality.

But then why… why can’t Terezi feel the same way?

Why does she have the feeling there’s more to this case than what they found until now?

If she’s wrong, she’ll have no problem in admitting it to just get this over with; she has never been full of herself, and knows she makes mistakes like everyone else. But if she’s right…

Alone, she’ll have to fight against every single student of Hope’s Peak Academy in the upcoming Class Trial.

And not only against them, but against herself too.

Chapter Text

Ten students alive, six students dead, one killing game that seems it is never going to stop.

And now more than ever before, zero doubts about who killed both the Ultimate Archeologist, and the Ultimate Hacker. Zero hesitation in sending one of them to die for their crimes.

Well, for most of them.

VS: Let’s get this thing over with.

KM: I agree. Even though we know already who killed our friends.

GM: Honk.

KM: We still have to do the class trial, in order to comply with the rules of this game.

RL: And it isn’t like there’s any other option either.

VS: Then let’s just not waste any more time on this.

VS: Much less in the waste of oxygen we have right next to us.

GM: Hey. :o(

KV: Tell me why, you motherfucker.

Karkat gets right in front of him, looking right into his eyes with pure, unbridled anger. Even though Gamzee is much taller than Karkat, he can feel his eyes looking down on him. They aren’t filled with just disappointment anymore; there’s anger in them, disgust, and a small yet noticeable touch of pain. The look Karkat is giving Gamzee right now, is of someone who feels not only betrayed, but also hurt.

KV: I won’t let you step inside that fucking elevator until you tell me why.

KV: Why in the almighty fuck you did it.

KV: They were helping us get out. They were our friends.

KV: He was my best friend, you fucking scumbag.

When Gamzee hears those words, when he hears Karkat calling Sollux his best friend, something… something happens, like a small light, suddenly bursting into a rancorous, fierce fire. He immediately grabs the Vantas by his black sweater, pulling it closer to him so strongly he could almost rip it off, even making Karkat himself crash against his torso. His pupils constrict with a soft red shade in his eyes as his lips open, displaying very sharp teeth. The atmosphere grows cold, and very heavy, and no one makes a move as everyone is shell-shocked, including Karkat who instinctively grabs Gamzee’s arm to free himself, only to look aghast at his hands, then back into those increasingly red eyes. But then, a small figure appears in the room to separate them, then it quickly points the claws in one of his paws to the purpleblood, the tips very close to his body.

MK: Stop it!

MK: Once you passed through the red door, violence will not be tolerated until the class trial is over!

MK: Justice is sacred and should not be violated with your puny disagreements!!!

MK: And you.

Monokuma looks furiously at Gamzee, his wide smile bigger than ever, though far more unsettling.

MK: I’ve given you a lot of leeway because you’re an alien and stuff, but you better start behaving now!

MK: Or I’ll have to punish you.

MK: And my-my, you do not want an angry Monokuma against you.

MK: So, better have some manners from now on or—

GM: Shut your putrid mouth.

GM: SHUT THE FUCK UP.

KV: Oh fuck.

GM: Or I’ll do something funny.

GM: Something VERY FUCKING FUNNY.

KV: Oh shit.

GM: LIKE SKINNING YOU ALIVE.

GM: DO YOU MOTHERFUCKING HEAR ME?!

GM: …

GM: :o)

Monokuma tilts his head to the side, thinking for a second, with an unfazed expression.

MK: Yikes.

MK: Well, unconventional circumstances call for unconventional measures I suppose.

MK: See, I can’t allow you to be a physical threat to anyone for as long as this trial carries on.

MK: In case you don’t remember, I literally just said so.

MK: The whole point of the class trials is to find the culprit through cunning wits, sly deceit, and whatever mental tricks you can come up with, not through mundane violence. Here at Hope's Peak we are better than that.

MK: But if you won’t cooperate, I’m afraid I’ll have to resort to more…

MK: Drastic measures.

GM: I dare you to do it.

GM: MOTHERFUCKER.

GM: HONK.

GM: Honk.

GM: HONK.

Despite seeing red almost literally, given the shade in his eyes, Gamzee acts quite intelligently right now. He pushes Karkat back, making him fall down to the floor, before leaning forward toward Monokuma, with a wide, outright psychotic smile in his face as he looks into the eyes of a monochromatic beast, yet never directly touching him.

This killing game is a heretic carnival of despair, and Gamzee knows very well how to act in one.

MK: Okay, time’s out. You’ll have to come with me!

Monokuma grabs him by the arm, and they walk out the waiting room through the red door everyone walked through just minutes ago, now being much more disconcerted than before, even though they are already certain of the truth.

KV: …

KV: You’re right, Serket.

KV: Let’s get this shit over with.

Karkat has a serious expression in his face, one much more determined than when he was sweating cold with Gamzee’s hand on him, practically panicking inside, like his time here was up.

He berates himself—and hates himself even more now—for not having realized the truth much earlier, and forgetting that Hope's Peak will always have tricks up its sleeves when it comes to this killing game.

The nine students walk into the elevator, which promptly begins its twisted descent once more.

Descent to a place of deception and deceit.

Descent to a place of sorrow and despair.

Descent to a deadly class trial.

And when the doors of the elevator open, they do to a sight that, even if logical in hindsight, none of them were expecting to see.

The Ultimate Subjugglator, tied to a hand truck in his assigned seat, in a specially designed circus-themed straightjacket, and a muzzle around his mouth.

A sight hard to forget, to say the least.

MK: Sorry for the… unique measures, I hope you can carry out your trial as if nothing happened. It’d be a shame if my concern for you guys got in the way of your heart-pounding trial.

MK: But it is my duty as the headmaster to ensure no violence takes place within these holy grounds.

MK: Gentlestudents, you can’t fight in here, this is the courtroom!

MK: So, with that out of the way, please make find your assigned seats.

Once more, the other nine students step out of the elevator and into their respective podiums, with Nepeta feeling quite uneasy having to be next to a restrained purpleblood who, even if sedated right now, could always suddenly do… purpleblood things. This time though, the air is very, very different. They aren’t here to find a culprit; they aren’t here to find who killed Sollux and Aradia.

They are here to execute the blackened as fast as they can.

Class trial. All rise!

MK: Let’s begin with a basic explanation of the class trial!

MK: So, your votes will determine the results. If you can figure out “whodunnit” then only they will receive punishment. But if you vote and pick the wrong one…

MK: Then I’ll punish everyone *besides* the blackened, and the one that deceived everyone else will graduate!

MK: Now, with that out of the way, let’s get things rrrrrrolling!

KV: Let’s skip the bullshit and vote already.

KV: We are ready, Monokuma.

MK: Whoa there, hold your horses buddy.

MK: Tryna speed run this thing or something?

MK: If you want to vote already, no problemo for me, but remember it’s your neck what’s on the line!

MK: So, sure you don’t wanna argue a bit more or something?

KV: What the fuck is there left to even discuss.

KV: We fucking caught him like the idiotic imbecile he is, purple-handed.

GM: Honk.

KV: And I’m done having to take care of his ass. So the sooner this idiot dies, the better for me.

KV: Fuck, I can’t believe I thought that I could—

VS: Can’t believe I’m saying this, but you’re right, Karkat.

VS: Terezi, I need to take your place for a quick second.

TP: >:?

The Ultimate Legislacerator looks confused to the side as the Serket begins enumerating with her hand in a slightly overly dramatic manner.

VS: One, Sollux spent the last few days preparing… something, we all know what, for last night.

VS: And then, last night, he bit the dust, alongside Aradia.

VS: Two, they may have died before it, but they sure as hell got permanently taken off in the art room.

VS: Little fact: You need to be a psychopath to do something like that. Keep it in mind.

VS: Three, who’s the idiot who not only spent quite some time in the same art room since the floor unlocked, but also got found covered in burgundy and gold blood?

VS: Hey Terezi, we may not be cool slick legislacerators like you, but even to us this thing is pretty clear.

JE: Y-yeah, I’m not some Perry Mason or something, but this is pretty clear to me too!

FP: Even if I wanted to defend the clownfish, I just can’t see how I would when everything points to him!

NL: :33 < Kill him.

GM: Honk.

GM: Do:

EZ: D --> It pains me to admit it… but it’d be uncouth to argue any further in the face of utter futility.

EZ: D --> Our superior, our Grand Highblood, broke this system’s rules, and must pay the due price.

KM: I will not fan the flames of needless discussion when everyone agrees on the matter, and everything seems logical enough to me.

VS: You’re hearing everyone loud and clear, Tez. So, what do you say?

TP: …

Terezi looks down to the side in silence. This is just as she feared I would be: With everyone saying the same exact thing her heart does—that Gamzee is the culprit, and that the votes should be cast now.

But that doesn’t silence that voice in the back of her head telling her to look at the case again, even if just to be sure this is the case, and that she’s just overthinking everything again.

TP: Let’s… let’s go over the case one more time.

VS: What?

VS: But Karkat is right! There are zero things to discuss!

TP: I know that seems the case. But since we’re here, we might as well do it.

RL: I agree. Besides, it does not hurt to corroborate the truth.

RL: And… there’s something bothering me about this whole thing anyways.

VS: Fiiiiiiiine, guess we can do it.

Vriska crosses her arms and rolls her eyes.

VS: But I really can’t see how this will get us anywhere other than the conclusion we have already reached.

VS: It’s gonna be a waste of time, but whatever, do what fancies you.

TP: It’s just that I…

Terezi takes the handle of her white cane to her chin as she closes her eyes firmly for a second to brush her feelings aside, and focus on her job. She’s the Ultimate Legislacerator; she can’t afford to slip.

Not here, not now.

TP: First of all.

She throws her cane up, only to catch it in the air, with its tip pointing to the headmaster, carefreely sitting in his throne behind her.

TP: Your Honorable Tyranny, I have an inquiry.

MK: Hmph? What’s on your mind my dear student?

TP: I want all the information you have about last night.

TP: In fact, no, I have a question too.

TP: How do we know you know the real culprit?

It is only at that last question that she turns around to face Monokuma, and her eyes look in his direction.

MK: That’s a little too forward, don’t you think?

MK: I’m Monokuma! The headmaster of Hope’s Peak! And the mastermind of this interstellar killing game!

MK: Of course I’d know what happens here!

MK: Even if someone tried to take me down.

TP: So… you know about that.

MK: Yup!

MK: No need to be all so secretive about it.

MK: Do you think I’m so stupid I’d give a computer to a hacker and not expect him to use it?!

MK: If I have learned something over the years as a bear, is that hackers never back off from a good challenge. And here in Hope’s Peak, he had a big one right in front of him all along.

MK: It actually kinds of reminds me of someone.

MK: But that’s not relevant right now!

MK: So, yeah, I know he attacked me. Pretty sneakily I must add.

MK: I’d explain how, but that’d be too boring, and probably most of you wouldn’t even get it anyways.

MK: B’sides, you guys did an awful job at hiding it.

MK: If I didn’t know from the start he’d weaponize the computer, I sure would have realized with how much you screwed him up asking so much about it.

FP: 38(

TP: But how can we be sure you really know who killed them?

TP: There was no morning announcement, and you were gone until the body discovery.

TP: So how can we know this trial is fair, if we can’t be sure you actually know the culprit?

TP: … Or that you are not the real culprit?

In a split second, all eyes are on Terezi now.

TP: It would be in your best interests to take out an existential threat to this game before it materializes.

MK: Didn’t we go over all this like back in the first trial???

MK: Remember the rules!!!

“Rule #12: The headmaster will never participate in a murder, or interfere with its subsequent crime scene.”

MK: Also, didn’t you guys just say you were sure the silent lamb guy over there did it?

MK: Well, it doesn’t matter now I guess.

MK: Normally I’d congratulate you for asking the hard, despairing questions and living up to your talent.

MK: But sadly, there’s no point in trying to accuse me of what someone else did.

MK: You see, the truth will be revealed…

MK: … Once you actually start discussing about the trial and not about me.

Monokuma laughs. He finds this interaction quite entertaining, though ultimately pointless.

MK: The class trials aren’t about me, but about my students!

MK: So, to state the truth as clear as it can be: I didn’t kill them, but I do know who did.

MK: Is that enough, mistress Ultimate Legislacerator?

MK: Or will you keep wasting your valuable time interrogating me?

MK: Remember, the clock is ticking, and my patience is a finite resource!

TP: I…

Terezi lowers her arms, and the cane’s tip touches the floor again.

TP: That’s all for now.

And she turns back around to face the other students. Strangely enough, she feels a bit defeated, humiliated even, being reminded of the fact that she’s probably just wasting everyone’s time right now with her legislacerating act when the truth seems so obvious.

But then, someone else takes the chance to resume the class trial.

RL: For now, we can discard the idea that Monokuma is a potential culprit, and confirm that he indeed does know what happened last night.

RL: This, in turn, allows us to finally discuss about the attack.

RL: Because there are still a lot of things left to talk about, and I don’t particularly enjoy being left in the dark, much less when our lives are on the line.

RL: … That’s what you wanted to talk about, right, Terezi?

TP: Yes.

RL: About how the murder are related to Sollux’s attack on the killing game, because otherwise this would be an awfully convenient string of coincidences.

RL: The only one capable of making the mastermind bend the knee, and getting us out of here, ends up dead the night the attack is carried out.

RL: Honestly, and granted that hindsight is always twenty-twenty, I can’t blame you for thinking Monokuma would have done it, even if everything pointed in Gamzee’s way.

RL: Though I have no evidence for it, I too have the uncomfortable feeling Monokuma is somehow related to this double murder.

MK: I’m just like the past two trials: not the culprit!

RL: But still related to their deaths. In the past, with the motives; now… I don’t know how, but everything is too convenient for you for it not to be the case.

Terezi ponders in silence. What Rose’s saying makes complete sense to her; Monokuma has to be involved in the case in some way, shape or form. Everyone knew about Sollux's plans to grind the game to a halt, and only Monokuma would be opposed to everyone getting out of here, unless…

There’s someone working for him among the students.

… Or is there another possibility she hasn’t noticed yet?

How can Monokuma be related to their deaths, if he was deactivated during that time? How could he possibly be involved, through absolute inaction?

TP: Did you guys check the bodies?

TP: I couldn’t.

NL: :33 < Yeah we did!

NL: :33 < Even though it was very gory and meowverything, we checked as carefully as we could!

TP: If we are to declare someone the culprit, we first need to establish how the victims got killed.

TP: Given not even that information was in the Monokuma File this time.

JE: Well, Gamzee killed them, right?

JE: It doesn’t really matter how, as long as we know it as him.

TP: That’s want I want to believe but… I can’t.

TP: Not when there are questions still unanswered.

VS: This would be so much easier if the asshole wasn’t either a sedated idiot like right now, or an absolute psychotic menace to everyone, with no in-between.

VS: It feels insulting he’s so plain, to be honest.

GM: Honk.

GM: :o)

VS: I hate you so much right now.

TP: Back to the point.

TP: What did you find in their bodies.

RL: This is what has been bothering me.

RL: …

RL: They weren’t physically attacked.

TP: What?

Terezi’s eyes instinctively open wide as her head turns to the side toward Rose.

RL: Wait, let me rephrase that.

RL: They got attacked, but there aren’t any bruises at all.

RL: In fact, aside from the obvious brutalizing, they don’t have any wounds…

RL: Except two.

NL: :33 < We both checked them and…

NL: :33 < They are stab wounds. A single stab wound in each chest.

TP: …?

Did Terezi hear that right? Did they die of a single wound in the same part of their bodies?

… How?

KV: What the fuck.

KV: You sure about that?

KV: As far as everyone told me the bodies were a fucking mess, you sure you didn’t overlook something somewhere else?

NL: :33 < Nope!

NL: :33 < We are completely, one hundred percent, sure of our findings.

NL: :33 < We even found out that, given the lack of most kind of tools in this place, both their heads were cleanly severed, while unwounded at the same time.

RL: No swollen parts either, like in Jade’s case.

RL: I think you can guess why this case has been bothering me too, Terezi.

TP: … How can a murder be so brutal, yet so unexpectedly clean at the same time.

She takes her free hand to her chin, thinking deeply about every aspect of the case. Not only these murders are both gruesome yet elegant, this case is somehow managing to be both very simple—with the culprit right in front of them in a straightjacket—and so complicated at the same time, with so many unanswered questions, which become more and more with each discovery they make.

TP: Did you find the murder weapons?

RL: We did. As expected, we found two knives.

Wait, two…?

RL: They were thrown away in the art room, though not particularly hidden, just behind a pedestal.

NL: :33 < If Gamzee tried to hid them, he sure did not do a good job at it.

TP: Did you use the knives, Gamzee?

GM: Honk.

GM: :o)

TP: …

VS: Don’t bother asking him. He’s even more of an useless idiot than usual.

Terezi can’t believe she’s doing all of this, to prolong an already solved case, even if not fully answered yet, for the potential innocence of a student who doesn’t even bother to defend himself when his life is on the line.

But this is what is right, doing a proper trial for a proper crime, and it’s what she will do.

TP: So two knives were used, with only a single stab wound in each body. The bodies are mauled, yet not wounded beyond that.

EZ: D --> Probably this has no influence on the case itself, but I must ask.

EZ: D --> The rules state that the dining hall is closed during the night, so how did Gamzee acquire the murder weapons?

That’s right, didn’t he say back in his room that—

VS: They just grabbed them while no one was watching, it’s not that complicated.

Vriska answers nonchalantly.

VS: Sollux and Aradia went for a walk around the rest of Hope’s Peak or something, and only ten players stayed inside the dorm rooms.

VS: Most of us either went back to our rooms, or finished dinner as fast as we could. It isn’t hard to grab a knife or two when no one’s watching, and no one expects a killing to happen either.

VS: It would be so unexpected I should have expected someone would try to pull it. That’s on me.

VS: Damn I’m getting rusty in here, Mindfang would have never allowed anyone or anything to slip past her like this.

Maybe… maybe he just didn’t tell me the whole truth.

KV: Since the idiot will tell us fuck all about the murder he did, let’s pull by ourselves all these little pieces together to make the bigger picture of this double murder.

KV: First, we have the attack. Monokuma knows about it, yada-yada-yada, point is that it’s successfully carried out, and he goes offline for a few hours.

KV: But at some point after that, Sollux and Aradia get killed.

KV: Give most of us have enough working neurons to piece two and two together, we can guess they got stabbed in the rec room by surprise, which explains why there’s blood there, and the drag marks from the Makara carrying the body over to the art room.

KV: He’s one sneaky bastard, and somehow despite being taller than anyone else here, he still manages to be able to hide basically any-fucking-where, so I don’t struggle seeing him hiding somewhere in the room to then murder them with no problem.

KV: Because one: They are taken by surprise, and two: he’s way stronger than anyone else here other than mister blueblood smug fuck over there, and perhaps the glubbing heiress; neither Sollux or Aradia stood a chance, not when they couldn’t even use their own psionic powers thanks to this fucking game.

KV: There won’t be a struggle at all if the other party can’t even put up a defense. That, in turns, explains the lack of any other wounds in their bodies, which would absolutely be the case if they are caught by surprise, giving the Makara not only the upper hand but the entire fucking arm too.

KV: They get killed, then dragged across the third floor over to the art room, where Gamzee proceeds to become the most twisted sickening purple-colored clown-ass sack of shit we’ve ever seen.

KV: Who the fuck tears bodies apart to paint anything with them.

KV: What the fuck, man.

KV: But because he’s the biggest idiot around the whole fucking looney block, he doesn’t even bother cleaning himself off all the blood he’s got on him like some murderous makeup.

KV: Hours later we find the bodies, then right after we find him in his room like this.

KV: Holy fucking shit this is both so infuriating and so stupid I’m going to have a stroke.

KV: Case closed.

KV: Your time’s up, Makara, we’ve cleared this entire thing.

GM: Honk.

KV: And this time I don’t even want to hear your pathetic excuses. Keep them to yourself, you asshole.

GM: :o(

KV: And, for once in your entire fucking outrageous existence, have the MINIMUM DECENCY TO JUST DIE.

Karkat yells even louder than normal, with his blood boiling in rage against the Ultimate Subjugglator. His eyes are filled with anger, and his lips are open showing off clenching teeth; to say that he feels betrayed now, is to fall short.

KV: Ok, we are done with this shit, let’s just cast the fucking votes already—

TP: No.

Terezi interrupts with a firm, though struggling, voice.

KV: The fuck?

KV: Terezi, you know I respect you so much for being a close person to me and a fucking merciless legislacerator in a trial.

KV: You saved our asses in the past two trials, but.

KV: WHAT THE FUCK.

KV: WE HAVE LITERALLY SOLVED THIS SHIT.

KV: THERE’S NOT ONE SINGLE PIECE OF EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER THAT POINTS TO ANYTHING OTHER THAN GAMZEE BEING THE ACTUAL CULPRIT.

TP: I know that seems the case, but—

VS: Karkat’s right, Terezi. What’s wrong?

VS: The more we look at it, the more we fill the gaps, the clearer is that Gamzee’s the killer.

VS: He won’t tell us anything, but now we have a very sound and bulletproof theory about how he did it.

VS: Grab the knives while no one’s watching, take them out in the rec room, drag them over to the art room, then voilà.

VS: And if you want to get nitpicky with the details, there’s literally about three other players who have the strength to overpower them, but no one else is a fucking psychopath like him.

VS: If you ask me, there’s zero reason to believe anyone else could have done it.

VS: And that’s not even taking account the literal fact that he was going to take us out of here, and stop this game.

VS: So? What is there left to say?

VS: Tell me, because even if I used to have a lot of eyes, I can’t see it.

TP: I know, I’m not stupid, but…

TP: I don’t think we should vote just yet.

TP: I’m thinking we are missing something.

VS: Missing what????????

VS: I know you’re a relentless astute warrior, I know from our days back in Flarp.

VS: But right now you’re just being stubborn for no reason.

TP: No, I’m not!

TP: I just have the feeling that maybe.

TP: Maybe we are just getting this entire thing wrong.

VS: How????????

TP: I-I don’t know just yet, but…

EZ: D --> As much as it is uncomfortable for me to say it, I cannot veer from the objective truth.

EZ: D --> Given the lack of his open, explicit confession, this is as close as we’ll get to be wholeheartedly sure of his involvement in the death of those two lowbloods.

FP: I really, really hate sending our friends to die in this stupid game, but we can’t exonerate them from the responsibility of their conch actions!

FP: They chose to kill, and to send us to die in the process.

FP: This is no different!

FP: Someone killed them, knowing we would be forced to either find their identity or die trying.

FP: And that someone.

FP: Is the clownfish next to us. 38(

KM: I always try to keep a neutral, open mind when it comes to such high stakes decisions.

KM: To be unbiased in order to know what’s best for everyone.

KM: But if you ask me for my opinion…

KM: Even if I wanted to give Gamzee the benefit of the doubt, I can’t see anyone else committing this horrible crime.

KM: Everyone else was fully aware that if his attack succeeded, we would finally put an end to this misery.

KM: Your think pan would have to be bereft of all kinds of intelligence if you think acting on them would bring anything positive.

KM: … And though I’m above petty pejoratives, I think we all can agree on the one student who would, even given this context, proceed with the crime.

KM: Gamzee.

GM: Honk.

KM: They were my friends too.

KM: I have known Sollux since we hatched in the brooding caverns. Aradia was a close person to me, too.

KM: I want justice for their deaths, lest the culprit get away unscathed.  

KM: And with all the evidence pointing so clearly to him, I can’t see any reasons to argue over this any further.

KM: The death has been clarified. Given his lack of any useful information, we rebuilt the case as best we can, with solid evidence and sound logic.

KM: And even in the most favorable scenario to him, we can’t think of another potential suspect.

KM: With all that said, I opt to think it’s time we settle this matter.

NL: :33 < I checked the bodies very, very carefully, and… as huntress, I know when only a vicious beast could do such a thing.

NL: :33 < And there’s only one here, in this trial.

NL: :33 < Gamzee.

One by one, the students are becoming more and more convinced of the conclusion that Gamzee is the culprit, like everyone knew from the start, and that this entire trial has done nothing but corroborate that idea even further. Yet Terezi, on the other hand, is still not fully convinced, though she's virtually alone in this.

It seems that only she thinks this case may not be what it seems.

TP: We… We have to keep discussing this.

TP: The case isn’t over, not yet.

TP: Please, trust me. I know we are missing something vital in all this.

KV: Terezi…

TP: Yes?

KV: I don’t get it.

KV: I’m trying to give you the benefit of the doubt, it’s the fucking least I can do for you.

KV: But I just can’t anymore, not like this.

KV: …

KV: Why are you protecting him so much?

Karkat looks at her with concerned eyes, confused and even slightly hurt for her defending someone who clearly is the murderer of their friends.

Why is she doing her best to delay and stall this trial, when everything is already settled?

…

TP: …

But it is that same look that feels for her like daggers piercing her through. She looks down to the floor, hurt by his words, feeling everyone’s eyes on her. She’s just like them right now, she wants to see him pay, her heart wants so much to see him hanging in the gallows with a noose around his neck, but she doesn’t want it to be a reckless decision that can potentially endanger them, then why…

Why is no one seeing this like that? Why is everyone believing she’s just blindly defending him to the end?

… But what if that’s the case? What if she’s just pointlessly defending the person she hates the most?

Their voices, their words, they all resound in her mind until two students speak. The only two players who don’t either hate or fear Gamzee enough to be eager to see him die.

Two players who, right now, are the only ones capable of seeing past the shroud of reckless assumptions.

RL: This is not done yet.

RL: We haven’t solved everything.

JE: Rose… she’s right.

JE: We decided we would clear everything about the case, right?

JE: But we still haven’t talked enough about how the attack fits into the case.

JE: Because I don’t know about you, but I refuse to believe it isn’t related!

JE: It has to be, I just know it.

JE: I don’t care about anything else right now. Until we find that out, I oppose voting time.

Terezi sighs, she needs to regain her composure and focus. If she’s right about having a bad feeling about this, she has only one shot to prove it, and it is now.

MK: Three students, against seven.

MK: Well, four, if the guy over there who seems eager to put some lotion in a basket would actually say something useful.

MK: It’s quite the scrum of a debate, if you ask me!

Ignoring Monokuma’s apparent blabbing, Terezi ponders in silence, trying her best to find a new angle from which to analyze the case. If they are missing something in this, if there’s really more to it, then it must be in something they haven’t analyzed properly so far, if at all.

Go over the investigation. We find the bodies, I leave Cherry Cheeks guarding the rec room, the art room debacle, we go back to the first floor and…

Wait, that’s right. How did I miss that?

TP: Gamzee.

TP: Try not to be an infuriating idiot for once in your life.

TP: Try not to make me hate you even more for once in your life.

TP: And answer me this question.

TP: Just one. Now.

Gamzee slowly turns his head around to face her, eyes trying to open wide, just as wide as his mile beneath the muzzle. He’s listening.

GM: :o?

TP: When I went to your room, and you were against the wall.

KV: ??????

TP: You told me what you did last night.

TP: Was that account one-hundred percent true?

He squints at her for one moment, before nodding happily up and down a few times with a smile in his lips and closed eyes.

TP: Then we have a problem.

KV: What is that.

KV: Tell me now.

TP: Maybe…

TP: Maybe Gamzee didn’t do it, maybe he didn’t kill them.

One single declaration, one single claim from the Ultimate Legislacerator, is enough to send shockwaves across the courtroom. Their conviction, their progress during the entire trial, seemingly undone with just a few words of hers.

VS: Ok, either you are onto something, or you are REALLY off the goop he gave you in his room while I was gone. Fucking yuck.

VS: Explain yourself.

TP: His account is, and I have Equius to testify in this, that he woke up in the middle of the night.

TP: He went to the supply room for a drink.

TP: He can’t remember what happened right after that, but that’s not important.

TP: At some point later, still according to his own account, he was in the art room, finishing the drawings everyone found alongside the bodies.

TP: And here’s the thing.

TP: This time, the Monokuma File doesn’t state the estimated time of death.

TP: It just stated it took place during the night.

TP: At first I was confused why he said that’s all the information we needed to solve the case. Now I understand.

TP: If he had stated the time of their deaths, then it would have been clear from the beginning.

TP: Gamzee didn’t woke up until much later, almost during daytime.

TP: I know that because by the time he went back to his room, he found a plate of food in front of his door, courtesy of Karkat.

TP: And Karkat told us, as some of us may remember, that he did so right after 7 a.m., as soon as the doors to the dining hall opened.

TP: And by the time he went back there to check, the plate was gone.

KV: …

KV: Fuck.

TP: If Gamzee had killed them, then knowing the hour of death wouldn’t be a decisive factor to determine the culprit from the start. Thus, it wouldn’t have been necessary to hide it from us.

TP: But because when they died, and when he was awake, don’t match up, the estimated time of death in itself becomes a vital piece of evidence to determine who, in this case, did not kill them.

TP: That explains the lack of thereof in the Monokuma File, and why he said what little information it has, is enough to solve the case.

TP: The lack of information, in itself, becomes a vital clue.

Terezi stops speaking for a second, waiting for their response. All the while, some of the students are simply in awe with her display of intelligence and shrewdness. Rose is impressed; she would never admit it, but she just outright wouldn’t have noticed such a small detail like that, having this much of an implication in the case. Kanaya is very surprised at how observant Terezi has been this entire investigation and trial, while Karkat has some serious mixed feelings about this entire thing, to say the least. Some students are truly impressed by how ferocious of a legislacerator she is, capable of making an entire case out of almost thin air, defending what seems practically indefensible, and succeeding in it.

Some, but not all.

VS: Is that all you have?

Vriska crosses her arms and takes one step back, unimpressed.

VS: Sure, he went back to his room during daytime or whatever, but that doesn’t imply in the slightest he wasn’t already awake hours earlier.

VS: If you need proof, everyone knows making art takes a long fucking time anyways, so it could have perfectly taken him hours to make, meaning he could have woken up around midnight, and then you have the entire night as a timeframe again, just like in the Monokuma file.

VS: I thought you really had—

TP: I do have one more piece of evidence.

TP: One everyone overlooked.

VS: … And that is?

TP: Before I say it, let’s go over the past trials for a moment, and the rules.

Terezi leaves her cane leaning on the podium as she takes off her glasses to put both hands on it, herself leaning forward to the rest of the students with her red, exposed eyes staring emptily into the distance. Everyone else has learned by now that when she takes off her glasses, it means she’s the most focused on her job. And right now, her job is to prove the innocence of the troll she hates the most.

Justice is sacred, that much is right.

TP: I’d like to bring rule number five to the case.

She snaps her fingers to keep everyone’s attention right on her.

“Rule #5: The "Body Discovery Announcement" will play when three or more students discover a body.”

TP: First death, Vriska goes over to Tavros’s room, where she finds him dead. I follow her moments later, then Jade does so too. Only then is that the announcement is made.

TP: Keep that in mind.

TP: Days later, the second death. John goes to Jade’s room to check on her. Rose goes after him, and I smell the scent of trouble, so I do that too. Then, the announcement is made yet again.

TP: First, it was Vriska, me and Jade. Then, it was John, Rose, and me.

TP: The culprit does not count for the Body Discovery Announcement.

TP: And here’s the final evidence to prove Gamzee’s innocence.

GM: :o)

TP: I did not find the body, until after the announcement.

KV: ...

TP: And besides me, only two other students were outside the dorm rooms.

TP: Equius and Feferi.

JE: Then that means…

JE: Someone else found the bodies first?

Terezi nods.

TP: As I said, the culprit does not count for the announcement.

TP: With that in mind.

TP: Who is the only other student who openly confessed to having been in the art room during the night?

KV: … Gamzee…

TP: That’s right.

TP: He may have found the bodies, and for some reason decided to tear them apart.

TP: But he did not kill Sollux and Aradia.

TP: In other words.

TP: Gamzee is not the culprit.

...

Everyone is left silent.

Class Trial, suspended!

This trial truly is cooking up to be something good.

From the start, everyone was sooo sure the Ultimate Subjugglator was the culprit

But all trial long, the daredevil legislacerator was dead-set on discovering the truth.

And now that the trial is well underway, I think it’s a good time for a little break!

I’m a bear, and bears are very perceptive, did you know that?

When taking care of the guardians of both worlds, I noticed some strange things here and there.

Some numbers popping up every now and then.

Something that only someone like me could—

Oh, I’m sure every single one of you already know what I’m talking about.

There’s a reason why the writer is trapped in a basement with that ball and chain.

To make sure they had this ready in time.

From the bottom of my despairing heart, happy 4/13, everyone!

Chapter Text

Class Trial, resume!

Gamzee gleams with joy as he looks around from side to side, his head almost swaying in the motion. Yet, while everyone tries to avert their gaze when he looks at them, the Makara is simply happy to be here with his friends.

Friends like Karkat, who wants to scream and rage for the idea that someone in here killed Sollux and Aradia, and that not even in death they could find dignified peace from a wretched reality.

Friends like Rose, who is perplexed at the thought that someone else committed the crime, knowing full well the implications of their actions.

Friends like Terezi, who is almost hating every single word coming out of her mouth, unyieldingly defending the troll she hates the most—someone so despicable and vile, yet ultimately innocent.

JE: I… I. Wow. Crap.

FP: I can’t even believe it. Glub.

NL: :33 < …

TP: Before anyone says it.

TP: I hate it just as much as you do.

TP: No one deserves to have their remains desecrated like this, let alone them.

TP: But we can’t convict an innocent person from a crime they did not make, much less when it involves our deaths in the process.

TP: That’s just stupid.

TP: If we want justice for their deaths, we only have one option.

KV: … To find the actual real culprit.

TP: You’re right.

VS: And if we want to tie the noose around the culprit’s neck, we only have one way to do it.

VS: Did anyone find anything else during the investigation????????

Karkat looks with pain to the side, sighs, then takes a step forward in his podium.

KV: I did.

KV: There’s a reason why I didn’t say anything, don’t expect any fucking miracles please.

GM: Hooonk!

KV: Shut up.

KV: Hidden in the room I found… the husktop Sollux used.

KV: I immediately tried to look inside in search for some if any answers, but guess what.

KV: Luck wasn’t on my side.

KV: The story of my fucking life.

VS: Monokuma, did you delete everything there to cover your tracks?

VS: Did you?!

MK: H-huh? What are you talking about?

Terezi swiftly turns her head to the side, after what she perceives to be genuine confusion in his intonation.

Did he not know…

MK: One, I didn’t kill them.

MK: Two, nope! I didn’t touch that laptop at all!

He didn’t.

Terezi stays silent; a legislacerator will never show their cards, unless it’s advantageous to do so.

KV: I guess I should mention it wasn’t completely empty.

KV: I found two things: A program that requires a password to be run. Fuck me if I know it.

KV: And a file. Literally just that. No filename extension, no name other than a string of letters and numbers. Perhaps it’s corrupted or something; seems like it.

KV: That’s all that there is in the husktop.

VS: Hey, ‘Kuma. Sorry for what I just said, no hard feelings okay?

VS: Can you open this thing for us? It’s very important.

MK: Hmph? Do you think I’m your personal butler or something?

MK: Why would I start doing that for you?!

MK: It’s not my problem if you can’t even code Hello World!

TP: …

TP: I don’t think there’s a point in asking him to do that.

TP: I don’t think he can do it at all.

MK: W-what?

Monokuma immediately turns his attention over to the Ultimate Legislacerator, feeling aghast. His expression is one full of shock, and he’d be sweating if it wasn’t for the fact that he’s a literal robot. She, in the meantime, adjusts her red gloves.

TP: That’s all I’ll say for now.

TP: But I do think he’s saying the truth when he said he didn’t touch the husktop.

TP: Otherwise, he’d be interfering with the crime scene.

MK: Finally, someone bothers to remember the rules!

MK: You know they are in your e-Handbooks to read, right?

MK: It’s like you guys only read them once and forget about them…

Monokuma looks dispirited at the floor. All his work and effort into making the rules accessible for everyone to remember, in vain.

And no student cares.

TP: I think we should move on to the next aspect of the case.

TP: Given what we’ve deduced from the investigation so far, I don’t think neither Sollux nor Aradia had the chance to write in the husktop right before dying.

TP: In other words, I don’t think whatever the husktop has inside, is the answer to this case, so we can dismiss it for now.

KV: Well, touché, I guess.

KV: But then we don’t have any other clues to work with.

KV: What the hell do we do now?

TP: I… I don’t know.

TP: From what I can infer, the bodies got mutilated after death.

TP: Thank Gamzee for that.

GM: :o)

TP: And because he isn’t able, or willing—or both—to cooperate, we won’t know any more details about how he found the details.

TP: Not that it really matters.

TP: If he didn’t kill them, then he found them already dead, and just decided to do his thing.

TP: Serket, John, I need your help.

JE: Huh?

VS: What do you need, Tez?

TP: My strong suit has always been analyzing actions, and their branching of consequences.

TP: Thoroughly examining paths. Nothing too great, to be honest, but it’s something.

TP: But I know both of you excel at lateral thinking.

TP: And right now we need it, badly.

VS: Sure, if we don’t find the culprit we’ll be dead anyways, so might as well.

VS: Up for this, John?

JE: Yeah!

JE: And we can start with the fact that if Gamzee isn’t the blackened, the someone else is.

KV: Well, that’s fucking obvious, isn’t it???

JE: Wait a moment you numbnuts!

JE: What we all said a while ago makes sense. Makes sense to assume no one would kill Sollux and Aradia because of them being our ticket out of here. It evidently is the most logical assumption.

JE: But what if we are looking at things the wrong way?

The wrong way? How…?

JE: Sure, logic is good and all, but maybe this time it isn’t the only way to the answer. This would open the door to the possibility someone else did it.

RL: … By setting aside our most fundamental notions of this case, and temporarily discarding our ad-hoc dogma of rationale.

JE: I have no idea what you just said, but I guess so!

JE: I don’t know any more than you guys do, but I’m sure that if our current approach isn’t working, then we don’t lose anything by trying something else!

Everyone thinks in silence for a few moments. Most about what John is saying, about looking at things from a different perspective, but Terezi thinks about the possibility she got the whole case, the entire investigation about this double murder, fundamentally wrong.

And it wouldn’t be the first time it happens to her, to get an entire picture wrong; Doc Scratch can attest to that. 

VS: I’ve got something. Worth a shot at least.

VS: Let’s take for a fact that Gamzee didn’t do it, and that Monokuma didn’t either because why not.

VS: As far as we know he was offline at that moment anyways.

VS: That leaves nine potential culprits.

VS: Kanaya, Nepeta, Karkat, Equius, Feferi, Terezi, Rose, John…

VS: And me.

VS: Now, out of anyone here, there are only two people capable of overpowering them: Equius and Feferi.

VS: Sure, not railroading our thinking and everything, but we can’t ignore the facts.

VS: But with what you said, there’s another possibility.

VS: Those close enough to them, that they’d never raise their guard or suspect a thing.

VS: Sorry Equius, but Sollux was never fond of you.

VS: Neither Aradia really. You crept the fuck out of her sometimes, man.

EZ: D --> Ouch.

VS: And those two close enough aaaaaaaare…

VS: …

Vriska takes a pause for dramatic effect with a smug smile as she looks everyone in the eyes. It feels good to be on the spotlight.

VS: Terezi and Karkat.

TP: …

Even more than when Gamzee was declared innocent, everyone is left speechless and stunned in the face of that claim, at the mere idea that those two could potentially be the blackened behind the murders.

The students’ eyes are wide open, as the stakes of this class trial get higher and higher, now that the outcome is anything but certain anymore.

KV: WHAT THE FUCK.

KV: SERKET, WHAT THE SHIT.

KV: *WHY* *WOULD* *I* *KILL* *MY* *FRIENDS*???

VS: Dunno, you can ask Eridan for that.

VS: Or Dave, since you were even closer to him.

VS: Hell, even Gamzee could have killed you instead for all we know.

VS: Being friends doesn’t save you from death here.

VS: Nor it saves you from the people closest to you.

VS: That’s a lesson everyone should know by now.

VS: And no one here’s exempt from that. It doesn’t matter how close you were to Sollux.

KV: THIS IS SO FUCKING OUTRAGING I THINK I’M GONNA PUKE.

KV: TEREZI EXPLAINS THIS BRAINDEAD SACK OF SHIT WHY WE WOULDN’T—

TP: She’s right.

TP: We have to prove our innocence.

Terezi hates it, hates it a lot, but she’s right. That line of thinking is right.

KV: WHAT.

TP: There’s only two potential profiles for the culprit as far as I can tell, KK.

TP: Those who can end the fight before it even begins, and those who never needed a fight to begin with, either way to murder them.

TP: We fall under that second category.

KM: I suppose that’s the case for me, too, since I was very close to Sollux as well.

KV: God fucking DAMN IT.

KV: What kind of sick joke is this shit?

TP: A murder mystery, a class trial.

KV: FUCK.

TP: I know we don’t like it, but we still have to do it. If we don’t prove our innocence, everyone dies.

KV: I can’t even BELIEVE the blackened is making us go through this fucking shit. FUCK me.

TP: …

Karkat. Please don’t fail me now.

Terezi grips her cane as hard as she can, trying to think a way out of this mess. But not only for herself, she does that for Karkat, too. She just can’t accept the idea, the possibility that he might be the culprit behind the murders.

She chose to believe in him, and she’ll do so until the end. The culprit must be someone else, and she’ll prove it no matter what it takes.

And then, she has an idea, one ace up her neophyte sleeve.

TP: Instead of looking at who could have done it, let’s analyze it as to why the culprit would have done it.

TP: We disproved the main hypothesis already, with Gamzee being now innocent.

GM: Honk.

TP: So now we have to find a reason to not only why would the culprit kill, knowing the end of the game was near, but also those two specifically.

TP: Everyone knew Sollux and Aradia would spend the night together, so it isn’t like it was a fortuitous event that would lead the culprit to kill them both, though that much should be obvious already.

TP: This leads me to believe the killer targeted them intentionally. I just can’t think of another option.

TP: But why would the blackened target them.

KV: Why the hell would you attack the one getting you out of here.

KV: It just doesn’t make any fucking sense whatsoever.

KV: Why the attack Sollux was carrying out, would make you target him, and Aradia too as a byproduct.

KV: Holy fuck I feel awful for degrading her to just collateral damage. I hope you can forgive me wherever you are, Aradia.

KV: Although, honestly, I hope it’s better than here.

JE: I… I have an idea.

TP What is it?

JE: I think it may be really dumb, so don’t judge it!

VS: Spit it out already. Just like last time, we don’t have anything better anyways.

JE: W-well, is that maybe, just maybe, what if…

JE: The attack isn’t related to the murders at all?

Karkat is confused, yet Terezi freezes in pose, stunned by that possibility. A scenario so clearly in front of her all along, yet one she had ignored this entire time, blinded by the idea that the attack itself had to be related to the murders, as if the very reason they were carried.

What if what John is saying is correct?

How could she fail so horribly at her own job?

She needs to rethink this entire investigation and trial, even if just in case. Maybe in what she neglected could there be the answer to this painful case of two deaths. This class trial has been going on for far too long, yet the mystery remains.

KV: Well in that case I’ll throw myself out the nearest window because nothing in this entire universe would make any sense any-fucking-more.

EZ: D --> Let’s assume, theoretically, that what the human said is right.

EZ: D --> If the attack isn’t the motive for the murders, we are now again missing the reasoning behind the murder.

EZ: D --> Maybe straightforward thinking is not the answer this time, but there must still be some kind of thought process.

EZ: D --> What made them kill the lowbloods, and carry out not one, but two successive murders, knowing in full details the implications of such endeavor, and what it implies for everyone else.

EZ: D --> No matter how much out of the box thinking we want to do, the question remains unanswered. And until we find the answer, we will still be suspects of this crime.

TP: You aren’t the culprit, Equius. Neither are you, Feferi.

She interrupts with her mind somewhere else right now, but still needing to point that out.

TP: You two counted for the body discovery announcement, after all.

EZ: D --> Oh, you’re absolutely right, legislacerator. I did not think about that.

FP: Neither did I! 380!

EZ: D --> My apologies for that.

TP: At least we have now discarded you three from the list of potential culprits.

EZ: D --> But the point still stands. We do not know the blackened’s reasoning.

KM: … And everything falls yet again, on the same question we are unable the answer.

KM: Why.

KM: With Eridan’s case, it was our… tendencies, working against ourselves in such enclosed space.

KM: In Dave’s case, it was being forced to face our worst fears and traumas.

KM: But now, we cannot grasp the reasoning behind not only one, but two simultaneous murders.

KM: We cannot think what could ever push them to do such a heinous thing.

Wait, that’s it.

The motive.

JE: Guys… I thought of something.

JE: Something very bad, very, very bad, but that would explain this weird frustrating double puzzle we’re in.

VS: That is?

JE: … What if Monokuma’s motive is the answer?

EZ: D --> Human, did you forget the headmaster never announced it? The double death happened before it came into effect.

JE: I know! But hear me out.

JE: Just like last time, a motive was supposed to come into effect and all if we didn’t kill someone. He must have planned it in advance, right? Monokuma isn’t the kind of guy to go improvising his way through life, let alone in a game like this.

JE: Well, the point is that he knew what the motive would be, long before its announcing.

MK: Puhuhu!

JE: So, he knew it. He knew it a week ago, he knew it yesterday, and he knew it last night.

JE: But… maybe he wasn’t the only one who got to know the motive.

NL: :33 < What are you talking about? How is that pawssible???

JE: Think about it. There’s one person in this school who, as far as I understand, tried to sneak into the system with a cyberattack.

JE: If they succeeded, which they did because everything stopped for a while and stuff, then…

JE: There was literally nothing stopping them from discovering the motive, way before any of us knew about it.

JE: What they came to know, triggered the murders.

…

No…

Terezi looks down at the floor, with a horrible idea slowly seeping into her mind, one she’s trying to fight and deny.

JE: We don’t know the reasons behind the murders, because only two people ever did!

KV: … You have to be shitting me…

JE: Well, besides the blackened, I guess.

VS: And those two are Sollux and Aradia.

JE: I just… that idea kind of just randomly spawned in my mind.

JE: Sorry if it sounds stupid…

VS: No, John. Don’t apologize for shit.

VS: Not only that’s a great fucking theory, it’s the only one we’ve got.

VS: Maybe it’s wrong in the end, but who cares, literally no one!

VS: You came up with something very smart when we were all stuck in the water, and you had the guts to share it even if you didn’t think it was the best!

VS: So don’t be sorry for shit. Until someone thinks of something different that actually ends up being the truth, this is the best thing we have right now.

VS: Screw all that other noise, like Karkat complaining we’ll all die or whatever pessimist bullshit of his.

KV: WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO NOW.

FP: Being yourself for shore, according to our beloved spiderhag. 38P

KV: GLUB OFF.

FP: 38D!

VS: You do you, John, and let’s keep working on this.

JE: Sure! I just thought that maybe, if we can’t think of a reason why the murders happened, then it’s because we don’t have the means to view them at all.

JE: Like, we have always lacked a good chunk of information, but this time is even worse, so maybe that extends to the motivations behind this thing.

JE: Then, once they learned about it, maybe they shared it with someone else who then killed them because of it?

JE: I’m NOT sure about that, though.

VS: I mean, let’s analyze it for a moment.

VS: On one hand we have the fact that only Monokuma, for obvious reasons, knew whatever motive he had in store. You can add Sollux and Aradia in the bag here too.

VS: On the other hand, we have that whoever’s the culprit, they had no real reason to kill one of them, let alone both.

VS: We can try and theorize as much as we want, but we’d be stuck here for eternity. And Monokuma probably wouldn’t be too happy about that.

VS: If anything, I’m sure his patience is running thin since all we’ve been doing is to go in circles again and again all trial long.

VS: Ok, enough messing around. Time to get to business.

VS: Given the crippling lack of any other options, I’m riding this boat. Screw it. All aboard the Brigantine.

VS: Whoever killed them… one: They had to know exactly where Sollux and Aradia they would be. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to land a killing blow so fast the victims couldn’t put up even a fight.

VS: Two: Given Gamzee, Equius, and Feferi are off the hook, strength wasn’t a decisive factor. The culprit had to use some trick up their sleeves, or manipulate the victims, so they didn’t try to fight back.

VS: That’s the only reasonable explanation for why they don’t have any other wounds other than the stabby-stabby ones in their chests. Why in the chest, and in the same exact place in both bodies, and not somewhere else like the throat? Hell if I know.

VS: Three: They had to, somehow, come to learn about the motive Monokuma was storing for the near future. Without a motivation to kill, there’s no reason to kill. Simple as that. The fact that we were so close to getting out of here is a pretty strong argument to back that up.

VS: Four, and most importantly: The blackened had to be so affected by the motive, it drove them to kill right there on the spot.

VS: Damn, the more I’m saying this the more confusing it gets.

I must… I must be overthinking it. It can’t be.

There’s silence for a few seconds, with most students trying to think what to say. Too many questions, too few answers; a repeating story that’s getting worse and worse with each passing trial.

VS: Any suggestions? I’m open to all ideas, you know?

EZ: D --> … What about a traitor?

EZ: D --> Someone determined to keep the killing game running at all costs?

VS: …

Out of nowhere and in a single moment, all the mystery and tension, all the palpable nervousness in the air, is abruptly replaced by a cold, uncomfortable, almost sickening atmosphere.

One simple question, sowing the seeds of a horrible, yet impossible to fully deny, possibility in their minds.

That one of their friends, truly and wholeheartedly, is against everyone here.

EZ: D --> That would answer all these unknowns in one swift blow.

NL: :33 < I… I don’t think that’s the case, Equius.

EZ: D --> What do you mean?

He looks at her. His muscles are tense out of the frustration due to their lack of progress; they aren’t getting closer to the culprit, and the time is running out.

Equius needs a towel.

NL: :33 < First of all, I refuse to believe anyone would betray us!

NL: :33 < Not Terezi, not the humans, not Kanaya, not Karkat, not you!

NL: :33 < I just refuse to believe that. But I’m not stupid! I have evidence to prove that’s not the case.

NL: :33 < For one very simple reason my whiskers detected right away: It’s an impawssible scenario!

NL: :33 < We know that Sollux and Aradia got to learn about what’s going on behind the scenes, right?

EZ: D --> Yes, that seems to be a fact by now.

NL: :33 < Then they would have come to learn someone is working with Nekokuma!

MK: Me w h a t?!

Monokuma crushes his mojito glass under the pressure of his own paw, shattering it into pieces. He’s absolutely fuming. How can anyone have the absolute gall to compare a prestigious creature like a bear—and mascot like him—to an overdone and far too cliché animal like a freaking cat?!

MK: I’m a bear! Don’t you dare to drag my pristine reputation through the mud like that!!!

NL: >:// < Shut up! I’m not talking to you, you poophead!!!

NL: X(( < Back to what I was saying.

NL: :33 < If there’s something I know as a huntress, is that a prey won’t go down without a fight as soon as it learns that there’s even just a chance of a predator lurking nearby.

NL: :33 < And if they had learned about the motive this way, they would have surely learned about a traitor too!

NL: :33 < *And* if they knew someone would try to stop them, they wouldn’t have been caught by surprise at all!

NL: :33 < If you lose the element of surprise, you lose the chance for clean executions, which means a struggle, which means the direct opposite of what me and Rose found in their bodies.

NL: :33 < So I’m sure there isn’t a traitor, meow whiskers are very sure of it!!!

EZ: D --> That makes… sense. Question withdrawn.

Knowing the idea of a traitors seems very unlikely, at least for the time being, helps to ease the atmosphere in the room, though just slightly. They are, yet again, back to where they began.

Two scenarios discarded, nine still standing, and one culprit yet to be caught.

But no matter what, everything will boil down to just one of two outcomes: They live, or they die. And the students of this Semester of Killing are giving their all to make sure it’s the former, not the latter.

RL: With everything we have discussed so far, if we discard the idea of a traitor then… it just doesn’t make sense anymore.

RL: Only Sollux and Aradia could know about the motive, and they did once the attack had begun.

RL: That means the culprit had to learn from them the motive. There’s no other way around it.

RL: But then the blackened wouldn’t have gone over to the rec room with the intent to kill, because they lacked the motive to do so in the first place, so they wouldn’t have even gotten the knives in advance for the murders.

RL: It seems almost paradoxical in nature.

RL: For the killer to meet them, they first need the motive to do so. But in order to have the motive, they first needed to go and meet them.

RL: There’s no traitor as Nepeta proved, and logic dictates that none of us had any other means to know about any motives, let alone have one to kill in these circumstances.

VS: Then who the hell could be the culprit?!?!?!?!

…

This is it, isn’t it. The possibility she dreaded the most, unfolded in front of her eyes.

And it pains her so, so much.

TP: …

TP: I don’t want to say it.

TP: I hate the idea. I hate it so much.

Terezi says with an almost cracking voice, while she grips her cane and her breathing becomes fast and agitated. Everyone was so focused in the trial itself, no one noticed how close is Terezi to breaking down in tears, but still managing to keep herself composed and collected, though barely. Karkat is the first to turn around and look at her, immediately feeling nervous and worried about her.

KV: … Is there something wrong Terezi?

KV: Fuck, this entire situation sucks for everyone, but hell will grow cold like my own corpse long before anything keeps me from being here for you no matter what.

His face is one full of concern for her, for the Ultimate Legislacerator.

KV: We both know far too well how this entire case has been difficult for us. Some of our closest friends, dead; how in the fuck it wouldn’t be.

KV: You always keep your shit together because you were trained for this, we know it and frankly it is amazing, but fuck being just a legislacerator.

KV: You are our friend, too, and this affects you just as much as me or anyone else.

KV: So whatever you are going to say Terezi, you can always take your time.

KV: Don’t push yourself too hard, please.

Terezi turns her head to the side to face him, to smell him directly, that soft yet undeniable taste of candy beneath the ashes that feels so familiar to her. She’s still collected, but he’s right, it won’t hurt her. She inhales, then exhales to completely calm down, and focus on the mystery to remove its shroud. She leaves the cane leaning on the podium, before taking off her gloves to feel her own hands against each other. It takes her a few seconds, but once Terezi’s ready, she faces forward, the redness of her eyes for everyone to see, just like the sheer determination in them.

TP: … Now I realized it.

TP: A possibility I never wanted to even acknowledge, because it implies something so horrible.

KV: What???

TP: I have to explain everything first, everything we know.

TP: If not, you might not accept it. I tried not to.

It is time to put an end to this case, and let their dead friends rest.

TP: This case didn’t begin last night, but right after the last one ended.

TP: Sick of everyone falling one by one, and hearing the voices of the imminently deceased again, Sollux decided to take things into his own hand. Using his hacking skills, he would take us out of here.

TP: But that would take some time. He had only one shot, and would make the most out of it.

TP: Fast forward a few days, and he’s ready. The attack will begin during the night, when he expects the mastermind not to expect it.

TP: Unfortunately, they knew it all along, but that’s beyond the point for now.

TP: But Sollux is still a troll, a person like the rest of us, so he probably was extremely anxious on the inside about it. That’s why he asked the closest person to him to accompany him in the final hours before the attack. Aradia accepted.

TP: At some point during the night, it begins. I don’t know what he did, and probably wouldn’t understand him if he tried to explain it, but it was something big. Something so big, it stopped the killing game.

TP: But it had a side effect no one expected: By reaching the code that runs this game, or at least what connects this place and Monokuma to the mastermind, they came to know one thing they didn’t predict: the motive Monokuma had in store for us.

TP: We don’t know what it was, but we know one thing for certain. Whoever found out about it, would feel either the need for immediate action, or such immense despair, that they would be willing to kill on the spot.

TP: The deaths were clean, reflected by the fact both Sollux and Aradia had a single stab wound in their chests.

TP: They died in one of the couches of the Rec Room, where Gamzee later found them and… his purpleblood nature got the best of him.

TP: Gamzee tore their bodies apart, almost brutalizing them beyond recognition. But he did it in a cold, calculated way.

TP: He ripped off their limbs to paint with them, yet did not wound their bodies any further, which in the end helped us understand something: However they died, theirs were clean deaths, there was not a struggle at all.

TP: That raised the question: Who could kill them, and how could they achieve such clean results.

TP: And even if they did, why. We were so close to getting out of here, there was no reason for any more deaths, let alone those two in the same night they would take us out of here.

TP: We struggled to understand what reason could there be for any of us to kill. We couldn’t find any reasoning for it; we couldn’t solve that question.

TP: Because Monokuma’s motive couldn’t be the answer, as we discovered. The culprit would have discovered it far too late, from the victims themselves.

TP: But the answer was in front of us all along, and it is a simple one: We never had one at all. Not even Gamzee, the main suspect for most of this trial, had one.

TP: So that raises the question: If none of us killed them, then who did?

TP: That’s the nature of this case I didn’t understand, or even worse, I didn’t want to understand, until now, when I couldn’t look away from it anymore.

TP: Sollux and Aradia didn’t get killed by someone else; it wasn’t a double murder.