//------------------------------// // A Guide in the Darkness - Deadly Life 3 // Story: Danganronpa vG: Goodbye Magic // by witegrlninja //------------------------------// "I... uh..." Button mumbled, suddenly feeling very self-conscious as everyone's heads swiveled to look at him. "I don't get it... what's having laundered clothes have to do with the case?" asked Flash. "He was outside by the Fire Pit for hours with Indigo and Ocean," explained Sunset. "He should smell just as bad as they do." "But he doesn't, as Sonata just demonstrated... which can only mean he washed his clothes at some point before the body discovery announcement!" I finished. "That... but..." Sunburst stammered. "Button's the one who's been warning us about the killing game ever since we learned about it, why would he go against his own advice?" "Y-Yea, why would I?" Button nodded shakily. "He could've just put new clothes on," suggested Juniper. "A-And maybe sprayed himself with a bunch of deodorant!" "Could've also just had himself a ho's bath," added Indigo. "You know... pits, tits and ass? He doesn't need to completely shower." New clothes...? ...No, wait, if Kotenage mentioned that his silk robe was the only one he had while he was here, then none of us should have... "Wait, that's not right!" I shot in. "Button couldn't have just put a new set of clothes on... none of us have any spare outfits!" "Ghh-!" Button hissed. "This is true... I've been wearing the same thing all this time," Silver looked down at herself in mild disdain. "The only other spare clothes around here are my pajamas and the tacky souvenir clothes in the camp store." "SOU SOU... THIS IS THE ONLY SILK ROBE I HAVE WHILE I'M HERE," Kotenage nodded in agreement. "I... haven't even opened any of the packs of spare underwear in my drawers, in case those bears did something to them," Sugarcoat muttered under her breath. "I've been washing mine in the sink every night." "Whoa... paranoid, much?" Mountain raised an eyebrow. "Hey, until just a few hours ago, I was the only one taking this shit here seriously!" she retorted. "Who knows what else those bears have done?!" "Right, right, let's forget about that for now," Sunset grumbled as she shook her hands. "Look, point is, we all only have the one set of clothes, and Button washed his. Now what does that mean?" "Well... you wash your clothes if you get something on them, right?" suggested Flash. "So... he must've gotten something on them." "Y-Yea, like some mud or sap from the firewood," Button agreed quickly... almost too quickly. "Looks awful on a white shirt like mine!" While the others mulled it over with varying degrees of trust, I couldn't help but feel suspicious. Hrm... I feel like the answer is staring me right in the face. If I just take a minute to think this through... ...Why would Button need to wash his clothes before morning? ...Because he got something on them, most likely. And what could possibly have gotten on his clothes that would make him need to wash them? ...Yea, blood would definitely do it. Now, where could the blood have come from, where it would've gotten on his clothes? ...Oh! The plastic tarp in the fire pit! I can answer that! "I really don't think you washed your clothes because of tree sap," I spoke. "I think... you got blood on yourself by accident." "Uh..." Button mouthed dumbly, his pupils shrinking. "H-How do you figure?" Ocean stuttered. "Well, we know the killer used the plastic tarp to keep the blood off of themself," I explained. "But then when they went to burn the tarp in the fire... I dunno, maybe the wind picked up, or the tarp crinkled the wrong way, but somehow the killer wound up getting blood on themselves anyway." "Yea... and that would've been a dead giveaway if you didn't wash your clothes," Sunset nodded, her eyes widening. "I... n-no...!" Button weakly tried to argue. "I-I swear, I really got sap on m-me!" "I've gotten sap on me, and you don't see me washing everything because of it," Mountain shrugged. "Y-Yea, but you're a hunter! A woodswoman!" he snapped back. "Me too... I mean, we all kind of have more important things to worry about here than keeping our clothes spotless," Flash shrugged. "Besides, you never really struck me as the... meticulous type," Silver bit her lip, trying to be diplomatic. "You have kind of stunk ever since we all got here," Sugarcoat's nose curled as she edged away from Button. "Wha- but Indy and Ocean had weed, too!" Button shouted. "Yea, but... you really reeked, man," Indigo drew her lips into a thin line. "Like... 'you hadn't showered in a week' levels of reek." "BY THE GODS... DON'T TELL ME YOU'RE ONE OF THOSE KINDS OF OTAKU," Kotenage recoiled in disgust. "No... no! Damn it, the last thing I remember before coming here, I'd just finished a 24-hour gaming marathon for charity!" Button shrieked, banging his fists on his podium. "I'm not that much of a no-life neckbeard!" "Maybe not," I cut in, pointing straight at Button. "...But it's the only explanation that makes sense. You washed your clothes to hide the fact that you killed Dr. Hooves!" "I..." Button's voice died in his throat as he surveyed the room, all eyes leering angrily right at him as Monokuma and the Kubs watched with glee. Slowly, he breathed heavily, his eyes threatening to grow so large they'd fall out of his head. He clapped a palm over his face and pulled it down, clenching his teeth... and he began to softly, brokenly laugh. "You... you guys really want to keep going down this dialogue path?" "I mean... it's not looking good for you right now," Memento replied. "I know, I know! But... d-don't you guys remember? The motive?" his voice cracked. "I... alright, yea... I did it. But only so I could get out and go for help! The rest of you will be fine... one of us had to take one for the team, ya know? In order to go get help!" "Oh... right..." Sunset breathed. In an instant, most of the angry glares were suddenly placated, although Sugarcoat continued her silent judgment. A nauseating sense of realization plunked into my stomach and dragged it down to the floor. In the heat of solving the murder... we had forgotten what would've been best for our group... I had forgotten what would've been best for us all. Crap, that's right... if the killer wins, they can leave... and they'd be our best shot at escape! "No..." Juniper gasped quietly. "I-If we find the true k-killer... he can't escape and send h-help..." Silence reigned for a few moments, up until Indigo slammed her palm shakily on her lectern. "No, wait... I-I did it!" "I did it, t-too!" Ocean shouted before Indigo's mouth had even closed. "No, i-it was me!" Silver shuddered, tears forming in her eyes. "I lied, o-oops!" "I did it!" Soarin' yelled. "I-I wasn't even around, but it was totally me!" "NO, I DID IT!" Kotenage roared. Suddenly everyone except Flash, Sunset, Sugarcoat and myself were shouting that they were, in fact, the killer, like some kind of bastardized version of the movie Stallicus. The desperation tore at my heart as everyone tried their hardest to pretend we hadn't just solved a murder together... ...Well, almost everyone. "Oh for fuck's sake, give it up, you guys!" Sugarcoat scolded. "It was fucking Button, of all people... he killed Dr. Hooves! He's guilty!" "No... I-It wasn't me! You can't prove I did it... you can't prove I was out there when he was murdered!" Button shouted, louder than everyone else. But even as the words entered my ears, the final mystery rolling around in my mind suddenly came into focus. My eyes widened at the realization, only to squeeze shut in disgust... when I opened them again, I saw Monokuma staring right at me, boring a hole into my very soul with those mismatched eyes, leaning over in his throne so far he might've fallen off if he hadn't been holding on. He knew that I knew. There was no way I could lie and accuse anyone else now. Not when doing so endangered everyone else. Ugh... you wretched Monokubs and your rule... ...I can prove it was you! "Damn it... I'm sorry, guys, but it was definitely Button, and no one else," I sighed sadly. "The proof is in the fire pit." "H-How so?!" Button shrieked. "If Button saw that Indigo and Ocean were sleeping, then wouldn't the logical course of action have been to wake them up proper so they could all get to bed? But instead of doing that, he claims to have nudged Ocean awake, and then threw more wood onto the fire without sticking around to see them fully wake up. Why? If he left for bed himself, and also left Indigo and Ocean asleep outside in the cold, then the fire could go out while they were still asleep, and then they'd freeze." "Then... they might've wound up being the victims," Flash hummed as everyone regrettably calmed down. "The fire also could've wound up burning the whole forest to the ground," Mountain suggested. "Unlikely, given the concrete ring around the fire pit, but I've heard of it happening before. That would've been a most unfortunate complication." "But then if they did fully wake up, then a murder likely wouldn't have happened at all. It doesn't make any sense," I finished. "Unless he didn't actually go to bed, and kept the fire going for himself... almost like he was waiting for someone," Sunset's mouth fell open. "But he wasn't alone! Why not get Indigo and Ocean to bed before he killed Dr. Hooves?" asked Soarin'. "Having some other people there might've lulled the Doctor into a false sense of security," shrugged Sugarcoat. "Even if they were asleep, he might've thought there'd be no chance of a murder happening, and let his guard down as a result." "I... I..." Button panted, staring at the floor, drawing out the syllables until he finally admitted defeat. "That... wasn't... what I wanted to do..." "Welp, you tried..." Sonata sighed before perking back up. "Uh... can we go over the whole thing again, from the top? I... kinda need to hear it again... just to be sure." "Right, yea... I-I can do that," I swallowed hard, then cleared my throat. This is the truth of the case! "It all started when the culprit and a couple of their friends decided to have a little get together by the Fire Pit last night. They partied for hours by the campfire, talking, smoking and eating MonoMono Machine snacks, at least up until Nighttime. However, the revelry proved to be too much for the culprit's companions and they eventually dozed off, sound asleep against the logs facing the Main Cabin and to the right, leaving the culprit to their own devices. The culprit told us that they had nudged Ocean awake before leaving for their own cabin for the night, putting some more wood in the fire so he and Indigo could continue their party without them, but it turned out to be a lie that ultimately worked against them. "Shortly before 2:00am, the victim - Dr. Hooves, the Ultimate Investigator - joined the culprit at the fire pit, taking a seat on the log closest to the Activities Cabin. They talked for a brief while, until the culprit offered to get a little more wood for the fire. They threw the last of the wood nearby into the fire pit then walked away, seemingly to get more wood, but in reality... they were preparing a murder. "The culprit grabbed a sheet of blue plastic tarp as well as the boning knife they had taken from the Kitchen, and quietly snuck up behind Dr. Hooves. Due to the crackling of the fire and the shadows being cast in the opposite direction, he didn't hear the crinkling of the tarp behind him, nor did he notice the culprit approaching. Then, once they were close enough, the culprit stabbed Dr. Hooves in the back, using the tarp to ensure that the blood splatter wouldn't get on them. Taken by surprise, the victim tried to shout, but the culprit quickly silenced him, keeping him from struggling and making too much noise until he bled out. "Once he was dead, the culprit then dragged and arranged the body behind the log so the shadows of the fire would hide it from view, then they burned the now-bloody tarp in the fire to destroy it. However, besides the fact that one corner of the tarp didn't melt away, blood got on the culprit anyway due to the flimsy nature of the tarp. Now that there was blood on their clothes, the culprit had no choice but to wash them, so they quickly washed their clothes in the Laundry Room. In doing so, however, they also washed away all traces of the scent of campfire smoke. "Then, at 3:00am, Indigo and Ocean woke up from their nap. The fire was nothing but embers at that point; that coupled with the darkness of night, and they had no idea that a murder had taken place, or that the body was lying only a few yards away. They returned to their cottages for the night none the wiser. It was still too dark to see the body at 5:00am, when Silver and Kotenage got up for their morning exercises. Finally, when the body was discovered and the investigation began, all the culprit had left to do was to secretly replace the now-cleaned knife on the kitchen's magnetic knife rack, behind their partner's back. "It had to be you, without a doubt in my mind... right, Button Mash, the Ultimate Pro Gamer?" The color drained from Button's face entirely. A tear dripped from his eye, followed by several more. He slumped onto his lectern without a word, his face slamming onto the surface. "Yo... seriously...?" Indigo quivered. "Hmph... Just goes to show you... absolutely no one can be trusted in this situation," Sugarcoat turned her head disapprovingly, her nose in the air. "But... why? Why, man?" Ocean sighed. "I... I don't want to... I don't want to accept it..." Flash hissed through his teeth as he shook his head. "I'm afraid we have to," Sunset frowned resolutely. "Yea... h-he wanted to escape and g-get us help," Silver nodded, tears forming in her eyes. At these words, Button slowly lifted his head. "A-About that... I-" "Stop, stop, stop!" Monokuma suddenly shouted, startling everyone. "At least save it for the end of the trial! Sheesh!" "Looks like the debate's finished, so that means it's voting time!" Monotaro hopped off of his stool to throw his arms into the air. A noise drew my attention to my lectern, where the surface had split itself down the middle and slid apart, revealing sixteen large buttons. Each button was brightly backlit and had one of our faces on it, except Dr. Hooves' button was dark. "Alright, you bastards! Press one of the buttons in front of you to cast your vote!" Monophanie beamed cheerfully. "And make sure y'all vote, 'cuz refusin' to vote is grounds fo' termination!" Monosuke grinned. My breath hitched as a lump formed in my throat. Abstaining was no longer an option, either. "At last... the heart-racing excitement as the blackened and the spotless finally face off..." Monokuma monologued in grandiose fashion, quickly joined by his Kubs as they leapt into the air with excitement. "IT'S VOTING TIME!" they cried in unison. A huge TV monitor lowered from somewhere high above, stopping just above Monokuma's throne and showing a countdown from 30. I heard groans of lamentation all around me as I stared at the buttons, feeling sick to my stomach. Button had warned us that this would happen, that we would be forced to vote for the killer, thereby condemning them to a brutal death. While part of me hoped that against all odds, we'd somehow gotten it wrong, I knew deep down that we had gotten it right... all too horribly right. Button... why did you have to do this...? I sighed and closed my eyes as I pressed Button's button. A few more seconds passed before the countdown vanished, replaced by a blaring siren and an image of Monokuma holding up a sign that said "Announcement". More than one of us jumped at the sudden noise. "Puhuhu... it seems the voting has finished!" Monokuma giggled. "Now then, let's see the result!" The image on the giant monitor switched briefly to show the words "Voting Results", then switched again to display our names next to images of our face, arranged into two tidy columns. I felt my heart skip a beat as tally marks quickly appeared beside Button's face... it was unanimous. Everyone had voted for him. "Who'll be chosen as the blackened?" Monokuma continued to taunt. "Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one? What's it gonna be? What's it gonna beeee?!" The giant monitor's image died for a second, only to next display a wheel labeled "Verdict" divided into sixteen sections, each with one of our faces on it. Light spun around the sections in a clockwise fashion, gradually slowing down until it came to a stop right on Button's section. Bells rang in celebration, and Monocoins and confetti fell from the ceiling as Button's name flashed across the screen, as if to further rub in the despair we all felt. I could only hope the aforementioned execution would be mercifully quick. *Class Trial End! All Rise!* "Well, at this point it goes without saying, but you all voted correctly!" Monokuma laughed raucously. "The blackened who killed Dr. Time Turner-Hooves is the Ultimate Pro Gamer, Button Mash!" "God... after all you told us about this game..." Flash mumbled before glaring at Button. "...Why? Why did you do it?!" "Seriously, what the fuck, man?! Why?! Why would you do this?!" Indigo shouted. "We had nothing to worry about... w-we were gonna be fine...!" Silver sobbed. "TELL US... TELL US WHY. IT IS THE ONLY HONORABLE THING LEFT YOU CAN DO," Kotenage scowled through his tears. Button blinked back a few tears of his own and coughed to clear his throat. "Fine... fine," he sighed. "After I noticed that Indigo and Ocean both conked out on me, I... I never tried to wake them. I just kept the fire going for myself and smoked, thinking about everything. Then after a while, I got bored and was actually going to wake them... when Dr. Hooves finally showed up." "He did?" asked Soarin'. "Finally...?" Indigo parroted. "Yea... I'd invited him too, but he didn't come until 2-ish for whatever reason... just plopped down on the log without a word. We didn't talk until I asked if he wanted a hit... and he did, so I gave him the pipe. I gotta admit, the rip he took was impressive," Button smiled slightly. "Then after loosening up a bit, we talked about our situation... our options." "And...?" Sugarcoat scowled. "He must've said or done something that made you kill him." Button swallowed hard. "Well, we didn't really get anywhere on our own... then he... he said he'd figured out that there was no point in trying to escape... especially if there wasn't a world worth escaping back to." A... A world not worth escaping back to...?! "Uh... w-what did he mean by that...?" Silver stammered. "Yea, you're making it sound like the apocalypse happened or something!" Flash added with a nervous chuckle. Button's eyes shot up to face us, rapidly blinking away tears. "Don't you guys know? The most important part of the game - after the gameplay, of course - ...is the plot," he shivered. "I... I-I never told you guys... why the games happened." "Why...?" Sunburst gulped. I leaned forward on my lectern, heart pounding in fear as I hoped the explanation was too ridiculous to be true. It was a moment before Button pulled himself together enough to explain. "When the survivors from the first game have their final trial... they learned that while they'd spent about two years total within the school, the world outside ended... it was completely destroyed." "D-Destroyed...?!" Soarin' stammered in horror. Button nodded solemnly. "The mastermind, Junko... long story short, she orchestrated all of the destruction herself, and threw the entire world into despair for her own amusement. It started out... relatively small itself, when she forced the Student Council to play the first Killing Game... they all wound up brutally murdered. Then with footage from the killing game, she manipulated the other students into rioting against the Ultimates, and blackmailed key figures into doing her bidding. The other students' riots grew worse and worse, eventually tearing the school apart, and then when they had outlived their usefulness, she ordered them all to commit suicide, and... a-and they obeyed without a second thought. The mass suicides sparked civil unrest on a worldwide scale, people everywhere came to hate the Ultimates and talent in general. A-And then... people slaughtered each other in the streets, and countless wars sprung up against and within every country. She turned children against their own parents and made murderers out of them... another class from the same school became her followers and murdered millions in her name. And finally, to wipe out the last bastion of hope from the world, she set up a killing game with the final class of Ultimates and herself... all just so she could feel the despair of being personally responsible for the deaths... everyone's deaths. She even killed her own sister against her plans, just to feel the despair of such an act and revel in it... she was fully enraptured by despair, even when she lost her own game and was finally executed herself. But even after her death she had no intention to ever stop, even infecting the minds of her followers when they had the chance to free themselves from her influence, and beginning another killing game with them as the participants." My mouth hung open in shock. It might've been only a video game series, but dear sweet Celestia, was that a dark, bleak world. Images of a future I'd seen that would never come to pass blinked into my mind, forcing me to shake my head to chase them away. "S-Seriously...?!" Sunset paled drastically. "No... t-that's ridiculous, nobody has that much influence over that many people!" Mountain argued. "Junko did," Button replied simply. "Her talent was the Ultimate Analyst... she could predict the actions of everyone around her with near-perfect accuracy, allowing her to charm and dominate whoever she wanted. With an ability like that, even though she found easy, overwhelming success as the Ultimate Fashionista, life quickly became nothing more than boring to her... so boring, she came to the conclusion that the unpredictability of despair was the only emotion she could feel." "But she killed her own sister...!" Ocean mumbled. "T-That alone..." "Makes her a monster?" Button finished the sentence. "Oh, yes... and in her own, twisted way, she loved her very much. She loved all of her classmates... which is exactly why she wanted to subject them all to the killing game. The utter sense of despair it brought to her own mind was all the motive she needed." Nobody spoke for a while after this revelation, too horrified to even try. Even I struggled to comprehend such depravity... sure, I'd once subjected an entire village to an anti-Cutie Mark cult, but this... this was next-level insanity, pure and simple. This Junko woman... she was so bored with life and wanted to feel something, anything... but she did so at the cost of her classmates...? Her own sister...? Innocent people... the entire world...?! "...S-So... why, exactly, did you kill him...?" Sonata finally broke the silence. "Well... the same thing is clearly happening here, isn't it?" he asked. "The mastermind - in the form of Monokuma and most of the Monokubs - are subjecting the fifteen of us to a killing game, we're completely cut off from the outside world, and we're not being given a real chance to escape. And especially... i-if that's the conclusion the Ultimate Investigator came t-to..." "So just because he said the world might've ended, you believed him?!" Sugarcoat stared incredulously. "Haven't you spoken to the Doctor any other time before? He was fucking nuts! Like, the kind that I can't even begin to diagnose!" "Y-Yea, the other day he kept trying to tell me he once spent 10,000 years repeating the same hour of his life, punching a wall made of diamond!" Memento slumped over. "True, some of his stories were a bit weird," Button pursed his lips. "But the other things he talked about made perfect sense! And someone who can come up with the crazy shit he did must enjoy a puff or two on occasion, he can't be all that bad a guy..." "You killed him because you were both inebriated," Sunburst muttered quietly in an angry monotone. "I don't believe this..." "No, I killed him so he wouldn't tell you all the world ended!" Button shouted angrily. "I mean, would you guys want to escape from a place where all our basic needs are met, with even some luxuries provided free of charge, only to find out that everyone and everything you ever loved was gone?! Your parents? Long-since dead. Your friends? Dead, too! Your homes? Jobs? Pets? Relatives? Hobbies? All gone, never coming back! And with what's left of the world being brainwashed into rampaging murder-hobos, none of us would even last a week out there!" I had to admit, the mere thought that this outcome even had a shred of a chance of being true was deeply unsettling. Terrible memories I wished desperately to forget flooded my thoughts, screaming and howling and pricking at my mind. My eyes traveled around the room to all the others, trying not to imagine how absolutely ruined they would all be in that situation. Hopefully, Equestria would still be safe in such an event... "I mean... as long as no one kills anyone else here... we're safe. Or, well... you guys are safe," Button lowered his head. "You won't have to see those horrors for yourself... as long as you follow the rules." "Pfft... right, 'cause you're such a fucking martyr," Sugarcoat rolled her eyes. "Puhuhuhu..." Monokuma's sudden giggling caught everybody's attention. "Puhuhuhu... is that what you think this is? Oh, Button, my sweet, little nublet, ohohoho..." "Uh... why is he laughing...?" Juniper asked uneasily. "...Just how much of a copycat do you think I am?!" Monokuma shouted angrily, his face glowing red. "Yea, sure, I've played the games myself and thought they were damn good, but destroying the entire planet?! You think that's my endgame here?!" "Yea, Father may be a copycat, but he's no titan!" Monotaro chimed in. "What good would destroying the world do for our viewers?!" Monosuke added. "That... that's not it...?" Button rasped, disbelief on his face. "No!" Monokuma screeched at the top of his robotic lungs. "I'm not here to make the entire world hate each other! In fact, I'm here to do just the opposite! I'm here to bring the entire world together in solidarity! Agreement! ...Equipoise, even!" "And how the fuck are you doing that by broadcasting us killing each other and getting executed by you to the world?!" Soarin' glowered. "Alright, alright, that's it! You bastards wanna know why you're here so badly?!" Monokuma roared. "It's because each and every single one of you disgusting little insects have magic! I HATE magic! So I removed all of you and your dangerous little powers from polite society, and I am here to stamp it out!" No one's gasps were as loud and horrified as Sunset's and my own. M-Magic?! That's the reason we're here?! "...What?!" Button recoiled in confusion, making a grotesque face. "I... have magic?" Memento asked earnestly, staring at her hands as if it were the first time she'd seen them. "We're not magic, are you fucking stupid?!" Sugarcoat snarled. "Oh, but you are! You all are!" Monokuma growled mockingly, deep and low. "Each and every single one of you has magic in some way, shape or form... why else are you all Ultimates? Your magic simply enhances whatever the hell it is you do!" "I-It does...?" I stammered, disbelieving. My magic was simply magic itself... I'm secretly a Unicorn, for Celestia's sake! What the hell was Ultimate Leader magic supposed to be?! That's not even an Element! "I knew it..." I heard Sunset mutter next to me. "Is that why...?" Silver trailed off, staring at her own hands with trepidation. Kotenage and Soarin' were doing the same, while the others simply gawked at Monokuma with mixed emotions. Out of everyone, Sonata seemed to be the most at peace with this sudden fantastic revelation. And then, shattering the silence... Button chuckled. "So... that's why we're here, huh? Now that's a twist I never saw coming." "As statistically improbable as it were," Sunburst cut in, "...how exactly does our having magical abilities and being forced to play this game factor into uniting the world?" "Ah, details, details!" Monokuma snorted as he waved a dismissive paw. "All in good time... after all, this is just the first act! I can't just spoil the entire season for you guys!" Button's chuckling grew louder and more unhinged. Perhaps he was only just realizing how foolish his assumptions were. Perhaps the sheer bombshell of discovering he had magic of his own and would never get to use it had driven him insane. Whatever the reason, nobody spoke until his laughter finally died down... with everything that had happened today, it was all simply too much to process right now. I could feel my own brain trying to devour itself as I struggled to consider all the possible implications. After a brief but thoroughly uncomfortable lassitude, Monotaro finally broke the silence. "Father, are you getting bored?" "You know how Pops gets... he can't stand this kinda schlock," Monosuke cocked his head. "Teeheehee... I see nothing gets past my adorable little Kubs," Monokuma smiled. "I don't even let appetizers get past me! Especially if someone else bought 'em!" shouted Monokid. "But, we can't let this boring display grind the action to a halt, so... time to make things interesting." Monokuma's red eye gleamed, and an icy chill prickled down my spine. "Make things... interesting...?" Silver whimpered. "Oh god... oh, fuck..." Button mumbled, shivering violently in place. "And now, the moment you've all been waiting for... punishment time!" Monokuma threw his head back and howled. "Oh..." Flash took an alarmed step back. "Oh, no..." "The... the execution...!" Mountain gasped in horror. "No... no! We can't let that happen!" Sunset shouted, stepping forward as I joined her. "Yea, we can," Sugarcoat huffed. "Did you already forget that he fucking killed someone?!" "Of course not! But we can't just let-" "Yes, we can," she retorted, cutting off Sunset. "Besides... what exactly do you think you're gonna do to save him, Miss 'My Magic Is Gone'?" "I... but..." Sunset growled, then looked to me hopefully. After briefly considering what I could possibly do to stop Monokuma, I was forced to shake my head at her. "...I can't stop him, either. I don't think... any of us can." "Yea, that's right!" Monotaro laughed. "Punishment time is a sacred segment! You're not allowed to interfere." "And if ya even try to interfere... youse bastards are surrounded," Monosuke smirked. A maze of thin, red laser beams suddenly blinked into existence all around the room, intersecting each other at multiple points, at least a dozen of each illuminating everyone's various body parts. I didn't have to see any weapons to know resistance was not just futile, but very, very stupid. "I-It's cruel, but... it's probably better if one person dies instead of everyone," Monophanie shrugged. Once the bears had been convinced that we would cause no more of a fuss, the lasers all vanished as quickly as they'd appeared. "Now then, let's get started," Monokuma grinned. "I have a special punishment prepared for the Ultimate Pro Gamer, Button Mash!" "Please, guys... I know I didn't exactly follow my own rules..." Button's voice wavered and cracked as he tried to put on a brave face. "Let's give it everything we've got!" Monokuma's shouting built in a crescendo. I deeply feared what he would say next. "...Don't do what I did. Don't kill each other... don't let this happen again!" IIIIIT'S... PUNISHMENT TIME! A large, red button rose up in front of Monokuma's throne as the bear pulled out a toy gavel from nowhere in particular. His red eye gleamed mischievously, and with a hop and a squeak from the gavel he smashed the button with all his might. He and his Kubs then leapt down from their stage and out of sight as the giant monitor flashed back to life. It displayed an image of Button standing in front of a fence as Monokuma slowly walked past, the bear grabbing and pulling Button by his hair as he continued off screen. Text above and below the image read "Game Over" and "Button has been found guilty. Time for the punishment!" as unfitting music played. "I... I hope the punishment isn't too bad..." Sonata gulped. "Uh... maybe he'll give him five across the ass?" suggested Indigo. "...Maybe twelve?" "...You guys really have a poor grasp on the concept of 'execution', don't you?" Sugarcoat sighed. Button whimpered, quietly at first but quickly growing louder and losing coherency. For a moment I thought I heard something rattling far off in the distance. Suddenly, a long chain came flying down from the ceiling towards Button, a shackle attached at the end of it. The shackle clapped itself around his throat, and he screamed as the chain yanked him into the darkness before we could even realize what was happening. But just as we lost sight of him, my vision suddenly filled with sparkling lights. I blinked in surprise, only to feel the familiar general pulling sensation of teleportation. Wh-?! In less than a second, I now found myself outside in a place I didn't recognize, along with everyone else. It was a plain, green meadow surrounded by hills, with singular trees, boulders and patches of barren earth here and there. I and the others were confined within a fenced-in section of plain, metal bleachers, completely surrounded top to bottom by chain link fencing. A jumbotron TV was strangely set up nearby, deactivated for now. "What the?!" Flash yelled. "Wait, how did we get here?!" Sugarcoat demanded. "Was... was that teleportation...?!" Sunset gasped. But before I could answer her, another flash of sparkling light drew our attention to a nook between a pair of boulders in the distance. Button suddenly materialized there, frantically taking in his surroundings as the jumbotron activated, revealing that the camera for it was somehow synced up to exactly what Button was seeing. After a moment, Monokuma hopped up onto the top of the TV, and the image switched from Button's point of view to a title screen... *Ultimate Pro Gamer Button Mash's Execution: Executed* *Press F To Pay Respects* The screen switched back to Button's point of view after about five seconds, and Monokuma raised his arms into the air. A loud horn sounded from somewhere, and as even louder, obnoxious dance music began to blare, the Monokubs suddenly burst out from hiding spots throughout the meadow, wielding their guns and unloading on the boulders surrounding Button. He quickly ducked for cover, cowering in terror with his arms covering his head. However, after a few moments the Monokubs then decided to turn their guns on each other, laughing and giggling as the bullets slowly chipped and dented their bodies. The first time one of them took too much damage and exploded, I gasped as I realized that, yes, they could be destroyed, and our chances of escape or fighting back was that much higher. But as soon as hope fluttered in my heart, another sparkling light flashed on the meadow, and that Monokub would reappear as if nothing had happened, merrily jogging back to take part in the gunplay once more. Meanwhile, Button took the opportunity to fortify himself, in case the guns were turned on him again. We watched in suspense as he carefully dashed and slunk around, grabbing various rocks and tree branches from the ground. He quickly built them up around his boulder nook, eventually building himself a solid little stone fort. But he showed no signs of stopping, and continued to gather more materials and add to the fort, while the Monokubs paid him no heed. At one point he managed to find and swipe what appeared to be a sniper rifle, but rather than drop what he was doing and attacking, he slung it over his back and kept on gathering and building. I was astounded to watch as Button's humble fort soon grew into a tall stone tower, complete with loopholes and a turret on top. Once he set the final stone, he finally retrieved the sniper rifle from his back and took a position behind one of the crenelations of the turret. Carefully he took aim at Monotaro first; we watched on the jumbotron as the crosshairs focused on the Monokub's head... "Oh, no!" Silver shrieked, pointing to the tower. I tore my eyes away from the TV and saw that Monokuma had made his way to the top as well, and stood at the opposite end as he readied a shotgun. "Button! Behind you!" Mountain cried. Monokuma finished loading the shotgun, the clicking noise garnering Button's attention. He quickly turned his head, and whipped his body around to fire at the black and white bear- BLAM Monokuma fired, the recoil knocking him off the tower. The thick shot slammed directly into Button's chest, spatters of blood and fragments of ribcage flying as he was knocked back and off the tower as well. He tried to scream, but the gaping hole in his chest rendered him unable to do little more than gurgle. The video on the TV blurred slightly as it recorded what Button saw as he fell to the ground facing the sky, blood streaming in trails from the wound. He landed on his back a few seconds later with a sickening, wet thud, bouncing a few inches into the air, his arms and legs shattering on impact and twisting themselves into grotesque shapes. On the TV, blood flowed down the image on the screen, obscuring the view until it was nothing but solid crimson. -! Behind the tower, Monokuma had landed in a conveniently-placed pile of hay, and emerged from the pile unharmed. He trotted his way towards the corpse of Button Mash, where the Monokubs were already waiting for him. They stared in silence at the body for a few moments, then bowed their heads as each of them held up a small sign that only displayed one letter - an F. I tried to tear my eyes away, but shock had frozen my body solid. A pool of blood slowly spread around the broken, unmoving body, staining the image into my brain forever. Button Mash, the Ultimate Pro Gamer... was dead. However, as we all looked on in horror... it was very faint, but suddenly a pale green, wispy smoke began to rise from the corpse. Monokuma's red eye flashed brightly, and as he opened his mouth wide, the green smoke was drawn inside as if being channeled or vacuumed away. It continued for only a brief moment until the last of the smoke vanished into his mouth, and he slammed it shut into a toothy grin. ~ Before any of us could react, we were surrounded by sparkling lights again. One blink later, and we had all been transported back to the Trial Room. My legs wobbled and buckled, forcing me to grab onto the closest lectern in order to remain standing. I felt bile rising into my throat and desperately swallowed it down, focusing on anything in order to scrub the memory of the execution from my mind. All around me, everyone was panicking. "Oh my god... Oh my god...!" Silver dropped to her knees and began to hyperventilate, slapping her hands to her cheeks and clawing at her face. "He... he really... e-executed him...!" Flash shuddered as he grabbed his own arms tightly. "Fuck me..." wheezed Indigo, terrified tears welling up in her eyes. "...Okay, that was a lot worse than what I was expecting," Sugarcoat blinked, her face tinged green with disgust. "Oh, really...? Weren't you the one saying we had a poor grasp on the concept of execution...?" Sunset snarked halfheartedly. Like me she was just barely standing, her hands on her knees for support as she took several deep breaths. "What the fuck... you can't show that on fucking TV," Soarin' wheezed. "What the fuck was that?!" "EEEEEXTREEEEEMEEEEE!" Monokuma's voice echoed as he and the Monokubs hopped back onto their stage. While he and the other three Kubs seemed thoroughly pleased with themselves, Monophanie appeared very ill. She swayed gently from side to side until... "...BLRBLRBLRBLRB!" The lone female Monokub opened her mouth and daintily vomited on the floor in front of her. I winced and turned my head away so I wouldn't want to puke either, and was somewhat confused when I dared to take a glance and saw that the vomit was white and shimmery. "Aw, gross, she puked again!" Monotaro whined. "But this tension ain't so bad, y'know? Finally feels like a proper killing game," Monosuke grinned. "If anythin', we could stand to use a little more tension in our lives, right Pops?" "All this adrenaline creates such an exquisite feeling of despair!" Monokid laughed. "It's moments like this that makes all the killings worth it!" "All... the killings...?!" I whispered in shock. Have they killed more than just poor Button...?! "Only psychopaths would kill someone like that..." Memento frowned. While she didn't seem the least bit disgusted by the brutality of the execution, her face was twisted with deep concern. "Hey, I know human life is precious... I'm not a monster, y'know," Monokuma shrugged lackadaisically before grinning sadistically. "'Cuz if human life wasn't precious, ending it wouldn't be nearly as much fun! There's no greater joy than witnessing such a display of anti-magic entertainment!" "What the hell... why did you make us watch?!" Juniper gagged, rubbing her eyes. "Why? Did you guys not vote for the blackened?" Monokuma tilted his head. "And you know what the punishment is if the blackened is found guilty." "BUT, YOU NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT WITNESSING THE EXECUTION!" Kotenage shrieked. "It's tough, but them's the rules," shrugged Monosuke. "That's the judgment youse passed, so youse gotta see it through to the end." "You're the ones who condemned the poor bastard to death. It's only fair that it's your responsibility to watch!" added Monotaro. "Besides that... what did you suck out of Button's body?" I swallowed again. "Oh? You saw that?" Monokuma replied casually. "That... that was magic..." Sunset stared in horror. "H-How did you do that? ...W-Who the hell are you...?!" "Hmm? I'm Monokuma," the bear replied plainly. "And if you really wanna know, then you're gonna have to work for it... though the corpse formerly known as Dr. Hooves might've been helpful for that." The Ultimate Investigator? ...Damn, Button really screwed things up for us by killing him... "Oh, well! He's dead, and that's that! That's the indifference of death for ya!" he continued to taunt. "Who are you?! What are you?!" Sunset demanded. "What did you do with that magic?!" "And why us?! Most of us didn't even know we had magic until just a few minutes ago!" Sugarcoat shouted before pointing at Sunset. "Surely there's other people with magic out there you could've kidnapped!" "Whoa. That is not cool," Sunset whipped around to face Sugarcoat, glaring angrily. "You leave my friends out of this." "Hmm? Are you still pestering me with these annoying questions?!" Monokuma suddenly snarled, his eye glowing red as he extended the claws on a paw. "And you're sowing so many seeds of distrust amongst yourselves... if you keep this up, you're all gonna end up like Button." "Wow, rude," Sonata coughed. "Maybe spend less time worrying about nonsense and more time watching your back, okay?" he continued with a grin. "...You never know who's gonna become the next killer." It was clear that we weren't going to get our answers anytime soon. I gulped as I realized just how powerless we were, especially Sunset and myself. If only we had all of our magic... "Ah, I can't wait... I wonder what kind of killing game we'll get to see next!" Monokid howled. "Damn it..." Flash growled, punching the closest lectern to him. "You're gonna pay for this...!" "It's nice to see that at least one of you has some chutzpah around here," Monokuma smirked. "I have a feeling you're gonna live for a while." Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sunset shudder as she glanced worriedly over to Flash. "Anyway, you guys have a lot to think about, 'cuz the fun's only just begun!" And with that, Monokuma and his Kubs hopped back off the stage and out of sight, laughing all the while. Nobody spoke again for quite some time. The despair, the anger, the grief in the room hung over us like thick clouds, weighing us down and preventing anyone from moving. I wracked my brain with ways we could still escape, but my thoughts were as weak and fleeting as mist. So much had happened today. Finally, Silver forced a whimper out of her throat. "I... I-I can't take this... I w-want to go h-home..." "Well, we can't," Sugarcoat sighed. "And now if someone kills someone else and does get away with it? We're all dead, too." "...No one's gonna kill anyone else," Sunset rasped, sniffling back tears. "I'm gonna make sure of that." "Oh? And how do you think you're gonna-" "Sugarcoat, that's enough," I cut her off. "I agree... we can't let our fears get the better of us. We need to stick together, now more than ever." She glared at me for a few seconds before conceding with another huff of contempt. "Yea... I'm with the girls on this one," Flash nodded. "If we don't trust in each other, then this could very well happen again. And I really don't want to see another death, or an execution." "I AM ASHAMED THAT IT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED ONCE," said Kotenage. "IT MUST NOT HAPPEN AGAIN." "Yea... not again," Ocean echoed. "...Not... again..." "...Can we please l-leave this place?" Silver asked timidly. Kotenage wrapped an arm around her as we headed back to the elevator. It began to rise a few seconds after we had all boarded, and the fire pit roared to life as we began our ascent. ~ It was a good thing the fire pit was alight - night had already fallen by the time the elevator reached the ground above. Snow was falling in a light breeze, with about an inch already on the ground. With the light of the fire behind us we headed for the Dining Hall, most of us not having eaten anything since yesterday. As I walked, I glanced back to the log where Dr. Hooves was discovered... not only was the body gone, but all of the blood, too. It was as if nothing had ever happened. Too exhausted physically and mentally to prepare a large meal, we each scavenged what we could and took it back to our rooms. I was no different - I carefully balanced a tray full of instant ramen, some soda, a banana and half of a bag of chips on my way to my cottage, quickly locking the door as soon as I was inside. The air and all of the surfaces inside felt uncomfortably damp... I smacked myself in the forehead when I realized I'd left the shower on for almost a full day now. Ugh... just what I don't need. Resolving to try and find a dehumidifier tomorrow, I shut the shower off, grabbed some towels and wiped up what I could, then I turned the bathroom fan on to try and further dry things out. I ate my meal in silence, trying to keep my mind empty. Afterwards, I changed into pajamas, wrapped my bathrobe around me and dove into bed, ready to forget that today ever happened. ...I really hope someone finds us soon.