//------------------------------// // Day 7: Chapter 1 // Story: Dangan RomPonya // by Serenade-Stereo //------------------------------// Day 7: The Fourth Floor *Ding dong, Bing bong!* "Ahem! This is a school announcement! It is now 7:00am, Night-Time is officially over! Let's make this day great you guys!" Serenade sighed as he heard the announcement. He was already awake, just in the shower though as the water just started to run again. Well, the secrets he protected so much had been revealed now because Olive found his paper. Where did she even find it? Didn't matter, he should have kept it hidden in his room. He finished up in the shower and dried off, putting his clothes on and heading to the cafeteria. Just as always, everyone else had already got there. "Where were you?" Hammer asks "Sorry, I was a bit busy..." Serenade lied. He didn't know why it was, he just hated saying to others that he was in the shower. "Well...we were ready to go without you so hurry up next time" Beau tells him "Right, sorry..." He apologised again. He couldn't tell if Beau could tell he was lying or not, she was just one of those types of ponies. "Anyway, now that we've gotten through that class trial, the fourth floor should be opened up now, right?" Samurai asks "You betcha! I hope we finally get something wicked, maybe something like a boxing ring!" Punch cracks her knuckles with a devious smile on her face. "Hmm...or maybe something with a more technical feel to it..." Hammer smirks at the thought "Or a meditation room to communicate with the afterlife..." Orion smiles "Are..." Olive starts "Are we all just going to move on like this? Pretend like last night didn't happen...?" They all went silent "I guess I didn't notice until now but...most of us don't seem to mourn over the death of our friends...after Digital was executed...and Wild...we just acted like it never happened...like they were never there in the first place..." She stands up and heads for the door. "It's times like this that I wish Orion brought her channelling equipment..." She left the room. Everyone still stood in silence. "Poor girl...must be tough..." Grimdark sympathises "Losing a bestfriend is never easy..." he leaves after saying that. "Well, later, I'm gettin' a head start with Olive and Grimsey..." Hammer salutes before heading off. It takes a few minutes but eventually everyone makes their way to the new floor. The walls were yellow-orange colour, making the whole floor seem extremely flashy. This has a different atmosphere compared to the other floors, it seems more...relaxed...? Serenade shook his head as he went down the hallway. Classroom 4-A was the first room he found. He opened the door and went inside Honestly, anything would be good to have at this point....any leads on reasons to why we're here... Inside, on the blackboard, there was a picture of what seemed like Monokuma getting shot multiple times the only way to tell was little white specs flying in the air behind him and red that was on his body. He looked around a bit more, under one of the desks he found some strange medallions...they were Monokuma medals, guess he knows where he'll be going later. That shop on the first floor with the Monokuma slot machine. He looked around a bit more and then, laying under the teacher's desk, was a photo...just like when he investigated the third floor. However, this time it was Digital and Tickery, holding hands with each other with Lock next to them like a third wheel, just like Gold, Wild and Moonlight. They were smiling, didn't seem like they were in Hope's Peak and the metal plates on the windows that sealed everyone off were gone. "Hey, hey, HEY!!!" Monokuma yelled, bursting out of nowhere. "What do you think you're doing?! Why the heck are ya' trying to steal my photos all the time?!" "I should be asking you why you even have these photos! Why are the metal plates off of the windows, is that even Hope's Peak in the picture?!" Monokuma paused as he was barraged with the questions "Well...I can't tell you everything, I mean...where's the fun in that. Am I right? But I can tell you one thing, this is most certainly Hope's Peak in the photo." He vanished. W...what? This is Hope's Peak in the photo? That can't be right...we're in Hope's Peak but all the windows and doors are blocked off! Serenade tried to figure out if what Monokuma had said was true or not, this would drive him insane if he didn't find out. He left the question for the time and left the room with it still itching in his brain. He continued to the next door that was marked 'Classroom 4-B' this was the other classroom of the floor. The four floors each had two classrooms and three other rooms, aside from the first floor that had around five rooms plus the dorms. He went inside so find Punch trying to pull off the metal plating "Celestia....dammit!" She grunted letting go of the metal bolt keeping the plate on. She turned and looked a little surprised to see Serenade standing by the door. "This floor's not got a window escape route..." she tells him with a slightly annoyed tone. "Have you been checking that for each floor?" Serenade asked "Yep, just finished this floor but still nothing!" She gave an angered glare "I swear, there has GOT to be someone behind this! That stuffed little shit shouldn't be able to do all this by himself!" "You're right...there must be someone or something that's controlling him...but I don't understand their motives for doing this...but I can't be the only one" "Yeah, Beau seems pretty focused on trying to figure that out herself, Grimdark to...speaking of which...I think we should be careful around that guy" "Why?" "My instincts tell me that there's something really wrong about him..." "Are you sure it's not just the fact that he's a changeling? The last time Equestria heard of those, it was when they attacked Canterlot..." "Nah...that's not it, something else about him just doesn't seem right...." "Well I guess we don't know much about him so you do have a point..." "Anyway, there's nothing really important here so we should head off!" Punch drags him out the room after her search. "Say...Punch? I've been meaning to ask you something?" Serenade says once they leave the room. "What's up?" "When you came to my room on the first night and you offered me protection...what was the second condition?" "H-huh...?" Punch tensed up. "You said you wanted me to clean your room and then you were about to say something else but you backed out of it at the last second" "T-that's none of your business!" She suddenly seemed defensive "B-but-" "Shut up! Just leave me alone!!" She threw him against the door before running off down the hall. What was that about...? Serenade got up and headed off in the opposite direction and came to a door marked 'Rec room' he went inside to find a pool table in the centre with a magazine rack and a game of chess was set out on a small table. "Ah...Mr Stereo, always a pleasure..." Orion greeted him from the corner of the room, she was sat in a chair with a magazine in her hand. "Oh...hi Orion..." He said as Orion flicked through the pages. "It is a shame...Monokuma has informed me that he cannot provide us with new editions of the magazines...but for an unknown reason, did not tell me why..." She closed it over and placed it neatly on the rack. "Hmm...that is weird...why wouldn't he be able to do something like that?" "If I was to hazard a guess, I would say that it is because he would be very much noticeable in the public areas of Equestria..." "Speaking of which...where are you actually from?" "Excuse me...?" Orion smiled curiously "You just sound so sophisticated but you'd stick out like a sore thumb in Canterlot" "Oh, actually I am from Trottingham and was taught how to speak this way by my mother and father who were both from Canterlot...that is all there is to it" That can't be true, can it? "Well, I must be going now, thank you for the conversation Mr Stereo..." She gave a bow before taking her leave. Unfortunately, thanks to Orion's explanation, there was nothing of interest in the room. He left and looked for the last two rooms, one was a gallery, sitting in the corner was Olive with Grimdark looking at the photos on display "Olive...? Are you okay?" Serenade asked her "A gallery...Zoom would have loved this..." Her voice was soft "But now..." She looked at the floor "Sorry...I shouldn't be bringing the mood down..." She apologised and kept quiet after saying that. "I don't mind, Olive...I don't blame you for what you did, nobody does..." "I do" Grimdark says from the other side of the room "She made her choice of killing off the rest of us to save her friend's skin...you're saying that choice wasn't her fault? You make me laugh!" He smirked as he turned to face the two that were crouched in the corner. "As for you" He pointed at Serenade "You got lucky when you found out that crazy mare was the culprit, if it wasn't for that girl, Beau, you would have lead everyone astray and got everyone executed!" Serenade didn't respond, he didn't need to, Grimdark already knew what he was thinking "As for the evidence? Remember who planted that? It was her" He moves his finger to Olive "So I guess I can't blame you too much, it was her fault that we got lead astray in the first place" The three were there, left in an eerie silence until Olive stood and walked away, clearly hurt by what Grimdark had said. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" Serenade yelled at him once Olive had left the room. "What are you talking about?" Grimdark folded his arms "I was just stating the facts, she was the reason we were almost executed" "She was protecting her friend! You can't blame her for that! Plus she also lost both of her friends so don't you just stand there and say things like that after everything that's happened to her!" Grimdark paused "Listen here...listen right here you little shit" He glared a Serenade "Do you realise how many of my friends I was in charge of when I was a part of the Cheerag army?! It was so much more than two, I can tell you that much! I am a Super High School Level Lieutenant and I will not be lectured by some musician from a backwater town in central Equestria!" Grimdark stormed out of the room muttering some inaudible words under his breath. What the hell is up with him? Back in the cafeteria he was sympathetic but now...he just acted like a complete asshole. Serenade shook his head. He should probably head back to the cafeteria, everyone would be finished with their investigation by now.