//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Class Trial - Part 1 // Story: Super Dangan RonPonya: Set Sail for Despair Isles // by Serenade-Stereo //------------------------------// Class Trial All Rise! The familiar and unmissed screeching noise of the elevator sounded as the doors opened slowly to reveal the newest décor for the trial room. The place had been changed into the appearance of the torture house. Knives and other various weapons hung from the blood-stained walls. The remaining ten students took their usual places at the stands and awaited the inevitable explanation to be given from Monokuma. "Alright, let's begin with a simple explanation of the class trial! You're votes will determine the outcome of this, you will debate on a variety of topics regarding the murder and then try to identify 'whodunit'. If you can correctly guess the culprit then the culprit will be punished...but if you guess the wrong one. I'll punish everyone aside the culprit! Now...where to begin? How about we talk about the murder weapon?!" "Uuu...is this the point when I fade into the background...?" Monomi whined. "So we're just gonna through the same song and dance then?" Toxic grumbled. "I think we need to start somewhere else..." "Why do you say that?" Bright inquired with interest. "We always start with the murder weapon. We need to have some clarity shown onto the situation straight away." "Well there is defiantly something that's more important to figure out first. Namely, what group was the killer apart of?" This caught the attention of the whole room. "Was this killer part of the group that had been infected? Was the killer part of the unaffected? Or were they part of the hospital group? If we can figure that out first and foremost then that really puts us in a good place for the rest of the trial." "Whilst you have a point...why don't we come to that later?" Paint suggested. "It is important to find out what group the killer belonged to. Though our top priority is always going to be the murder weapon. It limits the possible killers since it had to be something that particular person could get access to. Then we examine the groups individually...that makes it much simpler." "N-nrg..." Toxic bit his lip. "F-fine...whatever..." Non-Stop Debate Evidence Bullets -Monokuma File 3 -Sealed Book -Aqua's Neck -Clip's Wounds -Clip's Scissors -Aqua's Wounds Pure- The murder weapon...there were plenty of weapons that it could be... Laser- The knives...the axes...what is it gonna be?! Maybe even poison?! Quick- I doubt Aqua and Clip were poisoned...the killer wouldn't have went through all the effort they did! Bud- But the killer must have used something fromt he torture house...right? Paint- Did they...? I wonder about that... Memory- If you know something please, do tell... Paint- ...who knows...? The murder weapon...it isn't abundantly clear what it could be...though there is one possibility that's been looming in the back of my mind... No, that's wrong! "Hold on Bud!" Techno exclaimed. "The killer didn't necessarily need something from the torture house! There was a sharp weapon that disappeared from the crime scene after all!" "I believe you're referring to Clip's missing pair of scissors...?" Bright guessed. "Yes. As I recall, he had them last I saw him when he was heading to the torture house that morning to continue his investigation and then by the time the body was found, his scissors had vanished." "Plus those scissors do seem to match up with the wounds left on both bodies pretty well, wouldn't you agree...?" Toxic rested his elbow on the stand in front of him. "It's pretty easy to believe that the scissors were used to stab Aqua and Clip." "There was also the thing about Clip's pants..." Pure recalled the conditions of the body. "They had been torn from the kneecaps down...do you think those scissors could have been used to cut them off...?" "What would the killer gain from doing something like that though?" Rip asked. "It's not like that was going to affect Clip when he was strung up there..." "Maybe Clip's restraint was unplanned...?" Quick suggested. "I mean. Maybe they underestimated Clip's strength and they had to use those shackles to keep him in place...though I suppose that doesn't answer why they tore his clothes..." "Also...what happened to his clothes after they were ripped off...?" Laser added. "The killer couldn't just dispose of them because of the littering rule..." "There are no camera's in the torture house though so Monomi and Monokuma probably didn't know if they had just hid them there..." Bright explained. "Wait. If there are no cameras, then how does Monokuma know who the culprit is this time around?!" Quick pointed at the bear. "Well, I'm so glad you asked!" Monokuma cheered. "You see, despite there being no cameras inside the torture house, I have set one up outside in the bushes of the house! That's how I know who killed the two!" "I see. I hidden camera in the bushes...that may be why the culprit chose that location to do their killing. Since nobody knew there were cameras there...the culprit could have thought that not even Monokuma could identify them." Bright theorised. "Of course they were wrong..." "Okay so that's care of the location...but what about the scissors that were presumably used to kill Clip and Aqua? They just seemed to vanish afterwards." Memory put the question forward. "I suppose an obvious answer would be that they were left in the house...the problem is, we didn't find them during the investigation." "So there's no answer to that question then? That's pretty bogus..." Quick complained. "How are we supposed to find the culprit when we can't even find the murder weapon...?" "Quick! You can't just lose faith at this point in the trial, we've barely begun!" Rip scolded. "C'mon, there has to be some sort of evidence towards the culprit...oh! I know! How about who the initial target was?" "What do you mean by 'initial target'? You mean to say that either Clip or Aqua wasn't planned to be murdered?" Toxic raised an eyebrow with interest. "Well, yeah...it makes sense, you wouldn't want to kill two students here. It would leave more evidence behind. That must mean that one of those two wasn't supposed to die!" Rip impressively concluded. "Nice logic, Rip..." Bright smiled with pride as if she was the one that taught her to come up with something like that. "She's right. There must have been an initial target...you can't be too careful here after all. The more evidence against you, the worst your case becomes...so let's just see where their mistakes lead us..." Non-Stop Debate Evidence Bullets -Sealed Book -Satanic Symbol -Chair -Aqua's Wounds -Clip's Wounds -Clip's Outfit Laser- If there was one planned murder today...then who wasn't supposed to die?! Quick- It would make more sense for the target to be Aqua...she had been to everyone since we arrived here. Bud- But what about Clip? They took the time to hang him in shackles... Laser- Though they strapped Aqua into that chair as well... Toxic- But where's the clue...? Was it on the floor getting dirty? Maybe it was on the bodies? Rip- Maybe...it wasn't even in the torture house! Pure- That's a strange way to go about it though... Rip- Urrrh...don't derail my arguments so easily... Hmm...I wonder. The initial target was more likely to be... I'm in agreement with you! "It's just as Toxic had said. The evidence for who the initial target was, was on the bodies. Specifically, Aqua's body. She had wound covering her entire body, not just normal wounds though...fresh wounds. As if they had been recently made. With that in mind, Clip's wounds had already stopped bleeding apart from one or two, most of Aqua's had been just inflicted...it's more likely that the intended victim was Clip." "But why did they choose Clip? He was looking for the secret to the torture house...so the culprit couldn't have found unless he did. Also, that doesn't explain why Aqua turned up dead!" Pure objected. "Well...most likely Aqua just happened to go to the torture house at the wrong time...the murder was taking place and she was killed so she would stay silent." Objection! "Wait just a second!" Pure slammed down on the stand in front of her. "If Aqua was killed to stay quiet, the killer wouldn't have bothered with take so much time to kill her! If you just wanted to keep someone quiet here. The killer would just need to give one fatal stab and that would be that! The condition of Aqua's body doesn't match up!" "But, Pure-" "No! Talk to me the way you should be talking in a trial; with the evidence!" Pure cut him off. Rebuttal Showdown Evidence Blades -Rip's Account -Bud's Autopsy Report -Memory's Account -Quick's Account -Aqua's Wounds -Aqua's Neck Pure- Aqua couldn't have the victim of chance, that doesn't add up at all! She had stab wounds covering her entire body after all! What kind of killer would take their time with someone they just wanted to silence? Wouldn't it more sense if Aqua was the intended victim?! Techno- But Clip was at the torture house already! Why on earth would the killer choose the torture house as a location to kill Aqua?! Pure- Maybe...the killer didn't know he was there already! All they had to do...was lure Aqua to the torture house! It would make it easy to kill her! See? Aqua was the intended victim! Whilst she's made a good point...Pure still hasn't looked into this enough...otherwise she would have known... I'll have to cut through those words! "Pure...clearly nobody had explained what happened to you during the last few days...otherwise you would have known why Aqua wouldn't have been lured to the torture house so easily!" "What are you talking about? How would you know anything about what happened the past few days? You were unconscious the entire time!" Pure pointed her finger accusingly. "I was asking around and it turns out that the group had been split into three groups. In fact, Toxic referred to it at the start of the trial. There was the hospital team that was watching over me which consisted of Rip, Toxic, Bud and Bright. There was the unaffected team which was only consisting of Laser, Quick and Clip...and last was the infected team which consisted of yourself, Memory, Paint and Aqua." "Yeah..." Laser nodded. "Pure and Aqua were suffering from paranoid for some weird reason...they locked themselves in their cabins and refused to leave when anyone tried to talk to them..." "Wait." Pure's eyes widened. "We locked ourselves in our cabins...? O-oh...now I get why it's a problem. Aqua wouldn't have left the cabin if she had been called to the torture house..." "Exactly. Aqua couldn't have been the intended victim for this. It makes zero sense!" "Well I wouldn't say it makes zero sense..." Paint disagreed. "I mean there are a few factors in this murder that wouldn't make sense if Aqua wasn't the intended victim..." Huh...? Techno looked at Paint with his mouth hanging slightly. What is she talking about...? Something that doesn't make sense if Aqua wasn't the intended victim...? I can prove it with this! "Paint...are you talking about the chair that Aqua had been strapped to when we discovered the body?" Techno rubbed his chin in thought. "Yes...that's it." Paint responded emotionlessly. "The chair was all the way down in the basement of the house. Plus it is extremely heavy, if Aqua wasn't the target in this then why did the killer bring the chair up?" "Maybe...the killer was originally gonna strap Clip into the chair and brought it up for that reason...?" Quick suggested. "So when Aqua arrived, their plans changed and Clip got hung on the wall..." "No, I don't think it's anything like that. I believe Clip was to go onto the wall from the beginning...symbolism is the key in his murder..." Paint stated ominously. "S-symbolism...?" Rip repeated. "Yes. The way Clip's body was hung...do you remember how his arms looked...?" There was moment of silence as they awaited Paint's answer. "Oh...do you want me to tell you...?" there were a few groans from the room. "Well...the bones of his arms were sticking out of his elbows, right? With that, his arms couldn't go back so his arms were in a perfect straight angle...do you see what I'm saying?" "H-his pose..." Bud had went pale. "A-are you saying...?" "Yes. With the way Clip's body hung...he looks like he had been crucified. So, let me just state my idea now. What if Clip wasn't killed due to the motive but because of a religious reason...?" "Wait a second! Are you saying that this was some sort of creepy hate crime?!" Toxic yelled at her. "Are you saying that it's outside the realm of possibility...? Because along with the position of the body, there was also something else that goes along with religion that connects to Clip's death." Paint glanced at Techno. What is she talking about? Where is all this coming from?! Does Paint already know what happened to Aqua and Clip? Techno took a breath. A religious reason...I wonder if she's referring to that...? I'll prove it with this! "Paint. Could you be talking about the crest we found behind Clip's body? The one that was painted onto the wall?" Techno leaned forward. "Yes, that's it. I did my research and it turns out it's a crest from those that have 'fallen from heaven' or in other words...Lucifer's crest. The fallen angel..." Everyone was dumbstruck. Someone actually taking their time for something like this just seemed insane even if they were in the middle of a life-or-death match. "So, from the culprit's view...Clip was a fallen angel..." "Okay, fine." Rip nodded. "But that still doesn't help us figure out who killed Aqua and Clip! Or with why the killer went through so much trouble with the chair if they weren't planning on killing Aqua!" "I think I've said enough for now though...if I continued, you all wouldn't find the truth by yourself." Paint picked up her sketch. "Talk to me if you really are desperate for help..." "Well, we don't need her to figure this out!" Quick said determined. "Alright, let's see...if Clip was the intended victim then Aqua had to walk in on the murder...but the problem with that is that Aqua was being paranoid at the time so she'd need a really good reason to leave her cabin and go to the torture house..." "And if Aqua was the intended victim then it doesn't explain why Clip's murder had so much detail put into it..." Bright tapped her chin. "It seems we're between a rock and a hard place then..." "It may seem like that..." Memory shook his head. "But maybe we just aren't looking at the right things. Let's try thinking about alibis for now. That seems like the easiest place to continue from." Non-Stop Debat Evidence Bullets -Tiny Glass Fragments -Organ Display -Rip's Account -Memory's Account -Satanic Star Symbol -Student Profile Rip- Well as far as alibis go...Techno is the only one with a definite alibi... Bud- I was part of the hospital team...but I only ever left to go to the supermarket Quick- Laser and I were separated from the infected team by Monomi...so I guess at the time of the murder...I was in my cabin. Memory- Those that were infected are unable to fully remember what happened the past few days. But I don't think I left First Island at any point. Laser- Pure has an alibi...cause she was locked in her room... Bud- So, that means...we haven't narrowed it down by much, have we? I don't much about alibis this time around...but according to what I heard... No, that's wrong! "Wait, Rip. Don't you remember what you told me about the hospital team? You told me that you had to watch over my condition the whole time and Toxic was busy making medicine in case things went south. Neither of you left the hospital according to your account of the events!" "O-oh yeah! I forgot about that..." "How do you forget about something like that...?" Toxic questioned. "Either way. That give Rip and I an alibi, right? Not like I was a suspect anyway..." "You're suspicious enough as it is..." Laser commented. "I mean, what was Enterna talking about right before Monokuma was gonna execute her, huh?!" "Grk...can we not talk about that in the middle of the trial? We still some pressing matters to look at...such as what group the culprit was a part of. That'll really narrow it down..." "Are you still going on about that...?" Bud asked. "I think we need to figure one thing out first. What happened to the murder weapon if it wasn't at the crime scene..." "Bud's right." Rip agreed. "Clip's scissors kind of just disappeared afterwards, didn't they? Without a murder weapon, we can't really go on..." "Well, if you say so then I guess we have to..." Toxic sighed. "This won't change anything though...it's just wasting time..." Non-Stop Debate Evidence Bullets -Rip's Account -Organ Display -Small Glass Fragments -Monokuma File 3 -Sealed Book -Clip's Scissors Memory- The murder weapon disappeared from the crime scene...but where did it go? Quick- Do you think the culprit took it with them? Bright- Perhaps it's still at the crime scene...it's just been hidden... Laser- Could the culprit have lost it? Quick- Maybe...the culprit still has it! Toxic- We would have found it by now, genius... Quick- You don't know that for sure! The scissors...they were used to kill Aqua and Clip so what happened to them afterwards? There's one possibility... I'm in agreement with you! "Yeah, Bright might be right. There was that huge shelf that displayed a bunch of organs at the crime scene, right? What if the scissors were hidden either under or behind it?" Techno closed his eyes for a second as he spoke. "It would be a good hiding place, wouldn't it..." Toxic said doubtfully. "But. That thing was dripping in blood and those floorboards aren't exactly right next to each other. Blood would drip through the crack in the boards and into the basement, right?" "Yeah...it would...unless you covered it in something..." Something went off in Techno's mind when Rip said that. "Wait a second!" Techno unintentionally yelled. "What if it was covered in something...? Then the scissors would have been perfectly hidden!" Techno closed his eyes again. I think I'm getting the picture...if they used something at the crime scene...then they would have perfectly hid the scissors! Hangman's Gambit Q. What did the killer use to prevent blood from dripping off the scissors? Available Letters- G L T I C O H N I've connected the dots! "They must have used clothing to prevent the blood from dripping off!" Techno exclaimed. "That would also explain why Clip's outfit had been ripped! It must have used to hide the murder weapon!" "That's what happened to Clip's clothing?!" Quick paused. "Then again I guess that would make sense...the killer couldn't use any of their own clothing because they'd be caught out right away...so by using Clip's scissors to cut off some fabric, they were able to hide the murder weapon..." "It is a rather well thought out plan..." Bright admitted. "It also supports the theory of Clip being the intended victim so why don't we move onto something we have yet to really delve into...motive." "What do you mean?" Toxic raised an eyebrow. "I though Paint had already said that this was a religious symbolism kill...?" "That was the technique and if it were true, why wasn't anything done with Aqua's body? The killer took so much time with Clip's body and they overkilled both of them...so why not do something with Aqua?" "Er...Bright has a point, doesn't she?" Laser sighed. "So now we need to figure out the secret of the torture house, right? That was the motive Monokuma gave to us this time after all..." "We didn't figure out what the motive was though...I wonder if Clip did in the end..." Bud looked down sadly. "If he did then the culprit must have learned about it as well..." Rip folded her arms. "It only makes sense, right? Once they found out what the motive was, they killed Clip..." Hmm...I wonder if it was really that simple... Non-Stop Debate Evidence Bullets -Monokuma File 3 -Sealed Book -Satanic Star Symbol -Aqua's Neck Bruises -Clip's Outfit -Student Profile Toxic- The whole problem with the motive...is that nobody found out what it was in the end... Laser- The secret of the torture house...all we got was the lousy clue from Monokuma Rip- Though the killer must have found out about it... Bud- Maybe Clip showed them? Rip- Then that would mean Clip discovered the secret of the torture house after all! Toxic- And that the culprit killed him because of it... The motive...of course, I already know what it is... No, that's wrong! "Not so fast, Toxic! Somebody here did find out the secrets of the torture house. After all...Bright had been working on it for almost the entire investigation..." "Yes. That's correct, I did find a part of the motive...since it seems that the rest of it had disappeared..." Bright fixed her glasses as she glanced away. "What do you mean 'the rest of it'?" Memory latched onto the vague area of her statement. "You mean there was more to what you had found...?" "Presumably. Techno, please reveal what exactly Clip was searching for this whole time..." Bright gestured to Techno. "Yeah..." Techno nodded, taking out his profile. "It was this; our student profiles were the motive this time around...when Bright found the hiding space, my profile was the only one left. I think the culprit took the rest of them..." "You mean the student profiles are our motive?!" Rip gasped. "What's so bad about those?" She paused. "...did someone have a bad hair day that they really didn't want anyone to see...?" "Don't be stupid..." Toxic growled. "Obviously someone has something on their profile that they don't want getting out! Clip must have found the student profiles and then confronted the killer about it. When he did...he was killed..." "Alright...so our culprit is someone with a secret they don't want to get out that's located on their profile...but what exactly is on them?" Memory looked to Techno. "Well, it has the same basic information as the Monokuma Files. Name, age, height, weight...but it also has why they were chosen to be part of the Super Middle School Level programme and some trivia that they learned about that student." Techno described the layout of the profile. "Maybe there was something in the trivia section that was to risky to leave to fall into anyone's hands..." Bright guessed. "Something from their past presumably..." "Alright. Well that's all fine and dandy..." Toxic put his hands in his pockets. "But we still have no evidence towards the freaking culprit! Or am I the only one that's realised that?!" "H-he's right...even with the motive now clear. That won't tell us who killed Clip and Aqua..." Bud sighed. "What are we gonna do if we can't figure it out?" Techno's eyes suddenly felt to the still sketching Paint who had been silent for a while now. "...hey, Paint?" Techno drew her attention away. "Hmm?" She looked up with small interest. "Is there something you need...?" "We might need your help at this point...do you know what we've been talking about...?" Paint gave a nod. "Well...do you have anything that could help?" "There is one thing, though I think you should really revise everything you know." She placed her sketch next to her, leaning it against the stand. "Because you've messed up a very big detail...our intended victim..." "W-wait, what the hell are you talking about? What about the intended victim?" Pure asked worried. "It was Clip, right? That's why his body was used for symbolism..." "Well, that's true...but was Clip our only intended victim...?" Everyone stared at Paint with mixed reactions. "What if...this double-murder was planned to be a double-murder from the beginning...?" ...Techno's mind blanked for a small second. What...is she saying...? Aqua and Clip...were both planned to be killed...? Trial Suspended!