//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Ending // Story: Super Dangan RonPonya: Set Sail for Despair Isles // by Serenade-Stereo //------------------------------// Monokuma cackled as everyone focused their attention onto him for the obvious results of the trial. "Three for three, it was Bud Daly! Yep, you were right once again! The one that stabbed Clip to death and the one that strangled Aqua so viciously was none other than the Super Middle School Level Social, Bud Daly!" "Hmm..." Bud hummed softly. "I never thought that there was a chance I'd get caught. Not after all the planning I had put into this murder..." "B-Bud...why did you it? Did you really need to kill Clip and Aqua just for the student profiles?" Rip's lower lip trembled. "Was it really worth it in the end?!" "Urgh. Would you shut up already? You're such an emotionalist. Quit being such a wimp." Bud spat back much to everyone's surprise. "Seriously, you all piss me off so much..." "Oh great. A fake bitch." Toxic grumbled. "So what you're saying is that you never liked any of us from the start, right?" "Of course not! Though it isn't just you all...I just hate ponies in general. I hate my talent!! I never asked to be good a socialising! What a waste of a life as well! Then again...there was one person here that I could generally tolerate. Aqua." "If Aqua was the only one you could tolerate, why did you kill her?!" Pure snapped. "Because she was guaranteed to see through my persona when she found Clip dead. I couldn't take that chance so I had her killed as well...I was contemplating between her and, well...you, Techno." She grinned evilly. "Though I kind of thought that since you were unconscious the entire time, it wouldn't matter." "And what did you hope to gain from this...? Student profiles? What kind of reward is that for the sacrifices of everyone's lives?!" Laser seemed to leap at her. "Well...I already learned what I wanted to learn from the profiles, you see. I discovered our true natures...what we really are..." she closed her eyes. "And what I magnificent thing we are as well! I hope you'll all find out as well!" She began to cackle. "But was it worth killing Clip over?" Techno asked, silencing her laughter. "All you wanted to do was get the profiles..." "Whoa! That is not all I did...I helped Clip as well." She giggled. "I helped him. Clip Brunette...my fallen angel..." She began caressing her arms. "I wanted to restore him to his former glory like he was before we came here! So I performed one of the rituals that I recalled from my past life...he may have died from it but he's been restored for his next life! I'll be joining him soon!" "You seriously went psycho on us...what about all the time we spent on the island with you? Does that suddenly mean nothing to you?!" Quick yelled. "Pretty much, yeah..." She nodded nonchalantly. "But even if I hate all of you, in this remaining group I can safely say that there is one that genuinely relate to." She walked around the trial room, stopping in front of the theorist herself, Bright. "Oh you have got to be kidding me." Techno grumbled. "Bright I can tell by your expression and all around personality that you are just as done with everyone's shit as much as I am." She took Bright's hands in her own. "So when you die and come down to hell. Come find me, I'll show you a good time." Bud gave a wink before Bright removed herself from Bud's grasp. "Yes as tempting as the offer is..." Bright fixed her glasses whilst speaking in a sarcastic tone. "I'm afraid that I have no intention of going there when I die." "That's a shame since you really won't have a say in the matter..." "Wait, what are you-" "But anyway, I guess I've done all the talking necessary. Monokuma? If you would do the honours?" Bud gestured to the bear. "Oh yay!" He jumped up gleefully. "About time! Get ready for our main event! I've prepared a very special punishment for the 'Super Middle School Level Social', Bud Daly! Okay guys, let's give it everything we've got! Iiiiiit's PUNISHMENT TIME!!!!" "Later losers!" Bud stuck her tongue out. A large red button had risen from the ground and a small wooden gavel had materialised into Monokuma's paw. He gave one last laugh before hitting the button. Game Over! Bud Daly has been found Guilty! Commencing Execution! Bud continued to laugh as the chain linked with her neck and dragged her off to the execution room. The monitor zapped on quickly displaying the image of Bud sat on a bench with her arms tied behind her back, still smirking away as if she didn't care that she was about to die for Monokuma's entertainment. Bud Daly's Execution Public Ridicule Bud sat idly as a large group of cloaked ponies, griffons and other species surrounded her in a large circle. Before she was able to react, two large figures restrained her by holding her in the air by her arms and let her dangle there before two other cloaked figures walked up to her. One was holding a knife and the other had no weapon. The one with no weapon stood in front of Bud and raised their fists before letting out a long series of jabs to her entire body. The figure's fists were moving so fast they were almost a blur to the naked eye. When the figure walked backwards, it revealed the bruised and bloodied body of Bud but she was still breathing. The figure with the knife took their turn and stood forward. They twirled the knife and gently ran in down Bud's cheek before leaving it at her neck. Then with one flick of their wrist, blood sprayed everywhere. The figures that restrained Bud dropped her and walked away as the two that had killed her dropped their hoods... To reveal the figures of Clip and Aqua... Then there were nine. Nine. Why did it feel so empty to hear that? No to mention the execution, why were Clip and Aqua in it? They must have just been robots created by Monokuma or something. Though...it was surprisingly tame compared to the last execution with Enterna. "Woot! Woot! Woot!" Monokuma repeated like a broken record. Clearly happy with his job. "Wasn't that just exhilarating?! Don't executions just get you pumped for more murder which then leads to more execution?!" "H-h-hold the fuck up!" Toxic stuttered out. "What the hell was with that execution?!" Monokuma tilted his head in confusion. "You know what I'm taking about! Why the hell were Clip and Aqua there?!" "Oooooh!" Monokuma nodded. "I see, I see. Well, I have animatronics of all of you just in case I want to use your island relationships in some way for the execution. That's all." "So those were just...animatronics..." Toxic breathed out heavily. "I still can't believe that Bud would really kill someone though..." Pure whimpered. "I mean, she actually hated us all in the end, didn't she?" "That's something I've been curious about actually." Bright spoke doubtfully. "I wonder...why did she act? I'm not denying she hated us but what I wonder is why she stepped out of line and killed Clip and Aqua. Even if she had the desire to kill someone, she defiantly wouldn't have taken that chance. She's sneaky like that..." "I can explain that!" Monokuma popped up. "You see, the reason for that is because Bud went to watch the movie I had directed in the theatre on Third Island." "What exactly do you mean by that? Was there something in the movie that would have forced Bud's hand?" Paint asked. "Well, whenever someone watched the movie, I would spray them with an odourless and colourless gas that would make them act abnormally. I call 'Despair-Oxide'. That's actually the reason some of you had experienced the weird episodes like Aqua's paranoia!" "So those that watched the movies were the ones that acted weirdly!" Quick clenched his fists. "That explains why Laser and I weren't affected!" "Yeah...that explains a lot actually..." Techno nodded. "I didn't see the movie but Bud did. Since I didn't start acting weirdly, I guess that means Monokuma's telling the truth..." "Your attitude didn't change..." Paint repeated. "...hmph..." She picked up her sketch. "I still get it though...we've been here for like nearly two weeks and Monokuma has yet to mention what exactly his true intentions are with keeping us here to murder each other." Toxic said hushed. "What are you really planning?" "Planning? Nothing, of course! I just really needed to see some despair. Your whole world is full of hope and that in itself is just sickening. You even have a group called 'Beacons of Hope'. That is just truly despair-inducing for me..." "Yeah right!" Monomi interrupted before the tension could rise any further. "Like anyone here is gonna buy that, Monokuma!" Monokuma's red eye sparked and his claws sharpened. "What have I told you about speaking out of line?!" He sent a swift kick to Monomi's stomach sending her flying across the trial room. "Owowowowow!" Monomi cradled herself in the corner. "There's no use in trying to get him to tell us is there...?" Pure whispered to the rest of the group. "We'll never get anywhere with this guy so maybe we should get the night over with..." "Agreed..." Paint nodded. "This is always hard on us...but we just have to press forward I suppose..." The remaining nine students entered the elevator whilst Monokuma was still bashing up Monomi at the other end of the trial room. At Jabberwock Park, the familiar chemist had sat down in front of the statue, staring up at the stars in a trance state. Toxic couldn't get to sleep that night, there was no real explanation for it he had no problem being able to drift off after the last two trials so why...why was this one so different? Was it because...? "Toxic?" The voice of Pure came from the park entrance. It was strange, his attitude started to change towards her as well, he didn't feel the need to fight with her every time he saw her. "Why are you here at this time...?" "I could ask you the same thing..." He simply responded turning his attention to the sky once again. "Why are you here...?" "I dropped something when we left Monokuma Rock so I came back here to get it..." Hesitantly, Pure walked over to Toxic and sat beside him. "Couldn't sleep...?" "Nope...which is weird. I try not to get attached to the others on the island and yet now that those three are gone...something just feel different inside of me..." Pure let out a faked gasp. "Oh tin stallion, you do have a heart!" Toxic's brow furrowed. "Oh come on, I'm joking!" She nudged him. "I mean, I get what you're talking about. When Swift died I really felt like it would have been better if I had died with him. Wouldn't accomplish anything though...maybe that was Aqua's mistake though..." "Aqua? What are you talking about?" "The fact that she distanced herself intentionally left her vulnerable to situations she'd be forced to be with someone. That's why she was so distraught when Enterna was executed..." The two were silent for a while. "...it's weird we met after all these time in circumstances like this, isn't it?" "It's just a coincidence though, right? That trial a year ago has to relation to what's happening now." Pure frowned, unsure. "C'mon then, Ms Prosecutor. Show me evidence of a link between this and that case..." "Well...I guess you have a point there..." Pure rubbed her shoulder. "I just we knew why we were here because it clearly isn't a coincidence..." Toxic glanced at her for a moment before looking at the sky once more. "No...no it isn't..." He mumbled. Paint stood in the middle of the torture house, all evidence of the murders had been cleaned by Monokuma already. He really did act fast, though that wasn't hard to believe by this point in the killings. "So tell me." She spoke rather loudly not turning to face the figure standing behind her. "How long have you had them...? How long have you had your memories...?" "Hm." The therapist rubbed his chin. "I'm not sure what you're referring to..." "Enterna mentioned Toxic had a dark aura around him...I intend to question him on that a later point but when Clip ends up dead right after he starts accusing you of being deceptive...well then I'll start getting suspicious." "But you have no reason to suspect me, right...?" "I'm not an idiot...my guess is that you're the one that pushed Bud into killing Aqua and Clip. Am I right? Her motive had nothing to do with the student profiles...that was your motive in all of this since you knew that Techno would easily figure out she killed them." "What an active imagination!" He smiled. "Then again you kind of need that when you're an artist...so I suppose you're starting to...get the picture?" "Stop trying to be Smile...I know what you really are now, Memory and I'm not as bold as Clip. I won't be carelessly ranting about it to the point start doubting you so don't worry about that. What you should worry about though is what Rip is going to be thinking." "Rip?" "After all...I sent her a little present..." Paint smirked as he brushed past Memory. "See how credible you are after tomorrow." "Hmhmhm..." Memory chuckled. "Alright then, Ms Pallet...game on..." Rip paced around her room, staring at the profile of Memory that had been slid under her door not fifteen minutes ago. After reading it, what was she to think, Clip had been right all along! Memory couldn't be trusted...so if she knew this, what about her wellbeing? Was she going to be safe...would she be...NO! She wouldn't think about it. There was only one person on the island she could turn to now. Though it had to wait until morning...she knew it was the only way. "Techno..." Rip whispered his name holding her clasped hands closely to her chest as if praying. "Please...please believe me..." Chapter 3: The Despair of Healing End