Thread:Chainer,Nightmare adep1/@comment-46663715-20201002150400

Prologue - Unraveling Despair

''A group of students- 12, to be exact-walked into the greatest wizard school known to mankind. But the moment they walked in, they fainted, and woke up in a cold metal room with a large safe-like door.''

Chapter 1
A boy sat up and asked “Where am I?”

”Do you think I know?” Replied a sassy female voice.

“Of course not.” The boy sighed. He fired a couple of Fireballs at the door only for them not to do anything. Then the door opened, revealing a small bear.

Everyone in the area looked in amazement as a small white and black bear cheered “Hello, hello, hello, my playthings!”

Did he just call us playthings? the boy asked himself.

“Introduce yourself to everyone! I’m already getting bored.” The bear yawned. “And ignore I said playthings. It’s offtopic.”

The boy raised one eyebrow.

The group of people shuffled into a circle. Everyone took turns saying their name and what “Ultimate” they were. A orange haired girl went first. “Lucy Bloodshard. Ultimate Serial Killer.” She muttered. The others gasped. Next was a brown haired boy.

"Zane Goldenhunter," the boy said.

“And your Ultimate ability?” Lucy asked.

"Ultimate Shapeshifter," he growled.

Lucy was took by surprise. “Shapeshifter?” She gasped. She then muttered “This is why I hate wizards.”

“Please shut up, Lucy.” A boy said. “I’m Ultimate Despair Cleanser. Nobody needs to know what Ultimate Despair is. And my name is Taro Yasuhiro.” Lucy flinched at the words “Ultimate Despair.” A purple haired boy was next, but he refused to speak. It was another male’s turn.

The boy widened his eyes. “Axel Clearblade. Ultimate Thinker.” He drew a long, wood and metal wand out. “I also make wands.”

A pink haired girl smiled, and began to introduce herself. “I’m Lei Yamada, Ultimate Flower Girl!” Lei looked beside her, expecting someone else to step up.

“Is that everyone?” Lucy asked. Everyone nodded quickly. Lucy’s head whipped in the direction of the bear.

“Tell me who you are before I rip your actual limbs off.” Lucy threatened.

“Puhuhu...” The bear laughed. “I am Monokuma, your principal!”

“You look more like a teddy bear...” Taro muttered.

Monokuma’s red eye flashed. “I AM NOT A TEDDY BEAR! FOR THE LOVE OF DESPAIR, NONE OF THE STUDENTS I’VE BEEN WITH CAN PROCESS THAT!” He roared.

Zane rolled his eyes.

Monokuma whipped around to face Zane. He sheathed his claws. “DON’T ROLL YOUR EYES AT ME! I AM YOUR PRINCIPAL!”

Zane growled.

Monokuma turned away. “Now, I suppose I should tell you why you are here....” He said. His red eye glowed mischievously.

“YES! PLEASE TELL US!” Lucy snapped.

A single person no one noticed stood in the back, listening intently. Each shared of information mattered, each word an answer to be unwrapped. From that day on, day and night, over and over, he'd piece things together.

“Well,” Monokuma said, flashing his teeth. “You are here to kill each other!”

Lei flinched. “KILL?!”

Lucy smirked and rubbed her hands together. “Kill, you say? I’ll kill someone quick, starting with you, you dumb bear.”

Zane looked around, wondering who would make the first move.

“Oh, nobodies killing anyone now! You should wait for your first motive!” Monokuma laughed.

Zane raised one eyebrow suspiciously.

“Puhuhu! Please, everybody meet in the Gymnasium! If you can find it, that is!” Monokuma laughed. He then sunk into the ground. “Let’s split up and look for the Gymnasium. Boys will go right, girls will go left. The first people who find them have to shout ‘Found it!’“ Lucy quickly ordered, seeing her chance to take charge.

"The gymnasium is supposed to smell like sweat correct?" Zane asked, turning into a wolf. He sniffed around, until he caught a scent that almost made him barf. He transformed back into a human. "Found it," he stated nauseously. "Over here!" he yelled. He rattled the door handle. "Of course," Zane groaned, "The door is locked."

The girls quickly ran over. Lucy took out a pumpkin hair clip from her hair and lockpicked the door. “It’s open,” She muttered.

Zane pushed the door open.

A large, open room was before them. It had a tan wood floor and a big stage. It was mostly empty, other then that. “WOW! It's so spacious!” Lei said in awe. Everyone then walked inside.

"There's the psycho teddy bear," Zane stated plainly.

He sat on a podium, with a cup of water and microphone beside him. His grin went from ear to ear. “Come in, come in! Puhuhu!” He laughed.

Something clinked on the floor towards the right. A yellow crystalline fragment of an unknown substance laid on the floor, a suspicious-looking boy beside it, obviously waiting. Axel’s eyes immediately darted to the fragment, but then to the boy. He backed off immediately. “Well, since everyone’s here, I’m going to present your first motive!” Monokuma tossed some tapes into the student’s hands.

"What are these for?" Zane asked.

“Puhuhu! Just go find the video room!” Monokuma laughed.

“Found it!” Lei said, pointing at a silver door that read “VIDEO ROOM.”

Clink.

A quick voidwalk (void stroll?) to the door and now the person with the shard through the video tape was waiting.

"Go on, then. I'm sure everyone is waiting for someone to step in."

Everyone rushed in. The room was large and dim lit. There were 12 cubicles, each with a T.V. and a DVD player.

Lei frowned. “I thought this would be cooler.”

Zane shrugged. He walked over to a cubicle and inserted his tape into the TV's DVD player.

Everyone’s T.V. flickered on. It was a video of someone important to you. Monokuma’s voice said: “Are you sure they are okay? Is something happening to them? Are they....dead? Puhuhu! To find out, kill!”

"Ok. NOW I know this teddy bear is truly psycho," Zane thought.

A wave of terror passed by through the room. Everyone wasn’t sure of what to do.

Zane had a sudden feeling of distrust of those around him.

Priscilla turned around, feeling the students emotions. "What's going on?" she wondered, "What is this emotion I'm feeling?"

“WHO ARE YOU?!” Lucy screeched, hearing the new voice.

"Ack. I'm gonna be deaf if you keep that up," Zane stated irritably.

“It wasn’t my fault. It was mystery person’s.” Lucy insisted.

Zane rolled his eyes. He looked at the silhouette of the person. "Who are you any way?" Zane asked.

“Hi,” The girl said, "I’m Priscilla, an ice wizard.”

“Oh.” Lucy said.

“I forgot to introduce myself when I was supposed to so...” Priscilla remarked with a nervous laugh.

“S-so you were here with us the whole time?” Axel stuttered.

“Yeah,” Priscilla replied, “You guys didn’t even notice me."

“You don’t need to introduce yourselves, I heard you introducing."

“Alright.” Taro said, nodding. He seemed to be in a thinking pose.

“One question though. Who are you?”Priscilla turned to Taro.

“You should know me if you heard us introduce ourselves earlier!” He objected.

“Meh.” Priscilla said “I know your from somewhere else, but yeah. I got it; no need to scream at me.”

“Good,” Taro said. A minute passed, and Monokuma flickered onto a huge screen in front of everyone. “Everyone, please find the Dining Hall! I don’t want you to starve.....puhuhu....” He chuckled.

"So the teddy bear wants us not to starve, but he wants us to kill each other?" Zane muttered.

“I’m not sure,” Priscilla replied, “But he seems suspicious.”

"Of course he's suspicious!" Zane retorted, "He wants us to kill each other! KILL! Like THAT'S perfectly normal."

Meanwhile, Aaron took in the personalities and such. Exploitable weaknesses.

He phased into the floor, looking for the imprint of the location of the dining room.

School Life
...

Ah, here we are.

He phased back up into normality and walked towards the door.

Knock, knock.

An echoing sound. Should be enough to get everybody in the general location of the room.

Zane raised an eyebrow. "Anyone else hear that?" he asked.

Everybody walked in. Axel quickly dashed to a whole table full of food. “YAY!” He cheered. “You know that’s plastic, right?” Lucy remarked.

Zane poked the food. "If I didn't know better I would have thought this was a trap," he thought aloud.

Monokuma then appeared out of nowhere, with a mountain of onion rings on a plate he was holding. “This is the real food!” He exclaimed.

Zane just stared at Monokuma.

Aaron raised one eyebrow, his expression reading: "Are you bs-ing me, or are you serious?"

“I’m serious. This is all you’re getting for now.” Monokuma answered.

"Is it poisoned?" Zane asked.

“NO!” Monokuma exclaimed. “Just eat the food! This took about an hour to make, so I don’t want it to go to waste!”

Zane took one and put it in a plastic bag. "I'll just save it for later," he stated irritably.

“Fine. Do what you want.” Monokuma hissed. He sat the plate on the table near them, and disappeared into the ground.

“Onion rings? Couldn’t the Birch Wand be more considerate?” Lucy remarked.

Zane shrugged. "He does want us to kill each other," Zane replied, "so I'm not surprised." When Zane finished talking, the whole room fell in an awkward silence.

Lucy took a onion ring and put it into her mouth. She immediately spit it out. “ACK! That dumb-ashlet put mozzarella cheese in the rings instead of onion! Gross!”

Zane just stared blankly at the onion rings.

Lei swallowed. She took a “mozzarella” ring and slipped it into her mouth. “I-I think they’re a-actually pretty good....” Lei stuttered.

Zane looked around, scanning the room for a way out. Just then, Monokuma burst through the door with a grin on his face.

“SOMEBODY LIKES MY FOOD!” He cheered. “But anyways, everybody, it’s time to sleep. If you want some of my ‘rings, grab some and take them to your dormitory!”

This is the perfect time to break out, Zane thought. Then he noticed the cameras on each corner of the wall. Dang it, he thought.

“Oh, you can’t leave! I forced Gale to perform a Trapping Spell on the school. And if you try to leave, you will be caught and be punished!” Monokuma cackled.

Did he just read my mind or was that coincidence? he thought.

“Both! Puhuhu!” Monokuma chuckled. “But anyways, your dormitories have a picture of your face on them, and your name under your face. Good night, and try to not get killed!~”

Whatever, Zane thought, TEDDY BEAR.

“DON’T. MAKE. ME. DO. IT.” Monokuma ordered. The others just stared, in confusion.

Anything you say, Zane grinned, HELPLESS TEDDY BEAR.

“SPEARS OF GUNGHIR, I SUMMON YOU!” Monokuma yelled. 15 spears emerged from the ground under Zane. He could try to dodge, but it could be impossible.

Zane promptly turned into a wolf and slipped out from between the spears. He morphed back into a human. "Try me," he growled.

“Drat! It’s supposed to kill you!” Monokuma raged. He summoned his last round of spears. But they missed....

And Axel was impaled instead.

Zane stopped in his tracks.

“AXEL!” Lei shrieked. She ran over to him, not caring that blood was flying all over her kimono. “Please....no....” Lei begged.

“I.....wasn’t....supposed to die yet....” Axel muttered. The spears went back into the ground, and Axel’s dead body fell.

Deadly Life
Lucy had pinned Zane on his bed in his dormitory. She was smiling from ear to ear. “It’s time to pay for your sins.” She cackled.

Zane sat up in bed only to stare into the cold eyes of Lucy Bloodshard. Zane noticed a knife in her hands and his eyes widened.

Zane leaped out of the bed before Lucy had the chance to stab him.

“Nobody can hear your screams! AHAHAHA!” She laughed.

Zane's left arm morphed into that of a wolf's limb. That's new, he thought.

He slashed his claws at Lucy, leaving a gash in her right cheek. "For once I WOULD LIKE TO BE ABLE TO SLEEP PEACEFULLY!"

“Ack!” She said. She frowned and launched at Zane, knife and hair clip in tow.

He morphed his other arm into a wolf's limb and slashed at her, scarring her arms and eye.

She began to repeatedly stab Zane, enraged. Then she suddenly lost all feeling in her left arm.

He promptly kicked her in the leg and held her in a chokehold.

"Give up yet?" he winced. Then he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. He wavered, then finally collapsed on the floor, in a pool of blood.

“Y-you....” Lucy dropped her knife and grabbed her Pumpkin Hair clip. She slashed it across Zane’s face. “Bye-bye.” She chuckled.

It was the morning. Everyone had gathered in the dining hall, to discuss anything suspicious. Lucy had came with some strangers. Everyone was confused and filled with terror.

“Where’s Zane?” Lei asked. Lucy flinched.

Taro noticed Lucy flinch. "I think SHE had something to do with it," Taro stated bluntly, pointing at Lucy.

“I broke my arm because I fell in my slippery-as-heck bathroom.” Lucy objected.

Taro raised an eyebrow.

The purple-haired person behind Lucy quickly began to give a better reason. “Master Lucy fell in her bathroom. It was probably flooded before-everywhere in the room was covered in water.”

"That's believable..." Taro sighed, "I guess...." "Also, who are you?" Taro asked.

“Lyndia Acidshade, Defender of the Mechagram Quad.” She said dryly.

“Shall I tell you the names of the others?” She pointed to a yellow haired boy and a green haired girl.

Taro looked at the others. "Go ahead."

“The yellow haired one is Xl4rx, pronounced zerx, and the one behind me is Milly Riverpetal. And together, we are....” Lyndia said.

“THE MECHAGRAM QUAD!” The 3 cheered in unison.

“I’m their leader. I use them as bodyguards.” Lucy explained.

“Hello! Nice to meet you three!” Lei said, smiling.

"I'm Taro," he replied. "I'm going to go get Zane," he sighed.

"Zane! It's time to wake up!" Taro yelled while banging on the door.

Aaron waited and listened. Zane didn't appear to be present. Probably wouldn't be for the next eternity. That hairclip Lucy had been wearing was bloodied, as was a small pocket in her outfit with a handle sticking out of it. However, that might just have been the broken arm. Plus the unexplained cut on Lucy's cheeks. Slipping on a bathroom floor doesn't do that, does it? Zane had been able to turn into a wolf. Lucy, if guilty, had probably tried to murder Zane in his sleep, even though he was awake. There must have been a struggle- Zane had slashed at her face, and probably broke her arm, however Lucy was able to get the finishing blows with her hairclip and that knife. He decided to wait to present the evidence to anyone- there could be more.

Pan walked through the streets, wondering if there were any friends around. All humans he thought. He spotted a person pondering in front of a house. Pan trotted over and nuzzled the boy's leg. "Mrr?" (What's up?). The boy simply looked down. "Muu" (why are you confused). No response. Humans weeeeird Pan thought as he plopped down next to the boy.

Aaron looked at the new figure. Nothing out of the out-of-ordinary.

Meanwhile...

A white posterboard with black dusty marks on it documented what Aaron thought of the situation.

Yellow shards flew and hovered around it, scribbling down pictures and words, taking notes.

They dissipated into a yellow smoke, finding their way out of Aaron's dorm and back to him.

Back at the Hall...

Aaron decided he'd try to follow Taro and search for the body, if there was one. It would be unsurprising if Zane was dead, but... just in case.

"ZANE! IT'S TIME TO...", he trailed off as he noticed something on the ground. A red splotch on the ground. What-, Taro thought.

Pan followed Aaron into the room. Inside he could smell the stench of dead and... blood. Pan hated death. He had a fun, innocent, and somewhat sheltered life with his owner, Kyle, and would do anything to keep his life that way. Pan wanted to help Aaron in any way he could. Just to keep from more dying and blood.

Rose quietly crawled along the ceiling as she followed Aaron, Taro, and the little black kitten into the room. It was her old friend Zane's room. They reached a closed room at the end of the hallway. Rose stifled a groan as the two tried all the amateur ways to break locks. The cat eventually stuck his claw in the lock and managed to break it. They entered the room. Every one stopped dead in their tracks. Eventually Pan got up and pawed at Zane's face and let out a soft mewl of despair.

Lei shrieked. “Zane’s dead! ZANE’S DEAD!” Lucy looked terrified.

Monokuma’s voice then ran through the halls. “A body has been discovered! After the investigation, the class trial will take place!”

Rose was too devastated to scream. Instead she lost her focus and fell off the ceiling and onto the ground. She'd done worse entries before. Pan jumped and hid behind Lei, hissing.

“Aw, kitty!” She said, smiling.

Rose got up. "WHO DID THIS!" she yelled. Pan realized that it was just Rose and stopped hissing and jumped up onto Lei's back.

“The investigation has begun. We shall look in here, the crime scene, for clues.” Lucy explained. “I can’t look, however, due to my broken arm.”

Taro stared at Zane's body, running his hand through his hair in shock.

“Aw, he likes me!” Lei chuckled.

Rose gave Lucy a strange look. "Of course you can, you ninny. Just use the other arm."

“Stop fooling around with the cat, and look for clues.” Lucy ordered. Lei frowned.

"How did your arm REALLY break, Lucy?" Taro asked.

Pan sniffed around and bit Lucy. She had something funny. It smelled bloody. When Lucy refused to give it to Pan, he jumped up and gnawed on Lucy's head.

“Well....” Lucy said. Xl4rx stepped forward. “I shall tell you what actually happened. Master Lucy was too embarrassed to tell you, Sir Yasuhiro.” He explained.

"Please, call me Taro," Taro insisted.

“Get off of me, you disgusting furball!” Lucy screeched. She shook her head, trying to get Pan off.

Rose gave Lucy a look. "Pan says you have something. Maybe it's that bloody clip of yours. SHould've washed it before that see through lie, you little NINNY" Rose yelled as she punched Lucy smack in her bloody cheek. Rose inspected the blood. "This ain't going to come from a clumsy slip. Fess up, coward."

Taro picked up Pan, who was still hissing as Taro pulled him away. Both of them glared at Lucy.

Xl4rx nodded. “Alright. Lucy and I got into a argument in the kitchen. We had a argument. There are knives in the kitchen, and that’s how she got a cut on her cheek. I broke her arm.”

Multiple stab wounds... 28, to be exact. Plus the bloodied knife and the gash in Zane's dead face, probably from the hairclip.

"And you scarred her eye?" he asked suspiciously.

Aaron nodded as yellow shards marked down a picture of the body, as well as documenting his thoughts.

"It'd be terribly suspicious if that knife went into the 28 wounds on Zane's body. Plus, your hairclip has the same edges that could have made this cut- almost uncanny, don't you think..?

"Not to mention that there's claw marks faintly around your broken arm. Zane had the ability to turn into a wolf, remember? And... X, you're entirely loyal to Lucy. I can tell. You obviously live to serve- why would you try to harm your master?"

Rose grabbed Lucy's collar and growled "You better not be the one or you're DEAD." Rose swirled her finger around the hilt of her dagger. Lucy glared right back, and at that instant, Rose knew she was dead as a squashed rat.

"Hold it. Punishment is bound to be dealt to anyone who is convicted of murder. Don't try anything stupid."

Aaron then takes a closer look at Lucy's cheek. 3 cuts. 3.

"X, if you really cut Lucy's cheek, why do the marks look more like they came from the claws on on Zane's blatantly bloodied arm?"

Clink, clink.

Kching.

Two shards on the ground suddenly spike up, creating a wall between Rose and Lucy.

"If you try anything, at least two of us will be six feet under. Got it?"

Pan looked at Zane. A friend! Another cat! No, it was a wolf. Pan's face sunk as he nuzzled Zane's arm, trying to wake him up again. Pan wanted everyone to be happy and alive. Happy... HAPPY! Pan could win and make everyone happy! Humans be happy after Pan wins! Pan thought.

Unfortunately, Zane did not move. Not a twitch of a muscle, a blink of an eye.

Just the dull, lifeless, cold body.

Taro picked up Pan and stroked his head. "Sorry buddy," he whispered.

Pan mewled and sat on Zane. ''Human wakey? Wakey wakey?'' Pan sadly walked over to Lei and sat on her foot. Lei petted Pan eagerly.

“Master Lucy and I got into a large disagreement.” Xl4rx said. “And I am not entirely loyal to her.” He scoffed.

“And I did scar her eye.” Xl4rx admitted.

"What about the bloody hairclip?" Taro asked.

“There are 4 knives in the kitchen. While we were fighting, I wasn’t thinking, and I picked up three of them and slashed them across her cheek.” Xl4rx said with a completely straight face.

"What does that have to do with the hairclip?" Taro asked. "As well as the claw marks and this uncanny cut."

“I scratched Xl4rx’s arm a couple times with it.“ Lucy explained. “Show them, Xl4rx.”

Xl4rx rolled down his sleeves to reveal many cuts. “See?”

“I can’t explain the claw marks.” Lucy admitted.

Aaron sighed.

Suddenly, a hand made entirely out of yellow crystal reached forward and grabbed the handle on Lucy's outfit, revealing a knife. It then planted it directly into one of the wounds on Zane's body.

Perfect fit.

Taro glared at Lucy.

“WHICH ONE OF YOU TWERPS STOLE MY KNIFE! I SWEAR TO GOD, I DIDN’T KILL ZANE! IF IT WAS ANYONE, IT WOULD PROBABLY BE LYNDIA! SHE TOLD ME SHE HATED HIM!” Lucy screamed.

Monokuma then popped up. “She’s not lying, folks! But anyways, it’s time to begin the class trial!”

Taro jumped. "Do you have to pop up out of nowhere?" Taro gasped.

“Find the red door on the first floor, and then choose a podium! I’ll be waiting!” Monokuma explained. He then disappeared.

"Lucy.

If you aren't guilty, I want you to cut Zane's face with that hairclip, in the same fashion as the rest."

Pan leaped onto Zane and hissed at Aaron, not wanting any more harm done.

Lucy nodded. She went over to Zane, and slashed his face in a straight line. It went over his eyes.

He looked sympathetically at Pan.

"It doesn't matter how much you want him to wake up, bud.

He's dead."

Dead.

Dead.

Dead.

A final word for a final breath.

Taro looked at the cut marks on Zane's face. They looked exactly the same.

Aaron's posterboard, now filled, dissipates. He nodded and walked away to the trial room.

Everyone made their way out of Zane’s former dormitory. They walked until they saw the red door that Monokuma was talking about. Lei shoved it open, and it was another room, with a elevator entrance in it. “C’mon, everybody. Whether we like it or not, we have to do this.” Lei said, disappointed.

Aaron had already voidwalked there. However, he waited to choose a podium- the placement of each person could change how people saw everything.

"Ok," Taro sighed, exhausted.

"Wait-where did Aaron go?" Taro asked.

A shard clinked on the ground at Taro's feet, falling down the elevator shaft as an answer.

Everybody stepped into the elevator. It then began to rise to the trial room.

The elevator doors opened, revealing a large room with large white podiums, and Aaron was waiting for them.

The room was huge. It revealed a circle of 13 podiums, and a large throne behind them all. This turned out to be where Monokuma was setting. “Everybody, choose a podium, and I’ll explain the class trial!” Monokuma said.

Aaron looked at the rest of the students. He nodded, and a white posterboard sat under a podium.

"Where is Rose?" Taro asked while walking to the podium near the top left corner of the room. Monokuma just smiled.

Everyone chose a podium. Monokuma cleared his voice, and began to speak. “The goal of Class Trials is for you guys to uncover the "Blackened", who has, either voluntarily or involuntarily, murdered another student as part of the mutual Killing Game. During the Class Trial, the killer will oppose all the other students, who are known as the "Spotless". You guys will determine who they believe is guilty by participating in a vote at the end of the trial. If the Blackened is found guilty, they will be executed by me, Monokuma, and the Killing Game will continue, but if you guys find the wrong student guilty then every student except the Blackened will be executed and the Blackened will be allowed to leave. Participating in Class Trials is mandatory for all students. And that’s all!”

"I guess we will have to wait for Rose..." Taro stated.

“Rose....well.....I might’ve punished her for stepping on me.” Monokuma said. “So, she’s basically dead!”

"WHAT?!" Taro yelled.

“Didn’t your parents tell you your actions have consequences?” Monokuma cackled. “But anyways, let’s get to the point. Who killed Zane?”

Classroom Trial #1
"All current evidence appears to point to Lucy. The knife she had in her possession fits perfectly within the wounds in Zane's body. The cuts on Zane's face all match up with a cut made by the pumpkin hairclip. There are claw marks on Lucy's broken arm as well- only one person had the ability to turn into a wolf, and that was Zane," Aaron stated plainly.

“Did I not tell you Master Lucy and I fought? And I gave a reason for her scars?” Xl4rx objected.

Taro began to speak, "So, you slashed her with a knife that looked like Zane's claws, someone stole her knife and stabbed Zane, and likely took her Pumpkin hairclip that was used to scratch Zane's face, and someone presumably returned them all without Lucy noticing? Sounds a bit far-fetched."

“Yes. Nobody took her hairclip, however. Somebody must have their own.” Xl4rx answered. “And Lei has one.”

“I do; It's right here.” Lei admitted. She held up a purple hair clip with a butterfly on it.

"However, Lei didn't have Lucy's knife- Lucy would probably have pointed out the fact that there's sudden blood on the handle, as well as near her outfit. Not to mention the claw marks on Lucy's arm, unless someone else here has claws exactly matching Zane's or has the ability to snap bone with a knives like hands.

Pan dashed into the room and bit Lei.

“What the-“ Lei said.

Pan pawed at Rose's dagger, and somewhat telepathically said "Rose wants you to have this." and sadly walked off.

“I have claws.” Xl4rx held up his hand. His fingernails grew into claws.

Lei picked up the dagger, and tucked it into her kimono pocket.

A mysterious figure walked in. "Don't we all?" she asked as her very own hands morphed into dragon talons.

“WHAT. THE. HELL.” Lucy stated.

The mysterious figure frowned "So which one of you miscreants killed my sister?"

Everyone pointed at Monokuma. “It was her fault. Not mine!” Monokuma said.

Taro stared at the girl, then looked at Monokuma, who had an irritated look on his face. Aaron sighed.

A crystal hand shot forward, multiple crystals trailing behind it.

Each crystal was stabbed by each set of claws- a simple squeeze into a fist.

Each claw mark was tested on Aaron's forearm.

Ow.

A posterboard materialized with multiple drawings. They definitely looked at least somewhat similar, but both X's and the stranger's claws looked longer.
 * 1) A picture of Lucy's arm.
 * 2) A picture of each claw mark respectively.
 * 3) A picture of each clawed person's hand.

The marks dug much deeper- at least deeper in-depth to Lucy's, however, they still did look very similar.

The mysterious figure gave Aaron a strange look, then unmasked herself, to reveal an orange haired girl with piercing yellow eyes. "Kyle Shade. Pleasure."

Taro thought something sounded familiar about that name. "Are you related to Mira Shade?" he asked.

Kyle stepped forward and gave a look to Taro who was clearly terrified by Kyle's talon. "I'm a stereotype. So was Zane right until his... untimely demise. It was a punishment for whatever it is. He takes your least favorite element and turns you into an animal of that element. He obviously failed because I'm able to shift from Human to Dragon and, of course, I got used to the Fire element." Kyle said as if it was a fascinating piece of history.

“It’s not that impressive...” Lucy remarked.

"Ha, better than being a boring murderer" Kyle shot back.

“For the last time, I’m NOT a murderer!” Lucy screamed.

"WHATever you say," Taro retorted.

“Hmph,” Lucy sighed.

"Anyway, what about the trial?" Taro asked.

“FINALLY!” Monokuma cheered.

Taro rolled his eyes. Monokuma frowned.

Kyle took a seat reluctantly but found herself in a weird position as the seat started to run away. Kyle slapped her head, embarrassed.

“So, continue your investigation!” Monokuma laughed.

Kyle walked up to Lucy and cornered her into a wall. "Where were you during Zane's death? According to the smell it happened around 7 in the morning."

“I was sleeping in the morning. During the night, I had a fight with Xl4rx.” Lucy explained.

"Are you sure about that?" Taro asked.

“Why wouldn’t I be? I have a solid alibi!” Lucy said in her defense.

Kyle caught the word alibi like a dead butterfly. "Wait- Alibi?"

"Oh REALLY?" Taro asked suspiciously, " 'Cause I think Pan smells something familiar about you." Taro pointed at Pan, who was sniffing Lucy's leg and hissing.

Pan started biting a strange knife shaped bulge in Lucy's pant leg. Blood smell Zane smell Lucy kill he thought as Lucy reached to grab his collar. Lucy promptly threw Pan onto the ground.

“KITTY!” Lei said. She darted away from her podium and grabbed Pan, glaring at Lucy.

Kyle kicked Lucy's leg right where Pan was biting but her toe hit metal and she hopped around repeatedly while saying, "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!"

“ARGH!” Lucy squealed.

Taro took Lucy's knife and looked at the blood on it. "Hey, Pan. Smell something familiar about it?" Taro asked, giving the knife to Pan.

“HEY! THAT’S MINE!” Lucy screeched.

Pan hissed. "Do you know what he is saying?" Taro asked Kyle.

Pan hopped out of Lei’s arms and went over to the knife, immediately hissing. “He’s saying Blood smell Zane smell Lucy kill.” Lei said.

Taro thought for a moment. ''Blood smell Zane. Blood smells LIKE Zane. So the knife smells like Zane...therefore meaning-''"YOU DID KILL ZANE!" he blurted out.

“Everyone return to their podiums do we can cast our votes of who is guilty!” Monokuma ordered, slightly laughing.

Kyle pulled her dagger. "Does this mean we get to kill this miscreant?" Kyle asked excitedly. Pan jumped up and dealt a massive scratch across Lucy's left eye.

Taro walked back to his podium as did everyone else.

“No! NO! Your all wrong! YOU DON’T HAVE PROOF! HAHAHAHAHA! NO PROOF! You do have proof, don’t you? YOU ARE ALL BIRCH WANDS. ALL OF YOU! YOU’LL REGRET THIS! AND MONOKUMA, I PROMISE, THE MECHAGRAM QUAD WILL SAVE ME! THEY LOVE ME! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! LET SWEET DEATH CONSUME ME! HAHAHAHAHAHA!” Lucy cackled.

Kyle sat there confused. "Uhhhhh should I be mortally afraid or may I sit here wondering whether or not it was actually Lucy's fault. I mean, it but there must've a reason to this strange behavior. Maybe you need to see a doctor."

“Nobody needs to vote! It’s clear who the killer is.” Monokuma said. “It’s time to end the trial.”

“I should tell you why I’m like this.” Lucy said.

Pan wanted no part of Lucy's boring explanation. Pan walked up to Lei and patted the pocket where the dagger was sitting. Kill pliz Lucy bad Zane friend Zane dead.

“I’m not killing anybody!” Lei cried. Everyone stared at her, confused. “Nothing...” Lei sighed.

Lucy proceeded to keep talking. “I couldn’t do any magic. I was the only one in my town. I could only summon a stupid fireball that barely did anything. When I got older, I became a psychopath. My doctor told my mother, and she didn’t care. At all.” Lucy continued.

Lei shook her head. “Monokuma's killing her!” She whispered.

Kyle started to get sympathetic. "So you became a murderer and- WAIT WAS ZANE YOUR OLDER SIBLING?"

Lucy smirked. “He just needed to go.”

Kyle was confused. "Why? Why would he? He did nothing bad to any of us."

Lucy blinked, and looked at Kyle. “You’ll find out soon.”

Aaron considered this. A cold blooded murderer, sympathizing in her final moments...

Wow, doesn't this feel like a b-movie?

Taro looked back and forth, staring and Kyle and Lucy. Then, he looked at Aaron, who was obviously thinking about something.

“2 years ago, I went insane. I was tired of the disrespect and killed my family. I was then a criminal. I finally had attention. Eventually, I killed everyone in my town. Then I made it to Prodigy Island, and killed anybody who messed with me. I finally had attention....and I loved it.” Lucy chuckled.

"So uhm... you killed Zane because you needed to go to the bathroom but he wouldn't move out of the way," Kyle sarcastically replied.

Taro silently chuckled.

Aaron seemed to smirk for a split-second.

Milly ran over to Lucy. “You can’t go! We can’t manage without you!” She said. Lucy laughed. “You’ll be fine.”

''How incredibly sentimental. Why, I think I might actually care!'' Aaron thought.

“And all of you, before I die, remember this:

The one behind the bear mask is the wolf.”

Lucy said.

”Now, Monokuma. It’s time.”

Wolf? Taro thought.

Monokuma grinned.

Kyle felt somewhat awkward. "You can start over. It's just us who know about this. You could, well, get amnesia. Become a new you. I read a book about this somewhere. Well, anyway, a bad life doesn't mean that there isn't a way out. I could help you. We all could," Kyle said but then stopped and muttered, "well maybe not Aaron."

Aaron gave a piercing glare to Kyle, the kind that stabs through your soul and stops right before it reaches the other side. He then sighed and shook his head- if the others seemed to be okay with this, he'd be too.

Death Sentence #1: The Fall of the Ripper
“Alright, it’s punishment time!” Monokuma laughed. The lights flickered off, and Lucy disappeared. Then she appeared on the wall, being projected.

Taro blinked. "What..." he trailed off.

Lucy was tied to a chair, struggling to get out of the ropes. Monokuma then appeared, with a knife and a surgical knife. He leaped at Lucy, slicing her to bits. Pan then leaped out of nowhere, and dealt the final blow to Lucy’s face. The lights then flickered back on and the projection disappeared.

Taro gasped.

Lei was trembling in fear.

Taro stared at Pan's bloody paw.

Milly was hugging Xl4rx in fear so hard that he probably couldn’t breathe. Lyndia was throwing up in her mask.

“Now, all of you, GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE!” Monokuma ordered.

Everybody scampered out of the room, afraid for their lives.

School Life
Taro dashed out of the room and ran to a trash can and threw up in it.

Lyndia raced to the nearest bedroom to empty her mask. Nobody judged Taro-it was pretty much normal to throw up after seeing that.

Pan walked in, clearly in a state of terror and disappointment in himself. ''Why Pan kill? Bad Pan. Very bad Pan. Kyle will be mad. Pan no like mad Kyle. Lei be angry too. Taro thinks me disgusting!? VERY BAD TARO.'' Pan thought as he walked in.

“I’ll always love you, kitty.” Lei said kindly, picking up Pan. “You did a good thing. Lucy was bad. She did a no-no.”

Kyle laughed a bit at Pan's thought of Taro. "Yes, VERY bad Taro" She joked at Taro who gave a friendly glare back.

Lei laughed.

Pan seemed to cheer up for a bit then went deep into thought. ''Over? Pan and Kyle go home? No... maybe no. Hopefully yes. Lei?''

“As long as we don’t get killed, Pan.” Lei said, hugging Pan.

''The one behind the bear mask is the wolf. The one behind the bear mask is the wolf.'' Taro thought.

Just what does it mean? he thought.

“Now we have to start pondering what Lucy said could possibly mean.” Lyndia said, emerging from the bathroom. “She never told us. She was very secretive.”

"I was thinking the same thing," he replied. What is her plan? Taro asked himself, Is she and the Mechagram Quad-er Trio going to attempt to kill everyone since Lucy died?

“I agree too. But I will never trust any of you ‘Mechagram Quad.’” Lei quickly shot out.

Taro glanced at Lei with a look that said Why would you say that out loud?

She looked at Taro sharply.

“I agree.” Kyle said sternly. She gave Lyndia a look of hatred.

Milly began to turn green. “I-i’m feeling sick..” Milly muttered before running off.

Pan nipped at Lei’s hand. ''Pan have idea. Maybe mean bear guy?''

Lei’s eyes lit up. “Guys! Maybe Monokuma is the bear mask!”

Monokuma chuckled. “You are quite smart! I was listening in. And, yes, somebody is controlling me. But you’ll never guess who it is!~”

Kyle rolled her eyes. "Yeah sure. You're a robot."

"And Zane might be the wolf-er wait. He's dead..." Taro trailed off.

Kyle shot a glance at Monokuma. "Entirely possible. But do we chop his face off or something?" Kyle asked before throwing her ax at it. Lei looked terrified as the ax, almost in slo-mo, hit Monokuma. The axe promptly shattered as it hit Monokuma.

“That’s logic, idiot. We need to find out who has wolf-blood, and maybe they are the one we are looking for.” Xl4rx remarked.

"Was Zane not the only one here with wolf blood?" he asked.

Lyndia began to raise her hand, but quickly hesitated.

Taro looked at Lyndia. "Do you want to say something?" he asked.

“No.” Lyndia said, clearly lying.

Kyle got up onto a pedestal, knocking the Ice crystal to the floor. "Whoops. Sorry Gale." Kyle grimaced as she wormed up into a vent.

“My father was a wolf.” Lyndia spat out.

"Sure he was. No wonder your temper is so horrible. I bet your Daddy ain't alive anymore." Kyle called down from somewhere in the vents.

“Yep.” Lyndia replied. “My mother was kinda insane, y’know? She loved wolves, and she decided to.....kissy kiss one, y’know?” Lyndia explained. Her secretive personality seemed to have flown away.

“You’re disgusting.” Xl4rx muttered.

Kyle sympathized a bit. "We all have a bit of insanity in us, it just shows in different ways!" She chirped.

“True.” Lyndia agreed.

Pan nodded vigorously as if he had no idea what the heck Kyle was talking about.

Monokuma appeared. “It’s midnight, everybody. GO THE HELL TO BED!” He ordered.

Lei nodded, and darted off to her dorm. Monokuma phased back into the floor.

Kyle frowned at Monokuma. "I don't take orders from a petty minion." She snapped back at Monokuma.

Xl4rx grabbed Kyle and began to walk her to her dorm. Everyone followed.

Taro dashed to his room.

But everyone stopped in their tracks when they smelled the faint scent of.....blood.

Kyle instinctively started sniffing around like a dog. "It's over here. Under the couch- AAAAAH DEAD BODY ALERT! DEAD BODY ALERT!"

They stopped in front of Milly’s dorm.

The scent was coming from the inside.

Lyndia stepped forward and gently opened the door....

Kyle walked in and saw a broken glass tube on the floor, lying next to... "Milly!? MILLY!" Kyle screamed.

Blood was trickling down from the roof. Everyone looked up to see.....

The hanging dead body of Milly.

A bloody note was in her hand.

Lyndia and Xl4rx had no reaction. Lei was screaming.

Taro put one hand to his mouth in shock.

Kyle flew up and retrieved the note.

Pan whimpered as he threw up right over Taro's foot. ''More dead. Scary school. Cute bear scary.''

“Can I read it? Aloud?” Xl4rx asked Kyle.

Taro sighed and stroked Pan's fur. "It's okay," he sighed. Pan stared at him. "Ok fine. I was trying to be uplifting," he sighed. Pan seemed to calm for a bit but looked up again and this time threw up on Taro's hand. Taro picked up Pan with his right hand and walked to the bathroom. "Let's get you-and my left hand-cleaned up, ok?" he asked.

Kyle grimaced as she handed the note to Xl4rx.

“I’m sorry. My life is meaningless without Lucy. I had to be with her. Consider Lyndia as the next leader. -Milly.” Xl4rx said, tears beginning to drop from his eyes.

Kyle walked over to Xl4rx and slung an arm around his shoulders. "She's somewhere better now." Kyle said softly, as if trying to convince herself as well.

The next few minutes were in silence, everyone mourning for their friend. Suddenly Kyle stood up and marched herself over to the door. "We're ending this. Now." She stated through gritted teeth.

“We can’t. We’ll all die if we try to stop Monokuma.” Lei sobbed.

"She's got a point," Taro replied, walking through the door's entrance, setting Pan on the floor.

“Let’s go to bed. It’ll take this off our minds.” Xl4rx sighed. He began to walk to his dorm. Lei and Lyndia followed.

"I guess so..." Taro sighed, walking off to his dorm.

That night, Lei felt something was wrong. She woke up, and wandered the halls, looking for anything. She stopped at Milly’s dorm. She heard someone talking, and she began to listen.

Taro heard footsteps in the hallway. He peeked out the door cautiously. He noticed Lei and opened the door wider. "Oh, hi Lei. What are you doing up at this time of the night?" he yawned.

“You don’t deserve the role of leader! You’re a pathetic girl! I don’t care that your the oldest out of all of us!” A voice screamed. It sounded like....Xl4rx.

”But Milly personally appointed me-“ Another voice said. It sounded like Lyndia. She was interrupted by Xl4rx screaming “SHE DID NOT PERSONALLY APPOINT YOU! SHE DIED BEFORE SHE COULD! AND I PERSONALLY APPOINT MYSELF AS LEADER!”

Lei quickly shushed Taro, and pointed to the door.

Taro silently crept over to the door, and listened in. What the heck is going on in there? he thought.

“Zeko, stop. Please. Milly didn’t want this.” Lyndia said. “I DON’T GIVE A DAMN! I AM YOUR LEADER!” Xl4rx screamed in reply.

This can't end well, Taro thought.

“I thought you were better then this!” Lyndia said. “OW!” Xl4rx screeched. Footsteps began to approach the door.

Taro looked behind him to see Kyle and Aaron staring at the door inquisitively.

"Wait-where is Priscilla?" Taro whispered as he realized she was missing.

Everyone shrugged and went back to listening to the racket.

Lei shrugged. “Let’s go.” She whispered to everyone. They all departed back to their dorms.

The next morning,

Everybody woke up. They were all silent. Until Lyndia finally said something.

“Are we not going to discuss Milly’s death? Is Monokuma not even gonna talk about it?” Lyndia asked. Lei shrugged.

"Probably not-" Taro was interupted by Monokuma yelling, "A body has been discovered!"

"CAN IT!" Taro yelled. "She killed herself..." he trailed off.

“But this doesn’t count as a actual murder! So no class trial!” Monokuma said. “Thrills, Chills, Kills! That’s all we need in a murder!” He then disappeared.

Taro sighed irritably.

Aaron had been watching.

Interesting...

The psychological response from each member of that quad was somehow drastically different, nevermatter the fact that they were equally loyal to Lucy.

Strange...

But will it matter in the end?

Lyndia realized her mask was dirty. “Excuse me, but I need to clean my mask.” She then walked off. “That reminds me! I need to go use the restroom.” Xl4rx said abruptly. He began to follow Lyndia.

Lei secretly followed them. Nobody noticed her disappearing. As she was walking, her eyes were caught by a potted plant. Lei immediately began to tend to it. Xl4rx and Lyndia continued to walk.

Lei then remembered what she was doing. She walked over to the girl’s bathroom, and opened the door.

There she saw the bleeding mangled body of Lyndia, with Xl4rx standing over her, bloody. Xl4rx then saw Lei, and pulled Lei into the bathroom. He then quickly locked the door.

Xl4rx looked at Lei.

“If I can prove that I never broke the law, do you promise to not tell another soul what you saw?” He asked.

”No one else was in the room where it happened....” Lei quietly responded.

”Is that a yes?” Xl4rx said.

”Uh....yes.” Lei replied.

Xl4rx unlocked the door and then pushed Lei out. He closed it back up.

Deadly Life
Lei ran back to the dining room, where everyone met every morning.

Taro looked at Lei's face. "You look worried. Is something wrong?" he inquisited.

“Nothing.” Lei muttered.

Kyle cocked her head. "Well obviously something wrong happened. You really need to work on your Poker Face."

A figure passed by the hallway's end.

Unbeknownst to the people there, a tiny shard, yellow but dim, lay in the corner.

In other words, an unnoticable audio recorder.

Kyle looked over for a split second and shrugged. "Hey where's Lyndia? Did she go on a date with X or something?" Kyle half-yawned.

Aaron snickered from inside his dorm. Crystals flew, writing and scribbling down a transcript.

“Fine.” Lei muttered. Xl4rx began to walk into the dining hall, as clean as ever. “What are you guys doing?” He asked.

"Meeting here like we do every morning," Taro replied calmly.

Lei frowned. “Everyone, come with me.” She said. She stood up, and began to walk to the bathrooms. Xl4rx began to look panicked.

Taro stood up and glanced at Xl4rx's facial expression. What did he do? he thought.

Xl4rx scoffed. “I’m not coming.”

"And why is that?" Taro asked suspiciously.

“Whatever. Go with your friends.” He muttered.

Taro shrugged and followed Lei past Xl4rx.

Not too long after that, Lei finally made it to the girls bathroom.

She gently opened the door.

The bathroom was covered in blood.

But on the floor, there laid Lyndia’s dead body.

Her body was chopped up, but her head was still intact.

And her mask was ripped off.

”It got so much worse!” Lei cried.

Taro almost threw up at the sight of it.

Lyndia had horrid scars under her gas mask.

Monokuma appeared. “A body has been discovered!” He laughed. “After the investigation, the class trial will begin! Puhuhu!” He then abruptly disappeared.

Kyle looked in. "Wha-" she managed to croak out before blacking out.

Lei quickly grabbed her wand and summoned a large leaf to catch Kyle. “Take her to the dining hall. Or her dorm. Whatever is better for her.” Lei ordered the leaf. It flew off.

Taro watched the leaf carry Kyle away. Then he noticed something. Xl4rx wasn't there anymore. I wonder where he went, Taro thought.

The leaf flew in the dining halls direction. “Let the investigation begin!”

Pan threw up all over Taro's leg. NO MORE DEAD PLEASE NO MOOOOORE he cried as he clung to Taro's clean leg.

Lei immediately dropped to the floor and started crawling around Lyndia’s body. She found something stuck in her left cheek. A black claw.

Lei looked at Pan. “I feel that way too, kitty. But we have to stay strong.”

Taro stroked Pan's fur. "I know how you feel," Taro sighed. "Wait-did you just talk to me?" Taro asked Pan, confused.

“He can talk to the people who he likes.” Lei said. “So that means he likes you!”

A few minutes later, Kyle walked in with a deep gash over her right cheek. "I think I found the mafia. Dunno who it is, but they left this." Kyle said as she held up a broken piece of black claw. "It was on the floor after I was attacked."

Lei held up the claw. She gave it to Pan. He sniffed it.

Pan went from sniffing Lei's claw to sniffing Kyle's and back again. Xerdoo did claw. Pan thought between sniffs.

“Xerdoo? Who’s that?” Lei asked.

Xer-Wait. "Who here's name starts with an X?" Taro pondered aloud.

Lei gasped. “Xl4rx.”

Kyle whipped over to Lei. "You knew, didn't you. This morning you looked like you saw something horrible. That's what it was, wasn't it?" Kyle hissed.

Lei nodded.

"Where is Xl4rx right now?" Taro asked.

"He was in Library last I saw him. Dashed Northeast." Kyle said already running to the door, glaring at Lei.

Taro bolted out the door.

“He told me that if I never told anybody about it, he would prove that he ‘never broke the law.’ I might have to lie for him in the trial.“ Lei whispered back.

Lei got up and ran after Taro. Everyone else followed.

"Broke what law?" Taro asked Lei.

Kyle rolled her eyes. "Lei, you are soooooo vulnerable." Kyle sneered at Lei.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Lei hissed. “That’s what he said about me. You remind me of him sometimes.” Lei muttered.

They finally made it to the library. Xl4rx was reading a book. “Oh.” Lei said. Xl4rx shut his book, and looked at everyone. “What?” He asked.

"You killed Lyndia, didn't you?" Taro replied bluntly.

“No. It was probably Lei.” Xl4rx said calmly.

“Me?!” Lei gasped.

“Yes, you. You ripped out one of my claws earlier. While I was heading to the bathroom and you were busy tending to a plant. One of my claws got stuck in your kimono. Whenever you killed Lyndia, the claw came out and stabbed her cheek.” Xl4rx explained. “And look.” He pointed to a hole in her kimono. “Do I have to explain? She definitely killed her.”

"I really don't believe you, Xl4rx," Taro replied irritably.

''He’s got a solid alibi. But Lei is too pure to kill anyone...right?'' Kyle thought to herself.

Lei crossed her arms. “But how would you know that there was a claw in Lyndia’s cheek? You weren’t there with us!”

Xl4rx looked shocked. He then looked deep in thought.

“I saw the body before any of you did. And I saw Lei when I did.” Xl4rx said.

Yellow dust trailed off of the body, and moved toward a figure. Aaron was standing in the hallway, absorbant shard in hand, with an "o rly?" expression on his face. "Then why didn't you tell anyone? Why didn't Monokuma note the discovery of the body? In other words...

If you saw the body before us, why didn't the investigation start?"

Xl4rx stood frozen in shock at Aaron’s intelligence. Then Monokuma’s voice ran through the hallways. “The class trial is beginning! Please find the red door and enter the trial room!” Xl4rx had a “saved by the bell” look on his face, and then ran off. Lei sighed, and followed him. Everybody began to walk off, all having one destination in mind.

Classroom Trial #2
Aaron phased into the floor and reappeared at the podium he was at during Lucy's trial.

Everyone had made it to their podiums. “Now, do I need to explain how the trial goes again?” Monokuma asked.

Everyone shook their head. “Alright, let’s begin!” Monokuma cheered.

”It’s Lei.” Xl4rx said abruptly.

”You can’t-“ Lei replied in shock before she was interrupted.

”I can.” Xl4rx sighed, interrupting Lei.

"Then please, feel free to start Xl4rx," Taro replied, taking a podium.

“Just remember what I said earlier. It’s a solid alibi. Are there any contradictions?” Xl4rx asked, raising a eyebrow.

Taro shrugged.

“Use your brain, Taro! Think of every little detail about the murder, and think about what Xl4rx said! Something’s wrong!” Lei exclaimed.

"Wait, you said Lei ripped out one of your claws earlier. You also said that one of them got stuck in Kyle's hair, and one got stuck in Lei's kimono. However, I still see four claws still on your hand. So what really happened?" Taro replied.

Lei directed a thumbs-up in Taro’s direction. “T-that was actually Pan’s claw. Pan told me himself.” Kyle explained. “Mhm.” Xl4rx agreed. Lei moaned. “We’ll have to find another contradiction.”

"You never did answer Aaron's question, Xl4rx. So, why don't you tell us the answer?" Taro asked.

“Because it was a excuse! A lie! You don’t want to answer his question because it’s a lie!” Lei exclaimed accusingly.

Xl4rx glared at Lei, long enough for her to notice, but not long enough for anyone else to notice.

“True.” He quietly said. “AHA! I WAS RIGHT!” Lei shouted happily.

“Gee whiz! Turn the volume way down, Lei!” Kyle said, covering her ears.

“Everyone, tell me who you think killed Lyndia. Whoever's name is said most is who we will all vote for.” Taro said. “I personally believe it’s Xl4rx.”

Everyone said Xl4rx, including Xl4rx himself.

Xl4rx looked at Monokuma. “Kill me already. They’re right.”

“Your wish is my command!” Monokuma cheered.

Taro braced himself for the possibly most horrifying death possible.

Aaron readied his shard, unfeeling for the killing.

“Alright, It’s punishment time!” Monokuma laughed.

Death Sentence #2: The DJ Track of Death
Xl4rx was on a large stage, facing a turntable. He began to use it, and it played a horrid sound. Boos emerged from a nonexistent crowd. Xl4rx started playing it faster. But it wouldn’t go faster. The music would be more likable if he could play it faster. And the disc he was playing wasn’t too happy. It rose up.

And it quickly sliced his head off.

Chapter 3: The Escape
Taro's eyes widened as he watched Xl4rx's headless body collapse onto the floor.

Lei was in shock.

Terror ran through Kyle, Taro, and Lei. Aaron stayed calm, however.

“A new room has been opened! It’s a garden! Find it! There is a surprise waiting for you in there.” Monokuma explained.

Taro shrugged. Be prepared for anything, he thought as he walked out the door, following Lei, Aaron, Pan, and Kyle out the door.

School Life
“I’ll find out where the garden is! I’m a flower girl, after all!” Lei cheered as they left the trial room. She then skipped off, and began to look for the garden.

"Wait up!" Taro yelled, dashing after Lei, Aaron, Kyle, and Pan.

“I found it! I found it! I found the garden!” Lei cheered. She pointed to a glass door.

"It doesn't look that deadly," Taro thought aloud, "Let's check it out!"

Lei opened the door.

And a dead body laid right in front of everyone.

”THE HELL?!” Lei screamed.

“It looks like that Priscilla girl we met....” Lei said.

Taro just stood there, frozen, with a blank expression on his face.

“A body has been discovered!” Monokuma laughed.

Taro sighed, exasperated.

"Might as well search for clues," Taro sighed.

Lei attempted to unhood Priscilla, but....

KAPOW!

Her body exploded right in Lei’s hands. Lei was fine, but the body wasn’t. Now there weren’t any clues on the body to suggest who did it.

Taro jumped. "What the-" he cried.

“How are we even gonna have a trial? We don’t have any clues!” Lei pointed out.

“Oh, we’re gonna have a trial! And it’s gonna be EPIC!” Monokuma laughed, as he randomly appeared.

"But who could be the killer? All of us were together!" Taro thought aloud.

“That’s one mystery! And we’re solving it now! Everyone to the trial room!” Monokuma ordered. He phased back into the floor. “This case is impossible. This is just a death trap.” Kyle muttered.

Taro trudged back to the trial room.

Everyone unenthusiastically dragged themselves to the trial room once more.

Taro stood at his podium, wondering what to do.

Classroom Trial #3
“I’m going to be participating in this trial! The real me!” Monokuma laughed. “Real you? What do you mean?” Lei asked.

Then smoke appeared all over the room. Nobody could see anything. It started to clear.

And then, in a podium, stood Zane.

"No. Way," Taro was shocked.

“I thought you were dead!” Lei screamed. “Wait.....please don’t tell me....” Kyle said nervously.

"That the Zane you knew was a failed clone?" he finished.

Kyle was stunned. She fell to the floor. Pan hopped on top of her worryingly. “Explain. Everything.” Lei ordered.

“I’ll tell you everything. Other then the load of junk about the murder.” Zane said in agreement.

"I was bored and wanted a way to take over the island. I figured, why not get rid of all the Ultimates except me?"

"I knew I so I created a clone of me to help out. Instead, something had apparently gone wrong during the process, and he wanted to protect the island," Zane sighed. "At least he was as sarcastic as me," he added, "As he was a failed clone, I decided to get rid of him."

"I threatened Gale to invite all the Ultimates to the academy or else I would cut off his wings. Once you all arrived, you walked into the room I filled with knockout gas earlier," Zane chuckled.

"I then disguised myself as a teddy bear, but as I stated earlier, I AM NOT A TEDDY BEAR. I say it worked out quite well as there are only 4 of you left! AND I got to be entertained by you killing each other! Now, let's get on with the trial, hm?" Zane finished.

“That’s....HORRIBLE!” Lei spat out in shock. “Well, it’s the truth.” said Kyle, who had woken up a few minutes ago.

Taro was at a loss of words.

Aaron took everything in.

Boredom.

Ultimates.

Just a game, was it?

Meanwhile...

Somewhere on the edge of canonicity:

TRACE Z-1 S-1 SUBSTRAND ASR

ORIGIN-H

LOG ASR 0:00

Z-1 DUPLICATED

PARAMETER ALTER Z-1

ZD-1 CREATED

MOVE ZD-1 ASR

ZD-1 PLACED

CLOSE

Aaron felt disgusted, for once in a long, long while.

Yellow dust drifted among the gardens, collecting into a small orb.

Aaron took hold of it. Summoning a distinct-looking blade, the orb fit itself in the middle, where a circular hole was.

Light drifted off of the veins on the blade, forming vague pictures.

Relative dusty, wobbly images that seemed to recall the moments before Priscilla became a corpse.

It was hard to see much, but a figure...

Crystals...

Another figure...

Some sort of rigging device?

“We didn’t have time to investigate Priscilla’s body, due to it exploding.” Lei explained.

"I know. I was standing behind you all," Zane sighed.

“This case is technically impossible. We should just vote for Zane.” Kyle said blankly.

"Oh? And why is that?" Zane replied.

“We’ve got to get rid of you one way or another.” Kyle explained in her “isn’t it obvious” voice.

"Fair enough. But why would I kill Priscilla? She never did anything to me, and it's more fun to watch you kill each other," he replied happily.

“Great. Now you’ve stumped me.” Kyle sighed.

Zane shrugged.

“Ideas? Anyone?” Lei asked.

Taro ransacked his brain. Then, he realized something. ''The cameras! They were all over the place! But we can't leave during a class trial...I guess we'll have to find another plan,'' he thought.

“I’m waiting...” Lei moaned impatiently.

"I've got nothing," Taro replied.

Kyle sighed. “Well, Zane could’ve just killed Priscilla for fun. I mean, you heard him earlier, right?”

"I could have done that," Zane replied, "but as I stated earlier, it's more fun to watch you guys kill each other."

“Thoughts?” Kyle asked. “Maybe.” Lei remarked.

Taro had an idea. "Wait, you said that you normally wouldn't kill someone if they didn't do anything to you, correct?" he asked. Zane nodded. "So, did Priscilla do anything to you?" Taro questioned.

“She was a annoyance.” Zane said.

"Aha! So you did kill her!" Kyle said, a little too enthusiastically.

“Maybe.” Zane said vaguely.

"How can you 'maybe' kill someone? You either did it or you didn't," Taro sighed.

“Let’s get on with the execution, shall we?” Zane asked. His voice had no emotion whatsoever.

"You're gonna...execute yourself?" Taro asked.

"I stick by the rules of the killing game," Zane replied.

Death Sentence #3: Monokuma at the Movies
The lights of the room went out, then turned back on. Zane had disappeared and reappeared, projected on the wall. He was sitting in a theater, watching a movie. In the movie, people were stabbing each other, decapitating each other, and blowing each other to smithereens. Zane chuckled at the sight. Suddenly, the people in the movie glared at Zane.

"You dare laugh at us?" they screeched.

Zane shrugged, ate some of his popcorn, and continued laughing. One of the people drove his spear into Zane's heart, and ripped it out, spraying blood all over the place. Zane kept laughing. They sliced his head off with a sword, before slicing it to shreds. Then, they threw the rest of his body to the floor, and dropped a bomb on him, causing an explosion. Before the projection blacked out, one of Zane's lifeless, bloody, charred arms could be seen lying on the ground.

It was over.

Everyone could finally leave.

Disgusted, everyone left the trial room.

And left the school.

Epilogue
When everyone left the building, they all fell into a room. It was the real Academy. Gale flew over. “My word! Where have you all came from?” He asked.

"We just got out of game from some psychiotic mastermind named Zane who wanted us to kill each other," Kyle replied bluntly.

"Long story short: We've won," Taro finished.

Gale looked stunned. “Well, I’m pretty sure I will never understand what you just said, but I’m glad your back!” He said quickly.

Taro was confused. "But we just got here..." he replied.

But Gale had already left. “Well, I guess we should all figure out where we’re supposed to be.” Lei said. “And I’m supposed to be at home. See you around, guys.” She then skipped off, and teleported out of the Academy with a Academy Amulet.

"Bye Lei!" Taro replied. "I've also go to go home. I'm hungry," Taro replied, teleporting out of the academy.

“I’ll go find out what class I’m in. See you guys around.” Kyle said, waving goodbye as she left to find Gale.

But Aaron just stood there. Silent.

Aaron smirked, then began to laugh.

The last thing stopping the coalesce had been erased.

Now then...

Let Shade rise again once more from void.

Aaron disappeared in a cloud of smoke, replaced by a single glowing purple crystal.

Three other crystals hovered around it.

Then they exploded in clouds of dust.

A lone wizard, purple and black hooded, emerged from the dust.

The next thing to come would be the greatest test yet...

But to see what it was would be to betray the console's code.

For now, he stood. 