"What're you doing out here so late?" A voice asked.
"I'm trying everything to forget." Another replied.
"Forget what?" The first voice questioned. Before the other voice could reply, Shuttle woke to the morning announcement.
"This is an official announcement from Ultimate Hope High! It is now 8 A.M., which is morning time! Get up and move around, none of you have been taking walks or venturing more of the school at all!" Monokuma announced on the monitor before it shut off.
"Could a murder really still happen?" He asked himself. Before he could continue his thoughts, someone began knocking on his door. Shuttle got up and opened it to see Cele with a smile.
"Come on," Cele grabbed Shuttle's hand and tugged on it. "We've got a lot of good news today!"
"All right, I'm coming! Just don't run so fast..." Shuttle groaned as he followed Cele's lead. She burst open the dining hall doors, leaving everyone startled.
"We're here!" She happily announced. "I— Sorry, was that too abrupt?"
"Holy fuck— Maybe open the door more gently than you just did next time!" Ron vexedly yelled. "Do you think we'd not jump after that?!"
"I don't see your point... The best I did as a flinch was blink." Elio blankly stated. He turned back to his book, pored in the story, and snickered. "Refusing to get an apple out of flesh... Hah."
"Hey, wait, now that we finished another trial, shouldn't we be getting–" Gehenna started before Monokuma appeared out of thin air.
"Your dearest gifts and motive?" He suddenly asked. Gehenna and Sahara yelped out of fear with Gehenna toppling over in her chair.
"Oh come on. You people have to already be used to his abrupt appearances." Elio glared. "He's done this about like, what, millions of times?"
"Well, sorry that we didn't expect him to come with such perfect timing!" Sahara complained.
"Students! Calm down. Here are your gifts, personally handled with care!" Monokuma handed out an antique-looking key, a pair of goggles, a shadow puppet in the shape of a ghost, a shield, and a small paramedic bag. Everyone stared at them in disappointment and looked back at Monokuma.
"I know who these items are based on, but why now? Aren't they dead?" Sahara asked.
"Because they're relevant now."
"And in what way are they relevant?" Ron questioned.
"You'll find out soon!" Monokuma replied. "Oh, by the way, I'll tell you your motive for now!"
"What is it? Let me guess, it has to do with murder again?" Sahara scowled.
"Nope. Your motive is finding a student list book of everyone here before you arrived at Ultimate Hope High! It's got everyone's talents, and our little mastermind has a side note saying their true Ultimate! It's hidden somewhere in this school, so once you're all done, go find it!" Monokuma replied as he vanished. Ron sighed and shook his head.
"I swear he's getting weirder and weirder every day we're here." Ron scoffed. Slowly, everyone left the dining hall. Shuttle sat on the edge of his bed. Didn't Cele say she'd tell me what she found on Bob's board? He asked himself.
And with that, free time started.
"Shuttle!" Someone knocked on his door. He got up and opened it to see Cele with a troubled look.
"What is it?" He queried.
"Well, you know how I'd tell you my findings on Bob's board, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Um... I think it's best you see for yourself." She walked off as Shuttle followed her to Bob's Ultimate Lab. "Just... Don't freak out when you go in." When the two walked in, the room was a mess. The board was ruined, Bob's Mastermind Possibilities paper was torn apart, everyone's portraits were scribbled over, and the floor was covered in remains of Bob's violin and more ripped papers.
"What— What the fuck?!" Shuttle yelled in disbelief. "What happened here?!"
"I-I don't know! When I came here last night, it was in shambles!" Cele frantically replied. "Hold on, look! There's a little piece of paper taped to the window." She walked up to it and took the paper off.
"Well, what's it say?" Shuttle asked as he looked over Cele's shoulder. She handed the paper to him.
It read, "Someone destroyed my research. I don't know who, but I'm sorry. -Bob"
"So someone else knew that he was trying to find out the mystery of this school?" Shuttle reviewed.
"Seems like it. Judging from how untidy this room is, they were pretty angry that he was." Cele nodded. "Let's just hope Ron doesn't walk in here. The obliterated violin could make him even worse."
"You said it. Maybe we should fix this Lab up to the best we can?" Shuttle offered as Cele nodded. The two spent their time trying to patch up Bob's board and the broken violin. Cele and I got closer today. Shuttle thought.
"Hey, Shuttle." Cele suddenly called out.
"Yeah?"
"Have you ever thought how Bob's been getting all this information?" She asked.
"No, not really. Why?"
"I know he's a ghost and all, but it seems so... Odd. Why is he even helping us? Couldn't he make it easier for everyone to solve?"
"He probably has a reason that we can't think about." Shuttle looked at the apology note from Bob. He sighed and glimpsed back at the badly fixed board. "I think we should finish trying to patch this board up. It's no use."
Cele sighed as well. "Yeah, you're right. It's a lost cause. I'll be in Ariose Hall if you need me."
"All right. I'll be in my room then." Shuttle walked to the exit. He went right to his room and lay on his bed. I feel exhausted... Maybe it was all that work that wore me out. Shuttle thought. Whatever. I'll just get some rest for now... He slowly fell into a deep rest.
---
"Dammit!" A muscular man with mahogany hair, crimson eyes, and tanned skin slammed his fist against a table angrily.
"What is it this time, Kaiser?" A slimmer boy with burnt orange hair that covered his eyes turned to the fired-up man in curiosity.
"Rylan, how are you this calm? I can't get this one piece in!" Kaiser angrily replied. Rylan sighed and walked up to Kaiser as he observed what he was working on. A pipe bomb with open wires.
"You dumbass, it's because you have this one in the wrong place– How did you even force half of it in?!" Rylan screamed in shock.
"Quiet down, you two!" A lady with midnight blue hair tied into a medium, smooth ponytail, and scientist apparel glared at Kaiser and Rylan. Rylan started tugging on the forcefully-shoved piece like he was playing tug-of-war and tumbled onto the ground, crashing into another person.
"Ow!" A girl with brown hair fading to a light blond ombre exclaimed as she held onto a shelf for support.
"Sorry Aria!" Rylan profusely apologized.
"Sage, can you tell them to stop working on the bomb?! So many people have tried blowing the dome up already, we don't need to prove that even more!" Aria whined.
"Dear lord." Sage sighed. "Aria, we can't. This bomb is our only hope. It's also the only explosive humanity hasn't tried yet. Harmon, how are the students?"
A boy with forest green eyes and almond-colored hair turned to face Sage. "Shuttle's in his room, Cele is in Ariose Hall like she said she would, Ron's also in his room, Gehenna is experimenting with her lab equipment, Sahara's running around, and Elio and Little are discussing something in the dining hall." Harmon replied.
"No one's killing anyone yet? Good." Sage nodded. "With that, I think we'll make it in time to prevent anyone from getting killed again."
"Yep! Let's just hope a plan isn't already in motion." Aria held up her arms like she was trying to flex her muscles. Harmon sighed and turned back at the TV which was broadcasting several scenes at the same time.
"We're coming soon, everyone. I promise I'll avenge my sister. She was short-lived but shrewd and kind." He looked at everyone who was working on their separate jobs. "Shuttle, Sahara, Little, Elio, Gehenna, Cele, and Ron... I'll make sure you remember Eliyen as such a hero."
---
Shuttle woke up feeling refreshed. It's still afternoon, right? He asked himself. He got up from his bed and went outside, almost immediately running into Gehenna.
"Hi, Shuttle!" She beamed.
"Hey, Gehenna. What are you doing here?" Shuttle tilted his head in inquisitiveness.
"I dunno. Everyone seemed occupied. Cele in Bob's Lab, Elio and Little trying to figure out where to search first, Ron's in his room, and Sahara's running a few errands for me." Gehenna replied. "That reminds me, remember the student list thing? I've been looking everywhere before meeting up with you. Ron hasn't been doing anything, I think he's at the nadir of his life."
"Ah, so he's still dolorous, eh?" Shuttle asked. "I'll check on him later unless Little already has."
"About that, Little hasn't at all. He's busy with Elio, remember?" Gehenna blurted.
"Right. I'll go check on him, then." He nodded and headed to Ron's room, knocking on his door. "Are you there Ron?"
"Yeah. What do you need?" Ron slowly responded as he peeked out the crack between the doorframe and his door.
"I just wanted to know how you're doing. Little hasn't checked in on you yet, right?"
"Mhm, and I'm doing fine. Thanks."
"All right, just wanted to know. And, can I ask something else?"
"Go right ahead."
"How're you dealing with... Their deaths?"
Ron fell silent with a vacant glare and looked to the ground. He slightly pouted but returned to a blank expression after a while. "Decently, I guess. I'm starting to feel less about their absences."
"Good enough. I hope you start feeling even better!" Shuttle grinned as he gave a thumbs-up. Ron smiled back and nodded.
"Thanks. I'll do my best to recover." He closed the door and all that was left was the deafening silence within the dormitory. Will he try? Shuttle hesitantly asked himself. He's had an issue similar to this for... Just about ages now. Ah, wait, I should probably head to Cele. I think she's got the items. He started walking to Bob's Lab and spotted Cele trying to repair the destroyed violin.
"Uh, Cele?" He called.
"Ah–" Cele suddenly gasped as she jolted from the ground. "Hi, Shuttle. Did you need something?"
"I just wanted to know if you have the items Monokuma handed out earlier this morning?"
"Yep. They're in the corner over there," She pointed to the corner closest to the board. "I'll stay behind for now. I have to figure out where all these pieces go."
Shuttle nodded and picked the items up. "All right. Good luck, because that seems like a whole lot of work." Cele chuckled with a smile as he left to look around the school. Okay, now to start with where this key goes. He searched everywhere on the fourth floor and found a keyhole beside Elio's Lab. As he inserted the key, he quickly backed away from the wall that was now crumbling. It's sort of boring without Cele here. As the debris died down, he could spot an elevator.
"Shuttle, uh... What're you doing?" Someone asked from behind him. Shuttle turned around to see Elio crossing his arms.
"About to explore the fifth floor. How about you, weren't you supposed to be with Little right now?" Shuttle responded.
"Yep. We decided we'd search for that list book outside the school tomorrow because it's getting late." Elio stood straight. "Hey, is it fine if I tag along? I've got nothing to do, and I'm in the mood for finding some cool new rooms."
"Of course, you can." Shuttle nodded as he headed into the elevator.
"Aight." Elio stretched his arms and walked in, the elevator quickly progressing to the next level. It halted and the doors opened wide to reveal a dark, melancholy area.
"... Oh." Shuttle mumbled.
"This is just like my room. How are you unused to this?" Elio beamed as he looked around. Dust was on the furniture, cobwebs were scattered in every corner, and the candlelights were dim. "Here, give me those items. I've got sharp eyes if you don't remember." He snatched the items from Shuttle and looked around.
"Okay, just make it quick. I don't like the vibe of this area..." Shuttle fearfully looked back at the elevator.
"Gotcha. To showcase my incredible eyes, take this illuminated picture! It's got nothing on the canvas, and it's... Well, glowing." Elio pointed to a glowing picture frame. He held up the shadow puppet and put it in front of the gleaming portrait, making an entrance to a dim room underneath the picture. Elio and Shuttle looked at each other before walking into the room.
A dark room with dim lighting and dark velvet draping over two faintly glowing windows, accompanied by large bookshelves and statues of tariaksuqs. Several picture frames were hung on the walls that had nothing but shadow engulfing them.
"I seriously wonder how this guy is relevant now. Like, how come an emo guy that's obsessed with shadows gonna help us? He doesn't. He's dead, for fuck's sake." Elio angrily grumbled.
"Maybe there's a secret room around here?" Shuttle suggested as he gently and fearfully placed his hand on a tariaksuq's side, unintentionally opening another separate room. A part of a wall shifted, leading to an even darker room with one singular light illuminating something on a stand. Elio turned around from the velvet curtains and started clapping.
"Wow. Who knew someone terrified of this floor would find something helpful? Great job. I mean it." He nodded. "Now, I'll head on in there. Best not look at that statue you're leaning on for too long." Elio walked into the little room and picked up what looked like a book being lit up by the dim light.
"Well? What is it?" Shuttle hesitated.
"It's a... How do I say it?" Elio flipped through the pages. "It's a book. More specifically, according to the front cover of it, a "Shadow Archives."
"Shadow Archives? What's in it?" Shuttle looked over Elio's shoulder and watched as Elio skimmed through the book.
"I can't really tell. I think it's supposed to be an artbook or sketchbook, but all the strokes are way too vague." Elio slumped as he switched. "Man, my brain's useless. Which means I'm useless and that..." Elio began mumbling to himself in disappointment. Shuttle hesitantly and slowly took the book from Elio's hands and steadily flipped through the pages. He stopped letting the pages flow as one of them caught his eye. The sketch looked familiar to him...
"Why'd you stop?" Elio absent-mindedly asked, switching back.
"Just... Look." Shuttle muttered as he handed the book to Elio. He slowly observed the page that Shuttle stopped on. The sketch looked like a humanoid figure with something long coming from its supposedly head. On the right side of the "head" was a faint maroon oil pastel made to mimic a glow.
"What in the world is this?" Elio questioned, squinting his eyes and holding the book closer to his face. "It's so weird. My brain should be working like a robot's image search, but this... Nothing comes to mind."
"Then let's just get out of here... I feel like I'm being watched right now." Shuttle shuddered as he went outside the narrow hallway, waiting for Elio to come out as well.
"Sorry it took too long. I just got invested in the entire book." Elio slightly slumped down in place before standing straight again. He looked around and chuckled silently. "I already found the next place. Let's go." Elio dashed to an opening to the outside school campus.
Shuttle slowly turned to Elio. "And how is this another room?" He looked back at the random missing space in the wall. Elio began grabbing the pair of goggles from the mini paramedic bag and prepared to throw it before getting stopped by Shuttle.
"The hell?" Elio irritatedly protested.
"Are you sure you can just throw these goggles outside? They might just break when they land on the ground!" Shuttle exclaimed.
"Just trust me on this, I know what I'm doing!" Elio switched as he yanked his arm away from Shuttle's grip, retracted his arm, and threw the goggles toward the sky. Suddenly, the opening crumbled and revealed a room with a cloud pattern on all the walls, several aircraft models hanging from a transparent stick on the walls, a few airspeed indicators, an altimeter, and a magnetic direction indicator on the left wall.
"So this is Cairo's Ultimate Lab? Cool." Shuttle looked around the room, noticing a lever near the doorway. "Wait, what does this do..." He flipped the lever curiously before the ground started shaking crazily.
"What did you do?!" Elio frantically asked as an eye-burning light came from above. After a few seconds, the shaking stopped and they looked up. The ceiling had disappeared and the bright sky shone on the entire room. "Ah."
"That's cool!" Shuttle exclaimed as a painting near a corner caught his eye. He began walking toward the illustration and admiringly observed it. At the bottom of the frame was a gold plate with the words "Angel's Wingscape." The illustration had a celestial being with its arms wide open, a clergy stole with an eye on the right side and a shield on the left, teary, pure white eyes, and spread-out wings with feathers falling. Upon closer inspection, some of the falling feathers were slightly blackened, there were faint people in the background, and the bright halo around the being's head was cracked.
"The literal embodiment of imperfection! Nice." Elio stared at the painting. "Also, doesn't this god guy look familiar as well? First that weird sketch, and now this painting?"
Shuttle looked back at the painting, trying to see what Elio was talking about. "What're you talking about?"
"Can't you see the slight color of green in the eyes? And how some kind of gold is the main color?" Elio pointed at the illustration to try to prove his point. Shuttle squinted his eyes and inched closer to the picture.
"... Huh?" Shuttle turned to Elio.
"You're blind as fuck!" Elio snapped. "Do you need better glasses than mine?!"
"Jeez." Shuttle sighed. "Let's just go to the next room your oh-so fantastic eyes spot." He grabbed the back of Elio's shirt and dragged him outside.
"Oi, let go of me–" Elio started before looking around. "There's a mount right there!" Shuttle immediately paused and turned to where he was pointing. A hickory mount that fit the shield perfectly lay on a wall. Elio began desperately digging through the paramedic bag and grabbed out the shield.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Shuttle glared at Elio. "Put it up there already!"
"Fine!" Elio forcefully hung the shield up the mount as the wall the mount was against fell and crumbled. It revealed a serene atmosphere that quickly engulfed them. At the same time, the displayed armory lined up by the walls felt as if they were being watched.
"Holy– This is creepy! I hate this already!" Elio whined loudly as he put his fists up under his lower jaw and started fake crying. "Can this really be Renory's Ultimate Lab? It's too appalling! I'm even using words that sound like they came from the seventies!"
"You'll be fine," Shuttle rolled his eyes. "I doubt these weapons can even hurt people." He picked up one of the swords and looked at it carefully. The sword was a bit unclean and slightly blunt, and a small piece of white fabric was stuck to the point.
"You wanna know why I thought this room was creepy?" Elio snuck up behind Shuttle. "The fabric! Don't you remember seeing this sword somewhere?!"
"Um..." Shuttle tried to remember but shook his head after a few minutes. Elio facepalmed and pointed at the sword.
"It was used on some guy's execution? The owner of this Ultimate Lab we're in?" He glared at Shuttle in disbelief, who was trying to remember. Suddenly, the realization hit his head harder than a metal bat.
"Oh." Shuttle finally managed out. "Well... Then let's just find how he's relevant. I don't want to remember that execution at all."
"Gotcha. I'll look over there!" Elio pointed to the right side of the room. "You look over there." He pointed to the left side.
"If you say so." Shuttle nodded and observed every inch of his assigned area but found nothing. Suddenly, Elio yelled and raised a gold, circular item.
"Aha!" He called out. "Shuttle, get your ass over here!" Shuttle sighed and walked over to look at what Elio had found.
"And... What exactly is this?" Shuttle glared back up at Elio.
"What whoever made this calls the "Enigmatic Timepiece!" In truth, I don't know what this does, but it seems helpful! Here, you keep it. You've got bigger brains than me when it comes to whatever this kind of situation is called." Elio forced the pocket watch into Shuttle's hands and ran off.
"Wait, where are you going?" Shuttle watched as he scrambled through the exit.
"To the place where this bag belongs! And, another reason, you hate that room's guts!" Elio exclaimed. "Come on, I can already see some of that despair taking over. Get the hell outta there. I found where it goes." Shuttle slowly walked out of the room and followed Elio to a medical room.
"Where would a bag like this go?" Shuttle asked as he steadily spun, observing every place it could belong.
"Right over there." He pointed to a shelf with an empty spot labeled as "EMT Bag" and placed it there. The wall that had the shelf abruptly started shifting downwards and revealed another room.
A room filled with medical equipment, a treatment area, emergency kits, rubber mannequins, a medical library, and a communication radio set on the corner of a wooden desk.
"Um... Whose Ultimate Lab is this?" Elio looked around.
"Who knows...? All we can say about this room is that it should be pretty helpful considering all the emergency supplies here." Shuttle replied. "Hey, does this radio work?" He sat at the wooden desk and tried turning on the radio as Elio stood beside him, watching eagerly.
"Hello?" A voice responded from it. Shuttle and Elio jumped in shock but quickly and frantically replied.
"G-Greethings! Um, who are you?! Help us, we're stuck in some school!" Elio stuttered.
"I'm Aria Neveah! Um, I'm with a team of five, including myself, a-and to be honest, I didn't expect this radio to connect to you!" Aria responded.
"We're stuck somewhere in some school, can you track our location of something?!" Shuttle panicked.
"My team already knows where you people are! We just... We just need a little time!" Aria answered. Suddenly, static began to be audible. "Oh- Oh god, we're starting to cut off! Please, don't let another-" She started before the radio cut off.
"Dammit!" Elio slammed his fist against the table, knocking the radio off and crashing against the floor, breaking it into tons of pieces. "Double dammit!"
"Great going, Elio. Now we can't speak with that other girl on the other side of the radio!" Shuttle complained. He sighed and looked at the remains of the radio. "Best we can do is assume this room is Aria's Lab... But how come she isn't here with us?"
"Hm... Yeah. Why isn't she? Wouldn't she be an Ultimate like us? If so, shouldn't she be trapped here as well?" Elio looked at a picture frame on the other side of the desk. "Hold on. Who are these people?"
Five people on the beach were in the picture frame. Going from left to right, the first one was a tanned girl and a brown-to-blonde ombre holding a beach ball and posing. The second one was a boy with forest-green eyes and almond-colored hair who was getting splashed with water. The third one was a husky guy with mahogany hair, splashing the second person with water. The fourth one was a thin boy with burnt orange hair that went over his eyes who was sitting on the sand, trying to write something. The last one was a girl with midnight blue hair tied in two buns and merlot-colored eyes lay flat next to the fourth person, possibly sleeping.
"Woah. People." Elio kept looking at the picture. "Hey, wait, how late is it outsi—"
Suddenly, the monitor in the room played a tune. "This is an official announcement from the Ultimate Hope High! It is now nighttime! Students, take care of yourselves and lock your doors! You wouldn't want to die in your sleep, would you?" Monokuma announced before the monitor shut off.
"Wow, we really took that long?" Elio asked as he headed to leave. "Whatever. Come on, you specifically need to sleep."
"Gotcha." Shuttle stood up from the chair and walked to his room from there. He lay on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. What did Aria mean... By a "little more time?" He wondered before falling asleep.
---
"Guys, guys!" Aria ran out of a dark room, waving her arms frantically. "You won't believe what just happened!"
"Shut up..." Sage groaned. "It's like, 10 PM. Shut your ass up. Anyways, what is it?"
"I managed to connect my radio with the one in that dome! I literally just spoke to Elio and Shuttle!" Aria responded as she started jumping.
"Aria, there's no way–"
"She's right though! I just watched them talk to her!" Harmon ran out of a room with several monitors stacked on a table.
"You did? Give me that. Are we able to rewind on this?" Sage shoved Harmon aside and looked frantically over the monitors.
"Of course, and it was on this monitor..." Harmon pressed the back of one of the monitors and it rewinded back to Elio and Shuttle's interaction with Aria over the radio. He set it back to the present time and slowly backed away. "The thing is... Elio kind of made the radio break apart."
"He what?" Sage glared at Harmon menacingly.
"H-Hey, don't look at me! I'm not the one in there!" Harmon began picking up speed as he backed away. He ran towards the exit but slammed it closed on someone's hand.
"Agh!" Someone yelled from the other side of the door. "Jeez, get off, let me get my hand out at least!"
"Sorry!" Harmon apologized, quickly flinging the door open to reveal a boy with half and half hair, the colors being black and white. He also had dark gray eyes and an eye hairpin.
The boy looked at his hand where it was crushed and covered it vexedly. "Shut up. One singular word isn't going to fix whatever damage might have been done here." He tried moving it but only moved a centimeter.
"Well, who are you? More importantly, how did you unlock the door?" Sage asked as she looked up from a clipboard.
"First, your door was left unlocked. Second..." The boy paused. "The best I'll give you for my name is my last one, Tomi."
"And why do you refuse to give us your first name?" Sage crossed her arms, scrunching her eyebrows.
"There might be cameras or microphones just waiting for me. I'm known for my family's wealth, and dear god, do I just want to be normal." Tomi replied.
"Wouldn't your last name expose you even more?" Aria poked her head out from a hallway.
"No one on the internet or real world knows my family's true last name. We just gave a fake one out. If anyone ever found out our real last name, my parents would pay either the government or the person themselves to never reveal it." Tomi sighed. "I can work with you all to get those people free."
The room fell silent. "We'll let you assist us, but only on one condition." Sage finally spoke.
"What is it?"
"You tell us your real name on paper and tell us why you came here." She got a blank paper from her clipboard, handed it to Tomi, and crossed her arms. "Well?"
Tomi stood still with a blank expression. "Very well. My business here is to provide critical thinking, and... Well, I used to be friends with the person behind this. They're still in there." He grabbed a pencil from his backpack, wrote something on the paper, and held it up.
It read "Bob Atsuo."
---
A melodic tune filled Shuttle's room as the sun rose. "This is an official announcement from Ultimate Hope High! It is now 8 A.M., which is morning time! Enjoy your moments! Today may just be your last one, upupupu..." Monokuma announced before the monitor turned off. Shuttle kept laying in his bed, waiting for something. Wait, it's more quiet than usual. Normally, someone would be knocking, but... No one is. He got up and left his room, immediately heading to the dining hall.
"Um..." Shuttle mumbled as he slowly opened the dining hall door. It was dark inside, and the silence was unsettling. As he fearfully walked in, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he was being watched. Suddenly, before he could react, a shadowy figure lunged at him from the dark. He raised his arm in defense, but just as he thought the attack was inevitable, the dining hall lights turned on and the shadowy figure retreated, removing a floor tile and hiding in the space below.
"May the power of whoever exists compel you!" Someone yelled as they threw a chair to where the person escaped. "This school is just full or murderers at this point. Holy..." Shuttle turned around to see Sahara holding her mallet over her shoulder.
Gehenna, who was running towards the dining hall, arrived there and was out of breath. "I-I heard something crashing, what the hell was that?!"
"That would be me throwing a chair." Sahara replied, lowering her hammer. "Where's the others? It's been a while."
"They're coming, just give them a bit." Gehenna smiled as everyone gathered around the entrance. Sahara and Shuttle explained the situation that happened before everyone came.
"So you're telling me, one of us was trying to murder the shit out of Shuttle for no apparent reason? Wow." Elio crossed his arms. "I'm getting something to eat. Goodbye." Everyone shrugged it off and ate their breakfast in silence before scattering among the school campus.
"Shuttle, wait." Cele called. She grabbed Shuttle's wrist and started tugging on his arm with a smile. "Just follow me for a bit."
Shuttle looked both sides before nodding. "All right. Just don't run."
"I won't, I promise. It's not that far, so why would I have to run?" Cele asked as she started walking to the now even cleaner greenhouse. The morning sun illuminated the flowers' vibrant colors and made the butterflies fluttering around glow. The two sat on the ground, looking at the sky.
"Why'd you want to bring me here?" Shuttle finally asked, looking at Cele.
"Nothing, really. I just... wanted to." Cele looked back with a tender smile. "I had an urge to. I'm not sure why, but... I'm enjoying this quite an amount."
"That's good, because I'm starting to as well." He turned back to the sky. "I'm glad you took me here," Shuttle quietly said as the bright sun shone on the two.
Cele nodded in agreement. "Sometimes all I need... No, Sometimes all we need is each other and a comforting moment." She gently placed her hand on top of Shuttle's, softening the atmosphere. Cele and I... Got closer today. He thought. After a while, they headed their ways. Shuttle sat on the edge of his bed before hearing a knock on his door minutes later. He opened it to see...
"Ron? What do you need?" Shuttle asked as Ron sighed.
"Um, I just need you to carry a message for me to someone." He requested.
"Sure. What is it and to whom?"
"Tell Dad, or um, Little, that I wanted to thank him for pretty much everything. I-I really appreciated all those times he asked if I was doing alright, it made me remember someone still cares." Ron smiled as he looked at the ground.
"Got it, I'll keep it in mind! I'll tell that to him the moment I see him." Shuttle gave Ron a thumbs-up as they both chuckled. "If he says anything back, expect to see me sooner. Just telling you in advance, just in case."
"Okay. Thank you, by the way." Ron waved as he turned to leave.
"See you!" Shuttle waved back as he closed the door. His smile sort of faded the moment he waved. Is something bothering him more than usual? Shuttle asked himself, leaning against the door. No matter. He'll probably run into Little and notice real fast.
... I hope.
"What am I saying?" He asked out loud. "Of course, Little's gonna figure out something's more wrong with him. It's like their each other's guardian angels..." Shuttle sat still against his door for what seemed like minutes before getting up. I should see if anyone else is around. He walked all over the place to run into Gehenna.
"Hi, Shuttle! You were just the person I was looking for! Wanna help me set up everything for my psychic show tomorrow?!" She asked, putting her hands up in excitement.
"Sure, why not? I have nothing else to do." Shuttle accepted. "By the way, where's everyone else?"
"Thanks! Oh, and um, Sahara's running a few more errands for me, such as cleaning my Ultimate Lab a bit, Little's with Elio trying to find some ways to escape this hellhole, and Cele's in Ariose Hall. I think Ron's with her." Gehenna grabbed Shuttle's arm and started running. "Come on, We've no time to spare!" Gehenna eventually stopped running and slammed open her Lab door to reveal Sahara dropping a few boxes out of shock.
"Jeez, Gehenna! You just made–" Sahara began.
"My delicate dreamcatchers!" Gehenna whined. "Why'd you drop them?!"
"Maybe you shouldn't have slammed that stupid fucking door open! Then maybe I wouldn't have!" Sahara yelled as she threw one of the broken dreamcatchers at Gehenna.
"Can- Can we just get started on cleaning this mess up now? I can't believe it's ended up like this just now." Shuttle groaned.
"Sorry... Wait, what do you mean "now?" It's always been like this." Gehenna picked up one of her crystal balls and set it in a box.
Shuttle grabbed a pack of tarot cards and a few candles. "So you're saying you've just kept this place as a dump?" He nearly tripped over a vial of black salt labeled as "purifying salt."
"Yep. She had me wake up early just to help her sort everything for her show tomorrow. Trust me, it was very early." Sahara grumbled as she tossed a few books into the bottom of a wide wagon.
"Hey, 3 AM isn't early at all! It's when I wake up to the divine voices of people I've helped see their future!" Gehenna whined.
"Wait, you hear voices?! I-I don't think that's normal!" Shuttle panicked.
"It is when you're the Ultimate Psychic!" Gehenna sang as she aimed to throw an old trinket into the wagon, threw it, and it landed perfectly inside. "Predicted it'd land there!"
Shuttle sighed. "I just realized, Gehenna, you're the Ultimate Psychic, right?" He grabbed a vial full of red powder and stuck it in the wagon. "Can't you just use your psychic powers or whatever to figure out who's the one that took us here?"
"I tried, but all it showed was a dull purple. Like, all shades of it. I'm not kidding, here, I'll try it again." She grabbed a crystal ball from a box. She hovered her hands over it and ominously asked a question. "Who is the mastermind to our presences in this school?"
The crystal ball turned from a pristine, shining white to a grayed-out purple. It warped and twisted with darker and lighter shades, then abruptly turning white again.
"See?" Gehenna put back the crystal ball. "It doesn't work at all."
"Ah, damn. And I thought we could put the mastermind to justice." Sahara groaned. "I think that should be everything for the readings."
Gehenna looked around, whipping her head in all directions. "Yep! It is! Thanks, you two!" She moved the wagon filled with boxes to a corner behind a curtain. "You can do your own business now, Sahara. I'll hang around with Shuttle 'till I'm bored!"
"That's not gonna end well..." Sahara grumbled under her breath as she left the Lab.
"So, like, what now?" Shuttle asked.
"What now? We go around and see how everyone's doing, obviously!" Gehenna smiled mischievously. She reached for Shuttle's wrist before he yanked it away.
"You are not dragging me this time." He shot.
"Aw, okay..." Gehenna slumped and sauntered out of her Lab with Shuttle following along. "Anyways, I know you'd totally want to visit Cele first, if you know what I mean."
Shuttle's face flushed a slight red from embarrassment. "Shut up..."
"Called it!" Gehenna giggled as she opened the doors to Ariose Hall. "Oh." She stood at the entrance, staring at the stage. Shuttle looked from above her, quickly spotting Cele and Ron.
"Ah, Shuttle! Did you come here to see... Just me, perhaps?" Cele flattered.
"You shut up too..." Shuttle slightly pouted angrily as he crossed his arms.
Cele chuckled lightly. "Sorry. Anyways, we were about to try to see how well Ron and I could play this new piece he just randomly pulled out."
"Ooh, what's it called? Maybe when we get outta here, I can listen to this song!" Gehenna's eyes glittered like fairy dust.
"Ghost Maiden." Ron looked up from the grand piano.
"Cool. Can you play it now? I kinda wanna see how it goes, too..." Gehenna nervously smiled.
"You got it." Cele began counting down quietly and the two started playing.
It started with a stretched harmony of notes, and almost instantly transitioned to a cheery-sounding melody. It felt as if the warm, beaming summer sun was shining right down on the stage. Once the viola joined in, the song felt alive. It was like a ghost was watching among them, as a gentle breeze passed by. The moment the chorus approached everyone, it was a ballade of both nostalgic and wistful emotions. It almost possessed Gehenna and Shuttle so well that it almost brought them to tears. The song reached its end, ceasing the feeling of a summer breeze and taking the nostalgia away.
Gehenna began slowly applauding. "I hate that this isn't the first time that I've wanted to cry over a song so much." She held her hand to her heart. "How come your talents aren't like, the Ultimate Violist and the Ultimate Pianist?"
"I don't constantly play the viola, only when I'm in the mood, I do." Cele replied as she set her viola down.
"It's not a big passion of mine. That's all." Ron sighed as he quietly played a single chord. "I'm self-taught, so I sort of see your point."
"Thanks for letting us hear you two, by the way! It was really lovely... I could almost feel someone coming into me... I mean that in a getting possessed way, I swear!" Gehenna giggled crazily.
"You did not." Shuttle glared at Gehenna.
"Whatever, let's go check on the others." She pranced out of the hall as Shuttle waved goodbye to Cele and Ron before leaving as well. "Look, there's Elio and Little there! Wow, we're on a roll!" She began running to them before the unexpected happened.
An explosion occurred right outside of the barrier, leaving a dark trail of smoke ascending to the sky.
"Was that... Beyond the barrier?" Little cautiously asked.
"I... I think so." Elio stuttered. Gehenna skidded and started walking towards them.
"What the hell was that?! Was that an explosion?!" Gehenna hysterically asked.
"Probably? I can't really tell, I only got like, a glimpse of it for a millisecond." Little wearily sighed. "I think all the shock drained my energy..."
"Then just don't be tired. Easy." Elio bantered as he switched. "I mean, that's what I do! I just forcefully wake myself up, it shouldn't be that hard for some dipshit like you!" He cackled before switching again.
"I–"
"Sorry." Elio mumbled as he looked to the ground.
"A-Anyways... how's the search going? Any luck yet?" Gehenna wondered.
"None at all. Even with sharp eyes and memory, nothing's shown up." Elio placed his hands on his hips, turning back to the barrier.
"See, I told you we should have searched inside." Little crossed his arms.
"Aw, okay. I hope you get lucky!" Gehenna beamed. "Shuttle, come on, wanna check the gym with me? I'm planning to hold the show there."
"I'll be there in a bit, Gehenna." Shuttle replied as Gehenna nodded and ran off to the gymnasium. "Little, Ron's got a message he wanted me to tell you."
"Hm? What is it?" He turned to Shuttle.
"He said that he wanted to thank you for everything, especially when you checked on him. I think that's all he said." Shuttle recalled.
"Ah, I see. If you ever spot him again, tell him I said "You're welcome." I mean, it's normal for me to be concerned for my own son." Little smiled.
"Will do! See you later." Shuttle waved as he ran to the gym where Gehenna was walking around as if she were walking laps. "Um..."
"Oh, you're finally here. Do you think this room is big enough for future readings, rituals, and meditation?" She inquired.
"I... Think so? I don't know how much space you might need for those, but from what I'm thinking of, maybe." Shuttle nodded, his gaze going around the floor.
"Good enough!" Gehenna beamed as the monitor played a tune.
"This is an official announcement from the Ultimate Hope High! It is now nighttime! Will you have angelic dreams? Or will you have some demonic, satanic dreams? Who knows? Get a good night's rest for tonight!" Monokuma announced before the monitor turned off.
"Well, that's my signal. I'll go sleep for now. Thanks for hanging around with me!" She skipped outside the gym and to her room. Shuttle sighed and sauntered out as well. It's been a long day. Gehenna's sort of annoying, but at least it helped make some time pass by. Maybe I should tell Ron Little's message when I see him walk here. He began walking even slower to wait for Ron, but he never showed up. Huh. I'll go tell him in the morning, then. He lay flat on his bed and slowly fell asleep.
~MONOKUMA THEATER~
"Hm! How dare they... Interrupting my precious theater performance! That's nothing now, it was in the past. What matters now is that it seems too peaceful, no? Upupupu! Not for long!"
(I'll take this time to say that DR:SN now has a discord server! https://discord.gg/rHcKfjHNQY )
~CUT~
The morning announcement tune played.
"This is an official announcement from Ultimate Hope High! It is now 8 A.M., which is morning time! A little birdie told me that someone's gonna hold a special psychic show!" Monokuma announced before the monitor turned off. Ah, right, the show. I should attend it after I meet everyone in the dining hall. Shuttle thought. He got up from his bed and began walking there, running into Gehenna on the way.
"Hi, Shuttle! You're gonna come to my show, right?" Gehenna asked. "I spent all night making sure all my equipment was perfect."
"Um, yeah. And wait, you stayed up? Didn't you—"
"Go to my room? Yeah, I did. Except I got worried that someone might try to sabotage my show, so I sort of stayed up all night patrolling over the wagon."
"Well, you're dedicated." Shuttle joked as he opened the doors to the dining hall.
"Morning." Elio chugged down a cup of water.
"That's the seventh cup. How many more do you need?" Sahara questioned in disbelief.
"Prolly not anymore." He set down the cup. "I tend to forget I have human needs, anyways."
"How do you forget something like that?"
"Look, lady, I don't know either!"
"You guys are coming to my psychic readings show, right?" Gehenna queried as she excitedly sat down on a chair.
"Of course. I mean, I think we need a bit of enlightenment right now. The looks on Elio and Little are evidence of that." Cele motioned her arms to them.
"Elio insisted we keep looking even after the nighttime announcement." Little yawned.
"You could have just said, "Fuck you, I'm going to get some sleep" and I would have let you." Elio crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair.
"Cool, thanks, everyone! I already ate, so I'll be waiting outside the dining hall with my wagon full of my supplies!" Gehenna skipped outside. After a few minutes, everyone had finished and headed out.
"We're starting right after we just ate?" Sahara asked.
"Of course. That way, you wouldn't need any snacks later." Gehenna replied, then picked up the handle of her wagon.
"That's dumb." Elio squinted. Gehenna began prancing to the gym.
"By the way, thank you all for coming along! Now, find yourself a–" Gehenna said as she tried to open the gym door. "Huh?"
"What's wrong, Gehenna?" Sahara asked.
"The door! It's locked!" Gehenna dropped one of her crystal balls, the glass shattering into pieces. "It wasn't when I checked yesterday!" She started slamming herself against the door but failed to break it down.
"Jeez... And I was here thinking we'd actually get something good for once." Elio grumbled.
"How about you help me out?" Gehenna asked as she backed away from Sahara, who started hitting her mallet against the door.
"J-Just be careful!" Shuttle hesitantly exclaimed.
"All right, I will. Gehenna, is it okay if I use this?" Elio questioned as he held up another crystal ball.
"Sure, I have about thirty left anyways." Gehenna nodded. Elio sighed, retracted his arm, and threw it at the door. He groaned in frustration and kicked the door down.
"Great! Now we can watch her little psychic readings." Cele applauded. "Thank you, Elio!"
"No problem." Elio responded as everyone walked into the gym. Suddenly, he paused in the middle of the room. "Wait."
"What?" Sahara asked, turning to Elio.
"There's blood–" He paused as a drop of blood fell on Elio's hand, which was pointing at the small crimson puddle.
"If there's a puddle of blood here, and a drip just fell from above..." Shuttle paused as his gaze ascended to the ceiling, revealing a sight of utmost horror.
Ron's crucified corpse was right above everyone's heads on the ceiling.