"Upupupu."
The laughter had been going on for a few seconds now, but no one cared to comment on it, nor tell the bear to stop, but even without them having to say it the laughter stopped and soon enough Monokuma came out from the library door to greet the students who were staring at the empty air with the door to the Control Room closed.
"You guys look like you've seen a ghost, or maybe just a dead body! Upupu" Monokuma said as he stopped a meter from Marco who was leaning against the corner of the left wall.
Lexi and Abby, both now sitting with her legs pulled up to their chests and their arms hugging them tightly, were refusing to look anywhere else except at their own legs, while Simon was in front of the Control Room door so it couldn't be opened just yet.
Jacob, standing against the wall to the left of the Control Room door, was the only one who had the courage to speak to Monokuma, "Of course you would appear, hm?"
Monokuma clapped his hands together, everyone's PALs making a beeping noise. Jacob, Marco and Simon decided to take the bait and pull the devices out of their pockets. Monokuma had sent them a file listing information about this murder such as bruises on the victim's body, the time of death, and other useful information.
"Why so suddenly are you helping us, you didn't last time" Marco said.
Monokuma let his smile grow a bit as he covered the right half of his mouth, "I just feel you guys could use a little special guidance for this trial, I hope you like it! I'll see you at the trial" Monokuma said and with a long bow he raced past the students and around the corner.
Jacob began looking through his PAL, his finger scrolling through the information while Marco seemed to copy his movements, everyone else staying in their positions while considering what to do.
Soon enough, before Jacob and Marco finished, Lexi stood to her feet which caught everyone's attention immediately. She wiped her right eye lightly and began walking to the Control Room door.
"E-excuse me please" she said in a low tone towards Simon, "I-I want to try and investigate."
Simon hesitated at first, his eyes looking towards Marco and Jacob who both gave him a nod and so he moved away from the door. Lexi took a hold of the door knob and with a pull of her hand the door opened, her eyes staring into the red mess of the room but instead of turning away she kept staring.
"When I first found him, I lost where I was" she began saying.
Her right hand dug into her back pocket and she pulled out her PAL as to open the file she had obtained from Monokuma. Her finger began scrolling through the information.
"If this is right, Adam died sometime around one AM last night" Lexi began saying as she read the information, "it would seem that a bruise was made on the back of his head, and his head, arms and legs have what are identified as rope burns."
Lexi took a deep breath and stopped talking, so Jacob continued since he could tell it was troubling her to say it.
"The cause of death was, what is clearly shown, the row of spikes below him, but besides the rope burns, the bruise on his head, and the spikes entering his front half of his body, no other wounds were found on his body."
Jacob placed his PAL back into his pocket and stood behind Lexi, looking into the room personally as to examine the rooms inside.
Adam's body had been pushed into the spikes so much that the spikes below him were almost unseen. Adam's body had bits of rope tied around his neck, both wrists and both ankles but the ropes were cut off and the ends were over the floor.
Jacob looked at the boy, but Adam's eyes were both stuck on spikes, his face also pushed into the spikes with the rest of his body.
The walls were scattered with blood which had squirted out when the spikes penetrated his body, and on the wall at the back were two arrows along with a third arrow on the floor behind Adam.
"We can't exactly get in the room so I guess this is the best we can do for now" Jacob said with a sigh being let out.
Lexi made a soft nod and after a few more minutes of staring she crept away from the door, "I can't look any longer, I'm sorry."
Jacob took a few more seconds looking at the corpse of Adam then followed after Lexi as he put his right hand on her right shoulder, "Don't worry about it, we'll do as much as we can and then when the trial comes around we'll avenge him alright?"
Lexi turned to face Jacob, his words getting Abby's attention too, and the two of them seemed to agree with their soft nods. Lexi then broke away from Jacob and headed down the hallway, most likely to head back to the dormitories.
"Today really didn't go as well as we were hoping, hm?" Simon said.
Jacob turned to him as he let out a shrug, "I guess not, but we need to deal with it anyway. I doubt Adam would let it get to him too much, right?"
Simon let off a little shrug but didn't answer as he continued to check his PAL.
Marco broke away from the wall he was at and came up to Jacob, "So is Carlos still in the Principles Office?"
"I think so, I last saw him there at least."
Marco walked past Jacob, Abby and Simon as to head for the fourth floor, Jacob grabbing onto his shoulder as to stop him a little, "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to ask why he was even here to begin with, and why he's covered in what I think is Adam's blood."
Jacob let go of his shoulder, "Well I'm going to then, I'd like to know just as much as you."
"Well hurry then, we don't have time to discuss things."
Carlos was still buried under the desk, having sat back underneath it, but his bloody shirt was on the floor behind him as well as his pants. No wounds were noticeable on his body from where Jacob and Marco were standing at the doorway, and they refused to move closer.
Carlos met the two of them with a stare, but he didn't speak.
Marco was the first to decide to speak, "Why were you hear, Carlos?"
Carlos lowered his head a little and began shaking it side to side, "I-I don't know. I went to sleep in my room after dinner and I was here, I swear to you."
Marco rolled his head back lightly but relaxed it and focused on Carlos again, "Then why are you covered in blood?"
"I-I don't know" Carlos repeated, "I just woke up like this!"
Marco's fists clenched up, Jacob noticing this and grasping the boys shoulders but he was pushed away lightly.
"Marco, just don't try it, we'll work this out in the trial alright?"
"Adam was the reason we all started trusting each other, alright? I'm not letting this go away easily!"
"I know that, but getting angry is only going to cloud your judgment."
Marco slowly relaxed his hands and began walking out of the room as Jacob let out a sigh while Carlos tried standing up from under the desk.
"I-Is everyone seriously going to blame me...?" Carlos said.
Jacob stared towards Carlos as he stepped back from the doorway, "I'm sorry mate, but either you did it, or the real killer was a smart guy."
Jacob then turned his back to Carlos and walked away.
"Are we all ready?" Jacob said, everyone except Carlos sitting at their respectable tables.
No one made a response, but Jacob hadn't expected it either way. They were all eating a meal of their choosing for lunch before the time limit ended, and once their plates were emptied and put in the dishwasher they heard the speakers let out the sound of soft static.
"Attention, the trial is about to begin so I'd love it for you all to join me please! Everything has been set up so let's get this started!" Monokuma said and the speakers immediately turned off.
Everyone shared one final look among each other and they began walking out of the dormitories and towards the back of the school except the doors to the trial grounds were still closed.
"Monokuma, why haven't you opened the doors yet?!" Marco said.
Silence answered them, only silence for a few seconds until the bear himself came racing around the school building with Carlos held in his paw. The boy was thrown to the students, landing on his ass as he felt a little dizzy, his shirt and pants cleaned and placed back on his body.
"This kid is a disgraceful to all murderers, can't even play it right" Monokuma said.
"I-I'm not a murderer!" Carlos said as he stood to his feet slowly, almost tripping over.
Monokuma let out a laugh and clapped his paws, the doors opening widely for everyone and he ran in ahead of them, jumping down the escalator and landing at the bottom on both feet properly.
Everyone ignored him and stared at Carlos but their eyes soon averted.
"Let's just head down, it's time we got this started" Simon said, and one by one they stepped onto the escalator with Simon leading and Carlos at the back.
The trial room had changed just like it had before. The walls looked like they were covered in prison bars, hundreds of them were vertically assigned over the dark blue walls with the ten screens in front of the bars themselves. The students were unsure if the bars were real or just digitally put in as a painting on the wall, they were pretty sure Monokuma had made them real though.
The flooring of the trial room was now light blue with an orange spiral spinning inwards endlessly over the flooring. The spiral on the floor was causing the students to be a little dizzy upon staring at it so they simply focused on getting the podium on the lowered part of the flooring in the centre of the room.
Monokuma sat on his high chair at the back of the room with a proud smile over his face while clapping his hands together, his body rocking back and forth.
"It's time, don't you think? Your lovely hero has gone, and one of you has caused his end! I wonder who it is" Monokuma said, but then he stopped moving and covered his mouth, "just kidding, I know who did it already, I have video footage."
Everyone took their place at their parts of the podium, their eyes meeting one another.
"So it was one of us, are you sure about that?" Jacob said, "I know it's happened three times already, but I wouldn't put it out of you to trick us."
Monokuma laughed lightly again before pointing his paw at Jacob, his red left eye glowing, "shut it you! I would never do that! Not when the events here are so important!"
"How exactly are they important, hm?" Jacob said, "It's a fucking killing game, not some plan in the making!"
Monokuma continued laughing, "If only you knew, mister. Now stop talking to me and solve this case, or I'll be forced to put a time limit on this trial!"
Jacob gripped the podium before him and stared off towards the other five students around him, "Fine, then let's start trying to work out what exactly happened during the time before Adam died. He died around one AM, right?"
Lexi nodded, "that's what the file Monokuma says, he died by the spikes that he most likely fell on."
"I'm assuming it was the ropes connected to his arms that were holding him up before they were cut down?" Simon said.
"That would be the only way, otherwise the ropes were useless" Abby said, "The question is, why go through all that. were they torturing him or something?"
Everyone grew silent for a while before Marco spoke up.
"If that's what they were hoping for then they are pretty fucked up in their personality."
"So why have him hanging? Couldn't they have just, you know, tortured him with a knife or something?" Simon said.
Lexi and Abby were covering their mouths at the thought of it happening but they tried their best to ignore it.
"While that would seem better, that's usually only good for getting information" Jacob said, "I believe they wanted him to know he was going to die, having him dangling over those spikes would scare anyone."
"I can see that, those spikes looked sharp too. He probably died instantly, or at least I hope he did" Marco said.
"I don't see how he couldn't have, the spikes were so close together that they punctured his neck, brain, chest and probably all his other vital areas" Jacob said.
Simon made a loud cough to try and get attention, "Can we stop paying attention of how he did and try working out where the weapons came from?"
Jacob and Marco, followed by the hesitant Lexi and Abby, stared towards Simon.
"The spikes, and the rope, and the arrows on the wall as well" Simon said.
"Oh yeah" Abby said, "why were those arrows there anyway?"
"Could they have been the reason the ropes were cut? An arrow like that could've been shot directly at the rope and the sharp tip could've cut the rope easily" Marco said.
Jacob nodded in agreement, "I believe the bow and arrows were in the fourth floor, right? In the new Control Room. But I don't think I've seen the rope and spikes before."
Marco raised a finger, "Actually I believe the spikes were originally in the second floor Control Room. It was at the bottom of the locker room, Carlos and I found it when we investigated the second floor I believe."
He tried making contact with Carlos, the boy nodding his head lightly as his arms were still wounded around his body which was still shaking slightly.
"I see, so you knew about it" Jacob said but then turned towards Simon again, "As for that rope, does anyone know where that came from?"
"It could've been in the gymnasium, I think they had some ropes there" Lexi said.
"Alright then, so we know where the items come from. So Adam was tied up by the ropes which came from the gymnasium, and the road spikes from the second floor Control Rooms locker were placed below them. Then arrows from the fourth floor Control Rooms locker were used to make the rope fall from a distance, does that sound reasonable?" Jacob said.
Everyone gave off their reasonable nod except for Carlos who was still hugging himself in fear.
"I do agree" Abby said, "But something doesn't feel right with that."
Jacob raised an eyebrow, "What doesn't make sense?"
"Well, if there were five different ropes, one on his neck and one for each limb, then how could one arrow take all five down at once. And also there were only three arrows there so I just don't understand."
Jacob took a look at everyone else, the same confused look on their faces as was on his face, "that's true. If those ropes were individually tied to the roof then you'd need five arrows to get them all down."
"Actually, not necessarily" Simon said, breaking their line of thought."
"Oh?" Jacob said.
"What if they were wound up around each other then tied to the roof. Like how you braid hair. It would make the rope a bit thicker but a sharp arrow would easily cut through it."
Jacob thought the idea over and then lowered his hands down to his pockets, "Sounds good. That would make sense as well."
"But then where the braided part? If they hit the part of the rope below the braided area then it would still be hanging, but if they hit the top part it would've fallen down on top of Adam right?"
Everyone began thinking back to the horror-filled sight inside the Control Room. Adam on the spikes with blood over them and the walls, with the ropes tightly tied around his neck, wrists and limbs and the ends of the ropes not properly visible since they couldn't enter the room.
"They were probably on the other side of his body, and with the spikes in the way we couldn't just enter and look" Marco said, "So honestly there is no way to say it wasn't tied unless Monokuma was able to show us."
At his words, Monokuma raised his paws up and the televisions, all ten of them, flickered on to show an image of the Control Room from a bird's eye view.
Lexi and Abby immediately looked away as they almost felt like vomiting but Jacob, Marco and Simon forced themselves to focus and to their luck they saw the rope on the right side of Adam all wound up in a braid with the third arrow sticking out of the floor beside it.
"Well that solves that, but all we've done is work out what actions went down and where the items came from. What about who did this?" Marco said.
"We'll get to that, but we have a few clues to get us to that answer right now" Jacob said.
"We do?" Simon said.
Jacob nodded, "For one, the killer must've known about the road spikes. I don't think everyone went into the Control Room, and much less checked the locker so that should narrow it down. Another point would be the fact that Adam died at 1 AM."
"How does the time help though?" Simon said, but he was immediately met with a sigh from Marco.
"Remember, the school locks at around 9:30 and doesn't open until 7 or 7:30 AM in the morning."
Simon raised his head with his mouth opening slightly, "Oh right, I forgot."
Jacob ignored the unnecessary conversation, "I'm trying my best to not do this, but I think you know who the most likely person is alright..."
Jacobs head lowered in guilt as Lexi and Abby, who were trying their best not to look at the screens still, along with Marco and Simon shared a small nod as their eyes gradually met with Carlos who was looking emptily at the ground.
"I... I..." Carlos said repetitively but he couldn't finish his sentence properly.
Jacob walked over to Carlos slowly and gently put his right hand on the boys shoulder, "I get it, alright?" but Jacob was pushed off by Carlos' hand as the boy stepped back from the podium.
"N-No you don't! I'm being framed! Why the fuck would I do something so horrible to someone so innocent?!"
"Then why were you in the school at that kind of hour, and covered in blood as well?!" Marco said, repeating the questions from earlier.
"I don't know!" Carlos said as his hands clenched into fists.
Jacob sighed and stood back to his podiums, "I think we should try our best and end this, are we alright with that?"
Jacob took a look at the four others standing at their podiums who one by one hesitantly nodded to Jacob, Carlos' face immediately going pale and his feet running for the big red doors. His fists punched the doors continuously as tears grew on his eyes.
"No, no!" he said, "I didn't do it! I swear to you I didn't do this!"
Everyone tried their best to ignore the boys cries, they didn't want this as much as Carlos but the evidence matched the crime, and there was nothing to prove it was someone else. With that thought Monokuma caused the flooring in the centre of the podium t disappear and the screens came out for each student to vote with. Their fingers tapped the icon of Carlos and with that final vote the screens were pulled back into the flooring which soon reappeared and the television screens switched from the picture of Adam dead in the Control Room to the same screen they'd seen three times prior, the two blank boxes side by side.
"Gosh, things went just as planned didn't they?" a voice said.
Everyone thought it was Monokuma at first, but the bear showed no sign to be talking. It wasn't until everyone's eyes met with Jacob that they realized the boy was grinning madly and his hands were crossed over his chest.
"W-what?" Simon said.
"Just as planned? What do you mean?" Abby said.
The boxes on the screens began spinning downwards faster and faster, time feeling like it was slowed down as the students were focused on the screens and Jacob, but soon the boxes slowed down and to their shock and horror the boxes had only picture placed in the left most box, the face of the grinning Jacob.
No one spoke, no one even moved, except for Jacob who lowered his right hand into his pocket while his left hand stretched out.
"Come on now, did you really think a trial this short would be perfect? You all are so fucking gullible."
"W-why..." Lexi said as she fell to the floor but she couldn't find the energy to continue.
"You fucker..." Simon said but it wasn't him that moved, it was Marco who stepped towards Jacob with slow and hard steps.
Jacob shook his finger and from his pocket were two letters on lined paper which he held in front of him, "Don't you dare, alright? First of all I had a reason for my actions."
Marco stopped and stared at the letters, "What exactly are they?"
Jacob, seeing he wasn't going to take them, let out a sigh along with a roll of his head and decided to instead read them himself for the students.
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'I'm Ready Sister'
I didn't need the night to decide, I knew right away this is my time to prove my worth to you, my darling sister. Just tell me a time and place and I'll be there prepared and all set.
Naturally memory loss is not an ordinary thing, but I trust you, and so I hope you trust me as well.
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Everyone's eyes were dark and confused, their thoughts were trying to work out who wrote the letter but at the same time they knew but didn't want to believe it.
Marco ripped the letter from Jacob's hand, the letter ripped slightly on the end but he was able to get the part with the name still intact at the bottom.
"A-Adam..." Marco said in a mutter.
Carlos had stood from where he was, his expression still scared but it had been mixed with confusion just like everyone else.
"I-Impossible!" Abby said as she raced up to Marco and took the letter but no matter how much times she re-read the words, she found no error or mistake to prove it wrong.
"M-Maybe he forged it! Yes, he forged the signature!" Abby said as she pointed to Jacob.
"Oh come on now, are you that stupid? It's clearly not me, even I wouldn't drop that low!"
"You killed Adam, I don't think forgery is out of your hands" Simon said.
Jacob sighed, "I didn't forge the signature, not that it changes anything. If you don't believe me then you're just hiding from the truth."
"So this is your excuse for killing him then...?" Lexi said, forcing her voice to come out as loud as possible.
"I simply wanted to see if the letter was true, I may or may not have also seen it as an excuse to get out of here and oh boy it worked" Jacob said with a large smile.
Marco clenched his fist tightly and went to strike at Jacob's cheek but the boy passed to the side, dodging Marco's punch successfully as the boy held out the second letter.
"There's still one more, and trust me you'll want to hear this one."
Marco stopped again, his hands bleeding a little from his nails digging into his hands, but he stayed still.
"Alright then, allow me" Jacob said.
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'It's Time For My Introduction'
If you think this note will be like the others, all important and about a certain topic, you're mistaken. I have no need to show you my secrets, but I will tell you some information that may fancy you.
First and foremost my name is Taylor Shink, former Ultimate Painter before I left the academy of Hopes Peak to do something better than what they had promised.
I am the girl in charge of the Monokuma robot you are imprisoned by.
Now sadly I am unable to explain much else because I'll ruin the surprise that way, however I have two things to say.
First, to the smart and courageous Jacob who I estimate will take this note for himself so my identity is found easily, and possibly even to scan for clues. I bet you are disappointed to find this letter has nothing for you, huh? How it must feel to be completely useless.
Secondly, to all the remaining students, I am sad to announce this story you find yourself in has no good ending. You find yourself on a path that will either end, or fall, and there is nothing to change that. I will be seeing you all very soon, in person as well I can promise that.
Enjoy the rest of your time here as much as you can, maybe it'll be safeguarded in your memory for a while.
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"I-Is that really the person controlling that bear?" Simon said as he looked towards Monokuma.
Monokuma simply waved, "You bet! Honestly, Jacob, I thought you were going to keep it to yourself this whole time. It's about time you got it in everyone's head."
Carlos held his head with hands as he screamed gently, "T-this is too much! What the hell is going on anymore?! We're literally about to die and here we have Jacob telling us all this crap we should've found earlier!"
Jacob scoffed slightly, "you mean you all are about to die, not me thank you."
Marco growled and swung his fist again, catching Jacob in the stomach which caused the boy to be shot backwards and land on his back, gasping for breath as he rolled onto his back only to have Marco step on his back.
"Not if I kill you first, you asshole!"
Monokuma clapped his hands and from the floor came several chains which gripped tightly onto Marco's arms and legs, pulling him down onto his back, "We can't have that mister, after all you'll all be going together."
Jacob's face picked itself up as he tried getting to his feet, "W-wait what? What do you mean. You clearly said if the killer doesn't get found out then he's free!"
Monokuma laughed loudly, "I lied, is that a problem? Why would I do all this just to let it go to waste if someone is found out? Did you really not realize that? Did the idea of getting out get in your head too much?"
Jacob growled and got to his feet properly while his fists clenched up, "Unfair! That's unfair you jerk! I won!"
"Yes, you did, and now you get the satisfaction of meeting me properly. I'll see you guys later!"
Monokuma jumped into the air as his other high chair rose from the centre of the platform along with the large gong. Jacob began running for the bear as the metal baton landed in Monokuma's hand but as Jacob made a jump for Monokuma the baton hit the gong hard, the flooring disappearing below the six students, metal claws gripping their bodies tightly, everyone being pulled down into the darkness that followed.