[IC] Danganronpa: Tower of Carnage (Finished!)

[FamishedPants]

"..."

Zachary Ackerson

By now, many had found themselves dull at least partly to the horror that was an execution. After so many people had died, it wasn't too odd of a reaction. But having not turned away, nor betrayed a hint of emotion as one of his fellow survivors was brutally disposed of before him in such a flamboyant manner, was Zachary really just desensitized? That certainly had to be the answer.

But if it was, then why didn't Zachary ever answer Jez?

...

...

This place is a prison-cum-death-chamber. The gloom is held at bay by the spark of hope in each Infinite's heart. In those brilliant flames, one can sometimes catch a glimpse of the darkness of despair. But with so many flames being snuffed out, is it really nothing more than a glimpse?

...

...

Zachary found himself waking up the next day feeling as though he'd not even gotten a wink of sleep. Well, that had been the case each night since he started living here, with one exception. He shifted slowly off of his bed and onto his feet, looking no more alive than a robot. With a yawn, he carried out his daily routine to get ready for the day.

He left his room having cleaned up and put clothes on. But this only made him look like a dolled up robot compared to early. He wasn't truly awake, and for him to change this he'd need one more thing. With a certain destination in mind, he shambled out of his room.

Zachary entered the Break Room without any issue. He released another yawn as he continued towards the back, having noticed that the room was presently empty aside from himself. Had he woken up early? He hadn't bothered to check, but he was definitely not woken up with the announcement from Killgood. That would probably explain why he hadn't seen anyone in the halls, either. It didn't matter for now. He could think of things when he was awake.

Naturally, Zachary decided to make some coffee. Though it need not be said, there were no difficulties. Coffee was made, and a mug was poured. All was as it should be. The Infinite decided to go sit down at a table to enjoy his cup, and once he had done this, he began to bring the mug up to this lips. About halfway there, he paused, looking down into the mug. His eyes widened as he thought about the earlier case. From a blank stare to a heated glare, Zachary's expression drastically changed and he found himself slamming the mug onto the table in a short-lived fury. Unfortunately, this action had been done with enough force to shatter the mug, coating his hand in searing-hot coffee.

Somehow managing to avoid throwing out obscenities at the sudden jolt of pain, Zachary jumped up and immediately sought out a sink to run cool water over his hand. Today was certainly not starting off in the way he wished it would have.

[Majoraa]

After the trial, Alice decided to visit Parker later and get whatever sleep she could. The next day, both her and Henry seemed to be the first ones in the dining room, with the latter going to the kitchen to make breakfast. The recon didn't really mind, she just wanted some time to sit down, and just think.

"I'm back!" After a little while, the pianist sat back down next to her with their plates. "So...are you doing okay?" He asked.

Alice shrugged in reply. "Is anyone here doing okay?"

Henry appeared concerned, shaking his head.

"So you noticed it too, huh?" The recon looked back up to him. "Just about everyone here is slowly losing their heads, and it's only getting worse. Even if they weren't our blackened fools, we're all divided, ready to tear at one another's throats given the need. No wonder this place feels more like an asylum than a hospital. We're probably giving the mastermind what they want, for all we know."

"What about you?"

She sighed. "I'll be fine. Lost my head way before I arrived here."

"That's not what I meant..."

"Besides, you and Ice are still my main concern. You're the only ones keeping me from snapping after all. Again. I'm not helping this, aren't I?"

Henry chuckled, a bit nervously. "It's fine! You seem to be getting better, atleast!" The pianist thought to change the subject. "Uhm, any progress on finding Parker's knife?"

The recon shook her head. "Nothing so far, I just hope I can find it before the next Night of Carnage."

"Did you admit to Mister Matthews that you love him yet?" Henry mumbled a quick _"Got'em." in seeing his sister's surprised face.

"The less you know, the less you'll bother me about." She retorted. "Or blackmail."

"So no progress there too?"

"Shut up."

[Mateotis]

---

The way the Infinites broke out in chatter, it was a wonder they could hold in their surprise for long enough for Daimyon to finish his monologue. The poet himself did not participate in it; he did not answer accusations or offer further explanation. He kept his head down, holding the notebook away from him to avoid it becoming drenched in his tears. He was still smiling. The catharsis, for now, kept the terror at bay.

He offered no resistance when Noel took the book. He felt like he had no more secrets, although he did, and let his fellows peruse it to their heart's content. When its handling got rough amongst the confused Infinites, he asked for it back—and, fortunately, received it back with a few wrinkles. As his exhilaration faded, he held it close to his chest, then quickly put it back in his jacket pocket where it belonged. He regret letting the others to it all of a sudden, feeling as if an entire room had just probed into his mind. ‘No other option,’ he mumbled to himself. He had to endure it if he was to live. The bear's confirmation of what he had said was barely a solace.

He felt relieved when the spotlight was finally off him and on the next suspect, overwhelmingly so. No feelings registered in him when Max was proven to be the real murderer, even though he quite liked the officer. He spent the rest of the trial, including the execution, scribbling nothings with shaking hands into his notebook.

---

A part of those scribbled nothings turned into a poem. He was still working on it the next morning, waking up early after a nightmare-tinged sleep.

Death! Death! You make my heart race
One glimpse at you and I'm in the skies, sweating, breath catching
But I can't be with you, not yet—
Because

The poet sat hunched over on his bed, trying to finish the verse. He needed some affirmation, something he could cling to; he could not leave it like this. But darkness was all around him and inspiration did not blossom. He noted little of last night's events, the entry dominated by a single line, written in capitals and squared several times: ‘YOUR SECRET IS OUT’. It made him unbelievably anxious. What was he going to do? It was already a miracle that he had not been murdered yet by one of many Infinites who were smarter, stronger, and more capable than him. They must have thought him useless and not worthy of the effort, surely. But now they knew how effortlessly it could be done—they could botch it and he wouldn't remember. Take his notebook away and he would openly seek them out; they could take him wherever they wanted. Oh, they all knew now. They knew and they were coming for him.

He screamed. It was loud enough to surprise himself, and it brought his racing mind to a halt. Breathing heavily, he held pen to paper and wrote: ‘Because life is my true love. Flirt as you may with my weak body, I'm not leaving her.’ Simplistic but headstrong, the line expressed Daimyon's emotions quite clearly: he felt like staying alive almost out of spite. With that same energy, he stood up and headed for the door, only to turn back, having remembered something crucial. He copied the anxious line to the first page with some added detail, noting that only the Infinites knew his secret. His next thought came naturally: he had to convince them to keep it a secret once they were out. Yes, once they were out. They were gonna get out, Daimyon repeated to himself, like a mantra, they were gonna get out.

He headed for the break room and found a few people there already enjoying their breakfast. On a lark, he sat down at a long table, next to Cyrus and Noel.

“Daimyon, hello. We were just talking about you,” Cyrus said.

“Somehow, I thought so. Good morning—and to you too, Noel.” Daimyon smiled. Even at his most despaired, he revelled in socialising. People gave him energy, energy he was sorely in need of. “I wish you didn't have to find out that way. Or...find out at all, ha.”

“Believe it or not, I suspected something was wrong for the longest time,” Noel said. “The way you carried yourself, spoke, your mannerisms—you learn to catch onto these things in my field. But, I'll admit, anterograde amnesia wasn't my first guess!”

Hearing it out loud, Daimyon winced, before returning the laugh. “Y-yes. It's a long story.”

“Do you remember it?”

“Only the very basics. I have a...” he pulled out his notebook and flipped to the appropriate page, “copy of the diagnosis from when it happened. ‘Severe traumatic brain injury from car accident. Decrease of motor function, improvable with therapy. Total amnesia, incurable.’” He read out the short and damning report and shrugged. “Been living with it for a while.”

“And you kept it hidden because you thought it made you vulnerable in a killing game like this,” Cyrus asked.

“I did. I mean—”

“You were right. It does single you out,” the politician continued, taking a sip of his coffee. “I have no desire to take advantage of it, but there are eleven others here who might.”

“Ten others. Killing someone so defenceless is not in me,” Noel added.

“So you would kill someone more capable,” Cyrus said.

“Yes, I'd very much love to kill you,” she beamed at him, which made Daimyon chuckle.

“Touché.” Cyrus finished his coffee. “So, Daimyon. What are you going to do now?”

“I can't unsay things. Or make you forget, as much as I'd like that. So I guess I'll just have to...keep trusting my fellows to do the right thing.”

Cyrus regarded his answer with a chuckle before he left to get more coffee. Daimyon remained at the table with Noel, who soon spoke up between bites of an omelette. “He likes you.”

“Ha! Could've fooled me...”

“No, I'm serious. Everyone likes you. Or at least doesn't see you as a threat. That's very powerful.” She nodded sagely, pointing at the poet with her fork.

“Do you like me?”

Noel smiled, then dug into her omelette again. Daimyon did not push but stood up and went to get some food for himself.

[BrokenPromise]

The nanny and caretaker sat across from each other. Everyone’s breakfast had been made, so they could sit back and relax.

”It’s getting easier and easier to make breakfast.” Bliss said with a blank expression oin her face.

Emily looked between their plates. While she had eaten half of her second helping of waffles, Bliss had only nibbled on a few sausage links. She also wasn’t talking very much, She lowered her utensils and wiped her mouth with her napkin. “It is sad that so many of us have passed on. I don’t think anyone can deny that.” She set down her napkin. “But I’ve come to realize that getting depressed and hating how weak I am doesn’t bring about the change I want.”

”At least twenty of us have died.”

With a sigh, Emily pushed her plate off to the side. “The murder yesterday was really tragic. But at the same time, it showed just how dedicated the remaining people here are to each other.” She attempted to fold her hands together, but realized she was too well endowed to do it and settled for resting her hands on the table. “Both the victim and the killer acted selflessly.”

Bliss picked up her fork without looking at it. ”I’m not sure I agree with that.”

“You don’t?” Emily forced a smile. “Well, I think Max more did it to test us, you know? Being a police officer and everything. I think he honestly believed Jezebel was going to kill Zachary, and decided to sacrifice himself so that he could test us and also remove a potential threat. Faith was simply able to intercept him and foil his plan.”

”Lets say I believe that. Then why did Faith not just show Max the prop knife to remove any confusion?”

“It’s not like Faith knew exactly what Max was thinking. She might not have known it was all based on a misunderstanding. But more than that…” Emily lowered her gaze. “But more than that, I think she was depressed and actually welcomed death. This was a way for her to leave the killing game and save everyone else. Which is why we need to do our best to stay in high spirits. Faith was crushed by what happened over the past few days. Our enemy isn’t each other, but this despair that looms over us.”

Ice was going to get himself some breakfast when he bumped into Denis. He thought nothing of it, but it was clear the spy was going to follow him around regardless of where he went. So instead of sitting with Alice and her brother, he sat at an empty table. Much like he anticipated, Denis sat across from him.

“Hi!” He said with a big friendly wave. “Why you not with Alice?”

“I don’t want to annoy her.” He proceeded to look at his handbook. If he ignored Denis, maybe he’d go away.

“You annoy her?”

“Yes.” Ice said without really thinking. It seemed like the easiest way to end the conversation.

“Hmmm.” Denis scratched his chin. “Why do you annoy her?”

“I dunno, maybe she doesn’t like it when gigglygoons bother her during breakfast?” He was feeling a little tense, and knew that it wasn’t fair to take it out on Denis, but this was as polite as he could afford to be this morning.

“Hmmmm.” Denis scratched his chin for just a moment more before standing up and walking towards the table where Henry and Alice resided. He patiently waited for Henry to swallow his food before grabbing the back of his chair and dragging it away from the table. Dragging, while Denis ran.

“The bloody heck!?”

“Okay Ice. No being a gigglygoon today.” Denis said before he disappeared behind the threshold of the door.

This wasn’t quite what Ice expected, but it did mean he would get to talk with Alice after all. He cleared his throat before sitting across from her. “I feel slightly responsible for Denis going bananas. But it was not my intent, and ultimately the fault is his.” he adjusted his tie. “But don’t fault him too much for it, he had good intentions. Now, how are you doing this morning. Was your encounter with Parker fruitful? I’m sure she was happy that she got another inch of freedom. She only needs one more now right?”

Monokuma isn’t actually doing anything.

Noel finished her breakfast rather quickly, and spent the last few minutes looking at everyone else in the room. Her eyes rested on everyone for a time. Alice, Henry, Denis, Ice, Cyrus, Bliss, Emily, before finally resting on Daimyon. She grinned one last time before standing up and leaving the room.

When Daimyon got up to get his food, this put him near Cyrus, who was still by the coffee machine.

---

Jezebel still found herself thinking about yesterday’s trial a lot. Much like Emily, she had come to the conclusion that Faith had forgiven her and sacrificed herself to save everyone. There was a bit of guilt there. Jezebel had to wonder is she had been kinder if Faith would have gone about doing things differently. In a way, the murder yesterday had been entirely her fault. Even if not for Faith, it was Max seeing her gather suspicious items that compelled him to act.

She had woken up early, and was going to meet Zachary in the break room when she noticed someone else walking the halls. It was Lucy.

“Can’t sleep?”

She nodded, her clothes looked totally disheveled. “I got some rest, but going back to sleep at this hour is impossible!” She pointed at the floor with knife hands. “It takes me about an hour to fall asleep! I might as well stay awake!”

Jezebel grinned. “I’m, like, gunna get some coffee. You should totally join me.”

“I’m not sure if I have ever had coffee. But yes! Today seems like a good day to try it out.”

---

Their walk to the break room was uneventful. When the door opened, Lucy had prepared to give her most profound introduction yet, when she noticed a few things amiss in the room.

“I see fragments of what I can only assume are a ceramic mug scattered around that table, and they are drenched in coffee.”

“Zachary? Are you alright?” Jezebel power walked towards the sink. “Like, you don’t feel dizzy or anything right?”

Meanwhile, Lucy continued to examine the “crime scene” to discern what happened. Though try as she might, she had no idea how a mug could shatter so violently by being dropped on the table. There wasn’t enough time for it to build up enough speed to shatter. It didn’t really matter though. She doubted this was the work of a murder. It would take a pretty silly killer to repeat what Max did just a day later. No, there would not be a murder today. With a sigh, she grapped some paper towels and started to wipe down the table.

[Majoraa]

For the most part, the siblings were idly talking, as a few of the others had entered the diner after them. Henry was in the middle of telling a joke to lift his sister's spirits when before he could say the punchline, the pianist was suddenly dragged out of the room against his will by a Denis. "Guess I'm needed elsewhere, see you later Sis!" He quickly said before dissapearing out the door. Surprisingly, he seemed okay with it. "What's up?" Henry asked, looking at spy.

"...Huh." Alice, meanwhile, was a bit dumbfounded for a moment. Eh, atleast Henry wouldn't bother her for a while. The recon shrugged when Ice apologized for Denis' behavior, but mostly blamed it on him. "I've been okay. As far as what's concidered okay now, but yeah." She replied to his question. "Oh, and yeah! We went through four trials, now we gotta go through one more before Parker can break out of the vault." Alice explained.

"Though, I'm worried about what could happen when she does escape." She admitted. "Been trying to convince her to stay on our side, since we have the same enemies, but I don't know if I'm either helping or hindering by doing that." The recon appeared doubtful as she talked. "Am...I really one of the good guys? Or am I just not cut out being a hero?" Alice asked, not really expecting an answer.

[FamishedPants]

"More than a glimpse."

Zachary Ackerson

It was just... couldn't a man drink a cup of joe without worrying he'll be drugged?! It was so stupid! He was confident that nobody'd do that stunt twice, but realizing just how unsafe everything was becoming... it pissed him off. Why couldn't he even trust that he'd get to drink coffee before something happened? If someone was going to do something to him, he'd much prefer it be while he was sleeping, or even the walk TO the Break Room. He let this tantrum play out in his head.

Zachary was still tending to his hand when the room suddenly became full of life. People would once again return to their 'normal' lives in this place. And why wouldn't they? Yesterday wasn't special, was it? A routine occurance no different than the last, at least in how it turned out. A person killed, a case was started and finished, and another person died. Big whoop. Did anyone care anymore? That's... he caught himself feeling ashamed that this thought crossed his mind. Of course people did care, it was friends who died, and Faith's death was proof that SOMEONE cared. He was so very grateful for what she did, even if... he thought she was an idiot. Why play hero, when it would only lead to suffering? Why couldn't she have learned from his mistake? The thought that she might have desired the outcome, like Emily assumed, had never crossed his mind. He wasn't smart, and he wasn't close enough to her. All he saw was a fool who happened to do something that saved Zach by proxy.

It tore at him. He was grateful, but he resented the idea behind her action.

Something was wrong with him. Zachary understood this. The entire situation was draining him, he knew this. But that meant nothing. So what if he could acknowledge things were taking a darker turn for his mental well-being? Until the 'game' was finished, until he could be rid of all the deaths and betrayal, he'd probably never improve. And when that betrayal and death is targeted specifically towards him, or worse, Jezebel? How was he supposed to take that? In stride? No, impossible. He was only human.

And humans were so very flawed individuals.

"Ah." Zachary almost seemed snapped out of some trance when he heard Jezebel's concerned voice. He hadn't even noticed her approach him. Come to think of it, he didn't recall so many people showing up, either. "I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

Zachary wasn't a good liar by any stretch of the imagination. Even if he hadn't been so tired of it all, most people could see right through him. He'd never been the one to tell anything more than a white lie, and even then, those were given away. After all, his good hand found its way to the back of his neck, as it usually did. But less surprising than his inability to fib was the fact that it wasn't just a casual reply to an obvious question. His response was much too intense. He barked the words out as if he was both irritated insulted by the question.

He immediately found himself unable to look back at the woman. His eyes drifted elsewhere. He didn't know why he'd suddenly snapped at her, she was just worried. That'd normally please him if anything. Zachary felt embarrassed. He felt ashamed. He felt terrible. What was he doing? He needed to calm down. Apologize, tell her he didn't mean anything by it. It was just frustration, nothing serious. But just before he could muster up the courage to do that, he heard it.

It wasn't like he intended to eavesdrop. He tried to keep conversations not related to him out of his mind. This was nothing more than an unfortunate occurance spurned by the fact that his eyes just happened to land at their table. And as such, he just happened to start listening. But the cause changed not the result. What should have been nothing more than harmless musing was the trigger for a violent reaction.

_"Why..."

The Archer's voice was small at first. It was likely even Jez, who was beside him, would miss it if she weren't paying attention.

"Why."

A bit louder, but nothing high. As if he were asking Jez.

"WHY?!"

In an instant, it detonated. From inside voice to bellow, he spiraled out of control.

"Are you guys daft? Slow? Is everyone here insane, or just stupid? Do none of you pay attention, or do you intentionally shut off your brains? Do you want to suffer? Is that it? Or maybe even die? Does nobody understand a damn thing!? Do you not understand that this is no game? Is that hard to grasp? How many times does someone have to play hero and fail before people conclude that it's stupid, idiotic, dumb, unwise, moronic, absurd, senseless, illogical, unprofitable, pointless, meaningless, and futile? Do you want my other eye? Do you want to stack the pile of corpses even higher? When is enough enough? Why don't you guys understand...!"

[BrokenPromise]

Zachary managed to steal everyone's attention with his outburst, but no one knew how to respond to it. Seconds went by without anyone disturbing the silence. Emily and Bliss kept their head down, while Lucy was pretending not to hear. Cyrus gave a quick glance at Daimyon, and prepared to speak. But he stopped when Jezebel gave Zachary a light shake.

“Zachary.”

Her voice was like a whisper. Unlike the next person to speak up.

"Unbeflipping-lievable!" The former mobster stood up and Pointed at Zachary. "No one's calling this a game, you ignoramus! You can keep your flippin' eye too! If you want to give up you go ahead and be sad somewhere else!" He looked back at Alice. "Don't listen to that wanker. He's just upset that he threw his lot in with that silly clown and hasn't done anything useful since the first night of carnage. You're made of stronger stuff than him." Ice looked ahead. "We all are."

---

Denis set down Henry's chair and looked back at the break room. "Think I screwed up again, Ice sound like gigglygoon." But the sound of heavy footsteps brought Denis and Henry's attention to what was coming down the hall. A tall silhouette with barely any human features. Less so than a carnage sister. Regardless, it was someone the two had heard stories about.

?

[Majoraa]

Zachary's sudden outburst startled Alice, her atention turned to the archer with everyone else. It seemed he though they were treating getting themselves killed as some game, calling them insane for letting such despair happen. Maybe it was him saying that being a hero was pointless, but the recon didn't know how to react from a sudden slew of emotions. She looked around to see if anyone would break the silence when Ice finally spoke up against what Zachary said. Alice smiled when he reassured her, but she couldn't help thinking that it was pointless to be fighting, when they all still have to work together in the end.

Though she was sure if she said anything there, it wouldn't matter. Would it?

[FamishedPants]

"It's all so meaningless."

Zachary Ackerson

He hated this. The fact the spotlight was on him, the horrible and awkward silence that arose because of him, and the fact he was troubling Jezebel. Why was he being such a horrible person right now? He understood he was frustrated, but that was no excuse. Exploding at someone just because they used a word he didn't like was just the worse. He even called everyone idiots, too!

But it wasn't like he didn't think this. And that was probably the worst part. He couldn't step down, though.

He shook his head. The insults themselves merely bounced off of Zach -- he couldn't care much less of what Matthews thought about him. But the fact that Matthews was reacting this way meant he was either stupid or he was trying to look the other way.

"So you don't understand..." Zachary briefly seemed stultified by Matthews' statement, and as if the spark of humanity had left him, Zachary's eyes no longer seemed to reflect any life. This lasted but a moment, and when he began speaking once more, there was no anger, but instead an odd mix of elation and contempt in his tone. "Hahaha! What a petty assessment! But then, that can only be expected of some thug who starts giving out platitudes after 'introducing people to reality'. That 'stronger stuff' isn't going to save anyone from a knife in their back, nor is it going to prevent people from killing people." Zach let out a derisive laugh. "And there will be more of that, won't there? It's routine at this point. Really giving Davis the time of his life, aren't we? But let's focus on my choice of company instead, right? You know, that 'silly clown' who hasn't killed anyone yet. I wonder how many here can say the same about their friends?" Zachary shook his head. "Good job, I guess."

[Majoraa]

She didn't know what was worse, Zachary not backing down, or the archer near mirroring Alice's thoughts. Even his expression for a moment, those damn lifeless eyes, made her freeze up in place. Though the slew of emotions died down to fear and anger, the recon tried to keep calm, and keep her mouth shut. They won't listen to you. she kept thinking to herself. But she had to say something.

"Enough!!"

Alice shot up from her seat. "This is stupid!" She looked to the archer. "Zachary, you make a good point, but arguing isn't going to help! Hell, why are we still like this? Are we going to continue fighting among ourselves when Parker's freed, or when we finally get to face Davis?? Whatever happens, we have to be prepared for the worst, which means we have to work together whether we like it or not!" As she talked, her anger gave way to determination.

"Go ahead and ignore what I'm saying if you must, if you have a better reason than 'She's just some rambling maniac', but maybe I'm not as mad as you think of me to be! We have lives to avenge! And no matter what, we have to make sure it's off with his head, for their sake!" The recon took a moment to pause.

"Even if I'm not a 'hero', I'm done playing nice."

[BrokenPromise]

@Mateotis @Majoras End @FamishedPants

And I'll tag @Melo & @Aewin because I said I would.

Bliss examined the fight from afar. She could see Ice’s face curl into a snarl. “You’ve been keeping to yourself an awful lot. I wouldn’t be surprised if you killed someone. Don’t pretend to be better than me!” It was clear he wasn’t going to take Zachary’s remarks sitting down, even if Alice was doing her best to end things. Though she was a bit on edge herself.

With a sigh, Cyrus walked away from the counter and into the squabble. “We lost two good people yesterday, and it’s understandable that some of us-”

Ice turned to the newly arrived. “Put a sock in it! Nobody cares what some flipping bong thinks about all this?”

Cyrus took off his glasses. “…Excuse me?”

Emily stood up and walked towards Cyrus in an attempt to stem the conflict, but that was when Bliss stopped looking at the fight. Her attention was on someone else.

With the fight going on, Justiciar’s appearance went largely unnoticed by everyone. the vigilante was staring at Bliss the entire time they were in the room, and walked towards her table. It wasn’t long before they took a seat across from her.

”J-Justiciar!” Bliss folded her hands under the table. ”What are you doing here?”

The armored individual only hesitated for a moment. They drew their gun and pointed it at her. “Serving justice.”

---

Justiciar had yet to enter the break room before Dennis tried to get their attention. “’Scuse me?” He said, but it didn’t look like they planned on stopping.

Henry had tensed up at the sight of Justiciar, but was confused when it didn't seem to notice them. Wasn't the vigilante only seen on the Nights of Carnage? Thinking for a moment, the pianist decided to follow Justiciar, once he was given the chance.

Justiciar stopped in front of the break room and looked at the door. Without hesitating, they drew their gun and reached for the door knob.

Oh no.

"Wait! STOP!!" Henry yelled, grabbing Justiciar's gun. "What are you doing?!"

The Vigilante was not too pleased with this, and promptly swung their arm out of the way. Justiciar’s armor must have augmented their strength, because it felt like Henry was fighting with a hydraulic piston instead of a human’s arm. Or maybe Henry just skipped arm day more often then his opponent. Once the gun was out of the way, they redirected their foot and kicked into Henry’s chest. It was just hard enough to send him stumbling backwards into Denis, who struggled to stop Henry’s momentum.

“Do not impede me.” Justiciar’s static filled voice came from a speaker on their helmet. They turned to face the two with their gun pointed at the ground. “Justice must be served. I have it on good authority that the bear will set another trap. The only way it can be avoided is by starting the game’s fifth and final trial.” 

He wasn't going to lie, it didn't feel too good getting the wind knocked out of him. The pianist nodded to the spy as thanks for catching him, then turned his attention back to the vigilante. Henry's eyes widened in fear when they explained that they were going to kill one of them to avoid some trap. "W-What...?!" He felt conflicted. They did needed a final trial to end the game, but at the same time...

"...Are you sure?"

“It’s part of the formula.” Justiciar placed a hand on their hip. “After the trial, the bear will try to lure more of us out during the night of carnage. Not everyone will take the bait, but someone will. Maybe a few people. The chances of everyone coming back alive is slim.” Their gaze was unflinching. The yellow orbs in their head only grew in intensity. 

So that's how things got worse. It was all planned. Henry was silent for a moment, then nodded in understanding. "Just...don't hurt Alice. Please."

“That really good idea?” Denis tossed Henry to the side. He was practically growling the words through his teeth. “Why not kill self then!?!?”

Justiciar turned their head, just slightly, so that they could look directly at Denis. “I could do that.” there was a sigh before they continued. “But there is a wolf who hides in sheep’s clothes. I was able to access the fourth floor during the night of carnage. There’s a computer that contains a lot of information about us. It’s all true, I looked up myself to confirm. I was even able to cross reference facts and other things I knew about all of you. The reason why I’m choosing to murder instead of commit suicide is because this person cannot be permitted to live.” 

Denis groaned before looking at Henry. “You sure about this?”

"If all else fails, they still get executed, right?" The pianist said, a bit worried. But the mention of a computer on the fourth floor made him curious. So he decided to ask. "Is there a way I can get to this computer?" Seemed off to him, since they should've unlocked the next floor by then.

“I have no idea what’s going to happen after the fifth trial.” Justiciar turned back towards the door. “If the game is still going, you could break down the door during the night of carnage. If it’s not, who knows?” And with that, Justiciar entered.

---

“Bliss Buckly, I don’t think anyone present has the same kill count you have.” By this point, everyone took notice of the person with a metallic voice talking to Bliss. “You killed your brother and fled your home before being picked up at an orphanage. That was likely a mercy killing, as he was suffering from stone man syndrome. Is this correct?” Bliss didn’t answer, but Justiciar briefly looked at Cyrus before looking back at Bliss. “I’m surprised you told him something like that, but at least we know that’s true.” They kept their gun leveled with Bliss’s head.

”If you’re going to kill me, that’s fine, just don’t-” She clasped her hand over her mouth. ”Please don’t mention the other thing.”

“The other thing.” Justiciar leaned forward onto one of her arms. “You mean how you became a child serial killer?” Bliss froze, but Justiciar kept talking. “The Lamia killings, that’s what they called your brutal string of murders. You targeted wealthy families. I’m sorry, but the reports I read never stated why you did it. Most serial killers do these types of things to live out some sort of fantasy, but maybe you were just envious of them? If they died, maybe the parents would adopt a piece of shit like you?”

Bliss had covered her face with her hands. ”I-I wanted to help.” She folded her hands in her lap. ”The other children in the orphanage, they never knew happiness.” Bliss sniffed. ”I-I did it for them!”

“You killed children, to help children?”

”I know what I did was wrong. I don’t do that anymore. That’s why I became the infinite nanny, so that I could right my wrongs and become a better person.” Bliss sighed. Her breath was ragged. ”I use to think every child should experience happiness at least once, but I think every child should experience as much happiness as possible.”

“I’m glad you feel that way.” Justiciar sat upright. “Because I feel every child deserves justice.”

BANG

Before Cyrus could say anything, the armor piercing bullet was of a high enough caliber that the force vaporized Bliss’s head, leaving a decapitated corpse. Everyone nearby was sprayed with bits of flesh and blood, and Emily’s screaming soon filled the room. Then a chime sounded.

“A body has been discovered. The patients have a limited time to collect evidence before being called into the court of carnage. Do your best everyone!”

Emily didn’t stop screaming, even as Justiciar took off their helmet and placed it on the table. It was Noel who they saw underneath.

“I suppose you have some questions? I’ll answer them to the best of my ability. I’m use to making the news.”

[Majoraa]

As soon as Justiciar entered the room, Henry followed suite and walked back to Alice. Seeing as things had escalated to where even the recon was trying to break things up, the pianist did his best to keep her calm, while watching the vigilante approach Bliss. The nanny? How could she be the wolf in sheepskin?

With everyone else, Alice's attention was turned to the sudden appearance of the vigilante. Both sibling listened close to the conversation. Though as they did, the recon's determination started to dwindle. She felt bad hearing that Bliss had to put her own brother out of his misery, but felt worse with the disclosure that the nanny was once a child serial killer, for the sake of letting other orphaned children experince happiness. But then had became the Infinite Nanny to right those wrongs.

At that point, the recon didn't know what to think. She didn't even have a chance to think before Justiciar decapitated Bliss in one shot. Henry had to suppress the urge to throw up at the sight, blood and guts having sprayed onto those nearby. Alice would've fainted if the pianist wasn't there to catch her, the recon instead just collapsing onto the floor, pale as a ghost. Whether or not it was a sign that the trauma she had to endure had caught up to her, other than dread, she couldn't feel anything. Nothing.

Henry's eyes widened in surprise when the vigilante unmasked themself to reveal Noel. "So you're the Batman- er, girl of the group, huh...?" He spoke up to the reporter. "So you know about everyone else's secrets? Or only a select few?" The pianist asked.

"And uh, this is more so in general, but since we know who the blackened is, how would the trial work out?" He added, looking around at the rest.

After a moment, Alice looked up to Noel, a bit of regret in her expression. "...Sorry. For lashing out at you before." Even if the vigilante didn't forgive her, the recon thought it was best to apologize then and there.

[FamishedPants]

"I'm not much of a fan of scrambled eggs."

Zachary Ackerson

Zachary turned cold and dull eyes towards Alice, his expression disappearing as he did so. It was his sole response to the girl's attempt to diffuse the situation. As if he was almost unable to perceive her. Was this some form of arrogance, or something else? From what she had said, Alice did not understand either. Was there any point in speaking to her? Or Ice? He wasn't sure. He remained seemingly apathetic, but then Ice said something that noticeably shook him.

The ex-archer didn't look directly at Ice, but protested. "No, you're wrong. I... wouldn't do any such thing." he didn't seem particularly convincing when he said as much, though. Attempting to regain his composure (lack of outward expression in this case), Zachary remained quiet as Cyrus tried his luck where Alice had failed.

Ice's denial was significantly more hostile in nature than Zachary's own, perhaps to nobody's surprise. But Zachary didn't expect anything else from the thug. It did, however, seem to catch Cyrus off-guard, and the man might've even considered joining in on the conflict.

Zachary sighed. This was all so meaningless. Why even get worked up here? Nothing would come of it. Nothing mattered. "I'm..." the young man trailed off, his eye caught on a peculiar sight, and all interest in the conversation they were just having suddenly disappearing.

"...?"

An armored figure with a gun was perhaps the least-comfortable thing you could introduce to this situation. Tensions were high as-is, and now Bliss had a gun to her head. Zachary was... oddly calm at the sight, even though he knew this was only going to end with a casualty.

He had to have been as astounded as anybody else at the secret Bliss had been keeping, but his features remained stoic. And this persisted even after the gun had been fired and they had once again lost an Infinite to an Infinite.

Noel? That's surprising.

But it wasn't a big deal. Not Bliss. Not her death. Not the brain matter being flung. Not Noel's identity. Nothing. There was no big deal. Because it was exactly like he had said -- someone would kill someone, and there would be a trial. Granted, he wasn't expecting it to be right away, nor was he expecting to witness it firsthand. But that's just how it was.

"Could you just not right now?" Zachary firmly asked this of the person having perhaps the most reasonable response in the room, Emily. Her screaming was giving him a headache. Yes, everyone saw the blatant murder by gunshot that happened in this room. So there was no point in going off like that. Didn't she understand this? No, she wouldn't, would she?

The young man found himself glancing at the time. Sure was early in the day, wasn't it?

[Mateotis]

---

When thou seest a Situation most Arcane,
Thou shalt from mawkish Gawking refrain.
Thou shalt turneth thine other Cheek,
Giveth it nary a Murmur, not a Squeak,
Just a Phrase spoken in Brief:

What the fuck?

—Daimyon Londe: Quick Lesson #26

Daimyon picked out his breakfast idly from the counters. From sandwiches to scrambled eggs, each was more enticing than the last. The pleasant scents and indistinct chatter in the background brought to his mind a vision of a simpler, happier life. As he took a sandwich onto his plate, he quietly resolved that he would get back to that life—or create it for himself. Ambling to the coffee machine, he made sure to give an appreciative nod and smile to Bliss and Emily. He had sung their praises in his notebook many times.
There was a bit of a queue at the machine; it was Cyrus who stood right in front of him. As they waited, he chatted up the politician with some small talk, though their conversation did not get far. The poet took this time to eat his sandwich, until they eventually both had their beverage in hand. Cyrus stayed near the counter, sipping it slowly, while Daimyon looked back at their table: Noel had already left. It saddened the poet; he really wanted to spend some more time with her. ‘Perhaps it's for the better,’ he mumbled to himself, ‘lest she also end up dead.’ The more he tried to get the previous trial's events out of his head, the stronger they floated before his mind's eye, scarring him with disturbing images. Since he only had his written word to rely on—having never gotten into drawing—the scenes were even more dramatic and brutal than they had actually been.

His eyes found the door, and thoughts of escape fomented in his mind. He wanted to get out of the break room, away from people's prying and judgemental eyes. Lock himself in his room and cry and write and cry... He took a big gulp of his coffee. His resolve was returning, bit by bit, just enough to hang on. He turned back to Cyrus, eager to strike up another conversation—only for his attention to be drawn away by a loud outburst. The poet turned to see Zachary address the gathered Infinites in blunt terms, only to be answered even blunter by Isaiah, like fighting a spade with a club. All eyes were on the two men, though they did not seem to care much. Daimyon saw Cyrus finish his coffee, his eyes already full of fire, no doubt envisioning how he would show these dense fools some logic. He looked visibly disappointed when Alice took the wind out of his sails.

By that time, though, the poet's attention was elsewhere entirely. The bickering did not give him much cause for hope, so he tried to tune it out, scanning the break room for, perhaps, someone uninvolved to talk to. He found someone, no, something else. Rubbing his eyes to make sure the coffee had nothing funny in it, he soon realised that there indeed was a masked, fully armoured man in the room, making his way towards a table. The rest of the Infinites paid him no mind, still focused on the argument. Now, the poet had long learned that what was news to him was often not news to others, so instead of calling loudly out to the man, he quickly whipped out his notebook and started paging through it frantically. He was not in the ‘People’ section, which meant that he had to look through his day-to-day diary. “Who is this strange fell—”

“J-Justiciar!”

“Justi-who?” Daimyon murmured, looking up from his notebook. The man was now sitting at the table of Bliss and Emily. He was talking to the former, telling her to—oh god, he had a gun! “W-wait!” the poet cried weakly, but everyone was too focused on the unfolding drama. His mouth hung open as Justiciar accused Bliss of one heinous crime after the other, of—Daimyon struggled to comprehend it!—being a child serial killer. In moments, there was a gun aimed squarely at the nanny, and it fired with the same merciless immediacy. The poet saw it all, as if in slow motion: the bullet popped her head with the same ease that a dart would pop a balloon filled with water. But that was not water that exploded everywhere, that was...that was... “Oh god, oh god, fuck!” Daimyon cried as the world began spinning around him. He grew pale. Driven by some unknown force, he lunged into the kitchen and threw up the poor sandwich wholesale into the sink.

When he reemerged, still wheezing, several new shocks pounced on him immediately: Justiciar was Noel. And she just killed Bliss point-blank. And, inexplicably, the rest of the Infinites—with the exception of Emily, who was the only one Daimyon could relate to—almost looked nonplussed. Daimyon tried to remind himself again that everyone but him must have known of this other identity of hers, but that reasoning failed now. He strode, as if possessed, right up to Noel, his face reddening. “What is this?! This has got to be some...some sick joke!” His voice quickly lost its familiar, airy quality as anger rose within him. “Noel—how? And why? Why?! Do you know—you must know what happens now; what have you done? Explain yourself!”

[BrokenPromise]

@Mateotis @Majoras End @FamishedPants

Noel’s armor was stained with blood, as was everyone else in close proximity to where Bliss’s head use to be. Emily was still screaming, and Lucy was the first to snap out of it and guide her over to the sink. Out of everyone, she had gotten sprayed with the most blood.

“I-It’s okay Emily!” Lucy said with a stutter. Emily was starting to calm down, but her wide eyed expression let everyone know she was still in shock. Just about everyone was. Even Ice was too shocked to say anything. They had witnessed the carnage sisters hunt and kill them before, but this was the first time they witnessed a human committing this kind of brutality. It was one thing to watch a robot do it, or witness it after the fact. But watching Noel do it without hesitation…

Noel seemed to ignored the Masson siblings, instead choosing to examine the gun in her right hand. Even when Daimyon spoke up, she avoided making eye contact with him. But once he was done speaking, Noel’s head turned towards him.

“I’ve seen the end to more of these games than anyone else here. I know exactly what I’m doing.” She placed the gun on the table and turned her body towards Daimyon. “I removed another twisted murderer from the world. I’ve given closure to the victims of the families. In choosing to commit murder in front of all of you, I’ve deprived the bear of a good show.” Noel smiled rather proudly as she declared this. “This is suppose to be the murder that sets Parker free. The fifth and final act in a story that has never been told. And it will be told without drama or suspense.”

While Noel was droning on, Monokuma rose up from the floor. He looked frustrated, and was scrolling through his handbook.

”I must admit, Noel’s actions have given me claws.” He tossed the handbook into the air. ”Claws to rip you all to shreads!”

“You’re not scaring anyone, ya wanker!” Ice shouted.

Monokuma placed a paw on his chin. ”Well, you sound like you’ve collected all the evidence you need. Just be at the court before long, okay kids?” And with that, Monokuma dove into the fridge where he promptly disappeared.

Cyrus looked like he wanted to speak, but he turned away. Maybe he was saving it for the trial?

---

While the other infinites were bombarding Noel with questions, Zachary found that he was being pulled towards the hallway. He might have been tempted to resist, but it was Jezebel that was pulling him along. As soon as they got out the door, she slammed it shut before turning towards the one-eyed archer.

“Take a chill pill!” She folded her arms, looking none too pleased. “Like-” she sighed, and her expression softened. “Zachary, what’s going on?”

Zachary, despite his earlier apathy, clearly couldn't look Jezebel in the face. He did not regret his earlier outburst as a whole, though snapping at her ate at him. But after he took a minute or two, he eventually regained the ability to speak with her properly, albeit with obvious difficulty.  "...I've just had enough," he told her, his expression betraying his exhaustion. "It isn't ending, and I don't think it ever will."

Jezebel closed her eyes and tipped her head towards the ground. “Like, he did say it was an infinite killing game. I’ve seen a lot of people die. At first I just tuned it out and junk, but it got harder to do.” She lifted her head back up and opened her eyes. “But like, it hasn’t been all bad right? I got to meet Krista, Faith, and Baldwin number one.”

"But I don’t remember ever asking to be a part of it. I just want it to end, but I know he won’t stop. They won’t stop. I can’t deal with that." he pouted. His eyes trailed off at the mention of the other Infinites. He thought about how they weren't here anymore. Their futures were stolen from them, like so many other Infinites. Zach looked to Jez. "Seeing things in a positive light... it's impossible for me now. Not when they're gone. And not when tomorrow isn't guaranteed." 

“Oh my god Zachary! Seriously?” Jezebel wrinkled her nose. “I’m not asking you to ‘look at things in a positive light!’ My best friend died yesterday, and like, we already have another death. You’ve lost your eye, it’s been a very grody last few weeks and it’s totally okay to think everything sucks and junk.” She pulled herself closer. “Zachary Ackerson, we may not have a tomorrow, but we have today, and that’s a lot more than twenty-something other people have. We have each other, and everyone else. It’s one thing to be sad, but taking it out on everyone else isn’t fair.”

"Eh? O-oh." Zachary almost jumped. He wasn't expecting Jez to suddenly get even more heated like that, and the small distance between them wasn't helping him think either. "I guess I made the wrong assumption there, sorry." he was a bit embarrassed about that. Seemed death games don't make people any better at speaking, who'd've thunk? 

As Jezebel continued, there was a small, throbbing sensation in his chest when she mentioned a best friend dying, which wasn't him. It was immediately followed by intense disgust at himself. What a sick person he was, to be like that. Could he get any pettier? It was surprising even to him someone as terrible as that hadn't been an active part of this killing game. 

But ignoring this sense of self-loathing for a moment, he tried to properly hold eye contact with the woman who was reprimanding him for acting like a child. And he certainly was. This, in turn, made him feel all the more disappointed in himself. "I-I'm aware of that, I really am. There are only a few things I want less than to make a scene like that, but I'm so frustrated that I just suddenly exploded when I heard Alice." he sighed. "I mean I can't even seem to look at a cup of coffee anymore without getting so incredibly anxious and upset that I burn myself."

“And that, is understandable.” Her face started to relax. “Like, Max took something that we both enjoyed and used it as a tool for murder. Totally uncool. I was going to skip coffee entirely.” Jezebel gave Zachary a hug. “But it’s gunna pass.” She took a step back. “But it’s not gunna pass soon.” Jezebel poked Zachary’s chest. It was weak, and the way her hand was shaped it was clear the intent was to point. “You can’t throw yourself away.” She crossed her arms.

Zachary wasn't used to much physical contact, but Jezebel's warmth was appreciated. He was glad, at least, that she sympathized with the ordeal with coffee. "I still don't know about that." he admitted. Even if it was her, this thing gripping his heart, this terrible feeling of helplessness and resignation... it wasn't going away. It was corroding at him. He even took Bliss' brutal death with a straight face. That wasn't normal. "But I know that I shouldn't be letting it get to me as hard as it is." 

He paused. Wasn't he being selfish? Jezebel did engage the conversation wanting to address his behavior, but it wasn't like she was completely fine herself. "So," he began. Her poke, if you could call that, didn't sit well with him. "More importantly, what about you?" he asked. "How are you holding up?" 

“I’ve been better.” Jezebel’s arms slid up until she was hugging herself. “Like, I knew faith longer than anyone else here, and she’s gone. Dunno how to feel about Bliss. What she did was grody, but she totally didn’t have to die like that.” Her fingers dug into her shoulders. “But as long as you, like, don’t do what Krista did, I’ll be okay and junk.”

Zachary nodded. "I'm going to be honest: It's hard for me to trust the words of an Iron Man who comes into a room full of people and murders someone." he looked towards the Break Room. "So I don't know if she did something terrible like that, but you're right. That was... not the way someone should go, and it wasn't the time for it, either."

Listening further, the archer seemed bewildered by Jez bringing up Krista for a moment. Then it finally hit him. He frowned. "That... won't happen. I would never do that. I can't. I'm too much of a coward, anyway." he assured her. "And, of course, I'm sure you wouldn't, either." 

Jezebel smiled and unfolded her arms, but there was a twitch in the corner of her lip. “Yea.” She looked back at the door to the break room. “I guess, like, I should probably be in there. Just in case.” Jezebel walked towards the door. “Like we’re all going to have to go to the trial anyway. Kinda sucks, but it beats the alternative.”

He had heard what he wanted to, at least. Zachary couldn't begin to say what he'd do if he found out Jezebel had done something like that. But that wouldn't matter. Because without Jezebel... 

"It's almost laughable how there's still a trial after that. If the culprit isn't Noel, then I'd honestly almost say whoever it was deserves to escape. I'm quite convinced I just watched Noel do it." he said. "It's redundant. But I guess that doesn't mean anything." he sighed. "Well, I'd love to join you, but I think the others would rather I not. I'll just take a walk and clear my head instead." he waved to Jezebel and jogged off.

---

---

TRIAL IS IN SESSION

A L L R I S E

---

No matter how many times they took the coaster, the sense of vertigo never seemed to go away. All of them felt like they were being plunged straight into hell. But at least they all knew who the killer was this time.

”Blah blah blah, blackened will be punished, blah blah blah, everyone else will be punished. Blah blah blah, give it your best.” Monokuma was reclining in his seat, with a leg up on one armrest. ”Voting is still locked for now, so no lever pulling.”

Cyrus was furious, but he knew Bliss wouldn’t want him to explode in front of everyone. That didn’t mean the anger wasn’t there however. It had only been five minutes and he had already broken six pairs of glasses. He had bitten his lip to the pint of bleeding, but he cleaned the wound with his tongue. Cyrus had questions, and he couldn’t ask them if he was spouting venom at Noel. “You joined the killing game after Justiciar’s first appearance.”

“Correct.” Noel nodded. “But my role in the game was different than the rest of you.” She laid her hands on her podium. “I’m sure you’ve seen the carnage sisters and Monokuma make use of secret doors. My role in this game was to act as a sort of traitor that would influence the game the way Davis wanted me to. This includes capturing Calvin and stealing Krista’s phone call. The battle suit was hidden in such a space, and access to these passages let me traverse the hospital much faster than the rest of you.”

Dennis was holding the sides of his head. “Justiciar talked to you. How that happen!?!?”

“For that little illusion I needed to call a friend.” Noel’s smile curled into a full on smirk. “I recruited Geina. I had spotted her doting over Felix’s unconscious body and threatened to make her love public unless she helped me. Geina might seem like an odd choice, but she was willing to help Felix that night while I worked with the rest of you to attack Nariko’s carnage class chassis.” She giggled. “And before you ask, her guns do pop off. I was surprised by this, and I’m sure someone else was as well.”

https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/157933-danganronpa-tower-of-carnage/ic?page=23#post-4632253
”They scare you? They should!” The carnage sister looked away ”B-but I guess I can take them off. Just because you admitted they scared you.” With a pop, the mini guns split in half and fell off of her arms. ”I bet you're going to complain you're the only one undressing. So you know what?” she started unbuttoning her shirt. ”I'm going to beat you to it, fucker!”

the best post in history

Lucy folded her arms. “Why did you start helping us? Since I arrived in the game, Justiciar was protecting people.”

Noel closed her eyes. “Typically Davis calls me in for one specific task or another and I’m requested to leave the game not much later. But the the more time I spent in this game, the more attached I got to everyone.”

“How unfortunate that you didn’t kill yourself first then.” Cyrus’s glasses were breaking apart as he spoke. “Politicians have pretty big egos, but how full of yourself do you have to be to masquerade as a hero who does Davis’s bidding? Your head is as empty as that suit when no one’s wearing it.”

Noel shrugged her shoulders. “Bliss confessed to her crimes. Is everyone really okay with letting a child murderer not being punished?”

[FamishedPants]

"Stop being a little bitch."

Zachary Ackerson

Here they were again, discussing the untimely demise of yet another Infinite and the false friend who killed them just like he said they would. He wasn't happy that he was right, but he wasn't surprised, either. Because when one died, another one would soon follow suit, and they would be pulling the trigger this time.

And the cycle, Zach was convinced, would once again repeat.

---

This place is nothing but a prison-cum-death-chamber. The gloom was apparently held at bay by the spark of hope in each Infinite's heart. But with these extinguished flames, one couldn't miss the overwhelming darkness of despair. Knowing this ever-present dread, was there really ever hope to begin with?

---

The trial began.

When Noel confessed to her role as Davis' helper, Zach shook his head. So Noel had always been sneaking around behind their backs? She even went so far as to stage a conversation between her and the false Justiciar. How obnoxiously absurd. Zachary had always had reservations about the reporter, but that was for a much different reason. He couldn't -- no, nobody could have ever predicted this. It was betrayal in the truest sense of the word. A friend wouldn't do such a thing.

Was that too a strong word to describe the others for Zach? Maybe. But at the very least, he did not desire harm inflicted on the others, not even Ice, and he was sad when unfortunate fates befell them. To some degree, even if minor, he felt a connection.

Not that his actions following that thought would make it obvious.

Because his first contribution to the conversation was after Cyrus spoke, and Noel had responded, and it wasn't kind. But Cyrus' actions weren't justified enough for him to remain silent. He was emotionally compromised, and even if it was obvious and understandable why, it was getting them nowhere. Besides, telling her to kill herself was almost funny given the fact that her choice to execute Bliss in front of everyone was doing just that.

"Just.. stop, Cyrus. What do you hope to gain by this aggression? If it's catharsis you want, then just wait for the inevitable execution. I'm sure Davis will make it quite the spectacle." he sighed. "Besides, being a hypocrite takes the sting out of your words. Because unless you can, with a straight face, tell us that you'd insult Bliss for doing the exact same thing, you have no ground to stand on. It's meaningless and quite petty." in contrast to Cyrus, Zach was quite calm. His words didn't seem to have any real inflection to them, more like he was making small talk. If Cyrus had a response, Zachary would likely just ignore it, as nothing he would say would matter to him.

Zach turned to Noel. He clearly did not intend on remaining silent this time. "No, at least I'm not," he answered her. "A murderer should be punished, and one who targets children especially so." he agreed. He then turned a hand up "But like that? By you? And so soon after a trial? I can't condone it, even if you're trying to blue-ball Davis." he said.

[Majoraa]

Both sibling listened quietly as the trial started. Though neither of them knew what to do since no one could vote yet. Noel explained how she was helping Davis by manipulating the game as a traitor among them, and as she spent more time in their game, she grew attached to everyone. "So that's why..." Henry mumbled, not wanting to interrupt Cyrus. Or Zachary interrupting the aformentioned politician.

After they were done talking, the pianist spoke up to the reporter. "It's hard to say, I'll be honest." Henry sighed. "I didn't expect you to outright decapitate Miss Buckly like that, but I get that you want to break the apparent cycle in all this. Whether or not she deserved to die like that, I-I don't know." It was obvious he was conflicted.

Alice on the other hand was silent. It wasn't that she didn't know what to say, just that she didn't want to say anything. The recon hugged herself, waiting on the trial to be over with so she wouldn't dwell on what the others were talking about, or Bliss' death. It pained her to think that the nanny would be a murderer, and even when she tried to change, it ended up being her downfall.

[BrokenPromise]

@Mateotis @Majoras End @FamishedPants

“I agree with Zachary.” Emily’s voice cracked when she spoke. “I think we all agree she deserved to be punished, but that’s a sick form of justice you’ve adopted. I don’t know if killing her like that was warranted. You’re no different than our captors if murder is the only way you can respond to injustice!”

”Easy Emily!” Once Emily settled down, Lucy sighed. ”But yea, I’m not really feeling it. There were a lot of ways to cuck Monokuma without killing Bliss. That could have been handled a lot better.”

Ice shook his head. ”As a member of the mafia, I know we all have a dark side. But the darkness in Bliss’s heart belonged to a demon. There’s no flippin’ way she was getting out of this alive.” He placed a hand on his chest. ”I would never harm a child. If I knew about her atrocities I might have done in the bloom burger myself!”

”No gigglygoon!” Dennis demanded before adressing everyone else. ”Unsure how to feel. Bliss and Noel both good people. Will miss both.”

Cyrus placed a fresh pair of glasses on his face. ”I would spare Bliss on the grounds that she seemed to learn from the errors of her ways.” He looked out of the corner of his eye at Zachary. ”Ultimately, Bliss was not bothering anyone at the moment, and I believe that she is worth more in our current predicament alive than dead. Noel on the other hand has been playing us from the start, and only betrayed Davis a short time ago. Who’s to say she will continue to remain loyal to us, or that this wasn’t all based on her own bloodlust?”

“Like, seriously?” Jezebel curled in her lips. “There’s no telling if the Betty was, like, just acting cute and junk to get people to leave her alone. She totally deserved it, but that was soooooo not the time and place for it.”

Noel shrugged, but kept that coy little smile of hers up. ”Well, what you think doesn’t really matter. I’ve only ever cared about bringing people to the truth. It may infuriate some, inspire others, but it’s the truth. Maybe I was out of line when I killed Bliss, but it’s an action I’m going to pay for.” She lowered her head and smiled. ”I hope you guys make it out of here.”

”Wait a second!”

”I just had a brilliant idea! Check this out!”

Everyone would feel their handbook shake, and looking at the regulations would reveal a new rule.

23. In the event that a trial should start with an obvious blackened, the spotless may vote for anyone that they would like to be executed.

Lucy scoffed. ”What are you doing?! This can’t be legal, the trial already started!”

Monokuma rubbed his hands together. ”The way I see it, this turns a depressing sendoff into a dispairful squabble!” He stood up in his chair. ”Now I know some of you might be tempted to vote for Noel right off the bat, but I don’t think that would be beary wise. Since this has the potential to be the last trial, there’s no point in hiding your secrets any longer. So…” Everyone’s handbook vibrated again. ”There, you each get to look up the disturbing details of one infinite in this trial. Wanna know if someone’s harboring a dangerous secret? Just look ‘em up!”

“It’s a trap!” Emily looked down at her handbook. “A very tempting trap!”

The levers that enabled everyone to cast a vote clicked free...

[FamishedPants]

"Not... not like this..."

Zachary Ackerson

"Glad we all agree on something, I suppose." Zachary sighed. It was hard to feel any sort of positive emotion in this case as what they were agreeing on was related to whether or not someone should die, with the answer being a resounding 'yes, but not right now' It wasn't like he didn't agree, of course, but it was still a grim thing. "But worrying about it now does us no good. Wouldn't it be better to say our goodby--"

Killgood didn't feel like letting Zach finish his sentence. After interrupting him, the bear had supposedly come up with a 'brilliant idea'. A chill ran down his spine. No good could come from him.

The vibration from the handbook caught Zach's attention, and he retrieved it with cautious curiosity.

23. In the event that a trial should start with an obvious blackened, the spotless may vote for anyone that they would like to be executed.

This was nothing special. The bear, or rather Davis, was not happy with the potential outcome of this trial. There was no way he was going to sit down and just let things end anticlimactically. That wasn't entertaining. Zach shook his head. "I'm not fond of terrible jokes, bear. Why would we even entertain such an idea?"

But the mascot was not done. He addressed the fact they would likely just vote Noel, but added a twist to the voting process --

"...Since this has the potential to be the last trial, there’s no point in hiding your secrets any longer. So…”

Zachary's heart rate increased dramatically. This wasn't going to end how he thought it would, would it? He desperately wished this was so. But the rumbling the handbook crushed any notion.

” There, you each get to look up the disturbing details of one infinite in this trial. Wanna know if someone’s harboring a dangerous secret? Just look ‘em up!”

Zachary turned to Jezebel. Would this be the last time he could do so? Someone was going to make use of this opportunity. And someone was going to check him. There was no way around it. He understood that up to this point, some of his actions would have come off as suspicious. That people wouldn't place unconditional trust in him. But still, he had hoped that...

Well, that was the problem. He had hoped. He should have known better.

Reluctantly, he drew his attention away from Jezebel and back to his handbook. Was there any point to him searching someone else? He wasn't dying to know anyone else's past. It would probably only bring him more despair, knowing something terrible. The man looked to the bear, "...is this really necessary. Can't we abstain from this one, if it's not even a real trial?" he asked.

”Not a real trial?” The bear erupted into laughter. ”If anything, this is the most real trial you’ve ever had! Every one of you is on trial not only as jury, but as the defendant and plaintiff as well.” The throne the bear was sitting on seemed to be replaced with a sea saw at that instant. ”I don’t care which way you tip the scales, but tip them you will!” Alexandria jumped out of a shadow and landed on the other side of the seesaw, propelling Monokuma over her head.

"...!"

No escape. But he figured that'd happen. In any case, there was not currently any incentive to vote for anyone but Noel. To vote for someone else, that was just pointless murder. Was it likely someone else had done something worse? No... well, actually... Bliss seemed innocent enough, but look at what she did. And he was proof of this too, maybe. So perhaps... at the very least, he should look into someone else? He certainly didn't want to, but maybe it would be for the best. He had to vote for someone, after all.

Who should he investigate? Cyrus? Ice? No. Some might consider them his obvious choices, but looking into Ice was dumb and, honestly, someone else would probably go for Cyrus. His gaze traveled towards the target he desired to inspect. If he were to listen to cliches, then there was something seriously wrong with her. He made his choice.

That's... is this really true? Can I even trust information Killgood gives me? How can I be sure this isn't tampered with, in some way? But if it is. If what I'm seeing is true... they're just as bad as Bliss...

George Henry

"Didn't forget about me, did ya?"

George Henry

George Henry had remained silent the entirety of the case up to this point. And he had even before. He was there when Zachary had lost his head... and when Bliss lost hers. Things around these parts sure seemed to escalate rather quickly. He figured it best to watch from a distance.

But he couldn't pretend like he wasn't involved forever. Their bear tormentor came up with another scheme, one that put everyone in danger, including himself. But it wasn't all bad. He was getting bored of watching anyways.

"Hoo boy! Ya sure are ach'n to cause a commotion, ain't ya?" George chuckled. The dedication to such a cause was almost commendable. Too bad he didn't much care for people trying to get him killed. "Reckon we all got ourselves sum juicy tidbits. But we caught this lass red-handed and she's basically hogtied. Ya'll still not decided?" he asked.

But George Henry wasn't sitting idle as he spoke. Like many others, he had grabbed his handbook and inspected it. The choice to find out what secrets another Infinite had? He wouldn't miss such an occasion, especially not now that the archer was here. His choice was made with no hesitation, and what he learned there was interesting.

George barely managed to hide the grin on his face.

[Majoraa]

Alice tried to hide the fact that she was worried, or rather scared, with the twist that Monokuma had suddenly revealed. It wasn't cause of her secret, more so how the others could react in discovering it. Would they even consider sparing her? Would she have a chance to explain? The recon let out a resigned sigh. Even if she wanted to live to see things through, to keep her promises, she wouldn't hold it against the other infinites if they condemned her in the end.

She probably deserved it, after all.

Henry worryingly looked over to his sister, then looked around the courtroom. Noel aside, there had to be someone who had a secret as bad as Bliss', maybe worse. But who? After a moment of thinking, both siblings made their choices.

"Huh." Alice spoke up first. "This doesn't seem that bad, just some cover up. Did you find anything, Henry?" She looked over to the pianist, who was looking at his handbook with wide eyes. "Uh, Henry?"

"The first time he used a bow he attempted to scare off a minor. But he accidentally killed them in a convenience store. He fled the scene of the crime, and the store owner ended up doing ten years in prison for a crime they did not commit..." The pianist read from his handbook, then turned it around to show the other infinites. He then looked over to the one person he decided to snoop on.

"Zachary, what's the meaning of this?"