Aewin

Danganronpa: Tower of Carnage (Finished!)

Erica calmly responded in stead for Braden. “Look around us: I’m here, Krista isn’t. I may not be useful, but at least I am smart.” Braden looked irritated - no surprise there, that was his default expression anyway. “I do not care if you’d like to avoid me: I’m here to survive, not make friends, cuck.” Erica scoffed, using the insult thrown at Zachary during the trial for good measure.

It was obvious that this debate was going nowhere: the room was split on opinion and people were talking in circles rather than responding to each other. Erica’s voice was undoubtedly drowned out by the vocal players of either side that were busy debating their side was the wisest choice. Monokuma was able to physically split the group depending on their view on the situation, and Braden stepped up to the podium. He had very little to say, but the least he could do was stick by what he thought even if the group wanted to commit suicide together in the end.

The podium opposite to Braden was occupied by Mary. Interesting. Braden had talked to the streamer back when he had first arrived at the killing game, never seeing her since until the trials. He gave the girl a respectful nod.

Braden started first. “So you acknowledge we’d be slaughtered if we try going against the carnage sisters, so why are you willing to be a part of such madness? Something like this has happened before, no? Something about a Shona? Why not learn from your mistakes and play to survive?”

Mary's eyes lit up fiercely when the former Ultimate Knight was mentioned. Her hands clenched into fists, and she glared at Braden. "Shona sacrificed herself to save all of us! We have to keep her memory alive by saving those we can! Even if it's risky, it's meaningless if you don't try!" She took a deep breath. "Playing to survive is exactly what the mastermind wants. He preys on our feelings of weakness, and uses that to turn us against each other. Don't you see, Braden? If you're going to ignore Krista, you'll be continuing the cycle!"

“She sacrificed herself to save us all, huh? Sounds to me like it was in vain. The killing game is still happening and people are still dying. That’s what this is. A killing game, and unless you’re smart about things, you are not going to live. I’ve only been here for a short time and I’ve seen Krista defend a blackened without even considering any other option and now she has gone off trusting a carnage sister and here she is. She is getting herself into these situations and we cannot clean up her and Bill Clinton’s mess just because he wants a bit of Monica Lew-” Erica was interrupted by Elias, who made an uncomfortable coughing sound.

"It's only in vain if we let it be!" Mary responded clutching for her heart. "Krista may be a bit ditzy, and has poor word choices for her jokes, but she doesn't deserve to be abandoned! Just as she has helped others, so should we help her. I know I can't let her die," she said, looking aside briefly. "I still have something I need to tell her. The only way we can continue, the road to hope, is in saving her."

“Alright. So we go save Krista, and say we lose a couple people in this room.” Erica gestured around herself wildly. “Would that really be worth it? The life of Krista, who has done nothing but lie and keep things from you, as well as defend the blackened and get herself into trouble, for the life of say… Max. He’s strong, can fight and looks like he has a brain that skull of his, even if he’s not using it right now. He can apprehend the blackened should he find them and knows how to solve crimes. Would that really be worth it?” Braden shrugged. “I’d rather have Max who can figure out whatever the fuck is going on in a trial than somebody that will blindly trust the first person they see in a case. We’ll survive longer that way.”

Erica scoffed. “You talk about these guys praying on a moment of weakness… Do you not see what you’re suggesting? These stupid robots KNOW that people like you will go out of your way to protect damsels like Krista. By coming out and showing you’re willing to be a knight in shining armour each time, you’re showing them your weaknesses!”

Mary puffed her cheeks, annoyed that Braden wasn't listening, and used his damn sock puppets to taunt her on top of that. She knew she didn't have to take it personally, but she was miffed nonetheless. "Fine! Let's agree to disagree then. I know I'm right on this matter, I don't need your approval for it."

Danganronpa: Tower of Carnage (Finished!)

Braden had been in the dining room ever since returning from the disaster of a meeting with Parker at the library vault. After being ditched by Cyrus for his arm candy, Braden decided to give his puppets a look over to check for damages.

Soon enough, he heard the familiar voice of the politician over the speakers, urgently calling for everybody to meet at the dining hall. Well, he was already here, so why not guess what was going on?

Body discovery? Not possible. Cyrus would have called people to the site instead, plus there was no body discovery announcement like last time. Sure, he could just call for a meeting at the dining hall but that’s a stupid idea and his husbando is not stupid. Stupidly hot, sure…—

Moving on…

Maybe he found something cool? Maybe that his sexuality included men too? Okay, maybe the latter was too much of a stretch, but he could feel his puppet’s hope filling himself too.

As Braden kept himself entertained, the dining hall slowly began to pile up with many of the infinites, some even arriving moments after Cyrus. Following Cyrus’s arrival was the knowledge that a certain violinist has been kidnapped.

Oh, what a joy…

From what little he knew of the blonde musician, trouble (er, treble?) seemed to follow her everywhere. She wasn’t much use in the trial either, but neither was Braden so who was he to judge? Was it really such a bad idea to let the carnage sister off Krista and herself tonight? It would mean one less dead weight in the group, and one less carnage sister to worry about even it was possibly temporary.

It seemed as if he was in the minority here. He didn’t care much for the blind girl, but it looked like a lot of the others did. Her talent may be interesting, but a blind girl in a killing game? Easy victim. But she seems to have survived this long without being kidnapped so maybe she had some skill?

With Monokuma’s arrival came Davis very shortly after, revealing that not only did Krista hide something from the rest of the group, but she had willingly wandered into the lion’s den with Cyrus around. Oh hon, you've fucked up now…

“You’re telling us that Krista got kidnapped, yes? But didn’t we just hear that she went to Nariko’s room? And you were there?” If Erica could roll her eyes, she would have done so. “So we’re basically fixing your mistake? And for what, a violinist that can give us nada in return? I don’t know about you guys but the lives of the people in this room seem so much more valuable than that of one violinist. Especially one that likes to keep stuff from the group. If there’s no trust, how do you expect to get outta here? She blindly trusted the blackened, can’t she trust the rest of us?” Erica gave a nod in Jezabel’s direction, backing the trickster in the case for doing nothing.

Elias, who had been uncharacteristically sitting quietly on Braden’s other hand finally spoke up. “But she’s a cute damsel in distress! Didn’t momma teach us to save the princesses in the towers?”

“At least those princesses can give you a kingdom to rule. Krista doesn't even trust us so why should we care? I say we don’t risk losing the lives of the people in this room for one person.” Erica sniffed. Elias would have responded in return, however, Braden decided to push the puppet back into his pocket in an attempt to silence him. “We find another way to get to the third floor and get the tapes. We just don't have to risk our lives for nothing.”

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

EDIT: especially with a shoddy rhetoric of someone basically going “look i virtually destroyed the rp i wasn’t even in, and made people consider leaving RPG but rly guys i did it for the organic confrontation,” which is straight dogshit reasoning.

@Odin

Nobody sat behind a monitor thinking 'Oh let me make somebody feel like shit.', at least not that I am aware of. Players reached their boiling point, and instead of it being listened to privately, it was forced to be aired out in the form of a rant.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

You do not have the full story. I’m not going to argue for shading people on status bars, but why it finally happened.

The intent was never to throw shade, but this was the only way to get a conversation started with a gm team that seems to either be in denial about everything or simply don’t care. They were told why people were unhappy by a cogm, but the players’ concerns were then dismissed as too sensitive and the matter was “dropped” until new information came out to further support privately communicating was simply not getting through. Hell, that same cogm was later dropped for “not warning them” that there was something going on and essentially blamed for not wishing to give names.

Once again: the status was never intended to be shade, but it became a rant; something to blow off steam from the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. Hive-mind set in and things definitely became too toxic, however, it forced communication between a team and their players. It could have gone a whole lot better, but this was essentially the only way the players were listened to.

Danganronpa: Tower of Carnage (Finished!)

Now that he had thought about it, Zach did not necessarily need to start with Calvin. In truth, to some extent he did owe the entirety of the group save Cyrus an apology of some kind. Calvin was one of the more obvious ones, but there was also poor Krista whom was attacked by Jezebel on his behalf.

Hmm…

Zachary, having felt he pondered the subject longer than he should, finally decided to escape the break room and move on with the plan. The first phase involved actually meeting up with someone, and since this was also to perhaps become better with people who weren't Jez, this meant he was going to try doubly hard! It was two goals in one! And with the delusional expectation of twice the EXP and GIL, Zachary decided to strike at the heart of a likely enemy stronghold --- The Dining Hall!

With a final pun, Krista excused herself from Felix’s company. With the impromptu plan in mind, Krista felt she needed some time to figure out how to make her idea into a reality. Felix’s help was not going to be enough, but who else could she ask? It felt like she was choosing her teammates for a PE class and being the picker always made her uncomfortable.

Growl.

Like many others, Krista took a plate of delicious looking food from the kitchen before returning to the slowly emptying dining hall. She saw Braden sitting on his own, Cyrus ditching him immediately to talk to Bliss, even Daimyon seemed to be busy going by the way he rushed out of the room. There was still one more person in the room and after realising who he was, Krista made a beeline towards him. Standing next to his table with a plate in her hand, Krista gave him a sheepish smile. “Do you mind if I join you?”

Jitsu wa watashi wa…

"Actually, I was looking for you." Zach replied, a rather serious look to his face. "I wanted to talk to you about the things that happened during the trial, if that's okay."

Perhaps the most convenient scenario had come to be. She had sought him out, while he was looking for her. That surely beats sitting around for god knows how long, twiddling his thumbs. He'd heard through the grapevine that Calvin wasn't the most approachable individual while he was working, and as far as Zach knew, Calvin was probably working right now. Krista was surely easier to speak to, then. Preparation for the bossfight he might have later.

Of course, like many things, these worries weren't likely warranted. Merely the side effect of Zach's rather discreet social anxiety.

That was very convenient indeed. The violinist gave Zach a bright smile, almost from relief as she took a seat at the table. It had been her goal to apologise to a couple people for her behaviour at the trial: namely Zachary and Jezabel. Whilst she may not have used insults like Jezabel or Cyrus, it still ate her up inside knowing she defended Shaun so blindly without even trying to consider Jezabel’s side.

“But before we do… I’d like to apologise to you.” It was so tempting to just avert her eyes and mumble a quick apology, but Krista wanted Zach to know she was sincere. “I… shouldn’t have been so quick to think of you as the blackened.”

"Eh?"

Noticeably off put by Krista's apology, Zachary's rather stoic look shattered and was replaced with a worried expression. He waved his hands somewhat frantically in front of him. "Err, that's not... right. I was supposed to be the one to apologize here." He claimed. "I was acting very immature and at the time it made a lot more sense to suspect me. And I need to also apologize for Jezebel. If I had stood up for myself, she would not have needed to get so... erm, well, 'heated'."

Krista scratched her cheek, awkwardly laughing to herself. “It’s not like we were so innocent either, I mean, Cyrus wasn’t so nice to you. I’m sorry for that too, I never meant for it to go so far.” She then began to play with the food on her plate with her fork, her eyes averting this time. “Besides. Jezabel wanted to help you, I can’t fault her for that. I did the same for Shaun, only that I was wrong to put my trust in him. So really, Jezabel was right with some of the things she said.”

"She could have been a bit more polite about it, though. Resorting to ad hominem isn't something I'm a big fan of." he said. "I think out of the entire 'heated' group, you are probably the last person who needs to give an apology. All you did was trust someone you thought to be a friend. There's nothing wrong with that."

Krista laughed again, though it was out of obvious discomfort this time. Without stopping her game with her breakfast, Krista looked up at Zach. “It… is a little more complicated than that I’m afraid. I… wanted to protect Shaun because I was in his shoes the trial before— except not a blackened but…” Krista stopped, forcefully digging into her pancakes as if they were a distraction. “I don’t know if you haven’t already guessed but I’m never in tune with what’s going on with others. Everyone else here is smart… or strong. I’m just a girl with a violin who thinks she’s funny. It was silly for me to get involved with the trial so much when it was painfully clear I knew nothing. I feel guilty because of it… which is why I wanted to apologise as soon as I could.”

“If anything, to me that sounds more admirable. Almost like something a JRPG hero would do.” Zachary gave a small smile while trying to fight the urge to, when Krista mentioned the line about being ‘in tune with what’s going on’, ask her if that was intentional. She seemed quite serious, but maybe she subconsciously used that particular phrasing? Well, whatever the Violinists’ reasons, he thought for a moment before answering.

“I really wouldn’t say ‘everybody else’, personally, but I do understand how you feel.” losing his smile with a sigh, he continued. “I… am afraid that if I am to be completely serious right now, I too feel inadequate in comparison to the cast, particularly after my performance in that trial. All I’m good for is shooting a bow, which was only useful in that one specific instance. I’m really in no position to give any meaningful words of encouragement.”

“... but even so, I don’t think you need to apologize, least of all to me. Unfortunately, without a gag of some sort, I can’t exactly stop you.”

There was a long silence from Krista before she began to laugh once again. The conversation seemed to be going nowhere and all they could do is apologise and assure the other there was no need to. Maybe they were Canadians in another life? “I think you’re pretty strong. Who else could have a showdown with Geina and come out alive like that? It was silly to get into a shooting competition with a robot... no less a robot that is pretty much itching to kill us all…” Was this another one of her attempts to make him feel better? How? “On a high note however, I still think that’s pretty badass!”

She gave Zach a bright smile. The sudden shift in mood an obvious attempt from the violinist to lighten things up. She looked around the room once again, only to realise something. “Where’s Jezabel? I thought you two would be hanging around today.”

It was nice to see the mood improved between them. Honestly, he wished he was better at lightening the mood than he was. He'd long-since strayed from his character sheet given personality and become something else, but perhaps eventually he'd grow into the OC he was supposed to be? Only time would tell. For now, he gave a soft laugh at the italicized line Krista gave, having caught on.

"I C what you did there. Don't tell anybody, but I'm quite the fan of puns, no matter how awful they are. In fact, were we characters in a novel of some sort, you'd see that I actually made a pun there." Ackerson briefly pondered whether or not he should make archery puns rather than ones related to music. Was that overstepping his bounds? Was there some sort of pun boundary he shouldn't be crossing? Oh well. "I'd like to think that when we all get out of this place, people will continue to believe I did something interesting during that conflict with Geina. It makes me sound a lot cooler than I am."

Upon being asked about Jez, he smiled. "Oh, she told me we needed some time apart. That we should see other people and all of that."

Someone else that has an appreciation for puns? After many days of people barely reacting or reacting poorly to her puns, it was a blessing to find somebody that actually liked them. “Ooh~ You’re sharp! I like it!” She faintly realised she was beginning to reuse some of her old puns again... Maybe it was time for a change. “Let’s be honest with ourselves. People that like puns are totally cooler than those that don’t so by that logic, you’re pretty cool even if nothing had happened with Geina.” She couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows at the wording Zachary used as Zach answered her question about Jez. It was a little disappointing to know that they were keeping some space between them, but why?

Krista then leaned close on her elbows, her chin supported by her open palms. Maybe there was something going on between them? Curious… It made her realise she did not know much about the Archer in front of her. “If you don’t mind me asking… why were you in Axis Mundi anyway? You seem perfectly fine—” Almost realising what she was saying, Krista panicked. “B-but it’s fine if you’re not, we’re in a hospital after all!”

"You know, I can't really find any faults in your statement, so it must be true." Judging from how happy she seemed from his reaction to her pun, Zachary was going to take a wild guess and say that the rest of the cast did not seem to be as appreciative. How unfortunate. What kind of people was he locked up with?!

Upon being asked about his reason for staying in Axis Mundi, Zach's expression... didn't seem as bright as it was a second before. "Ah, it's okay. I wasn't here for myself. I was actually here for my father, who was undergoing a small surgery at the time all of this stuff began." he rubbed his chin. "Though I could ask the same of you, Krista. You don't seem like you belong in a hospital."

Once again the mood shifted and Krista did not know what to do. This was supposed to be light hearted, stop making your conversational partner sad damn it! However, when family was involved… Krista nodded in agreement. “I’m sorry, I hope everything has gone well!” She even clasped her hands together, her utensils laid forgotten on her plate. “Funnily enough, I have a very similar reason actually. My little brother had his appendix taken out and was just recovering from his surgery. Do you have siblings too?”

“...no, I am afraid I do not. But I hope his recovery goes well.” he mustered another smile. “I am sorry, I was just reminded that I don’t know what’s going on with my father, I hope he’s doing well. But, it’s kind of funny. I was worried I was one of the few who wasn’t here because of injuries or something like that.” he took a small pause before continuing. “Felt like an odd one out of the group, but I haven’t exactly asked anybody their situation and have only assumed so far.”

Zachary let out a sigh. “You know, I think we share a trait, you and I. Not just that we enjoy puns, but I feel so far that we’re really good at trading moods. So, in a very blunt and obvious way, let's switch to something that cannot cause us harm.

What’s your favorite kind of food? I like strawberries, personally.”

It was a good idea. No matter how much she loved her brother, talking about him or family in general made her miss him far too much to be a fun partner to converse with. The change in mood from upbeat to down back to upbeat was definitely giving Krista a mental whiplash, and so Krista gave the Archer a grateful smile at the change of topic, even laughing at the silliness.

Until… the laughing stopped. “Did you just say you love strawberries too?” Was this a very… freaky coincidence or did she just find her male twin? “I LOVE strawberries! Oh my gosh! Oranges are just as great too but if strawberries exist, why have anything else?” She pressed her hand against her face excitedly, her green eyes clouding over as she began fantasising over the taste of her favourite desserts. Speaking of favourites...

She shoved her hand into her dress pocket, pulling out her handbook and… some strawberry flavoured gum. Krista slipped a piece into her mouth before offering the package to Zach while chewing thoughtfully. “Have some!”

Almost cautiously, Zachary took a piece of gum and threw it in his mouth. He was a bit surprised by her enthusiastic reply. However, this would prove unnecessary, as the sweet, delicious taste of strawberries was something he could never get tired of, whatever form it took. Another person who appreciated puns and strawberries couldn't be bad, in his book.

"This is great! Very great!" he exclaimed, throwing a wide grin at her. Could she be him from another life? A FemZach? Well, she was missing the talent with a bow... well, actually, technically she was using another bow, was she not? Good enough! No matter what happened, he was now sure this was just his alternate reality self. Perhaps dealing with other people wouldn't be as hard as he'd originally thought!

"Okay, okay, so then... do you have any hobbies, aside from the obvious?"

Krista hummed to herself, an acknowledgement that she was thinking about her answer. “Unfortunately I’ve been too busy to pursue any other hobbies because I have to take care of my brother.” She rubbed her chin, lips pouting. “But, I do like watching nature documentaries! I just love watching animals do their thing! It also gives me some.. somewhat useless facts about animals, but they’re pretty cool nonetheless! Like, did you know that a housefly hums at a specific key? Middle octave, key F?”

“I’ll have to admit that until just now, I did not.” he replied.

Before she could weird out her new friend too much, Krista decided to think of another question. “Do you have any pets?”

Zach couldn’t help but smile. He definitely loved animals, at least the ones he considered family. “I do. I have a big, fluffy dog named Charles. He’s got some kind of lab mixed in with another breed, but I always forget, unfortunately. All I know is he’s got the weirdest habit of licking the air if you scratch on the area above his tail.” noticing he was about to go off on poor Krista about his doggo, he stopped. “Err, well, I think he might be a bit lower functioning as far as dogs go, but he’s adorable. How about you? You must have some kind of pet, yeah?”

She shook her head at his question. Krista was almost disappointed as Zach stopped describing his dog. Their light hearted conversation gave her a semblance of normality in such a strange situation. “Unfortunately no. I’ve never had a pet though… I think if I do have one, I’d have a cat. I might be a dog person but they do seem like a lot of effort. Does this mean you’re a dog person too? Do I have to call you my twin after this?”

Zach put a finger to his chin and thought deeply.

"You know what? You're probably on to something, because I am certainly a dog person. I can't help but smile around them." he was grinning almost like an idiot at this point, clearly enjoying the conversation they were having. "I don't mind cats, but... well, they mind me. I can't pet one with paying a blood toll or something. Dogs are friendly as can be with me though. I wish we had this chat a bit earlier, truthfully. It's very enjoyable to talk to you."

“I like to think animals like me too, but I agree. Cats can be really moody. I guess they’re even catty, without the mean words... but who are we kidding? If it comes out that cats talk bad about us, I wouldn’t be very surprised at all. Dogs on the other hand? Sweethearts.” She returned his grin with one of her own, clearly enjoying herself as well. “Thank you for hearing me out, by the way. It was really enjoyable to talk to you too! I never expected to find my male twin here of all places! That was fun!”

She then grew quiet, pondering for a moment before asking something that was on her mind while trying to keep the lighthearted mood. “I’d like to apologise to Jezabel too, sometime soon.” She told Zach. From what she could tell, they were the closest to each other. “Do you think she’d accept?” Krista did not think Jezabel was the type to hold grudges, but Krista was not sure whether believing her instinct was a good idea anymore.

“I think… that’s a great idea.” he finally said. Zach trusted Jezebel and she trusted him, but he did not want to pretend that he knew her too well, considering they’d only met a little while ago. There were still many things they would need to speak about before he could safely say that, but he could not imagine any reason why Jezebel would really wish to keep an antagonistic attitude between her and Krista, especially when she had obviously realized the importance of having more than one ally down here. “I believe that Jezebel is mature. Much more than I am, so I can’t fathom a reason why she wouldn’t accept smoothing things over between the two of you.”

Krista released a relieved breath, giving Zach another grateful smile for the assurance. She rubbed her chin as began thinking deeper about everything else going on, making a mental checklist of everything she had to do for the day. First, and most importantly, Krista had to apologise to Zach and Jezebel. Half down, half to go. Next: finally go check out Nariko’s room. Thirdly: plan how she’d do the thing with Felix… wait…

“Hey. Random question, but we’ve asked plenty already so what’s one more, right? What sort of music do you like?”

Raising an eyebrow and looking up and to the left as he thought about the question, he answered simply. “I like music in most of its forms. I can listen to rock, metal, country, pop, and pretty much anything that isn’t most rap, really.” he didn’t look Krista in the eyes as he continued, perhaps because he was a bit embarrassed. “Lately… I’ve been listening to a bit of classical pieces, and a lot of soundtracks from games and other stuff I enjoyed. It’s a bit weird, I know, but I tend to prefer instrumental music. Don’t laugh but… to me, there’s more… well, character in the music, even without lyrics.”

A vague answer, but something Krista could identify with. Music, to her, was beautiful in every form, even if she had her own preferences. “My roots in music definitely come from classical. The best violin teacher I’ve ever known made me realise how powerful Bach’s sonatas were back when I was still a wee lass.” Towards the final part of her sentence, Krista used what was supposed to be her attempt at a Scottish accent with an impish grin, despite it being completely irrelevant to the subject. “Do you play an instrument?”

Zach’s expression went blank. “Look, Krista… we’re pretty chill and all, but that’s something you just don’t ask someone you’re not intimate with. I like you, but you need to switch gears, like, right now. Because if I answer truthfully, well, you won’t be known as the best musician in the group anymore.” he seemed dead serious, but then began grinning.

“It’s not a publically-known fact, but I am actually the number 1 Kazoo player in the world.”

Zach’s serious tone at first threw Krista off. Intimate? Her cheeks reddened until… oh. “Is that a challenge, Mister Archer?” She crossed her arms against her chest, leaning on the table while playing along. “If that’s the case, how about we duet?”

“A duet?” he asked, curious. “Unwilling to set unrealistic expectations for the competition, I have not performed in front of an audience before. Haha…”

He was totally not nervous about anything. For sure.

“Alright, sure. You lyre.” Krista giggled, teasing the Archer in front of her. “What about a private duet then? There’s no audience except for… well, me I guess.”

The archer thought about it for a moment, nodding slowly once he had come to a conclusion. “Alright. That seems like something I wouldn’t mind.” he told her. In truth, Krista was perhaps the worst one to have as an audience, if only because her Quirk was being good with an instrument. Zach thought pondered the horrid thought of her judging his skills with a kazoo harshly only momentarily before he realized that it was very unlikely that the Krista he was speaking to was that kind of person.

Hopefully.

“...Of course I have to ask, does this place even have such an obscure and priceless instrument?” Zachary was sure that if anybody were to hear their conversation starting from his last sentence, they were sure to be disappointed when they’d eventually find out he was referring to a damned kazoo of all instruments. Oh well.

Krista pondered Zach’s question for a few moments. A kazoo was definitely a unique instrument, but was it common enough to be found in the music plaza? She faintly remembered finding flutes and all sorts of instruments at the music plaza during her last visit, so surely the Carnage Sisters had stocked a kazoo to appeal to Zach’s musical hobby. “We could look for it in the music plaza.” She finally answered. “It had everything the last time I visited, so I’d suggest we check there first.” It was undoubtedly clear that Krista seemed excited at the opportunity to duet with somebody. Would a kazoo and a violin even sound nice together? Who cares!

“I could go check the music plaza now! Ohh I’m really excited for this!” Krista slid out from her seat.

Zachary couldn’t honestly say he had the same enthusiasm as Krista, but if she was this happy at the thought of a duet, who was he to turn her down? Offering a warm smile, he stood up from his seat. “That sounds like the best place to start. Let's head off!” and, perhaps infected by her joy, the archer led the way towards the music plaza.

Beverly Hills High │ High School Never Ends

time to lurk bois

Danganronpa: Tower of Carnage (Finished!)

this has been a PSA

Danganronpa: Tower of Carnage (Finished!)

@Vocab you monster

Danganronpa: Tower of Carnage (Finished!)

Was this how things were going to be like? Going by the reactions of the infinites around Braden, it looked like it wasn’t their first time watching somebody they called a friend die in a brutal way. It was a silly thing to hope that nobody would die again; everybody would be out for themselves. But a nagging thought never left Braden’s mind, even as he lowered his tired body into bed an hour after watching people he hadn’t known get killed for this silly game.

Would he be willing to kill, or would he let himself be killed?

---

Waking up to Monokuma’s morning announcement surprised the ventriloquist. He had no idea when he had fallen asleep after tossing and turning for what felt like hours, but despite that he felt fresh and ready to start anew. A quick shower and a check in the mirror later, Braden was out and following his nose towards the delicious smell emitting from the dining hall. It seemed like he was beaten by a few others, some new faces, some even newer (was that really somebody eating on the floor in the kitchen?!), but the puppet in Braden’s hand was drawn to one figure in the dining hall.

Without taking any breakfast, Braden seated himself on the other side of the booth Alice was sitting on. “Ohh man, you’re a sight for sore eyes. Thought I’d never see anybody I’d recognise ever again!” The puppet cried dramatically.

"Hm?" Alice hummed in curiosity, her mouth stuffed with bacon. The recon had been silently watching some of the newcomers, plus Rika, get their own breakfast as the dining room became more active than when she first arrived. Swallowing the food in her mouth down, she finally spoke up to the puppet. "Well, I would ask if that was obvious due to my eyepatch, but I do know what you mean." She replied, moving her plate to the side. "It's...always odd to see new faces after a trial."

Elias giggled. “Oh luv, that was all your imagination~ I would never make jokes about a lady’s personal matter~” The puppet would have given the recon a wink, but, it’s a puppet. Braden looked around the dining hall, watching it fill as more infinites began piling up inside to get their hands on some of the delicious smelling breakfast cooking in the kitchen while the puppet continued to watch Alice. “So is this what happened last time? You got to see the conclusion of another trial?” Elias cocked his head to the side curiously.

"No, we only arrived back at the resort once the first blackened had been executed." Alice explained, resting her head on her hand. "I'm not sure why we were shown a different game's trial though, but at least this time was quicker."

“Do you think our game is being broadcasted to others like theirs was?”

The recon nodded in response. "With there being more than one game, it's a high possibility that they're being broadcasted to one another, even ours."

Braden returned his attention to Alice, his free hand moving to rest against his chin thoughtfully. "I wonder what the purpose for all this is. This is waaaay too elaborate for just despair. Why make it into a show?"

"I'm not sure, hell, no one is." Alice answered. "The mastermind's motive isn't exactly crystal clear, so we just gotta hope for the best, right?"

"Hope... how far will that get us?" He thought out loud. "I mean, Marianne had hope, right? So did the last victim. Yet they're dead. Erin had hope that he'd trick us all and escape if he commited a murder, yet he is also dead. Hope hasn't exactly helped us a lot."

Braden's thoughts left the recon silent. He was right, hope wasn't helping them. But it couldn't be just that, right? Once Alice found the right words to respond with, her expression seemed to darken slightly. "It's cause they trusted the wrong people." She said, her head hanging low. "If you trust others too easily, you're bound to get hurt, one way or another. It's why I try to close myself off from people, why I don't get so attached. Cause it won't be hard to accept the pain of death, even here..."

When Alice realized what she was saying, she scratched her head in embarrassment. "It's funny, out of everyone here, there’s only a few of us that make the most sense, but hell if I know." The recon said, laughing nervously.

"Buuuuuut~ You seem pretty bestie with the doctor chick. Is there some history or...?" The puppet's voice grew higher in pitch, a teasing inflection making it seem like the puppet was teasing Alice. It would've even wiggled it's eyebrows if it could. "And you seem to be pretty chilly with me too soo~ Are we besties too?"

"Mercy's an old friend of mine, from back in the military." The recon explained to Elias. "I usually saw her working with the other medics in the field, but other than that she usually hung out with me like I was her younger sister, but I never knew why." Alice held her head in thought, before looking back at the puppet. "Oh, and I don't mind us being "Besties", but do you really consider me as one?"

The puppet hummed loudly. "Weeeell~ Are you plannin' on killing us or getting yourself axed anytime soon?" Elias moved closer. "No? We good."

"But of course not! I'd never kill someone innocent, not here." Alice answered the puppet. "And if I die now, I'd be abandoning you guys."

Braden gave Alice a brief smile before looking away again. "Ohhh~ Not here? So you admit that you've killed an innocent before~?"

"More like the saying, a life for a life."

The puppet sunk into itself. "Awwwww. Woulda been so cool if you were secretly some serial killer or something." Elias sighed heavily, but then perked back up. "But it just means you're not gonna Barty Crouch junior my ass soooo I'm not gonna complain~" Elias giggled, the puppet's hands moving up to cover his mouth like a shy school girl.

"Fine. We gonna honour the bestie code and not kill each other, 'kay?"

"Sounds good." The recon agreed, a smile on her face.

"Deal~" Elias giggled again as Braden stood up, clearly intending to leave. "Let's go meet Parker. Think it's a good time to introduce her to everybody, no?" The puppet's hands gestured Alice up, waiting for her to join him.

"Oh, yeah! I almost forgot to see her after yesterday!" Alice said, quickly standing up herself. "Let's go!"

Danganronpa: Tower of Carnage (Finished!)

---

Someone had possessed Ice to bring him back to his room after the execution. Someone must have had to, for Ice didn’t remember taking the steps to do so. Someone must have brought him to the bathroom and wiped off his face. Washed what he could off the hand that couldn’t move its fingers and bind it against some popsicle sticks he had found lying around in the medicine cabinet. Someone must have used Ice’s hospital gown to make a makeshift sling after he washed off all the blood on his skin. Some of his bandages were loose again, then again, nothing much could be done with only one working hand...

Where was he? Where had he come from? Why did it have to be so lonely in a place full of other people?

This was not the time to get emotional, he was so close to breaking, so close to ripping at his wrists with his fingernails or hanging his neck just to end it all. Now was not the time to get emotional at all, now was the time to forget, to freeze... To be, as cold as Ice.

Thinking more logically, the first thing to do was to get away from this room and go seek medical attention. It might be good to have everything given a once over again by Mercy, to align his fingers, check his scratches, tidy up his bandages, and check his throat for damage from his retching.

His stomach growled, even if he could freeze his heart, it still beat. He was still alive. Calvin had almost-

Food. Food was needed for survival, and his stomach definitely needed some. Checking his sling in the mirror to make sure it wouldn’t fall apart right away, he slipped some candy into his pocket, grabbed for one of the blood angel candies and slipped open the door to his room that still looked like someone had puked up every piece of vampire merch they could find.

If he had opened his door a minute later, he would have had the pleasure to avoid what anybody would call an annoying encounter. “Cello Mr Matthews!” Krista called from the other end of the hall, one foot out of the door and her hand stretched out in a wave in his direction. She quickly moved to lock the door to her room and checked the handle before scurrying over towards the blood donor.

She gave him a quick, warm smile. It surprised even Krista that she could deal with being so chipper despite all that had happened, but it was clear she simply did not want to think about how she felt about everything that happened. In fact… “How are you feeling? You lost a lot of blood yesterday…” The violinist tugged lightly on the strap of her violin case, feeling the familiar weight pressing against her back.

Ice’s blank eyes turned up to the sound of his own last name to confront the blonde coming towards him. While he may have wanted to just scurry on by her, he remembered what Davis had done last time he attempted to do so. While it wasn’t like Ice cared for what Davis thought of her, it was the opposite for Krista. Through Aleecia the two of them had talked, at least a little bit, and Krista did seem to be a decent conversationalist. Though her humour...

With her question, Ice’s eyes downcast even more and he felt his stomach knot. “Fine,” he chewed at the inside of his cheek. Such a clipped answer would definitely fade out any chance of a conversation, and maybe Krista’s friendship along with it. “...Floating caca, look I really am-” As the younger girl reached him, an epiphany struck him, “...That was a quip, wasn’t it?”

Clipped answer or no, Krista remained rooted to her spot near Ice, hand still wrapped around the strap of her violin case. “Sorry, I don’t know when to give it a rest.” Despite her words, there was still a proud grin on the violinist’s face. She wiped it soon after, with a softer smile. “But really, I do also want to know how you’re doing. You had a really hard time yesterday.”

A sigh escaped Ice’s throat, he gave her a sideways glance before staring down the hallway ahead of them. “There’s nothing much to blabber about. Everything...” He adjusted his makeshift sling, avoiding Krista’s eyes. “Let’s just say that it ended my big revenge plan. I guess I’ll have to find something else to live for...” Ice cleared his throat, his pale cheeks taking on a reddish hue. He turned around quickly, grabbed onto the Violinist’s hand and slipped a candy in it. “My apologies for yesterday's events... I owe you.”

After saying that, Ice started heading for the dining hall, forcing his stride to be slower in case Krista wanted to walk with him. A layer of bandage becoming so loose off his head that it slipped down his shoulder and against his back.

Krista was grateful for the slower strides, the heels on her boots clicking on the marble floor being the only sound for a brief moment before her hand reached out to grab Ice’s shoulder with a soft grip. “Wait!” She quickly stopped him before the conversation could move on too quickly for the violinist’s liking… or before Ice’s bandages could fall off completely from the blood donor’s movements. Her hand held the bandages up before they could slide off Ice’s body, giving him the chance to adjust it correctly, forgetting briefly that the donor could not do such a good job with only one hand. “You do have something to live for. Your siblings. I… don’t think you should listen too much to what Erin said… He’s- He was a trickster… he would’ve done anything to get under your skin…” Krista’s heart ached at the echo of Erin’s words. She could only imagine how much it would kill Ice to hear that again… She wished to give Ice a hug again, like the day before, but he did not seem to be in a physically good enough state to receive it. “So… You should try getting out of here, for your siblings! Make sure you survive so you can see them again!” If she could not hug him, she could try helping him find his hope…!

She then immediately moved her hand away from his shoulder to rub her cheek. “I-I mean… It’s good to have hope! I… think. Herman is my hope… but I want you and Calvin and everybody to survive too, so you guys see your family again. That is my hope too…!” She gave an awkward laugh, feeling her face heat up. “Too cheesy?”

Unfortunately for Krista’s gesture, without being able to use his left hand, Ice was only able to awkwardly wrap the bandage around to the same degree he had done when the Violinist had first seen him. As Krista talked on, his body stiffened slightly, as it always seemed to whenever he heard about his siblings. The girl seemed to be doing her best to try to cheer him up, and that really touched him. People like her and Calvin were trying to patch up the gaping hole inside of him when he couldn’t even fix the bandages on his physical body, let alone do anything for what’s on the inside.

Now no one had really seen him make the expression Ice made then since before his coma. The reminiscence of his former life along with the help of someone he could call maybe call a friend. Ice’s right hand came up to Krista’s head and patted it, ”Not at all. Thanks. If you’re ever in trouble or feel like you’ll lose that hope, come a knockin’.” He slipped his hand off the smiling blonde’s hair and motioned to continue onward to the Dining Hall before stepping forward again when-

The sound of monokuma’s voice rang throughout the hallway. “Firstly, back by popular demand is Aleecia Marvic. She's all thawed out in the pod room if you want to say hello.”

Ice’s body stiffened again, but for an entirely different reason. “Blasted pigeons... Wasn’t she going to be sent back?!” His face lost any kind of sweetness as it filled with worry and panic. He gripped onto his tie and turned to Krista, “Will you come with me?”

The Monokuma announcement had rung across the hallways of Axis Mundi as Krista tried her best to help Ice wrap the bandages with her little skill at first aid. Without Mercy, the least she could do was ensure nothing was falling off. According to the announcement, there were even more new people joining them, and a few familiar faces on top of the new patients. Aleecia was awake, it should mean that she is healthy and fine, right? But that just meant she was returned to the killing game, where her ailment would leave her vulnerable to some of the opportunists in their group… Krista shivered uncomfortably. Even her hope to send the note out to the outside world was crushed, but what mattered more was Aleecia’s safety. She nodded in Ice’s direction finally, “I want to see if she’s really okay too.” Krista understood there was something special between Aleecia and Ice- not in that way but… in a purer wholesome way, and Krista wanted to protect that purity to the best of her ability.

And so she gave Ice another encouraging smile, masking her worries for Aleecia to give Ice another brief moment of hope. “Come on, let’s go greet her!”