It appears to be just as the group had left it.

Nothing in here

Nothing of apparent interest is seen.

Nothing in here

There was a spatter of blood on the ground, but nothing else was there.

Nothing in here

Nothing of apparent interest was in the room.

Nothing in here

The smell of death was in the air.

The first thing they noticed were the remaining embers of what had clearly been a fire. Audrey’s leaves had all turned to ashes, and her head was simply a flaming remnant of what it once was.

Mere feet away was the charred corpse of the boy, skin blackened with soot. The front of his shirt was covered in blood, and his face had an expression of shock on it.

Momo, the Ultimate Superhero, was dead.

DING.

Monokuma File #3:
The victim is Momo Marigold, the Ultimate Superhero.

Died between 5 and 8 AM.

A bullet was found in his stomach.
Bullet wound was serious but non-fatal.
Cause of death is shock from aggravation of his wound due to extremely stressful conditions.

The scatter of books and torn pages already had a puddle of blood spread towards them. A large bookshelf was sitting atop the corpse, with a bloody lead pipe nearby. Their face stared straight up, beaten and head cracked in. The blood had already settled a good distance around him, and would’ve made their face unrecognizable.

Had it not been for the armor.

Claudius Vermillion, the Ultimate Conqueror, was dead.

DING.

Monokuma File #3B:
The victim is Claudius Vermillion, the Ultimate Conqueror.

Died between 5 and 8 AM.

A bullet had been fired straight through his head. Possible he lived for several minutes after infliction.
Face cracked in with a blunt object.

The entire room had been thrown apart. It was like a raging animal had been let loose ransacked the area, and smashed every object around. Spatters of blood were everywhere.

The first thing they saw were the trainers. And then the scruffy jeans, now covered in tears. Then the bloody grey t-shirt with the bomber jacket, a candlestick sticking straight through the abdomen like an skewer. Then his face, beaten and bloody. The face of a man who had died an anguished death.

Dale Valler, the Ultimate Bodyguard, was dead.

DING.

Monokuma File #3C:
The victim is Dale Valler, the Ultimate Bodyguard.

Died between 5 and 8 AM.

Body is beaten badly. Bleeding from several significant areas. Severe trauma inflicted on head. Serious stab wound with a candlestick in the abdomen.

The smell of flames and ash was clear in the room.

The table had been knocked over, toppings crashed all over the place. The cloth was by the side of it and bundled into a panicked pile.

But nothing else was in the room. Nobody was dead.

Nothing here

“T-Three of us…” Anissa shuddered. “T-T-Three of us dead…”

The hologram of John appeared once again. “It does have a twisted irony to it, doesn’t it?” He laughs. “You guys could’ve had one girl dead, but instead you get three! And now you need to go hunting for the culprit! I love it!”

Anissa paled, but didn’t respond to him.

“Anyway…” Monokuma pushes the roomba to the side. “I think it’s about time you guys get some pertinent information.”

“Ah, that’s right!” Molly realized. “You said the killer would have an advantage in the trial!”

“Good memory!” Monokuma commends. “Just like the elephant cousin I had. Ah, good times.”

“So what’s the advantage?”

“Listen carefully! If the spotless fail to identify the culprit, the murder weapon, and the room the victim was killed in, the blackened wins!”

“W-What?!” Silas exclaimed.

“Those odds are insanely stacked against us…” Sachiko grumbled.

“That’s no reason to be afraid!” Casey encouraged. “Low odds are where we’ve succeeded time and time again, this should be no different!”

“Do you guys think that maybe…” Shirly shook her head as if she didn’t want to continue. “Maybe the blackened killed three people to increase their advantage? So we’d be confused on which murder we need to solve?”

“H-Hey!” Sachiko pointed at her. “There’s no way any of us would go that far! M-Maybe they just all killed each other…”

“Or maybe…” S shivered, or at least it looked like he was. The suit made it difficult to tell. “They were each killed by a different person, operating unbeknownst to the others.”

“That’s one helluva worst case scenario.” Lyla didn’t look at the group when saying it, as if she couldn’t trust them.

“It’s one we sadly need to consider.” Kagayaki nodded. “Monokuma, what do you think?”

“Whaddya mean?” Monokuma asked.

“The scenarios those three brought up. They’re possibly valid, no?”

“Right, right. Every trial only has one blackened. If all the killers are dead, the blackened is the one who killed the first victim. If there are three living killers, the blackened is the one who killed the first victim. If the one who killed the first victim is dead, the blackened is the living student who killed the next victim. And so on.”

“So three of us could be killers, huh?” Akio raised an eyebrow. “How could we even solve a trial if we have to account for that…”

“You guys need to buck up!” Casey smashed her first into her palm. “We don’t have another choice, so we just gotta do it!”

“I-I don’t want to investigate the conservatory.” Akio mumbled. “I’ll take anywhere else.”

“No.” Kagayaki decided. “There was a fire there, and we may need your expertise. You should be the one to investigate there, Lord Taira.”

“I’ll join him.” Lyla volunteered.

“That works for m-me.” Sachiko was crying. “I don’t think I could see Audrey like that...I’ll take anywhere but the study.”

“The study is fine by me.” Silas winked.

The assignments were eventually decided.

Investigation Teams:
Conservatory: Akio and Lyla
Library: Sachiko and Molly
Study: Silas and Kagayaki
Billiards Room: Casey and Anissa
All Remaining Rooms: S and Shirly


Eventually, everybody gathered by the front door where Monokuma summoned them. It opened and lead outside, back to 16 more podiums. New signs stood where their classmates once were. Anissa sighed and got to her usual spot by Dallas’.

“We need to make sure to solve this trial quickly.” Molly decided. “W-We can’t waste any more time than necessary in this place.”

“It’s more important that we do this correctly, kid. Our lives are on the line.”

“Just two boys left, huh?” Akio thought aloud. “Hey Silas, you better not kill me now that I’m the only thing standing between you and being the protagonist of a harem anime.”

“H-Hey, I’m still here.” S spoke up.

Almost every head in the room thought the same thing. “And now, our third class trial.

“Momo…he had just taken off his mask and shown us his true self. That took tremendous courage. It might’ve not seemed like it, but he was braver than all of us. He was a real hero. Yet he got caught in this twisted game...

“Claudius...he was an unusual guy for sure. A bit thick-headed, but he had a good set of morals. He was resolute, and always looked forward. He never gave up. He always tried to do what was right.

“Dale...he had been seriously stressed the past few days, but he never wanted to let Monokuma win. He was nothing but reliable in trials, and he always made sure to keep the class protected. He was our dependable pillar, but he’s gone now.

“None of them deserved to die. We weren’t appreciative of their friendship...we weren’t grateful enough of what they had given us.

“Three classmates dead. Whoever killed them is…one of us? ….or?”