The trial room remained silent for only a moment after Rose's death. The remaining players in this sick, twisted game were only given a short moment to find peace with what they had done.

For Tsumiko Yamamoto, Rose's death was yet another loss in a string of failures. Rose Major had gone off the deep end and threatened them all many times with that gun. And, yet, Tsumiko still felt that there could have been a chance. What if they had calmed down and talked about it rationally? Could they have found a way for all four of them to survive? Could they have found a way to kill Tyson and Harold without letting anyone else suffer…?

But even with all those doubts in her mind, Tsumiko knew now what she had to do. Gun pointed squarely at Tyson, she took a deep breath; that one second of mourning was over. The one moment everyone in the room had to try and get themselves together was now over.

Tyson had other plans; in that moment, he had not mourned, nor had he blanked out from fear or surprise. Instead, he put his hand in his pocket, quickly fishing out the dagger he had kept with him since the beginning of this twisted game. With a small grin, he made a quick movement, throwing the dagger across the room at a great speed for one last gambit-

Shattered.

The dagger that was thrown at Tsumiko shattered in mid-air, and the pieces fell before her. Everyone had covered their ears, not prepared for the sound of a sudden gunshot, alongside the sound of the metal shattering.

Tsumiko frowned, not impressed. She glanced down at her arm, noticing that one small shard from the dagger had found its way into her… But it was just a small piece of the dagger, and the pain was minimal. She gently removed the piece, watching as a small amount of blood flowed from her arm, onto the floor. The bloody piece of the dagger that she now held in her free hand was outstandingly sharp; Tyson must have prepared for this. He wanted her dead.

But Tyson had made one fatal mistake.

Tyson had assumed that, with the cowardice Tsumiko showed with shooting others, she would not shoot, even to save her own life. He had assumed he could kill her and have it over with. However, by throwing that dagger and drawing blood, Tyson only hardened Tsumiko's resolve to live.

And with that resolve came another shot.

Tyson yelled out, falling to the ground in a crumpled mess. He gripped his chest as he experienced a pain like no other; a gut-wrenching pain that had forced him to stop thinking about his mistakes, his plans, and his motives… Instead, all he could think about was the pain.

"O-Oh my god, did you kill him!?" April's eyes widened. "Is that fucker finally dead!?"

"I don't know…" Tsumiko bit her lip, unsure. She had never shot anyone before. It appeared as though she had shot Tyson in his lower, right chest… She should have aimed for the heart, but her arm was shaky. She looked down, noticing some more blood; had that sharp scrap caused more damage than she thought? Flinching, she groaned, the adrenaline slowly wearing off, replacing itself with some great pain.

Harold was completely shaken by what had just happened; Tyson laid on the floor, screaming, holding his chest as he sat in a pile of blood. Harold thought this wouldn't happen; he thought they had won… But he had mentally prepared for Tyson's death already. He had assumed Tyson would be executed in the first place, rather than Rose, so the only shock was that Tyson's plan didn't go as, well, planned, after Rose was executed.

So the boy shook his feelings off, rushing towards Tsumiko; he noticed that the sharpshooter was shaken, and that her shooting arm was bleeding. This would be his chance to take the gun and regain control!

Terry noticed this, however; if only because he couldn't stand to look at the bleeding boy to his right, the animal photographer noticed Harold making a mad dash to Tsumiko. Knowing he couldn't catch up in time, the boy took his camera and threw it. "TSUMIKO, LOOK OUT!"

Tsumiko's eyes widened and she turned to her left, seeing the executioner dashing towards her; however, just before Harold could make it, he was knocked back, taking a camera to the side of his head. He whined and held the side of his head as Terry's camera crashed onto the floor, broken after being used as a projectile.

Tsumiko took this chance to take aim once more, uncaring of her wound; Harold's eyes widened at this, and he held his hands up in the air, attempting to reason with the sharpshooter.

"W-W-Wait!" The boy cried. "Y-You can't kill me! Y-You n-need me, y-you need to v-vote for me, r-right!?"

"The fucker's right!" April grimaced. "Don't do anything stupid, Tsumiko! We need him alive!"

"We do need him alive…" Tsumiko took a deep breath, understanding. "Right…. We need him alive, so…."

She lowered her gun… And took a shot, causing Harold to cry out, crumpling to the floor, adding to the screams of agony in the room.

"Holy shit girl! What the fuck did I just say!?" April cried, taking a step back, horrified.

"I shot him in the foot, he'll live." Tsumiko shuddered, gripping her bleeding arm. "If… If I didn't shoot him, he could've grabbed my gun and killed us. I won't… I won't let that happen." She resolved, grimacing. "... I… C-Can I get some help…?"

"Uh, d-do we have any cloth? Medical stuff?" Terry grimaced, trying to think of something to help Tsumiko. "I could use my shirt, maybe?"

"Look, I know things are going to absolute shit, but can we at least avoid having to look at Terry shirtless?" April shuddered, taking off her own shirt. "No, fuck it, here Tsumiko, I know how to treat a deep cut. There was this one time, with a bear trap-"

"J-Just help me." Tsumiko flinched, not wanting to hear about more bloody incidents while Tyson and Harold were yelling bloody murder in the room. "Please."

Terry gulped, looking away, electing not to look at April right now. He didn't even bother to feel insulted at this point; he had just learned that he accidentally caused the death of a friend, and the last thought on his mind was of whether or not he looked okay shirtless. He looked to Tyson, noticing the boy seemed to be getting quieter, breathing steadying.

Tyson was using what little strength he had to apply pressure to the wound through his clothes. He was in immense pain, shuddering and doing his best to keep the pressure up, though his strength was threatening to leave him. He had to live, no matter what. The immense pressure placed upon him in this moment was starting to break him, but he did his best to be defiant, not allowing himself to die just yet. Not to a single shot, no. He would live to the best of his abilities…

Because the longer he lived, the more time he had to figure out a way to get himself and Harold out of this mess.


Jeremiah, shocked, looked at the man before him as though he had seen a ghost. And, well, for the mechanic, this was seeing a ghost. He had believed Tyson when the tactician listed off the deaths. Granted, thinking back on it, believing his captor's words was pretty damn stupid, but the thought of Tyson finding it necessary to lie to Jeremiah just hadn't occurred to him.

"You thought I was dead?" The man before Jeremiah let out a weak laugh, holding his own shoulder, as though covering something. His other hand was carrying some sort of shotgun, it seemed. "I thought you were outta here, pal! What are you doing down here!?"

"I… I was trapped. By Tyson and Harold." Jeremiah explained quickly, grimacing. "After Julian's trial. But I… I found my way in here, I guess, it's… It's a long story. Barry, how are you alive!? Weren't you killed?"

"C'mon, pal, have some faith!" Barry laughed weakly, sporting a grin, taking his hand off of his shoulder, placing it on Jeremiah's. "You think an ace journalist like me can die that easily? I've gotten out of pickles way bigger than this one!"

"Barry…" Jeremiah's eyes widened. He noticed that the hand Barry was putting on his shoulder was bloodied, and that the journalist's shoulder was stained blood red. The journalist's sleeves had been ripped off and had been used as cloth, tying around some horrible wound to keep pressure on it.

"What, you think this is bad?" Barry smirked. "Don't even worry about it. I'm not gonna let some bullet wound stop me! If I've got anything to say about it, we're gonna live forever! That's my motto, y'know?"

"Holy shit, Barry…" Jeremiah chuckled, unable to keep himself from grinning back. "You're goddamned insane… But I have never been more glad to see a dead man walking in my entire life."

"Glad to hear it!" Barry beamed. "Now, uh… Could… Could you help with the wound? I'm kinda bleeding out over here… Haha…" He winced, holding his shoulder once more. Jeremiah's eyes widened and he nodded, moving to help the man, applying pressure while doing his best to keep the cloth-knot tight.

"So what the hell happened up there?" Jeremiah frowned. "Tyson told me that Arthur and Georgia were killed, and you were executed…"

"They tried to execute me, alright." Barry grunted, feeling the immense pain in his shoulder growing as Jeremiah worked on it. "Grh… They were going to shoot me down with a shotgun. They got me good in the shoulder, but I tackled them down. Got their shotgun off of them in the heat of the moment and ran like hell. I've been running for my life in these tunnels ever since."

"Wait, so you didn't even check who was shooting you?" Jeremiah looked incredulously to Barry. "What do you mean 'they'?"

"There's a lot of 'em patrolling around here. They're in gas masks and uniforms. They look like a buncha World War Two troopers lemme tell ya." Barry shuddered. "I'd try to figure out who they are or what they want, but, well, all they've wanted these past few hours it to blow my head off."

"Barry, it's been almost a day since you were 'executed'." Jeremiah pointed out. "How did you survive that long?"

"It's been almost a day?" Barry's eyes widened. "Shit, pal… I, uh... " He slumped a bit, unsure. "I guess I was better than I thought… Hehe…" He groaned, though, the pain affecting him.

Jeremiah shook his head, finishing typing up the cloth. "Alright, that's all I can do for now. Your wound's bad, though; we need to get you to a hospital."

"Just a sec…" Barry grunted, looking to his shoulder, impressed with the work. "... Alright, but… I just gotta ask, since you've been grillin' me, pal…" He laughed, shaking his head, but soon frowned, trying to be more serious. "... Did you kill Rye?"

"What!?" Jeremiah flinched. "Kill Rye? No! That was Julian, remember!?" He was shocked that Barry would come to that conclusion, though he was even more shocked when the journalist laughed right afterwards.

"I should've fuckin' known…" Barry sighed, leaning his head back against the tunnel wall. "We were duped. You didn't kill anyone… Which means you're still in the game. Your life's still at risk, pal."

He held up his shotgun, placing it in Jeremiah's hands. "You take point. We need to get outta here."

"What about the others…?" Jeremiah wondered, taking the gun, examining it. It was in good condition, but there was only one shot left in it.

"If we can get to 'em, we're taking them with us." Barry grinned. "Like I said, Jeremiah- we're gonna live for-fucking-ever, got that? Nothing can kill us now."

"You could bleed out." Jeremiah reminded him with a frown. "And I could get shot by the 'troopers' around here."

"Yeah, but besides those things!" Barry laughed, trying to take his mind off of the pain. "Speaking of the troopers- they were talkin' in a language I don't recognize, pal. Not English, not Japanese, and definitely not French."

"I can't imagine you speaking French or Japanese…" Jeremiah didn't want to put any thought into what a New-Yorkian Japanese accent sounded like. "Alright. So we're moving, then? I came from the basement, but the trapdoor's locked…"

"Trapdoor?" Barry hummed. "You mean the one that was mentioned in the first trial? You were done there that whole time? Damn, that's screwy; I checked that lock a couple of times, myself. Wish I took a better shot at getting it open… But, I bet we could take a chance with that shotgun?"

Jeremiah thought about it. "You're… Suggesting shooting the trapdoor?" He frowned, unsure of that idea.

"Well, it's either that or we play 'hide and go seek' with a bunch of armed military men, all while you have to deal with a bleedin' Barry and a one-shot shotgun." The journalist laughed. "We'd have better chances in the manor, right?"

Jeremiah figured that was right. What the hell, right? There were weapons in the manor, so Jeremiah could ditch the shotgun and grab a wrench or something. "Alright, fine. Let's go."

The mechanic led the way through the tunnels, taking point with his shotgun, moving through the halls and checking around the corners, making sure nobody was near them. Barry moved close behind, doing his best to keep his grunts of pain low, wanting to keep quiet as they moved through the underground maze.

Eventually, they found the door Jeremiah had come through. The mechanic moved back inside the basement, never imagining he'd be relieved to find himself back inside here. Barry closed the door behind them, noticing the keypad nearby.

"10122018…" Barry read out. "That's a date. How'd you guess it?"

"Well, December 10th was the day I was kidnapped." Jeremiah admitted. "That was the only date I remembered being important… 12102018 didn't work, so, I just flipped the month and the day." He explained, noticing that the journalist seemed to be peering at the numbers.

"... That's the last day I remember, too. December 10th." Barry shook his head. "... D'ya think it's Christmas Day, Jeremiah?"

"God, I hope not." The mechanic scoffed. "This would be the shittiest Christmas Day ever. Plus, I wouldn't want to spend a Christmas without my girl, Marine. I can't imagine leavin' her alone for a holiday."

"I can't imagine being without my fellas and family during Christmas." Barry gave Jeremiah a light smile. "But, I like to think my folks would be pretty proud knowing I kicked some ass on Christmas day, y'know? Instead of moping about how I couldn't be with them."

Jeremiah blinked, nodding in response. "Well, uh… Yeah, I guess I get that."

"Merry fuckin' Christmas, Jeremiah." Barry grinned. "Let's get everyone outta here."

Jeremiah smirked. "Merry Christmas." He pointed his shotgun to the trapdoor, carefully lining his shot, and firing.


Now patched up, Tsumiko took deep breaths, sitting on the floor of the trial room, with April standing above her, placing her hands proudly on her hips.

"Fuck yeah, my talent was useful in this hellhole for once!~" She grinned. "Ultimate Trapper, April Nun, contributed!"

"You contributed, and now you're shirtless." Terry deadpanned, still looking away. "Why couldn't we have used my shirt?"

"Shut up, Terry, I'm busy feeling free~" April spread her arms, letting out a sigh of contentment.

Tsumiko laughed. For what felt like the first time in this hellhole, Tsumiko genuinely laughed, more than happy with April and Terry's bickering. Now that Tyson and Harold were silent- Tyson from passing out from the pain, Harold out of acceptance- it finally felt like they had won. "April, just let me give you my jacket at least. Do you really want Terry to see you like that?"

April smiled, happy to see Tsumiko look anything but gloomy for once. "That'd be cool; thanks, Tsumiko." She took the sharpshooter's leather jacket, a fair trade for the cloth of April's shirt.

"So can I look now?" Terry sighed, flicking his wrist.

"I never said you couldn't look in the first place." April teased, turning around and returning to her spot in the trial grounds.

"That…" Terry flushed a bright red color, but shook his head, ignoring April. "Wh-whatever. Monokuma! Is Tyson dead? Can we vote Harold now?"

"Okay, first of all, thank you Terry for acknowledging my existence. I feel important to the plot once more!~" Monokuma beamed. "Second of all- you can't vote! You're a free culprit, you're out of the game! Y'know, thanks to you falling for Tyson's trap and brutally electrocuted Dru!"

Terry grimaced; shit. He had almost forgotten. "I… O-Oh…" He flinched, rubbing his arm.

"Hey, fuck you Monokuma, I was trying to get him to forget that!" April glared.

"Wait, was that why you were messing with me?" Terry shook his head, suddenly understanding April's weird behavior.

"Duh? I don't know about you but the only thing that's been keeping me sane this last hour is clinging onto you and Tsumiko. If either of you start losing it, I'm fucking done, got it?" The trapper glared. "So, just… Focus on anything else! We can think about Dru later, yeah?"

Terry grimaced, but nodded, understanding. "R-Right… You're right. Thank you, April." The boy smiled a bit before turning back to Monokuma. "So, uh… You didn't answer my question; is Tyson dead?"

"Doesn't look like it." Monokuma shrugged, hopping off his throne and walking over to Tyson's bleeding body. He poked it, noticing the boy was still breathing. "Nope, he's alive. Barely alive, but still alive, so it doesn't count as a murder!"

"Son of a bitch…" Tsumiko went from a cheery mood to a much more bothered one as she got back to her feet, moving to her spot in the trial room. "So… Now what…?"

"Are you out of bullets?" April wondered. Tsumiko shrugged, unsure; she checked her gun's chamber.

One bullet had been fired by Aaron to kill Nick.

A second bullet had been fired by Tsumiko, trying to hit Aaron.

A third bullet had been fired to break Tyson's dagger mid-air.

The fourth bullet was spent on Tyson.

The fifth was on Harold, who was currently in the corner with a bleeding foot; he seemed to be trying to bandage the wound with his socks, but that wasn't working out well for him.

There was one final bullet in the chamber.

"I can end it." Tsumiko let out a deep sigh. "I have one more bullet."

"Oh, thank god." April grinned. "Do it, then, girly!"

Tsumiko was going to prepare herself to shoot Tyson, but at that moment, something strange occurred; the elevator moved. Tsumiko, April, and Terry all turned to the elevator, which moved on its own, going up, back to the manor.

"... Uhhhh…" Terry blinked. "Wait… What? Did someone call it up there?"

"Nobody's up there… Right?" April wondered. "I mean, uh… Unless…"

Tsumiko bit her lip, opting to keep her last bullet for now, pointing it towards the elevator. Worst case scenario, she wasted her last bullet and had to kill Tyson another way. For now, she had to worry about the possible threat coming through those doors.


Barry and Jeremiah had restocked in the storage room, grabbing what items they needed. Barry ate through a pack of trail mix faster than Jeremiah had ever seen a man eat before, and Jeremiah grabbed a wrench and a drill to use as weapons. While something like a knife might have been more effective, Jeremiah was more used to his tools, and figured his proficiency with them might make them more effective combat weapons… Maybe. He was just spitballing here.

Barry picked up a crowbar with his good arm, grinning. "Alright, pal. So, where d'ya think the others are?" He walked up to the exit, opening the door slowly, noticing that nobody seemed to be patrolling around there.

"Probably in the trial room." Jeremiah guessed. "I remember hearing the body discovery announcement go off just before I left the basement… They could still be in there."

"Then that's where we'll go!" Barry grinned. "The elevator should still be in the ballroom, right?"

Jeremiah nodded. "Yeah, but, should we really go down there? We wouldn't have a way to escape, and the people behind this game might just outright kill ya. Going down there might not solve anything."

"Well, here's my logic: I'm fucked either way, right?" Barry shrugged. "If I hide away, they'll find me eventually. At least if I go to the trial room, I'm facing them head-on, and we might be able to fight back."

Jeremiah wasn't sure of this, but the mechanic shrugged, figuring he didn't have any better plans up his sleeves. "Alright, yeah. I guess you're right. But I'm not letting them get to ya so easily; we're gonna live forever, right?" He grinned. Barry grinned back, nodding.

The two of them rushed out into the hall, keeping their movements silent as they peeked into the ballroom; both were shocked to see all kinds of electrical equipment, an electric chair, and the burnt corpse of Dru West in the center of the room.

"Sweet Jesus…" Jeremiah grimaced, while Barry moved his hand to take off his hat and put it over his chest out of respect; however, he had forgotten that he had given his hat to Tsumiko. Damn. He simply put his hand over his chest, bowing his head for a moment out of respect.

The two entered the room, moving behind Dru to find the elevator. Barry pressed a button to call it, and the two peered down to see the elevator slowly moving up to reach them.

"Just gotta give it a minute…" Jeremiah bit his lip. "Wish there was a 'go faster than a snail's pace' button on this damn thing.."

"Oi!" Jeremiah and Barry turned to see two men enter the room, both in gas masks and uniforms, holding swords. They yelled out to the two of them in some language they both didn't recognize.

"Uh… Does that mean 'happy to see you'?" Jeremiah's eyes widened as he lifted up his drill and wrench.

"Yeah, I think they're really happy to see us!" Barry rolled his eyes with a laugh, motioning to the soldiers with his bad arm, wincing at the pain. "Hey, fellas! Come and play!"

The two soldiers looked between each other, nodding, before rushing the two teenagers.

The soldier that ran after Jeremiah held his sword up high, slashing it down, though the mechanic dodged, smacking his opponent across the chest with his wrench. The soldier was knocked back, but continued his assault, slashing from left to right, causing Jeremiah to jump back in surprise.

The soldier who rushed after Barry lunged with his sword, expecting the journalist to dodge; he was surprised to find that the boy instead chose to counter-attack with his crowbar, knocking the two weapons against one another, both bodies pushing against their respective weapon, trying to win a struggle for their lives.

"My folks always told me that if I ever got in a fight…" Barry grinned, huffing as he pushed harder. "It ain't about honor… It's about winning! So I'm gonna play dirty!"

He kicked the soldier hard in the knee, causing him to lose his balance, allowing the journalist to smack him over the back with the crowbar, forcing the man onto the ground.

Jeremiah, running out of space, threw his wrench at his opponent; however, the soldier dodged, seeming confident and reflexive. But in that same moment, Jeremiah lunged with a yell, turning on his drill and piercing the man's chest, causing the gas-masked soldier to cry out, being pushed back by the immense pain, falling into the elevator shaft behind him. Jeremiah let go of the drill, watching as the man hit the top of the elevator, groaning.

"Um…" The mechanic took a couple of steps back, realizing what was about to happen. The soldier was unable to move in time, and when the elevator moved all the way back up, he was crushed against the ceiling of the device, causing the elevator itself to not be able to reach the very top of its journey; instead, some sparks went off, and the machine seemed to be malfunctioning thanks to the unexpected now-corpse of the soldier.

"Just get in!" Barry yelled, diving into the elevator. Jeremiah followed, jumping inside, pressing the button to go down. The elevator began moving once more, but not before the soldier attempted to dive in after them, waving his sword; the two men yelled, ducking for cover, able to dodge the man's swipes.

"G-Grrrrk…!" The man tried to slash more, but soon found that maybe trying to dive into a moving elevator was a mistake, as he found himself crushed between the top of the door and the floor of the ballroom; soon, Jeremiah and Barry heard a sickening 'snap' as the man's bones gave into the force, and his light died out.

The elevator, however, could no longer move, what with the soldier's body jamming the way.

"H-Holy shit…" Jeremiah shivered. "Ooooh sweet Lordy… I'm going to be sick…"

Barry pressed the button to move the elevator up, doing his best to ignore the blood that now covered himself, Jeremiah, and plenty of the elevator. The elevator only moved up somewhat before sparking again, but that was enough room for the journalist to push the corpse out of the elevator, allowing the two to move down once more.

"Well, I'm gonna be honest with you, Jeremiah…" Barry sighed, heart beating a million miles a second after that fight. "It's a miracle we're alive. I've had plenty of dumb luck before, but that?... I'm starting to think these soldiers don't know what they're doing."

"..." Jeremiah gulped, trying to recompose himself. "Y-Yeah, I… I mean… You got a shotgun off of one of them, and… They couldn't find you in their own tunnels for a whole day… And… That just happened…" The mechanic relched, holding his chest. "Urrgh…."

"The soldiers are incompetent…" Barry mused. "They speak a language I don't recognize… We're certainly not in any major world power… But this kind of 'game' could only be organized and run by some sort of government, or someone with plenty of control…"

"H-Hey, I, I know you're busy trying to crack the code and all Barry…" Jeremiah grimaced. "But, can we save it for later? I… I think I'm going to pass out."

"Right, right, sorry pal. Let's just keep calm." Barry took a deep breath. "We can make it through this. We're gonna live forever, right?"

"We're gonna live forever." Jeremiah repeated, the line moving through his head; that silly phrase somehow managed to keep him sane, so he kept saying it. "We're gonna live forever… We're gonna be fine…"

"Hell yeah, pal!" Barry grinned. "That's the spirit! Keep thinking like that!"

The elevator moved further and further downwards, leading them to the trial room…


Terry's jaw dropped as the elevator doors opened. "O-Oh my god…!? What the hell!?"

Out of the elevator came two very bloody men. Jeremiah and Barry glanced around the trial room in surprise, noticing that there was a fair share of blood around here, too; Tyson was passed out and bleeding, Harold was bleeding from his foot, and Tsumiko had a bloody wound that was bandaged.

"Shit… Are you lot all that's left?" Barry grimaced, but looked to Tsumiko with a smile. "Hey, dame! I knew you'd make it!"

"Barry…" Tsumiko's eyes widened, and she lowered her gun, shocked. "How.. How the hell are you alive!? And why is Jeremiah with you!?"

"Okay, first off, I didn't kill Rye!" Jeremiah shouted, entering the room with caution. "That was Tyson's lie! I was in the basement this whole time!"

"And I wasn't killed!... I'm kinda on the verge right now, though." The journalist let out a weak laugh, holding his wounded shoulder with a grunt. "A-Anyone wanna fill us in on what's going on around here?... Why is that wild dame shirtless?"

"I don't think you get to judge how I look right now." April glared, pouting as she tried to close the jacket around her bra. "What the fuck is with you two!? You're covered in blood!"

As the five discussed, Barry and Jeremiah returned to their respective spots in the trial room; Harold slowly limped his way to his spot, cowering, making sure Tsumiko wouldn't shoot at him as he tried to get a handle on what the hell was going on around here.

"S-So, um… N-Now what?" Harold grimaced. "M-Monokuma isn't saying anything…. I-Is… Is Tyson dead?" He whimpered, scared for his friend.

"I sure hope so." Jeremiah frowned. "But that isn't important. Right now, we've gotta get the hell out of here."

"And how are we going to do that?" April scoffed. "The game's still going on, right? And now we have two more people! What does that mean!?"

"Well, I suppose this means the game must come to an end."

An unfamiliar voice spoke into the room with a thick accent. His voice came from Monokuma, who sat on his throne with an unusually-expressionless posture.

"I have seen enough. It is clear that the bright hope for my nation is within this room. You may all go free; I shall be taking Tyson."

What?

The six remaining players looked between each other, confused.

"Um… Wh-what?" Terry tugged at the collar of his shirt nervously. "Wh-what does that mean…?"

"I… I recognize that voice…" Harold rubbed his head, trying to think. "Th-that voice…"

"You recognize that voice?" Barry wondered, looking around the room. "Does anyone else recognize that fella's voice?"

Tsumiko bit her lip, shaking her head, but got an idea. She pulled out the paper from earlier; the one written in a language she couldn't understand. She opened it up, showing it to Harold.

"Can you read this?" She asked. Harold blinked, peering towards the paper…

"I-I can…!" His eyes widened. "That's in Novoselic!"

Jeremiah grimaced, holding his chest. "Wait… Novoselic…? What does that mean?"

It all clicked for Barry. The journalist finally got it.

"Incompetent soldiers… Flowers found only in Novoselic… A document in Novoselic…!" Barry pounded his fist against his podium. "Christ, gang! We're in Novoselic!"

"That is… Correct." 'Monokuma' spoke. "I am our Great Army's General. You may call me… Fernand. I am the one who organized this project."

"Why!?" April shouted, glaring at the Monokuma bear. "Why the hell would you do that!? Why would you make us all go through shit like this!?"

"The reason is simple…" 'Monokuma spoke again. "We need help."

"Help…?" Harold echoed. "W-We do…?"

"Allow me to explain…"


The Third World War. It all started on December 10th, 2018.

A war that was waged due to the greed of the great nations, all vying for power on the world stage. A single assassination was all it took to start flaring tensions up until all-out war was declared.

Sides were taken with haste. Even the most neutral of countries had to stand by someone, or risk being annexed by the strong. There was only one country that had the diplomatic powers necessary to survive without taking a side…

Novoselic. A Nation of Peace. The Nation of Peace. While the rest of the world was at war, Novoselic kept itself from being a target simply by convincing everyone else that they weren't worth the trouble. Their small nation grew during the turmoil, offering safety to thousands of refugees, all while growing a larger and larger army.

However, the army is composed of those who could not fight before. They are inexperienced, and Novoselic is not known for conflict… But with the world war at its peak, and with the nations of the world having nearly killed each other off, now was the time to strike.

They accepted talented refugees from all over the world, promising to keep them safe. However, when they had gained a refugee that was said to be talented in warfare… That all changed. They saw their chance… But they weren't sure if Tyson could really pull their armies together. He was just a child, after all, and while he was clearly talented, he might not yet have the guts to stomach warfare and all of its horrors…

So, the government of Novoselic created a game.

A game packed with talented young people, designed to test the tactician's nerves and skills...


"Glory to the Nation of Novoselic!" 'Fernand' cried. "This is a game to ensure that the talent of the Tactician is not a lie!"

"You're kidding me…" Tsumiko glared. "This wasn't our game… It was Tyson's! This was all just a test for him!?"

"Of course. And he performed outstandingly; he had manipulated you all so that he four culprits could go free. Of course, in the end, he did 'fail' by letting himself get shot… But he still has a bright talent! One that we can use to make the world ours!"

The young men and women of the room would have called this all insane. They would have cried out and said that it was all lies… If they hadn't remembered…

"... The town I was hiding out in… Got bombed…" Tsumiko grimaced, holding a hand to her chest. "So many people died…"

Barry was leaning over, looking sick. "Urk… Grandma… We had to leave her behind, and…. Shit! Shit! Why is all of this only coming back to us NOW!?" The journalist seemed uncharacteristically angry, tears in his eyes at the remembrance of the death of one of his 'folks'. "What did you do to us!?"

"Marine…. She's still at home.. She's waiting for me…" Jeremiah mumbled to himself, horrified. "Marine… Please, please be okay…"

"We took away your memories of the war, of course." Fernand spoke. "But none of that matters now, does it? Do you really need more explanation than I've already given you…? You may leave."

"We… We may leave?" April shuddered. "Really? Just like that?"

"Well I don't see a reason to kill you." Fernand admitted. "You ARE talented young people, after all. Tsumiko is a brilliant sharpshooter. Jeremiah is a skilled mechanic. Barry is a capable journalist. April is a fantastic trapper, and… Well. To be honest I have no idea how Terry is alive right now."

Terry sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I get it… C'mon, who wants to insult me next?" He flicked his wrist, frowning. "Anyone?"

"The point is… You may go. Killing you would be a waste. The test is over. We will be taking Tyson, allowing him to heal so that Novoselic can use his skills, and… The rest will be history." The Monokuma that Fernand was speaking through grinned.

Everyone in the room glanced over to look at each other; each person was unsure. This seemed almost too good to be true…

"... W-We can go now." Harold spoke up, shuddering. "I-It'll all be okay, and… W-We get to live…"

"Yeah, uh, can we just… Leave Harold behind though? Forever?" April frowned. "Like, seriously, fuck him, am I right guys?"

"I'm okay with that." Tsumiko admitted. And for the first time since the game started, everyone agreed with April about Harold. The executioner simply shrugged in response, shaking his head.

"Th-that's okay… I want to be with Tyson, a-anyway." The boy frowned. "He… He might've done b-bad things, but… H-He's still my friend…"

"Wait." Terry grimaced. "We… We can't just leave like this, guys."

"We can't?" Jeremiah blinked, glancing over to the animal photographer. "Whaddya mean? We've gotta leave, don't we?" His thoughts were of home and Marine; he didn't want to spend another moment in this hell.

"I'm with Jeremiah, pal." Barry flinched. "We've been given a straight-shot out of here. What's the holdup?"

"The holdup is that if we let Tyson live, Novoselic is going to go to war." Terry glared. "D-Don't you remember what the war was like when we got here? Guys… The rest of the world would be screwed if Novoselic has a big enough army! Especially with a leader like Tyson!"

"Don't think about doing anything foolish…" Fernand warned. "Soldiers are almost to your location… They're just… Goddammit, what do you mean they're LOST!?'

"We have time!" Terry shouted. "If we kill Tyson, we can stop Novoselic and keep the world safe!"

"Are you out of your goddamned mind, Terry!?" April shouted. "This isn't our fight! We can just leave and be free, right!?"

"Y-Yeah! We can't k-kill Tyson!" Harold glared. "H-He's my friend!"

"New's flash Harold: nobody fucking cares!" April hissed. "But, he's still kinda right! If we kill him, we get killed, too!"

"But if we don't kill him, millions of people could die!" Terry shouted. "Don't you guys get it!? This whole game was for him! Just him! He's going to be used to further the war!"

"I… I don't know." Barry admitted, grimacing, putting a hand on his wounded shoulder and grunting. "He's just a kid. Could they really use him to win wars…?"

"Even if they can't, they'll try!" Terry grimaced. "And if they try, more people will die meaningless deaths!"

"Oh my fucking god…" April put her hands over her face. "Please no… I don't want to deal with this shit anymore…"

"Terry, we can't do that." Tsumiko winced. "We can't! We've worked too hard to die now, and Tyson is on the verge of death anyway!"

"E-Exactly! I can't die!" Jeremiah glared. "We're gonna live forever and all, yeah? That's a motto I can get behind! I need to go see Marine again!"

"N-Nobody's going to listen t-to you, Terry!" Harold shouted, glaring. His attitude towards the boy had shifted quickly in defense of Tyson. "We can't kill him!"

That cut deep for Terry; however, now that the animal photographer was sure of what was going on here, he couldn't let it stand. It was true that they had done so much to get here, and they had prevailed through a lot to survive, but…

If they didn't do anything here, more deaths were going to occur. There would be more Julians, Ryes, Deserters, Pattys, Arthurs, Georgias, Nicks, Hannahs, Drus, and Roses who would all die because of this ever-expanding war.

He just couldn't let that stand!

"Jeremiah, what's going to happen to Marine if you let Tyson live?" Terry turned to the mechanic. "What's going to happen to your family? Your friends? What are you going to do when that guy has a fucking army to control!?"

"I…" The mechanic clutched his chest. "How could… This is ridiculous, a-ah mean, think about it; Novoselic going to war? What if it's just a trick anyway?"

"If it's just a trick, then they want us to keep Tyson alive for some other reason; we can't give them what they want!" Terry refuted, quickly turning to Barry. "Barry! What about your family!? What would your grandma think if you had the chance to stop a war, and you didn't take it!?"

"..." Barry was hit deep by that one. "Ah… Well… Fuck. I mean… I guess you have a point, pal-"

"Tsumiko! How are you going to be able to get back to Japan and apologize for what you did if there is no Japan to get back to!?" Terry pleaded, trying to reason with her. "If the people aren't there! If your friends have been killed by that fucker in the corner!?"

Tsumiko grimaced. "I… I wouldn't be able to go and apologize in the first place if I was dead!"

"Really? Because saving all their lives sounds like the best kind of apology to me." Terry frowned. Tsumiko was shocked at that, but considered it…

"And April-" Terry was about to speak, but got waved off.

"Yeah, yeah, fuck it…" The trapper groaned, holding her forehead. "It's either we do this, or millions die, right…? Y'know what? I don't care anymore. I've wanted this guy dead for the past few hours anyway, let's just do it."

"G-Guys!" Harold pleaded. "Y-You can't! You'd all die! Y-You don't want to die, d-do you!?"

Barry laughed. "Ah, that's funny! He thinks we'll die that easily!" The journalist grinned, regaining some of his courage. "Are you kidding me, pal? We're strong! Gang, we're gonna make it! We're gonna live forever!"

Jeremiah took a deep breath. "I… I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let Tyson live here." The mechanic admitted. "Terry is right. We can't let this happen."

"Soldiers! SOLDIERS!"

"Tsumiko, shoot that fucker! Shoot him right in the head!" April shouted. "We can't let this happen! We can't give these fuckers what they want!"

Tsumiko took a deep breath, pulling out her gun. "... Alright then. This is over."

The remaining players heard the rushing of feet as several soldiers closed in on the trial room from the underground tunnels. Barry grinned, readying his crowbar, while the rest of the room was left literally defenseless. Tsumiko not included, though as she walked over to Tyson, she prepared to use the only defense she had on killing him.

"You can't!" Harold cried. "You can't, please! H-He's my friend!"

Tsumiko put the barrel of her gun up against Tyson's head, ensuring a clean kill. She turned to the others.

"Are we all okay with this…?" She grimaced, still scared.

"We're already all-in, dame!" Barry winked with a grin. "Give 'im hell!"

"Well, we're probably dead soon anyway." April sighed. "Just fucking kill him already."

"We don't got a choice no more." Jeremiah rubbed his arm. "Finish it."

Terry simply nodded. He was scared as hell, sure… But this was what had to be done. Tsumiko nodded back, turning to the tactician that Novoselic wanted to turn into their own pawn…

And pulled the trigger, ending a life.


The year was 2020.

The third World War had ended. Many nations had fallen… And, yet, no more bloodshed was had. There were many survivors. The nations that had not been wiped out were beginning to rebuild, and the most prosperous nation at the time, Novoselic, and kept its promise of peace to all nations.

After all… Had it attempted to go to war with such a terribly-trained military, they would have been destroyed.

However, in the end, it was not able to keep its promise to keep the talented refugees safe. Officially, most of them died to an off-target bombing caused by some other, unidentified nation… Though only a few knew the truth. And fewer were willing to speak the truth.

After all of that bloodshed, the world was facing a serious morale crisis. Cultures had collapsed, and so many people had lost hope. There were few people left alive that could inspire the masses, and fewer still that could inspire themselves. The majority of people walked the Earth without drive…

But seven walked the Earth with powerful hopes.


"We can't let them die!"

"You think I don't know that!?"

"Hurry, hurry!"

"I'm hurrying, dammit!"

Nyla and Aaron ran through the underground tunnels, each holding a rifle. They rushed past some confused soldiers, shooting them down, moving through the system with an agile ease.

"How did you learn how to shoot like that?" Aaron wondered, moving through the halls, being wary of any hiding soldiers.

"My brother taught me… Before he died." Nyla admitted sheepishly. "What about you?"

"My uncle's pretty conservative." The pharmacist explained as they moved close to the trial room. "He always said, 'no nephew of mine is going to grow up to be a pussy!'... He also disapproved of my hairstyle."

"Aww, but I think your hair's pretty!"

"Shut up."

The two moved ever-closer to their goal, shooting down threats along the way. Aaron picked up a radio off of one of the soldiers, hearing a general's voice come in through it in that damned Novoselic language he had come to recognize. The man rolled his eyes, tossing the radio away, continuing to lead the way through the tunnels.

"So how did you memorize the tunnel system so quickly?" Nyla grinned. "I've been here for, like, two days longer and I couldn't do that! Even with the big map!"

"Yeah, well, turns out when you've just murdered your friend, your mind wants to focus on anything but that." Aaron spoke dryly, causing Nyla to shut up and nod, understanding. They were both still.. Unwell, but they took it in different ways. Nyla was trying to reconcile for what she had done, but Aaron was still processing his own crimes.

The two had finally made it to a stone door; they pressed a nearby button, causing the wall to open up.

"C'mon, this way!" Aaron shouted, surprising the people within the courtroom, who had thought their time was up. "Go go go!"

Despite knowing who those two were, everyone besides Harold had begun moving towards them.

"How did you get here!?" Tsumiko glared at Aaron, especially pissed at him. The pharmacist frowned, recognizing that anger, but not responding to it.

"Just go." He frowned. "We're saving your lives."

"Thanks asshole!" April chirped, dashing past him and Nyla. Terry followed behind quickly, scared of the two murderers, but deciding that this was their best shot. Jeremiah, Barry, and Tsumiko weren't so sure, but looking between each other, they eventually came to the same conclusion, rushing into the tunnel.

Aaron looked to Harold, who sat down next to Tyson's body, sniffling. The executioner held onto the tactician's cold hand, wailing, bleeding on the floor…

Aaron sighed and shut the door, leaving them behind.


Aaron, April, Barry, Jeremiah, Nyla, Terry, and Tsumiko stepped out into the sunlight for the first time in over a week. The sun nearly blinded them all, but it was a warm, welcoming sight.

"I can't believe… We're outside…" Terry fell to his knees, grinning. "We're… We're outside…!" He laughed, gripping the grass with his hands, glancing around at the green, open fields around them.

"Oh sweet heaven…" Jeremiah collapsed, laying onto the ground, panting. "Ah've never ran so hard in mah life... " His accent grew thick as he tried to recuperate.

April just laughed. "That's because you ran with that big, thick jacket! You should've run with less clothes, like me!~"

Aaron took off his lab coat, simply wearing a vest now, giving it to April. "Here. This can actually button up. Wear it, or we're leaving you behind."

April pouted, taking off the unclosed jacket and trading it for the bloody lab coat.

"I told ya, gang! So long as we stay determined, we're always gonna live forever!" Barry laughed. "... Would ya believe I just made that phrase up today to keep Jeremiah calm?"

"What!? You said that was your motto!" Jeremiah's eyes widened.

"I lied." Barry chuckled sheepishly. "But, hey, it worked out in the end, right gang!?"

"Can we please leave Barry?" Tsumiko raised her hand.

"Hey!" The journalist feigned being offended. "I thought you liked me!"

"No."

"So what happened?" Terry couldn't help but ask, looking up at Aaron and Nyla. "Why did you come to save us?"

"We couldn't let you die, could we?" Nyla grinned. "I mean.. We never wanted anyone to die in the first place! It was those assholes that made us kill people!"

"..." Aaron disagreed internally, blaming himself for Nick's death; he couldn't bring himself to push that onto anyone else but himself. "We… Would have brought Conchordia, but she was in a different ward. Besides, she seemed to be, uh… Having her own fun."

"Turns out she's really, really good at manipulating people… Scary good…" Nyla shuddered. "But, hey, we're away from her now, and we're away from the killing game! We're alive!"

"Wait…" Tsumiko rubbed her forehead. "What… What about everything else? The names written on that list, the letter, we never translated it…"

"Ah, right. We were told about that." Aaron pushed up his glasses. "They had dropped those two notes in as hints for Tyson as to what was going on. I'm assuming that's what you're talking about?"

Nyla frowned. "Right, right… Apparently, Julian, Rye, and Patty were all meant to kick off the game… Makes sense, right? Julian was a sick guy in a wheelchair, Rye was too small to fight back against anyone else, and Patty… Apparently she had antisocial personality disorder…"

"Oh my god, Patty was a psycho? Who kneeeeeew?" April sighed. "So they wanted her to kill… Guess that didn't work out as intended."

"They had other motives planned and everything. Tyson worked faster than they expected." Aaron remembered. "... By the way… You did kill him, right?"

"Shot him right in the head and checked his pulse." Tsumiko nodded. "He's dead."

"Thank god!" Nyla breathed, relieved. "You don't understand, if those guys got a hold of someone that smart… The world's in a bad enough shape…"

"So we saved the world." Jeremiah grinned. "Heh. Never thought I'd ever get to say that."

"That was some good work you did back there, Terry!" Barry grinned. "I was starting to lose my cool, but you kept it! I was wrong about you, fella." He put a hand on Terry's shoulder, and the boy blinked, surprised.

"U-Uh… Really? I just.. I felt like I was losing my cool more than anything…" The boy admitted, coughing awkwardly.

"Barry's right. You did a good job." Tsumiko smiled. "I didn't think you were capable of anything like that."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure we all had you tagged as a loser, not anyone who could convince us all to stop being bitches." April grinned, putting her hands behind her head.

"... Thanks…?" Terry shook his head.

"So, uh… Now what?" Jeremiah wondered. "Does… Anyone even know where Novoselic is on the map?"

"I do!" Nyla grinned. "I figured we could move north and get to another passive country, and from there, we could try to get far away! Maybe to America or something!"

"We would be chased for the rest of our lives, of course…" Aaron frowned. "We harbor secrets that Novoselic would never want getting out…"

"We won't let them get to us." Tsumiko spoke up, determined. "They can try all they want; we will tell everyone what they did."

"Yeah… We have to tell the world…" Terry frowned. "So nothing like this can happen again. We can't let anymore 'games' like that one be played, right?"

"Of course!" Barry beamed. "Man… I can't believe it, gang! We lived, and we're gonna tell the tale! I gotta say, there were some real close ones there!"

"No shit! I'm still filled with adrenaline!" April laughed. "It's such a fucking rush!~" She grinned, turning pink at the thought.

"April no. April down. Bad April." Terry tugged her back into reality. "... We all seriously need to go see some psychologists…"

"Please. I feel like I'm going to snap… And kill April." Tsumiko admitted.

"Hey!" April pouted, agitated.

"We'll worry about that once we're safe." Aaron shook his head. "But, I have to ask… Jeremiah. How did you know the code to get into the tunnels?"

"Huh?" Jeremiah blinked. "Oh, well… It was 10122018. December 10th, 2018. The day I was kidnapped."

"What?" Aaron rose an eyebrow. "But the code was '29582742'. It was randomized every day…"

"Holy shit… Did Jeremiah just get lucky!?" April shouted. "Are we all just the fucking luckiest people ever!?"

"I… I don't know." Jeremiah admitted, confused. "I… I really don't know how that could have been possible. I just… Entered in the only date I figured was relevant… That can't be a coincidence, right?"

"Ah, who cares?" Nyla beamed. "If we got lucky or not, what matters is we got out, right? We should get moving before some soldiers show up!"

"Give Tsumiko a gun." Barry grinned. "That dame'll keep us all safe."

"You better not expect me to pull all the weight." Tsumiko smirked, taking Nyla's rifle. "Weren't you the one who avoided soldiers for a whole day in the tunnels?"

"Yeah, well, maybe I'll do a bit of work… But I'm still terribly wounded so maybe I also shouldn't." The journalist laughed. "Oh, oh my god…. I actually forgot… About my shoulder… And now I think I'm in pain again ow ow ow…"

"Christ, Barry…" Jeremiah sighed. "If you don't bleed out by the time we get to a hospital, it'll be a damned miracle."

"Then let's get moving now." Terry smiled. "W-We can't let anyone else die, right…? Not now that we're back in control of our own lives!"

"Well said." Aaron agreed. "Is everyone ready?"

With the sun setting in the distance, the seven agreed to travel together, moving through the fields of Novoselic to make it to safety.

Their journey would be long and hard, but their drive to succeed helped them every step of the way… And while the world wept and mourned the loss of many, these seven moved on, providing a bright hope for the world.

And so ends an unbelievable tale… A tale that would change the lives of many for generations to come.


CHAPTER 6: Glory to a Nation of Liars - END

Survivors: Aaron Wright, April Nun, Barry Berry, Jeremiah Core, Nyla Greens, Terry Holds, Tsumiko Yamamoto.

Unknown: Conchordia Flight, Harold Slayne.

Deceased: Arthur York, "The Deserter", Dru West, Georgia York, Hannah Snow, Julian Grendel, Nick Icarus, Patty Silvers, Rose Major, Rye Titan, Tyson Jin.

Thank you so much for reading this story. I hope you enjoyed. This was one of the most fun things I've ever written, and, well… I hope it helped someone through a rough time. It helped me a lot.