Work Text:
Truth Bullets:
Monokuma File 0: The victim is Monokuma. The body was found dismembered in the kitchen. The estimated time of death is 6:50 AM. His legs were roughly chopped off and he has suffered multiple blunt-force wounds.
Monokuma’s Body: Oil is leaking out onto the floor where his legs normally are. The top of Monokuma’s head has been severely dented inward, along with his belly plate. Other than that, the file is fully accurate.
Trowel: In the kitchen sink is a gardening trowel. It’s remarkably sharp. According to Tennis Ball, it likely came from the storage room.
Kitchen Sink: The faucet of the sink has been on ever since this morning. However, Leafy claims that she “for a fact” turned it off last night before the announcement.
Morning Alibi’s: Almost everyone was in the dining hall at 7 AM. The only ones missing or late were Needle, Pin, Firey, Teardrop, Rocky, and Pen.
Oil Droplets: There are oil droplets leading from the kitchen, going through the dining hall, and partway into the dormitory area. After that, the trail disappears.
Oil Covered Scraps: Sheets of paper have been crumpled together, and are covered with oil. It was found in front of Teardrop’s Dorm.
Teardrop’s Account: Teardrop and Needle were together before the morning announcement went off, and were still together when the BDA went off. TD went to the kitchen at roughly 6:30, and came back around 6:35.
***
Monokuma: “Now, let’s begin with a basic explanation of the scientific trial! During this trial, you'll present your arguments for who amongst you is a scheming rat that killed someone.”
Monokuma: “If you vote correctly, only the blackened will receive punishment. But if you're all wrong and vote incorrectly, I'll punish everyone besides the blackened, who will get to leave this cursed place!”
Monokuma: “Now then, let the scientific trial begin!”
Golf Ball: “But why are we having a trial? Nobody here is dead.”
Flower: “Yeah. This is just a waste of time.”
Monokuma: “Hey! That’s super insulting to my clones, y'know?”
Tennis Ball: “Golf Ball, I think we should just go along with this for now.”
Pen: “Yeah, besides. What’s the worst that could happen to us?”
Pin: “Hopefully nothing too bad. My hands are already bruising as is.”
Monokuma: “Upupupu... Don’t worry. The worst thing's just an execution.”
Bubble: “We’ll be-”
Leafy: “Executed!?”
Monokuma: “I just said don’t worry. Besides, it’ll only happen if you vote incorrectly! Now, let’s get this debate underway already!”
Snowball: “But what are we supposed to talk about?”
Needle: “Well, whatever was used to dismember Monokuma would be a good start.”
Whatever was used to dismember Monokuma… We don’t have much to go off of, so this might be difficult.
Nonstop Debate Start!
Pencil: “Well, something sharp must’ve been used to dismember Monokuma if it managed to chop his legs off.”
Spongy: “I think it was a knife. After all, it took place in the kitchen.”
Coiny: “A knife is always a good bet for weapons.”
“No, that’s wrong!”
Break!
Woody: “I… don’t think a knife was used. I mean, compared to the trowel left laying in the kitchen sink.”
Monokuma: “I’m so glad that worked…”
Eraser: “Yeah, it was super sharp, too. Almost cut my hand while getting it.”
GB: “And none of the knives had any oil or oil residue on them!”
Pen: “You checked all the knives? Talk about being over-prepared...”
Spongy: “And I thought I was onto something there...”
Rocky: “We have a weapon, though!”
Pin: “Wait, where could the culprit have gotten the trowel? There isn’t a gardening place anywhere.”
Where could it have been gotten? I remember someone telling me…
- Storage Room
- Their Dorm
- Kitchen
Woody: “It likely came from the Storage Room. At least, that’s what Tennis Ball told me.”
TB: “I did say that. And I can also confirm that there are lots of gardening supplies in storage.”
Match: “But, like, how do we know that you aren’t, like, making that all up to cover for yourself?”
Blocky: “Lying to cover up where you got the weapon… Clever.”
Firey: “I went with him. He said he wanted somebody to go investigate with him, so I did.”
Match: “...Oh.”
Bubble: “So we have what took out Monokuma’s legs… now what? Is there anything else about the trowel?”
Leafy: “Well… there’s definitely something weird about where we found it that’s bothering me.”
What could be bothering Leafy about where we found it?
Nonstop Debate Start!
Leafy: “It’s just, ever since last night…”
Snowball: “Who cares about last night; nothing important happened! We were all sleeping, yeah?”
Blocky: “Well, we were supposed to be.”
Snowball: “And then we all got up this morning. Nothing strange happened during the night!”
Pencil: “I’m assuming you mean nothing strange aside from the dead body.”
Leafy: “...Fucker…”
“No, that’s wrong!”
Break!
Woody: "No, I think she's onto something here..."
Woody: “Leafy, are you talking about the sink being on?”
Leafy: “Yeah! Before everyone went to bed, I made sure the sink was off. And unless anyone else went in the kitchen after I did-”
Teardrop: “(Then the sink shouldn’t have been on in the first place!)”
Ice Cube: “...Does anyone know what Teardrop just did?”
Needle: “Oh, right! ‘Then the sink shouldn’t have been on in the first place!’”
Pencil: “That won’t get annoying quickly.”
Needle: “Well maybe you should learn sign language at some point!”
Match: “Well it wouldn’t be an issue if she would, like, talk to us in the first place, Needy!”
Needle: “Don’t call me-”
Monokuma: “Enough already, enough! Fights are fine, but keep them out of the trial! Teardrop, give me your e-Handbook, I’m going to add a quality improvement to it. And don’t say I do nothing for you brats.”
Without warning, Monokuma took Teadrop’s e-Handbook and started furiously tapping all over it before handing it back to her.
Teardrop: “{Is this it?}”
Monokuma: “Yep! There, now you can debate to your heart's content, too!”
Pin: “Where were we before you all… Right. The sink shouldn’t have been on because Leafy turned it off.”
Rocky: “Why’s that matter?”
Woody: “I think it matters because…”
- The culprit’s a slob
- The culprit had to hurry
- The culprit wanted to waste water
Woody: “The culprit had to rush their cleanup.”
“You absolute bember!”
Pencil: “The culprit had to rush their cleanup? Don’t be silly.”
Woody: “Silly? W-What do you mean?”
Pencil: “Alliance, watch how it’s done!”
Pencil, what are you trying to prove?
Rebuttal Showdown Start!
Pencil: “Why would the culprit...”
Pencil: “Not even turn the sink off...”
Pencil: “If they were cleaning evidence?”
Pencil: “That’s an absolutely idiotic idea to even consider!”
Advance!
Woody: “But if Leafy turned it off last night, then it must’ve been turned back on. Them panicking’s the only reason they’d leave it running.”
Pencil: “There’s another explanation, though.”
Pencil: “And it’s that Leafy...”
Pencil: “Never turned it off at all!”
Pencil: “She simply told us she did...”
Pencil: “Before leaving the kitchen, trying to fool us all!”
“I’ll slice that claim!”
Break!
Woody: “No, I don’t think she left it running all night. If she did, then Teardrop would’ve noticed.”
Spongy: “Teardrop would’ve noticed it? Why’s that?”
Teardrop: “{I went into the kitchen before the morning announcement, and everything was fine. The sink wasn't on either.}”
Firey: “You were at the scene before the morning announcement? Then that means-”
Needle: “She’s innocent. She was with me – somewhere else – when Monokuma died.”
Firey: “Oh.”
Snowball: “Mhm. And how do we know you two aren’t working together?”
GB: “Although it's certainly possible, the chances of them working together and failing to clean up the evidence is close to null. Specifically, it’s-”
Snowball: “Nobody cares about the percent, Bozo Brain.”
GB: “What did you call me!?”
TB: “H-Hey now, let’s try and focus on the trial, GB.”
Rocky: “So Teardrop and Needle are safe! …Now what?”
TB: “I think we’ve done everything regarding the trowel; that just leaves Monokuma’s other wounds.”
Eraser: “Monokuma had other wounds?”
GB: “If you bothered to read the file, you’ll know he’s also severely dented in multiple places.”
Monokuma’s other wounds… What could’ve caused them?
Nonstop Debate Start!
Blocky: “Damn. Something pretty fierce must’ve made those strikes to dent metal.”
Ice Cube: “Maybe someone really strong attacked?”
Pen: “Or they had something heavy with them!”
Pin: “Well, Monokuma must’ve been pretty surprised to be attacked.”
“I think that’s right!”
Break!
Woody: “I think Pin’s onto something. After all, Monokuma wouldn't willingly get himself hurt if he knew it was coming.”
Leafy: “And he was hit directly on the head, meaning it’s completely possible he never expected it!”
Flower: “I dunno… we don’t know what that damn bear’s into.”
Monokuma: “Puhuhuhu.”
Blocky: “...Ignoring that, we still don’t know what was used. And believe me, denting metal’s pretty difficult.”
Flower: “Well, did we ever find anything that could’ve been used?”
Leafy: “Unless anyone wants to speak up… we didn’t.”
Rocky: "Maybe the trowel was used, then?"
Pen: "I dunno if a trowel'd cause dents, though. Besides, wasn't it used for slicing his legs?"
Snowball: “Dammit! We spent all this time arguing, and for what? Fucking nothing!”
TB: “...No, I don’t think that was useless. If we never found a weapon, and suppose the blackened was panicking, then what was likely to be used?”
What could’ve been used to dent Monokuma in a panic? Maybe...
- A cooking utensil
- The trowel
- Fists
Woody: “Are you suggesting someone… punched Monokuma?”
TB: “Yep! Well, maybe not punch, but it’s the same general idea.”
Snowball: “That’s insane, Tennis Ball. Who here could’ve done that?”
GB: “The one talking, for starters.”
Snowball: “What did you say?!”
Nonstop Debate Start!
GB: “I’m suggesting that Snowball was the one to attack Monokuma.”
Snowball: “I’m telling you, I didn’t do it!”
Teardrop: “{He attacked Monokuma's head from behind, and ultimately killed him.}”
Pen: “There’s no way he did it!”
Flower: “Face it, Pen. He fled the scene, running back to his room!”
“No, that’s wrong!”
Break!
Woody: “I don’t think Snowball went back to his room. There were drops of oil going from the dining hall to the dorm area, but they didn’t reach the end of the dorms.”
Spongy: “Really? Where’d they stop?”
Woody: “They stopped at around… the 3rd set of doors.”
Pen: “See! There’s no way SB did this!”
GB: “I…see. I suppose I was… wrong about that.”
Rocky: “Oil on the floor… why’s that important?”
Match: "Well, it's just, like, acting as blood?"
Coiny: “It’s also important because the culprit couldn’t have gotten far into the dorm hallway! …Wait, it stops at my dorm!?”
Eraser: “Isn’t Pin right across from you, Coiny?”
Pin: “Wh–! I’m telling you, I didn’t do it!”
Ice Cube: “Then maybe someone from the first two sets did it?”
Pen: “Wait, you’re suspecting us, too!?”
Coiny: “I’m not the culprit!”
Pin: “I didn’t do it!”
Eraser: “What? No way we did it!”
Oh no. Everyone’s gonna be talking over each other… I’ll just have to try and pay close attention.
Mass Panic Debate Start!
Coiny: “I’ll repeat it again and again. I’m not the culprit!” / Pin: “Why would I attack Monokuma? That’s a death wish!” / Eraser: “Me and Pen would never do something like that!”
Match: “That sounds like something a guilty person would, like, say!” / TB: “We know the attack was a surprise. Maybe it was an accident on the blackened’s part?” / Pen: “Yeah! We’d never risk our lives attacking Monokuma!”
Leafy: “Hey, now. There’s no need to accuse Coiny that aggressively...” / Pencil: “An accident? That’s ridiculous for how brutal it was!” / Needle: “Well, we don’t have a way to narrow it down…”
Coiny: “We already have a suspect! Who’s to say he didn’t get lucky!” / TB: “Accidents can be brutal, too…” / Blocky: “So they’re still suspects? Fucking hell…”
“I can hear it!”
Break!
Woody: “Wait, we might have a way to narrow down who attacked Monokuma! If we can figure out whoever was late or missing-”
Teardrop: “{Then they’re suspicious! …So who wasn’t there?}”
Flower: “Well, I remember being there.”
Spongy: “I was there, too. But Rocky wasn’t present for breakfast.”
Match: “Good! It was bad enough to have, like, one disgusting person there. We didn’t need another.”
Bubble: “Match, please don’t start another fight…”
Pencil: “Well, I don’t remember seeing Pen, Pin, or Firey present either.”
GB: “Why weren’t you all at breakfast?”
Firey: “I was sleeping in. This has happened before, why is it surprising?”
Pin: “I was just extra tired from yesterday, and wanted to make sure I was prepared for the day.”
Rocky: “I was tired. And nauseous.”
Blocky: “Wait, Pen was there at breakfast! I know that, I talked to him!”
Pen: “Yeah, but I was late. It's because I went to record my dreams in those journals we got… Also, aren’t we forgetting about Teardrop and Needle?”
Needle: “We were together when Monokuma died, Pen. Geez…”
Teardrop: “{Well, we have four suspects now. Rocky, Pen, Firey, and Pin.}”
TB: “I think we can remove Rocky from the list. After all, there wasn’t any oil going to his dorm.”
Flower: “Well, that still leaves three suspects left, and two of them never even bothered showing up!”
Spongy: “Yeah. One of them’s the culprit!”
GB: “We currently don’t have any way to find out who’s innocent, though. If we vote now, it would be a 33.3% repeating percent chance of being right, assuming one of them is the killer.”
Bubble: “Well, do we have any more evidence to go over?”
Is this it? Do we not have any more evidence? …Wait.
- Oil Covered Scraps
Woody: “There’s still some evidence left! There was a ball of paper drenched with some oil in front of Teardrop’s door.”
TB: “Wait a minute. In front of her door?”
Woody: “Yeah? Is… something wrong?”
TB: “It’s just… that wasn’t there this morning.”
Ice Cube: “What?”
TB: “While I was heading to breakfast, there wasn’t anything in front of the door.”
Match: “Couldn’t you have just, like, missed it though?”
Blocky: “I didn’t see anything either, and my dorm is right beside hers.”
Leafy: “So the culprit must’ve put it over there after we all left!”
Snowball: “Why’s it matter? It’s just scraps of paper, how does it point to the culprit?”
Teardrop: “{Paper covered with oil. It'd be just as important if it was covered in blood instead.}”
Rocky: “Where could the culprit have gotten the paper?”
Flower: “Probably from the storage room. For petal’s sake, there were trowels in there!”
Firey: “I dunno, I couldn’t find any paper anywhere in there.”
If there wasn't any in the storage room... Where could the culprit have gotten the paper? Try and think, Woody, it’ll come to you…
Hangman's Gambit Start!
_ O _ _ _ A _
J O _ R _ A _
J O U R N A L
“I hope I understand.”
Break!
Woody: “Maybe the culprit… used their journal to get some paper?”
Coiny: “What? That’s absolutely crazy!”
TB: “Well, it’s not like they could check the storage room for any.”
Ice Cube: “And the journals are in our rooms.”
Needle: “Yeah, but we all have journals. Anyone could’ve taken some paper and thrown it.”
GB: “Well, there’s a simple solution. We can check everyone’s journal and see if any pages are missing. Monokuma, if you could bring them here.”
Monokuma: “Hmm… Hmmmmmmmm… Alright, alright. Consider this my last favour for this trial.”
Monokuma quickly ran out of the trial room, the rumbling of the elevator growing quieter. But it only took a moment for him to reappear back on his throne, journals in hand.
Spongy: “...Did you just use the elevator to leave and teleport back?”
Monokuma: “Yepperoni! Don’t worry about it though; I have your journals right here.”
He threw the journals to Golf Ball and Tennis Ball, who quickly started skimming through them.
Pen: “Well? Are any ripped?”
GB: “None over here.”
TB: “Then only one journal has ripped pages…”
He lifted the journal up with his mouth, letting us all get a good look at it.
Spongy: “That cover is... really red. And bright. How does it not hurt their eyes?”
Pencil: “Well, only one person’s a bright red.”
One suspect… bright red… There’s only one person it could belong to.
Select a person.
Woody: “Pin. This journal… is it yours?”
Pin: “...No use lying about that. Yeah, it’s my journal. But-”
Ice Cube: “So you did it?”
Pin: “No, I didn’t attack Monokuma.”
Match: “Then why is your journal, like, ripped?”
Pin: “Well… anyone could have gone into my room for the paper while I was sleeping.”
Pencil: “Uh-huh...That’s it? Talk about a weak defence.”
Pin: “But anyone could have taken my journal. Remember when I left my journal in the A/V Room before? I… did the same thing last night, too.”
Needle: “But we never saw a journal in the A/V Room!”
“So that's where you two were?”
Coiny: “O-Obviously she didn’t leave it in there again, right Pin?”
Pin: “Right. I forgot it somewhere else. And as long as that stands, you can’t say I did it.”
Teardrop: “{Didn’t you just say that someone broke into your room to get it, though?}”
Pin: “That was… me offering a possibility.”
Leafy: “...Are we really back to square one? After all of this?”
TB: “No. Pin was absolutely the one who killed Monokuma.”
Pin: “I’m telling you, I never attacked him and you can't prove it!”
Pin… Was it really her? She’s scary, sure, but a killer? …This is for us, Woody. We need to find the truth for everyone.
Argument Armament Start!
“I never attacked Monokuma!”
“Anyone could have taken my journal.”
“Plus, there's still a big hole in your argument!”
“We don't have whatever bludgeoned him.”
“And don't say fists again, that was stupid.”
“I’m not strong enough to dent metal…”
“So I couldn't have done it!”
Final Strike!
“There’s nothing that proves I attacked Monokuma!”
BRUISES
ON
YOUR
HANDS
"It's finally over."
Break!
Woody: “Pin. Earlier, you mentioned your hands were bruised. Why are they bruised?”
Pin: “My hands? Well… they're bruised because I injured myself by accident.”
GB: “On what?”
Pin: “W-Well, on… my desk! I hit my hands against the desk, and hurt them pretty badly.”
TB: “How did you hit them?”
Pin: “How’d I hit them? On the side of the desk.”
GB: “Do you mind if I check your hands, then? Just to make sure the bruises match and you’re not lying?”
Pin: “...”
Pencil: “Looks like it’s over for you.”
Pin: “...”
Bubble: “Is it, though? I don’t want to believe it, but…”
Pin: “...Fuck.”
Coiny: “P-Pin? You… alright? You didn’t do it, right!?”
Pin: “...”
Ice Cube: “So it’s over. Do we just have to vote now?”
Coiny: “H-Hey, wait a minute! We s-still don’t know if Pin did it.”
Leafy: “Coiny…”
Coiny: “S-She didn’t do it! There’s no way…”
TB: “...Hey, Woody. Would you mind recapping everything that happened?”
Match: “Yeah. And then we can, like, end this.”
Will recapping everything finally end the trial? If so… I have to.
“Here’s what happened.”
“The case happened earlier today, before the morning announcement went off. The culprit was up early, wandering about in the kitchen. However, something must’ve scared them. The culprit struck downwards… directly onto Monokuma’s head.”
“Realising what they had just done, they had to hurry, as attacking Monokuma is directly against the lab rules. They punched Monokuma again right in the stomach, and sliced his legs off, making it so he couldn’t get up to punish them.”
“Then, for some reason, they started to clean up their crime. First they tried to wash the trowel off in the sink, probably to put it back with the others in the storage room. But they never finished, instead leaving the trowel in the sink and going back to their dorm room. They were probably in so much fear that they didn't realise the oil dripping off them, which led back to their dorm.”
“Finally safe in their dorm, they must've realized and removed the oil that was still on their body, using some pages from their journal to clean. But how could they dispose of the makeshift rag? They simply waited for everyone to go to breakfast after the morning announcement before placing the ball in front of Teardrop’s dorm. With their cleanup done, all they had left was to not get caught.”
“Am I wrong, Pin?”
Break!
Pin: “...Well. You got it mostly right. I did attack Monokuma, I panicked and left the trowel, I left the oil, all of that was me.”
Coiny: “Pin…”
Bubble: “Wait, you said mostly right. What was wrong?”
Pin: “Well, two things. One, I didn’t place it in front of Teardrop’s dorm; I threw it to the end of the hall. Two… I had a reason to clean up evidence. Monokuma offered me a deal.”
Woody: “A… deal? What was it?”
Pin: “If I treated the broken Monokuma like a dead subject, he’d be willing to overlook the rule violation.”
Monokuma: “Thaaaat’s right! After all, I didn’t want to make a boring announcement about rule breakers. Not if I had to waste one of you bastards.”
Rocky: “...We found the killer, so what do we do now?”
Monokuma: “Ah, right! Please use the touchpad on your podiums to vote for who you think the blackened is. Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one?”
***
Vote Tally:
Pin: 19
Coiny: 1
***
Monokuma: “Well, congratulations! The blackened who killed Monokuma is indeed Pin! ...Y'know, it's weird to just say ‘Pin.’ There's no flair, no pizzazz to it!”
Pin: “Well, you heard it. I’m guilty.”
Coiny: “No way, there has to be some mistake! You couldn’t-”
Pin: “Coiny. Please just… stop. Even though I didn’t mean to, I still attacked Monokuma.”
Coiny: “...No…”
Ice Cube: “You didn’t want to?”
Pin took a deep breath in before speaking.
Pin: “I was in the kitchen, planning to stress bake, when he just… appeared. There was no warning, he just... screamed. I panicked, turned around, and swung with all my might. …The rest was exactly as Woody described; the chopping, the deal making, cleaning, all of that.”
Monokuma: “I’m surprised you didn’t take the legs with you. I bet you could’ve grown them into something beautiful!”
Firey: “Wait, why did you have a trowel with you if you were going to bake?”
Ice Cube: “And why was it so sharp as well?”
Pin: “Well, I had it for sel-”
Monokuma: “Slicing someone apart for your own murder plot! Riiiiiiiiiight?”
Pin: “What!? N-No, I d-didn’t want to kill anyone-!”
Monokuma: “Piiiiiin~. Why would I bother making that deal if you were gonna be boring? I have cameras everywhere Pin; I know what you planned to do.”
Pin: “I-I… I w-wasn’t-”
She started to tear up at that. Did she... Was Pin planning on killing somebody?
Pen: “Wait a sec. Monokuma, if you knew Pin was gonna kill someone, why'd you scare her like that?”
Monokuma: “Oh, it just seemed like the fun thing to do at the time.”
Coiny: “Pin… You w-wouldn’t, r-right?”
GB: “Coiny. You'll have to accept the truth-”
Coiny: “I know! I know, okay. I just… I… Don’t want to believe it. I don’t want to lose her.”
Monokuma: “And lose her you will! After all, it's time for the punishment!”
Spongy: “Punishment? What are you talking about?”
Match: “Can’t believe this, but I, like, agree with you. What the, like, hell do you mean?”
Monokuma: “Don't tell me you all forgot about it, riiiight? The heart-stopping, breath-taking execution waiting for the failure of a blackened!”
Eraser: “E-Execution!?”
Bubble: “Right… the entire reason we had to find the culprit.”
We... We did this? We sentenced Pin to... her death?
Woody: “W-Was... Was this the b-best case scenario?”
Coiny: “...No. No no nononono!”
Monokuma: “Now, let’s give it everything we’ve got!”
Coiny: “No, y-you can’t!”
Leafy: “I... Did we have no other choice?”
Monokuma: “It’s… PUNISHMENT TIIIME!”
Coiny: “PIN!”
Pin: “Well… fuck. Goodbye everyone. Goodbye, Coiny.”
***
...
...
Monokuma: “...Well, about that. Now normally, we’d give Pin here a hearty, good ol’ fashioned execution, buuuuuuuut… We haven't prepared one yet. After all, this is only the demo of what’s to come!”
TB: “A… demo?”
Coiny: “D-Does that mean she can live!?”
Monokuma: “Well, for now, yes. But don’t get too comfortable… Puhuhu.”
And with those ominous words, Monokuma vanished. We were left staring at each other in disbelief, unsure of what to do next; while the lights kept flickering in and out, in and… out. In…
***
“So, how’d you find the trial?”
“Oh, it was most exciting! I had a hunch of who it was, based on the data available, and I’m glad I was right!”
“So, about the-”
“Of course, of course! You know, I’m absolutely delighted by all of you. A shame the trial couldn’t have a spectacular finish…”
“Well, you know how it is. We-”
“Had to skip it due to budget cuts? Ha, a classic! Don’t worry, I’ll get those prepared, too. Just focus on your side, okay?”