Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Its been a rather long time since this happened, you know.

I just decided to remind myself of a happier past.

There's been so much stress on my shoulders lately, with high school and all that. It's nothing like playgroup. So I decided to take a walk back to the one place where I started learning. Where it was much easier to learn.

Feeling the smooth grass beneath me as I approached the wooden door of the white-brick building, still with a loose blue tiled roof that was never properly fixed, started to throw memories back through my head. It made a small smile creep upon my face, knowing the fun times we had then. I took a sigh, taking a few more steps towards the front door. However, as I did, a different feeling overcame me. A feeling of...     Guilt.

...Why am I feeling bad?

Despite the weirdness of my worry, I continued to get closer to the door, the feeling of darkness and story-less nighttime becoming overwhelming. Something  told me mentally that inside the building, something bad was awaiting.

So I reached a hand out to the handle.

And everything went black.

Chapter Text

"...Ow...    My head hurts..."

I lifted my head out of the carpet floor, rubbing dust out of my eyes as I adjusted to the scene. I was laying chest down on a bluish carpet floor, underneath a short table. I was still in the red dress that I was wearing when I first arrived here, only it was now a bit dusty because of the floor.

... I don't understand.

I was outside the playgroup a minute ago! ...Is this even the playgroup?

I scuffled out from underneath the table, brushing the dust off my dress as I looked around.

... It's very similar to the playgroup classroom, not exactly though. There's a couple of differences I can point out...    The most major one being the closed off windows.

"...I don't get this..." I muttered to myself.

Then I heard a crash.

I whipped around like I had been stung by a naughty bee, to see the door to the room wide open. A small pig in a blue shirt and black jeans was sprawled out on the floor next to the door.

...Is that him?

He got up drowsily, rubbing his head before his eyesight landed upon me.

"...Peppa? Is that you?"

"George?"

"Peppa!"

The boy leapt towards me, wrapping his arms around me as he smiled. Not like I wanted to push him away, it was my brother after all. It only lead me to question even more things.

Why is George here?

"What are you doing here?" He asked me with a look of confusion and happiness.

"...I could ask the same thing about you, George." I lightly smiled back.

"You have a point, sis..." He let go from the hug, "What's your talent?"

"Oh, that Ultimate thing? I'm the Ultimate Storyteller!"

"Nice...! I'm the Ultimate Paleontologist."

I'm still a little confused by everything, I can actually still feel a bit of that feeling of harsh guilt from earlier. But with my brother here, I can focus a little easier.

"Peppa, are you ok?" George asked me, noticing my confused state.

"...I just don't understand..." I replied, "Did you also come to visit this place?"

"..." The boy went silent, before looking back up at me. "Yes...     How did you know?"

"Because I also did that. I came to visit the playgroup for a little while, just as a little breather from life, when I for some reason passed out."

"...That's scary...      That also happened to me!" George stepped back a little bit, clinging a hand onto his shirt collar.

"I know, I don't understand it."

"..." George seemed to be thinking something over for a while, before deciding on something. "We can discuss that in more detail later. Besides, there's more people here!"

...More people?

Before I could reply, George started towards the door which he crashed through earlier, taking a glance at me. "...You coming?"

"...There's no reason why I wouldn't." I nodded, running up slowly to my brother, exiting the classroom with him.

We exited into a violet hallway, with many corkboards and notices on the walls. Alongside that, there were many silvery doors, as well as two other people nearby some of them, who also looked familiar.

"Hey!" George called out, "I found someone else!"

The two turned around, being notified by the call, and quickly approached us, with another one quickly behind.

"Hey George, what's going o-" One of the people started, stopping themselves at the sight of me. I also gasped a little seeing the white, fluffy figure again.

"Suzy!" It was my turn to leap forward to hug, clinging onto her as she jumped slightly.

"Ah!- Peppa! Wh-You-"

"Sorry-" I pushed myself away from her a little, "That was a little childish, wasn't it, heh?"

"Yeah..." One of the other people from the group noted, "And a bit gay."

"..."

"...A bit WHAT-"

"Jeez, calm yourself! I'm just joking..."

"It's a bit of an unfunny joke, Freds..." The third person of the group mentioned.

"Hey now, I don't think we know each other extremely well..." George told us. He had a point, besides Suzy, I don't recognize either of them...     Except for the guy who joked earlier. He seems familiar.

And I'm still stuck with a slight blush on my face from that joke. Thanks for that.

"Well, why don't we just tell each other our names and talents?" Suzy suggested.

"Sure." The guy nodded, the girl next to her agreed.

"Well then, I'm Suzy Sheep! I'm the Ultimate Nurse!"

"Name's Freddy Fox. I'm the Ultimate Detective."

"Kylie Kangaroo! Ultimate Surfer!"

"It's nice to meet you..." George nodded slightly, "This is my sister, Peppa! She's the Ultimate Storyteller."

"Ayo-" Kylie jumped a bit at the mention, "You're his sister?" She asked me.

"Seemed understandable...    They were both pigs..." Freddy nodded, before turning to me. "Nice to meet you Peppa."

"Same for you...    Freddy..." I nodded back.

...Why does he look so familiar?

"Well, how many is that now? 3 plus 2 plus...     That's 16 here." Freddy nodded.

"There's even more people here...?" I asked.

"Yeah...    They're in the homeroom. It's further down the hall." Suzy told me.

"Should we go there? Or should we keep looking for more people?" George asked.

"I say we return." Freddy replied, "We've been searching for a long time already..."

"Ok, let's go see them!" Kylie squealed happily, bounding down the hall at a jolly pace, us following in close persuit.

"Do you know where the homeroom is, Kylie?" Suzy asked.

"Uhhh..." Kylie slowly halted herself. "Nah?"

"It's fine, it's close to here anyway..." Freddy took a turn into another hallway. We all followed after him.

Soon enough, we reached a pair of wooden doors with golden handlebars attached to it. An oddly opaque glass window rested within each door.

"Here we are, the homeroom!" Freddy smiled a bit.

"So...     Shall we?" Suzy offered.

"Why not?" I replied. We nodded, before all pushing the doors open together.

The sight that stood behind them, however, would be shocking...

Chapter Text

The amount of people that I recognized behind the door was so surprising, I needed a moment to take the scenario into account.

And in the meanwhile they were staring at me.

"They're back!"

"After... 27 minutes, 56 seconds and 13 milliseconds..."

"Do you have to be that accurate, bro?"

"I wanted to, sis!"

"What matters is that they're back. And I'm glad they are."

"Well... We all know each other, right?" I asked out of the blue. Everyone took a moment to stare at me.

"...Yeah... Peppa, right?" A rabbit in a sky blue t-shirt and a teal skirt replied.

"Mhm... And you're Rebecca, right?"

"Yeah...! Rebecca Rabbit, the Ultimate Track Star!"

"I remember you!"

"Me too!"

"It's weird..." Suzy noted, "We all know each other..."

"Yeah!" George nodded. "Why do we know each other... It's like we were friends!"

"...That makes sense." A small elephant in a green jacket looked over. "We know each other, it's just that we have a bit of a problem with remembering each other..."

"Sounds right." Another rabbit replied.

"Well..." Kylie looked up, "Why don't we all introduce ourselves! It'd help us to remember, wouldn't it?"

"You're right! We should!" Someone in a yellow jumper smiled.

And so, we all introduced ourselves to each other, being able to properly remember each other once we did so.

"Hey there! I'm Danny Dog, the Ultimate Pirate!"

"My name's Emily Elephant. I'm the Ultimate Acrobat."

"Edmond Elephant, the Ultimate Professor! Glad to meet you."

"...Richard Rabbit. I'm... Not fully sure what my Ultimate talent is. I guess you could say I'm the Ultimate ??? ?"

"I'm Pedro Pony, the Ultimate Cowboy! Yeeeeeehaw!"

"You can call me Candy Cat. I'm the Ultimate Skipper!"

"Zoë Zebra... The Ultimate Pianist."

"Je am Delphine Donkey... I.. Am the Ultimate French Teacher!"

"I'm Wendy Wolf! I'm the Ultimate Security Guard."

"Gerald Giraffe. I'm the Ultimate Caregiver... You good?"

"... I'm starting to remember you all..." Zoë muttered slowly.

"I... Guess that's good news?" Danny said, confused.

"Seems like it." Freddy nodded.

Looking around, taking into account the purple rug and the bland blue walls, I started to think.

...Why are we all together?

Did someone know about us? And our relationships with each other?

...It's making my head hurt...

But I can't stop thinking about it...

...W-Why are... We...

"...Peppa...? Are you ok-"

"Gooooooooood morning everyone!"

...What the?

"Huh?" Wendy jumped at the sound. "Hello?"

"This is a message to all participants: Please may you all head to the courtyard! I will see you there. Farewell!"

"...It seems like it came from a speaker... Maybe that one?" Edmund pointed to a piece of machinery laying in the corner of the room.

I just stood there, likely looking like an idiot, confused as a man who planted an upside down beanstalk. I looked around wondering what exactly was the courtyard.

"Hey! What's through this door- AwuuAAHH!-"

We all looked around to see George, who had fallen through a pair of white, plastic-y doors. I could notice a bit of grass on the other side of them.

"I think that George just found the place we need to get to!" I heard Candy joke, as we headed towards and soon through the doors, stepping out into a smallish area of greenery. A few trees, a couple flowers here and there, it seemed like the normal patch of land in a local park.

If it wasn't for the extremely high barbwire fence surrounding it.

...This is making less and less sense by the minute.

"Ow... At least this landing was softer then the last one!"

There was one other thing that I noticed. That being a small stand, made of painted red wood. On top of it laid a microphone.

"Why were we called here?" Richard asked, "There's not much to see..."

"Maybe... That weird voice thingy is just late!" Pedro suggested. Everyone took a moment to look at him with a face of doubt.

"...What?"

"You're half-right on that, Pedro!"

"Wh-What the?-"

Then we heard a rumble from the stand. Then a harsher rumble. And finally, something let out from behind it, landing upon the stand, and grabbing the microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome your friend and mine...

...Monopotato!"

Chapter Text

The only thing that could describe it was dark confusion.

A huge, slightly dirty potato stood upon the stand, a brown, leather hat resting upon it. Half of the weird living vegetable was seemingly painted with a deep coal black, a dark, powerful red symbol of some kind resting in what I guess you could say... Where the eye socket would be? I'm not sure, I don't know how to give human features to something such as a potato...

"Wow, isn't it amazing! To see these people in person! Up close! To interact for the first time in forever! And, in the most desirable way!"

"...You made it sound like you were gonna violate us against our will." Zoë stared. A couple people looked at her like she didn't even know who she was. Honestly, I'm guessing I also did.

"Oh quiet now Zoë. Anyways, I am here to inform you about a couple of major things!"

...What is he talking about?

"There is no way out of here. So to that search group that I noticed earlier: Great job at failing to figure that out earlier!"

...

Oh.

I guess I should have known...

"No way out?" Freddy stared at the potato sceptically.

"Mhm! Great idea, isn't it?"

"Not really, Mr. Half-Burnt Bad-Smelling Vegetable."

"Ugh! Didn't I make myself clear earlier? My name is Monopotato!"

"Hold on a minute!" Suzy called out, "You're telling us that there's no way whatsoever to leave this building?"

"Indeed I am, Suzy! That is my great idea! Although, there is one way to leave."

"...And what is that?" I heard Danny ask.

"It's simple! Kill another participant among you! Just as long as you have offed someone else here in cold blood or not, and you have gotten away with it, you are more than free to walk out of this building!"

...I felt like I wanted to vomit after hearing that.

M-Murder? What... Is wrong with this... Th-Thing?!

With watery eyes and a clouded head, I slowly looked around at the others. I could see George hugging himself, trying not to shed any tears, while Emily was clinging onto her trunk. Suzy seemed to be freaking out internally, and Gerald was visibly disgusted. And all the time, Monopotato was just laughing his bloody head off.

"Haha- Ahahah... Now then, I have one more thi-"

"Hold on."

"...What?"

"I don't believe you."

We all turned to the bearer of the voice, who happened to be... Rebecca.

"Are you seriously saying that... A potato of all things can force us to kill each other like this? This- This is ridiculous! Surely there's someone out there w-who- you know- Is concerned about us being missing!"

"I can happily argue against that, 'mam, but-"

"NO! NO BUTS! I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!"

Without warning, Rebecca charged towards Monopotato at an extreme speed. Monopotato only smirked, before reaching his arm out.

Everything suddenly went white. Harsh ringing paraded through my ears as my eyes fought against the blinding light. I held my hands over my face as I tried to get used to the white.

And eventually, I did.

It wasn't a pretty sight.

Monopotato had moved to the centre of the courtyard, holding Rebecca by the neck with one arm, the other one bearing what seemed to be a kitchen knife. A harsh slice laid on Rebecca's cheek, blood dripping out onto her fur and eventually falling onto the grass floor.

The look on Rebecca's face said everything.

Monopotato eventually let go of Rebecca, hiding the knife behind his back. Richard rushed to Rebecca's side, followed by Zoë as Rebecca coughed some heavy breaths.

"...You're lucky it's so early in the game, Rebecca. If this was later on in the game, I would have gone... Straight for the head." Monopotato smirked evilly, before returning to the stand.

"Anyways, as I was saying. The one other thing that I wanted to talk about was this!"

The potato pulled out some small pads with... Screens on them?

"These are... Uh... Dammit, I don't know how to nickname these. These are your E-Handbooks! On each one of these lay a set of rules that are required to be read, as well as participant profiles and a map of the building you are currently trapped within!" Monopotato chuckled, handing the tablets out to everyone. And by that, I mean throwing them to everyone.

"And that is all! Farewell, and happy killing!"

After he finished, the potato flipped behind the stand, the mic following with them. No collapse sound was heard. It was as if Monopotato had disappeared completely.

"...Th- That... B-Bitch..." I could hear Rebecca cough out, Richard staring at her with a look of concern.

"Rebecca!" Zoë shouted, "Watch your language..."

"So..." Candy scratched her neck, "What do we do now...?"

"I say we read the rules that the... Thing told us about." Freddy shakily replied, trying to turn on the handbook. I started figuring out how to turn my one on.

I'm not sure how it happened, maybe my finger grazed across some kind of small button roughly, but the tablet switched on suddenly, a smooth violet and teal screen greeting my eyes. Along the top laid multiple options, including "Map" and "Rules".

I clicked the "Rules" tab, and a series of multiple paragraphs showed up. It took me a while to read all of them.

RULES:

1 - Nighttime starts after 8:00 pm, and lasts to 7:00 am. During this time, certain areas such at the kitchen and courtyard may be closed.

2 - It is strictly forbidden to trade or loan out your's or someone else's handbook to another participant.

3 - Attacking or trying to disable Monopotato is a violation of security, and any participants that tries to do so will be punished.

4 - Breaking into locked rooms is forbidden.

5 - It takes 3 participants to see a body to trigger a "Body Discovery Announcement" or BDA. After a BDA has gone off, participants have a limited amount of time to investigate, where they may do whatever they want.

6 - After investigation time has concluded, a playgroup trial will take place, in which all remaining participants will try to figure out the killer (or "blackened",) of the case. Once a decision has been decided, all participants will vote for who they think is the killer.

7 - If a killer is correctly identified, only they will receive punishment. However, if the vote is incorrect, all other participants besides the blackened will be punished, and the blackened will be allowed to leave.

8 - No jumping up and down in muddy puddles. Whatsoever.

9 - More rules may be added if necessary.

...

What's wrong with jumping up and down in muddy puddles...!?

Switching the tablet off after multiple turns of trial and error, I raised my head to look at everyone else. Rebecca seemed stabilised, but still extremely shaken. George was shedding a few tears, Wendy was seemingly emotionless, Pedro looked like he'd seen a ghost...

And to top it off, the feeling of grief and guilt from the start of it all was returning. Now, I had a name for it though.

It was a feeling of failure...

Death...

Grief...

Despair...

Chapter Text

(Chapter 1: Life's A Dangerous Game - Daily Life)

CHAPTER START

____________________

...

"...Peppa? What is it?"

...What?

"Mummy! I'm feeling weird..."

"Oh dear... How does it feel?"

What's going on...? I don't... Think I'm talking... Yet I am...

I could see a tall figure in an orange dress and a dirty white apron, looking down upon me. Their face showed a sign of care, worry and slight concern. All around her laid pitch black darkness.

...Mum?

"Like... I think... Like you're stuck under an anvil?"

"Oh... Don't worry Peppa, you're just stressed."

"What's stressessed...?"

"Stress is a feeling that you feel when you've got too much work, or time is running out for something. Has school been pushing you a lot lately...?"

"Kind of..."

"Peppa... Do you need a break?"

"But I have work to do!"

...What is this...

"Aha, ok. Just don't panic too much... Panic can also cause stress."

"But there's a lot of work! What if I feel stressed again?"

"...Peppa, I think it's about time I told you something important."

...Huh?

Mum kneeled down to my height, before looking me in the eye.

"During tough times like when you have lots of work, or if you're running late for something, it's important to keep hope with you. If you have hope that you will do something, you can keep moving forward. You can finish that work. You can catch that bus. Remember: Have hope, and keep moving forward."

"...Thank you, mu-"

*KNOCK KNOCK*

I jumped up at the sound. I looked around, noticing I was in a slightly spacious room. At first I was confused, but then it came back to me.

What hit me the worst again was thinking about Rebecca.

I slowly stretched out of the bed, before heading to the door of the dorm. You see, after the whole... Monopotato thing... We decided that we needed to get some rest. So, we decided to use the map feature that was on the E-Handbook to try and find somewhere to sleep. Turns out, we all had our own room to sleep in. So... I guess you know where we all slept.

"Who is it..." I drowsily asked, opening the door.

"Good morning Peppa!" I heard a soft, fluffy voice call out.

"Oh... Morning Suzy..." I smiled a bit, looking up at the sheep, "What time is it...?"

"It's 8:30! You're a bit late for breakfast..."

"...We're having breakfast?"

"Yeah! Emily and Candy are making it! I came here to ask you if you wanted to come with me to breakfast..."

"... I'd be glad... Just let me get... Ready..."

"Ok, sleepy-pig." Suzy chuckled.

"Hey!" I laughed a bit, before closing the door. I sighed a bit, before heading to the bathroom to get ready.

When I was finally done, and walked out of the door, it was Suzy's turn to look like she was tired.

"...What?" I asked casually.

"Peppa... It's been 20 minutes."

...Dammit, I forgot that girls take a long time in the bathroom. It feels like nothing to me, honestly.

"O-Oh... Sorry..." I sighed, before leaving into the hallway. Suzy smiled a bit at me, before heading down the hallway. I quickly followed after her.

"..." The majority of the walk to the kitchen was a bit awkward. Considering the situation we were in, as well as the fact that it was my first time to breakfast, and the first time I'd heard about it, I was feeling rather... Messed up inside.

I mean, with Suzy here I feel a bit calmer... But deep down I feel like it makes me feel more stressed.

"...Do you know where the kitchen is?" I asked Suzy.

"Yeah...? I literally taking you to it, it would be stupid of me to take you somewhere that I don't know the location of."

...That was a dumb question to ask.

"And anyways, we're here!" We had arrived at a pair of metal doors, each with a circular window in it. The smell of toast wafted through the air, tempting me to just burst through the doors.

"Peppa? Are you ok? You look spaced out..."

Without replying, I crashed myself through the doors of the kitchen, collapsing onto the floor. A scream shrilled out.

...Huh. Seems like I take after my brother.

"OH GOOD LORD- PEPPA?! ARE YOU OK-" I noticed Emily rush to my side, clearly panicking a bit. Looking up, I also noticed Candy looking at me.

"I think she's ok... Maybe she just tripped?" I heard Suzy reply.

"Yeah... Just tripped." I wheezed a bit, standing up as I looked around. The kitchen was rather bright, but also a little bit dusty.

"...I guess you want breakfast, Huh?" Emily looked at me, her eyes showing a sense of calm.

"Yeah... Did Suzy already have breakfast?"

"...No?"

I looked up at Suzy, who just glanced away a little, a bit of blush on her face.

"...I guess you also wanted some, right? Girl, we really do go one in one!"

"Y-Yeah-"

"Well..." Candy perked up, "We have some breakfast for the both of you! It's Eggs Benedict." She smiled, holding 4 plates of food.

"Wait..." Emily stared at Candy, "Doesn't that hav-"

"I replaced it with salmon."

"Oh thank god."

I just looked at the two with a slight look of confusion, before taking two plates of food from Candy's paws, giving one to Suzy. "Where's everyone else?"

"They're eating in the homeroom. We weren't able to find a dining room of any kind..."

"...Well! Let's go!" Suzy smiled, before walking out of the kitchen, using her shoulder to nudge the doors open. We looked at each other, before following suit.

Chapter Text

It turns out, the homeroom wasn't that far away from the kitchen.

When all 4 of us walked in, the remaining 12 were sitting at the biggest table there, finishing up breakfast and chatting with each other.

"Oh, hey! Look who's awake!" George waved to me cheekily, I rolled my eyes a bit.

"Oh quiet. Besides, it's usually Pedro who sleeps in. And he's here!" I mentioned to the pony in the bright yellow jumper.

"Well, I didn't really wake up early, it's just that this annoying announcement thingy sounded out..." Pedro shrugged.

"Oh? The morning announcement?" Rebecca looked, "I was up ages before that went off!"

"Wait..." I turned to the rabbit, "Rebecca, when did you get up?"

"5:30."

"...WHAT." Richard stared at her sister with a look of shock, Rebecca laughing it off.

"I'm used to getting up early, anyway..."

Now that I think about it, it seems like Rebecca was up way earlier then most of us... She's having a different breakfast from everyone else. She's just eating carrots.

At least she's feeling better...

"...Well, may I say that this breakfast is honestly one of the best I've had?" Danny stood up a bit, "Who made this?"

"Emily did!" Suzy exclaimed, causing Emily to go a shade of soft pink.

"Woa... Emily? You're a much better cook then I thought you'd be..."

"Well, I've always known my sister to be a great cook. So it doesn't come to me as a surprise." Edmond trumpeted, causing us all to chuckle a bit.

And with that, chatter started to sound out from all of us. We chuckled, laughed, discussed, you name it. It felt really nice, honestly, to conserve like this. It removed the memory of the fact we were trapped here for eternity.

Once it started to die down, Gerald cleared his throat. "Uhm, guys? Can I say something?"

"Sure, go ahead!" Kylie laughed.

"Well, I don't really want to kill the mood, but... Yesterday, I noticed on the Handbook map that there were more rooms... Not just the homeroom, courtyard, our dorms and a bunch of random classrooms..."

"...Hm." Freddy nodded to himself, before looking up. "Why don't we all... Check them out?"

"That's a great idea!" Danny leaped up all of a sudden, "Nice thinking, Freds!"

"Uh-" Freddy looked away a bit, "I think that anyone would've made that decision..."

"Still, it's a good idea to check those rooms." Wendy nodded.

"...Wouldn't it be too crowded if everyone explored at once?"

"Not if we divide everyone into small groups..."

"Great idea again Freds! Who's going with who?"

"St- Stop calling me F-Freds-"

"No certainty of that happening, sorry~..."

...Is he flirting with him?

"Well, let's make these groups." George nodded, "I'm going with Peppa."

"But I wanted to go with Peppa...!" Suzy showed a face of disappointment.

"Well... I can explore with both of you." I nodded happily, as Suzy scooted up to me.

I could notice other groups being formed, mainly between Delphine, Wendy and Gerald, as well as Rebecca and Richard.

In the end, our groups ended up like this:

Group 1:

Peppa, George, Suzy, Danny

Group 2:

Rebecca, Richard, Freddy, Pedro

Group 3:

Emily, Edmond, Zoë, Candy

Group 4:

Kylie, Delphine, Wendy, Gerald

"So then, are we ready?" Danny looked at everyone. We all gave a quick nod.

"Well then, let's go!"

And like that, we all started leaving the homeroom, into the hallway, to find these newer rooms.

"Where should we look first?" George asked me.

"Uh... Well..." I thought, as I pulled out my Handbook, turning it on after a little difficulty and going to the "Map" option.

"Uh... I say we check out the biggest room first." I told everyone, pointing to the biggest square on the map.

"Whatever you say, Peppa!" Danny chuckled, as we picked up our pace again.

Soon, we reached a large pair of wooden doors, with elegant carvings in them. Golden handles rested on both of them, with a vintage style being visible all over them. I looked back down at the Handbook map, seeing that this was the entrance to the biggest room on the map.

"Shall we?" Suzy asked. Danny nodded quicker then any of us could reply, charging through the doors before gasping at the sight. We also took a moment to take in the surprising room that lay in front of us...

Chapter Text

What awaited us... Was a huge library.

"HOLLLLLLLYYYYYYYY MOLLLLLLYYYYYYYY!!!" Danny screamed, clearly amazed by the library's size.

I was amazed at how he forgot one of the most important rules in these kind of places.

"Wow..." George muttered, taking in the size of the place, "It's huge..."

"I know," I whispered back, "Way bigger then I thought it'd be..."

"...Well... Let's take a closer look at it." George nodded, heading towards one of the bookshelves.

I simply took in the sight, hoping to remember it. Multiple bookcases storing thousands of books laid along the walls, more bookcases standing wall-less further back into the room. Wooden ladders rested against the bookcases, supposedly to aid those who wanted a book up high. A few tables with elegant chairs resided closer to the door, believably for those who wanted to read. What really was stunning, however, was that there was a grand staircase with golden banistes leading up to a second floor. Well, it seemed more like a series of thick balconies, considering the hight of the room.

I quickly walked towards the bookcases in the back of the room, mainly because I wanted to see the ladders there. They were scarily tall, and what's more, I'm guessing that they're also very heavy...

I continued wandering amongst the bookcases, taking in the dusty air surrounding each bookshelf. Soon, I came to a corner. I turned around it, being surprised to see Danny on his knees in the opposite corner, holding something papery.

"Hey... Danny?"

"GAH!-" The dog in the slightly torn purple t-shirt jumped at my voice, before turning to me. "Oh, hey Peppa..."

"Are you ok?"

"Y-Yeah... I just found this weird... Letter..." He stood up, before handing the paper to me. I took it into my hands, reading through it.

...

"Don't think that you lot are gonna get out of this clean. There will be blood spilt within a week, trust me..."

...I wasn't expecting that...

"... Should we show the others?" Danny asked me. I nodded my head frantically, as we both started running to the front of the room.

"Hey! George! Suzy! Come over here for a while, please!" Danny shouted out, I rolled my eyes slightly as I heard Suzy running down the extravagant staircase.

"What is it...?" George looked at us, rubbing his neck a bit.

"We found this weird letter. Well, technically I found it first..." Danny explained as I handed the letter to George and Suzy so they could read it themselves.

Their faces were just as shaken as mine when they handed the paper back to Danny.

"...What does this mean?" Suzy asked shakily.

"I-I don't know..." George stuttered, "How did you find it, Danny?"

"I'm not fully sure... I was checking out some of the books on the shelves, when I heard a clicking noise. I turned around, confused as to what it could be, when I noticed the paper. I picked it up, read it, and... Yea." Danny shrugged a little bit.

"Clicking?" I looked at Danny. "I didn't hear anything. It was quiet as night..."

"I had already read through the whole letter before you saw me with it."

"...This is confusing..." George rubbed his head, clearly not understanding the situation.

I also didn't get it.

How did a letter like that get here?

...

Wait.

What if there's someone else here...?

What if... Th- They wrote that letter...

Well, th- that could be Monopotato, but... We w- would've noticed him... Right?

I-I...

Who... W-Wrote-

"PEPPA!"

I stumbled back, being snapped out of my thoughts by a certain lamb's screaming.

"Finally! Peppa, what's going on? You look like you had malnutrition for a moment!"

"...Sorry, Suzy... I was just stuck in thought..."

"It's ok... I just worry a bit when you go a bit blank..." Suzy nodded softly, before hugging me slowly. I felt my face warm up a little bit as I eventually hugged back.

"Uhm... Girls? I am STILL HERE."

Suzy quickly let go, staring at Danny. "Oh quiet you soggy mutt, I'm straight..."

"Hey!"

"That's not true, she's bisexual!" I argued back playfully, laughing a bit. Suzy stood still for a few minutes, before covering her face with her arms.

I smiled to myself, soon noticing George smirking a little bit at me.

"Oh don't you dare get any ideas." I sternly looked at him. He giggled a bit, before replying.

"Don't worry Peppa, I won't." He smiled.

Then, we heard the doors behind us open with a little creak. We turned around, seeing Kylie, Gerald, Delphine and Wendy at the door.

"Hey there!" Kylie hopped over to us, "How's things?"

"Kinda awkward..." Suzy replied, "We found this weird letter." She took the piece of paper from Danny, handing it to Delphine, who read through it alongside the other three.

Delphine dropped the paper afterwards.

"What... The..." She sputtered.

"I know... I also don't understand it." Danny nodded, clearly confused.

"Hm..." Wendy scratched her head a bit, "Maybe we should keep hold of it..."

"Oui..." Delphine replied.

"Hey, uh, Delphy! You look a bit stressed..." Suzy nodded a bit, "Do you want to walk with me for a bit? Maybe I can calm you down a little..."

The donkey in the magenta cardigan and faded blue skirt nodded slowly, as Suzy took her up the stairs. I turned to the others that were in the room, who were all wondering silently.

Eventually, Gerald broke the quiet.

"So... What do we do now...?"

Chapter Text

"I'm not sure..." Kylie replied, "Maybe we should check out if there's anything that might be able to... Bust us out?"

"Seems like a good plan." Danny nodded, starting to run his hands along the walls, tapping a few times.

"...What are you doing?"

"Searching for hidden doors!"

"Why would there be-"

"Sometimes I had to deal with hidden door stuff before this... When I was a proper pirate."

"...Oh. I... Think I'll stick to checking the shelves."

I decided to search around the tables, not questioning Danny's idea of basically hugging the walls. After a little while of searching, still I had found nothing useful. Getting up off the floor, I decided to head to George.

"Did you find anything...?" I questioned.

"Sadly not... What about you?"

"Also nothing weird."

"This is rather confusing, isn't it..." He sighed.

We just stood there for a little while, taking in the air of the information-less room. And I started to think.

...Where did that letter come from?

I was snapped out of my thoughts by a certain noise from above.

"Good lord!"

"Huh-?" I looked up to the upper floor. George also looked up, a bit confused.

"What's going on up there?" He called out, "Did you find anything?"

"Oui!" I recognised Delphine's voice ring out, "There's a picture here!"

"A what?-" Danny asked, before leaping away from the walls, charging up the stairs swiftly. Soon Gerald and Wendy followed him, Kylie tailing behind them. I looked at George, who just shrugged and went after them. I followed after him soon after, heading up the stairs with slight caution.

"Where's the picture?" Danny asked, jumping up and down, unable to get his energy under control.

"I have it... Take a look." Suzy showed the photo to the rest of us.

It was a picture in a frame, showing most of the people here. Specifically those who were in our old playgroup. Me, Pedro, Suzy, Danny, Emily, Candy... But Delphine and Kylie weren't in it.

"...Woa... I'm getting flashbacks..." Danny scratched his neck a bit, calming himself.

"Yeah... Delphine found it first." Suzy nodded at the donkey, who smiled a little.

"Hm..." Wendy narrowed her eyes a bit, "Can I take a closer look at it for a while, Suzy?"

"Uh... Ok then..." Suzy handed the frame to Wendy, who immediately took the picture out of it's frame, flipping it around and looking at the back. Soon after, she nodded steadily.

"Take a look." She showed the back of the picture to us. Upon the picture's rear laid a date.

"Does anyone know what day it is today?"

"Uh..." Gerald pulled out his handbook, turned it on, turned it off, and put it back in his pocket. "It doesn't specify the day in the handbook, it just says that it's February, 2022..."

"Then that means this photo was taken exactly 10 years ago..." Wendy sighed, putting the photo back into it's frame.

"Then how did it get here?" Kylie stated, causing me to think again.

"That's not the only thing we found." Suzy mentioned, "Come with me." She started walking to one of the side balcony pieces of the second floor.

Eventually, the balcony piece merged into the wall on the other side of the room. In it's place, a door laid, not as grand as the front door of the library, but still a very tough, detailed door.

"There's another door?" Wendy asked.

"Yep. I was hoping it'd lead us to a new place, but..." Suzy reached a hoof to the door, trying to open it. Instead, the door stayed put.

"It's locked. There's another door on the opposite balcony, but I tried that one earlier. It's also not budging."

"We could try and kick it down...?" Danny offered.

"Danny. Remember the 4th rule?" Gerald rebutted. "No breaking into locked rooms..."

"Ah. You're right..."

"...Maybe it's time we checked a different room." George nodded. "Are you with me?"

"Yeah."

Suzy and Danny gave a quick nod.

"I think we'll stay here... We'll check if there's anything else here." Wendy smiled softly.

"Good luck!" Kylie smiled.

"Thanks. See you soon!" I smiled, as we ran back along the balcony, down the stairs, and out the door of the library.

"Man..." Danny sweated a bit, "That was weird."

"Yeah..." I nodded in agreement, "Where should we search next?"

"What about the room opposite?" Suzy offered, pointing to a smooth, white door on the wall facing us.

"...Sounds good." Danny shrugged, walking towards the door and carefully yanking it open. His eyes widened a bit at the sight.

"...Danny?"

"Oh, hey guys!" He waved into the room, "We're just checking this place out too."

I got closer to the door, peaking through the door over Danny, taking a good look at the room.

It appeared to be a sort of IT room, multiple desks and chairs scattered around in an orderly manner, computers and monitors resting in and on them all. Electric lights from above gave the room a tone of an office building.

And to top it all off, Edmond was running around checking all the computers like he'd been gifted a racecar for Christmas. He definitely seemed excited...

"Well, c-come on in!" Emily nodded, trying to calm her younger brother down. We entered the room, also noticing Zoë and Candy. We gave a quick wave to them, who smiled in return.

"This is really cool..." George muttered.

"I KNOW! RIGHTTTTTT!!!" Edmond passed by George, squealing excitedly as he continued to check out the several monitors.

"Did you find anything?" Suzy asked.

"Well... Just a bunch of monitors, computers and that back door." Candy pointed to another door in a nearby wall.

"What should we do?"

"...I say we try checking if the computers work. I think it's worth the check..." Zoë offered.

"Sure! Let's check!" Danny jumped happily.

Chapter Text

The entire checking to see if the computers worked took what felt like an hour.

"Phew... How long has it been?" Danny asked.

"Uhm... I think 15 to 16 minutes..." Edmond sighed, "So all the computers work..."

"Not all of them."

"Huh?" I looked over to Emily, who was looking at a computer in the corner with Candy.

"This one won't unlock. It needs a password!"

"Hm..." Edmond thought.

"We also still have the backroom to explore..." George pointed out.

"You're right..."

"Well, why don't some of us try to figure out the password to this computer? I'll try my best to do so..." Suzy nodded.

"You have a point, Suz'. I'll go with you." Danny nodded.

"So I guess we're going to check out the back room?" Zoë asked.

"Mhm." I nodded, heading towards the door. Reaching my arm out to it, I slowly pushed on it, creaking as it swung away. We peaked in, my eyes noticing a small, wooden desk illuminated by a small ceiling light. All around it laid multiple scraps of old monitors, computers, telephones, the lot.

"...Oh. My. God." Edmond's jaw hung open, amazed at the sight.

"What?"

"...This doesn't make much sense to me."

"Just think of the possibilities that could be made from these scraps...!"

"Why are there so many pieces of scrap just... Laying here?"

"There's only one other thing I can notice here, and that's the desk here. And besides it being splintered, I don't see much else..." Emily sighed.

"I guess that's... Everything in here?" I replied, looking at everyone else. They all nodded their heads slowly, as we turned to the door, exiting back into the main IT room.

"Welcome back!" Danny giggled, "What'ya find?"

"A lot of computer scraps. Oh, and a desk." Candy sighed, "I've no idea what it means..."

"Me neither..." I tilted my head to the side a bit, "Did you find anything that might represent a password?"

"Nah. Nothing." He shrugged.

"Dammit..." Zoë scoffed.

"Yeah... It seems like that computer will be locked for quite a while..." Suzy rubbed the back of head, "Maybe we should look in another room?"

"Sure. See you later Edmond!" George waved to the elephant in green before leaving the room.

"Yeah... See you later on." I smiled, leaving the room with Danny and Suzy right behind me.

"Now where should we go?"

"Hm..." I pulled out the handbook again, flipping it on gradually. Taking a look at the map, I realised that the only major rooms left were at the other end of the hallway.

"Let's check down there." I pointed down the hallway, away from the library. "The map says that there's a couple rooms down there..."

"Let's go then!"

"Hold on a minute... What's that there?" Suzy pointed at an opening in the wall on the left side.

"...Is that a staircase?" Danny ran up to it, reaching his paws to the opening, before jumping back a bit.

"Guys, come over here!"

We shuffled over to the opening. Danny way right - It was indeed a staircase. However, we were blocked from exploring up it by a large metal fence, covering the entire opening.

"What purpose is there to block off the staircase?"

"Oh, you know, so you don't go overkill with exploring."

"Wh-What the-" Danny whipped around, meeting Monopotato dead in the eye. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?-"

"I thought I might explain to you. Since you found the stairs to the second floor. These stairs are off limits!" Monopotato exclaimed, "Unless something... Happens according to the rules, these stairs are going to be off limits. Anyways, cheerio!"

"Wait- Wh-What do you mean by acc-"

Monopotato was gone.

...Did he just disappear into thin air?

"...Well. I take it that we aren't allowed to question this." George sighed.

"Yeah. Let's see what rooms are over there." I nodded, picking up my pace again. The rest soon followed after me.

"...Well, let's see what's down here." I took a breath, twisting the handle of the wooden door and pushing it, revealing a marbled sight...

...A nurse's office.

"...Oh. My. GOD!!!"

Yep. Suzy's deffo amazed.

The sheep scrambled past me, getting a hold of the room in front of us. Multiple cabinets, and a few hospital beds, not to mention small stands nearby them standing upon the marble floor. The whole place had a orderly, silent atmosphere to it.

"Wow... Man, I can really get why Suzy's amazed!" Danny chuckled, going in to see the room for himself. Me and George soon followed suit, looking around and checking out the cream white room.

However, something weird caught my eye.

In the corner near the door laid a stand with a drawer, with a tray upon it, a metallic shine glistening from it. I turned to it, squinting to try and figure out what it was.

My heart skipped a beat when I realised what it was.

I got a bit closer to the stand, seeing if what I saw was real. Unfortunately, it was.

A set of scalpels, in various sizes, laid upon the metal tray.

...Shouldn't these things be in a drawer or something?

Why are they out in the open like that? Is Monopotato TRYING to mess with me?!

...

I'm gonna have to ask someone about this.

"Uhm... Su-"

A surprise burst into the room interrupted all of us. We flipped around, seeing Kylie standing in the doorway.

"Hey girls!"

"...Really?" Danny stared, holding out his arms like he knew someone was going unnecessarily overboard.

"'Scuse me. Boys and girls. Anyways, sorry to interrupt anything, but Freddy decided to call us back! We're meeting in the homeroom. See you there!"

The door closed with a firm click.

"...I guess our group search has concluded then, heh..." I laughed a bit, storing the question about the scalpel set for later.

"Last one to the homeroom's a rotten egg!" Danny giggled, rushing out the door.

"H-Hey! Oh no you don't-" I charged after him, picking up on the fact that George and Suzy were right on my tail.

Well... Not RIGHT on it. That would hurt.

Soon, after a quick hard fought race, me and Danny fell through the door together. Technically I fell through it first though.

"Ha! I win!" I laughed.

"Aww... I really thought I had that..."

"Ah, uh, hello you two..."

We looked up, seeing none other than the the fox in the dark red shirt himself.

"I'm guessing you've enjoyed your expedition?"

"Sure have!" Danny smiled, a bit of blush creeping onto his face.

"Go ahead, take a seat. Most of us are already here..." Freddy nodded at us, going to sit down at one of the circular tables in the room.

And at that moment, George walked in.

"...Uh... Enjoyed your race?"

"Extremely." I rolled my eyes playfully, getting myself up off the floor. After dusting myself off, I took a seat at the partially occupied table. Soon, everyone else started filling in, taking their own seats at the same place.

"So. What did we find?" Richard asked.

"I guess I'll start." Emily stood up, "Me and my group found an IT room with a backroom. Most of the computers there work. Peppa's group was also there, right?"

"Mhm." I nodded, "As for us, we found a library. Kylie's group was with us there."

"Yep!" Wendy smiled, "While we were there, we also found this photo..." She reached into her jacket pocket, fumbling around a bit, before pulling her paw out. "Aw bother."

"What is it?"

"...I didn't take the photo with me." She sighed, putting her head down.

"It's fine. It's not like it's gonna disappear!" Rebecca smiled.

"Yeah... You've got a good point." She nodded.

"Well... My group found a storage room... Kylie's group also found it after us." Pedro told us.

"Anything else?"

"Well... We also found this staircase." I perked up, "But it was closed off. We can't go up it unless something happens... Monopotato said so."

"Wh-What?" Kylie jumped, "He told you in person?"

"Yep. I don't really understand... Besides that, we also found a nurses office. Nothing else." I sighed.

"Uhm... Everyone? What about this room?" Delphine asked, showing everyone her handbook. She was pointing at a room next to the IT room. The only thing that was on it was a small hammer of some kind.

"...I don't know..." Candy said after a long period of silence, "We never considered checking it..."

"Hm... Maybe it's best if we don't question that for now." Freddy nodded to himself, "Anything else?"

Silence ensured once again.

"...Very well. I guess this meeting is over. Good search everyone!" The fox smiled, standing up and leaving the table. Soon, many others began doing the same.

I just started thinking to myself.

Considering that we've discovered these new rooms, it would be a good idea if we interacted a bit within them...

...I guess I have some free time.

Chapter Text

...I guess I could spend some time with Rebecca. I hope she's doing well after the incident that occurred...

I skipped over to the cream coloured rabbit as she was leaving the homeroom, lightly tapping her shoulder. She looked around, her facial expression going a bit brighter seeing me.

"O-Oh... Hey Peppa."

"Hello Rebecca! I was wondering if we could spend some free time together?"

"That'd be nice..."

"Cool!" I leaped a bit into the air, "What should we do?"

"I'm not sure..." The bunny scratched her neck a bit, "Maybe we could find something in the storage room? There was a lot of stuff there..."

"Sounds like a good plan." I smiled, heading out of the door and down the hallway. Rebecca followed soon after me.

"...So, Rebecca..." I sighed, "How are you feeling?"

"Not the greatest. But I feel better then yesterday." She nodded her head stiffly.

Understandable. I don't think she'd want to converse about the incident she had with Monopotato.

Soon, Rebecca had lead me to the storage room. Since I hadn't seen it yet, it was quite a surprise to walk into it for the first time.

Huge industrial shelves lined up along the edges and through the centre, various random items stacked thoroughly upon them, the colours silver and gun grey running through the whole room.

"...Oh my..."

"Yeah. Kinda dull, right?"

"No, no, it's actually rather interesting! I haven't seen such a dark room before!"

"Oh. Didn't expect that, but ok." Rebecca shrugged, heading towards a shelf on the far left. I skipped after her.

"What are you doing?"

"Finding a board game. You willing to play?"

"Sure." I nodded happily, looking through the shelves with the rabbit.

"Let's see... Clu- Nah, too little players, Ri- No, too long... Mono- Nope, too triggering..." Rebecca sweated, before lighting up a bit. "Ah! Here we are!" She smiled, pulling out a game of backgammon.

"Heh, you play backgammon?" I giggled.

"Oh come on now, did you think I just ran in my free time?" She laughed, setting the board down on the floor.

"Well, my backgammon skills are a bit rusty, but I'm willing to give it a shot." I smiled happily, sitting down with Rebecca as we started to play.

And as it turns out, Rebecca won most of the games we played.

"Dammit..." I scoffed, as the bunny laughed in triumph. "Are you cheating?"

"Nah, you just suck at this."

"...Good point."

"Maybe I should've become the Ultimate Backgammon Player..."

"...How did you become the Ultimate Track Star?"

Rebecca turned to me, clearly a bit taken back by the question. "...No one's really asked me that, you know."

"Oh... Well, I'm your first audience!" I smiled.

"Oh all right." She rolled her eyes, "I guess it started with a couple of sport's days back in the day. I think you were there, you know."

...She's right. I was there.

"I won a prize. Next sport's day, I had grown up. And I won a prize again. My mum suggested that I applied for a running competition, since everything that I won in sports day was for running. With a few for swimming. I agreed to sign up. But... I didn't win that time."

...Oh.

Now I feel a bit bad.

"I ended up twisting my ankle right at the end. That cost me the race. After that, I... Got a bit mad a running. But then I swore to myself that I'd make myself up for that mistake. That I'd be better in the future. So I dedicated myself to running. For 6 months I just runned upon running. Then I returned to that competition. And that time... I won."

Now I feel better.

"I guess... After that moment, I was known as the Ultimate Track Star...?" She shrugged.

"...That's actually a really interesting story, Rebecca." I nodded. And it was true: She seemed so dedicated back then she still has a lot of dedication in her soul.

"Thanks... You know what? I think that telling you my story has inspired myself a bit... I'm gonna go run some laps in the courtyard. So, thanks for the game?" She asked, putting the backgammon set back on it's respective shelf.

"Yeah. Thanks a lot." I smiled, as the rabbit sprinted out of the storage room.

I feel like I grew a little closer to Rebecca today.

"Oh, Peppa! Hello!"

I jumped, flipping around at the greeting. My gaze landed upon the barely shorter figure, unrecognisable due to the two toolboxes they were carrying.

I could recognise their voice though.

"Edmond? What's going on here?"

"I'm just... Huff... Taking these to the... IT room... Phew... Could you help me?"

"Uhm... Sure." I took one of the toolboxes out of the elephant's arms, taking it into my own as we left the storage room.

"...What do you need these for?" I asked, as out footsteps weakly echoed through the hall.

"I'm gonna try and figure out what's up with the computer that needs a password. I might be able to hack into it."

I slowly stopped walking, staring at the green-jacketed animal. "...And that's why you need these tools?"

"Uhm. Yes? I just told you." Edmond looked at me sarcastically, continuing towards the IT room. I quickly followed behind.

Edmond leaned the door open with his trunk, scrambling through. I simply walked through it myself, carefully shutting the door behind me.

"Phew... Thanks Peppa." Edmond nodded, "You can leave now if you want."

"Wait a moment." I halted myself, "I'd like to ask something."

"Hm? Go ahead."

"How are you going to be able to supposedly 'hack' into the computer in the corner? I know you're a clever clogs, but I don't think two toolboxes are going to help you..."

"Ah, take a look inside one of them."

"Uh... Ok?" I, confused, opened up the metallic red crate next to my feet. To my surprise, it was filled to the brim with random little bug-like figures.

"What are these?"

"Microchips," Edmond started, "I'm thinking that if I were to replace a couple of the inner systems of the computer... Then maybe the password will become irrelevant. It's gonna take a while though."

"Wow..." I was a bit surprised, honestly. "You know, it's amazing that you know this stuff, Edmond. Even when you were young, you understood stuff going on with atoms and all that...!"

"Heh, yeah." The elephant smiled, kneeling down to the computer in the corner. "I guess you can thank my father for that. And a lot of textbooks I read through when I was bored."

"How was your father like?"

"He was busy most of the time, being a doctor himself. And occasionally a ticket seller. But he always had a soft spot for me and Emily." He said, a tone of heartwarmth in his voice as he screwed off a plate to the computer's monitor.

"... I'm glad your father was that kind all the time."

"Me too."

A short silence held out.

"... I'm gonna go do something else." I sounded out.

"Ok. See you later." Edmond nodded at me with a smile. Returning it, I left the IT room with a quickened pace.

I'm glad I grew a bit closer to Edmond today.

Is there anyone else that I can spend time with...?

...Maybe with Candy?

I took a turn into the conjoining hallway, heading towards the dorm rooms. Soon I got to Candy's room, knocking on it softly.

...No response.

I knocked harder.

Still no reply.

...I don't think she's here.

Then I jumped. A crash from the main hallway sounded out. Whipping my head round to the conjunction between the halls, I rushed to the more modern of the two.

"Hello? Is- Is anyone hurt?!"

"Ungh..." A groan whistled out from behind the industrial kitchen doors, "Y-Yeah... *cough* Just had an accident..."

Pushing the two doors apart, my eyes watered slightly to an immense amount of flour, dusted throughout the entire room, an arid scent in the air. And bent over one of the countertops was Candy, coughing up a storm.

"Candy...? What happened...?"

"I was.. *huff* Trying to bake.. *cough* something... But the mixer- *wheeze* fell off... The counter..."

"Jeez... You need a hand?"

"That'd be... A lot of help." She smiled, dusting the flour off her dark teal skirt.

"Let's get this flour dealt with then..."

After a lot of cleaning up the dusty baking item, and making sure that no equipment had been damaged, I took a look at Candy.

"What were you trying to bake?"

"Ah, nothing big... Just a devil's food cake..."

"That sounds like it's big."

"Ok maybe it is. I was hoping I could share it later on with some of you. But it's definitely screwed up now..."

"Hey now, we can bake something else, right?"

"...You're right. Maybe fishcakes?"

"Really? We had fish in our breakfast today, right?"

"Yeah, but still... There's nothing that a little fish can't fix." She smiled, heading to one of the bland, shiny fridges, "Plus, fishcakes use WAY less flour."

"You're right there... Wait. I don't even know how to make fishcakes."

"I do. Just trust me a little bit here, ok?"

"Ok..." I rolled my eyes slightly.

And what would I know? After I believe 40 minutes, there was a plate of fishcakes right in front of us. They even smelled good.

"Told ya I knew how to work with fish." Candy smirked.

"Yeah... It's shockingly good."

"My talent with fish or the fishcake in general?"

I looked at her, fishcake in hand, chewing a bit. "Oh... Sorry." I put the circular food down.

"Ah, it's fine. You can keep eating that if you want." She nodded, staring at the wall a bit.

"..What's on your mind?"

"Nothing. Just... Thinking about how I became the Ultimate Skipper."

"How?"

The cat glared at me a bit, before shaking her head. "I'd prefer if we didn't talk about that."

*Ding dong bong bing...*

"Huh...?"

"This is an announcement to all participants! It is officially nighttime! So to you lot in the kitchen: Please leave! It will be closing now. Thank you for your attention!"

"Ah." Candy sighed, "Nighttime announcement. I thought this might happen."

"R-Really?" I looked at her.

"Yeah. There was a morning announcement, right? So there'd also be a nighttime announcement."

"Ahem. I said. Please leave the kitchen!"

"Ok, ok, sorry." The ginger cat ran out through the silver doors, me following suit.

"So... What now?" I asked.

"I don't know." She shrugged, "I guess we... Go to bed?"

"...A bit boring, but ok. Goodnight." I nodded to her, heading down the hallway to the dorms. However, Candy followed.

"...Huh?"

"All the dorms are in the same place."

"Oh yeah." I laughed, as we reached my dorm room.

"Ok. Now goodnight." I opened the door to the dorm after some slight struggle.

"Mhm. Goodnight!" Candy giggled, heading to her respective dorm as I closed the door to mine.

I'm glad I got to spend some time with Candy today.

Chapter Text

I yawned, stretching myself as I raised out of bed. Rubbing my head slightly, I started to think about what to do with the new day ahead of me.

One thought came to my mind.

I wonder what came to those fishcakes that Candy and I made yesterday.

Reaching my hand to the sleek handbook on the short bedside table next to the bed, I quickly checked the time.

6:48 AM

Well that's nice.

Getting up, and getting ready, I soon left through the door into the hallway. Turning to the left, I headed to the kitchen, still questioning the fate of the fishcakes.

I tried to push open the doors to the kitchen. They stood still.

"Huh...?"

I pushed harder on the two. They still stayed put.

"...Wait." I flipped out the handbook in my dress's pocket (yes, it had pockets, don't judge me), and took a read back through the rules.

"...Oh. The kitchen's closed off." I sighed, before checking the time again.

7:01 AM

"...Huh? Shouldn't it be open by now?"

*Ding Dong Bong Bing...*

I jumped, startled at the rusty bell sound. Looking up to the ceiling, I heard the voice of the one person here I didn't like announce himself scratchily.

"Gooooooood morning fellow participants! It is officially daytime! So, certain rooms will now be open once again!"

A click was heard from the doors I stood next to. Looking at them, I tried to push on them again. This time, they drifted apart like a breeze.

Before I could go in though, more words sounded out.

"And one more thing: Please may all participants please report to the courtyard! Failure to follow this order will result in punishment."

...What could that bugger of a thing want from us?

I sighed, turning to my right as I entered first into the homeroom, then to the courtyard. To my surprise, the sky was darker than usual.

"...What?"

The sky held a dark colour of navy blue and ash grey. It wasn't like the sky before - Which was a much lighter blue.

Eventually, everyone else started to file in, leaving me in confusion staring at the sky.

"Ugh... Peppa?"

I turned around slowly to see George, looking at me worriedly, his hand on the back of his neck.

"Are you ok?"

"Y-Yeah. I'm fine. It's just... Wasn't the sky brighter than before?"

The younger pig glanced upwards, before gasping and snapping their head back to me.

"You're right again... It was much brighter yesterday..."

"...Maybe its wintertime?"

"Nah. Its too warm..."

Oh god. I didn't even realize that it was so hot outside.

I took a quick turn, noticing that Suzy was waving her hand at herself, trying to blow some kind of air her way.

I guess that's a downside of having thick wool.

"Now then... tut, tut..."

"Oh for crying out-"

A rumble shook us off our feet momentarily, before Monopotato leaped out, landing back on the red wooden stand that had stood here since yesterday. The half-darkened vegetable then turned to us, holding a blank face with skeptical hints all through it.

"...You are all quite annoying sometimes, you know?"

"I'm sorry. How are we annoying?"

"Oh quiet, you stupid rabbit. You still have that scar from 2 days ago."

Rebecca tensed up a bit, before slinking down to her knees.

"What did you even call us here for." Danny stared.

"It's very obvious, you mutt! It's been two days, two days, you hear me? And still no sign of blood being spilled whatsoever!"

"..."

"...You still expect us to kill one of our friends?"

"Of course I do! And because no one here has even bothered, I'm going to take this situation into my own hands. I understand what's missing. You just need more motivation~..." The figure giggled to themselves, before pulling out a small, bent item.

"I present to you, your first motive!"

Motive...?

"This is a cellphone right here. Now: If you are to kill one of the participants among you and get away with it, you will not only be able to get out of the building, but also be able to make one phone call before you do. It may be made to anyone that you know. However, there is one catch: You MUST make the call in front of the other participants. If you cannot, then you'd have killed someone for no reason~... Kehehehe~..."

...

That's our... Motive?

Why is this thing so dedicated to trying to make us kill each other...?!

"Anyways! The option's gonna be there whenever you want it, so I suggest you take it soon! Happy killing~..."

I looked back up to the stand, only to find that the... I guess you can say 'monochromatic' potato had disappeared.

"...What do we do now?" Richard asked.

"Simple. We don't listen."

"H-Huh?"

I turned around, eyes landing upon the person that had confidence in their voice. To my shock, it was Edmond.

"I know it isn't like me to go against regulations, but this is a serious situation." The elephant nodded, running up to the platform and clambering upon it, before facing us, determination in his eyes.

"What this thing has told us this morning is quite a surprise, and I admit it. But it's only a trick: A method of manipulating us into killing someone! We're better than this, we can continue to try and find a way out together. We can survive together. And to prove that, I believe it would be a good idea if we got our minds off of this... Offer."

"How do we do that?" Delphine questioned.

"Simple. We all spend some time together. Why don't we all have a couple games of cards this evening? We can play poker-"

"Hey, hey hey... Hold on a minute!" Gerald raised is voice slightly, his head towering above Edmond's by a slight bit, "I didn't know that you gambled! I thought you weren't into that stuff?"

"..." The only thing that Edmond sent back was a skeptical face of consolidation. "Just because I play cards, it doesn't mean that I gamble. Gambling involves money and betting, as well as addiction. And I am not addicted to playing cards."

"...M-My mistake. Sorry Edmond."

"Anyways, I have hope that we can all forget about this nonsensical offer of Monopotato's and we can all continue to break out of here united. Is everyone with me?"

I shouted back a yes in reply. Soon, everyone else in the courtyard replied with confirmation of the plan for the evening.

"I'm glad that we all agreed on this." Edmond smiled, hopping down from the stand, his shirt getting a bit caught by the wind, "I'll see you all tonight, then. I wish you all safety and hope for the rest of this day!"

Chapter Text

"I wish you all safety and hope for the rest of this day"

The words kept repeating in my head as I left the courtyard.

...Edmond wasn't wrong. With this new temptation that Monopotato has shown us, it's going to take more willpower to keep ourselves together. And a little bit of hope can definitely help with that.

My floppy ears picked up the slow footsteps I took through the hallway, directing me back to my room for a while. It's not like I needed to, I just simply wanted to. No issues with that. Right?

Soon, I was in front of my dorm room. I flipped out the handbook in my pocket, ready to use it on my door. After a slightly easier time of turning the handbook on, and unlocking the door with it, I stepped through, closing the door behind me.

My eyes flipped right to my bed. I wasn't sure why, I didn't necessarily have the urge to sleep. Maybe I wanted to lie down for a while?

Or maybe it was because there was something on the bed. Something rectangular.

Focusing closer on the item, I soon realized that it was a photograph. A bit dusty, but visible nonetheless. Sitting myself next to the photo, I took it into my hands, nostalgia running through my veins as I looked at it.

It was an image of me, mum and dad all together, a notable amount of mud on all of our clothes. I was still rather young, I looked a lot like a toddler. I'm guessing that this photo was taken around the time that my parents moved into our current house.

...

I miss them.

I wish I could contact them for a moment.

...Wait.

The motive would let me do that...

...No. I wouldn't kill someone just to talk with my family.

Even though I miss them that much... Maybe I should-

Dammit, NO Peppa! We can get out of here ourselves, we can find a way! We don't need to kill each other to escape! Th-There must be another way...

...I'm sorry mum, but there's no need for me to miss you.

I flung the photo to the other side of the room, standing up and yanking the door open, closing it behind me to let it lock itself automatically. I took a glance around the hallway, turning to the left to see a familiar grey figure in a lavender jacket and black jeans.

"...Wendy?"

The wolf turned to face me with a monotone face, looking me in the eyes. "Oh. Hey Peppa."

"Uhm... What are you doing?"

"I'm just taking a little thought. I need it, after what I saw."

"...What did you see?"

"I'm not sure if you'd want to know."

"Really? I also saw something quite weird not that long ago, so I wouldn't mind hearing about what's bothering you."

"...Fine. I was sitting in my room when I noticed this freaky photo of my family. I was still young and everything in it... I don't know what it was doing there."

"..."

...She also had a photo?

"Wendy... I also saw a photo of my family. In my room too."

"What...?"

"Yeah. It was similar to yours - A bit weird and dusty. And what's more, I was also rather young."

"...Phone call..."

"Huh?" I glanced at the messy-haired wolf.

"Peppa..." She looked up at me, stiffness in her eyes, "Do you think that these photos are a second motive?"

"...I actually never considered that."

"Well, if these photos are an addition to Monopotato's motive... It may be a bit harder to keep some people from taking the bait."

...Her words are confusing me a bit. But overall I understand what's going on.

The only thing I could reply with was a quick "Yeah."

"..." Wendy shook her head, a few hairs flying off. "Jeez... I need a shot."

"W-What?! We can't drink!"

"...I meant a shot of juice. I should've specified."

"...Oh. Nevermind, then." I stared at the wall, as Wendy headed to the kitchen with a little spring in her step. I soon followed after her, sighing a bit. I could've sworn I heard a quiet howl, though...

Wendy pushed open the doors to the kitchen, swinging away accordingly to reveal the set of countertops and cupboards. The wolf headed to the left of the well-lit room, opening a cabinet and swiftly searching through it. Soon, she shut the doors to it softly, moving on to the neighbouring cabinet.

"Where is the juice..."

"Uhm... I'd say it's in the fridge?"

"Oh." She briefly looked at me, "Good point." She kneeled up, kicking the cabinets shut as she walked to the other side of the room, to one of the two silver-lined industrial fridges. Yanking one of the doors open, she soon pulled out a slim bottle, chuckling to herself.

"Here we go. Grapefruit juice." Wendy nodded, floppily closing the door.

"Ew...! Grapefruit? That's so sour! Nobody likes that..." I whined, scrunching my eyes up at the thought of the sunset pink liquid.

"Neither do I. But this really isn't a nice situation... I need to wake myself up." The wolf explained, grabbing a glass and nimbly pouring the juice into it, capping the bottle once the cup was around two thirds full. She then slid the bottle down the counter, grabbing the glass and gulping some of the liquid, her face squirming at the taste.

"Wleugh. That really is sour." She spat, setting the glass down.

"Yeah... I said earlier that nobody likes it." I giggled, making Wendy let out a laugh.

"Heh... You're right there."

"Say, Wendy... Maybe we should spend some time together? To get our minds off those photos? And also to pass the time until the evening..."

"...I was going to do something else, but it's fine. We can do something together." She nodded as her brush-like tail wagged a bit.

"Where should we go? Maybe... The library?"

"Sounds good! Just... Let me finish my juice."

Chapter Text

Breathing in the dusty air of the elegant library, I sighed happily. I swear, this really is one of my favourite rooms. Looking at Wendy with an excited eye, she smiled back.

"Shall we find a couple classics?"

"...Gladly."

The both of us leapt forward towards the back shelves, searching through the shelves for novels of every kind: Fantasy, science fiction, crime, historical, romance, the lot.

I mean, I was the Ultimate Storyteller. And the library is pretty much the perfect place for a storyteller to reside. Plus, there wasn't really anything else that interesting I could think of that I could do with Wendy. She is quite into... Certain literature.

Soon, after a while, we met back up with each other, books in our paws/hoofs. Then we laid them out on the floor, reading through them together. The session of flipping through the pages and indulging our minds into the plotlines must've taken a few hours. It felt like half an hour to me though.

"Heh, Lord of the Flies?" Wendy laughed, as I closed the cover to Oliver Twist.

"Yeah! It's way more understandable than this thing." I picked up the book by Dickens, staring it in its nonexistent eyes.

"Understandable? Peppa, I can't get my head around some parts of it! A conch shell can make a noise when you blow into it... Since when?"

"Well, if you don't want to read Lord of the Flies, then we might as well start on The Great Gatsby."

"Oh jeez... Really?"

"Nah. It's your turn to choose now."

"...I don't know... Maybe we could read through a couple of children's books? Just for a laugh?"

"..." I wheezed softly, bending over as I giggled. "Wh- I-I mean- Pfffft- W-We can-"

"OK YAY-" The wolf quickly ran over to the section in the corner containing the children's stories. I sighed, still wheezing heavily as I followed her.

Yep. Wendy has a thing for kids books. I mean, I don't mind them, I just don't read them every day.

"Here we go! A book on vegetables!" Wendy smiled as I reached her.

...

I felt an awkward feeling run through my body when she said 'vegetables'.

"Hehe, it's such a basic explanation of the foods! Carrots, beetroot, radishes..."

My eyelids flopped down a bit, pain running through my head and hitting from the inside of my thighs. I didn't really understand why it was happening... I tried to push the question of cause out of my head as focus became a major battle.

"Ah! Potatos!"

The disturbance in my body tripled at that word, causing my feet to collapse underneath my body, making me flop backwards, a muffled crash vibrating through the whole room as my headache started to get insanely painful. Wendy jumped at my forced trip, throwing the book to one side and kneeling over my body.

"P-Peppa? What's happening!?"

"I-It... Hurts..."

"H-Hold on, I can f-find Suzy... Stay a-awake Peppa! Please stay awake!"

I couldn't lift my head as drowsiness overcame my body, as my eyes shut themselves despite Wendy's slightly frantic begging. While my body was shutting itself down, one word rang out through my head.

Potato.

Potato...

Potato...

"...No he's not, he's a potato!"

"And potatoes are this big!"

"H... H-Huh?"

I flickered my eyes open. I was outside. Outside a white brick building with a pastel blue roof. Balloons and banners fluttering in the air. Around me were many adults and children, two of them being Danny and Suzy. It seemed like they were talking to me...

But wasn't I... Asleep?

A loud, streamlined honk shook rang out among the whole crowd, most of the grown-ups in it simultaneously pulling out cameras and phones, most likely to take pictures. I think that Danny said something else to me too. I didn't catch it.

...I think that this is a convention for a certain celebrity.

But if that was the case, why am I here...?

Eventually, camera flashes blinked rapidly as a round, light red car parked itself in front of the crowd, who started to clear a path to the front door of the building. Me, being caught in the chaos, had to move to the side next to some unknown grown-up, separating me from Danny and Suzy.

And once again, an ear-piercing sound screeched out. This time, though, it was an announcement.

"Please welcome, your friend and mine, Mr. Potato!"

...

Oh god.

I misheard him for a moment. All the memories stuck in my head about Monopotato made me believe that this near-identical figure was actually him. In reality, they were very similar. The general shape and size was the same. However, half of them wasn't black. It was the exact same as the other side. They still had the rugged hat, however it seemed a lot cleaner than Monopotato's...

"I declare this sports centre, open!"

...

...Wait.

This happened when I was young!

What took me so long to figure out...?

I rushed forward to the doors of the building, just as Mr. Potato cut the ribbon restricting access to it's doors, people clapping happily. Then, he took a quick step forward, pushing the two doors apart.

I was met with a much darker sight, though.

...The interior of the sports centre looked abandoned. Broken treadmills and cycling machines layed in the main path, weights were scattered everywhere, walls were crumbling obliviously slow... It was like it had been attacked.

Concerned, I took a step forward. Followed by another. Then another. Before giving in to worried curiousity and entering the building cautiously.

When you were inside it felt worse. The smell of fresh plaster and new shoes painted itself though the air. Not to mention the fact it felt darker.

...Huh?

I turned around, looking back at the doorway to see the crowd from earlier, all staring at me. Their eyes were shaded with an ominous red, piercing my confidence, and making me reconsider wether or not I should just return and get out of the building.

Mr. Potato was the only one who looked at me normally. He took a couple steps forward, not as much pride in his stride. Once he had entered through the doorway of the building, I noticed that a part of him was a bit loose. He then stamped one foot on the ground, as half of his beige, earthy body fell off, revealing itself to be only a small layer. What laid underneath it was only black. A red symbol where his eye was.

"...Monopotato?"

The figure didn't say a word. He just started getting closer to me, speeding up his pace. I started backing away out of fear, soon running backwards.

A sharp pain rippled through my foot as I plummeted to the ground, my hand stunning itself on a large chunk of gravel as I continued to scoot away. The air in the continuosly long building began to heat up. I took a look to the side, noticing flames, elegant yet powerful. I shivered, crawling on my back as the heat rised, a few notable screams sounding out as Monopotato continued to close in on me, his pace faster than a crawl, no doubt.

In a last-ditch attempt, I hurled myself backwards, only to slam my back into a wall. The flames and the shouting and begging started to control my senses as Monopotato caught up with me, grabbing me by the dress and yanking me up, staring me in the eye.

My fear overtook everything. My head felt weak, smog clouded my sight.

Before my eyes fully shut, I heard one short sentence.

"This is your future."

Chapter Text

"AHHHHHHH!"

"Jeez, jeez! Peppa, calm down... I'm glad you're awake."

"Wh- What- What's happening-"

"Wendy said you fell asleep for most of the day. Funny. It's usually me who falls asleep during the day..."

I squinted my eyes, sitting with my back arched as I started to get used to the scene. Wendy, Suzy, George and Pedro were by my side, relieved looks in their faces. The surroundings were the same as before I passed out - We were in the library, by the area with the children's books.

"F-Fell asleep...?"

"Yeah! It's now the evening!" Pedro smiled, nodding his head eagerly. "Edmond's already got the tables ready and all...!"

...Oh yeah. Edmond did mention that we were going to hang out tonight.

"So... The poker game's starting soon?"

"Sure is." Suzy replied. "Do you need a bit more rest...?"

"Nah. I feel better."

"Ok... Let's get going. Edmond might be getting a bit impatient." Suzy stood up, heading upstairs, Pedro and Wendy following. I turned to face my brother, nervousness in his eyes.

"...Are you ok George?"

"Uh- Yeah. I'm fine."

...Something tells me that not the truth. But I'm not gonna try and accuse him of anything right now. I'm too tired.

I shakily stood up, my legs shivering slightly as I took a couple steps forward, testing wether I could move on them. After they strengthened, I continued onward, reaching the staircase and climbing up it quickly.

Despite the odd pain in my hand.

The horrors of the... Dream I had stuck tougher than superglue in my head, causing me a difficulty as I hopped up the steps, soon reaching the second floor.

"Ah, Peppa! Nice to see you, are you feeling alright?" Edmond called out my name as I neared him.

"Yeah... I'm alright." I smiled softly, looking at the new arrangement on the floor.

The two trapezium-shaped tables on the enlarged balcony had been draped with a silky, emerald green cloth, conjoining with each other to form an irregular hexagon. A single deck laid at one end of the table, a bit of glam clearly noticeable in its design.

"It's not necessarily the greatest setup... But it's the best we can do for our own sanity. All the poker tables that we found in the storage room had been vandalised by a certain potato..." The elephant grimaced, before looking back at me. "Do you have any knowledge of poker?"

"Sadly not. I only really know the stuff like- Flush, 3 of a kind, full house... That kind of thing?"

"Aha, ok. Maybe you'd like a bit of a... Revision on them?"

"That might be helpful." I sighed. I was getting quite a few flashbacks from the backgammon game with Rebecca, which didn't help in the slightest.

"Very well then. I'll show you." Edmond pulled out a sketchbook and pencil from... I'm guessing from behind his back. He opened the sketchbook, flipped to a clean page and gripped the dark wooden pencil in his hand.

After a while, he had shown to me the different card formations by sketching them individually, the suit and all. I was refreshed on the topic, and also quite surprised.

"Heh, you understand a bit more now?"

"...Yeah."

"Glad to hear I could teach you a bit. Now then, let's play some poker!"

____________________

I took a short breath in, followed by a long one out as the first cards were dealt to everyone. George had been chosen to be the dealer, which was kind of a shame for me. He had offered to help me during the game, however Edmond had selected him to be the dealer.

He agreed to take the role, but I did hear one thing before he took his spot.

"Oh well, can't be everything you want to be in life..."

...I was confused when he dropped those words.

I'm not gonna focus on that though.

"Ok... First bet everyone. Or maybe not... What kind of poker is this? Texas holdem...?"

"I mean..." Edmond sighed a bit, "It can be Texas hold'em."

"Fair enough. Everyone bet once."

All of us handed a single chip to the middle. George then laid the first three cards.

Jack of spades. 4 of spades. 9 of hearts.

I looked at my own cards. They were both jacks.

"Next bet. Starting with you, Candy."

The tabby cat tossed one chip to the middle.

"Rebecca."

The rabbit also added a chip to the pile.

"Emily."

The older of the two elephants knocked on the table - The sign for giving up the bet.

"Delphine."

The donkey placed three chips in the middle, all of the same worth of 1. Like the other chips in the pile.

"Hm... Minimum bet is now 3."

The next three players - Danny, Kylie and Richard - all added three chips. The next two - Gerald and Zoë - knocked on the table.

"Heh, worried much?" Pedro giggled at the zebra, who rolled her eyes.

"Oh quiet you baka."

"R-Right. S'cuse me."

Now it was me.

I reached for one of the higher valued chips - The one worth 5, to be exact, - And added it to the pile. A few shocked faces reacted to my daring move.

Delphine's didn't change though. It stayed tighter than steel.

"Dam! Minimum bet is now 5!" George chuckled a bit.

Edmond, Wendy and Pedro added 5 to the pile. Freddy and Suzy knocked. Candy, Delphine, Danny, Kylie and Richard added the remaining chips to equal their amount betted to 5. Rebecca knocked.

"Ok... Now the turn." George called out, laying down another card: A 4 of diamonds.

My confidence shook a bit as Candy knocked. Delphine persisted though - Adding two chips.

Danny and Richard added two more, while Kylie knocked.

I sighed, adding in the two chips. I took a swift glance at Delphine afterwards, who simply giggled at me before returning to check her cards.

Edmond and Pedro added on. Wendy knocked.

"Last card: The river."

The card laid down. It was a 7 of spades.

Danny's eyes widened as Delphine added a chip. A short silence sounded out. Eventually, the brown-furred mutt knocked. Richard knocked immediately after that. I added. Edmond knocked. Pedro added.

"Ok... Show your cards!"

All of us flipped our cards, revealing the signs on them.

"Three of a kind!" I laughed.

"Quinte." Delphine smiled, stretching her arms.

"...Huh?"

"I win."

The smile slowly fell off my face as I looked at Delphine's cards. They were both spades. Connecting her cards with the three spades that were laid... Made a flush.

And a flush was higher than a three of a kind.

"Dammit." I sighed, "What have you got Pedro?"

"Uh..." The pony shivered a bit, "Two pairs."

"Wow!" George giggled, "Delphine wins this round!"

The donkey smiled, taking the chips that laid in the middle of the table and adding them to her own. "Not bad playing Peppa. Good round." She nodded at me.

"...Thanks." I replied, a bit stumped. "You know, Delphine... I have a question."

"Quelle?"

"How are you so good at poker? I don't remember you playing it anytime I saw you..."

"...It's interesting. Me and my family were really into travelling. We would usually take a train from Paris to Nice every summer for a short holiday. It was a 6 hours ride, I think. And during the train ride to and from Nice, me and my family would usually play poker with each other. Even Didier played with us sometimes. We also played sometimes while we were in Nice. It was a really nice time we all had together..."

...

"...Wow."

"Time for the next round!"

____________________

It was way later on in the game. I'd ran out of chips, and so had quite a lot of the other players.

Only 4 remained playing: Edmond, Richard, Delphine and Pedro.

"Dam... It's surprising that Pedro's still in this!" Zoë said, shock in her eyes as we watched from the sidelines.

"I'm more amazed at the fact that Richard's still playing." Gerald nodded.

"Sorry Richard, you've gone bust." Edmond smirked, as the elephant took the remaining amount of chips in the centre, while the rabbit in the navy blue leather jacket simply shrugged.

"Ah well. It was a great game." Richard smiled, handing his cards to George and getting up from his seat, joining us as we watched the remaining three.

"...Nevermind." The giraffe lowered his head a bit.

"Uhm... Guys?" George asked, rubbing his neck a bit.

"Hm?"

"Oui?"

"Yea?"

"It's getting rather late... It's nearly 8. Maybe we should wrap this up soon...?"

"Agreed." Edmond lowered his head. "Why don't we go all in for this last round?"

"Sure. I'm still amazed that I got this far anyway." Pedro noted, pushing his remaining chips to the centre. The other two also did so. George dealt the two cards to the final three, followed by the 5 cards in the centre.

After all was revealed... Pedro had won. With a straight.

"...Oh. My god." The pony's eyes were kept wide open, absolutely shaken by the fact that he had won the final round. He rested his head in his hands, still amazed at himself.

"I-I- How- How did I even-"

*Ding dong bong bing...*

"It is officially 8 pm, participants. Certain rooms will now be locked off. Good night everyone!"

"Well, that's that." Edmond smiled, "Did everyone have a good time?"

We all nodded, with our smiling faces and determined eyes. From this one agreement, I could feel a small aura of hope amongst all of us.

"Glad to hear that. Congratulations Pedro for winning! You can all go to bed now... I'll tidy up."

"By yourself?" Suzy asked, cocking her wooly head to the side.

"...Yes?"

"I think that's a bit of an exaggeration, Edmond. Even for you." The sheep clenched her teeth, "Do you mind if I help you?"

"...Sure." Edmond nodded, grabbing the rogue cards off the table as Suzy hopped over to him.

"Goodnight everyone. See you tomorrow!" Suzy beamed at all of us as we headed back down the library staircase.

"...Goodnight Suzy..." I waved slowly as I headed down the stairs, soon exiting through the library's magnificent doors and turning left, heading to my dorm.

I hope Suzy will be ok...

*CRASH*

*BANG*

"Ughhh..." I clenched my head as my eyes tiredly opened, welcoming me back to the world. I leaned my body out of bed, heading to the bathroom to get myself sorted.

During my time in the bathroom, a loud voice sounded out.

"Goooooooood morning participants! It is officially morning. Rise and shine!"

"Morning announcement..." I mumbled to myself while brushing my teeth.

After the whole getting dressed and all of that stuff, I pushed open the door to my room, handbook in hand, and closed it behind me, an audible click being heard. Turning my head to the larger hallway that the dorm hallway grew off of, I noticed a beige figure not that far from my door.

"...Pedro? What are you doing?"

"Oh- Uh- Hey Peppa." The young horse turned to face me, surprise in his face. "I just woke up early. Quite a shock, honestly. I wanted to go back to sleep, but something in me didn't let me..."

"...Oh. I woke up a bit before the morning announcement."

"Cool. I was thinking about heading to the library for a while. Just to read a couple books before breakfast started. You wanna come with...?"

"Sure. I haven't got any better to do." I agreed, walking alongside Pedro as we started our course back to the library.

"How are you feeling after your big win last night?"

"Pretty hyped! I'm still extremely shocked that I won, ya know! Yeah, cowboys play poker, but I haven't played it for a-"

Pedro suddenly stopped walking, right outside the doors of the library. His eyes widened as sputtered noises escaped his mouth.

"...Pedro?"

"...O-Oh- G-God- ...I-It can't b-be-"

"Pedro, what's going on?"

The pony only held up a shaking hoof to the left of the library staircase. I glanced to where he was looking...

I regretted it immediately.

Delphine Donkey, the Ultimate French Teacher, laid dead, bleeding from her head and leg.

*Ding dong bong bing...*

"A body has been discoverrrrrrrrred! Please may all participants meet in the library. There I will further explain how the Playgroup Trial and investigation works. Cheerioooooo!"

____________________

(Chapter 1: Life's A Dangerous Game - Daily Life Finish)

DEADLY LIFE - BEGIN

Chapter Text

*DRINNNG*

"I wonder who that could be?"

*Creak*

"Bonjour, I am Delphine Donkey. I have come to see Peppa!"

"It's Delphine! Bonjour!"

"Bonjour!"

The memory of when I first saw Delphine rushed through my head. Following it were all the other times that we had spent together. When she came to stay with us, when we went to visit her in Paris, the poker game we played...

All the way up to her lifeless body sitting at the foot of the library staircase.

...Au revoir, Delphine.

____________________

I couldn't peel my eyes off the sight. Blood splattered out onto the carpet underneath her head, one of the curved ladders resting by her side, her leg also noticeably damaged...

It was too much for Pedro, apparently. His mouth had been trembling for a while after the announcement had sounded out, however now he was letting out a few murmurs. That turned into shouting, which eventually became an ear-carving scream. During his release of the horrifying sound, he fell down onto his knees, running his hands through his hair roughly.

"Guys?! What's going o-"

Rebecca rushed into the library, stopping at Pedro's feet, her eyes laying upon the donkey's body. Her expression stiffened along with her legs, as her face slowly took on a shade of green, eventually covering her whole face as her cheeks puffed up.

"Hrk-!"

The rabbit then dashed out of the room, faster than I'd seen her before. After a while, the harsh cry of intense vomiting sounded out from behind us. And yes, we could hear it - Pedro had stopped screaming by then.

I hadn't taken my eyes off of Delphine's corpse.

I didn't want to take them off.

...Who did this?

Wh- Who here had the honest m-motivation to k-kill her...?!

WHO D-DID TH-THIS TO H-HER?!

WHO WOULD-

"Peppa?"

"WHAT?-"

"...Jeez. Sorry..."

I shook my head as I looked at who called my name. My heart skipped a beat when I realised it was Suzy. She had just as horrified a face, one of her legs were shaking.

"...I'm sorry for your loss."

"Don't be Suzy. She's also your loss."

"...True." The sheep shivered. I circled my eyes around the back of the room, noticing that everyone had arrived to see the scene. Rebecca had also returned from her... Puking issue.

"Welcome all remaining participants!"

We all looked to the source of the sound, which seemed to have been behind a bookcase, not that far from Delphine's body. A little while after, Monopotato leaped out, wearing a pair of white rabbit ears and holding a basket of brightly decorated eggs.

"Any questions before we begin on how investigation works?"

"...Why the hell are you dressed up as the Easter Bunny."

"Because I wanted to, ok?" The figure sighed, throwing the basket of eggs and the ears to one side, before clearing his throat. "Now then: Onto investigation. After a body is discovered, all participants have exactly an hour to do whatever they like. However, it would preferably be examining the body and anything suspicious, because once that hour has ended, a Playgroup Trial will take place! In the Playgroup Trial, the participants must try and figure out who the killer (or blackened) is! Once they have a decision made, everyone will vote. If they vote correctly, then only the killer will receive punishment. If they vote incorrectly, however... Then all participants except for the killer will receive punishment, and the killer will be able to walk out of the doors of this building! Along with that, they will also be able to make one phone call in front of everyone, as that was our motive."

"...What do you mean by 'punishment'?" Wendy asked, staring at the vegetable.

"Do you want to find out for yourself?"

"...You know what? I do." The wolf gripped tightly onto her lavender jacket, a small flame visible in her eyes. "This entire setup that you've made is complete BS, you hear me? B. S! I don't want to be here, none of us do, and yet you continue to go ahead and let Delphine die. Considering what I know about her death doesn't make it any better, because of what I saw last night I'm now certified that it was YOU WHO KILLED HER!"

"...Wow. You stupid hound."

"You stupid WHAT?!-"

"Wait- Wendy!-"

Letting complete anger take over her usual, controlled manner, Wendy leaped at the potato, knocking him over into the ground. She followed by punching the figure a few times, clearly enraged at them.

"Wendy, stop it! This is against the rules!"

"I DON'T CARE! LET ME AT HIM!!!"

"Oh, you'll be let at me alright... Did you forget that it was against the rules to commit violence against your director~"

"No, I didn't."

"Do you take back what you said about me killing Delphine?"

"...I never will."

"Very well. You wanted to find out how the punishment worked, so now you'll find out the hard way." Monopotato smirked crazily, before saying one last thing.

"It's punishment time!"

A loud series of clicking noises were heard. Wendy continued to keep her sharp stare at Monopotato. And then - The floor underneath them dropped. Monopotato fell through as Wendy's burning eyes cooled in shock. The floorboards closed back up afterwards, trapping Wendy's paw in them. She howled, gripping at her arm, trying to tug her paw free. Her whining struggles were interrupted by a series of clicking from above. The wolf looked up, only to get struck in the face by a stoney, brown, rectangular object.

A brick.

The wolf reached her arm to her head, rubbing it as it slowly fell to the floor. Wendy took one last look upwards, to be met with a horrifying sight.

Nearly a hundred bricks falling down upon her.

The last time I saw her face, her eyes were spread wider than I'd ever seen them before.

The only thing that was seen in them was... Despair.

*CRUSH*

Dust filtered out. A couple coughs were exhaled. We couldn't turn our heads away though.

Where Wendy Wolf, the Ultimate Security Guard used to be, laid nothing more then a pile of chipped, broken bricks. A bloodstain spread out like a star underneath it.

The only thing left of the wolf visible was her tail.

Tattered, ruffled, and soaked in blood.

Chapter Text

...

A tear drooped out of my eyes as I glanced between the two bodies. One exposed and bloody, the other concealed by cracked bricks.

"WENDY!!!"

"And? She broke the rules." A familiar voice echoed over the room, sending a reflex of fright down our backs.

"That's... The punishment...?"

"Yep! So, I suggest you get to investigating. Obviously, by investigating I mean investigating Delphine's death. Not this silly wolf's death."

A couple more clicks were heard to the left of the staircase, the floor underneath the bricks soon sliding away swiftly. The heap fell through, thus marking a very improvised funeral for the wolf as the floor closed back up.

"..." I looked around, taking into account everyone's sorrowful faces. Their eyes weren't anything like last night - They were staring down and melty.

...I guess it's time to begin.

Don't worry Delphine. We'll find out what happened.

) INVESTIGATION - START (

My focus cracked back to me when I felt a long vibration in my obviously weird dress pocket. Grabbing my handbook and flipping it on, I noticed some kind of notification at the top of the screen. Letting curiosity take my hands, I tapped on it. An article popped up on my page, with quite a few doughy sentences in it. Once I started to read through it, my ears drooped.

Playgroup File 1:

Victim: Delphine Donkey, Ultimate French Teacher
Time of death: 00:26 am
Time of discovery: 07:13 am
Discovered by: ???, Pedro, Peppa
Location of death: Library
Cause of death: Blunt force trauma

...This may be helpful.

*'Playgroup File 1' has been added to the Truth Bullet section of your handbook.*

Looking next to me, I noticed that George was there, who was also reading through the file on his handbook. A slight note of confusion rang through his face as he turned to me.

"Peppa... What does this mean?"

"I think it's a file for the basic details of Delphine's dea-"

"I knew that. What I mean is the part where it says 'Discovered by'. Who is '???'...?"

"...I'm not sure... Maybe Monopotato's trying to make this harder for us?"

"Probably..."

*'Third Discoverer' has been added to the Truth Bullet section of your handbook.*

Putting the handbook back into my dress pocket, I lifted my head up, making eye contact once again with the donkey's corpse.

"What now?"

"I guess... We check out her body..." I shakily replied to George, trotting weakly to the body. The other pig followed behind me.

My steps were shaky as I neared her body. The stench of dried blood rang in her surroundings, mainly from her forehead. Speaking of her forehead, it was drenched in blood, crisped up and ambient.

"There's s-so much blood on her head... This must be the injury that killed her."

"Yeah... But there's also blood leaking from her leg..." My brother noted, making me rotate my view to check. It was true - There was a bloodstain on the donkey's left shin.

*'Injuries' has been added to the Truth Bullet section of your handbook.*

"Hold on... What's this?"

"Huh?"

George had kneeled down by the corpse, and was now delicately grasping something that had been in Delphine's hand. It seemed to be long... And sharp.

And masked with an immense amount of blood.

"Eugh... What a mess."

"Wait..." I cautiously tripped to George's side, looking closer at the long item.

...

This looks like a scalpel... Like those ones that I found in the nurse's office...

*'Bloodied Scalpel' has been added to the Truth Bullet section of your handbook.*

"What would it be doing here...?"

"I don't have a clue..." The pig in the blue shirt sighed, letting the surgical blade fall to the floor. "Maybe we should stand up...? There's something behind me that's disturbing my feet..."

I glanced back, realising that what George was talking about was a ladder, laying face flat on the floor. Taking a closer look, I noticed that there was a little bit of blood on it.

Not that far from Delphine's leg wound.

"Peppa?"

"Sorry. It's just... The ladder behind you. Why is it on the floor?"

"Maybe someone pushed it?" My brother theorised, getting off the coarse rug-like floor.

*'Ladder' has been added to the Truth Bullet section of your handbook.*

"...Is that everything around her body?" I questioned.

"Hm..." I looked around, noticing the other few people that were studying the body. Aiming my gaze to the right, my eyes eventually landed upon a rectangular object.

"A book?"

"Hm?"

I hopped over the upper part of the ladder, grabbing the book in one hand. I squealed at the crisp touch the underside had, dropping the stack of pages back to the floor.

"I-It's soaked in blood!"

"Unfortunately, yes."

I flipped round to meet eyes with Freddy, who had his hands firmly in his stone grey jeans, the bagginess fluttering with every step.

"Did you... Already find it?"

"Yeah. It came from one of the high shelves on this floor. Specifically, the second highest of the bookshelf next to Delphine's body."

"...Next to Delphine's body..."

...Maybe that fell out?

*'Book' has been added to the Truth Bullet section of your handbook.*

"Thanks Freds... Did you find anything else?"

"Don't call me Freds. And yes, I did."

"Seriously?" George sputtered, shocked. "But Danny calls you that all the time!"

"...W-We don't talk about that." The fox heated up a bit, gripping his pockets. "Anyways, here's what I found."

Freddy pulled out a crumply sheet of paper, seemingly from a notebook of some kind. He showed it to us, as we started to read through it.

"...This is an invitation."

"Yep. To talk about 'the photograph that we found while investigating', it's asking about a meet-up in the library... There's a couple French references here, though."

"Yeah, makes sense. Rendez-vous... That's without a doubt French."

"Where did you find it?"

"In the dorm hallway."

"And did you find any other pieces of paper?"

"No."

"...Weird... Then why is it torn?"

"I believe that those parts that were torn out contained specific names. The culprit didn't want us to know."

"Well... We can definitely determine that one of those names was Delphine's."

*'Letter' has been added to the Truth Bullet section of your handbook.*

"Thanks Freddy. This really helps."

"Don't mention it."

"Now." George put his hands on his hips. "What else is there...?"

"Maybe there's a clue around the tables?" The fox suggested.

"Good idea!" I rushed to the tables near the children's books, searching over and under the round surface.

Nothing.

I looked to the next one.

There was something there.

Hopping over to the neighbouring table, I took a look at the item. It was a notepad, with a deep purple colour, and gold rings supporting the pages. A dark brown pencil laid caught in the rings.

Interested, I flipped to the first page.

And realisation struck me.

...

...What?

*'Wendy's Notepad' has been added to the Truth Bullet section of your handbook.*

Left in confusion, I dropped the notepad back on the table, running back to George, who was conserving with Suzy and Rebecca.

"Oh, hey sis? Did you... Find something?"

"...No. What's going on here?"

"I'm asking these two for their alibis. Basically what they were doing at night."

"I don't have much for night..." Suzy spoke, "I was sleeping. However, after I had finished helping Edmond tidy up the poker game last night, I decided to check on the nurse's office. And when I got there, the scalpels were all messed up. Plus, there was one missing."

*'Suzy's Alibi' has been added to the Truth Bullet section of your handbook.*

"Ok... And Rebecca?"

"I just went straight to sleep... During the night, though, I did hear two bangs. I'm certain everyone did: They both woke me up. After the second bang, I heard a soft creeping noise in the hallway."

"You could hear that?"

"Yah. I've got big ears, Peppa."

*'Rebecca's Alibi' has been added to the Truth Bullet section of your handbook.*

"Well... Thanks girls. See you at the... Playsomething trial."

"See you there." Suzy nodded, staring at my eyes for a while before walking away.

"...Is there anything else we can check?"

"Maybe the motives." George noted. "He did say that whoever managed to kill and get away with it would be able to make one phone call before they escaped."

"There's also the photos..."

"...Oh yeah. Those family pictures."

"You also got them?"

"Yeah...? I thought you knew already?"

"No?"

"Well, everyone has them. I heard a discussion about them during the poker game last night."

"...That's really helpful, George. Thanks."

*'Motives' has been added to the Truth Bullet section of your handbook.*

"Is there anything else?"

"Yeah. The second floor. There's got to be something there." The younger pig nodded as he ran to the staircase, soon hopping up the gradual steps. I chased after him, as we soon reached the sight of last night's poker game.

"...Now then. What's here?"

Twisting my head around the balcony, my eyesight tried to pinpoint on something, however nothing major stuck out.

I looked closer.

One the tables? Nothing.

On the shelves? Not much. Just books.

At the edge? Just something dark in colour.

...Dark in colour?

I turned around, kneeling to make better contact with the dark item. Grasping it in my hands, I gave it a feel. It felt a bit tough, but also velvety. It also had the feeling of ruggedness, like it had been tugged upon.

...Fabric of some kind?

*'Dark Fabric' has been added to the Truth Bullet section of your handbook.*

*Ding dong bong bing...*

The series of chimes caught me off guard, making me instinctively pocket the fabric as I looked up. Then, the host's voice sounded out again.

"Investigation time has concluded! Please may all students reunite next to the IT room. Then, we will proceed onto the Playgroup Trial. Failure to follow this order will result in punishment. Cheerioooooooo!"

Chapter Text

Pushing the doors of the library apart once again to meet everyone who remained outside the IT room, I sighed slowly. A sense of worry rippled through my spine as I joined the crowd, George right behind me.

...This is really happening.

It's not a dream this time. Someone here really killed Delphine.

One person among us took the motive that Monopotato set up for us.

Someone here has the chance to escape.

...

"Welcome all participants!"

Leaning our heads to the left, we made eye contact with our host. A wide smile laid spread across his face.

"Welcome to your first Playgroup Trial!"

"...Yeah. In the middle of the halls." Freddy rolled his eyes, "Don't you need a courtroom for a trial?"

"Indeed! That's why I've brought you all here. It's about time that I showed you our top-class courtroom, in which you will discuss the case behind Delphine Donkey's death! Notice the pair of doors here?" The potato pointed to his left, indicating a dark pair of felt-coated doors.

"...Yes?"

"This is the start of the path to our courtroom. Please may everyone enter into the room behind these doors."

We all obliged cautiously, squeezing and shuffling our way through the velvety doors, before halting once we were all through. This new room was... A little bit like a public toilet. It held cracked, off-colour white tiles on the walls, and an andesite tiled floor. Fluorescent lights illuminated the room, as well as a large, wrought iron gate at the other side, the tone of adolescence floating like a mist in the air.

"...What is this room?"

"This is the lift room. Soon, our lift will be here to take us to the Playgroup Trial."

Almost moments after he said that, a rough 'ding' sounded out. The gates coarsely parted, revealing a large, metallic room with a gritty floor. Another iron gate stood at the other side of said room.

"Here it is. All participants in!"

We swiftly moved into the room, Monopotato making sure that he was the last one to enter. A loud stamp was heard, before the iron bars behind us shut closed with a harsh grinding. Then, a gradual feeling of our insides lifting up occurred, as the lift started making its way downwards, deeper into the earth.

No conversation was heard. Not a word was uttered. Nobody dared to talk.

Scratches rang in the air as the floor soon started to halt, before stopping entirely, making us jump a bit. The gates in front of us sprang to the sides, revealing a soft, bright, tall room, with multiple varnished wooden stands organised around its centre. The walls were painted with a fluffy baby blue colour, with marble white columns adding contrast to the scene.

"Welcome to our courtroom!"

"...You call this a courtroom?"

"Yep! It's unique! It's not like other courts... Please may all participants find the stand with their name, and reside within it!"

The group headed forward once again, approaching the stands with curiosity. We brushed alongside them, searching to find our names resided in the smooth wood. Everyone soon arranged in their assigned places, taking unsure glances at each other.

I turned my head to the right, blinking slowly at Rebecca, who was next to me. Next to her, there was a portrait of Delphine, with bloodily drawn baguettes obscuring her face. Next to that was Zoë. Then Pedro. Then Edmond. Followed by Emily, George, Candy, Freddy, Danny, Gerald, Suzy, Richard and Kylie... And to my other side, was another portrait, this time of Wendy. Bricks had been drawn onto her picture, also with a harsh, bloody colour.

I looked back straight ahead, at the gap between Candy and George. Shutting my eyes softly, I began to dive into my thoughts.

Last night, Delphine Donkey, who was one of our friends, was murdered.

Her death was caused by one of us. By someone in this room.

I may still be mourning a little for Delphine, but what's more important at the moment is figuring out who took her life.

To figure out who betrayed us.

Our first betrayal... In our first Playgroup Trial.

TRUTH BULLETS:

Playgroup File 1
Third Discoverer
Injuries
Bloodied Scalpel
Ladder
Book
Letter
Wendy's Notepad
Suzy's Alibi
Rebecca's Alibi
Dark Fabric
Motives

) PLAYGROUP TRIAL - ALL RISE (

Chapter Text

Monopotato: Welcome everyone, to your first Playgroup Trial! I'll give you a recap on the ru-

Freddy: Yeah. Figure out who's the killer, once you've made a decision, vote for them, if it's right they'll get punished, if it's not then they can leave. Yada yada.

Monopotato: ...Thank you, Freddy, for stealing my quote. ANYWAY. Playgroup Trial 1! Commence!

Danny: Man...     Where do we even start?

Peppa: I guess...      With the bare basics. 

George: Yeah. Delphine was killed in the library, at nighttime. The file proves that.

Kylie: That's understandable...    What now?

Freddy: I say we discuss why Delphine was killed in the night, and what reason she had to go out there.

Danny: Sounds good...    Has anyone got any ideas?

) Nonstop debate (

- Suzy's Alibi
- Letter
- Bloodied Scalpel

Danny: Does anyone know what Delphine could've been doing in the night?
(Suzy's Alibi)

Freddy: My best guess would be that she wanted to do something with someone...
(Suzy's Alibi)

Gerald: But...    What would prompt her to think that someone wouldn't be in their dorm during nighttime?
(Suzy's Alibi)

Pedro: It depends. Maybe she was just bored?
(Letter)

Emily: If she was...      Then that means she decided to leave her dorm without the intention of seeing anyone...
(Letter)

Peppa: No, that's wrong!

§ BREAK §

Emily: Huh?

Peppa: Delphine did intend to see someone. 

Edmond: What makes you so sure...?

Peppa: While we were investigating, Freddy found a letter in the dorm hallway. It was indicating a brief meeting in the library about something that the writer of the letter found.

Freddy: Mhm. And, there were a few French words here and there in it. There's no doubt it wouldn't have been for Delphine. 

Edmond: Aha. So she was lured out. Understandable...

George: So...    What now? Do we continue the order of events that occurred after Delphine got the letter?

Candy: I guess.

Richard: ...So, after Delphine got the letter from the culprit, she headed to the library to meet them, where she...      Got murdered? It can't be THAT simple...

Peppa: Yeah...     There has to be something explaining what occurred...

Suzy: She...      Might've been surprise attacked! 

Rebecca: I don't think that's it...

Pedro: Well, how could it have been a surprise? Is there anything that proves it?

Candy: I say we discuss the scenario where Delphine was surprise attacked. Then we can test wether or not it was what happened.

Pedro: Very well then...     Suzy. The floor's yours.

) Nonstop debate (

- Injuries
- Book
- Ladder

Emily: So...     How could it have been a surprise?
(Injuries)

Suzy: Pretty simple, if you think about it!
(Injuries)

Suzy: When Delphine got to the library, the culprit was hiding from her!
(Injuries)

Suzy: She must've started looking for them, and during that time...
(Injuries)

Suzy: ...The killer striked her!
(Injuries)

Kylie: That explains a lot...
(Injuries)

Kylie: The culprit must've made sure that killing her didn't take a long time!
(Ladder)

Peppa: No, that's wrong!

§ BREAK §

Peppa: Suzy...     You have a point, but I don't think everything about your theory is true.

Suzy: Huh?

Kylie: What proves that she wasn't attacked by surprise?

Peppa: The ladder that was on the floor. Why would it be on the floor in the first place if she was surprise attacked?

Danny: She's got a point...    Surely there's not that much of a chance that the ladder would've been knocked over just from a quick whack on the head.

Zoë: Maybe Delphine or the culprit hit the ladder by accident?

Peppa: That's also not true. The ladder had a small blood stain on it, not that far from Delphine's leg wound. No bluffing there...      

Gerald: So...     The ladder must've caused that injury...!

Kylie: There's no scenario that I can think of where such a coincidental wound made by the ladder would've come from a surprise attack...

Suzy: ...Good point.

Peppa: Her eyes seem to hold some kind of worry...      I wonder what she's thinking about?

Edmond: ...Suzy? Is...    Something on your mind?

Suzy: Uh...      I'm just...     Thinking about when I was helping you last night...

Edmond: Is there something you realised?

Richard: Or maybe...     Something you're trying to hide?

Suzy: Wh-What? No, no I wouldn't be-

Edmond: Hold on, for what reason would she need to hide something?

Richard: Depends. I'm just suspecting her a bit...         When did you two finish tidying up last night?

Suzy: I think it was around 10 or 11 pm...     The tables took a long time to rearrange, they were a bit too heavy for both of us...

Richard: Then you would've easily had enough time to write the letter, right? Even with French in it. That actually makes it better in your case, since it would burn off more time for you...

Richard: Not to mention, there's also the scalpel from the nurse's office at the scene. That piece of evidence plain screams 'nurse'.

Suzy: ...

Richard: And you also tried to make us believe in a scenario that never happened. Seems like the kind of move that a killer in court would do.

Peppa: ...

Peppa: It can't be Suzy. It can't be.

Peppa: I know it can't be!

Pedro: So...     That's it? Suzy's the killer?

Suzy: I-I...     I-I'm no-

Edmond: She can't be the killer! If she was, wouldn't she have killed me?

Candy: That would've been too obvious. You out of all people didn't realise that?

Zoë: So, Suzy. Why did you kill Delphine?

Suzy: Grk!-

Peppa: It seems like the argument is about to get intense...    Even though Suzy is innocent.

Peppa: They need to see the truth...     I need to make my argument.

) Nonstop debate (

- Bloodied Scalpel
- Suzy's Alibi
- Motives
- Playgroup File 1
- Rebecca's Alibi

Suzy: Guys, listen! I-I'm not the c-culprit!
(Bloodied Scalpel)

Danny: Easy for you to say! Do you have proof of it?
(Bloodied Scalpel)

Suzy: U-Uhm...     I have an alibi!
(Suzy's Alibi)

Zoë: Yeah. Sleeping, I'm guessing.
(Suzy's Alibi)

Edmond: Really? We were all sleeping. Anyone could've done it.
(Playgroup File 1)

Richard: True, but considering the evidence, Suzy is the most suspicious out of all of us.
(Motives)

Richard: She would've had everything to kill Delphine...     The weapon, the bait, time...
(Motives)

Peppa: No, that's wrong!

§ BREAK §

Peppa: Hey, hey Richard! You're saying that Suzy had everything to kill Delphine?

Richard: Yep. There wasn't a thing missi-

Peppa: Why would she kill in the first place?

Richard: ...Huh?

Peppa: Remember, the motive was that if you killed and got away with it, you could make one phone call before you left the building. Why would Suzy need to make a phone call so badly?!

Rebecca: Maybe...     She missed her family? The family photos would've enhanced that...

Suzy: If it helps at all, the photo that I received was only of me and my mum. I barely have any other freaking family.

Pedro: ...I assume that you aren't a Fast and Furious fan, then.

Zoë: What does that have to do with this.

Peppa: That doesn't matter, what is important is the fact that Suzy is innocent. And the motives show that!

Richard: ...

Freddy: Maybe...     It's too early to tell if Suzy really is the killer...

Gerald: Then what do we discuss next?

Edmond: Let's try talking about the murder weapon. Maybe that can shine some light onto our situation.

Peppa: Phew...     I'm glad Suzy isn't in the main spotlight anymore...

Peppa: Now then, on with the trial.

Chapter Text

Pedro: So, there were two weapons at the scene of the crime. A completely blood coated scalpel, and a ladder with a bloodstain.

Freddy: Not to mention the book.

Pedro: Book?

Freddy: Jeez, did you not notice? The book on the floor. It's bottom pages were bloody.

Pedro: Oh. Sorry...?

Candy: So now we're figuring out which one of the three was the killing weapon?

Freddy: Indeed, kitten.

Emily: Uh... Can you not call her that?

) Nonstop debate (

- Injuries

- Bloodied Scalpel

- Book

George: So then, which of the three weapons was the one that killed Delphine?

(Injuries)

Pedro: Maybe the scalpel? The culprit could've slashed her head open!

(Injuries)

Candy: Nah. The file proves that theory completely wrong.

(Injuries)

Pedro: Oh...

(Injuries)

Zoë: That leaves us with the ladder and book.

(Injuries)

Kylie: Wait... I know! The book might not be the weapon!

(Injuries)

Emily: How are you so sure...?

(Injuries)

Kylie: Because the ladder would've dealt a lot of damage! The book probs just fell out...

(Injuries)

Peppa: No, that's wrong!

} BREAK {

Peppa: I understand your thinking Kylie, but there's something about Delphine's body that doesn't line up.

Kylie: Huh?

Freddy: Yep, her head wound. The ladder may have had blood on it's side, but it didn't have any on the top rung.

Rebecca: So that means... The ladder didn't cause that wound?

Peppa: Yeah... And since the scalpel's out of the question, it must've been made by the book.

Danny: You're sailing in the wrong sea!

} BREAK {

Peppa: Huh?

Danny: Ok ok ok, I understand that the scalpel can't be the weapon whatsoever. It makes no sense. But why not the ladder?

Danny: Taking into account Kylie's earlier statement, I think that it's actually your statement that's not lining up!

#/ Rebuttal showdown /#

- Book

- Third Discoverer

- Rebecca's Alibi 

Danny: The ladder could've been the killing weapon!

Danny: Kylie's statement from before isn't incorrect, the ladder would've done a lot of damage.

Danny: And because of the blood wound on Delphine's leg, the ladder must've killed her! Not the book.

Danny: Like Kylie said: The book must've fallen out somehow.

(Advance...)

Peppa: If the ladder did kill Delphine...

Peppa: Then the top rungs should've had blood on them!

Danny: The culprit might've cleaned the blood off! Or, bleeding didn't begin until after the hit!

Danny: And also, what exactly about the book makes it the weapon?

Danny: There's nothing that suggests another weapon was used...

/ Rebecca's Alibi /

Peppa: I'll cut through your words!

#/ BREAK /#

Peppa: That's not true Danny. There is something that suggests another weapon was used. Right Rebecca?

Rebecca: Uhm...    Yeah?

Danny: What does Rebecca have to do with this?

Rebecca: That's what I'm questioning. What do I have to do with proving that the book must be the weapon?

Peppa: Rebecca, you heard two loud noises in the night, right?

Rebecca: Yes...?

Peppa: If the ladder was the weapon that killed Delphine, by falling on her...

Peppa: ...Then wouldn't it have made only one of the two loud noises?

George: Oh...     Jeez...

Zoe: Now that I think about it...     This can be proven further by the ladder itself.

Zoe: The ladder can only be used once weapon wise, by pushing it over onto somebody. That would explain the first loud noise Rebecca heard.

Zoe: After pushing it over, it would be rather difficult to pick up the ladder, and use it again as a weapon. Especially in a way that would make another loud noise.

Kylie: Dam...! So the book really must've been the weapon that killed her!

Peppa: Yeah...     And now, we know that it was used in a way that made a loud crash.

Richard: So...    How did the order of events go?

Edmond: I believe something like this. First, the ladder was pushed onto Delphine. Then, she was hit by the book, which killed her.

Emily: So...    She was finished off by the book after the ladder had crushed her...     How was that done loudly?

Peppa: I think that there's a way...

Peppa: How could the book have killed Delphine loudly...?

- It was hit against something repetitively

- It was thrown from a high place

- It was used by Delphine

Peppa: I got it...!

Peppa: The book must've been thrown from the second floor. That would've done the killing blow.

Rebecca: It also makes sense if we consider the second crash...

Candy: Well. Now we understand quite a bit more! Delphine got crushed by the ladder, and was finished off with the book!

Pedro: ...

Zoe: Pedro...? Is something wrong?

Pedro: Yeah...       After hearing all of this confirmation that Delphine was killed by the book, I'm a bit confused about the role of the scalpel in all of this.

Gerald: Oh...     I forgot about that...

Pedro: Why would the scalpel be there?

Kylie: It was probably brought by the killer...

Edmond: If that was the case, then why would the killer resort to using a ladder? 

Danny: Good point...     There must be some kind of explanation for that surgical blade...

) Nonstop debate (

- Suzy's Alibi

- Bloodied Scalpel

- Dark Fabric

Pedro: The scalpel's role in all of this is confusing me...

(Suzy's Alibi)

Emily: If the culprit had used the book to kill Delphine, then why bother bringing a scalpel in the first place...?

(Dark Fabric)

George: Maybe the scalpel had been taken by the victim?

(Dark Fabric)

Gerald: Really? That doesn't make sense...

(Bloodied Scalpel)

Zoe: Well this is quite the stalemate.

(Suzy's Alibi)

Danny: Agreed...     This scalpel is confusing me...

(Suzy's Alibi)

Freddy: Whatever it is, the meaning of the scalpel being there must be something that wouldn't be expectable. A real shocker...

(Dark Fabric)

Pedro: Man...    This is gonna take a while...

(Dark Fabric)

Peppa: Dammit...     This doesn't make sense to me...

Peppa: Although, George did mention something...

Peppa: ...

Peppa: ...Wait.

Peppa: Maybe...     We've been looking at this wrong...

) Repeat (

Pedro: The scalpel's role in all of this is confusing me...

(Dark Fabric)

Emily: If the culprit had used the book to kill Delphine, then why bother bringing a scalpel in the first place...?

(Dark Fabric)

George: Maybe the scalpel had been (taken by the victim)?

(Dark Fabric)

Gerald: Really? That doesn't make any sense...

(taken by the victim)

Zoe: Well this is quite the stalemate.

(taken by the victim)

Danny: Agreed... This scalpel is confusing me...

(taken by the victim)

Freddy: Whatever it is, the meaning of the scalpel being there must be something that wouldn't be expectable. A real shocker...

(taken by the victim)

Peppa: I agree!

} BREAK {

Peppa: Guys...      I think that there is an explanation for the scalpel.

Kylie: Wh-What? How?!

Danny: Yeah, we barely have anything that explains it's purpose! And you know why it's there?

Peppa: I believe that I know. But...     You're gonna have to trust me here, ok?

Richard: Sure thing.

Pedro: Phew...     Fair enough...

Peppa: ...What if Delphine brought the scalpel?

Freddy: What...?

Peppa: The killer obviously couldn't have brought it. There's only one other person that's involved with the case that much to bring vital evidence like that...       the victim.

George: In other words...     Delphine is the only person that could've brung it.

Rebecca: ...

Edmond: ...

Candy: ... 

Gerald: ...

Richard: ...

Zoe: ...

Peppa: The whole room went silent. It was like...      We'd witnessed another death.

Peppa: Do they not believe me...?

Freddy: ...Peppa.

Peppa: Yes?

Freddy: ...I just realised something that strengthens your hipothesis.

George: Huh?

Freddy: It has to do with the letter. At first, I thought that the culprit had used French in it so that it would be easier for Delphine to understand, but now...

Freddy: ...I believe it's more likely that Delphine wrote the letter herself!

Pedro: WHAAAAAAAAAAAT???

Edmond: That makes a lot of sense...      It'd be easier for someone to involve parts of their native language into a letter written in a second language.

Candy: So...     Delphine was the one who stole the scalpel AND wrote the letter?

Freddy: If Peppa's estimate is true, then that means...

Richard: It wasn't a scenario where Delphine was lured out and murdered...

Kylie: ...But a scenario...      Where Delphine was trying to pull off her own murder!

Peppa: ...

Danny: Delphine...       Why?

Pedro: Yeah, why? Why would you bother trying to kill someone?!

Monopotato: Wow! The boys are starting to question ghosts! This trial really has succeeded!

Candy: What do you mean by succeeded...?

Richard: Nevermind that. Now we know that this case didn't go as we thought it did...

Peppa: ...

George: Peppa...?

Peppa: ...

Peppa: Delphine...     

Peppa: I didn't think that you'd be the one trying to kill here.

Peppa: You seemed so innocent before...    So respectful of life...    And yet you decided to try and kill someone...     

Peppa: ...I don't know what to think of anymore.

Peppa: I'm sorry you did this. Maybe you wanted to see your family, maybe the motive made you succumb completely. But you didn't have to...

Peppa: ...You didn't have to betray us, Delphine.

Chapter Text

Suzy: So...     Now what?

Danny: I'm not sure...    Hearing the news of Delphine trying to kill someone is a lot to take in...

Freddy: Let's go over the order of events again, taking into account Delphine's attempt to murder. Then, we can adjust it if something sticks out.

Suzy: Sure, I'll start! After the poker game last night, Delphine went to the nurse's office and stole one of the scalpels. She made a mess while doing so, though.

Candy: She took the scalpel back to her room for later, then began writing the letter.

George: She had to use parts of French in it, due to her difficulty with the English language. Once she finished writing it, she slipped it underneath the culprits' door.

Rebecca: Then, she took the scalpel and headed off to the library. The culprit must've gotten the letter and went to the library as it said.

Emily: Once the culprit got there...     Delphine attacked them with the scalpel. They ended up getting into a fight, which ended with the culprit pushing the ladder onto Delphine...

Freddy: ...Wait a moment.

Peppa: Hm?

Freddy: ...When would the culprit have the chance to push the ladder onto Delphine?

Gerald: Oh, good point. If they were in a fight, then the chance to get the ladder to crush Delphine would've been a bit frantic...

Rebecca: So...    How could that have been accomplished?

Zoe: ...Maybe the ladder was pushed onto Delphine...     By Delphine.

Pedro: Really? More stuff that was unexpectedly done by the victim?

Zoe: What I mean is, maybe the culprit threw Delphine into the ladder, which caused it to fall on her. 

Emily: But Zoe...        That's quite a stretch. Is there anything that proves it...?

Zoe: I have a few good reasons. Listen closely, everyone.

) Nonstop debate (

- Third Discoverer
- Wendy's Notepad
- Dark Fabric

Zoe: The chance of being able to get behind the ladder...
(Third Discoverer)

Zoe: And suddenly pushing it onto Delphine would've been a difficult task.
(Third Discoverer)

Zoe: It makes more sense logically if Delphine was thrown into it, and then the ladder fell onto her.
(Dark Fabric)

Richard: Is there any other option?
(Dark Fabric)

Zoe: Not that I can think of.
(Dark Fabric)

Zoe: Unless the fight got taken to the second floor , which in that case we'd need to rethink the whole scenario...
(Dark Fabric)

Peppa: I agree!

} BREAK {

Peppa: Hey, Zoe...      I think that the fight did end up on the second floor.

Zoe: Hm? How can you tell?

Peppa: I found a piece of dark fabric on the second floor. It seemed to be torn from something.

Danny: Maybe it was ripped off from a piece of clothing?

George: If it was, then that means that the fight had occurred on the second floor. And that nullifies not only Zoe's theory, but also our entire current idea of how the case went.

Zoe: Damn...     We really do need to rethink the whole scenario...

Kylie: So the fight ended on the second floor. Then how could the ladder have fallen on the ground?

Peppa: ...

Peppa: There's a way...      It's a bit loony, but it makes sense...

Peppa: I just need a way to word it.

{[ Hangman's gambit ]}

e l F l / o t / o n u d r g / f o l r o

e l F l / t o / g o n u d r / f o l r o

e F l l / t o / g o n u d r / f l o r o

F e l l / t o / g o u n d r / f l o r o

F e l l / t o / g r o u n d / f l o o r

Peppa: I got it...!

{ COMPLETE }

Peppa: Maybe Delphine fell to the ground floor?

Gerald: Peppa, that's a bit ridiculous. 

Peppa: I know. But what I mean is...      Delphine was pushed off of the top floor unexpectedly...?

Edmond: Hm...        If that was so, I'd say her first reaction would be to try and grab onto something. And the barrier surrounding the second floor would've been out of her reach by the time she reacted.

Pedro: H-How can you predict that with such confidence?

Edmond: ...I'm a clever clogs?

Candy: Picking up where Edmond was, the closest thing that would be in Delphine's reach by the time she reacted would've been a ladder.

Suzy: So she must've reached out to grab it, however when she did, it fell with her...

Richard: ...Hm.

Gerald: Ah. Excuse me Peppa. I didn't think that what you said had a point...

Peppa: ...It's fine.

Richard: Well. Now comes a difficult stage. Accusation.

Suzy: Oh. This is gonna go well...

Richard: Yeah. 'Cus now, you're back on the chopping block.

Suzy: Wh-What?! Remember, I have no reason to ki-

Richard: You wouldn't need a motive if you killed someone who was trying to kill you.

Danny: Honestly, if we're thinking about who killed Delphine at this point, I think we need to discuss it a bit more...

Pedro: Who says? We can make a good estimate right now!

Kylie: What about Wendy? Maybe she sabotaged the system by getting herself killed?

Emily: That...    Has to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

Kylie: What?! No it's not!

Richard: You have to be the killer!
Pedro: We can have an idea of who is the killer!
Kylie: Wendy could be the killer!

))) Mass Panic Debate (((

- Playgroup File 1
- Dark Fabric
- Rebecca's Alibi
- Wendy's Notepad
- Third Discoverer

Richard: The motives aren't going to protect you anymore, Suzy!
Pedro: We can still make a good estimate to who is the most suspicious!
Kylie: Think about it: Wendy could have a similar situation to Suzy.
(Playgroup File 1)

Suzy: D-Dammit, I've said it once! I-I'M NOT THE KILLER!
Pedro: Maybe Rebecca knows something?
Kylie: She could also have barely any family...
(Rebecca's Alibi)

Richard: Then prove it. You killed Delphine by accident if you can't explain.
Rebecca: I...    Don't think that there's much I can give...
Kylie: ...So she might've accidentally killed Delphine, then got herself killed either on purpose or by accident!
(Third Discoverer)

Suzy: I-I...      D-Delphine was my friend...
Pedro: That's fine...        There should be something lying around that we can find...
Emily: But that doesn't make sense...
(Dark Fabric)

Richard: That's not enough. Have you got anything else, nurse?
Danny: I dunno...     Seems like there's nothing left...
Emily: Why would Wendy be involved with the case at all? She died after raging at Monopotato...
(Wendy's Notepad)

Peppa: I hear it...!

}}} BREAK {{{

Peppa: Hold on, Emily! Maybe Wendy isn't the killer...    But she does have something to do with the case!

Danny: Huh? There is something else?

Peppa: Yes, Danny.

Richard: Well...     What is it?

Peppa: I...     Found this notepad on one of the tables on the first floor. I took a read through some of the pages, and I found out...    It was Wendy's.

Candy: You found her notepad on one of the tables...?

Kylie: HAH! I knew I had something going!

Pedro: So...     Wendy's the killer?

Richard: No. I thought it's obvious by now that it's Su-

Suzy: QUIET.

George: I don't think Wendy's the killer. Like Emily said: Why would she get herself killed if she was the one who killed Delphine?

Gerald: Then...     She must have some kind of other role in this...

Peppa: Wendy's role in this case...      It has to be...

Playgroup File 1
(Third Discoverer)
Injuries
Bloodied Scalpel
Ladder
Book
Letter
Wendy's Notepad
Suzy's Alibi
Rebecca's Alibi
Dark Fabric
Motives

Peppa: I got it...!

Peppa: Wendy must've been the person who saw the body first. IE: The third discoverer in the Playgroup File.

Richard: Wait...      If Wendy saw the body first, then...

Edmond: ...That's what she meant by what she saw last night. She must've seen the killer herself...      

Freddy: Plus, she could've easily been woken up by the crash the ladder made.

Emily: But...     Surely the culprit wouldn't let Wendy escape with that knowledge that easily?

Gerald: Agreed, Emily. That would end up incriminating them when the morning came...

Suzy: The culprit must've knocked her out!

Peppa: Good point...      The only question is how?

Freddy: Well, there's only one thing at the crime scene that could knock Wendy out without killing her, right?

Peppa: That's right. It must be...

- The book
- The notepad
- The culprit's fists

Peppa: I got it...!

Peppa: You're talking about the book, right Freddy?

Freddy: Yep. And that alters our plan of the case yet again: Rather than the culprit getting the book after the ladder had crushed Delphine, they must've taken it out spontaneously to knock out Wendy as fast as possible.

Candy: Wouldn't that have gotten Wendy's blood on it, and not Delphine's?

Edmond: I don't believe so. A hit with the book that close up wouldn't have enough momentum to cause bleeding. It would've stayed dry.

Candy: Ah. Ok.

George: So...     Delphine was pushed off of the second floor, and tried to grab onto the ladder, bringing it down with her. The culprit ran down to her body, saw Wendy, panicked, grabbed the book and whacked Wendy in the head with it. I think that's all the adjustment to the plan that we've discussed in the last 20 minutes...

Kylie: Well! This is most of the plan down, isn't it?

Edmond: Sure is. Now, there's only one major thing that I think we need to discuss...

Peppa: ...Oh god.

Danny: Yep...     Who killed Delphine?

____________________

Chapter Text

Freddy: The first major piece of evidence that we have that can guide us to the culprit is the letter. We may not know who it was for, but we can make an estimate of who she invited...

Rebecca: Well, I don't remember Delphine being that powerful. She seemed a bit skinny here and there...     No body shaming.

Pedro: Right...    Then Delphine probably would've targeted someone who was also rather weak...

Richard: Who here is strong?

Danny: Probs those who have a talent in sports or a talent that requires physical strength. So...       That means me, Candy, Rebecca, Emily and Kylie are innocent.

Candy: Why are you proving yourself innocent?

Danny: It takes a lot of power to hoist sails and work rudders sometimes, you know!

Richard: That leaves Suzy back in the spotlight. And in fact, it incriminates her more. She also seems like one of the weakest people among us...  

Suzy: Oh for crying out loud...    I. Am. Not. The. Culprit!

Richard: Really? Then prove it.

Suzy: ...

Peppa: Very well then, Richard. I'll prove it.

) Nonstop debate (

- Dark Fabric
- Suzy's Alibi
- Letter

Richard: Oh? You're going to prove your best friend innocent?
(Dark Fabric)

Richard: Very well then. Why wouldn't Delphine choose Suzy? She's so weak...
(Dark Fabric)

Freddy: Hey, leave the girl alone! Strength isn't only in muscle...
(Dark Fabric)

Richard: True. But if we're talking about what Delphine saw, then she saw Suzy as vulnerable.
(Dark Fabric)

Kylie: And why are you so determined in proving Suzy guilty...?
(Dark Fabric)

Richard: Simple. Because there's nothing that suggests another person fought Delphine.
(Dark Fabric)

Peppa: No, that's wrong!

} BREAK {

Peppa: In contrast to that, there's nothing that suggests Suzy fought Delphine!

Richard: How so?

Peppa: Remember the dark fabric from the second floor? Does it look like it would've come from her clothing?

Freddy: Good point...     Suzy's main outfit is made up of shades of white and pink. I don't think that a supposedly said 'dark' piece of fabric could come from an outfit like that.

Richard: Do you have the fabric?

Peppa: No, I don-

Peppa: I froze as my hand slipped into my dress pocket. Gripping a mysterious piece of flat stuff, I slowly pulled it out of my pocket.

Peppa: ...It was the fabric.

Rebecca: Oh...     She does have it...

Kylie: It deffo looks dark...     Nothing like Suzy's current clothing.

Peppa: Y-Yeah...    See? This proves that someone else was fighting Delphi-

Richard: Your thinking needs to be tweaked...

} BREAK {

Richard: Just because the fabric wasn't matching the colours of Suzy's outfit, it doesn't immediately mean that she's now innocent.

Peppa: What?!

Richard: The colour of it might not be its true colour. The fabric could've been soaked in blo-

George: You know that's my sister, right?

} JOIN {

George: Hey, Richard! I think you're making this a bit complicated for yourself!

Richard: H-Huh?

George: If the fabric was soaked in blood, then how could it have been on the second floor? There would've been a bloodstain, right?

Danny: Maybe...    Suzy took an injury from an attack from Delphine that also tore off the fabric!

Suzy: I-I don't have any injuries of the sort! I never hurt myself last night...

Pedro: But aren't you the Ultimate Nurse...? Surely you'd be able to heal the wound, and maybe also stop it from leaking!

Monopotato: Hold it!

} BREAK {

Peppa: Wha-

Danny: What do you have to do with this?

Monopotato: Nothing. It's just that we have a split decision!

Richard: And...?

Monopotato: Please may all participants hold on tightly to their stands until they have stopped moving.

George: What...?

Peppa: ...Ok...

Peppa: I slowly gripped a hold of my trial stand, as Monopotato flipped out a dome-shaped crimson button. He raised his hand above it, smirking weirdly. Once he finally pushed it, a harsh force of air blew from right above me as the stand started soaring roughly. Eventually, the movements halted, as I opened my previously slammed shut eyes to see 8 other stands in a line opposing my own. Looking to the right, I realised that the remaining 7 stands were lined up next to mine. And to top it off, the whole scenario was on top of a pastel blue roof in the open air. The stands were on top of the tiles, and Monopotato was on top of a small white brick extension at the end of the stand lines. In the centre of this extension laid a rusted, golden bell.

Peppa: I had no idea what was going on.

Monopotato: Now you have been split according to your opinion on the situation. Let loose! Open the floodgates! Make your arguments however you like!

}/^/{ Scrum Debate }/^/{

) Is Suzy the culprit? (

She has to be!-->                                                                                                                                

Richard
Danny
Pedro
Emily
Kylie
Gerald
Candy
ydneW                                                                                                                                                                

<--She can't be!

Peppa
George
Suzy
Freddy
Edmond
Rebecca
Zoë
enihpleD

) START (

Kylie: Suzy has to be the culprit! Her weakness proves it! -->

Rebecca: She may have been weak, but I don't think she's the culprit...  <--

Candy: How is she not? She's one of the weakest here. -->

Zoë: There's a lot of other people here who are seemingly 'the weakest'. <--

Danny: Delphine attacked Suzy with the scalpel, which caused the fabric to come loose from Suzy's clothing. -->

Edmond: But the fabric was a completely different colour to her clothing... <--

Emily: The fabric could've been soaked in blood from a wound that Suzy gained from the scalpel... -->

Suzy: I don't have any kind of wound! I can show you right now! <--

Gerald: You don't have to, that'd be harassment. But you could've patched it up after Delphine died... -->

Freddy: There'd be nothing she could've patched it up with, though... <--

Pedro: She could've used the fabric itself! That would be how it got soaked in blood! -->

George: If that happened, wouldn't her hand have gotten soaked too? <--

Richard: She could've cleaned it off with the fabric, or another piece of clothing. -->

Peppa: There was no other torn off clothing at the scene. Plus, the fabric would've felt different! <--

}= BREAK ={

Peppa: As our stands slowly floated back down to the trial room that we had been discussing within before, I gripped the fabric I had in my dress pocket tightly.

Peppa: This is what proves Suzy innocent...      I can't mess it up.

Richard: Hold on. Felt different?

Peppa: Yeah. If the fabric was soaked in blood, wouldn't it feel wet, or crispy, or...    Somewhat bloody?

Pedro: Dam...      How can you prove it? 

Zoë: Pedro. She's holding it in her own hands...     Are you that blind without your glasses?

Pedro: ...I guess.

Peppa: I'm going to pass it around you all. Then you can all have a feel of it, and understand it's texture.

Peppa: I started by handing the fabric to Kylie, which was a challenge due to the absence of Wendy between our stands. She felt it thoroughly, before passing it to Richard. He gave it a feel, before passing it on to Suzy. The cycle continued until the fabric was passed back to Rebecca, who rubbed it a bit, before handing it back to be.

Richard: ...Peppa's right. The fabric isn't bloody.

Kylie: So the darkness of the fabric must be it's true colour!

Freddy: While I was holding it, I was able to get a better look at its colour. It seemed like...    Dark blue of some kind.

Peppa: ...

Danny: Does anyone here have any dark blue clothes? Or maybe dark blue pyjamas?

Peppa: ...I think there's someone who does.

Kylie: WHAT?!

Zoë: Well, don't just act sentimental! Who is it?

Peppa: ...

Peppa: The one person here who wears dark blue...    It has to be...

<> Accuse <>

- Peppa Pig
- floW ydneW
- Kylie Kangaroo
- Richard Rabbit
- Suzy Sheep
- > Gerald Giraffe <
- Danny Dog
- Freddy Fox
- Candy Cat
- George Pig
- Emily Elephant
- Edmond Elephant
- Pedro Pony
- Zoë Zebra
- yeknoD enihpleD
- Rebecca Rabbit

Peppa: You're the only one!

____________________

Chapter Text

Peppa: Gerald...      Are you the killer?

Gerald: ...Really?

Peppa: Huh?

Gerald: Now I'm the one in the spotlight? Just because of a piece of fabric?

Freddy: I mean...    It does match your clothing the best...

Gerald: There's also Richard who wears dark blue! Anyone could've been wearing dark blue when they went to meet Delphine!

Rebecca: ...

Peppa: Hm...

Gerald: If you want to prove me as the culprit, then you're going to have to show more then a piece of fabric!

Peppa: Gerald has a point...       But there might be something that shows more evidence...

Peppa: If I just...    Alter something about what happened last night...

Peppa: ...Maybe I can catch him off guard.

) Nonstop debate (

- Rebecca's Alibi
- Book
- Dark Fabric

Gerald: Just because the fabric is dark blue...
(Rebecca's Alibi)

Gerald: It doesn't mean that I'm now your main suspect!
(Dark Fabric)

Freddy: There is a long way to go if we're considering Gerald...
(Dark Fabric)

Rebecca: Hm...
(Rebecca's Alibi)

Richard: Sis...? What is it?
(Rebecca's Alibi)

Rebecca: I just...     Thought that I had heard something last night...
(Rebecca's Alibi)

Gerald: Heard something? Let me guess, some footsteps or something?
[Rebecca's lack of alibi]

Peppa: I'll use this lie, to show the truth!...

} BREAK {

Peppa: Gerald...    I don't think Rebecca heard footsteps.

Gerald: What?

Rebecca: Peppa...    What are you-

Peppa: If she didn't hear footsteps, then that means that the culprit either never came into the dorm hallway, or they were very quiet while coming into the hallway!

Gerald: Grh-!

Rebecca: But...    I did hear footsteps.

George: Huh...?

Kylie: So Peppa lied?!

Peppa: ...

Rebecca: If I think about it more though, it didn't sound like shoes. It sounded like...      Trotting. Like whoever was there had hooves.

Gerald: H-Hooves?

Candy: The killer went to see Delphine shoeless?

Edmond: There's a major difference between the sound of hooves and paws. Hooves are tough, so they'd make a noise. Paws however, are silent.

Gerald: So that means i-it's Richard! H-He has paws, right?

Emily: But Peppa was lying when she said that Rebecca didn't hear footsteps...

Freddy: So that means everyone who doesn't have hooves is innocent. Meaning...     it can't be me, Danny, Richard, Kylie, Rebecca, Edmond, Emily or Candy.

Danny: Gerald's among those left! And it wrecks his accusation of Richard, since he has paws!

Gerald: Nnh! Y-  You...

Peppa: ...Seems like my controversial move...     worked, in a way.

Suzy: Did Delphine...     See Gerald as weak?

Freddy: She must've...    It's probably because of his awkwardness...

Gerald: I-I'M NOT AWKWARD!

Edmond: Up close, he seems kind of dangerous, though...     Like he could definitely hold his ground. Delphine must've missed that detail...

Pedro: So Gerald got attacked by Delphine, and the fabric got torn off by the scalpel when they were fighting on the second floor?

Rebecca: Plus, Gerald would've easily have been able to knock out Wendy quickly. With that tall structure, his stride must also be long, and thus he could get from the staircase to Wendy in record time!

Richard: It's over, Gerald! You're cornered!

Gerald: ...

Peppa: Gerald...      If you have anything to object, then go ahead. I jus-

Gerald: Your theories are mindless!

} BREAK {

Gerald: Well, since you've so kindly given me the option to, I will WITHOUT A DOUBT OBJECT.

Gerald: The idea of Delphine falling to the ground floor, the idea that I pushed her, the idea that I knocked out Wendy...    They're only theories!

Gerald: Where's the proof of it?! SHOW ME THE PROOF!

Gerald: IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT CERTIFIES I KILLED DELPHINE?!

Peppa: ...There is one thing. One thing about one of the weapons...     That leaves a huge target on you.

Gerald: Really?! More speculation?! WHAT IS THIS THING THAT PROVES ME TO BE THE CULPRIT?! PROVE IT TO ME!

(<^>) Argument Armament (<^>)

Gerald  <----->  Peppa

Gerald: You believe that I killed her?

Gerald: There isn't enough evidence to convict me.

Gerald: A piece of fabric and trotting at night...?!

Gerald: That isn't enough to prove me guilty...

Gerald: So if I am guilty, where's the proof?!

(Advance...)

Gerald: The fabric and my clothing may have the same colour...

Gerald: But that doesn't mean it was from my clothing!

Gerald: Surely, you know of all the other possible scenarios!

Gerald: WHERE'S THE PROOF THAT THIS ONE IS THE ONE THAT'S TRUE?!

Gerald: DO YOU HAVE ANY PROOF OF IT?!

(Advance...)

Gerald: You're saying that Delphine invited me...?!

Gerald: Impossible...    Impossible, you hear me?!

Gerald: And the chance of Wendy walking in on Delphine's death...

Gerald: AT THE EXACT PERFECT TIME?! IMPOSSIBLEEEEEE!!!

Gerald: Nothing about a weapon or a leftover piece of evidence proves your claims to be true!!!

Gerald: Its all impossible, impossible, IMPOSSIBLE!

(Final Blow...)

Gerald: There's nothing about a weapon that proves me guilty!!!

BOOK / TION / OF / LOCA

_____________________

LOCA / TION / OF / BOOK

Peppa: It ends here!

(<< BREAK >>)

Peppa: There's one thing that I noticed about the book, Gerald. And it's where it was located before it was used to knock out Wendy.

Gerald: W-Wha?

Freddy: It was located on a high shelf near Delphine's body...

Rebecca: Yes...     Too high for most of us, we'd all be a shelf too short to reach it.

Edmond: And considering the speed that Wendy would need to be knocked out at, trying to reach that high shelf to get a book in a rush would be difficult for short people.

Peppa: If the book had been taken out spontaniously to knock out Wendy...      Then it'd have to have been done by someone tall.

Peppa: And out of all of us...     You're the tallest one here, Gerald!

Gerald: I-Impossible...        Im...    Pos...

Gerald: ...

Gerald: ...s-sible...?

Richard: ...And? You out of steam, Gerald?

Gerald: ...*cough*

Emily: Wow...    You really did shock him.

George: Uhm...     Peppa?

Peppa: Yea?

George: Could you...     Repeat to us what happened in this case? Maybe then Gerald will have calmed down a bit...

Peppa: ...Ok...     Here goes.

)=({ Closing Argument })=(

Act 1:

This case started when Monopotato gave us our first motive: If you kill someone and get away with it, you'll be able to make one phone call before you left the building. One person among us decided to take that motive to their advantage. That person was our victim - Delphine Donkey. The photo that was in her room would've enhanced her desire to take the call. And, the fact that she had to do it in front of all the other participants wouldn't have effected her, as she could talk to her family in French. So, she started making her murder plan, targeting the culprit.

Act 2:

After the poker game that Edmond had set up, Delphine got to work. She secretly stole a scalpel while Edmond and Suzy were tidying up, and hid it in her room for later. Then, she started writing her letter to the culprit. Since she wasn't an expert in English, she had to involve some French. Once she had finished writing it, she took the scalpel, slipped the letter underneath her victim's door, and headed to the library.

Act 3:

The culprit must've received the letter from Delphine, and went to the library to meet with her, notably without shoes. When they got there...    Delphine made her attack. However, the culprit quickly fought back, which shocked Delphine. The two ended up in a brawl, which got taken to the second floor. There, Delphine was able to make an attack that loosened a piece of fabric from the killer's clothing. The culprit responded by pushing Delphine off the edge of the second floor. Delphine tried to grab onto a nearby ladder, however it fell with her, which ended up crushing her. The culprit was shocked by this, and rushed down to her.

Act 4: 

The crash made by the ladder woke up Rebecca and Wendy. However, while Rebecca went back to sleep, Wendy got up to investigate. She went to the library with her notepad to find the culprit standing over Delphine's body. The culprit, now in panic, knew that they had to make sure that Wendy didn't incriminate them when the morning came. So...    They swiftly grabbed one of the books from a high bookshelf near Delphine's body, and whacked Wendy in the head with it. With Wendy dealt with, the only thing left to do would be to finish off Delphine.

Act 5:

The culprit went back up to the second floor, with the book in hand. Once they got there, they chucked it at Delphine's head, thus making the second loud noise that Rebecca heard, and killing Delphine for good. Then, the culprit stole Wendy's notepad and left it on one of the library tables, likely to try and incriminate her. I'm not sure what the culprit decided to do with Wendy...    But what they did with Wendy doesn't matter to this case. Afterwards, the culprit went back to their dorm, where they realised they still had the letter. They dealt with it by tearing out the parts with Delphine's and their names, before leaving it in the hallway and going back into their dorm.

Peppa: That's how it went...      Isn't that right, Gerald Giraffe, the Ultimate Caretaker?

)=({ COMPLETE })=(

____________________

Chapter Text

Gerald: ...

Peppa: Gerald. There's nowhere for you to run...     Did you kill her?

Gerald: ...Just vote first. Then we can discuss this.

Kylie: Vote?

Monopotato: Indeed! Please may all participants vote for who they think is the killer on their handbooks! Will they make the right decision? Or the deadly wrong one...? Let's find out!

Peppa: I flipped my handbook out of my dress pocket to see it had a new screen arrangement. Everyone's names were on it, with a thick line crossing out Delphine's and Wendy's. 

Peppa: Slowly...     I pressed Gerald's name.

Monopotato: All votes have been cast! Time to see if the killer has been found!

[GERALD] [GERALD] [GERALD]

) CORRECT VOTE - GUILTY (

Monopotato: Well, you got it right on the button! The one who killed our dear little French teacher Delphine, is none other than the Ultimate Caretaker Gerald Giraffe!

Gerald: ...

Rebecca: Gerald...    Why?

Gerald: What do you mean why? I didn't have a choice.

Edmond: Well...    You did have the option of wether or not to throw the book at Delphine.

Monopotato: Probably because he was worried of being ridiculed by you guys! Waking you up would put a target on him! His backstory is more than enough proof of it!

Emily: Backstory...?

George: Gerald, what happened in your past?

Gerald: ...You mean after we had graduated playgroup, right?

Candy: Well...    Yeah.

Gerald: ...Uhm...

Monopotato: Ok, Mr. Sensitive Hooves is taking too long to reveal what happened after playgroup had ended for you. I'll just reveal it myself!

Gerald: Wha...?

Monopotato: Simply put it, our little Gerald Giraffe here is quite the reactive type. But he was also rather good at understanding emotion and organisation. So, a couple years after your silly playgroup had concluded, his parents decided to try getting him a job! At the local charity shop, where his grandfather worked. However, that grandfather was quite pushy. Always trying to get Gerald to work more than can benefit him, sometimes forcing him to work overtime...      Such beauty in my eyes! But anyways, his parents never knew. So, Gerald ended up with more bad side effects than good from a good intention from his parents! Kehehe...     Such a shame to know your child ended up feeling worse after offering him something that should've made him feel better~...

Gerald: ...Wh- What...

Monopotato: And with that, Gerald became a sensitive freak. Panicking at the simplest insults from classmates...       But hey! He also became the Ultimate Caretaker...     Ew. ANYWAYS. He had the option to finish off Delphine...    Why didn't he wake you guys up? Because he was worried that you'd ridicule him for being a killer! Too bad, he became the one thing he tried so hard not to become~...

Gerald: ...It's not just that.

Monopoato: Oh quiet. How not?

Gerald: Because...      I also threw the book at Delphine to help her.

Zoe: ...Are you delusional?

Gerald: No. I'm just different. When I had knocked out Wendy...    I noticed that Delphine was suffering. She was in pain. In her own guilt of trying to kill me...     She must've changed her attitude by then. But it was too late...     She wouldn't have healed, even with all of Suzy's might combined. So...    I knew that the only option she had was to pass. To let go of her life. I couldn't let her suffer, so...      I helped her to pass on. I helped her to pass to the afterlife...

Edmond: Did you take religious education in high school, by any chance...?

Gerald: Only a little. But even though Delphine tried to kill me...    I forgive her. If you ask me...   I should be saying...     Sorry...

Monopotato: Wake up, you silly Giraffe! I have some things to explain!

Gerald: ...Huh?

Monopotato: Normally, I wouldn't allow the ability to give the phone to a culprit who has been found, but you've impressed me! With stumping the other participants and with your speeches...     And so, I have an offer for you!

Gerald: Really...?

Monopotato: Yep! You can still make the phone call. It can be to whoever you know, and it must be in front of the other participants. However, you CANNOT mention anything about the situation that you are in, or anything that has happened so far.

Gerald: ...And if I do...?

Monopotato: I'll kill everyone else on the spot.

Richard: Wh-What?!

Kylie: That ain't fair...!

Monopotato: Do you accept?

Gerald: ...I do.

Monopotato: BRILLIANT! 

Gerald: This last phone call...      It's for my parents.

Monopotato: Very well then! Here you go!

Peppa: The figure flipped out the old cellphone that he had shown to us yesterday morning, and started flipping through it, soon handing it to Gerald.

Monopotato: One phone call to Mr. Giraffe, my friend.

Gerald: Thanks...

Peppa: The giraffe slowly took the cellphone from the vegetable's hands, before letting out a swift sigh and pressing a button on it. He then held it up to the side of his head.

Phone: Hello?

Gerald: Hello? Dad?

Phone: Uhm...      Who is this?

Gerald: It's me, Gerald...     You don't remember?

Phone: Well, of course I do, it's just...     This isn't Mr. Giraffe.

Gerald: What...?

Phone: This is Mr. Pig here. I'm in a supermarket right now. And you...?

Gerald: ...Mr. Pig?

Peppa: ...Dad?

(Mr. Pig): Gerald, this isn't a joke. Where are you?

Gerald: Uhm...      I'm at a school of some kind. What's going on?

(Mr. Pig): It's complicated. Do you have time?

Gerald: What...?

Phone: *CRASH*

(Mr. Pig): Dammit...      Looks like I don't have time.

Gerald: W-Wait! Mr. Pig!

(Mr. Pig): What is it?

Gerald: I-If you happen to find my parents...     Just tell them that...      The charity shop was the worst decision of my life.

(Mr. Pig): ...Ok. I'll see what I can do-

Phone: *BANG* *CRASH*

Gerald: Wh...     Wha...?

Phone: Mr. Pig! Th-They're breaking in!

(Mr. Pig): Darn...   I-I have to go Gerald...

Gerald: W-Wait! M-Mr. Pig! Wh-What's going on?!

(Mr. Pig): I can't explain Gerald. J-Just get to safety...! Make sure that you find your parents! 

Phone: *CRACK*

(Mr. Pig): Keep hope with you Gerald! It's a nightmare out here, but it will get better!

Gerald: W-Wait!

Phone: ...

Peppa: Right at the last moment...        The phone call ended with a short, soft beep.

Gerald: Wh...

Peppa: Gerald's face had gone near blank of emotion, as the cellphone slowly fell out of his hands, crashing on the floor sturdily.

Monopotato: Kehehehe~! Are you satisfied?

Gerald: What...     The hell was that.

Monopotato: Anyways. Time to get to the real star of the show! The punishment!

Gerald: You mean...         What happened...     To Wendy?

Monopotato: YEP! Just...    In a personalised way.

Gerald: ...Very well then. I'm sorry everyone.

Gerald: I-i'm sorry...      M-Mr. Pig-

Peppa: At that moment...       The giraffe started to cry. Tears drooped out from his eyes as his hands shot up to catch them, wiping them into his skin and fur. Loud sobs sounded out as Monopotato kept on giggling.

Gerald: I-I'm sorry W-Wendy...!

Monopotato: Now then. I have prepared a very special punishment for our friend Gerald Giraffe, the Ultimate Caretaker!

Gerald: I-I'M S-SORRY! I-I-I'M SORRY- *hic* M-MUM! I-I'M S-SORRY D-DAD! *hic*

Monopotato: Let's give it everything we've got! IT'S PUNISHMENT TIMEEEEEEEE!!!

Gerald: *h-hic* I-I'm s-s-orry...     D-Delphine...

____________________

Chapter Text

)><( GAME OVER )><(

[GERALD HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY]
TIME FOR THE PUNISHMENT!

____________________

Gerald was still sobbing to himself, resorting to self-hugging to calm himself down as red lights flashed through the whole courtroom. His calming was interrupted by a harsh feeling around his neck, as a collar linked to a chain clicked itself shut, tugging the giraffe back with immense force. His hands rushed to his neck enchainment as he disappeared behind one of the walls, which had lifted up to allow room for the culprit to be dragged through. Afterwards, a large television squinted through the gap, lifting itself up for all the remaining participants to see...

=====

A dark hallway was seen. Two dusty shelves on both sides. Both stuffed with toys, books, and old bits and bobs in every nook and cranny. There was so much, it was spilling out onto the floor. And in between both of these shelves was Gerald, a few tears still dripping down his face.

} Another Soul For The Charity {
Ultimate Caretaker Gerald Giraffe execution
Status: Executed

'Boy...     You should start working...'

The giraffe slowly turned around, fear in his eyes. The only thing he could make out in the darkness was...     Some kind of robot. It had the general shape of a giraffe.

'Who cares if you cry...     Work is more important...'

Gerald started to walk away from the dark figure as he turned back around, his eyes catching a glimpse of light at the other end of the hallway.

'You can't run...     Work will conquer you...'

"ENOUGH!"

And with that, he started running. He ran down the hallway as fast as he could, to be halted by something around his wrist.

A slinky.

Gerald scowled, before yanking his wrist free as more items tried to pull him further back. Nonetheless, the giraffe kept running. Various junk and random things coated his body, making cuts along his fur as he kept up his pace.

Eventually, he reached the light. It illuminated his current form to the maximum. A dusty, scarred, item-coated young boy, who only wanted to be who he wanted to be. He reached out to the light with a trembling hand...

...To realise it was a floodlight.

And right above it was a monster. Specifically, a giraffe animatronic.

Gerald's eyes widened extremely.

'...I told you, boy...'

'...Work will always win.'

Gerald's breathing hitched. His eyes lost emotion. Blood trickled like a waterfall down his neck.

A long spear had been jabbed right through his neck. The figure from behind added on, stabbing multiple sharp glass shards, knives, skewers and daggers through his chest. Blood spilt across the hallway as Gerald fell to his knees, eventually onto his chest, the pinkish liquid flowing out onto the floor. The two figures above him faded back into the darkness, as the floodlight stayed on, leaving Gerald visible in the dark as the film slowly drifted into static...

____________________

Chapter Text

"..."

The sight was unrecognisable. The television had fulfilled it's duty of transporting Gerald's final moments to us, and now was slipping back into the wall in which the giraffe had been launched into.

"WOOHOOOOOOO!!! EMOTIONALLLLLLL!"

"Wh...    What the..."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

"Rest in peace Gerald..."

"*sob*  W-Why..."

"Now then. It's around 1-2 o'clock right now, so...     Playgroup trial dismissed! All participants may return to the school."

With that, a loud bang on wood was heard, followed by a cryptic ding from the lift.

"I guess...        We should head back..." Rebecca sighed, gripping her arm as she started edging back to the lift, Richard close behind. They were followed by Pedro, Zoe, Danny, Freddy and Emily.

"P-Peppa..."

"Hm?" I looked to my right, seeing Suzy with a shaken face, and her arm gripping her faded white jacket as her blossom pink skirt slowly swayed. Her cotton was like a flurry ice cream sundae, little wisps of it floating around her.

"Can I...      M-Maybe hug you?"

"Oh. O-Ok." I stepped out of my trial stand, slowly wrapping my arms around Suzy's waist as I felt her own under my shoulders. It felt...           Deep. We were deep in silence, simply understanding each other as our touch kept us close. I was still terrified of losing Suzy...        She must be terrified of this situation. 

...

I'm not gonna let her go.

Not any time soon.

No. Not any time ever.

"U-Uhm...     Peppa? Can you...    Let go now? I feel better..."

"Oh. Sorry." I released my arms from the sheep's body.

"Its fine...      Wanna do something?"

"Sure...!" I smiled, walking alongside my best friend as we headed back to the lift, noticing that we were the last ones out of the trial room.

And honestly...      I needed a break.

Everything that has happened this morning was crazy.

We lost three people. Three of our friends.

But we have to keep moving. The hope that we have within ourselves knows that they'd want us to get out.

That's how hope works...

...Man, I'm getting sentimental, aren't I?

Nevermind. Now's the time for playing with friends, not playing with philosophy.

____________________

"...Why did you call me here?"

"Obvious! Having to unlock all the floors just to let you to my residence...    It's too much of a hassle!"

"And sneaking down to the first floor through the walls and floors isn't risky?"

"Of course it is! But I don't care...      Their hope will fall, eventually~..."

I sweated as the dark figure in the cloak eyed me down, their static-coloured aesthetic running through their whole design. The creepiness about it was only enhanced by the weak electric lights of the IT room. Their face stayed twisted as usual...    Ugh.

"So, our first trial went well, didn't it?"

"How so."

"The execution! It was so savage...    I loved it~..."

"...Do you want the game to continue?"

"Of course!"

"Why?" My eyes lit up, as a sense of courage rippled through me. "You've already killed two people. Delphine was killed by Gerald, fair enough, but...     Why execute them?"

"What do you mean."

"Th-There's enough people dying! Why execute them?! Why not just kick them ou-"

"Quiet, traitor. Wendy broke the rules, and Gerald obeyed them. Simple question, simple answer."

I sweated, as the figure stepped forward, a smile creeping onto them.

"Remember why I chose you, my friend. Your secret is more than enough to push everyone here over the edge."

"..."

"Get some sleep. We've got a big day tomorrow!"

"...Goodnight, boss." I sighed sadly, turning around stylishly and heading out of the door to the computer-stuffed room. My steps slowly echoed through the hallway as I edged further away from the site of the poor donkey's death, now cleaned up and fully dealt with. My head layed low as I took left, followed by another left. Soon reaching my dorm, I flipped out my handbook, swiping it across the door lock as the pillowy confirmation pierced through the quiet of the night. Before heading into my room to get a hopefully calm night's sleep, I muttered one thing to myself.

"...Why can't you snap out of it..."

____________________

(Chapter 1: Life's A Dangerous Game - CHAPTER END)

(< Intermission 1 - Start >)

____________________

Chapter Text

The cracking noises got louder as Mr. Rabbit and his father-in-law continued to block the door from the outside opposition. I had already called for Mr. Pig. When I was there though, he was talking to someone on the phone we found...  

...Maybe he finally called for help.

"M-Mandy! We're gonna need some help!"

"Well, why doesn't the cow in the corner help out?!"

"Hey!" Mrs. Cow rebutted, as I shakily wheeled back to the backroom in the supermarket. When I reached the worn steel doors, a familiar figure bursted through them, adjusting the glasses aiding his eyesight as he looked down at me.

"I-I'm here. What's happening?"

"It's the radicals...    They're breaking in."

"Oh. Sugar."

"Th-They're gonna make it in!"

"...We're going to have to run."

"I have a wheelchair..."

"Everyone's going to have to run for it. I'll take Mandy."

"I-Is the back door open?"

"...I'm opening it now."

"Son of a-"

At that statement, Mr. Pig dashed out. I prepared myself, wheeling closer to the backroom door as various metallic clanks sounded. The front doors to the supermarket continued to bulge as Mr. Pig rushed back in, taking hold of my wheelchair.

"Everyone...     Let go of the doors when I say so. And start running immediately!"

I sweated to myself as the two rabbits blocking the door leaned forward, preparing to dash.

"...Now!"

The rabbits dashed. The doors gave way.

And in their spot stood those converted. Those who had taken the ideology of despair.

"RUN!"

The sights around me changed as we leapt out into the outside world once again. The rabbits eventually caught up with us as the race for survival went on.

"Is there anywhere that we can reside?"

"...Maybe at the old garage? The one that Danny's granddaddy used to own?" I suggested, worry in my eyes as the ground beneath my weakened legs rattled me around.

"Good idea! L-Lets get going!"

"Wait...     Where's Mrs. Cow?"

"...She got taken."

"Oh...      Well, rest in peace, Mrs. Cow."

"Yeah..." I sighed, gripping my arm.

The group continued on the harsh fast-moving schedule for a couple more minutes. Eventually, the garage came into sight, as our pace sped up. Kilometers became meters, meters became centimetres, centimetres became touching the rippled metal wall of the garage, the white paint on it peeling off crisply.

"...Here we are." Mr. Pig nodded forcefully, "Everyone in. Lock all doors once we're inside."

We all rushed within the building, the smell of motor oil resting in the air. It wasn't the best, but...      It was enough for now.

...

You don't even know who I am, do you?

It's fine. I'll explain now.

My name is Mandy Mouse. You may have picked up on the fact that I reside in a wheelchair. It's because my legs don't work like yours. Obviously.

My Ultimate talent completely ignores and embraces that fact, however.

I'm the Ultimate Paralympic Athlete.

Honestly, I don't know how I got it.

But what confuses me more is the situation that's happening to our current world.

First all of my friends go missing, followed by outbreaks of despair, attacking for life, and downright nightmarish survival!

...

I just hope she hasn't been turned.

____________________

"O-Ow...     My neck..."

Pain ran through my chest and lungs as my surroundings snapped back into reality. It was...      White. Multiple items such as crates and shelves could be made out from the white plane as I sat up, rubbing my head thoroughly.

"Dam. You're finally awake."

"Wh-What the?-"

"I'm betting you didn't die as harshly as I did, huh?"

I squinted as two figures formed into shape, staring me down. They were...      Wendy and Delphine...?

"O-Oh god-" I backed away swiftly at the sight of the donkey. "I-I'm sorry-"

"Don't be. I should be sorry."

"Huh?"

After uttering that, Delphine simply walked away...     Through some kind of white doorway.

"She's in extreme guilt because she tried to kill you." Wendy scoffed, looking away.

"...I knew it..." I sighed, gripping onto my arm roughly. "What...     Is this place...?"

"The storage room."

"Wh-What?! But...     I died in...      The old charity shop..."

"That was just a scene that was organised or something. You were out stone cold when we found you, weren't that far from the trial room. We decided it'd be best if we took you back up to the storage room so that you could stay close to us."

"...Ah. Wh-What I meant was...              What is this...    How can I put it...      Realm?"

"...I dunno. My best guess is it's the afterlife. You got executed, right Gerald?"

Noticeable beads of sweat fell down my head as I slowly nodded.

"Yeah. I think it's the afterlife."

"...Agreed."

My head was still spiraling like mad. But considering Wendy's explanation, I feel a bit better now...

...

...I hope that no one else dies.

If anyone else appears here...     We're gonna need to take some kind of action...

____________________

(< Intermission 1 - END >)

Chapter Text

(Chapter 2: A High Sense Of Broken Romance - Daily Life)

CHAPTER START

____________________

...

What happened yesterday... 

I...       Won't forget it for a long time.

Delphine's death and Gerald's execution...        Not to mention us also losing Wendy...

It was too much for an opening act. But it's over now.

It won't happen again. 

I swear it won't.

My eyes drowsily flipped open as I took my surrounding into account. I was in a classroom, multiple French flags and bookshelves stacked around the place...

...And for some reason...     Suzy was clinging onto my body.

...Oh yeah.

After the...     Trial, we had all spent time with each other. I spent the rest of the day with Suzy. I really needed to spend that time with her...      We must've accidentally fallen asleep while we were spending that time together.

"Uhm...     Suzy?" I muttered softly, attempting to wake the lamb.

"Mmh...      Huh?"

"Good morning...     Can you maybe let me go?" 

"Oh, sorry...      Where are we?"

"I think...     It's the French classroom we found yesterday."

"Oh...      Yeah."

"Do you feel better after all of that...?"

"Yes. I'm certain...     Thank you."

...She still seems a bit unnerved. But I understand.

*CRASH*

"Oh thank GOD!"

"Eep!-"

My head, startled, turned to face the door of the room at lighting speed. Said door was wide open, pressed against the wall of the room, as Danny stood in the doorway. His eyes showed a sign of beckoning.

"Girls...     Uh...     Can you come with me? It's rather important!"

"Ok...? Come on Suzy..." I pulled the still drowsy lamb to her feet as we walked out of the French classroom, as Danny lead the way for us. 

We soon reached our destination. It was...      The staircase that had been locked off...?

"Why are we all here?" I heard a certain pony ask.

"Look, Monopotato just randomly walked into my dorm this morning and told me to organize everyone here by 8:00. I didn't want to get hurt..." Freddy replied, noticeably in front of everyone else. 

Intrigued, I swiftly pulled out my handbook, checking the time.

7:57

...Aha.

"Didn't want to get hurt? Isn't it weird that Monopotato specifically asked YOU to organize us?"

"I-I'm dead serious. He asked me."

"Why?"

"God DAMMIT Pedro! It's not like I'm working for him!"

"Why would someone be working for Monopotato anyway?" I called out to the half-argument between the pony and the fox, "It makes no sense..."

"Yeah. Sorry Peppa." Pedro sighed, lowering his head as Freddy turned away from the crowd.

"...Freds?"

"I'd prefer it if I...    Didn't talk with anyone for a while."

...

Is...      He ok?

"*Huff* Phew...      Sorry I'm late!" 

We turned around, laying eyes upon the psychopath vegetable once again as it jogged up to the staircase, nudging Freddy to the side.

"Thank you so much Freddy for gathering everyone here!"

"It's...    Nothing."

''Now then. Since you have all cleared the last playgroup trial so well, I'm giving you a little reward~..."

"Reward...?" Emily questioned.

"Indeed! I'm giving you more space!"

"What?"

At that moment, a crippling clang boomed, followed by a period of clings and clanks. Monopotato held his arms wide as the iron gates covering the staircase began lifting upward, levitating as the figure smiled.

"I PRESENT TO YOU! THE SECOND FLOOR OF OUR ACADEMY! ENJOY, MY COMRADES!" Monopotato laughed, flipping out a curved blade and hammer, pressing them against each other.

"Uhm...       The Soviet Union fell in December, 1991...     Also, where did you get the sickle from...?" Edmond stared, concern in his eyes.

"They're in the storage room. And I don't care. Anyways, ENJOY!"

Monopotato leaped, falling into a hole into the floor that I...      Swear wasn't there before. The mysterious gap in the floorboards then patched itself up, coincidentally at the exact same time that the staircase gate had fully disappeared.

"...Well. Should we?" Danny asked.

"...I'm not sure if we have a choice." Richard sighed, hopping up the stairs swiftly.

"That...      That means yes." Rebecca smiled awkwardly.

"Ya sure?" Danny looked at the older of the rabbits, uncertainty in his eyes.

"Yes. Now lets see what's up there." The bunny nodded stiffly.

And with that...       We all headed up the stairs. Up...     To the first floor.

Or second floor. Depending on how you read it.

____________________

(Hello there! Before we get into the midst of Chapter 2, there are a few things that I have to warn you about. I believe that some of these topics may be a bit triggering for a few, so it's best that I notify you about them before we go any further into the chapter.

1: I will be referencing more music in this chapter, not just works by Masafumi Takada. There may be songs sung by other bands and artists, mainly from that one group from Sheffield that made that song about a guy trying to contact a girl after smoking way too many joints. Try to guess who I'm talking about. (Note: These last two statements may not be entirely true. Don't take them too seriously.)

2: There will be a reference to alcohol in this chapter. Now before you start coming after me, I know. The minimum drinking age in America is 21 years old, I've read it myself. But I'm not American, I'm European. And in Europe, you can legally drink light alcohol (Beer, wine) at age 15-16 in some countries, such as Germany. And most of the characters in this book have been aged to around 16.

3: There will be a polyamory interaction. Polyamory is when three people are in a relationship with each other, if you don't already know. There will be no actual romantic polyamory interaction, it will be more like a three-way crush interaction. Simply put it: If you are a bit confused or sensitive to the idea of polyamory, I suggest you take that into account while reading through this chapter.

4: I don't know if I myself am ready to say this...      A take on a beach episode. Basically, there are gonna be swimming costumes being worn. Remember, everyone in this book has been aged up, and the participants of the game are around 14-16. If you do feel a bit sensitive to this idea, I suggest a warning around the end of Daily Life.

5: Finally, the deaths in this chapter are gonna get SICKO. In Chapter 1, I was still playing around with the methods behind the deaths, investigation and the playgroup trial. Now I understand what I'm doing with it, so I can certify that I can turn up the heat with this chapter.

I hope you understand the possibly triggering topics upcoming in this chapter. Farewell, and enjoy Chapter 2!

~Oak-44)

Chapter Text

The sight before us was a lot more surprising than the floor underneath.

The hallways were...      Tiled. Many small blue and violet tiles ran along the walls, along with thicker white tiles on the floor. The notices and cork boards on the walls were still present, though. The majority of the doors on this floor seemed to be made out of varnished wood, rather then the ones on the first floor, which were more plastic-y.

"Damn..." I heard Candy's voice fade into the new floor.

"How are we gonna explore all of this...?"

"...Let's explore it how we like. We can look in groups, we can be alone, it can be however we like. But this time...      I suggest we focus on finding anything that might help us get out of here." The fox in the group announced.

"...Sure." Pedro gripped his arms, cocking his head.

"Good plan everyone? Ok, we'll all meet up in the hallway after...     Maybe an hour?"

Hm...        Explore however you like...

"...George? Do you want to explore with me?" I asked, turning my head to my brother.

"No thanks sis. I'd prefer exploring with Edmond or Richard..." The shorter pig scratched his neck.

...I never realised he was THAT short.

Even after all this time...   I never realised?

...Oof, Peppa. Oof.

"Oh. Ok...       Would you like to come along Suzy?"

"I'd love to..." The sheep smiled, gripping onto her faded white formal jacket.

"...Have fun." I noticed my brother simply smiling at me, before running to join Richard and Edmond.

George...      You little.

"Ok...     Where should we look first?"

"Maybe...    That door there?" I pointed, aiming at a door at the end of the hallway.

"...Sure!" The sheep suddenly dashed away from my side, leaping down to the door. The movement took me by surprise, nearly causing me to jump. By the time I had started on my way to the door, Suzy was already inside the room behind it. Not wanting to be left behind by her, I hopped through the doorway myself. 

I was met with various horizontal lines of easels and canvases. Wooden walls lined up on all sides, smooth gashes separating the individual planks. Many cabinets and other storage-based pieces of furniture sat at the furthest wall.

It looked like...      An art room.

"Hm...      Nothing here that seems...     Useful...       Onto the next room!"

"What?-"

Before I could reply properly, the sheep had already sprinted out, leaving the art room's door wide open. I was left with my natural instinct...         The instinct to follow her. 

And so, I followed her.

Running back into the hallway, I snapped my head in both directions, stopping it when I noticed another open door. It wasn't too far from the art room's door.

"...Suzy? Are you in there?"

Not hearing any response, I leapt up to the door, swinging myself through it. My momentum soon halted, landing me next to a fluffy figure.

"Suzy?"

"Sh..." The lamb quieted me, making me glance forward. What laid in front of me was...      Without a doubt stylised in a certain way.

The room was coloured with navy blue and cream white, multiple pictures of boats and other beachy decor rested upon the walls. Three stuffy, rust-brown, comfy armchairs rested at each doorless wall, a splintered coffee table wedged in front of them. Duck egg blue cabinets with speckled gold handles took up the remaining space, sitting upon the spruce wood floor. An antique coloured rug ran along the middle, from the door to the coffee table.

And standing in the middle of that rug...     Was Danny. His back to us, unmoving.

"..."

"Danny?"

"..."

"...I think something's on his mind. Let's go..."

I looked to my side, realising that Suzy had already started to leave the room. Eventually, her body slipped out of the door, moving away slowly.

However...     I stayed.

...I'm worried about Danny.

Why? Who knows.

"...Danny?"

"I think you already heard Suz', Peppa."

"Well, yes, but I'm worried..."

"You shouldn't be Peppa...     You remember me from playgroup, right? Were you worried about me then?" The chocolate-furred hound turned to face me gradually, "And besides, the relations I'm thinking about don't have to do with you..."

"...What do you mean?"

"Freddy and Rebecca. I'm...      Worried about going to the next level with our friendship. It's a stupid idea, anyway...      Why did I have to care so much for both of them..."

"I-I don't think that's a bad thing! It's just...     Weird."

"Exactly. Freddy doesn't seem like the kind of guy who agrees with weird. And Rebecca...       She's straight forward. Man...       I should've cared a little less..."

...

"Danny...      That might not be true. They might just be worried themselves. That's the best I can come up with, anyway...     Just forget about it for a while. Don't stress yourself out."

...Those words just came out of my mouth...       Unintentionally.

Does this...      Have to do with that dream I had...?

"...You're right Peppa. I should let go of the worry for a while." Danny gripped onto his shirt collar, yanking at it toughly, "I should be focusing on the situation at hand. Trying to escape!"

"...Ok...? Whatever works for you...?"

"Indeed, Peppa! Now then, should we explore another room?"

"Together? But I thought you were more into Freddy and Rebecca?" I joked.

"Oh please. It's not like they're yandere, heh." The dog laughed as he stepped out the sailor-themed room, the enlightenment in his face almost making him seem like a puppy once again.

The hope radiating through my body provoked me to go along with him.

"So...      What's in the neighbouring room...?" The dog questioned, turning to the right and halting in front of another wooden door, as I stepped into a space next to him.

"Lets find out." I sighed, grabbing the silvery handle and yanking it down, drifting the door away and revealing the room hidden behind.

Various kinds of guitars were hung up on one of the walls, with a drum set in the opposing corner. Other smaller instruments such as violins and flutes rested on cabinets, supposedly holding pages full of sheet music, and other equipment for musical performance. Resting in the wall facing us was a stiff, metal door, a translucent window showing the path to another room.

"Woa..." Danny stood, staring at the corner. "...Drums!"

"Yes, they're drums. What about them...?"

"I'm rather good at drums!"

"Really? I thought you were always a bit too obnoxious with them..."

"H-Hey! I'm able to control it!"

"Ok, excuse me. I wonder what's behind the door...?"

"Lets see!"

"Wha-"

At that moment, a loud slam sounded as the door swung open harshly. We took a look inside to find...        A piano? As well as a bunch of other equipment for some kind of recording...

"...Well. I've just found Zoë's favourite room."

"Haha...     Nice joke."

"Don't mention it!"

"I just did." I smiled, before taking a closer look. "Is...       This a recording studio?"

"Seems like it..."

"..."

"...This now looks a bit boring. You wanna check out another room?" Danny looked at me with anticipation in his eyes.

"Sure thing!"

____________________

Chapter Text

Swaying the door of the music room closed behind us, me and Danny continued down the hall, stopping to view the next door on our right. This door was more unique, however: It was made with a darker wood, and it had a small metal label on the front.

"Now then...         Secretary's office?" Danny focused, reading out the label.

"Maybe this has something that could help us out? Secretaries are important parts of every school..." I mentioned.

"Good point! Lets go!"

But when Danny took a hold of the opaque-shined doorknob, and twisted it, the door didn't move.

"...Huh?"

The dog tried twisting the knob harder. The door only wobbled around within the doorframe. 

"Dammit. It's locked."

"Well...      On to the next room!" I sighed, moving along. Danny soon caught up with me.

That was a shame...        I was looking forward to seeing if there was anything helpful for us in that room...

"So. What's in here?" The dog asked hypothetically, twisting the doorknob and opening the door to a thankfully not locked room. The minute we headed inside, however, there was an immediate shock.

"...This is...        A bar."

Soft, cylindrical lights hung on the sides of the walls, shining a mood light throughout the velvet walled room and across the varnished oak floor. Many dark, oak tables resided along the sides of the room and occasionally in the center, with old rock and roll posters hung up here and there. At the end of the room, a long bar island stood, also made of oak, with smooth cushioned bar stools sitting in front of it. And behind that bar...     Were shelves. Full of alcohol.

Taking a glance at Danny, I could notice that he was sweating really badly. 

He really doesn't like alcohol, then...

"...Danny? Are you good?"

"...NOPE! NOT AT ALL!"

"Yeah, I can tell!" A voice suddenly called, "You don't like alcohol. Neither do I!"

"What? Who's that?"

Confusion rang through my ears, as I leapt forward to the voice's origin. 

Well, I wasn't sure exactly where it was, but it sounded like it was from behind the bar.

Yanking my body around the corner of the bar, I laid my eyes upon an orange sight on the floor.

It was...     Freddy. Covered in...      Alcohol?

"Freddy...      What the?"

"Don't ask. I accidentally bumped into the shelves, and this...      Bottle of cointreau fell on me. Luckily it didn't break, the cap just cracked off."

"That sounds a bit crazy, Freds." I noticed Danny behind me, walking up besides me.

"How many times have I asked you to stop calling me that...?"

"Uhh...      Too many?"

"..." A silence sounded out as Freddy looked at Danny sceptically. Soon afterwards though, his sight lightened up.

"...That's my boy. Haha!" The fox giggled, getting onto his knees, then his feet, revealing the bottle of liquid that he had mentioned earlier, it's yucky-orangy contents spilling out.

"Oh, man...      I'm really gonna need a shower after this is done."

"Heh, yeah...     I didn't think you'd have this kind of energy in you, Freds!"

"Are you still surprised?"

"A little...!"

I simply watched the two animals converse with each other, despite the (in my opinion) rancid smell floating from the fox. They talked with such passion, it was amazing. Not to mention...     There was blush on both of their faces.

Suspicious, am I right?

"Now then. I'm gonna see if there's anything that might help us get out'a here. You good with that?"

"Sure am..."

"Great!" The dog chuckled, leaping away to the walls, running his hands along them. Freddy simply stayed to the side, scratching his neck a bit.

"...Freddy?"

"Hm?"

"...Is Danny on your mind?"

"...Guess I'm quite the open book, aren't I?" The orange animal turned to me, his tail wagging cautiously. "Yep. Danny's on my mind. And for some reason...      Rebecca too."

"What...?"

"I mean, Rebecca not as much as Danny. Danny seems so...      So...      So determined in proving that me and Rebecca are safe and happy. It honestly makes me blush..."

"...Seems like a double crush to me."

"H-Hey!"

"What was that?" Danny suddenly whipped around to face us, a question radiating from his mouth into the air.

"Uhm...     N-Nothing." Pink rushed across Freddy's face, only proving my point more.

"Hm...     Whatever you say Freds!"

"..."

"Heh, as I was saying."

"Sh- Shut up Peppa." The fox rushed his arms up, his sleeves covering his face swiftly.

Mission accomplished.

"Well, there's not much that helps with escape here. Onto the next room!" Danny returned to us, a little less energetic, but his happiness still visible.

"S-Sounds...       Good." Freddy, who was still clearly awkward, eventually lowered his arms.

"Lets get going then!"

Danny then rushed out of the bar room with a shocking speed, me and Freddy close behind. He must've been relieved to get out of there...

Once we were back out in the hallway of tiles, we noticed that there was only one more door on the right side of the hallway. After that, it was simply the end of the hallway.

"So...     What's in this last room?"

"Let's see..."

Freddy grabbed the handle, twisting it downwards, and pushing the door away to show the three of us the sight that laid behind it.

Two lines of washing machines, piled on top of each other, ran along the left wall. At the back wall, two stacked lines of...     Bigger washing machines resided. Piles of school uniforms, bottles of detergent and boxes of washing powder were scattered through the whole room. Laundry baskets stacked up in a nearby corner. And in the dead center of it all was Emily.

"Oh...     Hello, you lot..."

"Nice to see you again, Emily! Quite a mess in here, right?"

"Yep...     It's quite triggering, honestly..."

"I...     Don't know what to say...        This is a launderette, right?" I questioned, the state of the room still taking me by storm.

"Yes, its a launderette."

"Why is it...     Such a mess?"

"...I have no idea..."

"This definitely doesn't looks like how a launderette should be. Wouldn't it be more organised?"

"Maybe...      Whoever set up this nightmare that we're in is just lazy?"

"...You're saying that someone had planned to trap us in here?"

"...Yes? There's no way that a potato would be able to do this all by themselves."

"You've got a point..." I added to Danny's statement, starting to take the idea into my head.

"So...       Someone wanted us to kill each other? For what purpose...?"

"I'm not sure. But it seems like...     We know a bit more then what we originally knew."

"Yeah! It's like there's some...         Some kind of...       Some kind of mastermind!"

...

...Mastermind...

There's someone here...        Who wants us to kill each other...?

____________________

Chapter Text

"...Damn."

"Now what do we do...?"

"...Danny...        I've got an idea."

"Hm?"

"..." Freddy leaned a bit closer to Danny, whispering some kind of...      Plan into his ear. The dog simply nodded at times, agreeing with the silent plans of the fox in the red shirt.

"...Sounds good."

"That's not everything..."

Taking a closer look at the situation going on between the two boys, I scooted next to Emily with a soft slide.

"Oh, hello Peppa...       What's going on?"

"Nothing really. It's just...       I'd like to give Danny and Freddy some alone time."

"Oh. We can do that..." The elephant in the yellow dress nodded, gradually leaving the room with her head down a bit.

...That was easy.

I soon left the launderette myself, making sure not to draw too much attention to myself. I wanted the two that remained in there to be lost in the moment for a while...

With an accomplished heart, I turned to face the elephant, who was leaning against the wall, with her head down and her eyes shivering.

"Emily...? Do you want to explore another room?"

"...That'd be nice."

"Ok...     Before we do, are you sure you're ok?"

"...Not entirely."

"What's going on?"

The elephant slowly lifted her head, her trunk swaying against her shadowy, dark yellow blouse, as her ears flopped upright. Her eyes stayed upon mine for while, before she rolled her head to the side.

"Just...     Paranoia, I guess."

"...How so?"

"Look, I don't do well with worrying for other people. I've always been the paranoid person in my family...      Even when we were young. I always wanted the best for my family and friends, I didn't want them getting hurt. Although, considering the breakfast that we had during our first couple days here, I think you would've definitely seen that characteristic in me..."

"I did..."

"..."

...I wonder why she's so concerned for everyone?

I mean, she was like that sometimes when we were younger. But it seems like that character trait in her has without a doubt strengthened...

"...So, shall we explore on?" Emily's shaky voice hooked my attention back into reality, as she had started glancing at me once again.

"Sure." I nodded, keeping the thoughts in my head as we turned to face yet another wooden door, opposite the one to the launderette. 

This door seemed to be...      Splintered. And by splintered, I mean heavily splintered. The miniature wood spines sticking out of the door pointed out the proof of a lack of maintenance, maybe even intentional damage.

"...Well. You only live once." I sighed to myself, grabbing a tight hold of the doorknob and casually opening the door with Emily scooting away a little bit. 

A reflex took hold of my eyes, squeezing them shut at the brightness of the room. I took control of my eyelids once again, prying them open slowly to reveal the pattern of the awaiting room.

Large machines of some kind stood at the rear. Lines of shelves ran along the sides, with multiple flasks, stands, and glass tubes organised upon them, along with many unique pieces of equipment. A blackboard with wheels idled in the rear left corner as multiple desks and rotating chairs took up the remaining space in the center.

"What...      Is this place?"

"I'm not sure..." I sighed, confused by the setup of furniture and props. I took a couple steps forward, focusing on the shelves on the side walls, mainly the flasks and tubes lying on them.

"Is...     This a room for chemistry?"

"Probably..." Emily replied, uncertaincy easily recogniseable in her voice as we continued a little further into the classroom.

*Crack*

"Huh?"

"O-Ow..."

"Emily? Are you alright?"

"Yeah...      I think I stepped on some...    Glass..."

"...You didn't wear shoes?"

"I didn't have the time to put them on. Freddy woke me up quite swiftly..."

Wondering about the mysterious glass that Emily had stepped on, I looked down to the elephant's feet. She had a point - She was walking barefoot. Emily slowly lifted her foot up, brushing the underside of it cautiously, revealing the now broken glass object to the both of us.

It appeared to be a syringe of...     Some kind. The area containing the needle seemed to be intact, while the center was completely smashed. The handle was also in one piece. And looped around the end with a small piece of twine was a wrinkled, paper label, with ink dotted in words on it.

"...What...    Is this..." I muttered, grabbing the piece of paper and bringing it up to the both of us. The delicate writing on the label was clearer visually, but it still seemed completely out of context to us.

'Desparicisus'

"...H-Huh?"

"This...      This d-doesn't look l-like a g-good thing..."

"..."

...Does this...     Have to do with...

"...Peppa?"

"Sorry. Maybe we should...        Explore somewhere else..."

"GOOD IDEA-" 

At that moment, the elephant sprinted out of the chemistry classroom, the floor leaping softly at each step. It didn't take me long to follow her.

Once again in the hallway, I turned my head to the right, since a wall awaited on the left. Emily hadn't gone that far, only to the next door on this wall. With my mind still in loops, I approached the elephant once again.

"...Hey Emily."

"We were separate from each other for a minute, Peppa."

"Oh yeah. Excuse me. Onto the next room?"

"Indeed." The older of the two elephants in the supposed school nodded, grabbing the knob and twisting the door open.

...Having to name the method of opening all these doors is starting to get a bit repetitive.

Anyways, we both headed into the next room. And the first thing that caught our eyes was...     Glitter.

Bright sparkle and glam was splattered all the way through this dark purple-maroon room. Considering furniture, it really only seemed like a long line of clothes racks and mirrors, with clothing scattered on the floor, similar to the launderette. And caught up in one of these piles, with a torn red jumper caught up in her claws, was Candy.

"Oh. Hey girls."

"Hi Candy...    Uh, one question...       What happened?!" Emily shivered out, running up to the tabby cat.

"I got a bit too into playing around with this jumper. It reminded me so much of a ball of yarn...       So my claws got involved, and...      Yeah."

"Well, at least you're fine."

"Yep. Just need to get this red stuff out my claws."

"...Did I become a poster or something?" I called to the two obvious best friends.

"Nope. Also, hi Peppa." Candy waved at me.

"...You know what, I'm gonna explore somewhere else." I nodded to myself, grabbing hold of the door.

"Sure. See you later Peppa." The cat smiled at me, as I closed the door casually.

...

...I hope they kiss in there.

...

Peppa...      What the hell.

There's nothing that even suggests a romantic relationship between the two.

But still, they are different with each other then with everyone else here...

...

...I should stop thinking about this.

Anyways. Onto the next room.

____________________

Chapter Text

Leaving the chemistry and fashion rooms behind me, I halted in front of the last set of doors on the left wall in this hallway. These doors had a visible characteristic that separated them from the other doors, however.

These doors were completely metallic, and their handles were squareish, almost like two rectangular bars sticking out of the doors. Another thing that certified them as unique was their size: They were a lot larger than the other doors on this floor.

"...Here goes." I sighed, pushing the two doors apart and moving through the gap between them. The room awaiting revealed itself to me as the doors swung shut behind me.

It seemed... Like a gym?

Not entirely, though. It was more like a short, thick hallway, with the entrance doors on one of its long walls. At both ends of it, two doors laid, one pink, one blue. Filling up the space between all the doors were racks of weights, rolled up mats, stacks of clothes...

...And a... Machine gun on the ceiling?

That looks out of place.

...Why the...

"...Why the fudge would you need a machine gun in a hallway?"

"SIMPLE! So that you don't act like a bunch of pervs!"

"GAH-!"

My feet swooped off the ground, before landing once again as the voice of Monopotato sounded out behind me. As my body turned during the time of my feet floating, it was uncovered to my eyes that the voice had come from Monopotato. In person, too.

"That gun is there, so that you don't go into a changing room of your opposite gender! I don't want horny people jacking themselves off in this school!"

"...Ok, firstly: You're saying that what's behind those doors are changing rooms?"

"Yep! Blue for boys, pink for girls."

"And secondly... Your idea wouldn't really work on a pervert who's homosexual."

"...Oh. Shit." Monopotato laid his arms on his head, his face showing a sign of disappointment.

"I keep forgetting about society's current setting. It's a bit difficult to make such changes to such stuff like this, taking into account the LGBTQ community..."

"True, but it is for the better. At least now there aren't people calling out others for being who they are. At least, in England. I've heard it's worse in Russia..."

"You know what? Fuck Russia. They can attack our friends and give us petroleum all they want. One day, if I see someone who supports their actions, I will EXECUTE THEM WORSE THAN GERALD EVER HAD BEEN!"

"...Uhm... What are you talking about?"

"Just some nonsense. Anyways! If you want to enter the pool, you must do so through the girl's locker room. If you don't, well... You die."

"I can easily see that..."

"...Ew. Did I actually finish a conversation with you? Shock!" Monopotato waved his hat at his head a little bit, trying to cool himself down, before turning back to me. "To get into the locker rooms, swipe your handbook across the handbook reader on the door leading to the locker room of your gender! ENJOY!"

And then, the black and brown figure fell back into the conveniently open floor once again, disappearing once the floorboards patched themselves up.

...The way these floors work are concerning me.

"So then... Pink for girls..." I muttered to myself, walking to the left end of the hallway, and taking a better look at the door. It was like the other doors in the hallway, but painted pink. The handle was also unique, since it looked a lot more some kind of contactless payment station. It was a smooth, black box, working like a lock. On its side, a small lable laid, reading: 'Handbook Reader 2763'

"...So I just swipe my handbook across this?" I questioned, slowly nearing my miniature tablet to the box. Concern rang through my body as the handbook touched against the tough, smooth surface, with a sharp beep sounding out.

'Allowance Accepted.'

A click was heard. And the door drifted open.

"...That was easy." I sighed, worry melting out of my body as I trotted through the pink door, softly kicking it shut behind me.

The first thing that alerted my senses was... Conversation.

It seemed like it was coming from a further away part of the room...

"Come on man, it's not that bad..."

"It is! I thought that these doors would be open to us, but no... It's all chained up!"

"I mean, it is quite a shame."

"It's more than a shame! It says that this area is technically not it's own room!"

The male tone of the words had slowly moved my feet forward towards the end of the room. Soon, my eyes were met with a sight of shock...

A large room, lined with multiple light blue and white tiles and bearing a high roof awaited. Multiple white, plastic deck chairs rested along the sides, as a deep, long pit filled out the middle. And in said pit was water. Cleaned likely with chlorine, the pit was filled to the brim with pool water, along with ropes resting on the surface of the water, splitting it into three separate groups.

More conversation alerted my senses, swinging my head to my right. My eyes landed upon three people, one of them in a blue jumper, another in a light blue hoodie, and the last one in a green leather jacket. Their voices were easily identifiable, along with their clothing.

"...George?" I asked, running up a bit.

"Peppa?"

"Hey, no running in the pool!" Edmond called me out, slowing me to a crawling pace.

"Sorry..."

"It's fine. I'm more mad at this door."

"Door?"

Richard nodded his head to the side, directing my own head to look. Wedged on the wall closest to all of us was another set of large, metallic doors. This time, the handles had been bound together with a large chain, made out of some kind of brass.

"Edmond's annoyed at this chain, because it's obviously blocking this pool equipment closet. I'm also a bit annoyed, but definitely not as annoyed as clever-clogs elephant here." Richard nodded to Edmond, who was rubbing his head roughly.

"I mean... We could melt it if we had the right tools..."

"And where could we find such stuff?"

"Depends. I'm sure there's something in the storage room."

"Well, ok... You do y-"

"HEYA EVERYONE!"

"WH-"

The sudden shout took us all off our feet. Especially George, who ended up slipping on the floor, comedically landing his back into the pool, the water splashing out onto our shoes.

"...That was why I called you out earlier." Edmond nodded at me, as my brother grabbed onto the tile shore of the pool.

"George?! Are you ok?"

"Yeah... I'm alive, heh."

"That's a relief..." I sighed, as footsteps echoed behind us.

"What's going on?" The owner of the surprise shout, who ended up to be Kylie, questioned while hopping up to us.

"...No running in the pool."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Nothing's really happening, it's just that George fell into the pool thanks to your shouting." Richard glared a little at Kylie.

"...Sorry George." The kangaroo screwed up her face a bit, as a soaking George lifted himself out the water and onto the side, eventually getting back on his feet.

"It's fine Kylie. It's just... You need to calm your energy sometimes..."

"Yeah, that's true."

"Why did you even take us off guard like that? Some kind of prank?" Edmond cocked his head to the side a little bit.

"It's nothing really. Just that Freddy's now calling us all back!"

"...Well. That was a bit quick."

"Alright then. Let's get going." George nodded, droplets of water splattering across the tiles.

____________________

Chapter Text

With me, Kylie and the three youngest boys now leaving the pool through our designated changing rooms, (George with a towel, Richard didn't want him to be wet in the hallway,) we met up once again in the hallway connecting the changing rooms to the hallway.

"So then. To the remaining group." Kylie nodded, pushing the two doors apart once again as we headed through them, letting them swing back to their spot. To our right, conversation sounded out, informing us of the location of the meetup.

"You know Danny, you've been rather silent ever since Rebecca joined us while we were investigating..."

"...ITS. NOTHING!"

"I think it's something. But it's fine if you don't want to talk about it."

"Yeah, you don't have to spill every secret you have! I've got way too many secrets hidden within me, you know..."

"...Hm."

"Oh shut up Pedro."

Taking a squint at the group, I noticed that the owner of the last sentence seemed to be Freddy. Alongside him was Danny and Rebecca, all having a slight laugh and chat. It appeared that everyone was split in groups of two or three, notably Emily and Candy, plus Zoë, Suzy and Pedro.

...Oh yeah. I kinda abandoned Suzy earlier. Sorry.

"Heya everyone! I've found the rest, they were in the pool...     Why don't we get to work on talking about what we've all found?" Kylie smiled, bouncing over to the opposing group.

"Yeah." Freddy nodded, "Ok. First of all...      Why is George's head covered with a towel?"

"Fell in the pool thanks to the kangaroo."

"...Oh. Secondly, what rooms have we found that might be important?"

"I found a shop!" Pedro exclaimed, "Suzy joined me and Zoë while we were checking it out!"

"Yeah...      Another thing we found was this gym. It's filled with all this stuff for flips and all that." Zoë nodded.

"That sounds nice..." Emily smiled.

"That's great, but I'm talking about rooms that might help us get busted out of here."

"...We did find a locked room." I spoke.

"Oh yeah." Danny perked up, "It was some kind of secretary's office. Deffo was locked...    Couldn't get in."

"That's the whole point of a locked room, isn't it?" Rebecca asked.

"Yes?"

"...Thanks." Freddy smiled at me, before turning to Edmond, who stood by my side. "Did you find anything?"

"Somehow, I did. It was a small syringe on the floor of the chemistry classroom. I didn't like the look of it...   It was like it was holding a drug of some kind."

...

"Uhm...      Edmond?"

"Yes?" The young elephant looked at me with curiousity.

"I believe that I also found that syringe with your sister. I actually have the label from it..." I sighed, rummaging through my dress pocket, soon pulling out the piece of worn paper, and showing it to Edmond.

"...Despair...    No, Despar...   Icisus...    What in the..."

"Can I have a look?" Danny asked, walking over to us. He immediately took a couple steps back once he got a read of the name.

"Desparicisus?"

"I definitely haven't heard of that drug. Sounds modern..." Suzy sighed.

"..." Edmond simply stayed still, staring at the words on the small piece of paper. After a while, consciousness snapped back to him, as he pocketed the item.

"...That...     Sounds important. Thanks Edmond and Peppa." The fox nodded, "Anything else?"

"Earlier on, I managed to find this janitorial closet." Rebecca stepped forward, hands over her chest. "There was a key in the door. I think that you can lock it if you want to."

"Hm. Do you have the key?"

"Yep." The older rabbit gave a nod, before pulling a small key out of her pocket, and handing it to Freddy, who gave it a look.

"...Understandable. Does anyone want to take hold of this?"

Silence.

"I guess I will." Edmond nodded after an awkward period, stepping up to the fox and taking the key from him, also pocketing it.

"Did you find anything else Rebecca?"

"There were two doors not that far from the closet. They were both really well detailed, but I didn't get the time to check them out."

"That's fine, Bec. Is that all?"

"The only things that are left are the rooms that you've already explored, Freds. Also, why are you calling me Bec?"

"Why are you calling me Freds?"

"Why are you both calling each other by nicknames?" Danny laughed a little.

"Good point, Dan'."

"Oh, you did not."

Laughter sounded out as our meeting reached an understandable conclusion. Soon afterwards, we went out seperated ways. I specifically went to check out the doors near the janitorial closet, that Rebecca had mentioned.

"Uhm...      Rebecca?"

"Hm?"

"Where was the janitorial closet?"

"It's just to the left of the staircase."

"Oh, thanks."

"Don't mention it!" The rabbit smiled, bounding back down the stairs, joining up with Danny and Freddy.

... They really are a great paring.

Getting back onto my own course, I turned to the left, soon stopping in front of the first of the two detailed doors near the janitorial closet. Taking a sigh, I grabbed the handle and yanked down, stepping through into the next room.

To my surprise...     It was the library.

It was one of the doors at the end of the long balconies, which lead to the main upper floor, and then the staircase. 

So that means...     The other door must be for the other balcony.

A moment of happiness rippled through me, knowing I was in the library.

...

Worry then struck me as I realised that I was in the LIBRARY. I.e, where Delphine died.

...That's AMAZING.

Taking a deep breath, I jerked my head down, ready to lay eyes upon the sight of Delphine's body once again.

To my shock...    It wasn't there.

"Huh?"

Delphine's body had completely disappeared. So had the majority of the bloodstains. What's more, the ladder had been propped back up.

For some reason though, the book was still sprawled on the floor.

With my paranoia taking the wheel, I rushed to the larger balcony, then flipping around and dashing down the elegant staircase, soon skidding to a stop with my feet touching the book.

It appeared to be the same book from the earlier case. Thick, heavy, and also from the high shelf. It just didn't have the pink stuff on it.

...This really is quite a huge book.

I flipped it round, curious to find out the title of it.

It turned out to be multiple titles, all by the same author.

'1984, Animal Farm, Down And Out In Paris And London and other works by George Orwell'

...I wasn't expecting that.

"...It's quite an interesting set of stories, isn't it?"

"Wha-?"

I jumped a little bit, holding the book close to my chest as my eyes laid upon an interested Edmond, looking up at me. He looked on for a while, before walking to my side.

"I'm sorry if I'm butting in, but...     I really like Orwell's books."

"That's nice. I've read parts of Animal Farm, but no more then that."

"Trust me, you should read 1984. It's a really great story. It talks about a frightening future where everyone has become a slave to a tyrannical, totalitarian leadership, and society is constantly being watched by posters, and devices, and...       And..."

At that moment, Edmond's eyes widened slowly. His position stayed still, and his pupils darted to the roof, then at the book, then back to the roof, and so on. It was like he was suffering from a very thoughtful headache.

"...Can I have the book Peppa?"

"Yeah...     Why?" I questioned the genius elephant, as I handed the dense rectangle of paper to him.

"I just realised...      We're also technically stuck in a dark future if you think about it, aren't we?"

...

...He's right.

And yet, I stayed silent.

"Plus, have you seen how many cameras that there are here?"

My head instinctively twisted around the room, taking a better look at the cameras. Edmond once again had a point: You couldn't look up and not see a camera at the same time.

"There's around...      15 cameras here." 

"It's ridiculous, isn't it? And why would there be so many cameras? In my opinion, I would say that the reason there are so many cameras is because someone, or multiple someones, wants to keep a close eye on us from all angles."

"You mean...       The mastermind?"

Edmond suddenly glanced back at me, a blank face settling on him.

"...That's a good way to put it." He nodded at me, before resting the book on the floor, and flipping through it swiftly.

"Because of these similarities, I'm wondering if there are any more that relate to our situation. So, I'm going to take a read through 1984, and see if anything connects. You can leave if you want to."

"...Uh...    One more question."

"Yes?" The jungle animal in the green jacket looked up at me once again.

"...Do you know what happened to Delphine's body? As well as everything else that had to do with her death...?"

"...Not really. It might've been something similar to how Wendy's body got dealt with."

"Oh. Thanks anyway Edmond. Bye."

"Farewell." The elephant nodded at me, as I walked out the elegant doors of the library, now back on the ground floor.

Well. We've explored the second floor, so...     I've got time to kill.

Not in the way that Monopotato wants though. Obviously not.

____________________

Chapter Text

...Considering the conversations I've had with Danny recently, it'd be nice if we were to spend some more time together today.

Yeah. I'll spend some time with Danny.

Perking my head up, I turned back to the staircase, trotted to its lowest steps and hopped up it, soon returning to the second floor. Surprisingly, however, once I had reached the final step between the first two floors, I slammed into a pile of brown fur. My hooves were caught off guard, as I wobbled to the rear. I was saved from a harsh series of bruises and a possible broken limb by a certain arm, reaching out and barely managing to grab a hold of my dress.

"Oh good god! Peppa? Are you alright?!"

"Uhm...    Yeah?" I tilted my head shakily, lining my eyes up with the one person that I was looking for. 

Talk about irony.

"Phew...     I'm glad you're alright!" Danny smiled, tugging me back onto the second floor with a slow pull. Once I steadied myself, he let his hardened hand go of my notably softer dress.

"What's going on?"

"I was wondering...    If we could...    Spend some time together..."

"Oh! Oh yeah! We can deffo do that!"

"...Thanks..." Relief rushed through my veins, nullifying the shock from nearly falling down the stairs. 

"What...    Should we do?" 

"I ain't fully sure...    Maybe we can walk into a random room and see what's interesting there!" The dog smiled, taking something along the lines of a U-turn and slamming into the left wall on the hallway on my left.

"Now then. There's a door here, so let's go in!" The dog smiled as he continued along with his plan. When I joined him by his side, he had already seemingly threw the door to the side, showing the way to the room behind it.

"...Woah...    This must be the shop that Pedro found!"

"Huh?"

Noticing that Danny had already rushed forward into the room, I took my own steps further on. My sight was immediately stuffed with lines of metal mesh shelves stuffed with various...     Crap of some kind. It was like how Danny had said: A shop. Despite that though, there didn't seem to be any kind of place for a cashier anywhere. What's more, the atmosphere in the shop was a bit iffy. The room had a candlelit, wooden tone to it. 

"...Damn. You also think that it's a bit rundown Peppa?"

"Yeah...     What happened here...?"

"Not sure. Maybe the supplies that came into here were a bit...    Icky?"

"No, they look up to date." I replied, grabbing a pack of fudge and staring it down before returning it to the shelf.

That's when it hit me.

"How could supplies even get into here?"

"..." Danny stopped, before facing the floor. His body slowly turned to face mine, with his arm glued to his chin, and confusion in his pupils.

"...The thing that makes the most sense to me would be...     That they were here before we were here. But that also doesn't make much sense! If that was the case, then...    That means that it was supplied right before being completely locked up!" The dog had lost eye contact with me once again, seemingly rambling to himself. Me, however, started to consider the meaning behind his rambles a bit more seriously.

...The building was supplied right before being locked...

That would make sense if there was a disaster going on...          Locking up a building with refugees inside, to protect them from the environment of the disaster.

Plus, we're the youngest generation of Ultimate students that I know, so it'd make sense that someone would want to protect us. 

But there isn't really a disaster going on right now, right? We've simply been kidnapped, right?

...Actually...     

Considering the dark blue skies that me and George saw before Delphine died...     Not to mention the fact it was warm enough to make Suzy sweat...

...Maybe there is a disaster going on right...    Now...

So does that mean...     Monopotato...        No...         The mastermind interfered with...     Some kind of protection program?

...

I'm not fully sure. We can't really testify if there really is a disaster going on right now.

"Hey, Peppa? You caught up in ya mind again?"

"Oh. Uh. Yep." I sighed farewell to my thoughts, turning my sight to the source of Danny's voice, who was idling behind my back, hand on hip.

"It's fine. I'm usually caught up in my head for a couple hours a day, thinking about Rebecca, or Freddy, or my time as a pirate..."

"...What do you mean 'your time as a pirate'?"

"Heh, you wanna hear of the story of how I got my talent?" The brown-furred hound immediately made eye contact once again and smiled at me, almost by force.

It didn't feel like a true smile. It felt...      Like I was barging into a sensitive topic. His eyes seemed to bulge more than usual, the hairs on his fur had stiffened softly, a hint of an accent fresh from Bristol speared into his voice...

I knew from those hints that asking about his talent was a dangerous thing to have done.

And thus, I replied the best way I could.

"You know, you don't have to if you don't want to."

"Nah. You've already asked about it, so might as well." The dog shook his head a bit, before taking a single step away from me.

"You see, my mum died a while after our playgroup had concluded for good. And my dad, who you might remember to be a lover of the sea, saw with sorrow that this was the moment of return to the ocean. Of course, he couldn't just leave me alone so I came with him. And lemme tell you...     The feeling of mother's nostalgia while staring at the empty waves is a feeling unlike any other I've ever experienced..."

...

"...Oh...     I'm sorry..."

"Don't be. That doesn't even have anything to do with my talent, anyway!"

...

So that was why he wasn't around most of the time...

He was out...      At sea...

"Moving onto my talent, I got it from...    Well, a whole lotta work with my dad. It was a real great time, you know, working rudders, hoisting sails, fighting uninvited intruders off our boat..."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah! It's not just me who's a pirate, ya know! And I'm a good pirate, too! The pirates that were trying to take out me and my dad were complete NIGHTMARES, you hear me?"

"...Wow."

"And with that, I became the Ultimate Pirate...     Hehe, what a time indeed..."

"I...     I might need a moment to take that into account..."

"Oh, go ahead. It's definitely not the kind of story to listen to and say 'eh' right afterwards."

"Very true. Although...     I have told way crazier stories before..."

"Wait, really?! Aw damn, now I have to get myself into even crazier nonsense just to beat you!"

'Y-You don't have to do that...!"

The both of us broke into laughter, as we continued to discuss certain topics within the store. There must've been around 57 topics discussed between us, because after we had went our separate ways again it felt like hours had gone by.

Still...      I'm glad that me and Danny had a good time together.

And despite those good feelings, I still have some kind of urge to talk with someone.

Considering these theories of there being a mastermind, as well as a potential disaster, plus a supposed protection program from a potential disaster that the mastermind had interfered with...

I really need to talk with another person to try and get a better understanding of this.

Hold on, let me think for a moment.

This 'disaster' was enough to warn the authorities to try and protect the youngest group of Ultimates in this world. Then that would mean that said 'disaster' would also be causing a lot of other problems across the world.

With that hypothesis in mind...       I think I know who I can talk to.

"...Kylie? KYLIE!"

I immediately shrieked, running along the halls to try and find the kangaroo. You know, like an idiot would.

Pretty ironic, considering the way I was thinking earlier.

"KYLIEEEE! I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!"

"Uhm...    Ok? You can stop screaming, I'm here."

"Wha-" I flipped around half-cautiously, eyes landing upon the one person I was searching for (like an idiot), standing with an innocent look on her face.

"...Funny. Usually I'm that loud. Moving on, did you need something?"

"...Yeah." I replied, nearing the girl in magenta. "I've...     Realised a few things."

"Huh...? What things? What did you find out???"

"I believe...      That this building that we're stuck in might've been part of some kind of protection project."

"Really? How?"

"...Come here. Maybe we can discuss it in here." I wrapped an arm around Kylie, dragging her through the nearest door. We were now in the room that was full of clothes. Eh, good enough.

From that point on, it was a long series of me explaining the entire theory: From the supplies somehow getting in, to the possible disaster across the world, to Monopotato taking the wheel of a defence project of the youngest Ultimates.

By the time I had concluded, Kylie was still a bit confused, but also had a face of shock.

Then she started her own hypothesis.

"...You know, Pep'...       I remember hearing about a disaster before waking up here. It's not a strong memory, but I still remember it. It wasn't in Australia, it was somewhere far off...     Like Europe or somewhere around there. And yet here I am..." The kangaroo, suddenly starting to steamroll through theories, looked me in the eyes. "I'm also an Ultimate. I'm also in this supposed hijacked protection program. And even if I may think that I don't deserve my Ultimate talent, I'm still in this situation. 'They' still wanted to protect me. Even though I was miles and miles away, 'they' still called me out here just to protect me, even though I was already prote-"

"You don't deserve your Ultimate talent?"

Kylie's rambling came to an instant halt.

"...Kylie...      What the- E-Everyone deserves their talent! What makes you so sure that you don't?" I spat out quickly, as the kangaroo shuffled away a bit.

"..."

"...Kylie?"

"Why did you have to bring that up? There was no reason for you to..." Kylie slowly laid her head down, looking at the floor with a monotone stare.

"Kylie, what do you mea-"

"Enough, Peppa. I have the right to NOT tell you something." The kangaroo was shaking a bit as she replied, almost like she was about to suffer from a breakdown. After a moment, she turned her back to me, facing the door to the fashion room. I was too worried to act, too scared of damaging Kylie's behaviour even more.

"Goodbye, Peppa. See you tomorrow." She finally said, before walking out the door, back into the main hallway.

Once the oak door had swung itself shut, I simply let the quiet flow into my thoughts.

"...Kylie     ...What do you mean..."

*Ding dong bong bing...*

"Gooooooood evening everyone! It is officially nighttime. So, I suggest that you all get a good night's rest. See you all tomorrow for a new day full of blood to be spilt!"

...

I didn't have the energy to try and chase Kylie down. It would probably make her more mad anyway.

I should probably just go and get some sleep. I can question Kylie tomorrow.

...Yeah.

There's always tomorrow.

...Right?

____________________

Chapter Text

...

"...Hehe."

I chuckled to myself, looking at the many varieties of weapons sprawled out in front of me. All the weapons had their own little black case, with 16 cases in all. With each one, there was a small label plastered on the front, with a name of one of the 16 people here. Yep, even those who died.

What made me really excited, though, was that one of the cases was empty. And the name on its label only made me laugh more.

"Hahaha..." I continued to chuckle, a bit louder each time.

I'm not sure if this is the Desparicisus kicking in, or if it's anticipation alone. 

All that I know is, the plan goes like this:

Ship these cases to Monopotato, along with some information that runs my little helper under the bus, and let him introduce it to the crowd as a new motive.

I'm certain that this'll cause a lot of distrust among that group of Ultimates. And hopefully...    Ugh, what a word. I believe that with the right scenarios happening, this should also send that pig into despair in moments.

My thoughts started taking control of my happiness, unconditional laughs sounding out by the minute.

*Ding dong bong bing...*

"WAKE THE FUCK UP BITCHES IT'S MORNING WAKE THE FUCK UPPPPPPPPP-"

"AHH-!"

I shrieked, flying out of the bed onto the dusty floor with a thump.

...Really Monopotato.

Without making any other movements, I sat myself up and checked the time on my handbook. It didn't really bother me that I was on the dirt-infused floor. I could easily have a shower.

Anyways, the time was exactly 7:00 am, so it was about time that I went and had a shower, as well as preparing myself for the new day.

But I don't want to share the details of my shower. That's...      That's just plain wrong.

So, after I had finished my shower and everything else to do with wash and clothes, I headed out into the hallway, turned left, arrived at the main hallway, went straight, pushed through the metal doors of the kitchen, and walked straight into Emily.

"GAH! P-PEPPA DON'T SNEAK UP ON ME LIKE THAT-"

"OH GOD SORRY-" I shouted back at the elephant in the yellow dress, who was holding a baguette in both her hands, aiming it at me as if it were to impale me. 

"...It's alright. You want some breakfast?" After some time, Emily nodded softly, setting the baguette on the side.

"Yeah, if that's ok."

"It's ALWAYS ok to eat. Always!" Emily kept her smiles up, grabbing two plates of round, tanned cakey-like substance and handing them to me. My eyes immediately sparkled.

"Pancakes?!"

"Yep! We all need something interesting to start off our day, and there's nothing more interesting than pancakes!" The slightly chubby elephant giggled smoothly, grabbing a stack of porcelain white plates from one of the upper cupboards, and leaning it against her chest. "C-Could you do me a favour and take the pancakes to the homeroom? That'd really help, since I need to also bring cutlery and fillings for the pancakes. Dammit, I also have to round everyone up for breakfast..."

"...Ok." I smiled, carefully balancing the two plates on my hands as Emily held the doors apart for me. I gave her a look of thankfulness, before delicately walking back into the main hallway, turning left towards the homeroom.

The trip between the kitchen and the homeroom usually took a minute. This time, it took five, mainly due to the addition of food precariously balancing on my hooves. Once I reached the doors to the homeroom, my hands were aching, and my feet possessed the extreme urge to shake. I resisted it, knowing that it would send the pancakes to the floor, i.e. death in pancake terms. What's more...      It sounded like there were some people inside of the homeroom already.

Well, time to see who's already there for brea-

"...Dammit."

I still had to get through the doors to the homeroom. And that's not easy when your hands are full of pancake.

"Uhh...     How do...       How do I open these..." I muttered to myself, as if it would make ideas appear faster. Eventually, I resorted to lifting up my leg to the worn, gold door handles and kicking them open with the heal of my foot. A dangerous idea, since I had to balance myself even more. But either way, the doors breezed away.

To reveal what seemed to be...       Some kind of argument?

"Goddammit Freddy, I'm not going to ignore this behaviour!"

"I swear to god, Pedro, I'm not working for Monopot-"

"How come you two always end up in so much conversation, then? Not to mention you also woke us all up just for Monopotato!"

"...Pedro."

"Freddy, I know that there's something you're hiding! Why are you getting so close to Danny and Rebecca recently? Do you want to hurt them or something?!"

"Pedro. Shut up."

"I cannot shut up! Where you always this rejective to suspicion? Did your parents perform some shitty operation on you or somethi-"

At that moment, a flash of maroon stabbed at Pedro, pinning him to the wall with immense force. The fox's face had seemingly gone insane for a break, as his eyes had been trembling.

"THAT'S ENOUGH, PEDRO. SHUT UP. SHUT THE ACTUAL FUCK UP."

"..."

And only then did I make my presence known.

"Uhm...     Guys? Maybe, instead of fighting, you could help me with these pancakes that are ABOUT TO FREAKING FALL-"

"...O-Oh yeah. Sorry Peppa-" Pedro shakily called back to me, wiggling out of Freddy's grasp and dashing to me, taking a plate of pancakes from me and setting them on the centre table, as I did the same. Afterwards, I immediately went to Freddy. I could easily tell that he was ruffled up.

"..."

"...Freddy?"

"Leave me alone."

*Ding dong bong bing...*

"..."

...What now?

"This is an announcement to all remaining participants, brought to you by Monopotato. Please can you all meet me in the gymnasium on the second floor this instant! If you don't, you'll end up just like Wendy. SO GET A MOVE ON-"

"..."

"...Well. Looks like we're going to have to postpone breakfast for a while." Freddy sighed, walking to the other side of the room and yanking the door open, before leaving through it. Me and Pedro soon followed.

____________________

Chapter Text

The trip upstairs with Pedro to the second, wooden floor was understandably eerie. Even though there was the sound of footsteps to accompany us, there was still a silent, shadowed feeling to the situation we were in.

...What could Monopotato want from us this time?

Is it...     Another motive?

...Who knows.

Either way, there's no real way to prepare myself. Or anyone else remaining.

Eventually, after a turn to the left and a stop in front of a tall pair of doors, also with the signature varnished wood theme of the second floor, Pedro spoke up.

"These are the doors to the gymnasium...         You haven't seen the gym yet, have you?"

"No, no I haven't..."

"This should be a bit unfamiliar with you, then." The pony replied, a certain tone in his voice. However, that tone seemed a bit...      Off. There definitely was something separating that tone from his normal tone of voice.

With a single thrust of Pedro's arms, the doors flew apart.

And 12 pairs of eyes fell upon us.

"Oh. They finally arrived."

"About time..."

"Edmond, I was the last one here until now!"

"Oh. Excuse me."

"Well, either way..." Pedro smiled, walking into the pale room. He suddenly halted, before punching the air below his right hoof.

"...Dammit. I'm late once again."

"...Yep." Danny nodded, a smug yet respectful look aiming at Pedro.

"Well, I'm also late! Pretty uncharacteristic of me, unlike Pedro, but we just got caught up in some...       Relational issues."

"...Yeah."

"Hmm...     Something interesting going on between you two?" Danny asked us, his smile getting wider by the second.

"W-What?!" A shout could be heard from Zoë.

"No Danny...   'oh something interesting going on between you two like make-out sessions right in front of Monopotato?' No Danny, that's wrong!" Pedro facepalmed, walking past him. I ignored the shocked feelings of the brown-furred dog, and took into account...    The surprisingly bland nature of the gymnasium. There wasn't much special about it: It was just your average gym in your average primary school.

"I didn't see any making out before this. And if I had, I'd would've probably screamed."

"What is your scream like?"

"SILENCE! It is time for me to present...      YOUR SECOND MOTIVE!!!"

...

...Shit.

It is another motive.

"...Second motive?" Emily cocked her head to the left, "What could you be planning...? Phone calls aren't going to entice any of us..."

"..." I noticed Kylie staring at the floor out of the corner of my eye.

"Yeah, the phone call could only really lure Delphine into playing the game. That is why...     I'm deciding to share a little bit of information with you all."

"...Huh?" Rebecca took a step back.

"What kind of information?" Edmond questioned, almost immediately after Rebecca's step away.

"Simply put it...       Someone here isn't who they seem."

"What?"

"Someone here is betraying you at this very moment. Someone in this very room is working with me to help bring despair upon you all, and has been working with me ever since the killing game started! This one person is hidden among you final 13...      THEY ARE THE TRAITOR LURKING IN THE SHADOWS!"

"..."

...

......

............

...Is that true?

Is one of us here...     Really working with Monopotato?

Did they really betray us?

...

...Was Pedro right?

"...I KNEW IT!"

At that moment, the pony leapt into the air, pumping his fists in some kind of forced relief.

"THERE! Solid proof of a traitor! How about it, 'eh?"

"..."

"..."

"...What the HELL, PEDRO?!"

"G-God!- Sorry Zoë..."

"...Well. This is great!" Monopotato smiled, shooting his hands upwards, "THERE'S ALREADY DISTRUST IN THE AIR!"

"Q-Quiet..." Freddy scoffed, holding his arms to himself.

"I CANNOT STAY QUIET! THE FEELING IS TOO AMAZING! SEEING THE FORMER ULTIMATE FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE START TO GET DISEASED BY UNTRUSTWORTHYNESS AND EGOISM! THE POSSIBLE DESPAIR IS SO BEAUTIFUL! I CAN BARELY HAND-"

"Get a hold of yourself." Richard spat.

"Right. Sorry." The potato soon calmed down, sitting down on the floor. It didn't take long for him to stand up again, though. The moment that he got back onto his feet, the unfortunate sounds of clicking sounded from underneath our feet.

"As you might know, this traitor is working for me. And therefore, they're gonna be quite a nightmare to try and kill. And thus, I have an offer for you all!" The half-blackened potato grinned, before continuing. "If you are able to identify the traitor and assassinate them for the rest of your fellow friends, then you'll be able to escape this building without the need for a trial! Of course, there's no way of knowing who the traitor is, but the prize is still there!"

"...Really?" Candy stared at the figure, "Isn't that just you indeliberately throwing your spy amongst us under the bus?"

"In a way...     Yes. They weren't that much help, anyway."

"That's rude..." George sighed, rubbing his temples as smoothly as he could.

"AND! And and..." The potato continued, as the clicking got louder, "Because I know that you're all so outnumbered in this scenario...    I'll be giving you a little aid in your quest to find the imposter among you!"

"What...? What 'aid'?!" Rebecca half-shouted.

"Oh, I'm not sure. Some specialised weapons, I guess."

At that moment, the floor beneath us opened up, with thirteen holes around the size of an average desktop in front of all of us. With a surprising efficiency, thirteen long, black duralumin cases jumped out of the holes, landing back on the floor just as it filled itself back in.

"Please may everyone find the case with their name on it."

In a slow, unorganised manner, everyone trotted forward to the cases, eventually finding one with their name on it. The same was for me. On my case, some kind of post-it-note with the name "Peppa" jotted in sploshy, black ink letters informed me of it now being mine. I grabbed a hold of the handle, lifted it up, and took a few steps away from Monopotato.

"Now then, feel free to open your cases!"

Two snaps were heard from my side, as Pedro instantly started opening his case. He pushed the lid upwards with one hand, letting it fall to the ground as he reached his other hand to...    Something in the case.

"...What the..."

The pony then lifted the confusing artefact for us all to see.

It was...      A wooden sword.

"...You call this a weapon?"

"Yes! It's a very reliable weapon." Monopotato scoffed, glancing away.

From that one wooden sword, inspiration and curiosity hooked onto the other people in the room, who started opening their own cases.

"Damn...      I mean, it's not like I'm not interested..." Zoë sighed, holding up a dome with a blade on it, the blade bearing the thickness of a wire.

"I'm not interested! I am definitely NOT INTERESTED!" Kylie shouted, holding up what appeared to be a circular buzzsaw.

"..." Danny's face had gone blank of colour, as he stared at an axe in his arms, most of the blade traditionally painted red.

"Uhm...       At least it's tame- AYO WAIT WHAT THE FU-"

The dog had dropped the axe out of surprise, his sight resting upon Edmond, who was holding what seemed to be a...       Flamethrower.

Edmond's face was just as shocked as everyone else's.

"Ngh!-"

"Huh?-"

A groan sounded from the opposite side of the room, followed by a thud on the ground. I turned my head over, seeing Suzy holding onto the end of some kind of stick with both hands. She must've noticed me looking, because once she glanced up, she smiled, before speaking.

"I-I'm good. It's just that this...     Hammer is really...     Heavy..."

...

It was only now that I realised that my case was still unopened. 

The obvious option would be to open it.

And yet...    Something in me resisted. Something told me that it might be a trap.

Either way, it was gonna be something that changed my tone, so might as well get it over with.

I flipped open the locks on the case and yanked the lid away, letting it slam onto the rubber-like floor. My eyes had locked themselves out of fright, terrified of what could be inside.

It was quiet.

No sounds could be heard.

One conclusion came to my mind.

There hadn't been a trap inside.

Slowly, my eyelids lifted up again, letting me lay eyes upon the item inside my duralumin case.

"..."

...It was a baseball bat.

Brand new, made of varnished wood, fabric around the handle for comfort.

"..."

I didn't know what to say or what to think.

"Uhm...     Mr. Monopotato?"

"Hm? Yes, Mr. Fox?"

All eyes turned to the orange animal in the checkered shirt. His speech had suddenly weakened, and anxiety had grasped a hold of him.

Either way, he was still able to inform the figure of his concerns.

"...My case is empty."

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Chapter Text

"Huh. That's weird. Let me have a look." Monopotato gave Freddy an eye, followed by a cold shoulder, before running up to the fox and his assigned case. Taking a good look at the duralumin case, he soon smiled widely.

"Ah, yes! He's right on, folks! Freddy's case appears to be empty! And trust me, I have absolutely nothing to do with that..." Monopotato sweated a bit, giggling to himself as he returned to his half of the bland gymnasium.

"..."

Multiple eyes laid themselves upon the fox, as he stared into the emptiness of the duralumin case at his feet. It was easy to tell that worry was starting to take over his conscious thoughts: His narrowed pupils and glossy eyes gave it away.

"Hey. Freddy." Pedro turned his head to the fox in the checkered shirt.

"...What?"

"Are you the traitor?" The pony asked again, stepping a little closer to Freddy.

"...I thought I told you to shut up about that topic."

"I-I was just thinking... Maybe you don't have a weapon because you're working with Monopotato... And thus he'd easily be able to give you some kind of weapon to kill with! He wouldn't need to give it to you via this whole motive thing!"

"Pedro. That's-"

"Enough Freddy! You're the traitor and that's that!" 

"NO HE ISN'T!"

A shout launched out from Danny, as he dashed up to the accusation, axe pressed against his chest. He messily jammed himself in the gap between Pedro and Freddy, wedging the two apart. The pony immediately took a few trots back, soon taking more with the dog aiming his axe at him. A sparkle of threat and defense in Danny's eyes shone to all of us, including Freddy, which was confusing considering that he couldn't see Danny's eyes from where he was standing.

"Stop accusing him Pedro."

"Wh- What the-"

"BACK OFF. He's not the traitor, and we all know it. Stop accusing him!" Danny barked at his friend, the echo repeating itself in the gym's halls making us shiver emotionally.

"What...      What's gotten into you Danny?!"

"More like what's gotten into YOU, Pedro! The only reason why you started accusing Freddy in the first place was because Monopotato had asked him to wake us all up a few days ago! You accusing him must've given Monopotato the idea to try and lay more evidence on him! That's why his case is empty!"

"Hey! Leave me out of this!"

"Wh-What about the fact that he's Monopotato's number one gossip pal?!"

"...What the fruit did I just say."

"It's just coincidental! If you think about it, Monopotato also has a thing for talking with Rebecca and Peppa! Let it go!"

"I...      I..."

"Pedro, this isn't going on any further. Leave him alone already."

"..."

A shuffling of hooves was heard. A few sputters were coughed. Then, Pedro dashed to the side, bending down swiftly to pick up the wooden sword that he'd unconsciously left on the laminated floor, before sprinting out of the gymnasium with a shocking speed.

Danny gave a few huffs, before staring down at the waxed floors of the average gym. He slowly, and carefully twirled around to face Freddy, who had been petrified like a ghost. The dog sighed, pressing his axe close to his chest again.

"You alright Freds?"

The fox didn't reply. Instead, he cautiously began to walk away from Danny, arms wrapped around his waist, blush plastered on his face. Danny, who seemed to realise the fact that Freddy would be approached by Pedro once again if he left alone, swiftly rested his axe back into the black case he had been given, locked it up, picked it up by its handle, and rushed after the fox, joining him just as the two left the gym.

"..."

"...That was...        Eventful." Emily coughed, twirling her truck a bit.

"Yeah. Anyways, there's nothing else for you to see here, so...    Get out. And take your weapons with you."

"There is something else I'd like to ask though." Kylie cocked her head onto her shoulder.

"...What?"

"This may sound stupid, but are you giving any weapons to Wendy? Or Gerald? Or Delphine?"

"...As a matter of fact, yes!" The potato laughed, hands on supposed hips. "Man, I almost forgot! BRING IN THE REMAINING CASES!"

More clicking was heard. And in mere moments, three more cases leapt out of three holes in the floor, all in front of Monopotato. Each of them had their own post-it note stuck on them, similar to our own cases. On each note, there laid one of the names of the three of us who had died to the hands of the game.

"Here are the cases that would've been given to those who had died! In Delphine's we have a wooden plank with nails! In Wendy's, we have a very reliable handgun, and in Gerald's we have a club! ...Of some kind." Monopotato explained, rubbing the part of his head underneath his hat afterwards.

"Also, just to let you know, I'll be leaving these cases in their respective owners' rooms."

"What's the point of that?" I questioned.

"Maybe you should try having a tea party with Delphine's ghost, Peppa. Think about it."

"..."

Monopotato grabbed a tight hold of all three cases in one of his stick-like hands, before grinning at us. "Hopefully the traitor will bite the dust soon~...      Now get out, and take your weapons with you."

Multiple snaps cried in the room as we all shut our cases, with our motive weapons inside them. We then handled our respective case in our hands, before leaving the gymnasium with a solemn heart. Monopotato waving us goodbye didn't brighten our mood, though.

I couldn't stop myself from sighing the moment I left the gym.

"Hey. Sis."

Giving a glance down, my eyes landed upon George, also with a case in hand. "Oh, hey bro."

"What did you get from him?"

"A baseball bat. It seemed to be rather new. What about you?"

"I got a kitchen knife. I don't get it though. There's plenty of kitchen knives around here."

"You're right there..."

Despite the topics being discussed between us, the conversation was eerily normal. It wasn't like the topics frightened us, or seemed weird in any way. They were just...      Normal to us now.

The topic of life and death murder motives didn't affect us that much.

We had gotten used to them by then, after all.

"Hey, Peppa."

"Hm?"

"Do you maybe wanna hang out with a few people soon? Just to get the thought of murder our of our heads?"

"Why not? It's not like we have a nine-to-five job or something along those lines."

"Thanks! Maybe we can hang out with Rebecca and Richard? Just for old times sake?"

"I'd love that. I don't think that it'd be a good idea to hang out with them with weapons on our personnel, though."

"Oh, no no. We're not going to visit them with WEAPONS in our hands. We can just leave them in our rooms, then go to play with them. Sounds like a good plan?"

"Yep. Sure does."

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