Serpent's Fallacy
Damon Maitsu was having second thoughts on whether or not the bed was really worth it. The blaring music paired with his overly energetic “classmates,” more specifically Cassidy Amber and Jett Dawson, was testing what little patience he had for noise in the morning. He wasn’t planning on attending the game tournament, but Kai Monteago had all but forced him with that deal. If it hadn’t been for the multiple days of lackluster sleep, he easily would have shot down his proposal in the same breath that Kai had spoken. But, his aching back and the steady growth of bags under his eyes were enough for him to admit that remaining vigilant throughout the night was not something he was built for. The Ultimate Influencer was insufferable, but at least he was frank with his intentions. It wasn’t enough for him to trust the guy, but from observing him over the last couple days, he was relatively positive that Kai would rather run away screaming than get into a physical conflict. Damon didn’t see him as much of a threat, but he still had to keep his guard up. Though, when it came to this event, he knew his roommate just wanted to have some fun and relax for once in this Killing Game.
The evident anxiety the influencer expressed on the daily almost made Damon jealous. He was here sitting with those awful feelings brewing in the back of his mind, threatening to break loose at even the slightest stressor, and meanwhile Kai had zero issue openly crying like a baby at the thought of being alone in his room at night. The debater wanted nothing more than to scream and yell out all of his tension, but he couldn’t let it out. His pride wouldn’t let him. Or more so, his fear of being seen as weak wouldn’t let him. For as much as he viewed himself as a talented individual in arguments, investigation, and analysis, he knew he was at a physical disadvantage. If he pissed off the wrong people badly, he was sure they’d come for him and snap his neck like a twig. He was already dealing with the fact that everyone already hated him, though some individuals were at least more tolerant of his presence compared to Wolfgang. And of course, Kai didn’t seem to hate him. His roommate just seemed to be cautious of every single person, regardless of how he openly acted around them.
There was Diana, who was openly kind to him, but something about her felt suspicious. Her refusal to talk about herself, the possibility of her wanting to get information out of, her open care for others that seemed too good to be true—Diana Venicia didn’t feel like a real person who could exist. She was hiding something, but what? He sighed aloud, watching Kai fumbling around with the game equipment as he tried to move the thoughts to the back of his brain. They were facts worth concern, but at least for now, didn’t seem like anything he had to worry about. He’d learn the true colors of the Ultimate Cosmetologist sooner or later.
Then there was Eva Tsunaka, the supposed Ultimate Liar who turned out to be the Ultimate Mathlete. Damon didn’t know how to feel about her, no matter how much he thought about what she said. He trusted her to an extent, and from the time they had spent together over the last couple of days, he had a somewhat better grasp of why she was… well, how she was. Yet, everything about her felt like a contradiction. She spilled far more out about her life than he was originally expecting from their conversations, but all he really got out of it was learning her strange quirks and speech habits, and that she had an oddly complex relationship with her talent. Even then, it didn’t explain some of the things she had said. Regardless of what she went through, her view of herself, her actions regarding her talent, her behaviors—it all seemed to clash with one another. Everything about her was… self-destructive, to say the least. He couldn’t tell how she viewed the world or the people within it. He wasn’t sure of the extent to how deep her troubles ran. However…
“It’s because… I trust you.”
“We were the only people who refused to listen to that lawyer… and you helped solve the mystery behind that whole case.”
“... No one thanked you, though.”
She trusted him, and to whatever it was worth, he was willing to trust her. The Ultimate Debater didn’t say it out loud, though he’d never vocalize such a thought, but… he felt proud that she acknowledged what he did. Unlike anyone else in that courtroom, she was the only one who saw how much he did for that mock trial. The others were quick to pounce on him like vultures for simply saying the truth. He didn’t understand how they couldn’t see the issues with their actions. Even if they wanted to make things less scary, how could they be that naive in such a situation? The other Ultimates were truly nothing like he expected. However, it wasn’t as if he wanted their assumptions to be wrong. It would be great if no one killed, but he knew better than to blindly put his faith into such thoughts. With as deranged a host as Tozu, he would find a way to incite it all. The blackmail motive proved as much, and Damon could only assume that they’d only get worse as time went on.
Though, as he thought about his time with Eva, that nagging feeling came back to him. According to Cassidy, last night, Eva had helped set up the dining hall for the tournament alongside the pro gamer, Jett, and Mark Berskii, helping set up Mark’s DJ table, moving furniture out of the way, and setting up the speakers and gaming equipment. She had asked the group to do a soundcheck in the morning for the music since it was a bit too late to do by that point. After those three agreed, Eva mentioned that she would help with setting up any decorations in the morning since she was particular about placement. Apparently, she looked rather excited about it all, though he couldn’t exactly picture such a sight considering he’d only ever seen her smile once. However, she never showed up. Cassidy said that they were working rather late, so the mathlete probably just overslept. It wasn’t an illogical deduction, but Damon couldn’t help but feel as though something was off.
“-mon.”
It’s not like her. After all, she was the one who suggested the tournament start at 9:00 AM.
“-aaaamon.”
Taking into consideration her talent, as well as what she told me, she must be used to studying late, and waking up early.
“Helloooo? Damon?”
Setting up the game tournament shouldn’t have been enough to deter her from waking up on time, especially if, like Cassidy said, she was looking forward to it.
“Earth to Damon? Are you there?”
This isn’t right. I might not understand her fully, but this is-
“DAAAAMON!”
“AGH!”
He nearly jumped out of his skin as his roommate shouted directly into his ear. His yell seemed to have scared Kai as well, as he heard him literally jump from fright with a piercing yelp. With his heart racing a million beats a second, he whirled his head around and shot the influencer an icy glare. The guy flinched in response, sheepishly turning his gaze away with an awkward smile. Something about the look sent a raging fire of heat through him, as he could feel his eye twitching in annoyance.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!”
“Me?! I was calling you for like, five minutes, and you didn’t respond!” Kai cried out. “What was I supposed to do?!”
“You don’t go and scream in the person’s ear,” Damon growled back.
“So what, you want me to just go and just tap you on the shoulder?! Isn’t that asking to get punched?!”
“And screaming in someone’s ear isn’t?!”
“Alright alright, chill out guys,” Cassidy interjected, stepping between the two of them. “You can settle your little couple’s spat with some Super High Stakes Slam Sisters!!”
“We’re not a couple!”
“Suuuure you’re not~” the redhead snickered.
Damon froze and turned to look at Kai, who had spoken in sync with him. He could only imagine that he was mirroring the same horrified expression as the Ultimate Influencer, who quickly turned his head with a huff. He could tell he was just feigning indignation, as he knew how the guy acted when he was actually upset. Once again, he could feel his anger at the whole thing rising. However, instead of inciting anymore verbal sparring where they’d just end up screaming at each other like children, the debater turned and walked over to one of the sofa chairs. Plopping himself down into the cushions, he picked up one of the controllers and pointed to the other chair. The influencer looked at him with confusion, not seeming to understand what he was asking of him.
“Sit down and play the stupid game against me,” he groaned in exasperation. “It’s better than the two of us screaming at each other for the next twenty minutes about it all. Besides, you were going to explain the controls to me, remember?”
Kai’s face immediately lit up, any traces of their argument leaving his expression in an instant. “A-Alright! This is going to be so fun! So, the combos are a bit complicated, but the basic controls are pretty simple to learn…”
And so, Kai spent the next few minutes teaching him the controls to the game. It wasn’t too difficult, and Damon was a bit surprised at how quickly he familiarized himself. Though, he was a little annoyed that it wasn’t as smooth as he would have preferred. However, taking the opportunity to get a better handle on the game, the two of them played some practice matches against each other until the final attendees for the game tournament arrived. It may have been childish of him, but the Ultimate Debater was determined to win his match, if only out of spite for all the aggravation he had endured due to the guy. Though, looking at how much fun his roommate was already having, he wasn’t sure that winning would even settle those unresolved tensions.
“Would ya look at this? Early morning merrymaking, just how I like it!”
“Ugh, it’s so loud in here! Can somebody turn down the music?”
The voices of Jean DeLamer and Grace Madison boisterously announced their arrival to the dining hall. Setting down his controller, Damon turned his gaze over to the two new additions to the tournament. He had expected to see the ship captain considering how he had mentioned that he was available for any time when the tournament was still being decided. However, the Ultimate Golfer was a bit of a surprise. If she was attending, he would’ve expected Wolfgang in tow. After all, she was practically dragging him around everywhere from what he had seen from the corner of his eye. But, he quickly recalled what the lawyer said yesterday. It seemed he had prior plans for today, though at the time, the debater assumed it was due to Grace wanting to spend time with him. Yet, she was here instead with Jean, which meant the lawyer was preoccupied with something else. Then, in that case…
“Grace, was Wolfgang… not able to attend in the end?” He questioned. She might snap at him, but it was still worth a shot.
“Huh? What’s it to you, soybean?” She scoffed in return, crossing her arms.
“I just thought that if you were going to attend, it would be with him,” he replied. There wasn’t any point in trying to cover up his assumption with a lie or subtly pry the information out of her. If his years of debate taught him anything, it was that people like her were easier to handle by being straightforward, rather than trying to be sly or gentle. They didn’t have the patience to deal with others who were like that. Her confrontation with Eloise Taulner yesterday was a prime example of that. The golfer didn’t bother to keep any of what she did on the down low, and Eloise’s hesitation only pissed her off more.
The blonde narrowed her eyes at him and marched over to him. He did his best not to show that he was intimidated, but he could feel the beads of sweat dripping down his brow. She looked him over, as if sizing up how dangerous he seemed. It was an odd amount of suspicion, and behavior he wasn’t expecting her to show. But, he wasn’t given a moment to ponder it as Grace let out a sigh and shrugged. “I tried to convince him to go, but he got all finicky about it, typical soybean behavior. He said he just wanted to have a couple more shots at the pachinko machine. Wolfgang remembered the pirate was going, and suggested I track him down and partner with him instead.”
Wolfgang… was a pachinko player? He wasn’t anticipating that revelation, but from the way Grace was smiling as she recalled it, Damon didn’t think she was lying about him saying that. It still seemed a bit out of character for him, but considering what his blackmail said, maybe it had something to do with that. If ‘a wolfish mind’ implied a gambler’s mindset and having a good poker face, that could be the bad habit he picked up on. It was too early for the debater to call that fact, but it was a possibility for figuring out the meaning behind the mysterious message. Yet, the whole thing still had him on edge. Wolfgang… he seemed nice and a bit timid if you looked on the surface, but he was still a man who had been in court. He would know how to maintain a straight face, even if that mock trial said otherwise. From what Damon had gleaned from their few conversations, he was normally able to keep his composure in court, after all, even if he trusted his clients were innocent, it still took skill to win the case. As much as he said he only spoke the truth, he couldn’t help but doubt the lawyer’s words. If Wolfgang was lying about what he said he was doing to Grace, then there was a possibility that it had something to do with why Eva Tsunaka never arrived at the dining hall.
“C’mon Damon! We’re up first! Remember what I taught you!”
… Damnit Damon. Get a grip. He shook his head, trying to rid him of all those thoughts. There wasn’t any point in such concerns, or else he’d just drive himself insane from paranoia. He had enough to deal with on his plate already as it was. So, the debater nodded silently, moving back to his previous spot and sitting down in the chair. He focused his senses on other things: the feel of the controller, the sound of the blasting music, the effects coming from the game scream, the voices of Cassidy and Jett excitedly bouncing around like five year olds, and the chuckle of Kai beside him, who looked at him with a big grin.
“Let’s have some fun! I’m not going to lose!” the influencer challenged.
“... May the best man win,” he replied flatly, averting his gaze to look at the television screen instead. There wasn’t any turning back, so he might as well try his best and humor his roommate. He wondered if it would be enough to get him off his case for a few days.
With a final opening statement from Cassidy, the tournament began. Now that everyone was watching, the debater could feel his competitive side trickling out as he locked onto Kai’s chosen character. He brought all his attention to timing his dodges and counters, hoping to find an opening for attack. Unfortunately, compared to his pink haired opponent, Damon was far more stiff and sloppy with his coordination. It wasn’t helping that a certain gremlin of a gamer was leaning over his chair pointing and yelling commentary of his playing directly into his ear. He snapped a quick retort to her, trying to bring his focus back to his playing. Somehow, even with all the chatter, he was able to glue his eyes to screen and ignore everything else around him. The debater examined the current locations of the characters. He had finally brought Kai to a spot where he had a chance to knock him off. He just needed to time his next attack…
Woosh!
Before he could even fully execute the combo, Kai had jumped and evaded it with ease, backing him into the ledge. He tried to quickly make up for the miss, but unfortunately had been backed into a spot where all he could was watch his roommate get easy damage on him. The Ultimate Debater clicked his tongue with frustration at falling for such a simple trick.
“Haha! Too slow!” his opponent laughed as he successfully got off another powerful combo.
The music responded to his slip up, seemingly becoming more frantic as the game devolved into chaos on Damon’s end. He couldn’t look up to what Mark was doing, but he wondered if the DJ was paying that much attention to what was happening in the game, or if he simply got lucky with how he was playing the tracks. No matter the reason, the debater was stuck in an unideal spot. At that moment, there was only one attack that could help him break free. Taking in a deep breath, he steadied his grip on the controller, ensuring his thumbs were positioned perfectly. Finding the timing, he pushed on both joysticks as hard as he could.
“Aw hell yeah! That was awesome!” Jett cheered as the attack landed, bouncing up and down. Damon could hear the drag racer crashing around behind him, and a sudden dull thud as he ran into someone. He could hear the ship captain let out a grunt of surprise and his feet stumbling backwards. The debater rolled his eyes. Jean wasn’t that childish, but he had to have known something like that would hap-
*KA-BOOM!*
… Huh?
It took him a few seconds to even realize that he was immersed in darkness. Everything around him was pitch black. Damon could feel his heart rate begin to elevate. The grip of reality had him in a vice, squeezing down on his lungs, yet he couldn’t even make a sound. His words caught in his throat at the jarring new world around him. And, seconds after, he heard it.
“EaaaAAAAH!”
It didn’t originate from the dining hall, but he knew they could all hear it loud and clear; the sharp, cutting noise hitting their eardrums and shaking them all to the core. The controller fell from his hands as pure, unadulterated horror polluted his mind. Damon felt as if it was reverberating throughout his entire body, like the echoes of some twisted symphony. But, what truly made him freeze up was the pitch. That blood curdling shriek of agony was unmistakably from a girl. In an instant, her name slipped into his brain, and everything he had been worrying about up until that point came crashing down on him like a tidal wave. He could hear Kai yelling fearfully, his voice being joined by the panicked voices of Grace, Cassidy, and Jett, who were scrambling around trying to figure out what the hell was happening. It melded and swirled into a jumble of meaningless noise, as the debater’s mind began to assume the worse. He didn’t want to be right. If there was any time he’d accept being wrong, this was it, because if he was right, then Eva was…
“E-Everyone! Hold on a sec,’ I got an idea!”
The low rumble of Jean’s voice snapped everyone to attention as a small light illuminated their surroundings. The holographic glow from the Tozu Trinket shined faintly within blackness. Damon and the others quickly began fiddling with their own, slowly bringing some visibility to the room. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to see the blanched faces of the others. No one had been unfazed by that scream, not even the level-headed Jean, despite his leadership. He turned to look at the ship captain, whose face was drenched in anxiety. Headstrong people like Grace and Cassidy had serious looks on their faces, but were doing their best to mask their actual fear. Meanwhile, Kai, Jett, and Mark all looked about ready to either bolt, collapse, or yell more themselves.
“Great idea, Jean…!” The Ultimate Pro Gamer exclaimed weakly, her voice trickling out as no one followed her sentiment. Damon knew what she was trying to do, but in this situation, such a thing wouldn’t work.
“Wh-What the hell was that?!” Kai cried out, hugging his body like he was about to be whisked away by the shadows. “That wasn’t real, right?!”
“M-Maybe it was the sound of whatever caused this blackout,” Jett tried to reason, voice quivering.
Mark sighed in annoyance, but his face was still stark white. “There’s no way a machine would sound like that…”
“Where did it even come from?! Shit, man… what the fuck is happening?!’
“Oi! Shut it, pinkie! You screaming like a banshee isn’t going to help!” Grace growled at the influencer, her body stiff as a board.
“Then what the hell am I supposed to do?!”
“Everyone, calm down!” Jean loudly commanded, asserting himself above everyone’s panic.
The group turned to the tall man, everyone looking for any sense of direction. Yet, the grim look on the ship captain’s face did anything but assure them all. While Jean tried to get everyone to settle down, Damon tried to think past all of his anxieties and focus on the facts. There was a sudden blackout in the dining hall, followed by a scream. Despite the door being closed, they were able to hear this girl’s voice extremely clearly, but it definitely didn’t originate from the room they were all standing in. Even though it was loud, the debater was sure that it still sounded a bit far away, in some area that had a lot of echo. His eyes widened as the answer became clear. Dashing from his spot, he ran over towards the back corner of the room, nearly tripping into the chair that was in the way. Shoving it to the side, he crouched down on the floor and brought his ear close to the vent, listening carefully for sounds. It was the only place that made sense.
“Soybean, what the bloody hell are you doing?” The golfer questioned him, clearly suspicious of his movements. However, he didn’t have time to deal with her petty assumptions.
“Shut up, I’m trying to figure this out right now.”
“Huh? Don’t go thinking you’re-!”
“Now hold on, Grace,” the Ultimate Ship Captain interrupted. “He might be able to help us learn something about our situation.”
“Like hell I’m going to trust that snake-tongued twig who-!”
Although he could’ve tried to tell her to be quiet again, it wasn’t worth it. Instead, he did his best to tune out their voices, focusing his concentration on searching for the specific things that would confirm his reasoning. As soon as it clicked, he jolted upward, causing the two arguing over his shoulder to pause and look at the Ultimate Debater. Damon wasn’t mistaken. There was a noise that was lacking, and a noise that was faint, but new. He turned to the rest of the tournament goers, making sure that everyone was paying attention to him.
“I was right… the humming stopped.”
“Humming?” Cassidy tilted her head in confusion. “How does that have anything to do with right now?”
“Do you remember when I said I woke up on an underground floor? It was a few moments after we had discovered the victim from the mock trial.”
The redhead tapped a finger against her cheek in thinking. Then, her eyes lit up with recognition. “Oh yeah! You said when you came upstairs, you hadn’t seen the dummy chick on your way to the tree.”
“Downstairs, I woke up with Eva inside the boiler room, which happens to be on the other side of this vent. There’s a huge generator inside there, and if you were to press your ear up against this vent, there’s no way you wouldn’t be able to hear it.”
“So… are you saying that the generator was turned off…?” Kai chimed in hesitantly.
Damon nodded in response. “Something must have happened to the generator, whether it was turned off or destroyed. But, that’s not the only reason I was checking the vent. That scream we all heard didn’t come from the dining hall. So then, where’s the only other place it could have come from for us to have heard it so clearly?”
Everyone froze, processing the information he had laid out. If the circumstances were normal, the debater would have gotten annoyed at his peers for not piecing it together sooner. However, he couldn’t blame them. Even if he did think some of them were slow-witted, they had all been shaken by the sudden change in atmosphere and their submersion into darkness. Damon himself had been rattled by it all, but he was at least able to snap out of it to an extent. So long as he ignored the sinking feeling in his stomach, he could keep himself level-headed. He glanced back at the others, and was able to see the gears start shifting in their heads, and one by one, he could see the answer start to click.
Grace was the first to speak up, her expression unnaturally calm, yet her face had turned ghostly white. “Then… someone is down there right now… in the boiler room, and with a scream like that… then someone… is…”
“I wouldn’t jump to conclusions yet,” Damon interjected, pushing back how ill he felt hearing the golfer begin to assume the same things he was. “However, something definitely has happened down there, and whoever is inside that room is still alive. It was faint, but I could hear someone crying and gasping in pain.”
“Wh-What are we waiting for then?! Shouldn’t we go down and save them?!” Jett exclaimed nervously, darting towards the door. However, he was immediately grabbed by Kai, who vehemently shook his head. His roommate looked two seconds away from hyperventilating himself into a panic attack, and for once, Damon couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for the guy.
“Are you crazy?! What if… what if the killer is on the loose outside? What if they attack us?!” the influencer sobbed.
“Didn’t Damon say that the person was alive?” Mark commented softly, though he too looked unwilling to step outside. “There wouldn’t be a killer then.”
“Uh, hello??? Why would someone scream that fucking loud if someone didn’t attack them?! Damon even said he heard someone crying in pain!” Kai yelled back as he fruitlessly tried pulling at the drag racer’s arm to move back.
“We can’t assume whatever happened down there is fatal,” Jean once again cut in to defuse the conversation. “However, I agree with Jett. It would be wise to go to the boiler room, not only to get the power back on, but to also ensure that we can help the person in need before anything else occurs.”
“... from what I recall, I think there’s a backup generator in one of the storage closets. We should be able to turn the power back on with that,” Damon said, turning to look at the ship captain. The man nodded back at him in approval.
“Sounds good, then. Better than waiting around for Tozu to fix it, hm?”
The Ultimate Influencer couldn’t refute that comment, looking a bit guiltily at the floor. It was clear to the debater that Kai did want to help the person down there, however, his eyes still screamed caution. “B-But… how are we supposed to get there in the dark without losing each other?”
“Let’s just form a daisy chain with our arms. There’s no way we’ll lose each other then, aye?”
After everyone agreed and Kai finally relented, the game tournament attendees began to make their way down through the dark halls of the building. As Damon knew the basement the best, Jean elected him to lead the way, which was quickly backed up by Cassidy when the blond had given them both an incredulous look. He may have been eager to get down there as quickly as he could, but he wasn’t thrilled about being in the lead. The hallways looked eerie traversing through them, and then the staircase down… he had heard his roommate let out a squeak of displeasure, commenting unhappily how everything looked ‘creepy as shit’ and ‘was worse than the haunted house he had gone to for some Halloween photos,’ as well as questioning whether or not ghosts would show up. Grace was quick to bark at him to shut up and stop whining. Though he wasn’t sure as to why, the Ultimate Debater was somewhat relieved by the fact that his annoying roommate was at least acting like his normal self, no matter how terrified Kai actually was.
The group continued down as quickly as they could. With their arms linked together, it was a bit of a chore to get down the four flights of stairs, but Jean and Jett kept everyone steady while they moved (minus the one moment Jett nearly made everyone fall down the stairs from not paying attention). As the familiar ragged walls of the basement met Damon’s gaze, he could feel his pulse start to speed up. Everything about the floor had become ten times more unsettling, with the echo of dripping water only making the place seem even more like a dingy prison. The attendees made their way down the first hallway and around the corner, to which the four storage closets and the path to the boiler room were located. Unlinking their arms, they joined in a circle to discuss the next steps of action.
“It would be best if we stayed in groups,” Jean proposed, glancing at everyone. “I’m planning to head to the boiler room. Does anyone else want to come along?”
Immediately, Damon stepped forward which earned him a few gasps of surprise. Rolling his eyes he simply nodded to Jean and walked over to the man’s side, and observed the rest of the Ultimates. As expected, Mark, Jett, and Cassidy all agreed to check the storage closets together. Grace looked curious about the boiler room, but ended up opting to check the closets as well since, as she put it, ‘didn’t trust that those idiots could figure out how to turn the bloody machine on.’ Though he didn’t say it out loud, he had to agree with the golfer on that one. The woman was brawny and hotheaded, but she did seem to at least possess a good amount of intelligence despite it all. The debater had expected Kai Monteago to also choose the storage closets, yet he found his eyes widening ever so slightly as the influencer grabbed onto his suit jacket sheepishly.
“... What are you doing?”
“...”
“Kai.”
“I-I’m the most comfortable with you being around me, okay?!”
“... whatever. Let’s just go.”
“H-Hey, slow down…!” the influencer exclaimed, jogging to his side and latching onto his left arm. Damon shot the guy a look, but he didn’t have the energy to shake him off. All that mattered then and there was whatever laid behind the large metal door to the boiler room. Jean pushed on ahead of them, pausing in front of the door to press his ear against the frame. He closed his eyes, concentrating, before his nose curled ever so slightly. It didn’t take long for the other two to notice the foul odor that lingered in the air. While the debater did his best to just not inhale through his nose, he grimaced as he could hear Kai audibly gagging in his ear.
“The room has gone silent, and that sour smell in the air… it doesn’t seem recent,” the Ultimate Ship Captain mused.
“How can you tell?” Damon questioned, his eyes squeezing shut as the acidic scent hit his nose again.
The man glanced back at him with a pondering look. “The pungency. I’m no stranger to seasick sailors. Aye, it’s usually a strong, sharp scent that immediately catches your attention. But, we didn’t even notice it for a few seconds standing still.”
The Ultimate Influencer made a look of disgust as he put two and two together. “S-So… someone had… oh god, I feel sick…”
“I swear, Monteago, if you throw up on me-”
“Dude, I’d turn away! What do you take me for, Damon?”
“... an annoyance.”
“Seriously?!”
Jean didn’t entertain the squabble, to which the Ultimate Debater was grateful. Instead he turned his gaze back to the door, his voice becoming deathly serious. “Anyways… someone has been here a while. I’m not sure what we’ll find, but it’d be safest if you two stood behind me in case there’s an attacker inside.”
The two boys nodded, hiding within the ship captain’s shadow as he pried the door open. The metal door let out a creaking wail, welcoming them into the pitch blackness of the boiler room. Stepping inside, even with the trinkets, none of them could see beyond a couple inches in front of them. It was as if the darkness was a thick, murky ocean rather than just a lack of light. Yet, the darkness wasn’t what had phased Damon as he stepped into the room. He was getting used to being half-blind within the blackout. It wasn’t noise, as he could barely register anything over the sound of his beating heart, which had begun to quicken the moment he started walking towards the door. No, it was an underlying scent in the air. There was a strange smell reminiscent of alcohol and… cereal? It was a bit confusing to say the least. Yet, there was a second, fainter smell that permeated his nose. He knew it wasn’t from any of the machines or equipment within the boiler room. It was a distinctive, metallic coppery scent that everyone knew, but in the situation they were in, such an odor only inflicted terror.
“Sh-Shit dude… wh… why’s it so creepy down here…?” Kai mumbled out. He didn’t even need to look over to know he was on the verge of tears again.
“Hm… maybe they’re further back inside the room,” Jean pondered, taking a few cautious steps forward. “It’s possible they passed out-”
A pained groan snapped all three of them to attention. It was full of rasp and fragility, as if a gust of wind could whisk the person away. Damon knew that the person had to be one of the girls based on the pitch of the scream earlier. However, after hearing the person up close, he didn’t think it was Eva. He cursed at himself for feeling that relieved over his realization. They were allies, yes, but that was all. What happened to her in the end shouldn’t have been any of his concern. Of course, he didn’t want the mathlete to die, but… it was pointless for him to show any concern for anyone in this Killing Game, even those he decided to show a modicum of trust. In the end, everyone was his enemy. If he wanted to survive, he could only truly rely on himself alone. And yet… the sick feeling of anxiety had been lifted. Damon clenched his eyes shut, forcefully redirecting his train of thought back to figuring out who the hell was even down here. It was difficult to pinpoint precisely who it was, as the hoarseness was distorting how this girl normally sounded, but at the very least, he felt confident he could rule out Toshiko and Ingrid who both had rather distinctive voices in his mind, especially Toshiko who he had heard scream when they found the dummy victim. From the remaining female students, that left Wenona, Eloise, and…
“Diana…?”
The name left the Ultimate Debater’s mouth before he had time to stop himself. He hadn’t meant to blurt out the makeup artist’s name. He wasn’t even fully sure it was her, yet between the three of them, he couldn’t deny that Diana Venicia was the most likely candidate. Wenona was too sharp and wouldn’t have dared to come downstairs to the boiler room for any sort of reason, and Eloise was way too nervous all the time to consider stepping a foot inside here. While Damon imagined Diana wouldn’t have gone to the boiler room normally, she would be the easiest to coerce into entering through some select means. Kai looked at him wide eyed in shock, any terror for himself morphing into genuine concern at the mention of the cosmetologist. It made sense, considering he had seen the influencer go to her room when he went to talk to Eva, excitedly asking about how good she was at painting nails. While the debater didn’t know how much time the two had spent beyond that, knowing the nature of both of those two, it didn’t surprise him that they had befriended each other rather quickly. Regardless of how cautious Kai was, he never seemed wary of the magenta haired girl who appeared to wear her heart on her sleeve. And, unfortunately for him, he just had to be right.
As if on cue, a loud snap, followed by rumbling echoed within the room. The noises hissed and crackled, whirring to life a mechanical beast that asserted its presence amongst them all. Every quickening squeal and click added to the looming sense of horror, the uncertainty of what awaited them all. Then, all of a sudden, there was light. Its rays beamed in through the grate of the vent, illuminating the room in a soft glow. While it couldn’t banish all of the darkness, it was enough for him to be able to see the room. It was enough for Damon to see the scene right next to him, as he followed the direction of Jean DeLamer’s gaze, whose face had blanched in the few seconds visibility had returned. It was just enough for him to see… the gruesome face of reality.
Sitting against the wall to the right of the door frame and to the left of his field of vision, was none other than Diana Venicia, her hair in a frazzled mess as a trail of blood ran down her face. She sat wide eyed in a state of shell shock, her hands covering each of her ears and her fingers were visibly digging into her head. It was as if her senses had been fully turned off, as she didn’t acknowledge the lights turning on, nor did it seem that she heard them speaking earlier. But, what Damon’s eyes were drawn to wasn’t just the cosmetologist. It was the figures next to her, collapsed against her body in a heap. Fully unconscious, covered head to toe in bruises, cuts, and blood, were Wolfgang Akire and Eva Tsunaka. Parts of their clothes were ripped, the ruffled appearance indicating someone having grabbed them hard. Eva’s glasses were completely smashed up, with barely any of the lenses remaining in the metal frame. Meanwhile, Wolfgang’s tie and shirt hung loosely in front of him, as dozens of scratch marks lined his neck, and moved downward towards his collarbone. Their state of disarray made it look like they had been attacked by a wild animal. And yet, despite how deathly pale and beat up both of them were, somehow they were both still alive.
Damon remained frozen in place, not daring to say a word or even take a breath. He watched from the sidelines as Jean crouched down onto one knee, intensely inspecting Wolfgang and Eva’s bodies for any serious injuries that weren’t visible. Even Kai detached himself from the debater’s arm, shakily approaching Diana with worry plastered all over his face. His voice gently called out the Ultimate Cosmetologist’s name, reaching a hand out hesitantly to rest on her knee. Yet, for some reason, the debater couldn’t move. His body refused to allow him to take a step forward. His eyes darted back to the black crow on the ground, her wings clipped and feathers split and torn. Everything about it was awful: the sharp, pungent scent of blood, the battered body of a girl who had been so resolute yesterday, despite how weak she believed herself to be, the redness lining her eyes from tears he had no context for origin, eyes that knew a story he would never be able to comprehend. He wanted to yell, to scream, to move, to do anything in that moment. But, all he could do was stare, stare, stare. All he could do was look upon it all, and feel the weight of helplessness stack upon his shoulders.