Part 52: Jar of Flies

MUSIC: Wonderful Story



Huh!? What happened!?



Who's coming?

Gh!?

Kaito risked a glance down the hallway and immediately stiffened up in fear.

Damn it...he's already here! Hurry, Shuichi! Run!





Kaito gave his ominous warning, then ran away at lightning speed.

Wh-What!? Who are you talking about?



AUDIO: What Is This Aura!?



That's...Gonta, isn't it? He looks...different...

What's going on...?

It looks like he's checking each room. He'll be at my door soon...

I don't know what he's up to, but it's probably better not to be here...



I stealthily made my way to the courtyard.

MUSIC: Beautiful Lie







I don't know why, but... It seems like he's gone into a rage and is trying to catch everyone. Hmph, he was charging right at me at top speed.

He threw himself right at you but you managed to get away? That's amazing...



Damn, I can't even get do that well in FFXIV.

Of course, I've gotten rusty since back in the day, but...

Gonta's still got a ways to go... He won't be able to catch me like that.

Shukuchi... Ryoma must have been an incredible player back in the day.



For saying something so uncool like "I've got no reason to live."

Ah, no, you don't have to apologize...

I'm going to say this so we're clear. I'm not so stupid that I'd waste my life.



Jealous?

If I had a stronger attachment to life, I could try my best alongside you all—

NO MUSIC



Suddenly, Ryoma ducked down, taking cover. When I looked to find what had scared Ryoma, I saw...

MUSIC: EXISAL TRIBE

AUDIO: It's Gonta!



Huh? Gonta...?

Sorry, Shuichi, but I'm gonna run... I've still got things I need to do.

No! Gonta no can let you leave! Sorry, but...is for your own good!

Gonta charged at us like a runaway train, and then...



I didn't even feel the impact, didn't have time to scream. My world turned dark. And in this pitch-black world, I thought to myself... This is what it's like...to die.

...

Welp, time to switch to Kaito's perspective. Lord knows how he's going to make the deductions necessary to—



SHUICHI: Ah!?

MUSIC: Nightmare in the Locker

AUDIO: Kokichi's Surprise Attack



SHUICHI: ...Huh? What...?

Nee-heehee, are you gonna ask... "Who am I?" and "Where am I?" Well, you're definitely Shuichi Saihara. And this place is... Hmmm...I guess, hell.

SHUICHI: Hell...?

I shook my head, confused. I looked around...







The Ultimate Entomologist's lab? Why...?



The same is true of the rest of us. We were all seized by Gonta...and brought here.

"It seems he's gone mad with buglust. How beautiful!"

But Shuichi's the only one who got knocked out.

Gonta apologized for that. Apparently he couldn't slow down in time when he tried to grab you.



It's...because of that guy. He was provoked by...that guy.

My eyes followed where Tsumugi was pointing...

There's no use trying to escape. Gonta will just catch you again.



Why...did it have to be this room? It gives me the creeps...



I couldn't stop Gonta, not even with my Neo-Aikido... His power is far greater than my Neo-Aikido!

Why do I get the feeling that Tenko's Neo-Aikido is the martial arts equivalent of Groverhaus?



What are Kokichi and Gonta's true aim, gathering us all together in this room?



I do not think Gonta would ever decide on his own to capture us. What is Kokichi trying to accomplish by taking advantage of Gonta's naivete?

Regardless, I cannot forgive his nonchalant attitude about using people!





Nee-heehee... He's so simple-minded.

As soon as I told him that everyone who hates bugs was trying to get rid of them... he started crying and said that he would get you guys to love bugs...or something like that.



Oh, Gonta thought up the name, so if you don't like it, voice your complaints to him!

You're terrible... You tricked Gonta.



Kokichi...why are you doing this?

Oh, I thought we could throw ourselves a little screening party with all our videos.

With all you here, exchanging our motive videos wouldn't be that difficult at all...

And I wanna see your videos, too, so I figured we could all binge-watch them together!

Kubs Pad and Chill.



Ummm... Everyone will know their motive and a killing will be more likely to happen?

But I like playing on Mean difficulty. Also, I don't run from battles in RPGs, either! I wanna win this killing game! So I'm not gonna run from it, I'm gonna crush it!



What the hell does that mean!?

I tried to warn you guys... I told you that we shouldn't cooperate with each other.

Plus, if I'm gonna do this, then I gotta enjoy myself and just go all the way.



Strangely, I could detect no evil in his smile as he said that. It was an innocent smile, like a frolicking child. Although, perhaps... it's just another lie.





Huh? Himiko and Angie, too?

Awww, man... And I was about to take a break, too. I just finished all the prepwork...

I thought this said paperwork for a second and wondered if Monokuma asked her to file a permit in triplicate.

Nyeeeh... What's the meaning of this?



Well, that makes me think of vampires, so yeah, that checks out.



No...

Hey, Gonta... Are these the only ones you brought back from the gym?



Hm...? And you just...let her go?

Atua says Kirumi fulfills any request someone makes of her. Like a mommy.

Ah, she's not a mom, though... Wait, what request?

I requested that she sew the curtains. I don't think even Gonta can disturb her.



Hmmm, well, I guess at least one of you is worthy of being called an Ultimate...

Welp, nothing we can do about her... Are the others still hiding somewhere?



Your face got hot? You mean you were hot on her trail, right?

No, um, she use her...what she call it? "Secret woman weapon"? And then—



Yeah, sure. This is good enough. We should move on to the main event anyway.



He just used you to abduct us all!

Huh!? Really!?

Nooo, this is for the Insect Meet and Greet. I like bugs even more than you do, Gonta.

...Oh? More than Gonta? Amazing... You like bugs that much...!?



Now, Gonta... Go ahead and teach them just how wonderful bugs are. I gotta run an errand, but I'll be back. Don't let them leave, okay?



...Mm-hm, got it.

W-Wait, you're leaving!?



Nee-heehee... Lock picking is a cinch for an evil supreme leader like me.

What? You're going to enter a girl's room without permission?



Yeah, yeah. I don't have time to listen to some robot.

Let's see...it's exactly 9 pm. right now. I should be back by nighttime. Welp! Have fun with the bugs till then!





Wh-What should we do? At this rate, it'll end up as a motive video screening party.

M-My Neo-Aikido is no match for Gonta's superhuman strength either...



That's when I will take care of this. Everyone, please just endure it until then.

E-Endure it—





It appears that wasn't a lie.

MUSIC: EXISAL TRIBE



And they were exactly as vigorous as they looked.

With our escape route blocked off, all we could do was run around the room in a panic.

*ding dong, bing bong...*





Bug wipe!

AUDIO: Insect Meet and Greet



What happened, Kokichi!? You said you'd be back by nighttime!

Ahhhh! Oh no! Himiko is being buried alive by insects!

H-Himiko! Hold on!

The more you yell, the more bugs can get into your mou-PFTH! PFTH!

Finally, when our bodies were completely exhausted and sleep was nearly upon us...





MUSIC: Nightmare in the Locker



Oh, you come back, Kokichi! Come, we have fun!



Y'know, as much as I'd *love* to do that... maybe we should call it a day, hm?

The bugs look really tired, and a gentleman knows to do things in moderation, y'know?

Oh...Gonta understand...



Kokichi's hands were full of several Kubs Pads.



Nyeh? What's going on? The last thing I remember is Gonta releasing the bugs...

Did she pass out from fear...? Welp, I can understand that.



Aww... So he really did go get the Kubs Pads...









I don't want to see another bug for a very long time...





...



Nyahahaha! What a divine time! My island is full of creepy crawlers. This many bugs doesn't bug me.

"You should have seen when Atua killed all our firstborn sons!"





I-I'm still okay! As a disciple of Neo-Aikido, it'll take more than this to break my composure!

Ah, Tenko! There's a big ol' bug on your back!



C-Calm down, Tenko!

I frantically swatted the bug off her.

...

I-It's okay, there were bugs everywhere, it's no wonder you—



Clearly, I haven't trained enough... As soon as I escape from this place, I will return to Master and resume my training!

You'd think Tenko would be used to attracting swarms of flies by now.





And so...we have escaped from the maw of hell itself, somehow...



...Thank you for enduring it, everyone. This is the last chance. Please leave the rest to me.





Ah...y-yeah, I suppose I did...?

Good! Now everyone like bugs! More bugs hatching real soon! Let's have fun time meeting and greeting new bugs!

...







You said you'd be back by nighttime, but it's already 11 pm. now.

Sorry, I ran into an unexpected snafu.

But, look.



Nee-heehee... Now everyone can watch their motive video!

We said we don't want to.



...Start what?

Oh, don't worry about it, Gonta. Just keep watch so these guys don't—



MUSIC: Wonderful Story



I didn't want to use this unless I absolutely had to. It eats up a lot of my electricity.



Keebo...what are you going to do...?

...



AUDIO: Keebo's Recording Device



TSUMUGI: He's lighting up!? Is he gonna self-destruct or—

*whirrr...*

TENKO: Huh? What's that sound?

KEEBO: One moment please... I'm rewinding the tape right now.

HIMIKO: The tape?





That's when...

Is this your doing, Kokichi? Did you have Gonta kidnap us?

Was that...my voice?

Nee-heehee...he's so simple-minded. As soon as I told him that everyone who hates bugs was trying to get rid of them... he started crying, and said that he would get you guys to love bugs...or something like that.

SHUICHI: Could this be...?

MUSIC: Finding Peace Party





Really? It's a cassette tape? In this day and age?



The sound quality isn't the issue!

L-Let's just put this aside now. More importantly, it seems to have worked.

MUSIC: New Classmates of the Dead



...Maaan, now it's boring.



Haha, I wouldn't lie to you. I loooove bugs. From the bottom of my heart.

Oh... So it not a lie. Then Gonta happy... Let's have fun with bugs all night...





We must run while we still can!

Wait! We need to take back our Kubs Pads first!

Tenko snatched the Kubs Pads from Kokichi.

Awwww...

Then, we all ran out of the lab.



MUSIC: Cool Morning



Don't joke about that...what if it happens? It's just plain possible.

So how do we return these Kubs Pads back to their rightful owners?

Hmmm, if only the Monokubs were here. I'm sure they'd help us.



MUSIC: Rise and Shine, Ursine!



...Oh, it's just you?

THE-OTHERS-ARE-ASLEEP... IF-YOU-NEED-SOMETHING, I-CAN-HELP YOU.

Ah, um...it's about the Kubs Pads... Kokichi brought them to us, and...

I-SIMPLY-NEED-TO...RETURN-THEM.



MUSIC: Beautiful Lie



But out of all of them, we can probably trust that one, right?

Shall we go back to our dorms? It is well past nighttime.

Nyahahaha, that's true! We have the magic show tomorrow.

Because of all this, we couldn't do a rehearsal, but I'm sure it'll be a divine show.



Hmph! "We'll be waiting," she says. It's Himiko's show, not yours.

I suppose it's alright...



Ah, too bad. We can do it tomorrow night, though. It's not like I'll never see him again or anything.

NO MUSIC





I collapsed onto the bed and quickly fell asleep.

Next time: the main event.

Flash Magenta Theme
Miu Iruma's theme.
Guaranteed to tickle your brain.







Still obnoxious, but at least it's in character.