Part 33: Up in Flames

_{content warning: body horror/gruesome torture description, emetophobia}

Wow, who could have seen that this hastily assembled ritual could've gone horrendously wrong? What a surprise! Anyway, the thread voted to try and save Ox, so that's what we're gonna do.

[BGM: Exotics]


What else could I do? I needed to get Ox out of there, immediately! He was dying in front of my eyes, for Christ's sake! I couldn't leave him to die! I leapt into action, reaching out to try and grab one of his arms. I was able to get a hold of one very on-fire arm. In my rush, I didn't even register the first-degree burns I was suffering. Good ol' adrenaline was keeping me laser focused. I gave Ox a strong pull towards me, trying to get him out of the way. Unfortunately, it seemed as though Ox wasn't just in the middle of a fire. He was the fire. Rather, he was directly set on fire.

Was that oil he was covered in?

[BGM: Silence]


That thought was fleeting, because most of my attention was brought towards the little problem I had created. See, in pulling the source of the fire towards me, I had also brought the fire towards me. My pull was mostly to get him away, without regards to how I ended up. And, well, to make a long story short, I ended up with Ox directly on top of me.

A flaming Ox, for that matter.

Oh, I imagine that I tried to push him off, to get away. But at that point the oil must've gotten on me, the fire had begun to sear my flesh. I was likely so preoccupied with everything that I didn't hear the sound of footsteps leaving the room, of everyone else running away. Cowards. So yeah, in my attempt to help, I definitely just got myself caught in the fire.

Fire ain't a quick death, so as the pain seared my flesh, as I tried to scramble Ox's body off of me and crawl away, I also got the joy of choking on all the smoke. Why am I talking about my fate so distantly? To be honest, this one's so gruesome that I don't even want to play around with it. I'm completely fine dissociating myself. You know, many consider burning to death to be the 3rd most painful way to die. Second is dying of radiation.



And apparently, the most painful way to die is a method called 'Scaphism', an old type of execution. With scaphism, the victim would be trapped in a hollowed out tree trunk and forcefed milk and honey until they had horrible diarrhea. Next, the milk and honey would be poured all over the victim, with the eyes and genitals given special care, in order to attract insects. So the trunk would be filled with honey and shit and horrible insects and the victim would just sort of be there, going mad as the insects burrowed in their skin. Whether the victim died of starvation, dehydration, exhaustion, or septic shock is dealer's choice, but whatever the case, it'd be a long and painful process.

And that's apparently the worst way to die.

The more you know.



Ending - Jack of Clubs

A particularly nasty fate, if I do say so myself. The way in which to avoid this is rather obvious. Observing the hellfire which erupted beside her, Mouse should seek to prioritize her own safety above that of some stranger.

If Mouse truly wished for Ox to not die, she shouldn't have gone along with that person's ritual. But how could she resist so tempting an offer? She can't and won't.

And so, if Mouse finds that note, Ox will die. Simple cause and effect.

Well, we had to break the streak of missing all the bad endings eventually, I guess. Once again, wow, who could have guessed trying to save the person who just turned into a fireball next to us would go wrong? Granted, little hard to predict Mouse would somehow manage to find a way to get stuck underneath a flaming corpse, but eh.

Obviously, the right answer here is to...

[BGM: Exotics]


My emotional side wept for Ox. My logical side realized there was no way in hell I was saving him. I mean, at this point he was already engulfed in flames. It just wasn't feasible anymore. I should focus on saving those who were still alive. Namely, myself.

In what I could only honestly describe as an act of pure cowardice, I immediately turned away from the fire and ran out of the room, through the door. It would've looked pretty shitty if I was the only one to try something like this. Luckily for me, I was hardly the only coward. In fact, the entire room cleared of people. Every single one of them immediately put as much distance between them and the sudden inferno as possible, running out of the room en masse, screaming all the while.

[BGM: Silence]


Once we had all gotten to safety, we took a moment to stop, take a breath, and realize what had happened. And once we had calmed down, we were able to re-enter the room and see what exactly we were dealing with. Inside, we didn't see Ox's corpse. That would be far too kind a term for what we laid eyes on. No, instead we looked at flaming, charred flesh in a vaguely human shape. I saw that sight which would be burned into my retinas for the rest of my life.

And then I promptly began to throw up.

…

[BGM: Stampede of Truth]


So it's settled then, right? We're agreed?

Nothing is settled.

Eeeh, sounds pretty settled to me.

Predictably, after the smoke literally cleared, our group defaulted to our usual pastime- incessant bickering. The creepy music had stopped a while ago.

It went without saying that the ritual had failed. Our one shot at skipping to the end of this stupid race, blown. But that was really more of a secondary issue. The primary issue being the exact circumstances that had left us with a burning corpse. Clearly, it was murder. Murder by arson. The question was, who did it? Up until this point I had mostly stayed silent in the corner. Even though in the past I had tried to lead the group, I needed some time to take in everything that had just happened.

Ox... He was the person I woke up with. The person I had spent a lot of time with. He seemed... reliable. Like someone you could depend on. For him to end up like this? ...Well, at least I was holding up better than some people. But for Ox's sake, I couldn't just stand passively by any longer. I needed to help solve shit.

It seemed, however, that the group had reached a conclusion without me.



Now now, Horse, we don't want to start a fight over this, we just want to figure out what happened. Could you try explaining to us why you aren't the culprit?

I'm not the culprit because I didn't kill anybody.

Right, and?

And?

For him of all people to become the prime suspect... Ah, what a tragedy. This interrogation will be dreadfully dull.

Sorry if I'm not 'amusing' to you, Snake. Do you want me to juggle while I deny being a murderer?

That's not necessary.

Though it'd be pretty badass if you could pull it off.



Indeed. It would be rather 'badass', wouldn't it?

Tch.

Horse, you can see where we're coming from though, right? Both Rooster and Sheep have confirmed you were standing up when things went down, you admitted it yourself.

It's clear from the way the flames went up that the culprit poured oil on Ox and lit him up. You were the only one who could've done it!

I didn't.

Compelling stuff. You are not even going to attempt to point out that there's still a significant amount of oil in the bucket?

Why would I when you can do that for me?



Because I'll also point out that we are unsure of the exact amount of oil that was in the bucket, so it's entirely possible you could've sloshed some on him. If you make points in your defense by yourself, I won't instantly know their weaknesses.

Hmph. Sounds annoying. If I have to, though.

How exactly did I light the fire?

Oh? Now this is an interesting quandary. How was the fire started?

If we're looking for ways to light things, I saw Dragon take out this sick lighter earlier.

Really? Gonna fuckin' narc on me like that, girl? I thought we were cool.

Hey, no, wait, I didn't mean to-



Couldn't he have just used a normal match or something? I don't see how this is an issue.

I'm not disputing the object used to light the fire. I'm saying that if I had lit something in front of me, you all would have seen that, right?

Hey, Horse is right. I definitely would've seen if the fire started small in the center of the room, then was tossed to Ox.

The answer lies in just how flammable this oil is.

Frankly, the fact that any amount of this was found at the school is distressing. A meeting of teachers should be called to discuss that.

More to the point, it takes little to set it ablaze. The igniter could be something as innocent as a particularly bad static shock.



With the carpet in this room, surely it's possible that something to that effect was prepared.

A static shock? Seriously?

Perhaps it's not the most elegant solution. However, it's passable. At any rate, your objection in itself is not enough to absolve you of the 'prime suspicion'.

Th-this can't be. There's no way Horse would do this. I mean, I know he doesn't, er, he might not look it, but he's actually really thoughtful. And, AND, do you reallyt hink if he was going to kill Ox he'd do it in such an obvious way?

Well, Sheep, Horse doesn't exactly strike me as a man of subtlety.

But he's not an idiot either! He wouldn't just do this.

Okay, okay, I'm hearing you Sheep. Do you have an alternative explanation?

Well, um...

[BGM: Ox's Logic]


Oh, I know! What if it was Rooster?

Rooster?

He was sitting next to Horse, right? B-but, he was also sitting next to Monkey. Monkey is a traitor, so she m-m-might be okay with a plan to disrupt our unity. She says Rooster didn't let go of her hand, but she could be lying about that!

So, uh, Rooster's also unaccounted for when the lights went out.

I hate to cut in, Sheep, but I must say this is an absolutely ludicrous proposal. Have I not already proven myself trustworthy by confessing my role? I sincerely wish for nothing but the survival of the most people possible.

I would tell you if Rooster let go of my hand. He did not.

Th-that's...



You could be lying! Admitting it earlier could just be a, uh, a ruse! Or you changed your mind?

Sheep, regardless of whether or not Monkey is lying, it can't be Rooster. Horse, you made your way right to the stool, right?

Correct.

And you've claimed the bucket was right in front of you?

As far as I can tell.

Then how would Rooster have gotten the oil on Ox? In that darkness, he somehow maneuvered around Horse and spilled oil on Ox without him or anyone else noticing? Seems entirely implausible.

You... you're right, Snake.



Hey, hey, hold on. Who's counting me out? Who's saying what I can or can't do? I totally could have killed Ox! Nothing's holding me back! I could've just prepared my own container of oil beforehand and used that!

I knew where Ox was sitting, so I could easily have thrown that oil on Ox without even leaving my seat!

And where is this hypothetical container now?

Easy. I hid it in a super-secret hiding spot when everyone was running away. So what about that! Try saying I couldn't have done it now!

R-rooster's right, he's still a suspect!

Rooster, would you please stop? We both know you couldn't have done this.

Says who?



Ever since we found the note, I've been with you. The note is when we even learned about the oil. In fact, you're the only person who didn't have an opportunity to prepare another container of oil for this. So just stop and let us focus on the important things.

Hmph. I still could've done it if I really wanted to.



So that's it then? We've settled on Horse as the culprit.

Hey, not so fast! Look at how Bunny is trying to fast-track this!

Fast-track this? Fast-track what? I just thought the conversation was over. We're out of suspects, right?

Not true! There's someone else who could've set this all up.



And that person? Is you!

Pig overdramatically stuck out her arm and pointed at Bunny. Bunny seemed unimpressed.

Pig, what are you doing?

Wh-what do you think? I'm exposing you.

Really?

Really! I don't know why you're all looking at me like that, I'm really right about this!



Think back to the start of all this- back at the beginning, the person who turned off the lights was Bunny. Then he 'went back to his seat'.

That's right. I did.

Did you?

Yes.

Well, um, you might not have. You could've used that opportunity when all our eyes were re-adjusting to pour oil under Ox's chair. If you did it like that, he might not have noticed it.

Pour oil under Ox's chair? Pig, that's ridiculous.

All of this is ridiculous! I'm just going along with the situation's tone and following suit, something we should all be doing!

Anyways, if Snake's thing about 'static electricity' is correct, and that the oil was super flammable, it's possible that when the fire began was a complete coincidence. You could've just waited patiently for it to start.

[BGM: Silence]


B-but Pig, by your logic, couldn't any of the people who stood up have done it?

I don't think so. Usually, something like this would be noticeable. When the ritual started, our eyes had adjusted, we were used to the music, and we were all on high alert. We would've noticed if somebody deviated from script too much.

But right after Bunny turned the lights off, it was pitch black, the music suddenly started playing- I think it's conceivable that Bunny could've made a move then.

Seriously? No one's buying this, right?

Bunny desperately looked around the room.

Hmm... I must say, the probability that this was the true answer is rather low. However, it is not so low that I can dismiss it outright. Apologies, Bunny, but I think Pig's story holds enough water to mark you as another suspect.

Tch. Well, if this is how it needs to be...



It seemed as though Bunny was also under suspicion. But... could it really have been him? I couldn't put my finger on it, but something about Pig's version of events just didn't sit right with me. If I could've articulated that into words, I would've, but the feeling was too vague for now.

[BGM: Cock a Doodle Doo]


Alright, I'll bite. So, our suspects are Bunny and Horse. Where does that leave us?

Need you even ask? We already have a protocol for dealing with suspicious people!

You don't mean-

Hell yeah, I'll go get more jump ropes!

This really doesn't seem necessary.

I don't need to go along with this. Note my compliance as a sign of my innocence.

Of course, of course Horse.



Tiger worked fast. Before I knew it, Bunny and Horse were tied tightly to their chairs. Honestly, I was doubtful about whether the restraints on Horse would really hold up if he tried to fight back, but it was the best we could do given the circumstance. At the very least, Horse looked content. Bunny noticeably less so, but he wasn't speaking up.

I realized it might be in poor taste to leave them tied up in the same room as the charred corpse. But, eh, they were already there. A little late for that.