ultimatehorror reblogged
ultimatehorror reblogged
A Warning
Karoshi-kuma looked at the votes, clenching his little paws into a fist for a moment. He shook his head and growled slightly, before turning to address the class once more.
“A mastermind trial, eh? Once again, you bastards are just shirking all of your duties to this company for no good reason! You had a murderer right there, confessing and all willing to die and everything! And you just wasted your vote! How stupid are you?!”
“No matter. You’ll fail at what you’re trying, and then I get to deal out a punishment to someone, and I don’t even care who anymore! You bastards really know how to test this bear’s patience! And I’m the kind of bear that used to be able to hibernate for months on end! I dealt with the lowest of lows in the workforce, struggled to make ends meet, and clawed my way to the top, and even I can’t deal with how insufferable you’re being! You kids just don’t know how to do anything right!”
“I’ll give you the time you want to talk about those useless bits of paper, but once time runs out, you’re at my mercy. And, due to company budget cuts, I’m afraid the stock for mercy is a bit low.”
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Trial [START]
ultimatehorror reblogged
No Mercy
As the students approached the park, they saw scenes of disturbing carnage all around. Droplets of blood leading toward the fountain, smears of blood on the side, pinkish water within it, a smoldering, burning crater near a bench off to the side.
Dororou is standing by the swingsets, seeming to be missing something from his usual appearance, but he is nearly surrounded by Karoshi-kuma bots, dozens of them, who all turn around and greet the other approaching students in perfect sync.
“You’re here! You sneaky bastards just…keep finding ways to destroy everything I create and everything I love. But don’t worry, it’s almost over.”
The bears all united in pointing up to the timer, which was growing shorter and shorter each time they looked at it. What started as nearly a month now only had a couple of days left, at best.
“And believe me, you bastards will pay for everything you’re doing to me and my city. Now, get to the fountain and we’re going to do this nice little murder trial, nice and easy.”
As it spoke, the area around the bloodied fountain had already begin its descent, pulling the gathering students back down into their heated prison once more.
ultimatehorror reblogged
Chapter 5 Investigation [END]
The flickering of the lights suddenly stopped, and the city slowly, but surely, seemed to return to its own odd definition of ‘normal’.
The bots returned to their normal routines, and before the students could step much further or look into any more of the clues they’d discovered, their PDAs all buzzed with a familiar and dread-inducing message.
Karoshi-kuma did not look happy. He did not sound happy. There were no jokes, no playful banter, no quips or laughter…there was only malice in the bear’s words.
“Times up! Time’s up! Get to the trial room immediately or I’ll execute you on the spot! Move move move!”
You have the feeling he isn’t joking.
ultimatehorror reblogged
Trial [START]
ultimatehorror reblogged
Trial [START]
The handful of surviving students took their cubical stands once more to face the trial that lay ahead, a flurry of mixed emotions painting the crowd, a number drenched in a despair far blacker than anticipated. A few guiltily refused to look their classmates in the eyes, while others anxiously seemed to be watching their peers’ every move. From eyes red to frustration, to shadowed in horrific misery, all students wore a shade of red and black.
The grinding stonework around the fountain began to lower once more, carrying the remaining students down into the depths of the trial room– the room itself was just as hot and muggy as ever, but there seemed to be something missing.
As the students gathered at their podiums, some eyes instinctively fell onto the podium where Heloise once stood, expecting to see her with evidence stowed away and her usual mischievous grin spread across her face.
But she wasn’t there. Perhaps the tension she caused within the trial was what was missing, after all. But, for many, the weight her words carried in a trial couldn’t be ignored. Would they truly be able to solve this without her?
“Alright, kids! Look alive! When I was your age, looking this miserable at work was grounds enough to be fired! That’s why you only see attractive, smiling people in all those vintage advertisements. Ever notice how many I was in? That’s right, front page cover of Playbear Magazine, yeowch! Never thought this sizzling bear was a silver fox now, did you? Of course not, you’re all too young to feast your eyes on this bear’s meats! Now, with all those pesky Worker’s Rights, all I can do is let you off with a warning!"
"Now then, you’d all better get to work a-solving this case. We’re overdue tearing down a union, and I need to see some of you pull your weight! We gotta trim off some of this company’s dead weight, and when I say dead weight, I mean a sleazy culprit slinking among you. You know who you are, you scoundrel! You slaaacker! If you think you’ll run off with the company grant… well you just might. So lets give it everything we got, It’s trial time!’
ultimatehorror reblogged
Investigation [END]
As the ever dwindling collection of students spread out in search of an inkling for what may have transpired for the end of the Duval twin, evidence made itself scarce. Results varied for many; it felt as if they had hardly made a dent in comparison to the massive amount of ground to be covered within the city, and to patch together the course of events that had lead them here.
The opportunity to search any further, however, is cut short, as their investigations is brought to a halt by the irritating chimes of their PDAs.
“Ding, ding, ding! That’s the bell you’d usually hear that would signal the end of the class period, but you’re an employee now, so it means ‘back to work’! Curious how meanings like that change when you move onto different periods of your life; something you look forward to in your youth becomes something you loathe in your old age. Anyway, breaktime’s over, you bastards! No more slacking around on the job, it’s time for the real work to begin!”
“Get your lazy hides down to the park, pronto! We’ve got a time limit here; my patience! I might be double parked and I’m out of company funds to spend on another parking ticket, and the higher ups will have my hide if I stack other expense on top of city renovations! Chop, chop, we can’t afford to waste time!”
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Trial [START]
ultimatehorror reblogged
Trial [START]
Once again, the students reluctantly and exhaustedly gathered around the fountain of the park. The last time they did this, their numbers were three greater. And now, each student entered knowing full-well that, by the time they left, their numbers would be even fewer than when they arrived.
“What a hussle I saw from you kids today. What could have given you all this much energy after days without food, I wonder? I’ll never know where you kids get all your enthusiasm from, but if I could find some way to harmess it, I’d never have to pay bills again!”
“Anyways, enough of this wise old geezer running his mouth! You bastards should know the drill, you’ve only got a limited time to figure out whodunit, better get a move on!”
ultimatehorror reblogged
Investigation [END]
“Ding ding ding ding! Time’s up! No lunch breaks, if you skipped breakfast to look around, no time to grab anything now! Whatever you found for clues is whatever you get, you entitled kids!”
“Better hope you put enough effort in to find what you need, Unkie Kuma can only do a good job if you do a good job. And if I don’t do a good job, you’ll all be living off bread and water!”
“You should all know the drill by now! Get your lazy hindquarters over to park, on the double!”
ultimatehorror reblogged
Trial [START]
ultimatehorror reblogged
A Full Debrief
After the students take their precious few moments to take in what had just happened– their newly disturbing and altogether uncomfortable surroundings, the mystery of the victim’s identity, and the gravity of the situation they were in, Karoshi-kuma interrupts their train of thought with his own spiel.
“Welcome to the trial room, you bastards! This is the place for you to let all that tension with the recent murder out in the open. Got a problem with one of your co-workers? What better time to call ‘em out, accuse ‘em of slaughtering someone, and prove your point with all that evidence you found!”
“Upupupu, this’ll be some hands-on training for you, so listen good! You have until I get tired of listening to you any further to make your case! Show off your evidence, or just spew out those silly little theories you have, and make your case for who you think committed this murder! Once I get bored, it’s time for you to submit your votes, using those little buttons on your podiums. Don’t go pushing someone else’s buttons, it won’t work! You indecisive kids can even switch a vote whenever you want, you can even start the trial off right away with your vote, if you want to be a total buzzkill! When time’s up, upupupu, then I get to administer the reward– or the punishment– depending on how smart you bastards are. Another step toward a promotion, or a full-on punishment for your failure to do a clean job, who knows what it’ll be!”
“Your time starts…right now! So hop to it! Time is money, and I’m not willing to pay to keep the lights on for you to just dilly-dally the whole time!”
ultimatehorror reblogged
The Descent
Heeding Karoshi-kuma’s demands, the students quickly make their way to the picturesque landscape of the park– despite the grass and foliage being fake, it still held more color and ‘life’ than most other sections of this city. Hesitantly, and some with various objects gathered through investigation clustered in their arms, the students stand around the centerpiece of the area: the large fountain depicting 25 doves fluttering over a cresting wave.
They hardly have the mind, nor even the time, to take in the sight before the overseer leaps into view.
“About time you made it! You bastards were running around like you were getting ready for a marathon! This is the place you’ll be meeting for all future trials, so you’d best find a quicker route here to keep me from waiting!”
“But, maybe you’re wondering how we’re going to hold a trial with this big ‘ol fountain in the way! Well, look no further!”
With a flourish, the bear pulls out a remote control and activates the red button embedded in it, sending a slight tremor beneath the students’ feet. Then, a mechanical whirring sound begins, as the water in the fountain trickles to a stop and the ground beneath them begins to move. The concrete area around the fountain lowers as if it were an elevator, pulling the students down into an unknown darkness whether they are prepared or not. All greenery and faint familiarity of the city slowly disappear from view as the students are lowered down into the ground.
The lower they get, the warmer things feel, until finally the elevator jolts to a stop. The students are surrounded on all sides by mechanical walls, with vents and access hatches decorating the walls like photographs in a mansion. In a circle around this room– replacing the large circular space where the fountain sat in front of them mere moments ago, is a series of 21 podiums, lined with buttons labelled with each students’ name. The podiums even have name plaques on them, to show where each person is intended to stand.
As the students gradually, hesitantly approach their podiums, the truth becomes clear– every single podium has someone standing at it. If that was the case, then who…..?
ultimatehorror reblogged
Investigation [END]
At the call for investigation– or merely because the prospect of someone among them being a murderer felt a good enough cause– many students scrambled to action. Scouring nearly every corner of the city in search of something– anything– that could give them the answers they sought.
But, after a few hours flew by, the students were suddenly interrupted by more furious buzzing of their PDAs, and another announcement in the grating voice of Karoshi-kuma.
“Ding ding ding! This isn’t a lunch bell or call for a break, you bastards! It’s time for our first annual meeting! Your allotted time to snoop around is up, so get a move on! Meet me by the fountain at the park, on the double! Don’t be late, or you’ll face some harsh consequences! It’s very rude to keep your superiors waiting!”