Chapter 1: Fall Down Despairs [B]

Following Jaiden’s despondent departure, Candace feebly finished her food. She returned their two plates to the kitchen, then approached the other table.

Maya and Cheerleader-san had left while Candace was eating, but Unikitty was still chowing down on burgers. The cat’s face cycled through a variety of emotions as she noticed the girl’s arrival. “Oh, hey, Candace! How’ve you-?”

“How’d your search in the pantry go?”

“Hmm? Ah. Actually, Cheerleader-san and I decided to earn your vote legitimately,” Unikitty explained. “Y’know, cuz our agreement was kinda like bribery, which isn’t a very friendly way to win a-“

“You didn’t find anything, did you?”

“No! But we looked really hard,” Unikitty wailed.

Candace sighed.

I guess the pantry was another dead end. 

Though it was getting late, Candace still had some energy left. She decided to explore the remainder of the school. As Candace exited the cafeteria, she observed Adolf Hitler meticulously placing yet another campaign poster on the wall. Margaret Thatcher was standing behind him, seemingly deep in thought. Candace decided not to talk to them, especially after Jaiden explained who the man was during their search of the gym. She slinked past the pair and reached the central stairs.

Cheerleader-san was doing a choreographed dance at the bottom of the stairs. “V! O! T! E! For Prin-cess Un-i-kit-ty! …Hey, Candace! Have you gotten a pamphlet yet?”

“What pamphlet?”

Cheerleader-san handed Candace a large piece of printer paper with a big smiley face drawn on it. “Be sure to vote tomorrow!”

“You know, come to think of it… I don’t think I’m old enough to vote,” Candace said.

“That’s the first thing Unikitty’s gonna do as leader! She’s gonna let everyone vote, except for the stinky old grown-ups!”

“I don’t see how that helps me now, considering she hasn’t been elected yet,” Candace replied.

Cheerleader-san paused to process that statement.

Once it was clear she wasn’t going to get it, Candace walked past the dumbfounded girl and up the stairs. The hallway on the upper floor was totally lit, because all the lights were on. Candace could see that the hallway was completely empty. She approached the door directly across from the stairs, which was slightly ajar. Candace could hear a woman’s voice coming from within.

“It’s insane, this situation we’re in. I’ve been on a hundred missions, and faced death almost every time. Yet, somehow, this is the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to deal with,” Black Widow said. “I guess I’ve gotten used to having a team to back me up. I’ve become weak,” she continued, letting out a heavy sigh. “You wouldn’t understand. I can tell you’re the type of guy who works alone.”

“You’d be surprised,” a deep voice replied.

Candace quickly decided that continuing to eavesdrop on them was a bad idea, so she walked straight to the next door.

“As I’ve stated many times, what you’re suggesting is completely unscientific,” a nasally voice said.

“I’m telling you, it’s true! I really can channel spirits of the dead,” a girlish voice insisted.

It was clearly Sheldon and Maya.

“If you provided some evidence, I would be more willing to accept your claims,” he said. “There are many ways to do so. For instance, you could channel my father, and present me with information that only the two of us know.”

“I’m not good at channeling people I don’t have any connection to,” Maya replied. “If you had a photo of him or something, I might be able to-“

“Even if I did provide a picture, something else would surely come up. Perhaps the image wouldn’t be clear enough, or his ‘spirit’ would be busy. It’s a classic case of moving the goalpost. You con artists are all the same,” Sheldon remarked.

“We aren’t con artists! The Kurain Channeling Technique has been practiced for generations!”

“Sunk cost fallacy.”

“Oh, yeah? I can use fancy words, too! Ignoramus!”

“Ad hominem.”

After a few more minutes listening to their squabbling, Candace grew tired of it. She moved on to the next door and leaned against it. It swung open and she fell hard onto the floor.

Ow. I guess that’s what I get for eavesdropping.

Candace stood back up, dusted herself off, and looked around the bedroom. There wasn’t anyone inside. Unlike the classrooms on the lower floor, some effort was clearly put into the design of the bedroom: red patterned wallpaper, a fancy closet, and, most strikingly, a massive bed in the center of the far wall. Candace touched the covers. They were incredibly soft.

This is something you’d find in a mansion… What’s a bedroom like this doing inside of a school? 

She squished one of the pillows, but it wasn’t as soft. In fact, it was as hard as a rock. Its shape was also irregular.

What the heck? 

She tried picking it up, but it was too heavy. She grabbed the end of the pillowcase and yanked it off in one swift motion. 

She was unprepared for what was inside. 

“-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-“

“Heh. Got you good, didn’t I?”

“-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-“

“Geez, calm down. It was just a little joke.”

“-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-“

“Ugh, you teenagers are always so difficult,” Monokuma complained. He jumped up and slapped Candace across the face.

“OW!”

“See? Was that so hard?”

“You just slapped me!”

“Yep! I’ve always wanted to do that to one of you teenagers,” he giggled.

“Any-who, I’m just here to tell you about these bedrooms,” Monokuma said, playfully kicking his legs off the bed. “Since you’ll likely be spending the rest of your life here, no expense was spared in the creation of these bedrooms! Getting a good night’s sleep is the first step to a healthy killing school life, after all.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Monokuma scoffed, visibly offended. “Are you kidding me? Look how deluxe this place is! You kids have no sense of dignity. I bet you sleep on a beanbag chair!”

“I meant about creating these rooms. Were they not originally part of the floor plan? Or was the whole building created just for the killing game?”

“Oh, I get it now. You’re trying to figure out where a secret passage might be,” Monokuma teased. “Don’t think I wasn’t watching your antics in the gym. Why are you so focused on that, anyway?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Candace replied. “Just answer my question.”

“Look, I don’t know when or how this place was made. All I know are the specs, catch my drift?”

“Not really,” Candace said.

“Well, too bad! Like I was saying, most of the rooms up here on the second floor are just like this one. The doors can be locked, and the walls are almost completely soundproof!”

“Soundproof? Thank goodness. In hindsight, my reaction to the pillow thing was kind of embarrassing. It’s good that nobody could hear me,” Candace admitted.

She turned around to see the door wide open. 

Cheerleader-san gave an awkward wave.

“Oh. Right,” Candace said, remembering that she never actually closed the door.

“I’ll, uh, get back to campaigning,” Cheerleader-san whispered before walking away.

Monokuma continued his explanation. “In the past, my killing games have had a bunch of boring rules about nighttime and sleeping and whatever. But I guess we’re not doing that this time! So if you wanna stay out all night partying, that’s fine by me! Just don’t come crying to me if you get offed,” he chuckled.

“What do you mean by ‘I guess’? I thought you were in charge of-“

“Can’tttalknowgottarunbye,” Monokuma interrupted, doing backward somersaults out of the room.

Candace stood alone in silence.

What a weirdo.

*Zzzt!*

Suddenly, Candace’s Monophone buzzed. She reached into her skirt, pulled it out, and turned it on.

Huh. Did it always say the time here? 

At the top of the screen, 20:00 was displayed.

If this is military time, then it’s 8:00 pm right now. It certainly feels later than that, but maybe I’m just tired from all the investigating.

Candace waited for a minute to pass, and the number switched to 20:01.

Seems like I was right. My time as a Fireside Girl really paid off.

She confidently put the phone back into her pocket, then quickly took it back out.

Wait. It buzzed, didn’t it? Was that just to notify me there was a clock?

Candace scrolled through her Monophone. Her photo gallery was still full of selfies with Garfield, Hobbes, and Unikitty in the distant background.

Oh, yeah. I completely forgot about that. I was gonna bust my brothers, wasn’t I? But it seems like they have nothing to do with any of this.

She continued looking for the reason her phone buzzed. Past the third page of her profile, she found it. Below the words ‘Team Cartoon’, there was a section labeled ‘Motive’. It was highlighted. A video file was attached, labeled ‘video_a’. Without thinking, Candace tapped on it. 

Apart from the whistling of a light breeze, the video was eerily quiet. It showed Candace’s brothers talking in their backyard, but they were too far away to be heard.

Phineas? Ferb?

Nothing bad was happening to them, but something about the video seemed off.

When was this video taken? Before I was kidnapped? If so, then they must have planned this video ahead of time. If not, then they must still have access to my house. I need to warn everyone back home! 

She began shaking her Monophone in frustration.

Grrrrr… if only this phone could text! What kind of phone doesn’t have texting in this day and age? 

After her brief fit of rage, Candace wandered out into the hall.

I wonder if anyone else got a video like I did.

Candace searched for someone she could talk to. She found a door at the end of the hall that was slightly ajar, so she knocked on it. There was no response, but Candace heard faint noises coming from inside.

They’re ignoring me? No, maybe they just didn’t hear me.

She took initiative and slowly opened the door. 

The room was dark. Inside, Jaiden was kneeling beside the bed with her face down on the covers.

Candace quickly realized she was crying.

Oh…

Candace carefully closed the door, then leaned back on the wall next to it. She ran a hand through her hair.

Gosh. I didn’t consider how this situation might affect someone who isn’t used to stuff like this. I hope I wasn’t pushing her too hard.

Her heart suddenly felt heavy, and her body felt tired.

…Maybe I should just call it a day. 

Candace returned to the previous room, making extra sure to close and lock the door behind her. She kicked off her shoes and checked the closet for nightwear. Hanging inside were various strange outfits. A dark blue formal suit, a pair of large green shorts with a purple floral pattern, a tall white lab coat, an orange cheerleading uniform, and almost a dozen others.

What the heck? Are these everyone’s clothes? 

Candace opened a drawer to find a similarly diverse array of underwear and socks.

I guess they prepared for any of us to sleep anywhere. Kind of weird, though.

Growing more exhausted by the second, Candace undressed. She gently tossed her Monophone onto the floor. Candace turned off the light and, after a big yawn, slid herself between the soft, smooth bedsheets. She let her head fall onto the puffy pillow. Within moments, she was asleep. 

…

…

…

Candace propped her head up and stared toward the door. Her vision was blurry and unfocused to the darkness, but she swore she saw someone leaving the room. Candace could barely keep her body upright as she scratched the side of her neck. Not another thought crossed her mind before she collapsed back onto her pillow into oblivion.

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