Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa or Miraculous Ladybug. They belong to Spike Chunsoft and Thomas Astruc respectively. I only own the OC characters.

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It's been a day. Markov should be done cracking those files. Adrien found himself lounging on one of the benches in the courtyard, burdened with some time to kill. I can practically taste freedom. He leaned back, lifting his feet up to lazily swing them back and forth. It won't be too long now.

"Hey, Adrien, my bro-ski!" Nino popped up from out of nowhere, casually hooking his arm around the model's neck. "H-Hey, what's the big idea?" he stuttered, flustered from the DJ's sudden appearance. "Is someone dead?"

"Why don't you and me hit the showers, have a little pow-wow?" Nino continued like he hadn't said anything. A note was shoved into Adrien's face then, and his friend's peculiar behavior was instantly justified: Mari needs to see everyone. "Are you a scrub-up or scrub-down kind of guy? I'm cool either way." The blond followed Nino's lead, still caught in his hooked arm. Once they made it to the locker room, Adrien was confused as to why everyone else was already crowded inside.

"Sorry about that, brah," Nino said. "Had to get out of the view of the security cameras."

"So, what's this about?" Everyone's expressions looked grim, Max's especially. However, it was Maddie who spoke. "Markov is missing."

"What?" Adrien scratched at his head. "How did that happen?" Everyone's gaze shifted towards one petite girl in particular. It did not go unnoticed. "Don't look at me!" Myléne cried. "I didn't have anything to do with it!"

"Oh, c'mon!" Nathaniel interjected. "You were completely smitten with the thing yesterday-"

"I was not!"

"Enough!" Alya's harsh voice cut them off. "Markov was programmed not to take any orders from anyone other than Max. So, either Max is making an ingenious play to confuse us, or," her gaze flashed across the room, "someone isn't telling their full story."

"It could be one of us, then?" Kagami inquired. "You think someone is lying."

"More than just lying," Alya continued, adjusting her glasses. "Think about it. We gain a valuable new asset that could be the key in finally leaving this hellish school, and it suddenly turns up missing. So far, we've managed to keep Markov's existence off Monokuma's radar, or we believe so, at least." Her hands rested on her hips, adopting a flamboyant pose that conveyed she had found the biggest secret ever. "Ladies and gentlemen, there is a traitor in our ranks."

Everyone gasped. "What makes you so sure of that?" Maddie questioned. The journalist cocked an eyebrow. "Did you not just hear me?" she admonished. "It's clear that someone is trying to impede our progress. If it was Monokuma's doing, he would already be here to gloat about it." Her demeanor suddenly became authoritative, addressing the crowd. "We'll scour every inch of this school. Perhaps, if we're lucky, we may even dig out our mole."

And so, that was how the students of Collégé Duponte split up into groups to search the school from top to bottom. They overturned chairs, desks, even shelves. The nurse's office, the science classroom, the art room; not even the janitor's closet held what they were looking for.

It was only about twenty minutes into the search that a scream echoed through the corridors. "Somebody, come quickly!" It was Alix. Everyone rushed over to the woodshop room, where the pink-haired girl was hovering over the slumped form of Kagami. For a moment, Adrien's heart skipped a beat, thinking that another murder had occurred. We've gone the longest we've ever been without another killing. Why does it have to start up again now?

Fortunately, to the model's great relief (and in the class's as a whole), Kagami was not dead, merely unconscious. She was helped to her feet, her uniform scuffed and slightly disheveled. Otherwise, she was unharmed. "What happened here?" Alix demanded. "Did someone attack you?"

"Yes," Kagami answered, slightly swaying on her feet. Luka's brow lowered. "Who was it?" The Japanese girl's face was drawn, something Adrien had never seen from her before. "I don't know," she replied. "The perpetrator went to great lengths to conceal their face." She suddenly perked up, remembering something. "Max was with me," she informed. "That cretin must have taken him."

"We'll find them, don't worry." Alix led the charge out of the woodshop, on the warpath. After several moments of more searching, weak cries could be heard from one of the classrooms. With his group, Adrien barged into the small room, witnessing Maddie hoist a struggling Max to his feet. "Oh God, Max! Are you alright? What happened to you?" The blood coating the programmer's forehead stood out to him the most.

"I... I'm alright." His slurred speech didn't help his case. "Clearly not," Maddie stated, echoing Adrien's thoughts. "You're injured." She turned to the group. "Luka, Nathaniel, take him to the nurse's office." The two teens immediately snapped to attention, sandwiching Max in between them as they carried him. Maddie addressed the ones who remained. "As for the rest of you, there's still a bloodthirsty maniac on the loose somewhere in this school. It's imperative that we find them, and quickly."

They all fell into formation, spreading out to begin the hunt. However, several minutes went by with nothing bearing any fruit. Suddenly, to everyone's horror, a shrill scream rang out in their enclosed habitat. It sent a chill down Adrien's spine. He followed the source of the scream, his group following close behind. To his concern and utter befuddlement, Kagami was once again hunched near the wall, pressing a hand to her head. Was she attacked again? He noticed that her foil sword was out of its case, cast to the ground.

"Kagami!" Adrien cried as he neared her. "It is alright," she assured. "I am not injured." She glanced to her fencing foil, grimacing. "I tried fending them off this time, to mixed results as you can see." Her eyes were hooded. "I at least managed to scare them off."

It was then that Alya did a quick scan of the crowd, noticing Luka's and Nathaniel's presence. "You idiots!" she yelled. "Did you leave Max all by himself?!"

"Wh-Why, what's the big deal? He should be safe there, right?" As the feisty girl continued to chew them out, Adrien's sense of dread took over his gut. Without saying a word, he ran off towards the nurse's office, Kagami, Alix, and Marc tailing him. He only hesitated for a moment in front of the door, hoping that he wouldn't find what he was expecting.

He always had a bad habit of getting his hopes up.

Max lay on the tiled floor in a pool of his own blood. There was so much of it that he couldn't tell where the fatal injury was. He screamed while the others behind him gasped in shock. "No way," he blurted out. "Again? How many times is this gonna happen?"

The crackling of speakers. "Ba-baduuummm! You know the drill, squirts! Investimigation then... trial!" That was all that was announced. Alya showed up not long after, Luka and Nathaniel in tow. The boys who were supposed to be watching over Max looked just as pale as the rest of them. "But how?" Nathaniel inquired. "We were just here."

Alya pushed her glasses up her nose, taking in the carnage before them. "There truly is no rest for the wicked." She turned to the blond sharply. "Adrien, go inform the others of the body." He understood. "Right." He dashed off into the hallways, an eye out for the other groups who were still searching.

"Guys!" he called. "Where are you?" He came across the art room then, a menacing aura permeating from it. It was like the time he first found Chloé's body. Steeling his nerve, Adrien grasped the doorknob firmly. He wanted to say that he hoped for a different outcome this time, but he knew better than that.

The sight before him was similar to what they found in the nurse's office. "No," he breathed. "Myléne too?" Indeed, the small body of the Ultimate Activist lay sprawled in a pool of blood, the puddle just as large in volume as Max's body. "Adrien," Maddie's voice sounded out behind him, "you're here too." He swallowed, turning to face her. "Yeah," he said weakly, leaning over to show her his discovery. The brunette made a shocked noise in her throat, dashing past him into the art room. She knelt over the girl's body draped on sheets of empty canvas. She scrutinized the corpse intently before perking up. "There's a major puncture point in her neck," she stated. "Someone knew that going for the jugular would make for a clean, quick death."

Adrien didn't even notice that Alya had arrived onto the scene as well until she spoke. "Are you kidding me?!" she exclaimed. "Another one?" Maddie straightened up, face shrouded darkly. "It appears so." The journalist ran a hand through her hair in exasperation. "God damn it!" She breathed heavily through her nose. "Well, judging on what has happened already, there are two people who are glaringly unaccounted for."

"Hold on a minute," Adrien interjected. "I know what you're thinking, but Marinette's been with us all morning."

"Is that so?" Alya responded, knowing full well that she was there to confirm the blunette's presence. "I suppose that gives her a decent alibi. The only one who's suspicious now is Nino."

"I thought he was with you," Maddie prodded, tilting her head to the side. The journalist pushed up her glasses in consternation. "That blundering idiot split off with Juleka and Nathaniel at the beginning. I have yet to see him return."

"I don't think Nino would be capable of something like this." Alya clucked her tongue at the boy. "We will see." It was then Alix came skidding to a halt in front of the entrance. "Guys, come quick!" Something horrific must have happened if it was making this punk girl hasty and wild. "It's all batshit crazy!"

They all ran back to the nurse's office. Marc, who had been left behind with Kagami, was sat on the floor, shaking in utter terror. "W-We only went to the bathroom for five minutes at most." He pointed a shaky finger at the resting place of Max's body; or at least, where Max's body used to be. Now, there was only a bloody stain that indicated he was there at all.

"First Myléne and now this?" Kagami, who had been comforting Marc this whole time, cast a quizzical look towards Adrien. "What are you talking about? What does Myléne have to do with this?"

Alya gravely adjusted her glasses. "Myléne has been murdered." Kagami's eyes widened at that. "What? How?" The silence she got in return conveyed their lack of knowledge. "This is awful." Kagami gritted her teeth, her hands balling into fists. "Despicable. Are we just going to be picked off one by one until there's no one left? Just like they were."

"The killer had already made their escape by the time we got there," Alya stated. "The case of this vanishing body only deepens the mystery."

"Uh, guys," Luka appeared behind them suddenly. "We've got a situation." He looked put off, as if he had seen an apparition. Adrien's eyes widened. "Don't tell me..." But as they all made their way back to the art room, the same sort of phenomenon greeted them: Myléne's body was gone.

"The perpetrator is clearly trying to confuse us. Throw us off the trail." Her lenses flashed in the light. "We start the search anew." They scattered again like rats in a maze, peering into every nook and cranny they could find. But nothing turned up.

Adrien had somehow found himself with Alya, matching her stride in the hallway. All of a sudden, Marinette turned the corner, a surprise to them both. "There you guys are!" she exclaimed excitedly. Alya didn't seem to share her enthusiasm. "Marinette, where were you, girl?" she demanded. The blunette looked flustered then, beginning to sweat. "I was... investigating something."

"Was it more important than the current crisis?" Marinette looked genuinely baffled, so Alya sighed and explained it to her. "Max and Myléne are dead." That was enough to shock the fashion designer, but Alya wasn't done yet. "And their bodies have disappeared. We're currently on the lookout for them."

"Who is dead?" That familiar robotic voice piped up, revealing the source of what started this search in the first place. Markov looked expectantly at the three of them, trying to analyze their facial expressions. Alya, however, stepped forward. "Markov?" she questioned. "You found him?"

"Yeah," Marinette replied. "That was the thing I was investigating."

"Where?" The journalist was hyper-focused on this at the moment. "He was just wandering around the library," Marinette answered. "Said he was still working on that de-encryption."

"Hmm." Adrien had to agree, that also sounded suspicious. But a clamor coming from the direction of the science classroom caught their attention. "There are more pressing matters," Alya declared, heading in the direction of the racket. Sure enough, everyone was gathered in the science classroom, huddled at the entrance to the storage room, where many chemicals and other scientific equipment were kept. Alya strode confidently towards the hubbub, using her arm to part the mass. She stepped to the side, allowing a clear view of the room's contents.

Just as quickly as they had vanished, the bodies of Max and Myléne were dumped in the science storage closet. Alix and Luka were inside, as adding any more people would make the small space even smaller. Alix had a frustrated look on her face, her clenched fists trembling. "So many of our friends have died," she bit out. "I'm so fucking sick of it."

"Creator!" The little robot's cry brought a new sadness to the scene, zooming in on his propellor. He hovered over Max's still corpse for a moment before slowly sinking to rest gently on his chest. His eyes were downcast in melancholy, animated pixel tears dripping from his eyes down the display that was his face. As ridiculous as this all may have looked, this show of grief and mourning from a simple A.I. program was absolutely heartbreaking.

Suddenly, there was a small groan that escaped from Max, his chocolate brown eyes blinking open. "Wha-?" Alix stammered. "He's still alive!" She quickly dropped to her knees, leaning over the programmer's bloodstained face. "Max!" she called desperately. "Max, can you hear me? It's me, Alix!"

"Creator!" Markov had leaned forward, just as desperate as the flesh-and-blood girl. "Creator, I am here!" Max sluggishly cast his gaze down towards his chest where the robot was resting. "M-Mar...kov...?" The A.I. emitted a sad whine, knowing that the programmer was still dying. "Max..." he said softly in anguish.

"Max, can you tell us who did this to you?" Alix was trying to get as much information as she could before the bespectacled boy passed on. "I promise you, we'll bring them to justice. Just tell us who it was!"

"Who... did... this...?" Max released a breathy laugh. "Yes... that's... right. I... remem...ber... now..." He looked so peaceful, entrapped in serenity despite the fact his life was slipping away by the second. "Ch-Cherry... b-blossoms are... sssssssoooo... pretty... this time... of year..." He reached out weakly, yearning for something only he could see. "You... would... know that... wou... dn't... y... o... u..." His hand fell to the floor, the light leaving his eyes completely. Max Kanté was dead.

Alix's anguished wail followed soon after that became fact, throwing her head back to the ceiling. Adrien felt like doing the same, but he couldn't find his voice. His shoulders shook as he held in his sobs, the other students around him doing the same. It wasn't fair! What kind of person would get pleasure out of other people's suffering like this?

"Woah, a two-in-one!" Adrien barely registered that Monokuma had connected to the loudspeaker again, and his stomach twisted painfully at what that meant. "I gotta hand it to ya, you kids sure are ambitious. Now, as I've already explained, you know what to do! See you at the trial grounds! Nyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhh nyeh nyeh nyeh!"

Some sobbed; others were reining in their emotions tightly to face the showdown to come. Adrien didn't know at this point which category he fell into. Nothing made sense anymore. Two more of their friends had been murdered, and it had been one of them. There was no way to describe it other than despair.

The exciting prospect of finallyescaping this killing game had long since been snuffed out.

Chapter 3: Deadly Life

"We've been presented with quite the conundrum," Alya stated, pushing up her glasses. "But there are some here who are more suspicious than others." She took a glance around the room. "Nino is still missing," she announced. "Furthermore, Maddie and Marinette were also absent for an undetermined amount of time."

"Hey, it wasn't me," Marinette protested weakly. "But yeah, you're right. Nino doesn't appear very innocent right now, does he?"

Adrien scanned over everyone's expressions, perturbed by what he found. "C'mon, guys," he pleaded, "you don't actually think Nino is capable of pulling something like this off, do you?"

"We thought the same of Chloé," Alya reminded him, "and even she was willing to kill. And it didn't work out too well for her in the end." Adrien grit his teeth, holding back how much her words stung, but there was no point in arguing with her. They would gain no ground that way.

Monokuma appeared then to give them the next file for the case, vanishing as quickly as he had come. Adrien scanned through information quickly: The victims are Myléne Hapréle, the Ultimate Activist, and Max Kanté, the Ultimate Programmer. Both were found in the science classroom's storage room. Their time of death is somewhere in the range of 11:30 AM to 2:00 PM. There are no superficial injuries.

"Huh, that's weird," Adrien commented. Marinette and Alya leaned in to look at what he was indicating. "There's no cause of death written in here. Did Monokuma just forget?"

"If a specific piece of information is omitted from the Monokuma File, then that must mean that this information could incriminate the actual killer." Maddie glanced over to them briefly, having heard their discussion. "Monokuma wouldn't want to make this easy for us, after all."

Adrien swallowed, knowing that the brunette was right. If they identified the cause of death, it would no doubt lead them straight to the killer.

"Monokuma File #3" has been added to the Truth Bullets section of your Student Handbook

"Alright, everyone," Alya addressed. "Me, Maddie, Adrien, and Marinette are going to stay here to investigate the crime scene. The rest of you, search for Nino. And tell him he better be prepared to explain himself." The others rushed off without any protest, leaving the four of them with the bodies of their dead friends. Without much thought, Adrien threw himself into the investigation, just like so many times before.

Maddie knelt by Max's corpse, perusing the bloody visage. "Something interesting?" Adrien joined her, matching her kneeling position. The brunette gently grasped the late programmer's chin tilting it to the side. "You see that?" she indicated, pointing at the unscrupulous but apparent hole in his neck. "It's the same wound that Myléne's body has."

"You're sure?" Maddie nodded. "It's the same location with the same kind of precision. Our killer has experience in dealing fatal blows." Adrien shivered at that; could one of them really be that used to killing? If so, why wait until now to commit a double homicide? "Can you figure out what the murder weapon is just by looking at this?"

The unknown Ultimate put a hand to her chin in thought. "Not yet," she admitted. "But I believe it'll become clearer as this investigation progresses. However, this was most definitely done with a blade."

"Victim's Puncture Wounds" was added to the Truth Bullets section of your Student Handbook

"Hey, I know it might be weird to say this," Adrien said, "but you seem unusually comfortable around dead bodies. Do you think it might have something to do with your talent?"

"No." Maddie was quick to answer. "I've..." She hesitated, not wanting to continue but forcing herself anyways. "I've... gotten used to the sight of them. Back in America." Adrien knew what she meant and immediately felt guilty; the states had been hit hard by the Tragedy, so much so that the democratic government system had completely collapsed in a matter of hours. Paris had had its own share of riots and looters from the Tragedy, not caring in the least how they hurt or killed people. He could only imagine what America had been like when society collapsed. From what he had heard, the entire U.S. citizen population had been cut down to nearly half. It was a wonder that Maddie was even standing here with them today.

There was a bloody canvas sheet that accompanied the bodies. "This was taken from the art room, right?" Marinette inquired. Maddie nodded in confirmation. "Yes, that's where we initially found Myléne's body. The killer must have used it to move the corpses. No blood would have been dragged across the floors, like how Alya did."

The journalist bristled but ignored the comment. "They couldn't have moved both of them at the same time, though," she pointed out, adjusting her glasses. "The paper would rip in their hands if they tried."

"Yes, that's true," Maddie acknowledged. "They would have to transport them one at a time. Hence all the confusion and running around. It was all meant to be a distraction. The jig would be up if any one of us caught them in the act."

"Bloody Canvas" was added to the Truth Bullets section of the Student Handbook

It was at this point that the quartet decided to shift their investigation's focal point. "Markov," Alya addressed the robot A.I., "did anyone figure out how to reprogram you?"

"No, Alya," Markov stated. "My creator ordered me to go to the computer lab to see if I could access any cable lines, thus providing a faster route to the servers." He hovered in the air in front of the students, but sunk a few inches with sadness, it seemed. "However, that endeavor failed."

"Something doesn't add up here." Alya turned to Maddie, her lenses flashing. "What makes you say that?" The brunette levelled her gaze. "Why would Max order Markov to search a place where he knew could be easily overlooked by us?" Her blue eyes narrowed, musing. "Especially since Max himself told us that Markov was missing."

"Are you saying that, when he told us that, he was lying?" Marinette's blue orbs widened, processing this information. Maddie simply crossed her arms. "It's possible," she said. "As for why, that has yet to be discovered."

"Markov's Account" has been added to the Truth Bullets section of your Student Handbook

It was then that Juleka appeared at the doorway. "I-I'm sorry, I know y-you're busy but-!"

"We are," Alya said.

"-but we found Nino!" The four of them automatically went on high alert, sprinting through the halls at the gothic girl's summons. Funnily enough, it was in the locker room where everyone was gathered around one locker that had banging coming from the inside. Maddie ceremoniously opened it, in which Nino came tumbling out, along with a few scattered papers. "Ugh," he groaned, rubbing at his head. "What happened? Why was I stuffed in there?"

"Why don't you tell us?" This came from Kagami, who had stooped over to take hold of the papers. After glancing over them, she held them up to show them to the boy. "While I don't think an excuse would help, I would still like to hear it anyway." The papers held detailed schematics of different rooms, as well as traced routes to take inside the school.

"What the hell, dude?!" Nino looked taken aback. "Those aren't mine! I've never seen 'em in my life!"

"They're not?" Kagami questioned, raising a condescending eyebrow. "Then why were you carrying them?"

"How am I supposed to know?" The DJ's cheeks were red and hot, embarrassed. "Someone jumped me, ya hear? And I was really stupid. Someone slipped me a note to go meet them in the cafeteria. Of course, I went there like a dumbass, and it was lights out from there."

"Where is this note, may I ask?" Alya questioned. Nino perked up, beginning to rummage through his pockets. "I should still have it," he said, but as his search slowly revealed that there was nothing to show, his expression became shocked and confused. "I swear, I just had it."

"Unbelievable." Alya's exasperated utterance was punctuated by pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "You at least have to have evidence to back up your claim."

"I just had it, I swear!" Nino exclaimed, looking more panicked. "You guys gotta believe me!" But looking around at the sea of faces, it was clear that everyone doubted the Ultimate DJ. Adrien himself could agree that things didn't look too good for Nino right now, but there was still this nagging feeling he had at the back of his brain.

*Ding dong bing bong*

"Time's up, kiddos! Head on over to the courtroom now! Giddyup, git!" It seemed that they had no more time to dwell on those things.

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Author's Note: I almost forgot to upload this today. I've been busy with my PS5 and, apparently, Lego Ninjago is more of an underrated show than I initially thought. Also, with the way this chapter is going, it's pretty obvious who the killer is in this case. But to know for sure, stay tuned for next week!

I am officially COVID-19 free and I'm back on campus at school. But I will be returning to my hometown this weekend for its annual anime convention.

Praise is appreciated and constructive criticism is encouraged

See you next time!

-The_Mayflower