Despair's Insanity - an II x DR fic

AGT - 3

Everyone's phone had gone off due to some data cards being updated to our current information. The rest of the survivors had been in the lobby waiting for us, with a big table, but nobody bothered to say hi; we all wanted to check and see if we would get an uplifting sort of message. A reminder that the nightmare would be in the past.

Unfortunately, these cards were worse than anything Fan had written before. Ominous messages hidden in text too light for me to read at first, but eventually read like threats, and direct insults to multiple people. I took a moment to calm myself down, knowing that Fan's "pretending" had given me quite the break over these few horrid weeks, but the others weren't as happy. They had no reason to be.

Trophy, who'd still been standing next to me, suddenly turned into a whirlwind blur as he chucked his phone against the wall across the room at a force so strong the phone completely shattered before even hitting the ground. Bomb and Apple had grabbed ahold of each other as they'd yelped at the phone soaring just past their faces, but Microphone hardly flinched at all, her softened gaze steady on Trophy.

"Hey... take a breath," Microphone mumbled, stepping closer toward Trophy, whose fists were now shaking with what I could've only assumed was anger. I stepped away from the pair to make sure I didn't get swung at out of nowhere, but Trophy stood perfectly still. "He's doing this on purpose to make us upset. I mean- did you really think he would just let us have some fun at the end of all thi-"

"I CAN'T FUCKING TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Trophy screamed. "I DON'T CARE WHAT HE WANTS! I DON'T FUCKING CARE ABOUT ANYTHING WITH THAT FUCKING FREAK-ASS FAN, OK?! HE RUINED EVERYTHING FOR ME! I HAVE NOTHING! YOU DON'T FUCKING GET IT BECAUSE YOU WEREN'T FINALLY ABLE TO BE HAPPY LIKE I WAS! HE LIED TO ME!"

The two were practically standing off, with Trophy leaning so close to her face I would've thought he was trying to headbutt her. She hadn't moved a muscle despite being screamed at so violently; instead, she shook her head.

"I know. You're not saying anything we haven't already said. But listen, if everything was so terrible, why would anyone be trying anymore?"

"Cause you're anxious to have people like you. You're a people pleaser, and that's all you'll ever be!"

"Well- fuckin' duh," she replied with a laugh, "thanks for the info man! But, like- seriously, just take a breath. Breathe in for a few seconds, then breathe out." She reached her hand out, her palm up and open toward Trophy. He stared blankly at her hand for a second before his still shaking hand rested atop of hers. "Dude, seriously, you can't hold your breath that long."

The sharp gasp was a little alarming, but Trophy's face had lightened up as he took a deep breath in. "I just don't-"

"Don't worry about the cards, ok? Why don't you go upstairs and take a second to relax. I'll bring you some warmed up leftovers later if you want, too."

"...right," Trophy mumbled. "Thank you."

He ignored the rest of us and went straight for the stairs, and it was now down to four. I hadn't noticed, but Bomb and Apple had set up the table with food while that whole interaction had happened. The smell had hit like a truck- I hadn't had pancakes in what felt like centuries! As soon as we all got to sit down and start eating, I began my pancake marathon. Not only were they amazing, fluffy and not burnt, I hadn't gotten to eat real food since this whole thing started! Applesauce, granola, soup, nothing... no more of that!

The mood at the table had lifted, but stayed slightly awkward since we all ate in silence. Of course, what was our luck to keep it that way? Our good old friend and host had shown up, walking over to the table this time rather than teleporting everywhere with his fancy smoke.

"How are my favorite contestants doing?~" Fan's voice felt off, like it was deeper and... uglier, but the little coo at the end made me not end up thinking too hard about it. That's Fan alright. Creepy Fan.

The only one of us who wanted to bother responding was Bomb, who'd barely taken any pancakes to eat... though I wondered if he had any pancakes at all since his plate was free of crumbs or syrup residue. "We're fine. B-Bug off."

"But- I have one last challenge for you guys! Not a motive- but another trial- just like I promised!" We all audibly groaned at Fan's enthusiasm. "Oh shut up... anyway! One of you five is not who you think they are."

"...What d-does th-t-that mean?" Bomb stood up from his chair to start picking up empty plates, but stayed relatively close by the table.

"One of you five is a traitor! Like a 'working with me and Fan since the beginning' traitor! Every single thing, they had some idea about as they helped us make this game as fun as it has been. And they don't even care about all the dead people. Isn't that horrible?!"

A traitor? One of us? I couldn't exactly think of a reason for any of us to have done this- especially with everything we'd collectively lost! Maybe it was a bad deal- a lose-lose for the traitor of some kind...? My gaze shifted to the only person who didn't have personal stakes in the beginning: Apple.

Her eyes were wide as she gawked at Fan, shaking her head with disbelief. "No- No way! Nobody would've thought to do something this awful other than you!"

"Hm." Fan smirked. "You're an idiot. You have until everyone's testimony has been heard to deliberate. Once you hear all five stories, the trial will begin. So keep that in mind, and take your time!" Just like that, a puff of smoke took Fan away yet again, and the four of us were left sitting there. Apple glanced at Bomb and tapped his shoulder to whisper something in his ear, but he seemingly ignored her.

"So..." Bomb started, clearing his throat, "what d-d-do we do?"

Apple raised her hand, and Bomb raised a brow at her. "You should eat some pancakes."

"I did."

"N-"

"G-Guys, this is o-o-our fin-nal chance to get o-out of hhere. We sh-should get this done now." Apple opened her mouth up to talk again, but Bomb pat her shoulder, so she instead started to pout. "Where do we ssssstart? Who do we start w-with...?"

For a moment, we all got quiet again. For once, I decided to speak up. "Well, is there anywhere we can go for possible clues?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. Bomb shrugged and pulled out a keycard from his pocket. My exclaim was immediate as I pointed to the little card in his hand. "Wait!- Why do YOU have a staff only key card??"