Ace Attorney Investigations: Virtual Despair

Chapter 5: Flawed Punishment - Part 5 (Deadly Life)

~ Ultimate Software Engineer Zachary Moore's POV ~

"Time's up...?" I repeated. "What do you mean?! We barely had any time to figure anything out!"

"I'm feeling especially impatient today!" Monokuma cried. "It's your own fault for taking so long to decide on someone! Just pick a killer!"

Everyone else was getting ready to vote, but I had no idea what to do. I didn't believe that either Akari or Niamh killed Botan, or that they worked together to do it. I didn't believe that Akari was some kind of traitor. I didn't believe anything that had happened in this trial so far.

So I did the only thing I could, to at least try and stop everyone from getting falsely accused.

"Okaaay! Looks like everyone's plugged in their votes!" Monokuma cried. He paused, deflating slightly. "Waaait a sec..."

"Wh-What is it?" Angelica asked, her voice trembling with fear.

"Mr. Moore!" Monokuma cried, stomping his little feet. "Just what do you think you're playing at?!"

I shrugged. "I'm not sure what you mean." I lied.

"You voted for yourself!" Monokuma yelled, his red eye glowing angrily. "I never said that was allowed, you know! You can't just vote for yourself!"

"I don't care." I grumbled. "I'm not voting for Niamh or Akari. Neither of them would kill anyone."

Monokuma paused, still swinging his arms around madly. "Fine, fine." He eventually sighed. "That doesn't matter. We still have everyone else's votes to count!"

"E-Everyone else's?" I repeated. "Don't be ridiculous! Nobody else would have voted for them?! Right, guys?!"

I glanced around at the rest of my friends, hoping for a chorus of agreement, but the room remained silent. Angelica, Jeff, Kyle and Jordan all avoided my eyes, looking guilty in some form or another. "G-Guys...?" I whispered. "You didn't vote for them... did you?"

"It was the only way to survive." Jordan said. "It was either one of them or all of us."

"The majority vote turned out to be quite interesting, to say the least!" Monokuma exclaimed. "Interesting and correct, before you start panicking. The person who very brutally killed Botan was... Akari Hinata!"

"Wh-What?!" Akari gasped, her hands flying to her mouth as her face paled. "N-No... I didn't-!"

"Akari is the deceitful traitor that's been working against you this whole time!" Monokuma continued. "The only reason she joined your class was to plunge you in this despair-inducing life or death game mere hours later!"

"Th-That's a lie!" Akari shrieked, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "Please, please believe me...!"

"What were you all thinking?!" I yelled, turning to the others. "Are you insane?! You know what happens now, right?!"

"The execution..." Kyle whispered.

Jordan, on the other hand, merely shrugged it off. "If she's the traitor, then she deserves it. Although I've grown quite bored of the over the top executions, at least it kills them in the end."

That was it. That was the final straw.

I walked over to Jordan, my right hand curling into a fist as it collided with his jaw, sending him sprawling backwards. Jordan collided with the wall, falling to the ground. He didn't get up after that, eyes firmly closed shut.

Angelica screamed, covering her eyes with her hands. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I tried to shrug it off before I realized it was Niamh. "Calm down." She said. "We can get out of this somehow. I promise."