Will practically screams as we set foot onto the third island and look to our left. It's a movie theater.

"My home away from home!" he gasps, and I run after him.

"The marquee outside said it's showing something called... Dementophobia?" I call. He stops dead in his tracks.

"That's my most famous film!" he practically screams. "You know how many awards that f*ckin' thing won??"

"...A lot?" I guess.

"Damn right!"

I chase after Will as he sprints through the front doors and through the lobby. By the time I make it inside, he's vanished into the viewing room itself. Given how he'd been back at the kitchen just twenty-ish minutes ago, he's completely flipped his mood on its back.

I find him sitting in the front row, looking up at the big screen in front of him with wide eyes. I say nothing, just sit next to him and start watching. I don't think much of the short film at first- it's the same small room with the same small table and the same flickering light again and again. And there's only one actor. But there's something about the angles and shots that makes it so much more. The shots start out smooth and long, but slowly begin to get shorter and shakier throughout. The flickering light becomes an epileptic hazard, and my soul nearly flies out of my body as the actor shoves the table to the ground, the crash being the loudest of the few sounds made in the entire thing. There's just something so increasingly unsettling about the film, and once the screen goes black, I'm just staring with my mouth open in shock and my eyes wide. Will sees my face and laughs.

"Did you like it?" he asks, his legs bouncing in anticipation.

"I mean, yeah," I say. "It's really neat."

"Thanks! It's hard to nail a good psychological thriller. Stuff like The Shining and Seven hits the nail on the head flawlessly, so I made it my project to, with the lowest budget possible, make a short film that captures the same energy of being in your own head."

"So it was just a way to save a f*ck ton of money?"

Will shrugs. "I mean, I literally just used a spare room in my house and repurposed it. We didn't have to buy a set, and the actor was a friend of mine. We didn't have to spend more than, like, $200, mostly on fixing up the room, and we made the most ridiculous profit off of it once it got mainstream."

"That's... really impressive," I comment.

"'Course, my parents made the two of us put most of the money towards our savings accounts."

"I'm not surprised." We stare at each other for a minute before laughing.

"Hey, I'm sure you've won prizes for your art and your parents have told you the same thing," he defends.

"Of course! You're not going to be spending all that right away, Sophie. You should be smart about saving all this for when you need it, Sophie," I recall, putting on a fake parent voice to emphasize my point.

Will grins. "Parents. They never change."

He then goes quiet before mumbling, "I miss 'em."

"Me too," I agree.

Another beat of silence passes before Will shakes it off and looks back up at the screen. "It was nice seeing my work on the big screen again. It reminds me why I love doing what I do, the results. Seeing all my hard work pay off in the end."

"I think a lot of us here can probably agree," I say. "I mean, I know I can, with my art and stuff."

"Y'know, we're not too different, Soph. We both work in the digital field. And personally, I think filmmaking is an art of sorts."

"I guess that's true."

"Damnit! Did it just end?" We hear from the back of the theater as Furfur enters, leaning against the doorway with her head down in disappointment.

"Aw, did we miss it?" Caim asks as he appears next to her. "I don't even know what show it was but I'm sure we would've loved it!"

Will snorts. "Uh, yeah, I sure hope you would've."

Furfur gives me a look and guesses, "It was one of his works, wasn't it."

I nod just as the loudspeakers crackle to life once more.

"I see that some of you are sad to have missed the film! Well don't worry, films will now be showing 24/7 with 15-minute breaks in between! They will also all be playing in a specific order, so check the lineup to get an idea for when the one you want to see comes back around!" Ace declares before the intercom cuts out again.

"I think that's the first time that the announcement has been about something genuinely good," Will comments.

"What about the announcement that told us the island was unlocked in the first place?" Furfur points out.

Will thinks for a moment. "Meh, I'm sure Monokuma had other reasons for letting us over here. This one explicitly stated something positive, not something we could interpret as positive."

"But what if I decide to interpret this one as negative because you might drag my *ss over here to watch one of your films?" she fires back.

Caim and I jerk our heads to look at each other and seem to silently agree that now is a good time to leave. We slip out of the room just as we hear the argument start up, and once we're outside of the theater, we laugh.

"I'm glad we got out of there in time," I sigh, a big relieved smile on my face.

Caim giggles. "Me too. I wouldn't ever want to be on the receiving end of a roast like that. I doubt Will's very happy now."

"Honestly, I kind of feel bad for the guy. He was just excited about the film we just watched being his most famous one."

"Oh. Well, I'm sure Furfur will realize that and they'll both calm down," he insists.

We soon stumble across a strange-looking open-air market reminiscent of part of a bustling city. As we enter, I quickly notice that every stand and shop has something in common.

"That's a lot of electronics," Caim observes.

Different types of TVs, monitors, just every kind of electronic lines each storefront.

"Now you see why I was holdin' out on you with your iPad, kid?" And lo and behold, Monokumace has made another fantastically random appearance from god-knows-where.

"So, this is great and all, but can I just get my tablet to work again instead?" I ask.

Monokumace blinks before grumbling bitterly, "Well, I suppose you can just do that instead. Not like this entire area is more for the Ultimate Digital Artist than everyone else or anything."

Still, they begrudgingly extend their tiny hand and I, after a few long seconds of fighting against everything in me that tells me to not give my beloved iPad to the murder dragon, hand over my tablet. They nearly drop it once I let go, which goes to show just how tiny and light this creature of pure evil is.

"Okay, this just needs to charge. That's it. I'll get it back to you once it's ready, kid." And then they're gone.

"Um, Sophie?" Caim asks. "Do you think that-"

"Nope," I say with a pained smile. I'm regretting my actions already. "I'm never getting that thing back now."

Then, I just turn and leave. I feel like I just handed over part of my soul. My one source of comfort, gone just like that. I hear Caim's footsteps against the dirt path as I drag myself to the next building, a god damn motel. I ignore said motel, because what's the point? I've lost my one pride and joy. I'm just Sophie now, and no, not in the "I'm just Sophie and that's enough" way. The only "stuff" I'm "great at doing" is gone.

"Maybe they were telling the truth?" Caim reassures me as he falls into stride with me.

I don't answer. I just lost my baby, my pride and joy, my One Ring, my Elder Wand, my... you get the point. That tablet has been with me through thick and thin, and I was stupid enough to just hand it over to f*cking Monokumace.

"Is, uh, she okay?" Zeben calls to us as we pass the motel. I don't even look up at him, just keep walking.

"I... I think so?" Caim calls back. He's wrong. I am not okay. I am so not okay that I plan to sink to the bottom of the Mariana Trench or whatever the Jabberwock Island equivalent is and just-

"Wowzers, you really have a connection with that thing, dontcha?" I nearly plow over Monokumace when it takes me a second too long to realize who's speaking. The little sh*t is standing just inches from my feet.

"Be careful where you step! I already warned you that violence against the headmaster is strictly prohibited," they remind me. "Plus, I wouldn't have been able to give you this back!"

I don't even realize what they're holding out to me until they jab it into my stomach. I blink. It's my tablet. Immediately, my body and mind are both flooded with joy as I grab my beloved device and hug it to my chest.

"How did it get charged so fast?" Caim asks Monokumace.

The headmaster shrugs. "I'm a robot myself; I have easy access to only the fastest of chargers. That thing was all ready to go in five minutes tops."

Just to make sure they're telling the truth, though, I open the case and hold the power button for a few seconds. To my absolute delight, the screen turns on, revealing my familiar lockscreen- a digital piece of silhouettes of two people laying in the dark grass and pointing up at the stars starting to emerge in the sky as the sunset nears its end. A piece of art that I made. Meaning this is my tablet.

"Oh my god, she really loves that tablet," Monokumace comments to Caim.

"Yeah, she made it obvious," Caim responds.

After I tuck my tablet back into my bag, I give Monokumace a nod before gesturing for Caim to leave with me. Honestly, I considered saying thank you, but then again, Ace did trap all of us in a sick murder game in which four people died. So no, I won't thank them.

"It's nice to see you back in a good mood," Caim says after a minute. "I was worried that you were going to stay upset like that... like, indefinitely."

"Eh, I probably would've gotten over it at some point," I respond. Would I have? That's a good question. I have no idea.

Ugh, kids these days with their screens, they're so obsessed! Okay, well you try parting ways with the tablet your parents got you when you were a kid and told them that you wanted to be an artist when you grow up, and said tablet now has all of your work since then for you to look back on and remember where you started. Yeah, that's what I though. B*tch.

We round the corner to find ourselves in front of a large building. We exchange curious glances before entering. The building is very big, the most noticeable part being the large stage at one end of the room. Azrael stands in front of the stage, seemingly deep in observation.

"You should perform on it! I mean, you're the only musician we have here," he says loudly.

For a split second, I think he's talking to me and get very confused. Until I see Iris suddenly emerge from a side room, shutting the door behind him.

"Nah," he laughs. "I don't think I have it in me to do any more performing. I mean, I don't really get why anyone would want to see me playing the flute for more than two minutes at a time."

"What?" I practically yell. Both of them turn towards me, confused.

"Sophie's right!" Caim agrees. "We'd love to hear you play!"

Iris turns a deep shade of pink, tugging on his sleeve nervously. "It's really not anything special. I'm not that good."

Azrael shakes his head. "He's been doing this since day one. At this point, I'm worried that he forgot why he got invited to Hope's Peak."

"Why invite a flautist?" Iris asks, sighing deeply. "You've got a combat pro, a digital artist, several scientists, an engineer, and so many other insanely talented people.  So why not invite the ultimate musician, if there is one?  It's a genuine question."

"Just play the damn flute," Furfur shouts to him as she enters.

Iris yelps "Okay, okay!" before running up onto the stage, grabbing a stool set in the corner, and then removing his flute from its bag.

I can't tell you exactly what went down over the course of the next three or four minutes, but it was magical. Even though I'm pretty sure the song was not meant to be heavenly, as it sounded an awful lot like "Rush E".  Regardless, it makes me regret not sticking with an instrument. 

"Was it okay?" the flautist asks after he finished.

Everyone stares at him in dead, confused silence.  The hell do you mean, "was it okay"??

"I'll take that as a maybe," Iris sighs before going to pack up.

***

(2249 words)

Another kind of filler-y chapter, but I love getting to give little peeks into the other characters' lives and personalities!

Also Sophie speedrunning depression wooo