It was a silent elevator ride down to the class trial room. Usually Spade and Akik would discuss what they knew in quiet, however there was nothing to talk about. Spade didn't quite have a lead, really. But he couldn't admit that. He had to stay confident, or despair would win him over.

The elevator door slid open, and both Spade and Akik took their places in the circle. Every other spot was filled by a portrait besides Gradient's empty stand. Somehow he felt much more at ease with that spot vacant.

Monokumadi sat as always on her throne, wagging her tail excitedly in enthusiasm for the trial. But as the two remaining students assumed their places, she stood up in her chair and looked down at them.

"Here's the deal," She said. "If you two can pinpoint who the mastermind is, you'll be freed, the game will be over, and both I and the mastermind will be punished accordingly. But if you don't..."

The headmaster giggled. "Then game over... for you. Understood?"

Akik and Spade both nodded.

"Alright!" Monokumadi clapped. "Shall we begin?"

Almost on cue the elevator opened. Everyone turned to the now open doors, curious as to who could possibly be coming down.

It was Gradient. His arm had stopped bleeding, though it didn't look too much like it, considering that side of his jacket was soaked with dark red. His hair was a little messy from pulling at it, but he didn't seem to be in the pits of delirium anymore.

"...Gradient, what the hell are you doing here?" Akik said, blatantly deadpan.

He smirked a little. "What, you were gonna start without me?"

"...yes, actually."

"Well, we don't all get what we want, do we?" He shrugged as well as he could manage, and took his place. "Besides, maybe I'll be useful to you guys."

"I highly doubt it," Spade muttered to himself. But he shook his head a little, keeping the comment aside. "Fine. Just don't try and be a distraction, alright?"

Gradient smiled. "I can't promise anything."

Spade just sighed. "Can we get this over with?"

Monokumadi nodded with a flick of her tail. "I'm waiting on you guys."

"Okay," Akik said. "So what do we know about this so far?"

"Well, I'm certain the headmaster is not the culprit at this point," Spade responded. "If I had to assume, she's dead. Not too much of a surprise if she was wanting the best for the students, otherwise she would've tried to stop this by now."

"That book kinda showed everything we needed to know about her," Gradient pointed out with a light chuckle.

He was... somewhat right. Akik spoke up again. "So would it be between all of us?"

"I wouldn't say that," Spade said. "Feigning one's death isn't unheard of. Any of the previous students could possibly be the mastermind, disguised as just another victim."

"That's... true..." Akik thought for a moment. "But we have no leads."

"I think that Tonix guy coulda done it," Gradient said. "He's smart enough, and he caused his own death, which could've been entirely fake."

"It wasn't him," Akik immediately shot an angry glare at Gradient. "He's innocent, I know he is."

Gradient put his hand up by his head. "Damn, chill out, I was just giving a possibility."

"I do doubt it could be Tonix, but the theory is still on the table," Spade said to settle the tension. Gradient shot Akik a smirk. Akik glared daggers at him back before focusing back on the trial.

It was silent for a moment more as they thought until Monokumadi chimed in. "I'll just say now, you're right when you say they're one of the dead ones. None of you. At least as far as I know."

She giggled. Akik rolled his eyes.

"Well, that at least narrows it down a little," Spade said. "If I had to say anyone in particular, I'd probably guess it could be Fabian. However, it seemed he'd died again after returning here from... wherever everyone goes after being killed. Meaning he was, indeed, killed in his execution."

"So that eliminates Xerc and Dusk as well, because we saw them," Akik said with a nod.

"Anatox probably doesn't have the guts to pull this thing off if it would endanger her job, I don't think it was her," Gradient prompted, giving an actual, useful piece of information for once.

"That sounds about right," Spade nodded to him. "So that leaves Octavia, Addie, Cinder, and possibly Tonix."

"Why would 541 and Dusk lie about who wasn't present, then?" Akik questioned. "They said all of them were back at the... cabin?" Akik shook his head. "Wherever they were."

"I... don't know," Spade said. "Maybe the mastermind forced them not to."

"That means that the mastermind knew about them," Akik said. "Meaning it was most likely after multiple people had died, since Monokumadi implied it was an accident that they were here..."

Everyone looked at each other. There were only three, really two, suspects left to narrow down.

Gradient stared off into space for a moment before he blinked, realization crossing his face.

"...I think I know who it was."

Surprised, Spade and Akik looked at Gradient.

"I was wandering around a few days ago, since there's a shocking lack of things for someone with my interests to do without consequence," he started with a slightly annoyed tone. The tone faded as he proceeded. "I managed to find Addie and Xerc, the day they'd gotten into a fight. I was there the whole time, no one noticed."

He smirked. "I'm pretty good at hiding in plain sight if you haven't been able to tell by now, it's really quite simple-"

"Gradient, where are you going with this?" Spade interrupted before he could get off topic.

"Right, right," Gradient nodded with a laugh. "I saw what happened. And I didn't say anything at the time, but... he was telling the truth. Addie was, oddly enough, some sort of vessel of possession."

Spade and Akik glanced at each other.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Akik asked, now more annoyed than anything.

"I say what I wanna say, if it gives me some benefit," Gradient snapped. He calmed down quickly. "But that's beside the point. What I'm saying is, some demons tend to have healing properties while within a vessel. As long as the injury isn't too severe and it's not a head injury, the demon can usually heal it quite easily. Meaning..."

He smiled. "That stab wound of hers would've been no issue for the demon controlling her to fix right up and help her go along her merry way. And she most likely knew this, and would get them to heal her body immediately. However, she waited until after the crime scene had been investigated. Why?"

"...Because she was intending to fake her death." It made sense. All of it. The pieces clicked in Spade's head, everything falling into place as Gradient's words sunk in. Whether he was telling the truth, it was a dangerous gamble, but they had no other leads.

The students all exchanged a glance. Spade looked at Monokumadi.

"We've made a decision."

Monokumadi wagged her tail in anticipation. "And?"

Spade took a deep breath.

"The mastermind is Addie, the Ultimate Writer."

Monokumadi tapped her claws on the throne's armrest. "Final answer?"

"Yes."

"Well, then let's just see if you're right!"

Suddenly, Monokumadi's red eye faded from  its usual glow, and limply she fell to the floor. The lights shut down. There was a loud shattering of glass, as well as something small and sharp hitting Spade's hand. He didn't feel blood where it'd hit, though it stung a good bit, so he assumed it must've been a small piece without much damage.

Quickly, the lights turned back on. Addie's portrait had been knocked to the ground, the glass having shattered all over the floor.

And standing in its place was a girl, wearing a blazer and pants near identical to Monokumadi's, with black and white converse and a necklace with what seemed to be a charm in the shape of Monokumadi's eye on it.

Addie, the ultimate writer, smiled innocently at the three remaining students.

"What's up, buttercups?"

-

1377 words

When you're not allowed to say "what's up motherf*ckers" so you just put the first word that comes to mind-

Anyway yay Gradient was useful for once in his goddamn life