Fourth Execution

A cold chill went through me, and I felt my breath catch in my chest. I couldn't move.

"Wait, what?" Leon asked. "What the hell do you mean she's not the Blackened?!"

Chihiro shrunk down, hugging himself in fear. "Does... does that mean...?"

Kenchikka sighed. "Unfortunately, yes. Picked wrong, so -"

"Let me finish," Monorakun admonished Kenchikka.

Chiaki looked up at Monorakun, along with the rest of us. "Wait. You haven't said what the good news is yet, Monorakun. I would like to hear it, I think."

Kaito agreed, as did Chihiro. "Yeah, let's hear it! What's this good news?"

Monorakun responded, "The good news is, officially, the true Blackened is Taeko Yasuhiro."

We all exchanged confused glances. Who?

"Ummmm," Chiaki responded. "There is nobody here named-"

"How DARE you use that name in my presence!" A voice rang out angrily.

I looked over at where the voice came from, the reality of the situation finally dawning upon me.

Celeste was fuming, glaring at Monorakun, her fists clenched on her podium.

"Awwww, sorry, Taeko," Monorakun continued. "Anyway, the good news is that Taeko Yasuhiro is, indeed, a student here. She commonly goes by the alias Celestia Ludenberg, or Celeste. Therefore, despite getting her name wrong, you still, technically, picked the correct Blackened anyway. So...Congratulations!"

Celeste, meanwhile, began nearly hyperventilating with rage. "My. Name. Is. Celestia. Fucking. LUDENBERG!!" She screamed at Monorakun, who made no indication of hearing her.

I felt the platform we're all standing on spin, with Celestia's back now facing towards the Execution Room. The door opened, and a manacle shot out, clamping around Celeste's neck and dragging her backwards. We followed her into the Execution Room, some of us still in shock over nearly being executed ourselves, and others in horror at the fate that would await Celeste.

Celeste was pulled against one of the side walls, being held up by the manacle while still allowing her feet to plant firmly on the ground. The metal gate slammed shut in front of us, separating us from her.

Inside the Execution Room was a table containing a deck of cards, inside an automatic card dealer. On the other side of the room from Celeste was a truck, sitting idly on the other side of the enclosure, its engine turned off. A sign above us said, "Taeko Yasuhiro's Execution: 52 Card Pick-Up".

The automatic dealer was raised on a wire, and turned itself on, aiming itself at Celeste. Suddenly, cards began flying out of the dealer, one at a time. The cards were razor-sharp, and were fired directly at Celeste's body as she was restrained by the manacle against the side wall.

Celeste winced as a card slashed her outer thigh, then another buried itself into her breast. The next card dug into her shoulder, while another card sliced her hip. The next two razor-like playing cards found her abdomen, while the following one scored a direct hit into her stomach.

We watched in horror as all 52 cards were fired into various parts of Celeste's body; her arms and legs were covered in playing cards and blood, and her chest, stomach, and abdomen had cards sticking out of them in various spots. As blood trickled down her body, Celeste tried her best to remain stoic, despite the pain clearly wracking her body.

After the final card was fired at Celeste, scoring a hit into her ribcage, the automatic dealer, still suspended by the wire string, returned itself to the table with a soft landing. Celeste was breathing heavily, her pupils dilated as her body appeared to be going into shock from the blood loss.

Suddenly, the pickup truck started itself up. It revved its engine several times, and deep down inside, I knew exactly what was coming next.

Putting itself into gear, the truck drove straight at Celeste, as fast as it could go. As we watched in horror, the pickup truck slammed into Celeste's body, completely totaling the truck as it slammed into Celeste. Celeste coughed up blood from the impact before her body went limp, her head smacking off of the hood of the truck with a thud. The truck then shut itself off, the front end smashed in as liquid started leaking underneath it. It smelled like antifreeze to me, sickly sweet, which turned my stomach when compared to the scene before me.

Celestia Ludenberg... or should I say Taeko Yasuhiro?... was dead.

We left the Execution Room and the Courtroom in stunned silence. First, we thought we selected the wrong Blackened, dooming us all to die while the Blackened would go free. Then, it was revealed that Celestia Ludenberg... wasn't Celeste at all. She was someone else completely: Taeko Yasuhiro. Then... we all watched her die a bloody, terrible death.

I returned to my dorm room, unaware of what time it even was anymore. I was so stunned, I didn't even eat dinner. I just sat on my bed, staring off into space. We had become SO CLOSE to dying together, and only a technicality over a student's real name saved us all from a mass execution.

I wasn't hungry. I wasn't thirsty. I wasn't even bored. I was... just...

Numb. Just numb.

I knew tomorrow, I would have to take my Masculinizing Hormone Therapy shot, which I took weekly on Tuesdays. Tomorrow, the Fifth Floor would be opened to us all. Tomorrow, Makoto Naegi, Mukuro Ikusaba, and Celeste Ludenberg would not be joining us for breakfast, ever again.

And tomorrow, we would need to work harder than ever for a way out of this hellish TUTEC building.