Chapter (31):quick truth part 2
"And now we've discovered the truth! I told you guys, she's the culprit, but you refuse to believe me!"
"You're rig.... wait a minute, why does the picture look blurry and weird?"
"What?"
Chloe and Andrew looked at the picture and indeed noticed it was blurry and strange in some areas. Soon, Nathan discovered the truth about the picture.
"Wait, this is an AI-generated picture! This picture isn't real!" Nathan pointed to a spot in the picture. "Look at this, this tree has a weird shape-it even has a hand! Isn't that super weird?"
When Andrew looked at the picture, he saw it too. "You're right, that is weird. Does this mean the picture was made by AI?"
"Wait, don't jump to conclusions, there's no____"
Ding!
"Hmm? There's a reply."
[Dagger22]: "This is an AI-generated picture. It completely ruins your theory, dude. Next time, edit it and make it more realistic."
When Chloe saw the comment, she felt defeated, while Nathan smirked slightly in response.
"Ha! I told you it wasn't real in the first place!"
"Why are you so happy, Nathan?"
"I'm not happy, I'm just stating the facts, that's all."
"Wait, he wrote something else!" Andrew pointed.
[Emoman62]: "Okay, I admit it. This picture isn't the real one. The real picture was accidentally deleted from my device, but this one is the closest to it."
[Emoman62]: "Don't get me wrong, I'm not faking it, but I was scared when I first took it-especially because of that creepy guy with the weird, tiger eyes."
"Aha! I was completely right! She's the culprit!"
"What are you talking about, Chloe? He mentioned-"
"Hello? Think about it, genius! Anyone would know who he's referring to!"
"What do you mean?"
"She means Frank, Nathan."
"Andrew, are you serious right now?! We both saw his miserable state. There's no way he could've pulled something like this off!"
"For God's sake, are you really that stupid? It was a trick!"
"Ha...? ... (⊙ᗩ⊙')"
"I mean, think about it! Frank, with a broken arm and half his bones nearly shattered, could easily defeat Jack? That's exaggerated! He must've never been injured at all-he faked it! And he and Emma have been planning this crime the whole time!"
"But there's no evidence to prove any of this!"
"This is the evidence, you idiot!"
"But we can't take the word of some random person that she's the culprit! We need proof! We need evidence that she's conspiring with him!"
"I'll get the proof!"
Chloe clicked on a tab on the website and entered it, making Nathan feel uneasy as he stared at her suspiciously.
"Chloe, what are you doing?"
"I'm going to create an account on this site and talk to him! Just wait."
"Jesus... (ರ╭╮ರ) ... Chloe, tell me what's wrong with you!"
"Hey, don't touch me!"
"Nathan, stop it! We're not joking around here!"
"I'm serious, Andrew! You two are starting to go crazy over her! Just tell me, for hell's sake, what did she do to make you hate Emma this much? What happened that day was just an unfortunate accident!"
"An unfortunate accident?! And you still think she did it on purpose?!"
"Because she did!"
"Then tell me, Chloe, what would you have done if you were in her place? Go on, tell me if you really think so!"
"Of course... I would've... listened... no... actually... I would've run..."
"See?! That's what I'm talking about! Because no one knows what they'd do in her place! Do you really think Emma had any part in this?!"
"If I were in her place, I wouldn't have hidden and watched people die without doing anything-at the very least!"
"So you're saying you'd rather turn yourself in and die, Andrew?"
"What... I-"
"(Sigh) I can't take this anymore... I've put up with you for too long, but now it's over... I'm leaving."
"Hey, Nathan, where are you going?"
"I'm done with you, Andrew. I'm not- Huh?"
As soon as he opened the door, he saw a shadow in front of him. When he focused, he saw a police uniform, and when he looked up, he saw Andrew's father, Marcus, staring at him like a hawk. Everyone fell silent at the sight, and no one uttered a word.
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In a faces forest... inside a cave...
Grrraaahhh
"Predator...enemy...again!"
Malphas was staring at the Scorpion Man, baring his fangs at him as a threat and pointing his chainsaw toward him. All the Lycan Deer bared their fangs as well.
Meanwhile, the Scorpion Man didn't care about them at all-he was only focused on one target, staring at it now. The two individuals responsible for his current state were right in front of him, and he felt furious.
While all this was happening, Emma's mind was in chaos. The Lycan Deer were surrounding her from all directions, especially Malphas, their leader (the ungrateful one), who also wanted to kill them.
And on top of all this, the Scorpion Man had appeared out of nowhere, as if the entire universe had suddenly turned against her. She suddenly felt like she was no one-it was like being trapped in a cage with a bear and a tiger. No matter where she hid, at least one of them would devour her...
As Emma was thinking of a way to survive this situation, she looked-
"Wow! Hahaha... looks like this is a reunion party! Isn't that right, Emma? And tell me, buddy, why didn't you greet me? Aren't we friends?"
When Smiley spoke, every monster in the cave turned to look at him with threatening glares.
"Oh, Smiley, of all things (🤦), why did you do this?! (╬ )
"What's wrong, Emma? Why are you so angry?"
"We're gonna have a long talk once we get out of here! (╬☉д⊙)⊰⊹ฺ"
"Wahhh... relax! No need for all this tension, haha... (• ▽ •;)"
"ರ╭╮ರ"
"Shh, okay, okay, my bad, it was a mistake, alright? Happy now?"
"You... wait a minute!"
Just as Emma was about to unleash her anger, she noticed something around the Scorpion Man.
Emma looked behind the Scorpion Man and saw a tunnel hole, remembering what had happened before he appeared.
(He didn't come out of nowhere-he dug a tunnel to reach us, which means there's a way out of here!)
"What? Why are you staring at him like that?"
"Because I'm staring at the tunnel, genius! It's our way out of here!"
"Ooooh, I get it. But how do we do that? Oh, let me guess-we kick his ass?"
"No, Smiley, it's simpler than that... we distract him."
"But what about Malphas and his friends?"
"We'll distract them too."
"Both of them? But how?"
"In a crazy way."
"Oh, I love that! But how-"
"Just follow my lead."
"(Deep breath), Scorpion Man, you've finally come!"
"Pred....ator... ally?"
"That's right! And he's here to kick your ass!"
"Come on, buddy, cover me..."
"We...d..... allow... prey...Escape..."
"Oooooo!"
Suddenly, the Lycan Deer rushed toward Emma, chasing her to kill her.
Grrrr... graaah!
The Scorpion Man also lunged at Emma, jumping toward them. Suddenly, Emma activated her fairy shoes and stared at him defiantly.
Boooom!
A smoke wave burst out, and when it cleared, both Emma and Smiley had disappeared-only the corpse of a Lycan Deer remained.
The Scorpion Man stared.
"Predator defies the law!"
Many Lycan Deer charged at the Scorpion Man, who let out a battle cry and fought them as well.
Every monster here forgot the reason they were in this place and focused only on destroying the enemy in front of them.
Meanwhile, Emma and Smiley were speeding through the tunnel. The tunnel was somewhat wide but narrow in some places, and the two were rushing to escape.
"Yo, Emma, what the hell was that?"
"Daaaa! It's a trick"
"If I made Malphas think the Scorpion Man was our ally, he'd see him as a priority enemy to eliminate. And if the Scorpion Man saw the Lycan Deer attacking him, he'd think they were our allies and kill them too. It's a GG situation for us no matter the outcome."
"Damn! Girl, you're a genius."
"Now let's get out before-"
*Trrrrn! Trrrrn!*
"Oh, fu*k."
When her phone rang, the echo traveled through the passage and reached the monsters' ears, reminding them of what they'd forgotten. When the Scorpion Man heard the sound, he let out an angry roar and headed toward the cave.
But a large chainsaw swung toward him, blocking his path. He blocked it with his arm, creating sparks.
" think... let..... escape...allies?"
"You... hunted... prey."
"Ooooooo!"
Suddenly, a group of Lycan Deer rushed toward the tunnel, defending aggressively, almost killing each other in the process.
While this was happening in mere moments... Emma was frantically trying to pull out her phone, which she'd forgotten where she put, and even drew her gun in panic.
"Where's my damn phone?!... Just... who the fu*k is calling me in?!... Huh... it's-!"
...
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"Dad?"
Andrew was very surprised. He didn't expect to see his father returning today. He knew his father well - a meticulous investigator, almost like the ideal employee who would never leave unfinished work. That's why he only ever came back at night.
His appearance here at this time was unexpected. But then Andrew remembered the school incident. Something must have happened in the investigation that made him come here.
*But why does dad seem... a little different today?*
"So Andrew, tell me what brought you to Emma's room?"
"I... was exploring her room with my friends. These are my friends, Nathan and Chloe."
"And why does that girl... Chloe... have Emma's laptop? I know she wouldn't let anyone touch it except herself."
"That's... because she needed a laptop to do something small."
"Then why didn't she use your laptop?"
"You know my laptop broke a month ago? Did you forget, dad?"
"Right. There's just one question... I want to ask you."
"What is it?"
"After the supermarket incident... you were kind to her... right? Like you never hurt her but actually comforted her, isn't that true?"
Andrew was about to answer when he saw his father lock Emma's room door with his key. Not to mention his tone sounded different today - unusually strange.
"Hey what are you asking, Mr. Marcus? Of course, Andrew is-"
"I'm asking Andrew, not you, Nathan."
"!(;ŏ﹏ŏ)"
Andrew felt something bad was about to happen. He'd never seen his father like this before. He began feeling extremely uneasy about what was happening because he'd never seen his father act this way, walking toward him with terrifying calmness.
"Yes... I comforted her and talked with her, like any good brother should do for his sister when she's going through a hard time."
"That's right... good..."
"Dad why are you asking me such a ques-"
(Punch)
Andrew didn't understand what happened, but the next moment he received the strongest punch he'd ever felt in his life. It felt like his jaw was about to dislocate from the impact.
"Arghhhhhhhh!"
"You really were a good boy, such a good boy, you ungrateful bastard!"
"Andrew!"
"Kyaaaaah! Oh my gosh!"
"Stop screaming like an animal, Chloe Carmino. This room is practically soundproof."
"Wait a second, how do you know my full name?!"
"Of course I know you. I've been investigating the names of school victims, especially what you and your friends call it... the Masked Monster incident? Isn't that right?"
"He... he knows! He knows!"
"What... are you talking about, Mr. Marcus... you can't just accuse her without evidence-"
"...That's... that's right!"
"Don't try to deny it, you scum! I've seen the entire video! I saw what happened!"
"(Gasp) (☉｡☉)!"
Everyone in the room froze. The existence of the video was supposed to be the school's secret-proof that what happened was real and not just a rumor. But nearly everyone had deleted it, so who could have kept a copy?
As Andrew tried to get up and looked at his father, Marcus grabbed Andrew by his shirt and lifted him.
"And now, Andrew... answer my question honestly... or you won't see tomorrow... Nod your damn head if you understand me, is that clear!?"
(Nods head)
"Good... Now let's begin."
"I just want you to answer one simple question..."
"Why?..."
"Why did you do all this... Just tell me why?!"
"I... I... It's because-"
"Just tell me! Say it!"
"I did this because (tears)..... I was... I was (tears)..... I was scared when____
*Slap!*
Suddenly, as he was speaking, Marcus slapped him with such force that his face turned red.
"You don't even have the right to cry, you miserable wretch! Or have you forgotten what you did to Emma when she cried? You screamed at her as if she wasn't even your sister!"
"I...."
"Pathetic."
Marcus threw Andrew to the ground, discarding his son like a piece of trash while looking at him with contempt.
"Look around you, Andrew. You weren't satisfied with just that... You even brought your friends into your sister's room just to find something to blackmail her with... How vile can you be? Just tell me, what did Emma ever do to you!?"
"It's because she's the one who killed Jack and Sarah!"
Chloe was the one who broke the silence.
"What? What other carps are you spouting, Chloe?"
"Because I have proof!..... I know who her accomplice was!"
"So who's this person who supposedly collaborated with Emma in the crime, if that's what you're claiming?"
"It's a student at our school named Frank Wilson! He and Emma-"
When Chloe mentioned Frank's name, Marcus's body began trembling, and he started... laughing.
"Ha... Hahahahaha!..... This is just..... Haha..."
"What's so funny?"
"It's just... I find the whole thing hilarious."
"So instead of my son protecting her from bullying, he was the one who opened the door and completely destroyed her, making her a target for bullying."
"And now, the only person who helped Emma, despite his own condition, you're accusing him and Emma of being partners in crime? Hahaha...."
"Ha... This just disgusts me in the deep!"
"But it's the truth! And I bet Emma is with Frank right now, perfectly fine, probably burying evidence in the faces forest as we speak. She won't answer because she's busy!"
"Forest faces?....Fine.... Let's see if you're right. I'll call her and get the full truth from her."
*Trrrrrrrnnnnn*
Time passed, but Emma didn't answer Marcus's call, making him feel somewhat worried about whether she was okay or not.
"See? I told you she-"
[Hey, Dad!!]
"Huh?"
.....