Oh, hello. Can I tell you a story? It's the story of a boy. He wasn't very old, at least not when his parents died. A car accident, apparently. When he was young it didn't make sense, but as he grew up it almost seemed cliche - the kind of thing you'd see in a movie. When the Calamity struck and the world burnt, he got as far away as possible, and in a stroke of luck he never found himself exposed to the despair of it all. 

However, it wasn't hard to imagine. People were an oddity, that much he could determine. The Calamity, from what he could tell, did nought but strengthen the natural malice that lived inside people. Even though [i]hope[/i] had seemingly been restored, he couldn't feel it - not for humanity. Though people were supposed to be kinder, more friendly, and generally better after crawling out of the cesspit of despair they found themselves in, they never seemed to fit to that trend. It didn't make sense.

He reasoned, in his sadness and loneliness, that no hope could remove that burning desire for destruction and despair within people. It festered inside them - a vile culmination of negativity he so longed to see the last of. If life was so innately abhorrent, for what reason did he serve it? - for what reason did any of them serve it. It wasn't the first time he thought about doing something about it. But in a final fit, and the subsequent loss of reason, he chose it would be the last.

To take your own life, it was a concept he never thought he could grasp, but with one seconds judgement he steeled a resolve self destructive and dishonourable, only to wake up in hospital mere days later. Only barely saved he questioned his decision. Was he wrong, was he stupid? No doubt his parents looked on him from above with refined disdain. But it made him wonder. In a world so quintessentially wrong, did good make a difference? In his heart he wanted to say yes, but in his head he told himself no. Naivety got nobody anywhere.

The Infinity Initiative, however, changed his mind. An organisation cultivating talent as they found it, with the belief anyone could achieve anything. That was something he wanted to be apart of, and in his dissatisfaction with life, and a failure in death, to strive further was all he had left. So he searched for his aptitude in the hopes of garnering the attention of the Initiative, leading him down the path of Web Development. In his time evaluating how people acted, and judging their failings, he found himself adept at tailoring his service to the exact tastes of clients, even without specific instructions.

It didn't take long to be recognised as an Infinite. He spent his time building up notoriety, creating websites for high profile clients, such as the Infinite Streamer Mary Hanson, or large companies around the world. With the money he acquired he donated to charities intent on helping the impoverished, even claimed to have found a girlfriend during his time in New York. Though his shyness never truly left him, he felt a confidence during those times so distinct and profound, he felt as though he could do anything - fly high, achieve greatness, and become somebody void of the malice he so hated. 

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[center][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/301690986252206080/379050942726930432/Shaun.gif[/img][/center]

From behind the podium, beset on all sides with Infinites of varying talents, sanities, moralities and beliefs, the Infinite Web Developer stood dumbfounded. Tears welled up in his eyes as he watched Ice's veritable avalanche of information, and in the face of it Shaun felt overwhelmed. His body slumped, and his head dropped, feeling the eyes of the other Infinites burrowing into his skull, scorching his very soul with their accusations and insults.

What happened..? Just when things were going so well. He was happy, so close to becoming the person he so wanted to be, free of the sludge and miasma of negativity so alive within the walls of mankind. Why..? How was this even possible? How could things have gone so wrong in such a short span of time. in his peripheral vision, he scanned his so called friends; the pain on Krista and Bliss and Mary's faces, the contempt of Ice, the sneer of Jez, the distaste of Zach. So much pain, so much frustration, built up in one place... 

But there was just no way... He wasn't... He wasn't the Blackened... He could never... K-kill someone...
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[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/171209/4d78575be30d59339e67615ca5f14462.png[/img][/center]

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[center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/345318975846219779/389087411168346112/Erin_2.gif[/img]

[sub][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYg7FdkHQwk]BGM[/url][/sub][/center]

[color=SlateGray][b]"Ha..."[/b][/color]

[url=https://vocaroo.com/i/s18ENz8ZOQ7h]A light chuckle[/url] echoed through the trial grounds. With all eyes focused on one place, intently staring in unison, it was clear from where the sound originated. In accordance with it, the body of its maker gyrated, up and down, vibrating, almost, in rhythm with the disturbing laugh. It didn't contain joy, nor sadness, nor sorrow. 

Shaun's hair fell over his face as he continued to look downwards, fixed on the ground below his podium, trance-like. Slowly, the sound of his laughter faded, and as it did he placed a hand over his face. It drew itself up his countenance, gradually attaining speed as it did so, until it pushed his hair back onto the top of his head, and similarly dragged his head upwards along with it. 

The expression that looked back at Ice was impossibly different. In the second it took him to lock eyes with the Infinite, it became clear just what filled his laughter. [i]Insanity.[/i] His gaze betrayed a swirl of torment, malice, and evil, a tempest of cruelty that multiplied like a cancer within his retinas. The deep blue they once swam seemed dulled, almost, and mixed with grey as they flicked across the court room, slowly taking in the faces of the "friends" he had surrounded himself with. 

This wasn't Shaun Ellen, the Infinite Web Designer, the timid and shy student, innocent as the day he was born, and a manifestation of the purity in both youth and naivety. 

[colour=SlateGray]"Isaiah Matthews..."[/colour] this was Erin Steele, the Infinite Trickster, [colour=SlateGray]"Now there's a face I never thought I'd see again. Almost didn't recognise you under all those bandages."[/colour] in response to his own comments, the side of his mouth turned up into a smirk. His back straightened, and his head lowered into a glare. With every word his lips dripped confidence and venom, not of hate but of cruelty incarnate. 

The smirk curved until it stained his cheeks in a grin, that stretched to both sides of his mouth, and his hand bent ninety degrees over his stomach.
[colour=SlateGray]"Erin Steele, the Infinite Trickster,"[/colour] he leant forward in a bow, his left arm outstretching behind him as he went, before he rose back up and slipped both hands into his pockets, [colour=SlateGray]"Such a pleasure that you could all come to tonight's performance."[/colour]

At the stunned silence of his audience, Erin grin twitched slightly. 
[colour=SlateGray]"What a noble cause. Right? Joining a group of killers to save your family. But awwww, diddums, did we hurt your little brother~? And you haven't even found your other siblings! - well that's just too bad, do you want a gold star for your efforts~?"[/colour] he quipped, sneering over the court, [colour=SlateGray]"Ooooh, I can just taste the way you wanna rip me apart, you animal - better buy me dinner first, we'll need the energy~"[/colour] he giggled to himself, and brushed his hair back with one hand, [colour=SlateGray]"Well there you go, you got me, Onii-chan, your little rabbit who fled when his gang was killed~! [i]I'm[/i] the one who disposed of the wallet, although I do have to say, Alice Parker is [i]such[/i] a two timing bitch."[/colour] he glanced over to Monokuma, [colour=SlateGray]"I'm surprised you got to the point of engagement with her, Davis~"[/colour] he turned back to the group, giving them no chance to speak, [colour=SlateGray]"But how, little gang member, do you plan on proving my guilt~? Why, I've got the puncture wound, my alibi with you, Zachy-wacky here cant even prove that the arrows ever left his room, and I have all of these self harm scars to prove just how sensitive I am~!"[/colour] and then...

[colour=SlateBlue]"I-I... I'd n-never... k-kill..."[/colour] almost as though the switch was momentary, and the personality transient, Shaun seemed to return, his eyes filling with colour again, [colour=SlateBlue]"Wh-why... w-would I want to e-escape..?"[/colour] a tear rolled down his cheek, followed by another, until they streamed forth from his eyelids, [colour=SlateBlue]"M-my parents are d-dead, I-I... hate... m-my life outside of m-making websites... e-even fabricated m-my own g-girlfriend just to st-stop people bullying m-me... th-this is the only pl-place I-I've ever had tr-true friends..."[/colour]

His face flicked to Krista, his expression filled with desperation.
[colour=SlateBlue]"Pl-please..! T-tell them I didn't d-do it! I-I didn't k-k-kill anyone..!"[/colour]