Jumping the gun

Rebelle remained cool and composed as her stylish pink tresses began plummeting to the ground. However, she was actually putting up a big act. "Damn those hairless idiots! I'm going to have to spend a fortune to restore my hair follicles and my skin. But I'm nowhere closer to solving my predicament! It's clear Hilda doesn't know a think so it's unlikely she leaked the footage and is behind Madam Ookuma's disappearance.  Benise is my prime suspect, but then why would she destroy herself by leaking the footage I took of her? To get back at me? No. She would have done it just fine if she had led the party to victory. To throw suspicion off her? No. She's been exposed and that makes her a liability to the organization. But if not her, then who is responsible for all this!? Kabuki was clearly in the dark at first, but she must have learned the truth considering she then started debuting some of the footage I had taken as the weeks went on. Even mentioned someone gave them to her. Dammit! I never should have talked about the footage with Benise! I bet she blabbed to save her own skin, and now I'm the prime suspect. I know Madam Ookuma sent those hoodlums to destroy the farm, but I'm grateful for it! I hold no animosity towards her! I'd never betray her!" she thought.

Hilda on the other hand, watched in silence as the cultists finished buzzing off Rebelle's hair and eyebrows and began lathering her in shaving cream.  "I hate that smug look of yours. Ruchi always kept you close and told you all her secrets. Why? did she see you as a true daughter and successor? Possibly. No, not once did Ruchi ever seem to suspect me of swapping out her child at birth with Akuma and Kabuki's. But dammit, I had no choice, if she had known her child was actually a stillborn, it could have derailed her momentum, or worse actually made her consider betraying us. That idiot Akuma has himself to blame for wiping every other Ookuma out and not conceiving heirs, but there's no denying that the Ookumas are one of I.L.U.'s physically strongest clans, and as such losing their bloodline would be a huge loss. ...! C- Could Ruchi have decided to have herself killed just to screw us!? She was highly insistent and proactive about making sure she was the only one with control over the microchips implanted in all the poll workers.  Since she was raking in results, I let her be, but I shouldn't have. Now I have to crawl my way out of this pit."

Once the shaving was done, Rebelle found herself subjected to a full head and face wax. Her eyelashes were also painfully waxed off, but things only got more painful for Rebelle as she smothered in depilatory cream.

"Eep, you can hear her hair follicles sizzling away," Benise shivered.

"That's the point. I like my girls smooth bald and never having hair again," Ruka cooed.

Rebelle meanwhile began to contort in rage as she saw herself in the mirror."NO NO NO! HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME! YOU'RE ROBBING ME OF THE ELITE INDIVIDUALITY I'VE BUILT UP! Damn it! There's still so many more people I need to blackmail! Everything I had should be out now, but there were so many who I didn't have any dirt on! That damn detective Reika Yuzume most notably! I know she's involved in this. But that damn woman's intellect could only be countered by Madam Ookuma's. That and I'm not sure she was even- ...! The tire tracks. They must be from Reika's car! That's it! Reika was the one who burned down the house! She must have kidnapped Madam Ookuma and stolen the SD cards she had!" she thought as a cultist pulled out a nanomachine lollipop and began walking towards her.

Once the tape was ripped off her mouth, she'd have only a split second to try and save herself. This was her last gamble to try and get out of this.

"MMPH NGH MMPH NGH MMPH NGH- PEH! REIKA'S TIRE TRACKS WERE THE ONES WE SAW THAT NIGHT!" Rebelle desperately shouted as the tape was ripped off her her mouth.

The cultist holding the lollipop stopped, causing Benise to scowl in annoyance. "Ruka! Why'd she stop?"

"Uh, cuz this sounds, like, important."

"She's just desperate. I remember that the night we all went to Madam Ookuma's house, tire tracks that weren't from her car were present leading to the house, but not back- ...!"

Benise went pale as she remembered something potentially incriminating she had said back then. "Back then, I was the one that was quick to tell everyone to disperse. And it was immediately after someone pointed out the tire tracks too! Shit! She's saying Reika did it though. Yes, I'll say-No! I can't defend her. They might think I'm trying to collude with her! Shit Shit SHIT! What do I say!?" Benise agonized in her mind.

"True, their were testimonies that reported tire tracks of unknown origin. However, no footage of the tracks exist on record. Therefore, determining the origin of the tracks is impossible," Hilda sighed.

"Yet how did you KNOW the tracks were from Reika's car?" Benise nervously exclaimed.

Rebelle's confidence shattered as everyone glared hostilely at her. "NO! I WAS SET UP! REIKA KIDNAPPED MADAM OOKUMA AND MAO- ...!" Time began to slow as Rebelle came to a realization. "Mao, Mao was also missing. But where would- No, it couldn't be. She acted nothing like- But Azuki mentioned her strength. THAT'S IT!" she thought as she grasped the truth.

However, Benise was too frantic and immediately snatched the lollipop from the cultist and shoved it towards Rebelle's mouth. 

Time once again slowed for Rebelle as she realized she wouldn't be able toclose her mouth in time. "So this is it. Seems that bitch Benise was too emotionally unstable. Well, if I go down, I'm taking you all with me. Madam Ookuma, I'll be joining you shortly," she thought as she began to tear up and shift her head, ever so slightly.

As a result of the shift, the lollipop slammed right into a cyanide pill Rebelle had hidden in her mouth, shattering it to bits.  Foam began poaring out of Rebelle's mouth as the pill took effect and killed her, before the nanomachines could assimilate her into the cult.

"Um, like rude. You messed it up, and now her brain's mush," Ruka glared.

"She was wasting our time-"

Slap!

Benise stared in shock as Hilda slapped her across the face. "You idiot! She was about to say something important!"

"No she wasn't! She was just blathering on, saying whatever came to mind."

"'Mao' was the last thing she said," Ruka grumbled.

Hilda immediately went pale and grabbed Ruka by the shoulders. "Oi, revert her back!"

"Can't do it."

"You link with all the girls that assimilate into your cult, yes? Then can you access her thoughts and memories!?"

"CAN'T do that! Thanks to that idiot shoving the pop into a cyanide pill, she died before I could!"

Hilda stared in horror as she turned to face Rebelle. Rebelle had long since passed though in her final moments, a smile was plastered on her face. Upon truly confirming she was dead, Benise let out a sigh of relief as Hilda began to sweat buckets.

"Huh? Why're you the one all nervous? Benise should be in your shoes considering what she did," Ruka noted.

"Yes, care to explain what's on your mind?" Benise sneered.

Hilda in fact could not tell them, because if she did, she'd be guaranteed to face repercussions, for she had now realized what Rebelle was trying to say, Mao killed Ookuma. "I'm the only one that knows the secret of Ruchi's birth aside from Akuma himself. Not even my father nor any other members know. If I reveal that information to them, they'll blab like crazy, and if I just try to press that Mao simply betrayed Ruchi, Akuma will get in trouble and take his anger out on me. I have to settle this all myself," she thought as she stormed away in silence.

Outside, Cyril wiped away his tears as he watched the footage of Rebelle's execution get uploaded online. "Madam Rebelle, you were one of the hardest workers in the world along with your master. I'll carry on your will."