Hey, everyone! So, first off, I just wanna say that this is a slice of life Mall AU spinoff for Crit Fail's Legacy of Despair series, featuring the various OCs submitted to his games. While the canon characters may make cameos, it will mostly center around these OCs. So if you have no clue what Legacy of Despair is, your going to be lost, and we do apologize.

Speaking of "we", this is a collaboration between Trust Me, Birbddha, and Solrac XD on the LoD discord, and I just wanna say how awesome they are. We're honestly more excited for this than we should be haha.

Finally, there are MASSIVE spoilers inbound for the said LoD stories, Railroad of Despair in particular for this chapter. You have been warned.

Oh yeah, and for those of you who have OCs in the LoD stories, and you want them in the story, we'll have instructions on how to get them in here at the end of the prologue.

Legacy Mall. Shaped like a plus-sign and covering five million square feet across four wings and a central hub, it is the largest mall in the country. Famed as the number one hangout destination for students of Hope's Peak High, many of these same students also held jobs there to earn some cash on the side. This story will recount all the shenanigans, struggles, and hopeless romances of these quirky students, but for now we start with a small group of individuals, huddled after closing time in the backroom of a GameStop...

10:01 PM

South Wing - GameStop

"The train crashes. You all die. The end."

A moment of stunned silence fell over the table as the participants looked to Kazuko Kodaka who had just announced their untimely demise. The part-time GameStop employee and full-time troll had a shit-eating grin on her face.

"Hell no!" growled Emizel Tanaka, the acting manager of Underworld Demons, a pet shop owned by Emizel's cousin, Gundham. "Axel, Ado, and I won fair and square! You're just salty because you lost early on!" the small blue-haired boy accused sourly.

Axel Ueda, who worked minimum wage as the mall's mascot and had to don a fluffy white bear costume everyday, frowned. "I kinda agree. Plus, you've been sort of… overly cruel to our characters? Like, did you really need to do that to Umiko?"

Adohira Sasamori, who looked after the nameless antique shop in a corner of the mall nobody ever visited, stood up and brushed the dust off his collared vest. "I, for one, am glad it's over. Had this gone on any longer, my brain cells would have committed suicide... And for the last time, Emizel, don't call me that."

"It's your fault, losers," Kazuko replied with a shrug. "Seriously, all you needed to do was sacrifice someone and the others could walk out." She then turned to Axel. "And that Umiko shit was golden for me, so just swallow it. As the gamemaster, my word is law!" Kazuko exclaimed, slamming her fist down on the table.

"Well, I still say we won fair and square!" Emizel exclaimed as he flipped the game board over and scattered its pieces all across the room. "Anyways, I gotta go back and tidy up the shop before I leave for the night, or Gundham will have my head! Ax, you wanna come with me?"

The blonde haired boy jumped up, nodding his head enthusiastically. "Uh huh! I mean, we never got to have our date night today, since we ended up hanging out with everyone else instead… so we can use this chance to hang out a bit."

"Actually, I just needed you for your spare set of keys, since I left mine in my car," Emizel deadpanned, before rolling his eyes as Axel formed a sad, pouty face. "I'm just messing with ya, of course I wanna hang with you!"

As the two turned to leave the store, Emizel turned to Kazuko. "Make sure you get a better game next time, that was kinda a stupid choice. I mean, a world of 'Ultimates' who possess specific, crazy talents? Like, c'mon. Though I guess it would be cool to be a fire mage…" the blue haired boy mused, before he and Axel began to leave.

"Hmph, it was either that or Super High School Level!" Kazuko huffed and shouted at the retreating boys. A second later, her face settled back into its usual grin. "Even if you guys can't conceive, remember to use condoms! I'll seriously die of laughter if I see either of you with herpes!"

Axel turned a bright shade of red at Kazuko's exclamation, while Emizel simply elected to flip the GameStop employee off as the two left out the back door.

Adohira sighed as he stared down at the mess Emizel made. He crouched down and started collecting the strewn about pieces. "Just so we're clear, Kodaka… I'm only helping you clean because my OCD demands it."

"Oh, my OCD hero," the girl dreamily sighed in a mocking manner with one hand on her chest. "Even if you weren't here, I could just force someone to clean this tomorrow before opening time."

"Remind me why you haven't been fired yet," the boy quipped as he continued his task with unnecessary efficiency.

"Oh, that question again? I just have the manager and all the other employees under my heel," Kazuko's usual grin seemed more wicked than usual. "You want the details?"

"No, I don't really want to know about your 'team-building' exercises. Gotta protect my virgin ears and whatnot," Adohira deadpanned as he picked up the last piece of the Railway of Despair board game.

"Oh please, with Sasami, Akazukin, and I hanging around you on a daily basis, 'virgin' is the last word I'd use to describe your ears." Kazuko giggled.

The tiniest bead of sweat trailed down Adohira's brow. He shook his head, clearly irritated for once. "Okay, I'm the most accommodating guy around, so do you want a long rant or the shortened version?"

"Oh, what could you have to complain about a pseudo harem anyways, mister? Well, if you do have something to say, make it long." Kazuko's voice feigned angelic innocence, but her eyes shot Adohira a knowing look.

The boy took a long, exaggerated breath in. "For starters, I heard you get legitimate wizard powers if you make it to thirty as a virgin. That's as good a deal as any, so sign me up. Secondly, the fact that you even mentioned my sister of all people sickens me to my stomach. Sure, Sasami's a little… different, but holy fucking shit, don't ever say that again. Thirdly, don't even mention this around Akazukin. I don't know what's wrong with that girl and I have even less of a clue as to why she seems so interested in me, but for your own damn safety, Kodaka… don't ever joke like this around her."

Adohira paused for a long moment as he stared into Kazuko's crimson eyes. "And finally, Kodaka… I'm going home. Later," the boy announced abruptly as he made his way to exit.

As Kazuko watched Adohira leave the room, she decided to throw a 'bomb' at him. "You know, just a few minutes ago, I sent a text to Akazukin… I told her that you and I were alone, cleaning up the mess from our night of fun and passion. Do you think she'll misunderstand it?" Kazuko could barely hold back from exploding into a fit of laughter.

"Kodaka. Go home. In fact, I'd walk you home myself… but I need to go hide in a locker or something equally as stupid." Adohira gave a half-hearted wave goodbye as he disappeared down the hall.

Kazuko stood on in silence and looked up to the ceiling "Oh well, life isn't fun without some dangers." She shrugged one last time before locking up the store and heading home...

10:26 PM

North Wing - Underworld Demons

Emizel sighed wistfully. Walking hand in hand with Axel down the dark, empty corridors of the mall, they made their way to the pet shop.

He turned to Axel with a smile on his face. "I know I told Kazuko the game was lame, but I actually had a lot of fun. We make a good team, yeah?"

Axel nodded in agreement. "Yeah, even if it did get kinda… dark at points. I'm glad you kept protecting me like that." A yawn escaped the boy's lips as he stretched out his arms. "I still think it's kinda funny that Adohira acts like he doesn't like us; he's such a tsundere."

Emizel laughed. "Oh man, don't let him hear you say that. Still, the look on his face would have been great." The blue haired boy wiped a tear from his eye before composing himself. "It's too bad Eline, Sarah, Tonbe, and Yumei all had to leave early. We could have done another game…"

"Yeah..." Axel sighed. "At least Tonbe helped us win, even if Kazuko didn't want to admit it. Maybe that's why she was so hard on us at the end?"

"Maybe, I dunno." Emizel shrugged as the two arrived at the Underworld Demons pet shop.

"Anyways, it may take me a bit to clean up. You can stay if you want, but you seem pretty tired. Unless you wanna keep me company? It's up to you," Emizel said as he unlocked the door to the store. Upon walking inside, various animal noises greeted the two.

Axel followed behind Emizel, shaking his head. "It's fine; I'll stick around for a bit," he said as he leaned against a counter. "So, I heard you guys got a new employee?"

Emizel nodded as he picked up a broom and began sweeping. He tossed Axel a jar of treats for the animals. "Oh, yeah. I hired him yesterday. Purple-haired kid named Riku, wears cat ears for some reason... something about losing a bet. He's nice enough and knows his animals. Great guy, really. I was basically running this place by myself since Gundham went overseas with a research group, so it'll be nice having an extra pair of hands around here."

Axel began feeding the animals, letting a parrot eat a handful of birdseed straight from his palm. "Really?" he laughed. "You totally gotta introduce us! Is he working tomorrow? I could swing by during my break."

Emizel paused, turning to Axel with a blank expression on his face. "What, thinking about cheating on me?" he teased as the other boy became flustered. "Don't worry, I'm just teasing you. Yeah, stop by tomorrow. He'll be here all day so I can train him. I'm sure he would LOVE to see you in your bear costume. I, for one, think it's hot." Emizel winked dramatically.

Axel groaned. "Don't remind me. I don't even wear that thing during breaks, you know. It gets all hot and stuffy in there... I feel gross just thinking about it."

Emizel let out a boisterous laugh. "And yet you insist on keeping that job anyways. FOR MINIMUM WAGE, at that!" Shaking his head, Emizel finished his sweeping. He moved over to Axel and smiled as he watched the other boy feed the remaining animals.

"It's an easy job!" Axel retorted. "I get to take pictures with kids all day, and you know I think it's adorable. Especially that one girl who comes in every day dressed like a detective." He paused, giving his boyfriend a small smile. "Plus, I get to spend the whole day close to you."

Emizel blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "That is a pretty good reason. After all, I am pretty awesome!" he exclaimed, puffing out his chest proudly. He then looked over the list of chores and saw that they were all completed. "Well, I guess that's everything," Emizel mused, turning to Axel and giving him a lopsided grin.

Axel's cheeks tinged a slight pink as he brought himself closer to Emizel. "So... you wanna pack up for the night? Because I think we could stay for a bit longer... " A sheepish, yet somewhat mischievous grin crept up on his face. "I think the others left, so, uh, it's just us..."

Emizel felt his cheeks heat up as Axel closed the distance between them "Y-Yeah, okay…" he muttered as Axel kissed him. "Let's just make this quick, okay?"

10:31 PM

Someone's house - Bedroom

Lying atop a puffy, pink bed was a petite girl with skin as pale as porcelain. She hummed happily as she flicked through the photo album of her cellphone. Stopping at one particular photo of a teal-haired boy, she kicked her legs cutely into the air and stared into his tangerine eyes. "Darling…" she murmured dreamily.

The girl's fantasies were rudely interrupted by the ping of a new text message. Pouting slightly, she tapped it open. Her silver eyes widened as she reread the message a countless number of times.

Sup, porcelain girl? Just wanted to tell you that me and Adohira are quite 'busy' cleaning up our mess after an intense night together.

In a blur of motion, the girl sprang out of bed, tore off the frilly pink nightie she was wearing, and threw open her closet. Sorting through her vast array of Lolita fashion-inspired attire, she settled on a red dress with billowy sleeves and lace trim.

Resembling a doll, her pretty face displayed no expression as she left her house and made a beeline for a certain boy's home...

And there it is, our short little prologue. Now, for the good part: For those of you who have OCs in Crit's stories, and you want your OC to be in this, the requirements are simple!

1) Tell us which OC your sending in (duh)

2) And this is important... tell us what shop your character is working at, of course it will be something related to their talent in LoD. Like the examples given here in the prologue, it can be an established store, or it can be a completely new made up store of your own! (Hint: we'd love to see more of the latter)

3) Simply PM me here on , or anyone of us on the discord! That's it!

Again, we're looking forward to seeing what you guys can send in!