A/N: This fic is mainly completely my work, although much of it is influenced by the likes of various anime/manga and video games, especially The Drifting Classroom, Battle Royale, BioShock, Alive, Half-Life 2, etc. There are also references to various real-world things, as well.

It's all supposed to have a very anime-ish feel to it, I think. Also, it switches between different character P.O.V.s and third-person view at times, especially later on.

I actually drew this as a comic once, and it was 20 chapters, filling up a single notepad. Too bad I don't have a scanner to put it up on DevArt, but I can draw alot better now than how it looks, so that wouldn't be a good idea. This fic version, however, has some changes, including more character development and other sub-plots I never got a chance to fit in, and more gory violence and whatnot. So, please review and tell me what you think, so I can know if I should continue or not!

I...I didn't mean to kill them...

I was just so...so angry, I completely lost control...

My mother...my father...James...my beloved Saiko...

I smashed their heads, broke their necks, shattered their bones...

...and I did it with a metal baseball bat...and I did it...for no reason...

I don't have a reason for killing four people, two of them my parents, one a family friend, and the last one my fiancee...

I had absolutely no reason to murder them like that...but I did it anyway...

Am I...a monster? Am I...evil? Am I...

...insane?

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

I awoke when I felt a drop of water splash against the skin of my cheek. My guilt still hadn't left me...it hurts so much sometimes...

It had been only three days since the police arrested me that my punishment was decided by the jury: death by electrocution. It was scheduled to take place in a hidden underground chamber a month from today. After receiving the news, I was basically left to rot in my jail cell, doing nothing but wait for my death to finally come. Every day it's the same for me: sleep, wake up, sit around and think for five goddamn hours, eat some weird wet brown crap they claim as 'food', sit around some more, and then sleep. Even worse, there was nothing to even THINK about, so I was left in a state of painful boredom.

However, only about a few days into my jail time (I had long ago given up on keeping track of time, so I had no idea how long it had been), I had probably my first real thought in a long while: 'I wonder how Inuzuma is doing...does he know what I did to mom and dad?'

My older brother Raiichi, who goes by the nickname of 'Inuzuma' because of his messy light-blond hair, was currently living in Japan, working with some small unknown film company to create 'The Greatest Movie of 2010'. However, judging his personality, I can't help but feel it'll probably end up being some crappy low-budget porno flick. Yeah...Inuzuma was like that. It was so hard to contact him, wherever the hell he was staying, that he might not even know that I murdered our parents without reluctance...

"Hey."

I look up, and I see that cocky bastard sneering at me again; the officer charged with guarding my cell. He looked young, about his late 20s or early 30s, and he had the kind of attitude that made you want to just punch the guy for the hell of it. He thinks and acts like he's some sort of goddamn king, but he's just a poorly-paid security guard at a shitty prison building. Most of the time he just sits around and listens to his i-pod, but today he seemed more interested in talking to me...what a dumbass.

"Hey...I'm talking to ya." The guard snapped, banging his nightstick against the prison bars. As usual, he couldn't help but be a big pain in the ass, so I just ignored him and continued to stare ahead. However, that bastard just couldn't keep his goddamn mouth shut.

"What's wrong? You scared of dying? Bet you wish you didn't kill those people now, didn't ya? It's funny, though...I've read your book. The only one you've ever published, right? Well, all those reviews about it were right...it sucked fuckin' cock! You can't write worth a damn!"

I was used to hearing words like that. It was called 'INTEGRO'...and it was universally panned by the critics. Now that I think about it, maybe the stress of having my first and only book end up such a failure was one of the reasons why I did what I did...

"I'm glad you'll finally die like the loser you are! Too bad I don't get to see it! I bet it'll be awesome! I'll laugh at your pathetic charred corpse, bitch!"

Now I just wanted to sleep, and this dumbass was ruining that, so I decided to speak up. Normally, I'm a quiet, meek guy, but these last few days have really worn me to the breaking point. "...Shut the fuck up..."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" he snapped. God, he was just like that annoying brat that some sad broad has to take along into the clothing store, and it ends up ruining everyone's mood. If anything, I wouldn't have minded being in jail so much if this guy was the one I killed instead.

I overheard him snarl something under his breath. "I oughta beat the shit out of you..." Heh. I couldn't help but smirk at his comment. If I just had a metal bat in my hand, then HE would be the one who would get the shit beat out of him...

Suddenly, I heard footsteps. That bastard guard immediately straightened his posture and stood still, always having to look good in front of his superiors. I figured this was just another jail check, making sure all the prisoners were still inside their cells. However, I must admit I was a little surprised when two large guards, much larger than dumbass boy, stopped in front of my cell and unlocked the door.

"Come with us." one of the guards told me in a deep voice. They both had pistols at their sides, and their right hands were cautiously hovering over them just in case...so I had no choice but to go along. I wouldn't be able to make a break for it, it seemed. Even if I tried, I'd just end up being shot and die earlier than when I was due...

...which, considering what I end up going through later on, might not have been so bad.

I walked down what essentially was probably the longest hallway ever invented by man-kind, the two bulky guards leading me ahead. I noticed the guard on the right happen to lightly tap the other guard's ass for just a second, and I really felt like killing both of them just to get that new disturbing image out of my mind.

'Ugh...faggots...I'm no homophobe, but I still hate them...wait...doesn't that mean that I am a homophobe?!No, I'm not...I'm not...geez, this is annoying...'

After what felt like an hour of endless walking, we finally came to the end...which was just a small metal door at the end of the hall. The two guards both glanced at me, giving me almost pitiful looks, and then opened the door. As soon as I walked in, I immediately knew that this wasn't going to end well for me. Waiting for me was a long-haired hunch-backed man wearing a lab coat and spectacles...and about 17 other people, all of them wearing the traditional black-and-white-stripes and standing side by side.

"Uh..."

"SHUT UP." One of the guards, I don't give a damn about separately naming them, grabbed me by the collar and forced me to stand next to the most frightening black man I had ever seen. He towered over me, his gleaming body pumped with muscles. Various cuts and tattoos covered his body, and there were piercings on his lips and ears. Seeing him brought back my meek, wimpy personality, and I did my best just to stand in his shadow and keep myself hidden from his mighty gaze. Strangely enough, though, I feel like I've seen him before...in a newspaper or something, maybe...

Suddenly, the man in the lab coat stomped once on the floor, and I jumped. For some reason, I was beginning to feel scared...a sense of dangerous foreboding swelling within me...

"Now, my subjects," the man purred in a soft voice, "Before we begin, I think it would be best if we first introduced ourselves and tell why we're on death row, don't you think? We'll start at the end of the row," he glanced down opposite from me, "...and then end with our newest addition to our group." he concluded, bringing his eyes back to me. Even through his glasses, I could tell he was giving me the most obnoxiously cocky glare anyone could ever give. I really wanted to throttle him...or run away crying. I'm a bit bipolar that way, I guess.

It took a bit, but finally the first person at the end of the row walked up and stood in front of everyone. He was a rather overweight young man with curly red hair that reminded me of an Annie musical I went to once when I was a boy. He put on a little sheepish grin as he nervously said, "My name is Redd Sanders. I'm on death row for kidnapping, raping and devouring several small girls back in my hometown...tee hee..."

Then, he bowed and quickly ran back to his spot without another word. I was speechless. What the fuck is this? What are we...first-graders on our first day of school? Why are we introducing ourselves to the class?!

The next person walked up, and it was a timid-looking young woman with raven black hair so long it hid her eyes from view. She quickly stammered, "My...my...my n-name is S-S-Sarah. I'm on death row, because...I invited all of my friends to dinner one day...and poisoned their drinks and killed all 15 of them." Then, like the one before her, she bowed and quickly ran back.

Things went on like this for a while, and I eventually learned about everyone, their names and their crimes:

Jackal, a menacing young man with blood-red hair in a style similar to that of Ace Ventura, who was placed on death row for going around Kentucky and murdering people with an actual Japanese sword, which happened to be a family heirloom.

Teddy, some teenage freak who looks EXACTLY like T.R. himself, and is going to be executed for blowing up a classroom full of students because their teacher once said that Obama was better than Roosevelt.

Larry Nicoles, a tall lanky bald guy with a permanent smile stretched out on his thin face, who is on death row for murdering a family of three (mother, father, daughter) with a pistol he had kept due to being an ex-cop.

Moki, a tough-looking Asian bastard covered in scars and tattoos, he's on death row for being partly responsible in a mass gang execution that took place in New York a year ago under the orders of another gang he was following orders from, called 'Xeno'. I recognized that name well; they were the most feared gang in all of New York before their boss was finally arrested and put on death row. He's probably dead now, though...

Zeke, another tough-looking guy with white dreadlocks, and he was also partly responsible for the mass gang execution.

Chan-Chan (if that is his real name), another tall guy with big ears and a sad face, and he was placed on death row for strangling his girlfriend to death after finding out she had given birth to a baby from having an affair with another man. He bashed the baby's head in with a brick after finishing her off.

Sammy Wo, a young Chinese boy with half-white/half-black hair and heterochromic irises, he looked only about 14 years old, and he just says that he's on death row for "doing something naughty". He's probably the most suspicious out of any of these freaks.

Marisa, a young bitchy woman who unfortunately reminded me of a female version of that security guard, and she was placed on death row for setting fire to her father's house during a big gala, killing everyone inside including her parents. She has long blond hair and is a certified pyromaniac.

Gob (another questionable name), another lanky fellow with giant elf-like ears as well as a swollen left eye, only mumbled a bit under his breath, so I had no idea what he did to get him put on death row.

Haley Storm, a plump woman with slitted eyes, curly locks and large lips, and she's on death row for smuggling tons upon tons of illegal drugs into the country, as well as for murdering most of her less trustworthy suppliers to protect herself.

Eddy, a young man with long brown hair that rested on his shoulders, who not only entered America from his home country of Germany through illegal means, but he also was a well-known genius terrorist for a while, and he even once attempted an assassination on the president, but failed and ended up here after his previous crimes were reviewed.

Wally, a guy with long hair and the biggest chin and dinkiest nose I had ever seen, and he ended up on death row for attacking people in the ocean and devouring their corpses. I noticed his eyes were slightly parted over onto the sides of his head, and he had a mouth full of huge jagged teeth, giving him an almost shark-like appearance.

Magenta, a tall woman with a pointy nose and long red hair that ran down her back and overlapped her left eye, and she was placed onto death row for murdering five men that had gang-raped her as a child.

Clarice, another woman with an eye-patch covering her right eye, and her reasons for being on death row was for murdering her drunkard father and uncle, who were having an incestuous relationship and violently mistreating her despite the fact she was an adult. She was originally a hikikomori.

Now, after all of that, it was just me and Mr. Big, Black and Scary. I watched the large man as he stepped up, turned to face all of us, and said in a deep yet sincere voice, "My name...is Billy Jeeves. I was the former boss of the crime syndicate 'Xeno'. That is my reason for being on death row..."

My eyes widened, my hands shook, and my pulse quickened. This man...this large, menacing man standing now back next to me, was once the leader of the most feared gang in America? The very gang that even had control over the Governor of the city? Now I was really worried...this wasn't good...not good at all...

"Come on." the scientist told me, "Hurry up...so we can finally, finally begin."

I nod, although I don't know why, and I perform the same act as everyone who had gone before me. I take in a deep breath and say, "My name is Alex Mikami. I am half Japanese, half American. I murdered both my parents, a family friend and my fiancee with a metal baseball bat for absolutely no reason at all..."

As I finished, I noticed Sarah sniffle a little. For some reason, it made me angry. Was she feeling bad for me? Was she feeling bad...FOR ME?! That bitch doesn't know who she should really be feeling bad for!! I wanted to yell at her, but the scientist immediately pushed me back to standing beside Billy Jeeves, who didn't seem any worse for wear.

Clapping his hands together once, the scientist rubbed them with glee as he exclaimed, "Yes! Now that introductions are done, we can begin my little experiment! My name is Dr. Mon te Seung and-" He suddenly pulled out a tape recorder and played 'House of the Rising Sun' by Pink Floyd.

"...YOU ARE ALL GOING ON AN ADVENTURE!" Dr. Mon te Seung shouted, jumping around like a little kid to the music.

This was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard. This has got to be a joke...or a really gay dream. Hopefully it was the first one.

"...This is one fucked-up joke you're pulling on us, you goddamn faggot! Do you even know what you're saying? Can't we just go back to our cells and wait for our executions in peace?!" snapped Eddy suddenly in a thick German accent; even though he wasn't speaking to me, his sudden outburst caught me off-guard. At that moment, Dr. Mon te Seung stopped dancing, and he threw the recorder against a wall. It shattered to pieces with a great flash and loud boom.

"YOU IDIOTS DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE...TO BE RIDICULED LIKE THIS! YOU...JUST...DON'T KNOW! JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY...!" Dr. Mon te Seung suddenly screamed, his face red and veins bulging on his forehead.

Eddy seemed to have shrunk back after that outburst, so Dr. Mon te Seung immediately calmed down and began to speak in a soft voice again. "You see, I have been given special permission by the president himself to conduct an experiment...a very special experiment."

"You mean...you're gonna cut us open...or inject weird chemicals into our bodies?!" Sarah shrieked.

Dr. Mon te Seung shook his head and turned his back to the group. Taking a single stick of pocky out of his chest pocket, he began to munch on it as he continued, "I have signed all the documents, all the papers...and the government paid for it all...this is your chance to not only escape your death penalty, but to be allowed back out onto the streets with a cleared slate...however, all you need to do is participate in my experiment..."

I couldn't believe it; I was actually being offered a chance to regain my freedom? Judging from the looks on everyone else's faces, they couldn't believe it either. They weren't sure whether to be hopeful...or doubtful at this weirdo's promises.

Then, Dr. Mon te Seung walked over to a large contraption hidden underneath a light-brown drape. Oddly enough, this was my first time noticing it, despite the fact that it was so huge. Reaching up, the doctor removed the drape, revealing a large mechanical circular machine, with a giant empty hole in the middle of it.

Smiling widely, Dr. Mon te Seung bowed in front of the giant device and announced, "THIS, MY TEST SUBJECTS...IS THE GATEWAY TO A NEW WORLD."

"...Excuse me?" Eddy said; it seemed his confidence was returning.

"I have created a machine that opens a portal to another dimension...a wild, dangerous dimension...an untamed dimension of unknown secrets...and the president has requested me to collect data on this world, so that we, the Americans, can eventually migrate there and create a new global utopia!"

"That's a load of crap!" Jackal snarled, baring his teeth. He was definitely one guy I didn't want to get on the bad side of.

"No, no, no! It is very, very true!" Dr. Mon te Seung replied, doing a little spin on his tiptoes, "However, I certainly cannot go into that unknown world, so I asked the president to somehow supply me with test subjects to send instead...and those test subjects are all of you."

"THAT'S IDIOTIC!" Eddy barked, "EVEN IF WE DO GO IN THERE FOR THE SAKE OF RETRIEVING DATA, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO GET IT?! I'M PRETTY SURE THAT THERE WON'T BE ANY PHONE RECEPTION THERE! YOU JUST WANT TO SEND US TO DIE, DON'T YOU? SPEAKING OF WHICH...HOW CAN WE SERIOUSLY BELIEVE THAT YOU CREATED A PORTAL TO ANOTHER DIMENSION?!"

Dr. Mon te Seung smirked and his expression suddenly became malicious. "Because...it's the truth, you fuckin' dick-sucker. Why else would 18 international death row criminals be called out of their dim little jail cells and be brought here? Did you ever wonder about THAT?"

I sure as hell didn't.

"Anyway...you will all be sent in as 3 groups of 6, and you must survive an entire month within the dimension. After a month's passing of time, you will receive a special message from me, and the portal will reopen in a certain latitude-longitude that I will divulge to you. Then, whomever has survived the entire month and reaches the portal in the next hour after the announcement will be given their freedom! Sounds good, eh?"

"...It sounds way too ridiculous to be real..." Eddy remarked, his voice faltering.

"Just think of it like you're a part of the Boy Scouts and your team is going out on a hike and ends up getting lost." Dr. Mon te Seung said nonchalantly as he waddled over to a control panel set into the wall. His words just made me feel worse, and I thought I actually might start crying, but then Billy patted me on the back and gave me a comforting smile. I wasn't sure how to react, so I didn't.

Dr. Mon te Seung's smirk grew as he flipped on several switches, bringing the lights on the portal machine to life and filling its "veins" with high-voltage electricity. Soon, a swirling mass began to form within the portal's hole, and it grew larger and larger as its spinning speed increased. I had never seen anything like it. This was truly an amazing sight.

Soon, a large circular mass of energy now filled the empty hole of the portal, and Dr. Mon te Seung jumped in front of it and threw his arms out widely. "THE GATEWAY...THE GATEWAY...IT IS NOW OPEN! THE GATEWAY...TO ANOTHER DIMENSION!" A small bolt of lightning burst out of the portal and zapped the doctor in the butt, knocking him over for a moment.

What an idiot...

Once he regained his composure, Dr. Mon te Seung chuckled and said, "A-Alright, then...uh, let's just set up the groups and get along with this little experiment, okay?"

"...I can't believe this is happening..." Eddy grumbled with a sigh.

After a while, the three groups were set up:

Group A.

1. Alex Mikami

2. Billy Jeeves

3. Sarah

4. Jackal

5. Marisa

6. Haley Storm

--

Group B.

1. Sammy Wo

2. Eddy

3. Moki

4. Magenta

5. Wally

6. Gob

--

Group C.

1. Redd Sanders

2. Teddy

3. Chan-Chan

4. Larry Nicoles

5. Zeke

6. Clarice

--

"GOOD! NOW GET GOING! GOOD LUCK...AND I HOPE MOST OF YOU GUYS DON'T DIE!" Dr. Mon te Seung exclaimed as he ushered the three groups into the portal before shutting it off. Group C entered first, then Group B...and finally, it was our turn.

I can do this...I can do this...

As I climbed through the swirling mass of energy, I felt like I was floating mid-air and slowly falling...and then I fell face-first into sand. It didn't help either that Billy, Sarah, Jackal, Haley and Marisa all landed on top of me either.

Spitting sand out of my mouth, I looked up and realized...we were now in the middle of a vast desert.

A/N: SO...PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!