Ah-ha! You were expecting me to write a story about the killing game of Jabberwock Island, but I was actually writing a story about Ultra Despair Girls! I fooled you all! Early April Fools! And no, I'm not petty!

Ahem, what was I talking about? Oh, right, a sequel to my previous story. Yeah, so, there are a few things worth getting out of the way before we get to the main event.

Firstly, this is a sequel to Danganronpa: Another Hope, my previous Danganronpa fancfic. If you start with this one, you will likely end up confused not only as to who the hell Albert Wright is, but certain events he makes mention to. Also, you will be spoiled as to who lives and dies in that story. So, you know, read ahead at you own risk, and all that.

Secondly, yes, I'm working on the Jabberwock Island killing game, but this story is supposed to act as a sort of... build-up. The events of this story will be important to the next one, so if you're planning on reading that far into the future, don't skip this story. It's not going to break new grounds, but the fact that Albert doesn't know what's going on will at least make this scenario interesting.

Thirdly, seeing how Despair Girls is a spin-off, this story is going to end up in a different genre. As such, it's going to move a lot faster than Another Hope was. What I mean by this is, this chapter alone probably has more page breaks than any single chapter in Another Hope. I really... can't think of a way to help this. Despair Girls, as an action-adventure game, leaves very long stretches between story moments. In the first game, I could just fill these moments with Albert interacting with those around him. Here, though... it's just him and Komaru. They'll be talking enough as-is. So, during any portion I can't think to fill with anything, I'll be leaving a lot of page breaks. Please, bear with it.

Fourthly, if there's anything you feel I could do to improve my writing for the future, in any way, feel free to let me know. After all, this is only my second story, and even though Another Hope went pretty well, I've mentioned above that this story is a very different animal.

Finally, I hope you enjoy.

Prologue

A Match Made in Hell

My van cruised down the road toward the eerie Towa City, accentuated only by the dark sky back-dropping it, stained red by pollution. I pushed my new pair of glasses onto my face to grant me clarity. I had been driving for a few hours now, and I was growing sore. I also had to use the bathroom really bad.

My name is Albert Wright, and I'm... well, it's a long story, but I'm a member of Future Foundation, 14th Division. I'm also pretty well-versed in physics and psychology, though I never technically graduated high school. I also have approximate knowledge of future events. No, I'm not a clairvoyant. It's simple, really. I used to live in an alternate universe where the events of this universe exist as a video game, and I played two games in that series, and absorbed some of the base knowledge of the rest of the series through... cultural osmosis. And spoilers. Then my friend, the Ultimate Physicist, pulled me into this world to help people. And now, I've become one of the Future Foundation's most valuable assets, using my knowledge to change the world for the better. Like I said, super simple.

Usually, I'm not a field agent. I, along with Chihiro, are both supposed to fill a more "support" role. Hang back at base, and offer the actual agents tactical advice for their current missions. So, why did I steal a Future Foundation van, without informing my branch head, and start booking it to Towa City? Well, there's a very funny story behind that, too.

I knew that Komaru Naegi, along with some other people, were being held captive in a city somewhere, but that's all I knew from the game's synopsis. Since I never played Ultra Despair Girls, I had no way of knowing which city she was held, let alone where in the city. But, that changed a few days ago. We got a tip from an anonymous source that pointed us to a specific apartment building in Towa City. Byakuya was sent with a bunch of other agents to rescue Komaru. Except, we eventually received word that Byakuya had been captured, and those sent with him were killed. About a day after that report, I personally received another anonymous tip, presumably from the same person, that Komaru Naegi would be found on the rooftop of Towa hospital tomorrow. Under normal circumstances, I would ignore such a cryptic hint, but my circumstances are anything but normal.

From what I knew, that was when Toko was supposed to come in and save the day. Except for the fact that, uh... Toko's... not available right now, and that's my fault. So, to make sure none of my other friends put themselves in life-threatening danger, and to atone for my serious mistake that lead to Toko's death in the first place, I've decided to go in myself. Even if I never played this game, I should still be able to use my gamer-instincts to make it through relatively unharmed. If that doesn't work, I have a van full of Future Foundation equipment.

I glanced at the hacking gun that sat in the seat next to me. The R&D department combined their efforts with Chihiro to create a device that could transmit programming codes in the form of electromagnetic waves. Basically, you can reprogram a machine to kill itself, or short-circuit, or give you remote control over it. Really, anything you need, wirelessly. However, since this is technically hacking the machine, a strong enough anti-virus software could render the gun ineffective. Still, it'd have to be something powerful to block out a virus made by the Chihiro Fujisaki.

And that wasn't the only artillery I was packing. At the end of my previous adventure, my friend, the Ultimate Physicist, left me with some of his research, and I approached the R&D department with my own idea for a weapon. My initial idea was something akin to the high-frequency blade from Metal Gear: Revengeance, but they decided a katana would be a bit too unwieldy for someone who didn't have proper sword training (in other words, nearly everyone in the Future Foundation), so they opted to make it a police-baton, instead. So, basically, I have a club that can vibrate at high enough frequencies to smash through machinery better. It gets a bit hot after a while, though, and it has limited electricity. Thankfully, it recharges with solar power. In fact, solar power has become a lot more appealing and wide-spread since the world became so fucking polluted. Environmentalism, yo.

I took a breath as I stared at the road ahead. I was now on the main bridge connecting Towa City to the mainland. The police scanner in the van suddenly stopped working, so I was now going in dark. That's odd. Byakuya was able to communicate with us just fine when his squad entered the city. Maybe with the ensuing chaos, a radio tower was knocked over or something. With nothing else to listen to, I switched on the radio. The only CD I could find with me was Monochrome Answer by Sayaka Maizono. It was a pretty good song. The world had lost a truly brilliant person.

I allowed my mind to wander. Long ago, there was a time where day-dreaming filled most of my life. It was something I didn't get to do anymore, though. Ever since I came to this world, my thoughts have always been focused on "how do we survive this?" and "what happens next?" However, even now, when I try to allow myself some relaxation, I can't help but be overwhelmed by the task ahead of me. I'm driving at top speed into enemy territory, completely blind. And I don't even have a driver's license. Anyway, I don't know what's going to happen, but I know it's gonna be dangerous. Still, I have to do this. Not just to save Byakuya, but all those innocent people trapped in the city right now.

As I neared the end of the bridge, I thought I saw something in the distance. I adjusted my glasses as I peered forward. On some buildings near the river, I saw some figures... small figures. They were probably the size of children, and they wore giant helmets designed to look like Monokuma heads. They seemed to be... dancing?

The next thing I knew, there was a deafening boom, and I was flying through the air.

When the feeling of weightlessness finally left, I was laying sideways on top of the driver-side door. The entire van was flipped on it's side. I grabbed the hacking gun, and my high-frequency baton, before unbuckling myself and trying to climb out of the vehicle. When I did make it out, I was standing in the middle of the street. Large storage crates and rubble blocked some of the roads, boxing me in. About five Monokumas started crawling out of nowhere, surrounding me.

I aimed the hacking gun, and started firing. I took out two before they could reach me. A third one jumped at me, swiping it's claws. I instinctively swung my baton, hitting it directly in it's red eye, caving it's head in. It was really satisfying. "Heh, you know what? I've been wanting to do that for a long time." I turned to the two remaining ones. "You don't have any school regulations protecting you this time."

They jumped at me. I dived out of the way of their swipes. A few more shots from the hacking gun put one of them down. The other slashed my hand, knocking the gun from my grasp. I swung the baton again, taking out the last of the threat. With a breath, I walked over to where my gun clattered away and picked it back up. It had minimal damage.

I examined the rest of the area. The bridge I was just on was blown to pieces. Somehow, my van managed to land on solid ground. Maybe Makoto's luck rubbed off on me. Any other weapons or equipment that were in the van lay scattered around the street, having spilled out the back after that explosion. I started inspecting some to see if they were in working order, but another sight caught my eye.

Those kids from before stood on the storage crates around me. From the way they were dressed, they had to be kids. I mean, the reports told me as much, but I was kind of hoping this would just end up being a midget uprising. More Monokumas followed their commands, jumping over the crates toward me. There were about a dozen this time. I decided, in a war of attrition, I'd probably tire out long before the Monokumas. Besides, if I was lucky, I wouldn't need any of these weapons. Even if I ended up going up against a human opponent, my baton could, hopefully, suffice at keeping me alive.

I scooped up a small first-aid kit, tucked it into my lab coat, and sprinted away. I shot an opening for myself, and put what little parkour skills I had to the test as I booked it down the street toward my destination.

By the time I reached Towa hospital, I was breathing heavily. My lungs were on fire. It took all my strength to not collapse on the road. I'm so glad I started working out, but by god, I need to do more cardio. Looking around, it seemed as though I lost my pursuers. There weren't any Monokumas around. Good. I checked my watch. Of course, the fucking thing was broken. It must've happened because of that explosion. If that was the case, it was probably only twenty minutes behind, though. Which means... in another five minutes, I'll be late. With nothing better to do, I ran inside and started sprinting up the stairs.

When I pushed through the door out onto the rooftop, I took in my surroundings. The roof had a chain-link fence around it, so you couldn't jump off. There were a series of air-conditioning units that would make for perfect cover in a pinch. The important part, though, was a pair of Monokumas approaching a black-and-white parachute, with a small quivering lump under it. I dashed over.

Before one of them could slash, I parried their claw with my baton, and shot it point-blank. The other one swiped at me, but I managed to avoid it, just barely. It ended up hitting my hacking gun, though. I shot it, anyway. Both Monokumas fell limp, and let out small explosions. I covered my face to avoid the shrapnel.

I turned. Under the parachute, a girl in a high-school uniform sat. She stared up at me, confused and scared. I sheathed my baton and offered my hand. "Komaru Naegi, I presume?"

Before we could get introductions out of the way, however, I noticed more Monokuma's climbing the outside of the hospital. The girl jumped up. "Oh no, there's more of them..."

I grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her behind one of the air-conditioners, where we wouldn't be spotted. I peeked around the corner, and it seemed none of them saw us. I guess mass-produced Monokumas were dumber than the original. I glanced at the girl. "So, uh, you didn't answer my question. Are you Komaru Naegi?"

"Huh?" She turned to me. "Oh, u-um, that's right. I'm Komaru Naegi. How did you know that?"

I smirked. "I know a lot of stuff I'm not supposed to." I reached for a handshake. "Albert Wright. Future Foundation 14th division."

"If you're part of Future Foundation, that means you're here to rescue me, right?" She gave me a pleading look.

I nodded. "That's right. Though, I'm gonna need you to help me help you." I nodded to the hacking gun she had strapped to her skirt. "Since you made it this far, I'm assuming you know how to use that thing?"

"Um, kinda..."

"Good." I readied my own gun. "Keep me covered."

I sheathed my baton and gun, and took a deep breath. "Okay, I think we're in the clear now."

Komaru looked around once more, before strapping the gun to her skirt once again. "Um, you said your name was... Albert?"

"Not a name you hear everyday around here, huh?" I scratched my head. "I just happened to be in Japan when all this shit went down. I'm assuming that gun came from Byakuya?"

"Yeah. I-I was saved by him earlier... H-He gave this gun to me." She explained.

Now that the danger was over with, I regarded the girl. Her brother and her did share some resemblance, though the most similar feature they share was the lock of hair at the back of their head that seemed to stick up. Who knows, though, maybe Komaru just had a case of bedhead. The only thing out-of-place about her was a small black and red bracelet on her wrist. I decided not to ask about that right now.

"I'll have to rescue Byakuya, but I can get that done later." I said. "He'd want me to get you to safety, first."

"W-Wait! Hold on! Byakuya was captured!?" She asked.

"Yeah. At least his life was spared, unlike the others from his squad." I wondered if there was a reason they spared him, specifically?

"I-I see... So he was caught after all..." Komaru stared at the ground.

"If you have time to feel bad, you have time to move." I told her. "The quicker I can get you out of here, the quicker I can get to him."

"Y-You're right. We've gotta get out of this building."

I started moving toward the stairs. "Well, I can't have you dying on me. Stay behind me. I might not be good for much, but I think I make a pretty good wall."

"O-Okay..." She followed after me, keeping one hand on her gun. When we descended down the stairs, she looked around the eerie hallway. "Is this... a hospital?"

"Yeah. Not the kinda atmosphere I want when I'm getting my checkup done..." I continued walking to the next staircase, but stopped in front of it. "Huh? This shutter wasn't here when I was climbing up. What's going on?"

"You can't open it?" Komaru asked.

"No, there's no power in this place."

"Then... what should we do?"

I sighed. "We'll have to find a fuse box or something to turn on the power."

Suddenly, Komaru let out a small yelp of horror. I pulled out my weapons. "What, what is it?"

She slowly walked over to the side of the hallway. "H-He's... dead... right?" In front of her was a pair of corpses, both torn apart and covered in their own blood.

I offered a solemn look. "Yeah..." I knelt down and inspected the bodies.

"Wh-What're you doing...?"

"I'm... trying to remember their faces." I admitted. "It's probably not healthy, but... I try to remember the face of every body I see. Every person I failed. You shouldn't look at them any longer than you have to. C'mon, let's get moving."

"Staring at bodies like that... is kinda creepy." She told me.

"I guess it is." I admitted. "It's not like I enjoy it. It's just... No one deserves to be forgotten, is all. Even if it's just their face. Anyway, on a less depressing note, let's find a way to get this power on."

We entered a room labeled "POWER SUPPLY ROOM," and I decided that was the best place to try. There was a power box like I was looking for, but it was pretty high on the wall. I started looking around for a stepladder before Komaru pointed her hacking gun at the box and fired. It powered on, and the rest of the lights in the building lit up.

"Heh, sometimes I forget I have access to tech like this. It's nice to finally have some lighting." We stepped back out into the hallway. "So, Komaru, how did-"

"Ah! It's here!" She pointed down the hall, where a Monokuma stood.

I rolled my eyes and shot it from a distance. The Monokuma went down easy. But then my gun started making a weird noise. Like TV static.

"Is it... suppose to make that sound?" Komaru asked.

I smacked the side of the gun. "Oh, don't tell me. Is this one of the beta models?"

"Wh-What?"

"The model you have is our most current one." I explained. "It's the most durable, and has the most features. I should've made note of that when I took that van here. After that explosion, and those Monokumas hitting it over and over, it's no wonder it's breaking down on me." I stared down at the gun and compared it with Komaru's. Yeah, no doubt about it. This was just a cheaper test device. I hesitated for a second, but tossed the gun to the ground. The megaphone part snapped off the rest of the gun. I swear, I could've been a contender for the title of Ultimate Unlucky Student.

"Do you want to use this one?" She asked, holding out her weapon to me.

I considered it. "No. If we get separated, you'll need something to defend yourself with. Besides, I'm not that good of a shot, anyway." I said, gesturing to my glasses.

"O-Oh. Okay..."

I pulled out my melee weapon, before continuing on. "Anyway, like I was gonna ask, how did you end up in Towa City?"

"Well..." She started telling me her side of events up until now.

"And then you showed up and rescued me, and... here we are." Komaru concluded, as we stepped into a doctor's office.

"Just doing my job." I turned to the corner, where a kid wearing another one of those Monokuma helmets stood, next to a big gift-wrapped box.

"I've seen this kid before!" Komaru announced.

"It's probably not the same one. There are a bunch of kids wearing these all over the city." I explained.

"Huh? Really? But why are they... wearing helmets?"

"Who knows? It's not like they're gonna tell us themselves. Although..." I do have a theory, actually.

"Although, what?"

"Never mind." It's too complicated to get into right now. "Either way, we should stay as far away from these creeps as possible."

"But isn't it dangerous?" She asked. "What if they get attacked by Monokumas?"

"You don't get it. These kids are controlling the Monokumas."

"They're what!?" She shrieked.

"Yeah. From what I know, they're targeting adults, specifically. To what end, I'm not sure." In response to my statement, the kid let out a quiet, robotic laugh.

"Anyway, Albert... what's that box next to that kid?"

"If you wanna open it, go ahead." I said.

She took a cautious step forward, and opened the box. Despite its size, the only thing inside was a USB stick. She stuck it into the side of her gun, and the screen on the side displayed the symbol for the BREAK bullets, with a "x40" next to it.

"Ammunition?" I guessed. That would be weird, though. The hacking gun was supposed to have unlimited ammo. In the process of firing, it copy-pasted the code. Did something happen to Komaru's gun during the last 2 days? Either way, the kid who was standing next to the box suddenly dashed out of the room.

"Is that kid... giving this to us?" Komaru asked. "Why help us like this?"

"This is just a game to them." I said. "They'll build us up as high as they can as long as they still think it's possible to break us back down."

"Well, that might be true, but..."

"I have a theory that I'll test another time. Until then, we gotta get out of here. Let's keep moving."

"O-Okay..."

During our time looking for an escape route, Komaru came across a novel on a doctor's desk. I read the cover over her shoulder. "Billy Milligan Royale."

"High school senior Sae Sunakosaka has 24 split personalities. After an unexpected turn of events, she obtains 23 new bodies. "But there's no need for 24 Sae Sunakosakas..." The killing of me against me commences..."

I scoffed. "Unrealistic and disrespectful..."

"Well, I thought it looked pretty good..." Komaru said generously.

"Yeah, I know, don't judge a book by its cover." I said. "But judging from this synopsis alone... I'm willing to bet he doesn't explore any of the actual symptoms of DID. He's just using it as a funny plot-point."

"I'm sure he's not writing about anyone, specifically..." She said. "Do you... know a lot about DID?"

"I've been studying psychology a lot recently." I explained. "And... I had a friend who had it. She's... not around, anymore, though."

"Oh..."

"Yeah." I stared at the ground. "Anyway, people usually develop split-personalities during their childhood or teen years, due to severe abuse, as a sort of coping mechanism. To develop an entire 24, her past must've been crazy, but I seriously doubt the author is good enough, or smart enough, to weave that into the story. She probably had a perfectly normal and relatable, if not somewhat comical backstory."

"Well, it's also impossible to gain an extra 23 bodies, you know?" Komaru pointed out. "It's just a story. It doesn't have to be that realistic."

I looked her dead in the eye. "What if I told you that that mentality has only caused me problems? That fiction can be more realistic than we realize?"

"What...!? What does that mean?"

I brushed it off. "I was just joking around. I didn't mean anything by it. Don't take it so seriously."

"Well sorry!" She said. "We just met, I'm not used to your brand of humor yet!"

"Whoa! What is this place...?" Komaru exclaimed. We stood in a rather lavishly decorated room. The only thing in the room was a single arcade machine.

I inspected the machine. It read "MONOKU-MAN." "Looks like some shitty knock-off."

Komaru shot it with a MOVE bullet, and the screen lit up, displaying a security feed. I rolled my eyes at her. She was getting a little too trigger-happy with that thing.

I looked between the screen and the next room over. It was hard to tell from two different angles, but I think it was the same thing. I could see which of the Monokumas were moving. "Oh, I get it. It's some stealth game type stuff."

"So... we just have to sneak by the Monokumas?" Komaru asked.

"Take it from me, it's always better to avoid conflict." I said, leading her to the next room.

We crawled around the small crowd of Monokumas, barely avoiding getting caught by them. At the end of the room, we reached the main exit.

We pushed through, and ended up in a city street. I took a breath of fresh air, but the air wasn't that fresh. There were torn roads, rubble and broken vehicles and buildings all along the street we found ourselves on. Komaru looked around. "We're finally out, but... Where are we?"

"You don't know? Haven't you been living here for, like, over a year?"

"I wouldn't call it "living"..." She said. "I was just imprisoned in an apartment the whole time."

"Well, anyway, this is Towa City. It was supposed to be a safe haven, but that's out the window. More importantly, we need to work on getting you out of here."

She nodded. "I'll be killed if I stay in this town, right?"

"Yeah..."

"But you... You want to look for Byakuya, right? I know that's what you want, but... But I'm just so scared... I can't help it, I... I feel so afraid... I feel trapped. No matter what I do, I'll end up getting killed."

"Hey, it's okay." I assured her. "You're priority numero uno. Byakuya's a friend of mine, and I want to make sure he's safe, but he'd chew me out if I didn't get you to safety, first."

"I-It's... okay?"

"Yes, it's okay. As a member of Future Foundation, it's my duty to protect civilians like you. I mean, that's the whole reason I came here."

Without warning she took my hands in her's. "Thank you so much, Albert! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! From the bottom of my heart, just... Thank god I met Albert!"

I pulled free from her grasp. "Hey, don't be thanking anything yet. Your life expectancy's still a lot worse than it needs to be. And, uh, everyone just calls me Al."

"But... are you sure about this? What about Byakuya?"

"Like I said, he'd be more mad if I didn't get you out of here." I explained. "Him and me have been through a lot together. I'll figure something out. I always do..."

"Oh, you're right. An amazing guy like you would have a plan for sure. No point in me worrying." She decided.

I stared at her, wondering if she was kidding. It didn't seem like it. I simply said "Flattery will get you nowhere."

"But... I'm glad." She admitted. "Ever since I was imprisoned, I've been all alone. I couldn't depend on anyone else... So I'm really happy you're with me! So, so happy!" She paused, before her eyes widened and a slight blush crossed her face. "Oh, um, but, I didn't mean-!"

"I'm gonna change the topic now, before this becomes sitcom-level awkward." I told her. I was on enough people's shit-list already, I don't need to piss off Makoto due to a misunderstanding. "So, do you know the layout of this city? I just got lucky and found the hospital pretty quickly, but I don't know much else."

"You're right. We have to figure out more about this town, first." Komaru thought for a moment. "That's right, I heard this town is on an island! Which means... Hey, Al! Do you remember seeing a bridge anywhere?"

I nodded. "That was the way I got in, but... just as I reached the city, those kids set off a bunch of explosives, and took out the bridge."

"O-Oh..."

"But... I ended up leaving my van near the bridge." I said. "The area got swarmed by Monokumas, so I decided to ditch it. But now that I'm not there anymore, they probably dispersed. My van had a radio in it. If I could get it functioning again, I could call for backup. If not, there's still a lot of other useful stuff there."

"Well, let's go! We have to at least try!" She insisted. She took a deep breath. "Ah, what a relief! I was starting to lose hope!"

"Hope, huh? Well, good for you. Let's get moving."

Okay. So, a new story is underway. Now that that's out of the way, a few more things.

Firstly, yeah, I decided to ditch Albert's hacking gun. I thought both protagonists possessing the same weapon would be kinda boring. I introduced the high-frequency baton because I decided that would be a way to connect Al to the whole "physicist" thing, and that having him wield a melee weapon would lead to more tense scenarios in the future. And for those of you who may think that Albert took down those Monokumas much too easily, well... Anyone who has played Despair Girls should be able to venture a guess as to why.

Secondly, while I'm not planning on the two finding every collectible in the game, I do plan on them finding the Hit Lists and the Novels, because those both lead to conversations between Toko and Komaru in canon, and Albert will have his own conversation pieces about these items.

Thirdly, I don't know if I really have to say this, but I will just to be safe. I'm not going to ship Albert with Komaru. I'm aware people ship Toko with Komaru (which I do not), and Al taking her spot in the story might imply something, so I just wanted to clear that up. In the prologue of Another Hope, I made mention that I didn't want to ship Al with anyone. Maybe one day, if it serves the story and suites the characters, I'll change my mind on that, but I will not be shipping him with Komaru. That's his friend's little sister.

Finally, in the next chapter, we'll continue the story, and our two protagonists will attempt to make their way out of the city.