Hello everyone,
I decided to write a Danganronpa fic that i wanted to do for some time. The story takes place right after the events of the light novel Danganronpa IF, which explores an alternative scenario about a series of lucky events that ultimately cause Makoto Naegi to end up recovering some of his memories and changing the fate of Mukuro Ikusaba as well, causing her to decide to rebel against her sister Junko in order to save Makoto and the rest of the 78th class, and that after an intense battle against dozens of Monokuma robots, the fifteen students could escape alive from the High School Life of Mutual Killing.
Warning: This fic will contain spoilers and characters belonging to the games DR1: Trigger Happy Havoc, DR2: Goodbye Despair, DR: Ultra Despair Girls, and the light novels DR: Zero and obviously DR: IF.
- Between Hope and Despair -
Chapter I: The Beginning of Hope
"So... what do we do now?" Asked Makoto Naegi, a boy of below average height with spiky light brown hair with a prominent ahoge and hazel eyes. He was a student from Hope's Peak Academy with the title of 'Ultimate Lucky Student'. His outfit consisted in a green hooded jacket adorned with a red stripe along the zipper, an open black jacket with golden buttons over the hoodie, black jeans, and red and white sneakers.
"The first thing we have to do is to get as far away from this place as possible, the farthest from my sister's reach..." Replied Mukuro Ikusaba, a slim girl of above average height and sky blue eyes, although the freckles around her nose were the more standout physical trait of the girl who was disguised like her twin sister. She was wearing a wig with large blondish strawberry twintails adorned with a white rabbit hairpin and a red and white bow. Her outfit consisted in a tight black jacket with red buttons above a white shirt that exposed the top of her black bra, as well as a long, loose white tie adorned with a pattern of rabbits, a red plaid miniskirt and long black boots with heels and red shoelaces.
"By the way, is your psycho sister's really going to let us leave just like that?" Asked incredulous a boy of average height, light blue eyes and orange hair, his name was Leon Kuwata, the Super High School Baseball Player, although he had an appeareance more fit to a "Rockstar" rather than a baseball player.
"Junko is probably going to treat this as a simple game and allow us to flee, but then she will get bored and by all means possible she'll get us back to finish what she started." The Super High School Level Soldier answered devoid of any emotion on her voice after remembering the words her younger sister had told her through a destroyed Monokuma unit that one day they will have to return, since the key for recovering the memories of her classmates was in there.
Just a few instant later, the enormous gate that separated Hope's Peak Academy with the outside world closed, leaving the group with no other choice but to leave the campus.
"It seems that there is no going back..." The Super High School Level Detective Kyoko Kirigiri muttered as she looked one last time at the enormous building that once had sheltered the most talented High School students from the country, while also remembering that her father was the school headmaster until his execution at the hands of Junko Enoshima, which caused the detective a melancholy look barely perceptible in her lavender eyes.
As they were walking through the enormous campus of the academy, the fifteen students noticed that the sky was painted of a dark crimson red, causing them to began to experience a heavy atmosphere that enveloped their whole being.
"The sky looks so creepy that it's giving me the shivers!" Aoi Asahina exclaimed as she trembled.
Just as the group stood at the entrance of the campus an apocalyptic scene was in front of their eyes: buildings in ruins, shops and residences with signs of having been looted violently, trees and light poles ripped from their bases, scorched vehicles, as well as traces of blood and human bones on the pavement, a panorama that could very well be described as the end of the world, something that caused a great shock between the group because even though they were aware of the state in which the current world was, they couldn't believe of the scale of destruction and chaos they contemplated, and even the most calm and inexpressive students like Togami, Celeste, Sakura and Kirigiri showed confusion.
On the other hand, for Mukuro the scene was oddly familiar as it made her remember the war zones in which she fought in the Middle East and Africa during her time as a member of the fearsome paramilitary group known as 'Fenrir'.
"Hey everyone... This must be a bad joke..." Ishimaru Kiyotaka, the Super High School Level Member of Discipline Committee said while feeling overwhelmed by the horrible landscape.
"Eeeeeek! T-this is a lot than it was told to us!" The famous novel writer Toko Fukawa stuttered nervously.
"My family... My friends..." Sayaka Maizono expressed horrified while on the verge of crying, as well as Aoi Asahina and Chihiro Fujisaki who almost collapsed due to shock.
"T-THE ALIENS WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE APOCALYPSIS! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!" Hagakure screamed in panic as he placed hold his head covered by his long dreadlocks.
Annoyed with the loud scandal the clairvoyant was making, a furious Mondo Oowada grabbed him by the neck of his shirt and tightened his fist in front of him threatening to beat the shit out of him if he didn't shut up, although it did not have much effect on him as he continued to scream in panic.
"Classmate Owada don't resort to violence!" Ishimaru ordered the leader of the gang known as the "Crazy Diamonds" while trying to restrain him with Leon's help.
"We are now in some scenario taken directly from Resident Evil or some movie or series about zombies!" Hifumi Yamada, or better known as the Super High School Level Fanfic Creator (although the title of Super High School Level Otaku would fit him better) commented while sweating copiously.
"The world is in a state much worse than i imagined..." Oogami Sakura known as the Super High School Level Martial Artist expressed with notable concern in her face instead of her habitual impassive expression of calmness.
Meanwhile, Mukuro just remained silent, however after seeing the reactions of her classmates she began to experience a sense of guilt inside her for the event known as The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History, or simply known as The Tragedy, which originated precisely at Hope's Peak Academy one year ago. The young soldier then wondered why she was experiencing this feeling of guilt for the first time, which she never had until this precise moment regarding her important collaboration in Junko's evil plan to induce despair in the whole world, earning her to be known together along Junko as the infamous Despair Sisters.
Although Naegi was also in shock and overwhelmed by the situation in which the world was right now, he decided to not give up and spread his optimism to all his classmates after looking that most of them were on the brink of falling into despair.
"Listen everyone! We can't fall into despair, we can't lose hope, while it exists i'm sure the world can get out of this!" The luckster exclaimed with great determination to everyone who inmediately after his speech began to experience a strange and indescribable feeling of hope that became a ray of light piercing through the sheer darkness, and even Mukuro, a now former member of Ultimate Despair got thrilled by the young man's words.
"Naegi-kun..." A light blush appeared on the cheeks of the freckled girl just as she watched him while feeling inspired by the boy for who she developed feelings during the two years they were classmates, as the brown haired was the only student of the 78th class who smiled at her, and even made friends with her despite her loner and cold outside demeanor.
"Naegi is right, if we fall into despair then it would be the end for us and our loved ones." Kirigiri seconded her classmate who got surprised by the positive reaction his speech caused on all his classmates.
"But what can we do with the world in these conditions?" Questioned with uncertainty Chihiro Fujisaki, a delicate-looking boy who secretly dressed as a girl because of the bullying he was subject in junior high school, causing him to suffer from a great lack of self-confidence.
"First thing we need to do is find a safe place and then contact the Future Foundation." The now pink haired replied.
"The Future Foundation? Mmh... is it some kind of organization or something?" Asked confused the voluptuous Super High School Level Swimmer, Asahina Aoi.
"Indeed, the Future Foundation is an organization created by former teachers and alumni from Hope's Peak Academy in order to combat the despair caused by my sister and her followers, as well as to take charge of the world's restoration."
"And will this so called 'Future Foundation' going to help us?" Byakuya Togami enquired the young soldier in a skeptical way.
"Looking at the current state of the world and the feat of having managed to escape with life from the game of mutual killing that was going to take place at Hope's Peak Academy is almost a given." The girl explained to the heir who believed her since what she told was logical to him.
"But what will become of you when the Future Foundation finds us, Ikusaba-san?" A concerned Naegi asked to his classmate.
".."
Mukuro omitted to say something knowing very well that said organization would kill her or interrogate her through torture because of her key role in the origin of The Tragedy.
"If there's any problem with the Future Foundation, we'll take care of convincing them, right guys?" Makoto exclaimed after noticing the slightly troubled expression of the young woman, which led to the rest of the class to encourage the girl who had helped them to escape, with the exception of Fukawa who still didn't completely trust her. Meanwhile, Byakuya reiterated to Mukuro that if they managed to get out safe of their current situation he'd consider advocating for her as the new head of the reborn Togami empire.
"Thank you everyone, but for now we have to keep moving away..." The girl thanked the words of support from Naegi and the rest, although within herself knew that it was going to be virtually impossible because the leaders of the Future Foundation wouldn't show any mercy to someone who was the right hand of the main architect behind The Tragedy. However, thanks to Naegi the young soldier was totally determined to get her classmates into safety, restore their memories, and end up personally with all the despair that her dear little sister spread to the world, no mattering what it might happen to herself.
With lifted up spirits the students continued on their way walking through the streets in which a tense calm transpired, the group then noticed that after all this time they've been walking the streets these were completely deserted so they asked Mukuro about the reason of it, to which she explained them that it was due to the fact they were in the area known as the Ground Zero of Despair, a zone outside of Hope's Peak Academy where the first riots and violent acts took place during The Tragedy making said area to become unhabitable and later abandoned, however the young woman adviced everyone to stay on alert.
As the afternoon was beginning to fall, the potential dangers would increase greatly during the night so Mukuro told her classmates to hurry up to find a place to spend the night.
Suddenly, at the distance, the group heard noises of engines coming at full speed towards their direction.
"We need to hide." The soldier ordered to her classmates as they ran into an abandoned store.
A couple of blocks away the group sighted three Jeep-type vehicles that stopped besides a commercial complex and of which a group of approximately ten suspicious-looking men descended to a store while a couple of them stood out guarding.
"There's nothing here!" One of the men yelled at his companion.
"Are they be looking for us!?" The baseball player asked a little nervous as he watched the group of men entering and checking the inside of residences and shops in the area.
"W-we have to escape or they'll kill us all!" Exclaimed the Super High School Level Clairvoyant once again in panic to everyone's annoyance especially of Mondo who was held once again to avoid punching him at the request of his classmates.
"Calm down." The soldier spoke to everyone in order to avoid her classmates to panic, while also contemplating the possibility that they could take the vehicles to get away faster from the area.
After observing the group of men for a few seconds, Mukuro noticed that they weren't wearing monokuma masks or weapons of high caliber, so she deduced at least they weren't despair followers sent by Junko, nonetheless after analyzing their behavior she intuited the men were opportunistic looters looking for abandoned things of value to sell them to other survivors at exorbitant prices.
"Let me go first" Ikusaba said in a stoic way knowing that the situation could become dangerous, but that due to her fighting skills she shouldn't have any problems with a bunch of looters.
"Do you intend to go alone?" Asked Naegi somewhat worried for his classmate.
"Yes, by being disguised as Junko i will try to deceive them and wait for them to lower their guard, but if something goes wrong i can take care of all of them, so don't worry." The freckled girl reasurred the boy that gave her a second chance in life after risking his own life to save her.
"Are you really going to be okay, Ikusaba-san?" The hazel-eyed boy questioned again.
"I'll be fine..." The young soldier replied as she turned around to prevent Naegi from seeing the light blush that appeared on her cheeks knowing that he cared a lot for her well-being.
"C'mon Naegicchi! She confronted and destroyed dozens of Monokuma bears without receiving any wounds of consideration!" The clairvoyant expressed while smiling and relaxed, a clear contrast to his state of panic just some moments ago.
"Well, I guess you're right Hiro..."
"Miss Ikusaba, at least let us go in your help if things get problematic." The bulky fighter proposed to the young woman who was initially reluctant to have her classmates involved, but in the end she agreed to their insistence as they felt indebted to her for helping them escape from the twisted game of mutual killing.
Moments later, the group organized a plan and those who were in better shape to fight like Leon and Mondo got in close positions, not without first arming themselves with a baseball bat with steel spikes and a huge steel bar, respectively. Sakura however decided not to use any weapon and only fight with her fists due to her code as a honorable warrior.
On the other hand, Togami strongly refused to participate in 'acts of barbarism', as well as Hagakure who decided to not fight due to cowardice, however he tried to excuse himself that he was suffering a stomachache, although everyone knew he was lying. Meanwhile, Ishimaru took responsibility for taking care of the rest of the group who awaited at the abandoned store.
As Mukuro slowly approached the looters she had to prepare channeling her performance as Junko that so many hours of practice took her to dominate, since she didn't have now a script to follow.
"OHAYOOO MINAAA!~" The young girl greeted in a effusive way imitating her younger sister while making her traditional pose of peace and love in front of the men who immediately recognized her.
"J-JUNKO CHAN?! Exclaimed the middle-aged men in unison, surprised by the sudden appearance of the Despair Queen, nickname by which Junko Enoshima was known among her fervent admirers.
"What has led you to us, Junko-chan!?" The looters excitedly asked to the charismatic girl.
"I decided to recruit new volunteers to help me bring more despair to this world~" The soldier exclaimed with a wide grin while striving her best to sound as close as possible as her younger sister with the intention of avoiding any suspicions about her true identity.
"Huh? Of course we will join your crusade for the total despair of this world Junko-chan! right boys?!" Exclaimed euphorically the leader of the group who got convinced by the influence of the beautiful girl.
"That's the spirit!~"
"Her appearance and behavior must be incredibly similar to her sister, as those men don't seem to even suspect that the Junko in front of them is not the real one." The lilac-haired detective pointed out after observing with attention at the young woman who also completely deceived them during the few days they spent together before their escape from Hope's Peak Academy.
"She's really taking her role seriously..." The Super High School Level Gambler said in an ironic manner.
"Judging by their behavior it seems that they are just a bunch of wannabe fans of my sister, as they aren't completely consumed by despair yet, but I guess I'll have to keep asking them to get more information from where they come and what they planned to do... "
"By the way, what were you all doing in this place?" The fake gyaru asked feigning innocence to avoid suspicion.
"We've been here on our way to Towa City searching for goods, but in this sector we have only found rubbish and nothing of worth." The annoyed man said while catching the attention of the former member of Fenrir after the mention of the modern city founded by the billionaire Towa group, rival for many years of the Togami Corporation prior to its debacle.
"Oh, I see... And how are things in Towa City?"
"For what we have heard those bastards from Towa Corporation call themselves the 'World Saviours' for creating technology and weapons to combat despair." One of the looters replied.
However, Mukuro knew that this was totally false since the Towa group secretly mass-produced Monokuma units for Junko and her group of Ultimate Despair, receiving in exchange money, fame and protection from the latter thanks to their alliance.
"Oh, I see... But don't worry, despair will soon come to Towa City!"~ 'Junko' cheerfully exclaimed.
"That really sounds great, Junko-chan! By the way, could you help us to find the residential sector of this place? we are somewhat lost... "
"Sure, but in return you will have to help me with something i need, do you agree?"~ The girl asked with a mischievous smile at the same time she leaned forward to show a little more of her cleavage.
"Whatever you say, Junko-chan!" The aroused men accepted.
Then, the leader of the group immediately went for a map inside one of the vehicles, however right at that time on the radio were giving a report about the sudden interruption about two hours ago of the broadcast of the mutual killing of the students of the 78th class of Hope's Peak Academy which was organized by Junko Enoshima. The radio hosts assumed that this event was probably sabotaged but did not confirm who or those who had perpetrated it, although they mentioned there were strong suspicions that it had been Junko's older twin sister, Mukuro Ikusaba.
After hearing this, the man suspected that the Junko that was with them wasn't the real one, so he quickly grabbed a gun from the inside of the vehicle and descended of it without trying to draw attention. However, as soon as Mukuro looked at him she realized by the body language of the man that he probably knew the truth, then in a twinkling of an eye her gaze became cold and without any expression, something that confused the men in front of her.
"Watch out Ikusaba-san!" Naegi exclaimed after watching the man stealthily carrying a weapon in his hand as he approached the girl, which confused the man and his companions by his sudden appearance.
"Huh, who's that boy!?" Asked bewildered the armed man who got distracted causing him to lower his guard.
Then, taking advantage of that moment of confusion, the soldier making use of her superhuman speed disarmed the looter by fracturing his arm in a fast movement to the astonishment of her classmates whom Mukuro warned them making a signal to prevent them from intervening.
"Hey, you're not Jun-! One of the looters couldn't finish the phrase as he got no time to react due to the blitzing speed of the female soldier who immediately knocked him with a flying kick right in the face.
Immediately, the rest of the men drew handguns and knifes with the clear intention of killing.
"Come here bitch!" Shouted one of the attackers as he and four of his companions carrying hunting knives surrounded the girl.
Then in a rapid succession of events, Mukuro easily dodged their attacks one after another as if she was moving in slow motion, then she snatched the knife from one of them and at a low angle slashed it horizontally causing deep cuts on the legs of the men causing them to fall to the ground badly injured and unable to get up.
"Damn it, stop moving!" A couple of attackers said frustrated as they tried to shoot the freckled girl who dodged his shots easily and showing off her superhuman reflexes, jumped several meters in the air to land right behind both, took their weapons and hit them in their heads with the grip of their weapons, leaving them unconscious in an instant.
"W-who is she or rather what is she!?" The last of the men standing panicked by the ease that the girl had left out of combat all of his companions, so he decided to run to one of the vehicles with the clear intention of escaping only to advance a few meters before being knocked down by Mukuro who punched him on the nape with a soft karate chop.
"HOW DARE YOU BETRAY OUR BELOVED QUEEN JUNKO!" Shouted out completely in anger the leader of the looters while he was badly wounded on the ground catching the attention of the female soldier who slowly approached him carrying one of the weapons she had taken from one of the attackers and without a word, aimed it directly to his head with the intent of intimidating him.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? SHOOT ME NOW!" The man challenged who until recently was one of the most feared members of Ultimate Despair.
"Wait Ikusaba-san don't do it! Killing only brings more despair!" Naegi desperately exclaimed as he was looking at the young woman ready to end the life of the injured man, however Mukuro ignored him and pulled the gun's trigger and after that a burial silence followed.
"Ikusaba-san... why?" Whispered the chestnut with sadness and disappointment in his voice.
However, for the boy's relief after a few moments the man screamed in pain while twisting on the ground as he had only been wounded in a non-lethal way on one of his shoulders.
"AAAAHHHH! YOU FUCKING BITCH!" The man cried out without causing a reaction of the unfazed girl who only gave him an inexpressive but at the same time intimidating look before moving away from him and going back with the group.
As she was heading back to her classmates, Mukuro asked herself the motive that had led her to forgive the lives of all her attackers, since she always made sure without failing to her target or whoever intervened, unless direct orders from her sister to not kill her objective, so she tried to convince herself that it had been because the looters didn't represent a danger to her, nonetheless she still continued to question whether it was to prevent her classmates from seeing the brutality she was accustomed in her life, or if there was another involved cause she wasn't aware of.
"Man, she's really tough." Mondo commented impressed after observing the brutal demonstration of speed, strength and reflexes of the girl who walked beside him without saying anything.
"Thank you for not killing that man Ikusaba-san man, you were really awesome!" Naegi expressed with a smile feeling relieved that his friend was safe and sound.
"N-Naegi-kun congratulated me for having followed his orders!" Cheerfully exclaimed within herself the young soldier accustomed to follow orders and who blushed in shyness, causing her to quickly avert her gaze from the boy, a reaction that could only be caused by both Junko and the lucky boy, although this time she was quite surprised to be congratulated because she was always called a 'disappointment' or insulted by her younger sister.
"Ikusaba-san?" A slightly blushing Naegi wondered about his classmate sudden change of demeanor as he was the only one who could see her adorable reaction.
"Quiet but dangerous, seems to be the kind of girl that young master Naegi likes." The plump otaku spoke as he adjusted his glasses.
"I suppose it's better to have her on our side than against us, don't you think Togami?" Celeste asked interested of knowing the opinion of the Super High School Level Heir.
"Hmph, as if I care about the acts of violence this dangerous terrorist commits. Although I recognize that she is the key to us being able to get out alive from this dreadful situation." The blonde answered with his usual tone of voice that showed an air of superiority in front of the others while smiling presumptuously.
"I-i still don't trust her! S-she's a very dangerous girl!" Fukawa stuttered after the words of the young man she had had a crush on him in a way that could well be classified as creepy, a comment that caught the attention of Yasuhiro Taeko, real name of Celeste Ludenberg.
"Oh dear, but you also have a dangerous personality." The gambler mockingly said in reference to Fukawa's twisted and psychotic dark personality known as 'Genocider Syo', while concealing a mischievous smile with one of her hands.
"S-Shut up, you gothic witch!" The girl with glasses exclaimed in anger, causing a giggle from the girl dressed as a lolita to Fukawa's further dismay.
The group then proceeded to reunite, not before taking the weapons, the map and the keys of the vehicles of the looters who could only watch with impotence as a bunch of high school students were taking everything from them while feeling the cold threatening stare from whom moments ago humiliated them.
Once organized, Mukuro decided to drive the first of the vehicles due to her experience with military vehicles, Mondo and Leon offered themselves to drive the other two vehicles, as the first despite being a biker had already driven a car with other members of his gang, while the second had already taken some driving lessons.
A few minutes later...
As the group of looters were getting up badly injured they cursed Mukuro for what she had done to them.
"That little girl and her friends are going to pay!"
"I'm going to cut that girl's throat personally!" Sentenced furiously another one.
After a short pause, the looters heard a macabre laughter followed by a red light that shone through the shadows of a dark alley in front of them.
"W-who's there!?" One of the looters asked frightened.
Seconds later, a small white and black bear came out walking gracefully with light steps.
"Upupupu... What a bunch of losers we have here, humiliated by one girl!" The bear emitted a loud laughter, provoking the ire of the men.
"What did you say, you bastard!?"
"I thought that maybe you could be of any use to me... But having observed getting your asses kicked by a girl you are nothing but worthless scum!"
"Don't mock us!" Exclaimed the leader of the looters who despite being injured intended to give a lesson to the apparently harmless bear.
"Oh Well, you asked for it..." The animatronic bear said as he shrugged off before pulling out a pair of sharp metal claws out of his paws and launched at them enjoying the cries of panic from the looters who were ripped apart with his powerful claws.
"AHHHHHHGH HAVE MERCY!" The last man alive screamed terrified on the ground and bleeding profusely because of the wounds inflicted.
"I'll think of it for a second... NO!" Monokuma joked just before nailing his claws into the man's head, killing him instantly.
A few moments later, the creepy little bear was making small hops between the bodies of men as if he was playing, then after a short pause Monokuma turned around to focus his attention onto the distance.
"I see you're already losing your touch, Muku-chan... To have left these pathetic men alive isn't something you are used to do. I suppose your feelings for that boy have begun to make you weak and compassionate~" Monokuma said with a mocking voice as blood of an intense pink color dripped from his claws as he used the zoom of his bionic eye to focus on the young soldier whose cheeks were colored of a light tint of pink and smiling shyly since Naegi was sitting next to her in the co-driver's seat chatting cheerfully with Maizono, Asahina and Chihiro who were seated in the back.
"I wonder if you'll be able to stay on the boring path of hope or will end up succumbing to despair because of him.~"
"UPUPUPUPU! GYAHAHAHAHAHA!" The monochromatic bear made a sinister laugh that echoed in the vicinity.
What fate does awaits to Mukuro on her path between Naegi's hope and Junko's despair?
Thanks for reading!