The story started with Graduate Meeting, and continued with Diabolical Contest.

It's time for the last part.


Akane Ogata left her cup of coffee on the table and grabbed one of the files again.

The meeting had started just half an hour ago and she was already wanting to get out of the room. She closed her eyes tightly for a moment, calming down her impatience, and opened them to take a look again at her companions before settling onto the file she had grabbed.

The Future Foundation had been kind, giving them a meeting room. Recently, things had gotten way more hectic for the Future Foundation: most of the division heads had been murdered by the Remnants of Despair, leaving the organization in chaos. Since the division Akane was in was of little importance, they didn't have many resources and often got ignored by the higher-ups. Solving the everyday problems their division had was something they had to do by themselves without relying on anyone else.

It wasn't that bad, though. That same lack of attention meant they had some freedom they wouldn't have otherwise.

Around the table there were five people more, four of them people Akane knew very well: Mika Yamaguchi, Saburou Hikasa, Masamune Toyotomi and Yukio Ohmoto. The five of them had survived a mutual killing game just four months before, and it had led to the five of them trusting each other greatly. Toyotomi was the leader of their group, although his actions – actions that had contributed to the bunker mutual killing game – meant he had been degraded from his former high rank. All his contacts and influence were intact, though, which proved to be vital for their group's work.

"We can't make a mistake here. Are you completely sure those three bastards are among these fifteen files, Hikari-kun?" Yamaguchi asked to the person to Akane's side. Mitsuhiko Hikari was a mutual killing game survivor too, but unlike the others, he was the only survivor, technically being named as the culprit and winner of his game. The masterminds had gotten away, escaping somewhere in the world. The work of two months was right there on the table: fifteen files that had the names and information of different people around the world.

Mitsuhiko nodded, impassive. "Completely sure, Yamaguchi-san. I have no doubt"

"We can't trust your memory blindly. You said you never saw their faces" Hikasa pointed.

"I know what I said, and I know I'm right. Those three must be here"

Akane leaned her chin on the back of her hand, once again prepared to intercede for the former Super High School Level Hunter. That was the duty of the only person who had known Mitsuhiko from before. "I believe him"

"I do too, but we need to be careful" Yukio said "Getting in contact with all of them will be expensive, and we won't be able to rely on the higher-ups for this. It's up to us to do this right"

"How are we going to find out which ones are the Main Board? Get them to stand against the wall and hope Hikari-kun can identify their voices or what?" Hikasa rubbed his face with both hands.

"I wouldn't be able to do that" Mitsuhiko said.

"I know. I was being facetious, man"

"Let's cross that bridge once we get in contact with all of them" Yamaguchi suggested, receiving disagreements almost immediately. They needed a plan of action before doing anything, otherwise, the Main Board would escape again. They needed to be careful. Failure was not an option.

"We can't expect any of them to admit they were part of the Main Board. How can we know for sure which ones are the guilty party?" Yuikio raised once again the reason for the meeting. That had been the big question for a while already, one none of them had been able to answer satisfactorily. All the plans proposed were likely to fail, or wouldn't be 100% flawless.

After several minutes more of chattering and going around in circles for what seemed the tenth time since the reunion started, Toyotomi stood up, getting everyone's attention. "That's enough! Guys, we are getting nowhere. We need to agree on something, fast"

"But how can we do that? How to catch three brainwashed people without fail?" Yukio asked. There was silence for a while, everyone looking at each other with hesitance.

"And how will we find the truth without condemning an innocent person? If a single one of those three gets away, this nightmare will never end" Yamaguchi murmured.

"We have too much pressure on us. You know that if something like what happened in Jabberwock Island happens again we'll be neck-deep in shit, don't you?"

"Of course we know that! We just need to be careful" Toyotomi said.

"We don't even know for sure what happened in that island" Hikasa said "But maybe, and just maybe, we won't fall in their same mistakes"

"What do you mean?"

"...I don't know, I'm not the ideas man here! I just said the first thing that came to my mind"

"...I'll go get more coffee" Akane sighed and stood up. This was going to be a long meeting.

-ooooo-

Three weeks later

The rocking sound of the train gently woke up Azalea Stravopoulos. The girl scrunched her closed eyes, rubbing the side of her face that wasn't against the leather before propping herself up. Her head felt like it was filled with fog, the dim lights of the room she was in made it feel like she was in a tightly closed box. As if the room sensed she was awake, the lights gained intensity until it all was brightly illuminated. "...someone close the curtains" Azalea muttered, pressing her hands against her eyes until she felt strong enough to stand up. Around her, it sounded like more people were waking up as well, and not in much better conditions than her.

Her first thought was why she was in a train. She wasn't supposed to be here. The night before she was at home, going to sleep after saying good night to her sister and parents, and now she was here in a train, going who knows where. No, wait, that was wrong. She hadn't been in her house. She had left the house to live by herself. She had gone to sleep after dinner, making sure her cat hadn't dragged insects under the bed again. No...that wasn't right either. She had taken refuge inside an abandoned warehouse, covering herself with plastic tarps. Azalea grabbed her head, confused. All those memories felt true at the same time, but it was obvious those all couldn't be correct. What had she been doing last night? Whatever it was, she was sure it wasn't something that'd lead to her now being in a train.

The window was the very first thing she turned her attention to. Azalea slowly walked towards it, pushing her hair out of the way to take a look at the bright environment outside. It was a sunny day, the sun felt pleasantly warm. There was nothing outside, though, nothing except a few scarce white clouds dotting the sky, a sky that extended everywhere. What the fuck? It felt almost surreal, but surely there had to be an explanation for that, right? Maybe the train was right now near the edge of a cliff. Yeah. A very tall cliff. That had to be it. Yeah, right.

"Lea?"

A familiar voice sounded behind Azalea, who immediately turned around. Sitting near two strangers – a boy and a girl - there was someone she recognized. "Chrys!" Azalea hurried towards her sister, hugging her immediately, pressing her against her body as if she feared she was going to disappear in any moment.

"L-Lea, you're crushing m-my ribs..."

"Oh! Sorry, sorry" Azalea let her sister free, taking a look at her to make sure she was okay. Chrysanthe Stravopoulos seemed to be unharmed, if a bit shaken up. Azalea laughed a bit, unsettled "Why are you here? What's going on?" she felt there was something off about Chrysanthe, something she should have noticed already, but she still felt groggy and dazed.

"I don't know! Wait, let me think..." Chrysanthe tapped her chin, thinking "...no, I don't know. I don't even remember what I was doing last night"

Azalea lowered her voice. "Does it feel like your memories are scrambled?"

"I...yeah, that's exactly what it feels like. So it's not just me?"

"It's not just you" the male stranger intervened, currently looking under the seats as if he expected to find any clues there.

"You should not meddle in other people is conversations, Sir Balboa" the other stranger, a girl with very long hair and some of it covering her face, gently chided "It is not polite"

"Who cares about politeness at a time like this?! We got kidnapped!"

"It may be a bit too early to say for sure that is what is going on"

The boy stood up, dusting off his knees. "If you have other suggestions as to why we'd be in a train without memories of how we got here then please, go ahead and say them". The long-haired girl stayed silent. Satisfied by the lack of answer, the boy approached Azalea. "I heard you two mentioning something about scrambled memories. Do you know what it's said about this type of thing?"

"What?" Azalea slightly pushed Chrysanthe away from the boy.

"Once is meaningless, twice is a fluke, thrice is a pattern. What happened to our memories must be important, somehow"

He had a point. It was hard to imagine it happening to more than just she and her sister meant anything else but a pattern. Azalea sighed. "You're right. So, what do we do now?"

"Um, I think we should...you know...get out of this room first? There may be a guard or someone like that around here..." Chrysanthe said, taking the initiative and going towards the door of the room.

"She has the right idea, but first, should not we introduce ourselves?"

"Right, that'd be fine" the boy extended his hand towards Azalea "Nice to meet you, Azalea"

Azalea didn't take the hand, a bit repelled by the boy knowing her name. "How did you know my name?"

"I read your name tag. Nice talent, by the way. SHSL Motivator, not a bad one" he pointed at a small tag on Azalea's blouse. Confused, Azalea tore it off, reading what it said. It was a rather common nametag; of those anyone could obtain a dime for a dozen.

HELLO! MY NAME IS

Azalea Stravopoulos

Super High School Level Motivator

"...I didn't ask for this thing" Motivator? Since when? She wasn't someone who tended to motivate people. Azalea was introverted, but when she had to talk with people she tended to be blunt and not take any nonsense. That didn't exactly scream 'motivator' in any way, although Azalea did pride herself a bit on being able to deal with any person. That was a good start towards that so-called talent, she guessed.

"Tough luck, Aza" the boy said, shrugging.

Azalea looked away, trying to get Chrysanthe's attention, who was talking with the other girl. "I don't think I like having a nickname given by a total stranger. Hey! Chrys! Let me take a look" Chrysanthe approached after apologizing to the other girl for a moment, and got instructed to show Azalea her name tag.

HELLO! MY NAME IS

Chrysanthe Stravopoulos

Super High School Level Gardener

"At least it'll make introductions easier, right?" Chrysanthe smiled sheepishly "I like I'm referred as a gardener...it's nice to have my talents praised like this"

"There must exist better ways to be praised than someone sticking a tag on you like this" But it was true, Chrysanthe was a rather talented gardener. The garden back in the Stravopoulos household was a marvel. Flowers, trees and bushed coexisted in harmony despite hailing from many different places, and there was not a single bug or pest among any of those. One could sit in middle of the garden and relax, letting time pass by while the breeze swayed the leaves and the flowers. Azalea had never thought it was Super High School Level worthy, though. Maybe she overestimated Hope's Peak's standards.

...wait, Hope's Peak? There was something about this all that seemed...off.

Chrysanthe frowned. "I know you're right, but someone has to see the half-full glass, right? How does that saying go...?" she always tried to be the optimistic one, and it always warmed Azalea's heart. She passed her arm over her younger sister's shoulders, squishing her affectingly.

"Nevermind that, don't let me bring you down. Everything will be okay, got it?" Azalea smiled, making Chrysanthe chuckle and squeeze Azalea's hand.

"Of course it will!"

"So are you two sisters?" the unknown girl asked.

"Yes. She's my younger sister" Azalea smiled fondly "And yes, we're sure of it. She may look older than me, but I am the older one"

The boy cleared his throat obnoxiously, putting his hands on his hips. "ANYways, if we're not doing to do introductions then let's get out of this place and look for whoever brought us here"

"Do you think we were brought here?" The long-haired girl near the door peered towards the hall of the train wagon.

"We must have been kidnapped while we were asleep. I know I was at home, and I wouldn't leave my home at night unless it was absolutely necessary" he crossed his arms "There's high tide during the night" Azalea raised her eyebrows, a bit curious about such specific statement. Any concerns she would have were answered when she looked at the nametag on his shirt.

HELLO! MY NAME IS

Lucien Balboa

Super High School Level Marine Biologist

She had never heard of him before. When Lucien noticed Azalea was reading his nametag, he grinned, flattered. "Cool, isn't it? I don't know what I did to deserve such title, but I'll gladly take it"

"Are you really a marine biologist?"

"That's my job! I'm currently living in a bay in Portugal and working on a project for the government" he said, sticking out his chest "Nothing amazing, but it's satisfying"

"You have a job like that at such a young age?" Azalea's eyes widened. That was impressive! Hope's Peak truly brought the cream of the crop, even as far as scouting for teenagers in a place as far away as Portugal. Lucien was a bit confused, though. He furrowed his brow.

"I wasn't aware thirty years old was that young"

Wait, what? The motivator tilted her head, wary. "You look like you are sixteen"

"Haven't you noticed? We all look way too young! And I don't know about you, but I know for a fact I'm way too old for high school" he said dismissively. Such statement made Azalea finally realize there was something way too strange about this all. Lucien was right, everyone looked rather young...that must have been what nagged at her about Chrysanthe – maybe the fact her sister and she were wearing their school uniforms should have clued her in - and Azalea didn't have any reason to believe there was something wrong with Lucien and the other girl. The point about 'high school' was something she couldn't believe she overlooked, though. How could I not notice that?!

Chrysanthe leaned forward. "He's right, Lea...you look younger than I remember you to be"

"That's impossible! I don't look that young, do I?" Azalea touched her face as if that was going to confirm or deny it. "How is that possible?!"

"Don't look at me! I don't know!"

"It's quite a problem. Could we be hallucinating?" Despite the outlandish suggestion, Lucien's serious expression showed he was completely serious. Noting the weird looks all the girls were directing at him, he flushed slightly, bashful "H-Hey, if we got kidnapped and stuck in a train that seems to be flying over the clouds, collective hallucinations isn't that farfetched"

"Regardless of our ages and looks, it does seem our talents are accurate enough. Just like Sir Balboa here is a marine biologist, I am bound to inherit a criminal empire" the other girl tapped her nametag "May as well admit it here and now, since it is a fact everyone can see right now" and indeed, her nametag did proclaim it.

HELLO! MY NAME IS

Vittoria Delacroix

Super High School Level Criminal Heiress

Vittoria spoke calmly and enunciated every single word, without using any contractions. Everything she said sounded very stilted and unnatural. While Chrysanthe stepped back and Lucien stood his ground, Azalea took a deep breath. This may be delicate, it all depended on Vittoria's personality. "Interesting. Do you want to talk about that?"

"I ask you to not to be condescending, please" Vittoria said, her hair sliding a bit more to hide her face "Do not think less of me because of my upbringing"

Chrysanthe grinned, relieved. "Oh! You don't support what you'll inherit!" her relief was short-lived, though. Vittoria moved her hair away, her eyes full of kindness, but there was an undertone of malice in her voice now.

"I did not say that, did I?" she smirked "I am the heiress of my uncle is organization. It would be crass of me to not to take charge of it once it is time" the malice vanished from her voice "I am not some sort of mafiosa with hair-trigger temper and a penchant for finger-cutting, do not worry about that"

I don't think it'd be a good idea to mess with her. "That's badass!" Azalea said, rather impressed. Maybe that wasn't what Vittoria had expected, but she was very flattered either way. She flashed a smile before hiding behind her hair shyly.

"You overestimate me...but thank you. I admire your talent too"

"Okay, now that we're done with the introductions and the chit-chat how about we finally get out of this train room?" Lucien opened the door with a swift move, dissipating some of the impatience he had accumulated "Let's try not to get distracted before we find some answers" He had a point. Getting an explanation was priority right now, someone who could tell how and why they were in a train. Before they could leave Vittoria blocked the way, positioning herself in the doorway and standing as tall as she could.

"Before we go, there is a matter of importance to mention: do any of you remember what happened to Hope is Peak?"

"What do you mean?"

"I am rather sure Hope is Peak does not exist anymore. If any of you thought they may have been the ones to get us in here I beg you to forget that. We are at the mercy of people who may not have our best interests at heart"

"Why would the school close? That's..." Chrysanthe started, but Azalea interrupted her.

"Completely possible. What's the last thing you guys remember hearing about Hope's Peak? Because I clearly remember it had been shut down"

"I know it closed! I just don't remember why it happened..."

Lucien chewed the inside of his cheek, looking at the ceiling with impatience. "I don't know all the details, but there was a lot of corruption or something. Some people may have died. Does it really matter?"

"No, maybe it does not. I just thought I should remind you all about that fact" Vittoria stepped outside, looking at both ends of the hall. Faint voices sounded from somewhere away "I see nothing suspicious or dangerous. Step out, everyone"

The hall of the train was deserted, nicely illuminated, with walls made of wood. The train seemed to be rather luxurious for something that was meant a vehicle for potentially kidnapped people. While Vittoria and Lucien walked away, Chrysanthe stayed nearby, looking around her with wariness. "Should we try to enter one of these other rooms?" she suggested, approaching one of the closed doors.

"May as well do that! Let's see what we can see from the other side of the train" Anything that would indicate the train wasn't precariously near the edge of a cliff, like it had seemed to her. Azalea knocked on the door, just in case there was someone inside. Indeed, there were another four people in there. A brown-haired teenager with a strange contraption covering his left eye–adult in the body of a teenagers. That'll take a while to get used to – opened the sliding door.

"Oh! We're not alone in this train" he said with an Australian accent, turning his head around. While Chrysanthe introduced Azalea and herself, Azalea read the nametag.

HELLO! MY NAME IS

Matthew McCoy

Super High School Level Engineer

"Come inside! We all have a lot of questions to ask you two" he said, sitting down.

"But we don't have any answers...we're just two more innocent people trapped in this train"

"That's okay. We need all the information we can get" at least Matthew seemed friendly. The other three passengers were sullener, eyeing the two sisters with distrust "What can you tell us?"

"Nothing" Azalea contradicted herself immediately and gave a quick summary of everything she had found so far. Telling it all again helped her realize everything sounded way too strange and fantastical to be believed. What was going on in the train?

The man with a gas mask on his face peered out of the window. "The bad news is that over here there's only clouds and more clouds" he informed, then forced his voice to sound cheerier than he actually felt "The good news is that it may mean we're all having collective hallucinations!" ...is that really not an unlikely scenario?

"You're not being of help, Kamiya" the only girl in the cabin mumbled, resting her head on the back of her seat.

"...sorry. I thought I should...lighten up the mood or something"

HELLO! MY NAME IS

Kikozou Kamiya

Super High School Level Pharmacist

"We don't need to 'lighten up the mood'. We need to face the fact we were all kidnapped and thrown into this train. Don't distract us from that, please" the girl closed her eyes.

"How can you stay so calm?" the man in the trenchcoat frowned.

"Elaine is always like that" Matthew said, sitting to her side.

"I stay calm because what else should I do? Panic and try to kick out the windows?" Elaine opened one eye halfway.

HELLO! MY NAME IS

Elaine McCoy

Super High School Level Drama Novelist

"Besides, it's an interesting scenario, isn't it? Imagine it" she opened her eyes fully, now shining with enthusiasm. She gestured with her hands grandly "A group of strangers, trapped in a train. The destination is unknown! Having nothing else to do, everyone gets together and tries to gather information. It's perfect! Think of the possibilities!"

"I'd rather think a way out" the other boy mumbled.

"Exactly! Look at yourself, you're prepared to fight for your freedom!" Elaine leaned back on her chair again, her voice lowering to a drawl "Sure, that means you're likely to be the person who dies while the rest of us go free, but better you than me"

"What?!" he paled.

"I can't think of a story where everyone survives. There'll always be one or two unfortunate characters who kick the bucket" she said, as if she was talking to herself.

"Knock it off, Elaine" Matthew chided, but the damage was done. The boy in the trenchcoat laughed nervously and stood up.

"Haha...I'm outta here. Step aside" he walked through Azalea and Chrysanthe, who had stayed silent during the last couple minutes, watching the second group interact with each other. While the boy stepped outside of the cabin, he brushed against Chrysanthe. He had barely gotten a few feet away when the gardener raised her voice.

"Hey! Give me back my wallet!"

"What was that?" the boy turned around, indeed holding a wallet in his hand. Azalea pointed a finger at him.

"If you know what's good for you you'll give Chrys her wallet back"

HELLO! MY NAME IS

Aleksey Seryogin

Super High School Level Thief

Aleksey chuckled, tossing it back. "Sorry, sorry. Taking other people's stuff is like second nature to me. It's involuntary by now"

"That's true, he even tried to steal my magnifying lens" Matthew said, pointing at the contraption over his eye.

"No, that one was intentional! It's a weird thing you have there, I wanted to take a better look" Aleksey stuck his hands under the sleeves of his trenchcoat "I'll go away now"

"Wait a second, my wallet is empty now!" Chrysanthe protested, having opened it. After Azalea glared at him again Aleksey took out the cash he had taken from the wallet.

"Fine, this one was intentional too. I like to hoard a lot of shit I don't need"

"Stay away from our stuff" Azalea said, but Aleksey didn't really care what Azalea said. Instead he shrugged, walking towards the front of the train.

"I said I'm sorry. Besides, if I take anything I promise I'll return it by midnight, okay? Most things, at least"

"That's not good enou—"

"Please, Lea, let it go..." Chrysanthe said "It's not that big deal"

If Chrysanthe said it was no big deal, then it really was no big deal. Azalea just tended to see red if she felt her sister was slighted in any way. Azalea could take any kind of abuse or teasing, but she hated to see Chrysanthe going through any of that. Although Chrysanthe had said several times to stop coddling her like that, Azalea had never stopped it. It was already way too ingrained in her. "I'm sorry, Chrys" she smirked and thought back to Aleksey's exact words "Guess trying to defend you is like second nature to me"

"I have told you I don't need any defending, Lea"

"And I have told you you're too soft"

The two started going towards the back of the train, leaving the group they just met in the cabin. Only Aleksey had left the cabin and gone to the front, just like he said, he truly was going to get moving instead of waiting like Elaine had suggested and gotten others to do.

At the end of the wagon there was one door with a small window. Chrysanthe started to approach to take a look when the door suddenly opened, slamming against the wall. A tall teenager with a bowl haircut ran into the wagon, shaking his head. "Preposterous! T-That has to be a mistake!"

"What? What's wrong?" Azalea inquired, taking a look at the newcomer's name tag.

HELLO! MY NAME IS

Patricio Beltrán

Super High School Level Baker

Patricio pointed through the door. "This train is floating in the air! That's what's going on!"

Neither Azalea or Chrysanthe replied to that. Instead, the two of them went immediately to the small platform at the tail end of the train, leaning on the railing and looking at everything the train was leaving behind. It was no more than sky and clouds. No rails, no ground...just what seemed to be an endless expanse of blue. "...Lea, am I dreaming?" Chrysanthe murmured.

"No. We aren't dreaming. This is really happening" Azalea said gravely. What was going on with this train?

Patricio had approached the two girls, looking into the distance and turning a curious shade of pale green. "We're in some kind of...flying...magical...train...how did we get here? Who is driving this thing?!"

"Does any of you have something you wouldn't mind losing?" Azalea asked. Patricio seemed to calm down for a moment and rooted through his pocket, taking out a coin.

"Here. What is it for?"

"It's a long shot but..." Azalea let the coin fall where she calculated a rail would be. Instead of hitting metal or anything, even if it was invisible, the coin kept falling and disappeared into the emptiness. The three watched it happen, until Chrysanthe swallowed and scratched her head.

"...the train is really flying. Now what?"

"I don't know. Have you tried to check if there's someone driving the train, Patrick?"

"Uh, it's Patricio" the baker said before looking at the hall to the front of the train "There was this guy who said was going to check it. A detective, I think?"

Azalea raised her eyebrows. That sounded useful! Not that a detective would be of much help when solving something as esoteric as this all, but it was worth talking to him. After telling Patricio to keep calm and not lose his mind at the impossibility of the flying train, the sisters left towards the front of the train, Patricio staying behind to try to get used to the impossibility of the flying train.

Near the driver's cabin there was a man, peering through the small window that let one see what was in there. "Excuse me! Are you the detective?" Azalea asked, approaching. The detective turned his head around. He looked a tad scruffy, not the kind of person Azalea felt compelled to rely on immediately.

"How did you find out? Are you a psychic?"

"...no" That question didn't help make her believe he was going to be of use. Chrysanthe hurried to smooth over the tension, smiling brightly and clasping her hands.

"The nice baker over there told us there was a detective around here! And we need some reassurance. Do you have good news, mister?"

"...no. All I have is an enigma wrapped in a mystery wrapped in more enigmas...or whatever the saying goes. Take a look through this window" the detective stepped aside, leaving his nametag in plain sight.

HELLO! MY NAME IS

Thioro Meziane

Super High School Level Detective

Azalea leaned on the glass, putting her hands to the sides of her eyes. Inside the driver's cabin there was everyone one would expect from such place, except for one thing:

The driver. "There's no one in there!"

"That's impossible!" Chrysanthe softly pushed Azalea aside to take a look herself. Thioro didn't seem that bothered by such impossibility, instead leaning against the wall with contemplative expression.

"Not less impossible than this flying train. I have a couple theories about it"

"Really? Like what?" Good! The detective was at work!

"It could be a magnetic train" he stated. When the only reactions were a blank stare from Azalea and a 'whaaaaat?' from Chrysanthe, Thioro looked away. "I mean, it's a very strong magnetic train! You know how those trains levitate, right?"

"...somehow I don't think that's what happened" Chrysanthe whispered to Azalea. As the girls didn't react with amazement or approval, Thioro started sweating a bit.

"...oh...haha! I mean, that's just a theory! I have no proof of it. In fact, it was more of a joke than anything else, you know how that is"

"Are you really a detective?" Azalea was feeling her hopes of a quick resolution to all these problems quickly fading away.

"I am a detective! I just...don't think I deserve a SHSL title? That's all" I wonder why.

"I think it's matter of practice. Don't give up, Mr. Meziane" Chrysanthe said kindly. The detective tilted his head, humming for a moment.

"I mean; I have solved dozens of cases successfully...but I'm far from perfect. But it doesn't matter, we shouldn't have SHSL titles in the first place. Haven't you heard about the Tragedy of Hope's Peak?" Thioro tapped his temple, smiling satisfied "After that disaster there's no way they'd give any more titles. Trust me on that"

"The Tragedy? What's he talking about, Lea?"

"Beats me. Maybe he does have skills to obtain valuable information" It was better than being a complete failure. Thioro Meziane wasn't going to be a complete dead weight, thankfully.

"Forget about how the train is floating. For now, let's think about where we may be going. Do you think there's something floating among the clouds?" Thioro looked through the window as if he expected a floating island to appear at any moment.

"That can't be a serious question" Azalea mumbled, but Chrysanthe seemed to be considering it seriously. Before she could say anything, a voice sounded through speakers in the corners of the room they were in at the moment, a robotic, mechanical female voice:

'Hostages, we'll be arriving to our destination shortly. Your luggage has arrived already. Please form an orderly line in front of the train doors and don't leave the station until you receive authorization'

Thioro looked at his feet. "It doesn't feel like we're descending. Unless the train starts plummeting in the next minute or two, we really are going to arrive to some floating place"

"That's impossible, a floating—"

"Lea, we're on a floating train" Chrysanthe clutched her pendant "Maybe floating land or floating buildings isn't as unexpected as you think...?"

"She's right, Ms. Lea. Logic is taking a vacation today" Thioro said, adjusting his tie with a very lame 'professional' expression on his face.

"Don't call me that" Azalea grumbled. She knew she wasn't exactly being the kindest person on the train, and she blamed it on the shock of being kidnapped and thrown into the flying vehicle. I'll calm down once I'm out of here.

Just like the announcement said, after a few minutes the train started slowing down. A dozen people, among them everyone Azalea had already met and the rest being complete strangers, gathered in front of what seemed to be the doors of the train. The vehicle slowed down to a complete halt. As if a veil was removed, pristine, bright sunlight poured through the windows of the train. The air was clean, pleasant. If it weren't because of the problem regarding the train and the kidnapping, it would be a nice sensation.

"W-What's this peaceful atmosphere...?"

"Our day got brighter, somehow"

"The train was flying before! I know what I saw"

"I saw it too!"

"There must be a rational explanation for that. Wait until we're out of here"

"There'll be someone to answer our questions, right?"

"Don't get too far away from me, Chrys. Many will want to get out before the rest" Azalea whispered to her sister. Chrysanthe got a bit closer to Azalea right when the doors of the train opened.

Once everyone inside the train was able to get their eyes used to the bright sunlight outside, they all stepped outside, blinking and walking hesitantly like newborn chicks. They were all standing on a train station, clean and quaint. Some of them were standing near the railing at the end of the platform, a couple went and took a look over it, followed by Azalea "...this has to be a dream"

"Are we on some sort of floating island?"

"That's what it looks like! This is..."

"We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto" Azalea murmured, feeling a shiver down her back. Falling from such altitude would be a nightmarish way to die. Trying to get that mental image out of her head, Azalea returned with Chrysanthe, who stayed near the train. There didn't seem to be any options on what to do other than waiting for someone to appear.

A couple people got in front of the tall steel gates of the station, eyeing the top of it. There seemed to be enough space for someone to sneak between the top of the gate and the ceiling, but it was rather far away. "Hey! Come here for a second" one of them beckoned Azalea. Once she got close enough, she pointed upwards "We need a third person here"

"That we do! Dalia here wants to try to escape the station, and you're going to help us achieve it!" a boy in a rather striking costume proclaimed as if Azalea had already given her approval "Dalia will form the base, you stand on her, and then—"

"...I don't think I have enough strength to hold someone above me" Azalea said, taking a better look at the two people in front of her.

HELLO! MY NAME IS

Dalia Roble

Super High School Level Ecologist

HELLO! MY NAME IS

Alistair Sullivan

Super High School Level Child Entertainer

"...can I ask what's up with the hero costume, Alistair?" Azalea asked. Alistair's face got red, and he backed onto the steel gate.

"I don't know. I may have been kidnapped when I was at work"

Dalia tried to get their attention. "This all you see here? It's all muscle! I bet I wouldn't feel a thing if you two stood up on my shoulders. You go first, Miss Stravopoulos"

"I'd rather not take the chance" Azalea replied, looking away.

Alistair crossed his arms. "Would you rather to stay here and do nothing?" Before Azalea could reply to that, Alistair dramatically pointed straight to her face, making her cross her eyes to focus on the tip of his finger "We can't trust whoever kidnapped us! I don't know you, but I'd rather not be around when they appear"

"I agree with him on that" Dalia said.

"Yeah! Now that's what I wanted to hear!" Alistair grinned "Let's go, Dalia! There must be someone else who is itching to get out of here before our kidnappers arrive. Hop on my back!"

"Can't we just run?"

Alistair chuckled. "Yeah, that's what we should do...sorry, I'm used to working with children. You have no idea how many dramatic speeches and gestures working on my television show requires"

"I can see that" Dalia seemed to be more amused than annoyed, at least "Come on, there must be someone who can help us" the two went away, talking to each other. Azalea, a bit disoriented, returned with Chrysanthe. Good luck to them, I guess...?

Chrysanthe had been about to comment about that when a voice sounded through the speakers of the station. It was a completely different voice to the female one in the train. That other one had sounded robotic and neutral, this one had a lot more life behind it. The problem was that it also was sickeningly malicious. Despite how carefree it sounded, Azalea tensed up, a feeling of dread settling in the pit of her stomach.

"Ah, ah...mike check! Mike cheeeeck! Can you all hear me? Hello?"

Everyone stopped where they were standing and looked towards the speakers, murmuring to each other. There was a lot of static and noise in the announcement, and soon the connection was cut off with a strident sound. About time someone stepped forward to give explanations! No one came by, though. The gates of the train station didn't open, and nothing else was said through the speakers.

After a moment of doubt and uneasiness Azalea dared to slowly start walking towards the gates. Maybe those two were onto something about trying to climb the gate...

"Now this is better! It's so nice to see your cute little faces in 'bearson'" someone said pleasantly "No, wait...that doesn't work as a pun. Ignore that!"

The source of the voice was on the train. The sixteen people turned around, facing the small black and white bear on top of the driver's wagon. For a moment all anyone did was stare at the bear, unsure how to take this sudden arrival. After the flying train and the floating train station stuck wherever they were at right now, something like the bear was just one oddity more in what was turning out to be a very weird day.

"Silent crowd today. I thought my sudden appearance would bring a lot more enthusiasm than this!"

"...who...who are you?" Matthew asked what everyone was wondering. The bear immediately jumped to the chance of introducing himself, talking much louder than before.

"I am Monobear! I am the manager of this resort! As manager, allow me to welcome you to Heavenly Resort!" he stopped as if now he expected applause or something like that. No one said a thing. "What's wrong with you all?"

"Lea, I don't understand a thing anymore" Chrysanthe whispered to her.

"If you're here it means you were chosen by Hope's Peak Academy to attend the school and form the 80th Class. Congratulations! You're all the future of the world!"

"But I already graduated high school!"

Monobear ignored that. "Unfortunately it seems there was a small problem along the way and now you're here, high in the sky and with no way out. Instead of a fun and healthy school life, you all have been forcibly relocated to our resort, where you're expected to stay for the foreseeable future"

"Now, wait a second here, villain!" Alistair shouted "I know very well Hope's Peak doesn't even exist anymore. Stop lying and tell us what's going on?"

The bear's eye glistened when he looked at Alistair with disdain. "Are you sure about that? Call it a feeling, but I think all of you have your pretty little heads a bit scrambled up. I doubt any of you can even recall what you had for dinner last night!"

"What do you know about that?" Aleksey stepped forward, defiant. Monobear wasn't impressed by that, he leaned forward, his smile widening.

"I know it all! But it's not important, Seryogin-kun. Now that you remind me, let's get the FAQ out of the way before starting the main event" Monobear took out a few index cards, reading them quickly. "My name is Monobear. Yes, I'm real. No, I'm not a toy. Yes, I'm a bear. Yes, I trapped you all here. Yes, there's a way out. Yes, this is a virtual world. Done! Any other questions?"

"What do you mean with 'virtual world'?" Kamiya asked. That explained a lot of things, though. Azalea didn't have a hard time accepting such explanation, if only because she wanted to cling to the only logical way everything she was seeing made sense.

"Of course! That explains this all! The train, the floating station, we being up here in the sky...that solves it!" Thioro nodded confidently as if he had achieved something monumental.

"'Virtual world' means what it sounds like: a virtual world. You're all inside a computer. That means you have no way to get out of here unless I approve it. Always remember that!"

"That explains why I can understand what everyone is saying! I was wondering how everyone here could speak Spanish" Patricio crossed his arms.

"The virtual environment must be translating our words to everyone's native languages. Does it really matter?" Aleksey said.

A rather large man strode to the train, hitting his fist against his palm. "Alright, bear, spill it out already: when are we getting out of this virtual world of yours?"

HELLO! MY NAME IS

Runihura Acurio

Super High School Level Videographer

"That's what I'm going to explain now, Acurio-kun" Monobear sat on the edge of the wagon ceiling "You're all trapped here, and you won't get out of here until we get what we want. It doesn't matter if it takes days, weeks or years, you'll be staying here indefinitely" he tilted his head "Or until we get tired of providing food to you all, so don't take too long to do what we want if you don't want us to run out of patience"

"What do you even want from us?!" Kamiya shouted, but the question was ignored.

"But I'm a merciful bear! That's why I'm giving you all a way to get out of here even if you don't cooperate the way we want to! If you murder someone and manage to not get caught, we'll agree to let you out of our virtual world!"

"Kill someone?!" Matthew turned paler than he was already. The rest took the bear's statement with varying grades of reticence, all of them understanding none of them were in position to protest.

Vittoria covered her face with her hair "He cannot be serious. This has to be a very bad joke"

The explanation as to how the murder and trials happened went without a hitch, mostly because Monobear ignored the demands of explanations and other questions. Azalea listened without protesting. It wasn't like anything could be done to counter anything Monobear was saying. If they were all in a virtual world, then they were all at the mercy of whoever was watching over it. Crying and trying to fight the bear would lead nowhere fast. At least that explains how we got in a train and all that.

"Let me see if I understand" Dalia closed her eyes "If someone dies there'll be a trial to decide who is the killer, right? So what happens if we get it wrong? The killer would just walk away and be freed from this world?"

"That's right!" Monobear replied cheerfully.

"And if we catch the killer will we be able to lock them away or something?" Azalea asked.

"If you want to lock away a battered, pulverized or broken corpse then go ahead! Do that. I have no complaints on that regard"

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Aleksey shouted.

"If the blackened is successfully caught they'll be e-xe-cu-ted. I have already prepared executions for all of you, too. Boy can't I wait to use them!"

"You can't execute the killer just like that! That's insane!" Kamiya protested.

"Of course I can! I'm the manager, I have privileges" Monobear tilted his head "So if you innocent people don't want to be the ones to be executed you better prepare to catch the culprits. Not that I care any less if you all crash and burn during the first trial!"

"You seem awfully sure there'll be a murder in the first place" a short and elegant lass said, her voice dripping with derision.

HELLO! MY NAME IS

Joanna Da Silva

Super High School Level Violinist

Monobear sighed. "Of course there'll be murders! It's the only way to escape. Besides, who knows? Maaaaaybe there'll be a couple reasons more to kill and win?"

"No one would be as callous as to let fifteen people die just to get out of here"

"You underestimate the people around you, Silva-san. Humans are full of hatred, and want nothing more than take care of themselves. Look around you.

Can you trust any of them?"

Joanna's lips turned into a thin line while she turned her head around. The bear was right, no one could be trusted. Who knew what any of them were thinking, if anyone was planning to sacrifice all of their lives in exchange for freedom. Was that what the kidnappers wanted? To get rid of fifteen of them and leave only one person get out?

The gates behind all of them opened with a click, parting open and revealing a stone path towards a group of buildings not too far from there. "You're free to enter the rest of Heavenly Resort. Enjoy your stay while it lasts, everyone!" Monobear moved to disappear behind the train, but Chrysanthe piped up with a 'wait!'

"Uh, Mr. Bear? I, um...I was wondering...why were we kidnapped? Do we have something the-the kidnappers want or...?" her voice was trembling, the thought of being in mortal danger was too much for her. Monobear shrugged as if Chrysanthe had asked something inconsequential and pointless for everyone. The sixteen hostages paid attention to whatever Monobear was going to reply. Noting everyone had their eyes on him, Monobear shook his head, chuckling softly to himself.

"Details, details. We'll tell you if we feel like it. Kill each other now, we'll talk later.

Enjoy the Hostage Life of Mutual Killing, everyone!"

"...he didn't even say what they want from us" Chrysanthe said, clutching her pendant again.

Monobear jumped behind the train, disappearing from sight and leaving sixteen confused Hostages in the train station, about to cross the gates and go into what may be the last place many of them would be at.

The last mutual killing game had started.


Two hostages remain to be introduced.