Everything is dark. Humming electronics and faint clicking as preparations finish. Footsteps come closer.
"Are you going to be alright doing this?" A male voice asks. "She is your sister-"
"Was my sister. That person will be gone," a girl's voice cuts him off. "Anyways, we haven't spoken in years. This needs to be done."
Horizontal slits of light shone through as a hand reached out and pushed, opening the door. She stepped forward, and tripped over the sill.
"Awk!" Her hands reached out to catch herself, hitting the hard tiled floor. Using her now smarting hands, she pushed herself up and looked at her surroundings. "A classroom?" Yet, there were many strange things about it.
Suddenly, there was a rumbling behind her. Turning, she saw another metal door open as a dark haired boy tumbled out of a locker much as she had. He looked up and screamed.
"Don't yell at me!" She shouted.
"Sorry," the boy responded, "I was just surprised. I don't remember how I got here."
"Well, we should get out of this room then, maybe we'll find someone who can tell us," when the boy nodded, she turned to the classroom door and opened it to head outside. "My name's K-"
She cut herself off upon seeing a metal monstrosity in the hallway before her. The barrels of guns pointed at them made the danger very obvious. Quickly, she grabbed the boy's hand and ran down the hallway away from the blue painted machine. Loud, crashing steps pursued them.
"There!" The boy pointed to stairs leading down and she followed. At the bottom, they could see another of the machines in the passage ahead, so they turned left to avoid it. Running, they passed another machine in a side hallway. Following the twists and turns, the two teenagers came to a set of double doors. The rushed in and slammed the doors behind them.
Breathing heavily from exertion, they turned and found they were not the only ones sheltering in what appeared to be a gymnasium.
"That's fourteen so far," a boy with green hair muttered. He was surrounded by a group of teenagers. While varied in details and colour, they were all wearing plain school uniforms.
I must be early, a thought interjects, but the sound of machinery interrupts. Five of the giant machines appear, and out of them comes what appear to be different coloured bears.
"Rise and shine, ursine!" They yell.
"Congratulations!" The pink bear's high voice calls out.
"Youse lucky bastards have been selected!" The blue bear continues.
"What!"
"No way!"
"I can't believe it!"
Voices clamoured, interrupting each other without care.
"Calm down!" The red bear shouted over the noise. "So we gotta get all of youse ready." He pulls out what appears to be a flashlight, "You guys ready?" Without waiting for an answer he flashes the light into everyone's faces. Everything goes dark, accompanied by the sound of all five bears' laughter.
A narrow doorway appears before her. She goes to step forward, but looks down instead. Noticing the high metal door sill, she steps over it safely. She turns to inspect the door she just came out of.
"A locker? Why was I inside a locker?" Confused, she inspects her surroundings. "I suppose a locker makes sense inside a classroom at least."
Her inspection is interrupted by rumbling from the other locker. A dark haired boy in a striped black school uniform and cap tumbles out, hitting his head. She rushes to help him.
"Are you alright?" She asks as she offers him a hand.
"Yeah, I think," He looks around. "Where are we?"
"I'm not sure, some sort of school from the looks of it. I'm Kaede Akamatsu."
He looks at Kaede before responding, "I'm Shuichi Saihara."
Looking around, Kaede takes in their surroundings, "This place is really strange isn't it? It looks like a classroom, but it's overgrown with plants. Is it really old and abandoned?"
"But this here," Shuichi gestures to the blackboard, "It's an electronic screen. Most schools don't have those, why would it be abandoned?"
The two are interrupted by the monitor above the electronic blackboard turning on. Viewable on the screen are five coloured teddy bears sitting on a red couch.
"Rise and shine, ursine!"
"We're the Monokubs!" The blue bear yelled. "Monokid!"
"Monotaro!" The red bear continued at similar volume.
"Monosuke!" The yellow bear declared.
"Monophanie!" The pink bear called in a sweet voice.
"Mon-o-dam." The green bear stated, emotionless.
"What is going on?" Kaede breathed in confusion, but the video continued without acknowledging her. The Monokubs alternated speaking, but seemed to tell a single message. They must be following a script.
"This is the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles. This school was made for sixteen Ultimates we've brought here. You should start exploring this academy and introducing yourself to the other Ultimates, cuz you're going to do an activity together later. So long, bear well!" The screen shut off.
"You're an Ultimate too?" Shuichi asked. "I've never met another Ultimate before."
"Well that makes sense," Kaede responded, "Ultimates are spread all over the country. I've never met another one either, I can't believe there's sixteen here! I'm the Ultimate Pianist. You?"
"Oh, well, I'm the Ultimate Detective, but I'm really still training. I just happened to solve a case that had police stumped and people started calling me that."
"Well, that's really impressive! Not many people could solve a case like that! You should be proud of your work. Like, say, 12 Morceaux de difficulté moyenne by Tchaikovsky."
"I, I suppose," Shuichi pauses. "We should go find the others, right? The Monokubs said there's sixteen."
"Oh! That's right, let's go," Kaede jumps up and secures her backpack straps before opening the door. "Are you coming?"
Outside the door, they enter into a hallway. Like the classroom, it is overgrown with plants. The two doors they find immediately appear to be another classroom and a music room, but both doors are locked. The go down the hallway until they find a blue haired girl in glasses coming toward them. She briefly seems determined and focussed, but seems to fold in on herself upon spotting Kaede and Shuichi.
"Oh, hello," she says quietly. "Are you two Ultimates? I'm Tsumugi Shirogane, the Ultimate Cosplayer."
"That's cool! You probably have been a lot of characters then!" Kaede responds excitedly.
"Oh, not really. I've been a couple characters, but mostly I prefer making character costumes for other people," Tsumugi corrects.
Interactions like this continue as they go through the school. In another classroom, they meet Kokichi Oma, the Ultimate Supreme Leader, while he harasses K1-B0, the Ultimate Robot. Downstairs, they find Rantaro Amani, who can't remember his supreme talent. In the Dining Hall, Tenko Chabashira, the Ultimate Aikido Master, asks Himiko Yumeno, the Ultimate Magician, for details on her supposedly real magic. In the nurse's office, they find Miu Iruma, the Ultimate Inventor, looking for drugs. When they pass the front entrance, an iron grate blocks the door, so they head to the basement. The Library holds Maki Harukawa, the Ultimate Child Caregiver, while the Game room holds Ryoma Hoshi, the Ultimate Tennis Pro. Finding no other escape, they return to the main entrance and find the oddly pretty Korekiyo Shinguji, the Ultimate Anthropologist, who speaks of the beauty of humanity.
Strangely, before they head through the front door, Kiyo says, "The moment your hopes are shattered may too be beautiful."
Trying to ignore the creepy comment, Kaede and Shuichi open the door and head outside. Blinking in the bright light, they gasp in shock.
"It's huge," Kaede breathes. "Who would build this? And why trap us in here?" For they are surrounded by a massive wall, topped by a cage.
"Maybe, … maybe we can find an exit," Shuichi counters. "We don't know for certain yet that we're trapped."
As they look, they find more people in the various areas and facilities: Kaito Momota, the Ultimate Astronaut; Kirumi Toja, the Ultimate Maid; Gonna Gokuhara, the Ultimate Entomologist; and Angie Yonaga, the Ultimate Artist. Unfortunately, they find no exit anywhere.
"There's still hope," Kaede says. "We can't get past the areas that seem to still be under construction. Maybe later, we can find an exit in that area."
Before Shuichi can respond, an announcement plays on the monitors. The Monokubs want everyone to meet in the gym. Seeing no alternative, Kaede and Shuichi head back into the academy and towards the gym.
They arrive with the other Ultimate students and wait for some explanation. Seen together, everyone's outfits seem both more and less outlandish. None of them match, despite seeming to wear school uniforms, but the absurd additions many of them have seem more normal when so many are together. Nobody seems to know how they got here and for what purpose. Some express some optimism at the potential of what sixteen Ultimates together could do, but others are pessimistic due to the power of their captors to bring them together with nobody's knowledge.
Suddenly, five massive machines drop in front of them. They seem powerful and in good condition, despite seeming to be older style technology compared to the other things they found while exploring the academy.
"RISE AND SHINE, URSINE!" The voices of the Monokubs come out of the machines, while everyone stares in terror.
"I don't think they're going to attack us," Rantaro says, attempting to quell the panic.
"With those massive guns on the front!" Kaito yells.
"Clearly they're monsters!" Agrees Miu.
"Hey, that's just mean, calling the Exisals monsters like that," Monophanie's voice emerges from one of them.
"If they wanted to kill us, they could have done so before now.," Rantaro argues. "This is likely just to make us cooperate."
"Upupupupu! Somebody's trying to be clever." Another voice laughs. On the gym's stage, another bear, this one black and white, drops down. "Right you are! Some people get so excitable when we tell them about the Killing Game, so we need to bring in these guys to keep you guys in line."
"Killing game?" Kaede can't help but interrupt.
"Yeah, that's right! I'm Monokuma, the god of this world and headmaster of the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles."
"Another bear?"
"God?"
"Headmaster?"
"Shut up while I explain!" Monokuma yells. "Now, we're not doing some bloody free for all. This Killing Game has class. You can't just murder somebody, you have to survive the class trial as well!" Monokuma goes on to explain the Killing Game's rules and how to win.
This is monstrous. The thought pops into Kaede's head and she can't help but agree.
"We…, we can't take part in some, … some Killing Game," Shuichi says.
"Well, that's the only reason you're here," Monokuma laughs back. "You don't have any choice at this point!"
"What?" Kaede whispers. Then, louder, "We won't. You can't make us kill each other!"
"Upupupupu. You'd be surprised," Monokuma laughs again, before leaving with the Monokubs. The collected Ultimates are left with the horror of what they've been told to do.
