"Why do people..."
"...Struggle against inevitability?"
"Even against truly impossible odds..."
"...They all always persist."
"Is it truly impossible..."
"...To change your fate?"
"Your future is set in stone. You have no future."
"Welcome to The Fated Life of Mutual Killing!
Prologue: Planet
"...-ey!"
"... -ke up!"
"Hey!"
I awoke with a gasp, my eyes shooting open as I sprang up into a sitting position. I could feel my clothes were drenched in cold sweat, the uncomfortable wetness permeating through the cloth and soaking my skin as well. My breathing was shallow, and I felt too disoriented to be able to perceive my surroundings at the moment. There was a hand on my shoulder, and someone was talking to me, that much was certain; all I could do was try to focus on their voice and their touch to bring me back into a more stable reality.
"Finally! You're awake!" The voice exclaimed in relief, "You had us worried there for a moment!"
"...Us?" I finally managed to say, though the question came out as a mumble.
"Mhm," the voice responded, "There's a lot of us here." I moved to turn around my head to look at where I was, but the voice quickly told me, "Hey, careful, you just woke up. You might still be a little groggy."
I was fortunate they had told me that in time, as I already began to feel light-headed just from that simple movement. Any faster and I likely would have collapsed right then and there. Though that begged the question: what exactly had happened to me? Why did I feel this way? And where was I anyway? My confusion, while natural, felt heightened by my condition, and a sense of panic was already beginning to rise within me. A truly uncomfortable feeling, to be sure.
In an attempt to ease those feelings and gain some information, I carefully adjusted myself so I could look around where I was at. Currently, I was sitting on the floor of some sort of important-looking office-like room, which I gathered due to seeing rows upon rows of nice-looking pews and chairs on either side of me. They occupied one half of the room, while the other half in the front looked to be some kind of long, large looking desk, or perhaps a stand. It was somewhat hard to describe given my current state, but then I saw a flag posed next to it, as well as a logo I could not yet make out in the center of the back wall.
"This is...an American courtroom?" I asked, my puzzlement apparent. The person beside me didn't say anything, but I could sense them nodding. As I examined my surroundings further, I could see that there indeed were more people like the person had said. Some older than me, some younger; some awake and examining the room, but others still asleep. So, that's what they had meant.
"You were the only one moving in your sleep," the person beside me spoke up as I looked at the other resting victims (Victims? Why had I thought that?), "Everyone else looked so peaceful, so I guess in comparison it almost looked like you were having a seizure. Are you feeling ok?"
"I'm...better," I responded. I really was starting to feel better than before, at the very least I wasn't quite so disoriented anymore. "Where are we?"
"Don't know," the person replied, "None of us know where, or how, or why. And you can forget about who, what, or when. All of the people awake here are all in the dark as much as you are."
Well, that was unfortunate. I didn't want to jump to conclusions, but I had the sinking feeling I'd been kidnapped, that we'd all been kidnapped. And I, of course, didn't know anything that could explain the situation in any way. Except for the fact...
"Hey, are you an Ultimate?" My question was straightforward and to the point. There was no reason to beat around the bush right now.
"Ha...you're catching on quick." They hadn't quite laughed, but I got the gist of their intent in their words. "Yeah, I am. We all are, or were, apparently. At least, the waking ones are."
I moved to stand at that point, the person beside me supporting me as I wobbled onto my feet. At this point, I wasn't shaky due to any physical condition. No, this was true anxiety and panic. And it only got worse, as it was just now that I noticed that a device was attached to my dominant hand's wrist. Some sort of bracelet, with a blank screen and buttons on each side of the left and right of it. It was rather thin and small, yet wound tight around my wrist.
"The hell is this!?" I exclaimed, looking to my guide for some sort of answer, but they simply showed me an identical bracelet of their own. Again, the lack of an audible response was supposed to answer my question: they simply didn't know.
"Well, now I've got a question for you," the person asked once I was stable enough to stand on my own, "Who are you?"
"Who...am I?"
"Your name. You still remember it, don't you?"
I felt that was an odd question, but for a moment I did actually forget my name. My identity, my memories, my very being; for a moment, I couldn't recollect them at all. But just as quick, it all came rushing back to me.
That's right. I knew exactly who I was.
And so it begins. Anyone who has clicked on the story and read this far: welcome, and thanks for the intrigue. As you can see, this won't be a typical Dangan Ronpa SYOC plot. I will be using elements from the Zero Escape series, most notably a version of the AB Game from Virtue's Last Reward, and incorporating them here, so I guess this is technically a crossover fic. However, it is still mainly Dangan Ronpa, and there will still be trials, so don't worry about a lack of any classic mutual killing.
I do have an outline, but I'll be honest and admit that this is pretty experimental for me. I won't claim to be perfect and I likely will make a mistake here and there, but I will still try to keep up a consistent quality in the writing as best as I can. Updates will be weekly, potentially bi-weekly for particularly long or detail heavy chapters, but they will come out nonetheless.
Important details:
-I do not have a set protagonist in mind, nor do I have a character limit. By extension, this means it won't be first come first serve. I'd rather have a cohesive cast of characters rather than an arbitrary amount of people split evenly by gender. I will still try to keep it even, but in the end I'm looking for quality and chemistry. Plus, by keeping the total cast count as a surprise, I might be able to pull off a nice twist or two. Don't worry though, I'll let you all know when I'm done accepting characters.
-While insanity and unbelievable shit will inevitably hit the fan, there's still going to be a sense of everything still being fairly grounded in reality. This does not mean I won't accept outlandish characters, if you want to send in an anime-esque character and they're good I'll probably still accept them. What I ultimately want is someone who is believable, and who can act believably in the situations they'll find themselves in.
-In addition, the characters are meant to be either current students of Hope's Peak Academy or those who have already graduated. I don't really have a pre-requisite on how many current and past students need, but I'll try to keep that balanced as well.
-The setting exists somewhat within and somewhat out of the lore of the series. Think of it as an alternate universe, some things are the same but others are not. Because of this, you don't really need to know the plot of either Dangan Ronpa or Zero Escape to understand what's going on beyond the general basics. This also means this will be mostly spoiler free, so you won't need to be wary of accidentally getting spoiled. If something does come up, I'll give a warning beforehand.
-Characters are going to die, some faster than others. I know it sucks to have your character be the first death but I promise to give everyone plenty of screen time before their demise.
-Choices will be made at certain intervals in the story, decided by a poll voted on by you, the readers. These choices will affect not only who lives and who dies, but even how many survivors there will be by the end.
-Please PM your character submissions directly to me, don't leave them in the review section. This is of course to avoid spoilers for readers, and because it's also just neater this way.
That should be about it. I'll look forward to everyone's submissions, and if any of you have any questions, feel free to PM me. Thanks again for reading!
=Character Name here=
=Insert Ultimate Talent Here=
"Insert quote by character here."
Age (13-60) | Height | Weight (in pounds) | Gender | Ethnicity | Blood Type
APPEARANCE
"Quote by character about appearance here."
[Details here. Essentially how your character looks. Be detailed here. Go over skin color, build, height, hair (including color, style, etc), scars, and other body alterations (Piercings, tattoos, etc).]
PSYCHOLOGY
"Quote about personality."
MAIN GOAL ⫻ (What does your character hope to accomplish in life?)
PHILOSOPHY ⫻ (What is your character's outlook on life?)
SECRETS ⫻ (What does your character hide about themselves from others?)
MOTIVATIONS ⫻ (What drives your character?)
SEXUALITY ⫻ (What is your character's sexual preference?)
FEARS ⫻ (What does your character fear?)
PET PEEVES ⫻ (What annoys your character?)
QUIRKS ⫻ (Anything odd about your character that is unique to them?)
MISCELLANEOUS ⫻ (Anything that wasn't or couldn't be covered above?)
BACKGROUND
"Quote about past."
(Brief account of your character's backstory. It's fine to keep it short and sweet, so long as you at least include all of the important details necessary for them to play well into the plot.)
SKILLS/TALENTS
"Quote about skills."
(A list of everything your character is good at. Be sure to include anything important that falls under your character's talent. Characters who specialize in their field rather than those who are just good at everything are more interesting to write and are more likely to be accepted, so keep that in mind.)
[Skill name here] ⫻ (Brief explanation of skill/talent here)
[Skill name here] ⫻ (Brief explanation of skill/talent here)
FATE
"Quote about shortcomings here."
(This section is for listing out notable faults, flaws, and shortcomings your character has.)
FAULTS OF THE SPIRIT ⫻ (What are your character's faults in regards to their personality?)
FAULTS OF THE BODY ⫻ (Your character's physical shortcomings? Any notable physical conditions/illnesses go here as well.)
FAULTS OF THE MIND ⫻ (Mainly pertains to psychological disabilities and disorders, if applicable. Can also include mental aptitude towards specific subjects.)
WEAKNESSES/DOWNFALLS ⫻ (Any weaknesses your character may have that could bring about their end.)
INVESTIGATION
"Quote about investigational ability here."
(How your character will fare during Investigation Phases.)
ROLE DURING INVESTIGATIONS ⫻ (How can your character help during an Investigation Phase? What would they do? How will they react to crime scenes and seeing a dead body?)
ROLE DURING TRIALS ⫻ (What would they do during a trial? How would they handle high-stress debates? In what ways would they be helpful?)
STRONGEST MOTIVE ⫻ (Whether they actually become a culprit or not won't be determined until later. However, this section will help in figuring out how severely your character will act towards motives.)
MOST LIKELY ROLE ⫻ (Would your character be more likely to be a Killer, or a Victim? No matter the answer, their fate won't be set in stone, but it will largely influence the direction I go with them.)
OTHER
[Anything else you can think of that you want to add.]