53 Lies and Counting.
Chapter 4: Start of the Killing Game.
Begin Recording 321drv111-0.
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In which the second half of introductions begin, strange things happen, Monokuma appears and the Killing Game begins.
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"That was probably the most respectful conversation I've ever had with Tenko in my life."
Something was off. Nearly everyone they have met so far had some sort of extra quirk or a somewhat different attitude. Quite honestly it wasn't that noticeable with Miu, she seemed a little more submissive than usual but that was it. Tenko on the other hand, while she still called men degenerates, didn't seem as misandrist as before towards the both of them.
...Well, okay, she didn't like Kokichi that much but at least she held a decent conversation with another boy.
Kokichi hummed in absentminded agreement, but said nothing else.
Something was off, very much so.
The walk was awkwardly silent, even as they decided to head into the basement. They both had thoughts in their heads about the whole situation, and Kokichi was still trying to come completely in terms the fact that everyone was alive and well, everyone was fine and the game hadn't started yet.
(Well nearly everyone was fine, Kokichi thought, Korekiyo was still a nutcase before the game was a thing and Kaito's almost abnormal protagonist attitude was probably going to get them killed.)
On the other hand Rantaro was thinking of a way to end the killing game, non of them were safe but one in particular seemed to make sense-
They noticed a girl with brown pig tails wearing a red sailor school shirt with a black skirt and stockings walking somewhat awkwardly in their direction. They immediately recognised who it was.
Maki Harukawa, the Ultimate Assassin.
But this was before that revelation, so she was just the Ultimate Child Caregiver.
Rantaro, going for a decent first impression, waved at her. "Hey-"
Maki froze in place, staring at them in the eyes with her own, blood red ones that were full of an emotion that he couldn't place his finger on. Her mouth was partially open but had quickly shut.
She seemed somewhat startled. Did something just happen?
He tilted his head. "Umm..."
The assassin narrowed her eyes at Kokichi, then looked back to Rantaro. Her expression seemed to soften, but it turned into her typical cold expression she usually has on most of the time.
"...Maki Harukawa, Ultimate Child Caregiver." She looked behind her, towards the Library door almost nervously and began to fiddle with one of her pigtails. "Do you know Kaede Akamatsu?"
"Yeah, why do you ask?"
"I don't recommend going into the library. It's... Being renovated."
And without another word she walked past them and headed up the stairs to the first floor.
Beep!
You obtained a Friendship Fragment!
Maki Harukawa fragments, 1/6.
'How did I get a fragment out of that?'
"That was... Odd."
Kokichi shrugged. "Sounds like Maki to me, still with that tsundere attitude."
"Yeah, not much of a child caregiver attitude."
The shorted boy looked at him confused, then 'ohhh'ed' as he remembered. "Oh right. You died before then didn't you?"
He knew full well about he was talking about, but then he would be raising suspicions far too early. So he did the wise decision and played dumb. "What are you talking about?"
"Neeheehee! Maki is the Ultimate Terrorist!"
"...Is that also a lie? I hope it is."
"Neeheehee! Nah, she's actually the Ultimate Thot."
"...Oh my god, please never say that again."
Kokichi laughed. "I'll tell you later my dearest Rantaro, now is not the time however."
After Kokichi decided to torment Rantaro some more with shit puns and dabbing (which Rantaro absolutely detests with a passion), the taller boy had just flat out walked away and entered into the Gaming Room. It looked like the Monokubs hadn't properly fixed up and cleaned up everything yet, as there were still vines and other plant life lingering, along with some broken game machines including a broken knock off DDR machine, an arcade shooter and two arcade racing machines.
And two of them, the DDR and racing machine had... Holes in them?
The metal bar for the DDR machine was bent by nearly 90 degrees and one of the arrows on the board looked like its been kicked in.
Same with the other one. Except it looked like the stuffing in the chair was ripped out.
And there were a pile of metal in the furthest corner of the room, which he quickly realised that it was actually a pile of very broken chairs.
Weird.
And there was only one person in there.
Ryoma Hoshi, the depressed bad-ass in the group and as far as he was aware the smallest Danganronpa character ever.
The dude was 3'5, he was tiny!
And he was also an extremely interesting character that totally deserves better in life because he didn't deserve all that horrible shit happen to him at all.
Ryoma tugged at his pointy hat and spoke, "Hmmph, are you two also looking for a way out?" His deep voice, which contrasted with his cutesy rosy cheeked appearance, a liquorice candy stick in his mouth that acted like a cigarette.
Rantaro shrugged, not acknowledging Kokichi who was peeking his head out behind his back. "Well, we are, but we thought it would be a good idea to get introduced to everyone first."
"Oh?"
"Well, it's just that..." He bit his lip, trying to think his words carefully. "I don't think we will be able to leave anytime soon."
The tennis pro took out his candy stick and sighed. "I see, we may be trapped here, but at least this place beats prison."
"Prison? Sorry if I'm rude, but aren't you an Ultimate?"
Ryoma lowered his head, the shadow of his hat covering his face, which combined made him far more threatening than he should. "Hmmph, that's an old story. Once upon a time I was a man called Ryoma Hoshi, the Ultimate Tennis Pro. But that man no longer exists, I'm nothing more than his empty shell."
"Ohhh~ I heard of you." Kokichi smiled, coming out from behind the survivor's back. "Weren't you the guy who killed a mafia with just a tennis racket and an iron ball?"
"He is..?"
The tennis pro looked at Kokichi and frowned. "So you know that much. Well, what do you think of the loser before you who used his talent to kill?"
"Why would you throw away your future like that though? Did they do something?"
Ryoma eyed Rantaro, putting the candy back in his mouth. "I don't like repeating myself... Because I didn't need a future anymore. It's not like me to talk so much. You shouldn't cozy up with a killer like me, I'm dangerous to be around."
And with that he turned his back to them and inspected one of the broken arcade machines. "Hmmph. Also... Do you know Kaede Akamatsu?"
"...Yes?"
Rantaro was afraid to know the answer to the reason why both Maki and Ryoma had asked about her. But, he was starting to understand.
"For a pianist, she's pretty strong." Ryoma started, and Rantaro's suspicions were immediately confirmed. "She was able to bend the bar of that machine over there, along with breaking all of the chairs and punching everything she could."
"Wow."
"She seemed to be looking for something. These coins." Ryoma held out the familiar yet unfamiliar monocoin. "She was destroying everything to get these things. She looked pretty determined."
"And Shuichi?"
"The detective?" Ryoma had a faint smile on his face, but it quickly disappeared. "He looked like a deer caught in the head lights. She nearly hit him in the face with a chair."
Kokichi snickered, clearly amused. "Nee-heehee! That explains why Maki told us to not go into the library. It's being 'renovated'."
Beep!
You obtained a Friendship Fragment!
Ryoma Hoshi fragments, 1/6.
"Shall we meet up with everyone else Kokichi? As the library is, ah, currently out of order?"
The smaller boy nodded. "Let's go then!"
"See you Ryoma!"
"Goodbye..."
And with that they left the room and Ryoma alone.
"Ryoma seems normal."
"Yeah, he wasn't a weirdo like Miu or Tenko was."
Both of them had gotten back on to the main floor of the academy. They had walked around some more, as for whatever reason the gates to the main entrance was still closed, so they couldn't go outside.
So they decided to have another look around the academy, seeing if there was anyone else.
However they had already met up with everyone in the building, but it seemed like both Kaede and Shuichi were missing.
But the gate was still closed.
So they kept looking.
Honestly, Rantaro was planning on leaving to check up on 'that' in the girls bathroom and just have some time alone. However he was worried about the Nanokuma's, so he changed his mind, instead deciding to do it at a later date.
He also decided to check out the mystery knife strapped to his waist. He knew it was an army/combat knife of sorts, blade handle and a silver blade that made a sharp 'shiiiing!' noise as soon as he drew it out. Kokichi had noticed, but only enough didn't say anything about it.
However, they decided to go back onto the floor with the dragon statue and-
'Well. This was new.'
Thankfully Tsumugi had decided to move somewhere, so Rantaro didn't have to worry too much. However the dragon statue had a piece of lined paper sticking onto it's nose with somewhat neat writing on it. He walked up to it and took the note off without much thought, and examined it.
Start!
The dragon flies five miles north, east, south and west. It goes ten miles north after going twenty miles south.
How many miles did the dragon travel altogether?
How many miles did the dragon travel that was useless?
What are both answers added together, divided by five?
Take that many steps from the back of the ninja statue, and look for the next clue underneath.
The next clue to salvation is there.
:)
Rantaro blinked. "Wait, it goes fifty miles altogether, however the first twenty miles were useless as it merely circled back. So fifty divided by five, ten..."
"And take that many steps from the ninja statue near the stupid shrine?" Kokichi finished, looking at the dragon in suspicion.
"Was that note there before?"
Kokichi shook his head. "No. This is new." He hummed in thought. "So we need to find the statue and take ten steps behind it?"
"The clue underneath... The soil?"
"Nee-heehee! This was a boring puzzle; even a baby could figure that out." He took the note from Rantaro's hands and looked at it, deep in thought. His eyes flickered back to the dragon, then the note, then the dragon again. "I wonder..."
"Salvation..." This was completely new, something that wasn't in the game. So unless his memory is still failing him as usual. "Does that mean a way out?"
...Or something behind the scenes had changed.
"It has to be a form of motive." Kokichi concluded. Walking up to the statue and tapping it on the nose. "Nee-heehee. Interesting. Come on my beloved Rantaro, lets go back down to the entrance. Something tells me we can leave now."
"Oh?" Kokichi grabbed his hand, albeit hesitantly, and began to drag him down the stairs. He tried to ignore the fact that Rantaro, for whatever reason, was freezing cold, but it was starting to irritate his skin and give him goosebumps. "Why would you think that?"
A simple question. "Because it's always like this in video games!" Kokichi pouted. "Whenever the main characters find a special clue or do a part of the main story, a new path opens! That note may have been the trigger for us to go outside!"
Rantaro couldn't help but laugh at that. "Really?"
"Really!"
"If you insist."
"I really do insist!"
So they jokingly argued about the potential event trigger, with Kokichi being a cheeky brat and responding to everything Rantaro said with a dramatic flair (almost like a child, trying to persuade their parents that they really didn't steal the last cookie from the jar), and the taller boy didn't seem to mind at all. He seemed to enjoy the entertainment, even though Kokichi did realise that the enigma beside him seemed to doze off.
"You would make a great minion for my super secret organisation!"
"J'adorerais un gâteau en ce moment."
"Eh..?"
Rantaro blinked. "Ah, did I say that out loud?"
"Was that... Spanish?"
"French, well, I don't what I said was right."
"What did you say?"
Rantaro hummed, biting his lip. "...I think it was, 'I would love some cake right now?'" He let out a nervous chuckle. "Sometimes I say things in different languages even if I'm not familiar with them, it's a habit I picked up from someone I knew. I'm pretty sure I said that wrong though."
"Oooooh. We need someone in our group who understands French."
"Je pourrais dire cela complètement faux en ce moment." He laughed. "J'utilise un traducteur car mon français est tellement rouillé ."
"Exactly! So France can become one of our main base of operations!"
"Comme c'est mignon." He couldn't help the small chuckle. "It's hard to pronounce different languages, plus I can never remember the words."
"Good enough!" Kokichi snickered, his eyes held a mischievous glint in them. "We already have all of Japan and Hong Kong in our grasps, it wouldn't hurt to go western to extend our influence."
"Don't you have at least one member in your organisation that can speak a different language? Since it has, what did you say, 10,000 members?"
"Yep! And we all can only speak Japanese!"
"And how did you conquer Hong Kong if you only speak Japanese, may I ask?"
"That's a secret." Kokichi winked. "And what type of cake are we talking about?" Rantaro was about to reply back, but Kokichi had suddenly started jumping up and down rapidly, pointing towards the now accessible entrance hall. "Look look, see, I told you we had to see that note to the plot to trigger. The iron grates are gone!"
"So they are."
"C'mon, c'mon! You owe me now for doubting me!"
He couldn't help but laugh, he reached out and gently ruffled Kokichi's hair. The shorter boy stuck out his tongue, whined, "Pweeese stop~" and took his hand off his head. It was funny, watching him run towards the closed door with exaggerated excitement, a bounce in each step. It almost made him forget that Kokichi was time looping, that Kokichi already knew what was going to happen.
Rantaro frowned. 'Knew what was going to happen huh?'
He knew more then Kokichi did, he was an imposter infiltrating someone's identify, possibly erasing them from existence. If things did go like before, he would be incredibly bored (as horrible as it sounds, he wanted new trials and motives, a new route). But he wasn't letting it happen.
He was Rantaro Amami, the first to die. But he wasn't really 'Rantaro' anymore was he? He didn't want to die.
He was an imposter, he wasn't real.
But at he wasn't still...
...He?
She?
He bit his lip, his mind clouded up with a thick fog. Who was he now anyway?
Rantaro Amami?
Or that girl?
"Rantaaarrrrrro!"
Kokichi's panicked yell snapped him from his thoughts, the fog in his mind instantly vanishing. Without even thinking, he immediately rushed towards Kokichi at the entrance hall, who immediately ran behind his back to hide from-
'Oh, hi Korekiyo.'
Korekiyo Shinguji, a tall and thin man with a frame which quite honestly made him look like a snake. He still wore his military styled uniform and hat, along with the silver chains and lockets attached to his uniform and hat, and his face mask with the zipper. His golden eyes stood out from his dark clothes and thick eyelashes.
His eyes stared them down, analysing them, taking in what he could about their appearances.
His mask seemed to move and crumple ever so slightly, and Rantaro couldn't tell the expression he was wearing behind that leather mask. Korekiyo adjusted his hat, but still said nothing. He seemed unnerved and perhaps a tad nervous, did something happen in those ten seconds Kokichi ran off?
It was so awkwardly silent, even with the 'Beautiful Lie V3' music playing casually in the background.
Korekiyo tilted his head, but still said nothing.
"Ah jeez." Rantaro had to break the silence, it was getting too awkward and he could feel Kokichi trying to glare daggers deep into Korekiyo's soul. The snake like man eyes lit up slightly, clearly expecting something. Either he was blissfully unaware of Kokichi's glare (which was slowly becoming his most demonic expression, and oh boy did Rantaro realise that it looks much more horrifying in real life) or he was just flat out ignoring him. "My name is Rantaro Amami, the Ultimate Suvivor, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Korekiyo nodded and did a small bow. "My name is Korekiyo Shinguji, I am called the Ultimate Anthropologist."
The anthropologist was always a personal favourite character of his. He was always an interesting character to him even if he was, in his personal opinion, ruined by writing that made that certain 'revelation' only there for shock value.
This wasn't Corpse Party, Danganronpa was better than this!
('then again,' Rantaro thought, 'it was always foreshadowed and portrayed as disgusting and not light-hearted')
"It's nice to meet you too, Korekiyo." Rantaro politely bowed, which made Kokichi scowl. "I'm not that familiar with anthropology. Can you tell me a bit about it?"
"Please, call me Kiyo." Rantaro could of sworn he saw a smile form behind his leather mask. "I will give you a brief explanation on anthropology, if you desire."
He nodded. He just asked for one didn't he?
"Anthropology... Studies customs, legends, folktales, songs and much more. There may even be customs in-"
As Kiyo began his explanation, Rantaro couldn't help but listen in, completely blocking out the outside noise. It was the same explanation he heard many times, all simple yet went into good detail that didn't overly explain itself, yet it was so nice to listen too. Plus listening to Todd Haberkorn using this type of voice was oddly calming.
...Then again so was NicoB's rendition of Kiyo. That too was extremely calming and pleasant to listen to.
"-Examines the thought behind culture, faith and customs." Kiyo finished. He looked to Rantaro and grasped one of his bandaged hands, clearly expecting something.
Another one who's different?
"That sounds really interesting Kiyo." He couldn't help but smile. "I would love to learn more about it in the future, well, if you want to..."
The taller teens golden eyes lit up in excitement and eagerness. "O- Of course. It's a focus based on humanity after all, I would be happy to tell you more in the future if you so desire. I believe humans are beings that possess infinite beauty, even the ugly parts I find beautiful-"
He suddenly cut himself off, shivering uncomfortably and his eyes closed shut. "No, never mind, forget what I said."
"Okay?" That was a weird cut off. "That was a nice explanation, thank you Kiyo."
"You're welcome." He begun to sweat somewhat, looking a little down trodden. "I'm afraid your friend didn't seem that interested in talking to me, he seemed rather frightened. Kehehehe... I wouldn't blame him with an appearance like mine."
"Yeah, but he's- where the heck did he go?"
Suddenly Kokichi was gone. Perhaps he ran outside, judging how the once closed door was now slightly ajar. He was guessing Kokichi really didn't like Kiyo and just took off after a few seconds of being around him.
He rubbed his arm (the lack of human contact made him feel empty). He didn't even notice him run off.
He couldn't help but let out a sigh. "I'll go look for him. It was nice talking to you Kiyo, hope we talk again soon."
Beep!
You obtained a Friendship Fragment!
Korekiyo Shinjuji fragments, 1/6.
Whatever Kiyo said, he didn't hear, he opened up the door and was immediately greeted by-
Blue skies.
Bright sunlight.
Gentle wind.
Scorching heat.
A lingering smell of fresh mint.
The giant ass cage surrounding the academy.
And-
...
Oh my.
Oh my my my.
"Kokichi?!"
Kokichi Oma was running around near the dormitory, shirtless with a familiar space themed jacket over his shoulders and a black head band perched on the top of his head. He was running around and laughing his head off without a care in the world. And right behind him Kaito Momota, also shirtless, chasing after him with a peeved and somewhat flustered expression on his reddening face.
He ran off not even a minute ago, how the heck was he doing this?! Why was he doing this?
And why was it so hot?!
"Jesus Christ," He began to fan himself with his shirt. Deciding that is wasn't enough he began to take his shirt off. "This is just barely rivalling England's June and July heat waves."
And those were fatal to those who weren't prepared. He remembered one of the many, many reasons he hated high school was because of sports day. Teachers would make them sit in the blazing heat with no shade nor any water bottles and expected them to stay there for over six hours. Especially when he was so damn sensitive to the sun and heat, he might as well have been a vampire.
Thank god for sunscreen and the bottles of ice water he brought.
(also wasn't Rantaro supposed to have temperature resistances because of his travelling? It sure didn't feel like it.)
After taking his shirt off and folding it neatly under his arms, he gave chase after Kokichi.
"What are you doing?!"
Kokichi turned his head towards him, his humming halting and turning into a grin. "Rantaroooo~" And began to run towards him, Kaito closing in fast. "Save me from the scary man!"
He would be worried if Kokichi didn't have a big, stupid grin on his face. And knew that he was going to be perfectly fine.
Just as Kokichi was going to run behind him, Rantaro quickly reached over and snatched the galaxy themed jacket from his shoulders, folded it up and held it up high above his head. The supreme leader whined, jumping up in vain to get the jacket back. He silently thanked their stark height difference. "No fair! You're supposed to be my minion!"
"Yeah, no."
"Rantaro~ I thought we were boyfriends!"
"Please do not spread such lies. We were never together."
"But you're so hot!"
"Why thank you Kokichi, that's very nice of you."
"H-hey!"
Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars and best bro, had run up to him looking rather flushed and sweaty. His purple eyes sparkled like countless stars, which stood out even more due to his reddening skin. He still has his signature goatee and gravity defying purple hair shaped like a crescent moon. Without another word Rantaro tossed the jacket overhead towards Kaito, purposely throwing it out of Kokichi's reach.
The astronaut easily caught it and immediately draped it over his shoulders, glaring at Kokichi all the while.
"I'm sorry about Kokichi." Once again he ruffled the smaller boy's hair, the head band crumpling. "He's like a small child sometimes."
Kaito sighed, but his gaze still on Kokichi. "It's fine, he didn't make off with my jacket, however," He snatched the head band from Kokichi's head. "He did make off with this."
Rantaro nervously chuckled. Now that he had a closer look at it, wasn't that Kirumi's headband?
Kaito pointed backwards towards the dormitory, where the doors were wide open. "This belongs to the maid in there, so I'll return it in a minute. But before that... I hadn't introduced myself yet." Rantaro couldn't even say anything before Kaito continued not even a second later, bashing his fists together. "I'm Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars! Even crying children adore the Ultimate Astronaut!"
Kokichi scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Boring, that was the same introduction you used for Kaede and Shuichi!"
"I knew it!" Kaito looked pissed. "You were sneaking in on our conversation!"
"Wait, did Kaede and Shuichi already leave?"
The small teen nodded. "While you were having a conversation with bondage freak, I went outside. That was when I saw this space loony chatting up Kaede and Shuichi-"
"Hey, I wasn't chatting anyone up!"
"-And he saw me after they left!"
"So you took his jacket?"
"Yep! Because of Kaito's incapability of catching me, I also took Kirumi's headband, cause why not?"
What a bully.
"I mean..." Kokichi continued, a frightening grin on his face, directed right at Kaito. "You shouldn't go up to complete strangers you've never met before, hmm? I could of been leading you to a trap to get you killed."
'Kokichi..?'
"I could of led you to Rantaro, who would of finished you with his knife." He put his finger onto his lips, lightly tapping them. "So maybe you should- uumpphhh?!"
He squeaked, his speech interrupted as Rantaro quickly covered his mouth with his hand, making him shudder and freeze up from the sudden deathly cold. He didn't understand, the heat should of warmed him up, why was it doing the complete opposite and making him much colder than before?!
Rantaro couldn't help but laugh nervously, tugging a struggling and panicked Kokichi closer to him. "So-Sorry Kaito! He's just a bit of a trouble maker, that's all. Please don't take him seriously."
Kaito blinked, clearly confused. But regardless he smiled with no ill intent or malice behind his expression. "Nah, it's fine, no harm done and all." He walked up to the duo and pushed his hand onto Kokichi's head, rubbing harshly much to the smaller boys chargin. "He a little brother?"
"No," More like a little shit. "We just decided to team up to explore the academy, look for a way out and all."
"A way out huh?" Kaito grinned. "Don't worry we'll find a way out soon, otherwise I'm not Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars!"
"So you have an idea on how to get out?"
"No... But I'll find one soon, trust me!"
"So you don't?"
"Sh- Shut up! We'll find a way out soon, got it?!"
He chuckled. "Anyway," he motioned towards the cage above, letting go of Kokichi who staggered a foot away and coughed, taking in the warm air. "Do you know why its so hot here?"
The astronaut shrugged. "Not sure, but apparently it had something to do with an intruder."
"An intruder?" Now that he thought about it, didn't one of he kubs mention something about an intruder?
He suddenly felt something tapping his shoulder, he turned and saw no other than Kirumi Toujo, who was holding a paper note which was ripped from a notebook. Despite the heat, she was still wearing her maid outfit, with the exception of the missing headband.
She held out the note, gently shaking it, urging him to read it.
'The Monokubs explained to us earlier that an intruder had attacked the academy and destroyed some of the facilities not too long ago. This includes the temperature stabilisers for the outside, among other things.'
"Oh, hey Kirumi." Kaito greeted and handed her her headband, which she took with a small polite bow and placed it back on her head. "How's the clean up coming along?"
She reached into her notebook and took out a pen, writing into the note book extremely quickly.
'It's all going according to plan. You're door is fixed now, but the stairs are out of my control unfortunately.' She bowed towards Rantaro and Kokichi in polite greeting. 'My apologies... I am Kirumi Toujo, the Ultimate Maid. Please let me know if you require my service.'
'This was interesting.' He thought, staring at the suddenly now mute maid in front of him. 'Very, very interesting.'
"It's nice to meet you, I'm-"
She held out her hand, signalling him to stop before she began to write.
'Rantaro Amami, Ultimate Suvivor, correct?' At his confused gaze, she clarified, 'I heard your conversation with Kaito, my apologies for listening in to your private conversation.' She glared at Kokichi. 'And I was rather... Preoccupied with this... Purple gremlin here.'
Rantaro nearly did a double take and almost burst out laughing from how serious she said that. It seemed like Kirumi was another changed one, as he was pretty sure that she would never say that to anyone unprovoked nor was she mute.
But it was rather worrying, her too?
"Kirumi..." He muttered. He remembered most of this stuff, but it wouldn't hurt for a quick recap wouldn't it? Plus, it helps to fit in. "Aren't you supposed to be a really popular private maid that can do any request given to her? Well, most requests anyway?"
'That is indeed correct. I will full fill any request that a client will give to me, however if its related to, let's say, murder or any type of sexual matters or relationships I have to decline.'
"That's fine. I've never actually met a maid before, so this is something new for me. Thank you for fulfilling my interests."
'You're welcome, it's in my duty to serve after all.'
He couldn't help but chuckle at that.
"Sorry, to but in," Kaito interrupted, scratching the back of his head. "Kirumi, shouldn't we help the others and Angie now?"
'Of course.' She turned towards Rantaro and Kokichi, an apologetic look on her face. 'My apologies for asking, but can you assist us? The intruder had also damaged one of the buildings, the Shrine of Judgement, and none of us can enter. This wouldn't be a problem in a normal situation, however-'
"Angie is stuck in there." Kaito finished, essentially summarising the rest of the text.
"O,Oh." What on Earth happened earlier? "Sure, I can help. So can Kokichi as an apology for stealing your stuff."
"Oh man, my beloved Rantaro is much more sterner than usual." Kokichi pouted. "Did I make you mad?"
"Nah, I just think it's rude that you weren't going to help them after being so rude to them earlier, no?"
"Jeez, you're such a buzzkill Rantaro!" The smaller teen whined. "Fiiiiine, I'll help."
"That's good." He patted his back. "Alright tell me what to do and I'll do it.
Beep!
You obtained a Friendship Fragment!
Kaito Momota fragments, 1/6.
Beep!
You obtained a Friendship Fragment!
Kirumi Toujo fragments, 1/6.
"Okay, did this intruder have bombs on them or something?" Rantaro asked with complete honesty, carrying and dumping another large rock onto a nearby pile of debris. No one answered, his only response being a few shrugs.
He sighed, and continued to hum 'Beautiful Lie', which was still playing on the speakers.
He, Kokichi, Kaito, Kirumi, Shuichi, Kaede and Gonta were all working together to remove pieces of shattered rock and steel beams from the entrance of the shrine. Nearly everyone in the group had taken articles of their clothing off or had gotten completely shirtless at this rate, with the exception on Kirumi and oddly enough Shuichi, who had constantly persisted to keep his clothes on, despite the fact he was red in the face and looked ready to keel over.
He thought it was supposed to be a simple task really, seeing how small the shrine was in size in terms of the stone that was used. But he was very, very wrong.
The shrine was, for whatever reason, much bigger in real life than the game as it now was reaching a few inches below the top of the dome they were all stuck in, and whatever happened earlier took most of the shrine out and then some, with the pavement to the shrine now jagged and unstable. And the ninja statue was missing, so he couldn't check it out right now. Plus the heat was starting to burn a bit, if he waited outside for too long his skin would definitely get burnt.
Angie was stuck, still alive thankfully, but couldn't climb out due to the unstable debris.
Gonta took out a larger piece of rock, dumping it right next to Rantaro's and nearly on top of his foot. "Ah! S-Sorry!"
He didn't even notice, he was still too lost in his thoughts about the sudden size increase of the shrine. "Oh- No it's fine Gonta, you didn't do anything bad."
The large man, made of muscle and love blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry, Gonta hasn't been feeling that well since Gonta woke up outside the shrine earlier. Gonta is a little out of it right now."
He could hear Kokichi snickering in the background.
Gonta Gokuhara seemed to be another one who's changed, however it seems like the only change is really his speech, how he used to have broken English and spoke in third person, now he just spoke in third person. Just like in the original Japanese version he believed.
That seemed to be it though, nothing too major. He wasn't sure about Angie yet, but he'll find out soon.
...Wait, why are they fixing up this mess? Shouldn't this be the Monokubs job? Where were the little bastards?
A cheerful voice rang out from beyond the rubble, perky and joyful, "Nyahahaha! Good work everyone, Atua thanks you all!"
And Angie seemed normal enough, so far.
"How are you doing Angie?"
"I'm fine! Atua is guiding me on my end, but he's telling me right now its not a good idea to move anymore rocks." Angie cheered. "Otherwise I'll be squished by an avalanche!"
At least she was still cheery. And her accent sounded more... Thicker? He guessed? He never really paid attention to her accent to be honest, he just acknowledged its existence. Maybe it was the exact same and he was just going mental.
He wasn't even sure what accent she had, it sounded like a French dialect mixed with something else to be honest.
And just as they were about to continue.
"Rise and shine, ursine-"
'Ah, speak of the devils.'
The Monokubs, as usual popped out of nowhere, each striking a pose each that Rantaro wouldn't be surprised all came from Jojo and with Monokid hitting a few strings on his guitar, which he then proceeded to throw at the rubble, shattering it. No one seemed to really acknowledged their existence, in fact Kaito had just rolled his eyes and continued with removing the debris.
Monotaro waved at them all, a smile on his grinning face. "Beary nice to meet you again! I see you guys are having trouble right now."
"Wells, you see bastards." Monosuke began. "We weren't going to help ya, however since father is coming soon, we hadn't gotten much of a choice left, so!"
"We will now help you bastards." Monophanie waddled over to the rubble and sighed. "Why did that intruder give daddy such stress? He's an honest bear with an honest job."
"I know right? Daddy is trying so hard to help support us, and this intruder is making it all worse!"
"Raaaaaaah! What an ass!"
"Wait, we need the you-know-what for this."
"Yeah, so?"
"According to script we aren't supposed to bring them out till later!"
"Pffft. Everything's already chaotic as is, might as well bring out one before the fixin' starts." Monosuke shrugged. "Hey Monokid! Bring out ya Exisal!"
"Fuck yeah!"
Monokid's red eye glowed faintly for a few seconds before stopping, and at first, nothing seemed to have happened. Until a quiet, yet high pitched whistle rang throughout the academy, seemingly coming from nowhere that was getting louder and louder until-
Kaede looked up and gasped, a large black blur was starting to descend from the dome right above of them. "Everyone, look out!"
On instinct everyone jumped away from the destroyed entrance, just in time dodging the large object that came crashing down where they all once stood. It's impact causing debris to fly and a large cloud of dust to form, obscuring the machine and the area around it.
It was an Exisal, its shape resembled a monkey and was much bigger than any of them. However-
Among most of the groups yells and shouts of panic, Monokid had cried out in pure anguish when the Exisal came down, and Rantaro and Kokichi understood why as soon as the dust had properly cleared.
The Exisal was there without a doubt, the problem was that, well...
Someone had wrecked it.
The machine looked like it went through hell and back. It had scratches, dents and bullet holes all over it, half its gun arm looked like its been sliced clean off by something incredibly sharp and strong, the same with its tail as well which also looked like its been sliced clean off. It's right leg was barely in one piece and looked like it wasn't able to support the machines weight for much longer and most of the wires were detached from the main body, caused either by it simply being pulled off or something slicing through it clean like everything else.
The only thing that seemed to be in decent condition was the blue paint job and it's 'eyes', and that was it.
Everyone looked at the machine in confusion, especially Rantaro and Kokichi. What on Earth happened?
'First people have been acting strange...' Rantaro thought, 'That puzzle appeared, someone had messed up parts of the academy, now one of the Exisals is somehow busted?!'
This was strange. Far too strange.
The Monokubs looked shocked and appalled by what they were seeing, but Monokid seemed to have been taking it the worse, as he had waddled up to the Exisal and collapsed to the ground, crying in anguish.
"Who- Who the fuck did this to my baby?!" He sobbed, "I-I-I'll kill the bastard who did this!"
"Now, now, Mono- Monokid." Monophanie had tried to coax him calmly, but her voice was trembling. In fact she didn't continue at all and looked towards her siblings in fear. "Umm... Is our Exisals fine?"
Monosuke shivered, laughing nervously. "Y, Yes! Of course! They were fine not even an hour ago!" He walked up next to Monokid and began to whsiper. "Hey bro, is ya Exisal still workin'?"
Monokid hiccuped. "It still responded ta me... Maybe?"
"Alright, can you get the bastard out of the shrine?"
"Why can't you summon yours?!"
"Hush!" Monophanie came up from behind Monosuke, urging Monokid to be quiet. "We don't know if ours are fine yet! If these bastards find out our weapons are busted, they'll rebel!"
Kokichi rolled his eyes, apparently they were still dumb, because they weren't doing a good job at being quiet.
To their surprise, Monodam spoke up as quietly as he could, "IT-WOULD-BE-WISE-IF-THE-EXISAL-JUST-TAKES-THE-STUDENT-OUT. WE-WILL-HAVE-TO-ASK-FATHER-ABOUT-ANOTHER-WAY-OF-FIXING-THE-ACADEMY-UNTIL-WE-FIX-THE-EXISALS."
"Agreed." Monotaro nodded. He waddled up to Rantaro, making Monophanie squeal in distraught.
"Monotaro, no! He's not-"
"Father? Is it okay for us to just take the student out?"
He felt everyone eyes fall on him in suspicion and curiosity, making him sweat nervously. 'Please don't make me out to be the Mastermind people.' "Sure, just... Take Angie out and leave the shrine as is."
"Okay then!" Monotaro cheered. "C'mon Monokid, use the Exisal and take her out!"
"Carefully!"
"Yeah, that too."
"Hey, Monophanie!" Monosuke hissed. "I thought you fixed him!"
"I know I did, why is he still acting like this bastard is daddy?!"
Monokid, still upset and growing blue mushrooms on his head, sighed in defeat. And, uncharacteristically, without another word he climbed into the cockpit of the Exisal. It took a few seconds, but the Exisal had begun to move ever so slowly. First it moved its damaged leg, nearly toppling over on the floor as the leg snapped in half. A broken sob came from the cockpit as the Exisal carefully used its good arm to support itself and began to crawl over to the debris.
"Angie!" Kaede called out. "Can you move back a bit? We're about to get you out!"
"Okay!"
It was quiet honestly painful, watching the once powerful Exisal carefully crawl onto the debris, quickly grabbing onto one of the metal stronger beams and lifting itself up, after waiting a few seconds and figuring out its safe enough it reached inside with a broken arm, careful not to cause an avalanche.
"Yay! Thank you Mr Robot!"
Monokid only grumbled.
After a few seconds, the Exisal lifted its arm, Angie perched cheerfully on its arm, kicking her legs-
Wait.
Rantaro narrowed his eyes, taking a closer look at the girl on its arm.
It looked like Angie, judging by the skin tone, the hair, the piercings, necklace and the bikini she was wearing.
But everything else was definitely not Angie.
The Exisal put her down on the broken concrete, allowing him to see her completely.
Everything he listed above was the same, but there were a few differences. First, while she was wearing her yellow smock, it's hood and shoulder areas had clean white fluff on them with a few specks of black paint on them, the smock itself had dried red paint with floral designs that looked like someone brushed on with a paintbrush. She also had a large bamboo paintbrush strapped to her back, the hairs being completely cleaned and looked fairly new and a small hammer and five smaller paintbrushes strapped to her bikini bottoms.
She... Looked like a mix between her concept designs and her final design, mixed in with a few original designs.
"Nyahaha! Thank ya all for helping me!" Angie cheered, tilting her body sideways multiple times like a little bobblehead. "Atua appreciates ya assistance to me, as such he will reward you all at a later date!"
'That's great...'
"No problem." Kaito grinned, rubbing the back of his head. "Just helping a person in need."
"It's my duty as a maid to help and assist others after all."
"It would of been incredibly rude to leave you trapped in there."
"Gonta is happy to help, as Gonta is working to become a gentlemen!"
Angie still had that unchanging smile on her face. "So kind!" But that smile disappeared as soon as she saw Rantaro, replaced by a small frown.
Monokid rolled out of the cockpit, sniffling ever so slightly and waddled weakly towards the rest of his siblings. The rest of the cubs, minus Monotaro who was now resting his head against Rantaro's leg, disappeared, their job now done.
"Is, something the matter Angie?" Rantaro asked cautiously.
The artist walked up to him, tilting her head slightly, her gaze strong like steel. Without warning, she grabbed his hand, making him jump from the sudden warm and soft contact. Angie blinked and after a few seconds of a deadpan stare smiled joyfully, "Nyahaha? I didn't realised you were also an Oracle like me." She let go of his hand. "Cold... Which God do ya worship?"
"Excuse me?"
"I can feel a divine aura inside ya," Angie explained. "It feels like mine, but more cold and weaker. Where are you from?"
"Tokyo?"
"Hmmm? Are ya sure? Ya don't feel like it."
'What does she mean by that?!'
"I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean?"
Angie hummed, pondering to herself. She suddenly clapped her hands in glee. "Interesting, how very interesting!"
Ding Dong!
Bing Bong!
The sound of the dreaded grandfather bells, simplistic yet terrifying. Suddenly Rantaro's heart sank as the monitors speakers halted the background music and blared out what was essentially the beginning of mass murder, the beginning of a sick game. It had grabbed everyone's attention, as they all turned towards the monitor, the once black screen turned to static.
Static, for a few seconds longer. Then-
A familiar screen appeared along with all but one of the Monokubs, each holding their respective drinks, with the exception of the still upset and now tipsy Monokid; who was holding a massive jar of honey instead. Monodam looked as deadpan as usual, Monosuke looked traumatised and Monophanie looked really freaked out. They all sat on a familiar red spotty settee, all of the students dolls were lying or hanging around the room.
But his doll wasn't in its usual position. Instead, it was lying against the front of the settee and looking up, fabric tears coming down its face with a ball and chain attached to its left leg.
"H-Hiiiii!" Monophanie stuttered. "Than- Thanks for bearing with us!"
Monokid sobbed, gulping down honey and throwing another guitar, which hit poor Monodam directly on his head, knocking him to the ground and breaking his drink. Monodam didn't react and he didn't seem to care either.
"Please! Go to the gym imm- Immediately!" The bear continued to stutter. "The op-opening c-c-ceremony will begin as soon, soon as everyone has ga-ga-gathered in the g-gym." Without warning she suddenly threw her drink against the camera, the glass and its contents spilling everywhere. "This is a nightmare! Daddy is going to kill us, the preparations are incomplete and everything is chaotic!"
The Monokubs looked absolutely miserable.
"S- So long, bear well..."
The screen turned back to black, the speakers dead silent until another song, 'Rise of the Ultimates' started to play.
'At least the music knows when to change.'
"H-Hey," Shuichi spoke up, still red in the face. "Should we go to the gym?"
"We might as well." Kaede crossed her arms, staring at the monitor. "I'm guessing that probably everyone else is going to the gym."
"That's true but... I'm a little worried about this."
Out of nowhere Kaito slapped him on the back, knocking Shuichi forwards a few steps. "Hey man, it's gonna be fine. Let's just go to the gym and see what these bears want." The astronaut had a big smile on his face, which Shuichi looked away from, adjusting his hat so he wouldn't make direct eye contact with the taller teen. "I mean, whats the worst that could hap-"
"Don't!" Kaede snapped, interrupting whatever Kaito was going to say. "You'll jinx us!"
"Oh shit, sorry!"
"Too late for that..." Rantaro couldn't help but mutter. He crouched down and gently picked up Monotaro in his arms, his fuzzy artificial fur tickling his skin. The red and white bear didn't resist, he only sunk into his body and sighing happily. "Alright, we should probably get going then."
"Is the bear...?"
"I'm not the one who trapped you guys here." Rantaro said before anyone could even suggest it. "He seems to think I'm his dad for whatever reason. Might as well act the part if there's any information that we'll need later. Besides, why would I be with you guys if I was indeed the one who trapped you here?" He began to walk towards the academy building, clearly eager to get this over with.
Well, they couldn't argue with that logic.
Kirumi stood to the side, urging everyone else to go first. With slight hesitation, they all began to follow Rantaro.
With the exception of two people.
Angie Yonaga looked at the group, specifically Rantaro with interest. She never felt such a strange individual in her life, one filled with coldness of a corpse, as solid as a statue and one filled with raw spiritual energy that, while weak, nearly matched Atua's godly energy. It made her feel fuzzy, weak at the knees to be near such a person with such spiritual energy around them.
It made her curious.
Which God was he chosen by to be his Oracle?
He had to know right? There was no way he was oblivious to the sheer potential and influence he had, right?
If he didn't...
She clapped her eyes, her will strengthening. That was fine if he didn't know. She would help him if that was the case!
She would be the caretaker of the worlds most delicate flower, she would be blessed to help him tap into his inner spirit, to make him bloom.
Yes, this was what Atua was telling her, he wanted to get to know this man himself. If the God had a small religion, she would happily help spread it.
Because Atua said so!
Which was weird, why would Atua want a rival God to spread their influence?
Oh! He wants to be friends! That makes sense!
And with that conclusion, she happily skipped off after the group, clearly eager to get to know the other Oracle more.
Kokichi Ouma, on the other hand, looked at the leaving group, then back to the broken Exisal. He was silent, taking everything in as his brain worked like a machine, constantly writing out theories in his mind, connecting dots to possibilities, realistic and surreal.
He was coming to a conclusion with all of the evidence, all of the evidence that was making him wish he was as dumb as Gonta for figuring out so early.
He wasn't dumb however, it was clear that, despite the fact that Rantaro time looped too, his personality was different. It didn't feel right at all.
Something fishy was going on here, and he didn't like it.
Not. One. Bit.
Beep!
You obtained a Friendship Fragment!
Angie Yonaga fragments, 1/6.
It wasn't long until everyone had made it to the gym, in fact, Rantaro's group was the last to arrive. Everyone else was standing around, clearly waiting for the rest of the group to arrive.
The gym looked the same, he didn't see any physical difference at all.
Rantaro, careful to not wake Monotaro up, cracked his arms and hands after noticing they were starting to become stiff. He did the same to his legs. The unintentionally loud cracks rang out through the mostly silent gym, the only noises being quiet whispering and the soft snores of the bear resting comfortably in his arms.
"Well, that seems to be all of us." Kaede noted after carefully counting. Everyone else was quiet, not even Kaito spoke up. "The bears asked us to come to the gym for the entrance ceremony, right? But they don't seem to be here."
"Excuse me for asking but..." Kiyo fidgeted, looking away nervously and focusing on his bandaged hands. "Why is it that your group is shirtless?"
Rantaro blinked, his cheeks turning slightly pink. He thought he forgot something, he was too focused on the sweet coolness of the indoors to realise that he and his group was still shirtless.
Tenko cringed. "It's a bit of an eye sore for the degenerate males. But at least the girls look good."
Miu burst out laughing, her spit getting everywhere, "Ha! I bet these guys were in the middle of an amateur orgy when the bell rang! Their brains must of fallen flat from how boring it was that they forgot their shirts!"
"Oh please Miu." Kokichi scoffed. "At least I know how sex works. You probably watched some shitty hentai and thought that it made you an expert. Despite the fact that the animation and anatomy is hideous, you act like you're a sex God because of it!."
"And she is no God!" Angie piped in cheerfully. "She's not even an Oracle! She looks like an Atua-damned idiot!"
"You two are so damn vicious! And I don't even know who this chick is!"
"There are some bad hentai out there." Tsumugi thought out loud. "A lot of them are low budgeted and were animated by amateurs and newbies. But there are some good ones like-"
He wasn't hearing this. "In stressful situations like this, there's no use thinking about things, so eventually, Rantaro stopped thinking."
Tsumugi's eyes sparkled. "Ah! You watch JoJo?!"
He shook his head. "No, I was distracting you, I wasn't even aware that was a JoJo reference."
"Nyeeeh. What's gonna happen to us? I'll bet it'll be a huge pain."
"Ah! Don't worry Himiko! I'll protect the both of us!"
"...I take it back, she's a bigger pain than whatever's gonna happen next."
"You're pretty lazy, huh?"
"Pardon me, but..." Kiibo spoke up cautiously. "We need to be on our guard. We do not know if and when danger will strike."
Kokichi sniffed, putting on the crocodile tears. He closed up on Rantaro and hugged his sides. "Rantaro~ I'm scared."
"You'll live." He ruffled his hair, more softer than before.
"Nee-heehee!"
He wasn't going to admit it, but as the seconds past and the conversations grew more louder, he was starting to panic. He was going to be in a Killing Game, he was probably going to die and nothing was going to change because he was useless, like he always was. People around him were going to die and he wouldn't be able to save them.
Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless!
"Hey..."
A firm voice took him out of his pathetic, self hating mantra, and too his surprise, the owner of the voice had belonged to Maki, who had walked up to him and put her hand firmly on his shoulder. "You're panicking. Calm down and take deep breathes, count to 3 multiple times if you need to."
He nodded, doing exactly that. She was still there, even after a minute has passed, her hand still on his shoulder. "Thanks Maki, it's fine, I'm used to this stuff."
"That's not a good thing to admit."
"I know, I know. Pathetic right?"
"Yes, but no. You've been fighting for awhile haven't you?"
"...Yes."
"Keep it up."
"...Thank you."
Kokichi pouted, but he couldn't help but be curious. He wondered-
At that moment, the lights in the gymnasium suddenly shut off... Everyone went silent, the darkness encasing them all until a dimmer light came on.
Dead silent.
You could hear a pin drop.
"Upupupu! Everyone! Please bring your attention to the front of the gymnasium."
There it was, the dreaded voice, belonging to a terrifying being.
The spotlights on the gym podium came to life one by one, and when they all focused onto the podium-
He jumped out of the wooden floor, a pair of wings, one black, one white, strapped to his back.
A bright light burned behind him, showing a living God that lived among them, its sole purpose, to bring despair to them all.
He landed gently onto the podium, perched on his butt, its wings fallen off and landed on the floor like wet cardboard.
But...
There he was.
"I am the God of this new world."
Half black, half white. All despair.
"...And the headmaster of the Ultimate Academy!"
A terrifying grin.
"The one, the only,"
And that signature red eye.
"Monokuma!"
Monokuma casually layed down onto his side, a glass of martini in his paws.
"Nice to meetcha!"
He took in a deep breath, doing his best to calm himself. The situation he was in was finally hitting him, causing his heart to beat rapidly in his chest to the point it was starting to hurt.
'Maybe I'll be lucky,' He tried to reason with himself. He could feel someone rub his back, calming him down somewhat. 'Maybe it'll be Salmon Team instead of the main game.' And knowing his luck, it was most likely not gonna be the case.
The whole class was silent, trying to process what they were seeing. Everything that has happened up to that point was relatively normal, but this... This was just flat out surreal for them, even with some people seeing a giant robot, this was still absolutely strange.
No one said anything, still not being able to understand what they were seeing.
"Oh? Has my cute appearance struck you all into silence?" Monokuma asked, cutely tilting his head to the side. "I don't blame you guys, I was voted the most adorable mascot in the world at one point after all. I'm cute, and now thanks to some upgrades, I'm fluffy as well!" The bear threw his martini to the side, shattering as it hit the wooden floors. "Oh? Monotaro's here, but wheres the rest of my adorable cubs?"
"Mhhhh?" Monotaro yawned, stretching his limbs as he continued to snuggle into Rantaro, content. "Oh, hey father," Still referring to Rantaro, "You didn't tell me that I had a new brother."
"Wait, what?" Monokuma blinked. He froze for a few seconds, taking in everyone's appearance. "Hold on a second, what is this?! Where are the rest of my adorable Monokubs?!"
"Rise... And shine... Ursine..."
The Monokubs popped out beside Monokuma, looking absolute depressed. Monosuke and Monophanie were poking at the mushrooms growing on Monokid, who was now completely silent, honey smeared across his face. Monodam had a pen in his hand, drawing on Monokids face.
"Hey! What on Earth happened to this place?! And why aren't you following the script?!"
"Oh... Hey daddy." Monophanie waved, peeling a blue mushroom off. "Everything's going so horribly wrong..."
"We've been havin' some," Monosuke paused, trying to find the right word. "Technical difficulties."
"What?"
"Oh, oh! I can explain!" Monotaro wiggled, getting their attention. "Basically, an intruder infiltrated and messed up most of the academy. We got rid of them eventually, but..."
"But..?"
"Umm... I forgot!"
Out of nowhere, Monophanie broke down onto the floor crying. "They broke so much of the academy, we won't be able to fix it in time! And the Exisals... The Exisals are either missing or completely destroyed!" She sobbed, poking at the mushroom in her paws. "It's, it's just unbearable!"
Monokuma said nothing, seemingly deep in thought.
"Wh-What is this? What's going on?"
Kaede was the first one to speak up, absolutely terrified.
"Another teddy bear appeared..."
"Whoa!" Monokuma snapped, drawing out his claws. "First of all, I'm no teddy bear. I'm Monokuma! Show some respect! I'm the headmaster of the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles! And secondly..."
His red eye glowed, emitting a red light. "Upupupu! This is very, very interesting!"
"Um... Daddy? Are you feeling alright?"
"I'm feeling the despair! Unexplained happenings, intruders, an overly long prologue... And we're still gonna continue!"
"We are?! But the Exisals-"
"Completely irrelevant! I didn't need the Exisals before, and I still won't need them now!" Monokuma giggled, a long slimy tongue escaping his maw. "In fact, I have another way of enforcing the law around here AND to fix up the academy!"
'He... Did?'
"We do?"
"Of course silly Monosuke. I always keep spare robots of mass destruction around, what type of father would I be if I didn't!" He burst out laughing. "Upupupu! This Killing Game will go on! It will never end as long as I live and for as long people desire it!"
"K-Killing Game?!"
The dreaded words that he had been fearing caused a reaction of worry and panic among their classmates. Murmurs, harsh whispers and yelling broke out between them, drowning out all other noise.
"Alright, alright settle down!" Monokuma brought out a gavel and smacked it against the podium, silencing everyone and bringing the attention back to him. "Unfortunately, I need to be somewhere in a bit, so I'll have to keep this brief! I want you students with your Ultimate level talents to participate in a Killing Game!"
"K-Killing Game? Us?"
"Please stop joking around!" Kiibo looked startled. "Why would we agree to-"
"I'm just gonna cut you off there with a 'you don't have a choice!' I'm gonna make you kill and hurt each other! Preferably in the opposite order."
"A gentleman would never do that to anyone!"
"And besides, you don't have the Exisals anymore! What makes you think I'm not gonna kick your asses into next week?!"
"Y-Yeah!"
"Atua will protect us and help defeat you!"
Monokuma practically screamed at this. "Weren't you guys listening?! I don't need the Exisals, because I have another way to enforce the law around here!"
Suddenly the room grew awfully cold as the lights went completely out, covering everything in pitch blackness. The red light in Monokuma's eye grew bright, lighting up the room. "Oh come to me, oh ancient king, set thyself aflame for these tainted sinners, and drown the world in your holy light-"
As Monokuma began to chant, a sharp, almost unbearable pain suddenly erupted in Rantaro's stomach, causing him to curl over and collapse to the ground in agony, nearly crushing Kokichi in the process. Monotaro crawled out of his grip, dazed, but began to panic not too long after. Kokichi crouched to the ground, holding him, he didn't know what to do.
"R-Rantaro?!"
"Father?! Are you feeling alright?"
"What's going on?!"
As they were panicking, Monokuma continued.
"And may God bless us in the afterlife, for we have faithfully followed Him for so long and fulfilled his every wish and sermon,"
He raised his paw in the air. "Oh, ancient king, come back to me. Rise, Mono Lords!"
The pain grew so unbearble, so painful that he couldn't stand it anymore.
He blacked out.
The tension in the air was thick and heavy, as everyone waited with baited breath as the lights flickered to back to life, expecting the worse. Kokichi, Gonta and Maki stayed by Rantaro's side, ready to defend him whenever something happened.
But nothing happened. Even after a minute had passed.
"Ara?" Monokuma looked at his paw confused, shaking it. He was completely ignoring the unconscious student on the ground. "Is my summoning spell faulty? Did I say the incantation wrong?"
He took out a doll of some generic student and tossed it to the ground. "I invoke the mighty summon spell! Help! To me, godly spear Gungnir!"
The results were instantaneous, the doll was immediately impaled by a dozen of sharp metal spears that rose from the wooden floor below. With a click of its fingers the spears retracted, leaving behind a tattered mess of cloth and stuffing. "Oh, I guess I'm too weak right now to summon gods and higher spirits, oh well."
He glared at the paling students in front of him, his grin growing impossibly bigger. "I suppose that'll keep you guys quiet for now. Behave, do whatever you want for today, I'll properly fill you in on this fun game we're participating in, starting tomorrow! Upupupu~ Remember that I hold the power of life and death over every single one of you, including your rights to kill and not to kill. Come on my adorable little cubs, we need to check 'that' out. Farewell!"
And with that, he disappeared into the ground below.
"S-So long, bear well!"
And the Monokubs, except Monotaro, followed shortly afterwards.
"Hey, whats going on with Rantaro?!"
Kokichi put the back of his hand on his forehead, immediately flinching away. "He's freezing, but he's still breathing." What was happening to him?!
"Unconscious..." Maki muttered. She felt around his body, starting from the head down, stopping around the stomach area when something hard and solid came in contact with her fingers. Her eyes narrowed. "Alright, bring him to the dormitory. Make sure he has some water and comfort. Kaito?"
"Y-Yes?"
"Can you help me find something to warm and cover his stomach? Like a belly warmer?"
"Sure."
"Umm..." Maki looked down to see a nervous Monotaro, twiddling his whatever counts as thumbs. "I think there should be some belly warmers and painkillers in the warehouse. Monokid might of eaten them though."
In all honesty, none of them wanted to trust him, however the cub seemed honest enough.
"That's fine, can someone go with him?"
Kirumi held up her hand, nodding.
"Gonta, can you take him to the dormitory?"
"Gonta can do that!"
"And Kokichi?"
"..."
"Keep an eye on him until he wakes up."
"Alright..."
Kokichi stared at the assassin in suspicion. What was up with her? Another changed one?
"Hey, Maki?" Tenko spoke up nervously. "What should we do?"
"What else can we do other than look for a way out?" Maki said simply. She glared at the stage, her eyes darkening. "I don't think that bear is gonna make it easy for us, however."
"Yeah..." Kaede nodded in agreement. "But we won't know unless we try, right? I mean, everything about this situation is so messed up, asking 16 students to kill each other for some sick game... It's horrible. But we don't have to play by their rules. We can beat them!"
And despite Kaede's small, uplifting speech.
Despite the mysterious time looper.
Despite the fact that an outsider had knowledge to get them out.
And despite all of their eagerness to get out.
It would most likely be all for naught.
Because the Mastermind is a tricky thing.
And the Mastermind will make sure that no one disturbs their hellish game.
At any cost.
"How despairing~" Monokuma sighed, leaning against his chair, Monopad in hand. "The intruder broke so much, but we still have to continue on with the show despite that."
Strange. How strange. Team Danganronpa would of stopped recording and started again after everything is fixed. But the message he received said otherwise.
Continue the game.
He hummed in thought. He was a highly advanced AI, built to monitor and manage the Killing Games, to learn from the murders and improve on motives. He wasn't dumb, he knew this message wasn't from Team Danganronpa.
In fact... He's completely lost their signal.
So this person, the one who sent a message, was most likely the intruder who messed everything up in the first place. Who completely deactivated the Nanokuma's, taken down outside communications and destroyed the Exisals.
"Upupupu~ Very well, I'll play your game. But just so you know-"
He stood up, examining the Monopad, looking through the camera's.
"I have no intent on giving up that easily."
Boom, intro is done, on to the more entertaining stuff.
Lordy dordy this was stupidly long to write, which was my fault because I could just skipped the prologue and went straight onto the killing game, but, there were important details that needed to be addressed. You can tell how rushed the ending is as well, I was really tired while writing this, haha. But everything seems decent enough.
(But as soon as I upload this suddenly theres gonna be a kajillion spelling mistakes and continuity errorr's, I just know it)
SO! I'm planning on having Fake!Rantaro go through FTE's but I'm not entirely sure who to do first.
Which is why I'm making a poll on my profile for later, for you guys to decide who he'll hang out with. Each person will have 2 choices and you basically get to decide the first few people he'll hang out with.
Now, to respond to comments.
Dyn: Thank you for taking interest in my story, I'll hope you'll stick around for future instalments.
Revamped Persona: I've liked OC/Self Insert character stories, even if a majority of them are hot trash. But I also like timelooping stories, I decided to mix these two together. But I've decided to make some twists that may disappoint you in terms of the 'staying in character' dynamic. But I hope you enjoyed regardless?
Gatling: I'm glad to see that you're enjoying it, and the reasons as to why Rantaro is like this may shock you. Thanks for thinking the intros are decent, it's really hard for me to keep people diverse like these people in character (and I'm having major problems writing Angie), so hearing that I'm doing a good job makes me smile on the inside. In all honesty? I was planning on pairing Rantaro and Kokichi together, but for one it'll go against future development, I'm not good at romance, and it'll make me depressed with the future shit these two are gonna get dragged into. But if people request it a lot, I might change my mind.
Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this prologue. And hopefully you'll enjoy whats to come.