A pact
"Hold on!" Monokuma lowered his rifle frustrated and turned around with his red eye glowing brightly.
"Who is it now? How many of you have a death wish?" Joker opened his eyes and turned to see Kyoko standing there, her face deadly calm. His heart still raced as she spoke to the murderous bear.
"Why are you killing Joker and Sakura?" Monokuma pointed the rifle to the bloody marks on the door.
"The orge was trying to escape, see what she did to my beautiful wall?" He then nodded to Joker, "And this was is trying to play the hero," He turned the gun around and pointed it at her.
"And what about you? Planning on joining him?" Even with the gun pointed at her she maintained her cool demnor.
"I don't think you're allowed to do that." Monokuma tilted his head and lowered the rifle.
"What are you getting at huh?" She walked toward Monokuma, continuing her argument.
"Nobody has broke any of your rules right? These two didn't hit you, and…" She removed a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped down the blood on the wall. "There was no permanent damage done to this wall. You have no grounds to punish these two." The bear growled and dropped his assault rifle, the metal clanking on the ground as Joker breathed a sigh of relief.
"Turning my own rules on me huh? Played that card a little earlier didn't you," He giggled and began to walk away. "Don't expect this to happen again, understand?" He left the room and Aoi ran up to Sakura, beating at her arm with tears coming down her face.
"Why would you do something that stupid? You idiot…" She leaned on her arm and cried while Sakura sat still, looking up at Joker.
"Thank you...both of you." Joker nodded, and moved away from her to give Aoi and Sakura some space. He made eye contact with Kyoko and she gave him a small nod of approval.
"I'm just glad you're alright." He looked around, at the room. He never even tried to look for the front door before, but it looks like the obvious solution wasn't helpful anyway. The vault blocking the way to outside was huge, and Sakura's brutal punches didn't even make a dent in the steel. Joker felt the wall and hear Sakura sighed. She spoke in a low voice,
"It's impossible to force our way through…" Aoi looked up, wiping her eyes from the tears.
"How did you find us?" Joker explained that he had heard the screaming, and ran. Kyoko said that she had pretty much done the same. The two of them nodded. Joker suddenly remembered why he was looking for her in the first place.
"By the way, the second floor is open. There doesn't look like there is a way out or anything, but there is a pool up there." Aoi's face brightened as she heard that, the color returning to her face.
"Really?" She shook Sakura's arm. "C'mon, let's take a look…" Sakura nodded and got to her feet. Kyoko cleared her throat, and pointed to her hands. Sakura shook her head/
"I'll be fine, I'll just wrap them in bandages before we get there," She nodded to Joker and Kyoko while walking out with Aoi. As soon as the left Joker took a deep breath and leaned against the wall.
"You want to tell me what the hell you were thinking?" He looked at Kyoko who glared at him with fire in her eyes. "You could have gotten yourself killed, and then what?" Joker looked at her confused.
"What do you mean 'then what'. They were in trouble," She sighed, rubbing her eyes.
"We'll be in a lot more trouble if you die. Have you already forgotten about the other worlds and the palaces? I can't do any of that alone. Just…" She looked down at the floor, and Joker could see sadness replace the anger in her eyes. "Please be careful, okay?" Joker got off the wall and put his hand on her shoulder.
"I promise." She let out a small smile, before moving away from Joker back the way they had come. Suddenly, a TV in the corner of the room flashed on showing Monokuma.
"Okay everyone, sweet dreams! Goodnight, sleep tight, and don't let the bedbugs bite…" The TV flashed off as soon as it had come on. Kyoko turned to Joker and spoke,
"We should probably get some rest. Don't forget about the deal we all made for tomorrow, I'll need you there."
"No worries, you'll have my support." She nodded to him, and walked out of the room. Joker began to follow her when he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Hey, Inmate!" He turned around and saw Justine there tapping her foot on the ground. He looked around quickly and whispered to her.
"Justine? Why are you here?" She slapped his arm with her stick, and pushed Joker back. He moved, rubbing his arm.
"Master would like a word with you, and you must obey! Come, we need to get you back into your cell." Joker made his way to the incinerator room with Justine at his back. The hallways were eerily quiet, the only sound being Joker's footsteps on the floor. They finally made their way to the incinerator room, and Joker stepped through the cell door. As always, he ended up in his prisoner garb trapped within a cell. He looked through the bars and saw Igor sitting their in his usual pose.
"Greeting Prisoner, I deeply apologize for disturbing your rehabilitation but some troubling circumstances have begun to emerge." Joker tilted his head while speaking to the long-nosed man.
"What are you talking about?" Igor began to explain.
"I understand that this may be a difficult concept to grasp, but all of this has its roots within science. While it may be too extraordinary to be understood by any man, you have the science of the human mind to thank for everything you experience in the cognitive worlds." Joker nodded along and tried to understand what he was saying. "Since this is the case, we have to rely on the human brain and heart in both equal measure if we wish to continue your rehabilitation. The one who has you trapped in the physical world has a strong understanding of the mind, and is using that knowledge to make your thievery much more difficult through no conscious effort of their own. To simplify all of this, just remember what I told you at the start. You can't do this alone, use your allies to ensure that ruin never reaches us." Joker straighten up and held the bars of the cell.
"I understand, and will do my best." Justine and Caroline looked at each other, before Justine let out a laugh.
"Maybe you're good for something Prisoner. Just make sure you treasure the words of our master!"
"One more thing, Prisoner. You are not alone in your rehabilitation. There are others who are trying their hardest to avoid such a fate. That is all I know, but perhaps more will become clear within the coming days. Farewell Prisoner." Joker nodded and backed away from the cell. He moved against the back wall, and it fell away to reveal the pulsating blue light. Joker walked inside, and in a few moments he had returned to the incinerator room. He looked around, and was about to leave when suddenly the door opened. Joker froze as he waited to see who was coming inside. Hifumi walked in, and let out a shout when he saw Joker in there.
"Joker! What are you doing in here?" Joker rubbed the back of his neck as Justine emerged from the cell in silence and watched Joker try to explain himself, letting a small smirk creep onto her face.
"Uh, I was looking for you. I wanted to talk to you about tomorrow before we get to sleep." Hifumi wiped some sweat from his head, and placed a trash bag on the floor.
"How did you know Monokuma made me in charge of taking out the garbage?"
"I asked him where you were and he said you would be in here," Joker felt sweat run down the back of his neck as he continued to lie. He waited for Hifumi to respond. He sighed, and walked over to the cage that seperated the room into two. He removed a key from his pocket and unlocked the gate.
"I guess that's alright. What did you want to talk about?" He turned around and looked at Joker closely with his eyes wide. "Your still gonna vouch for me right? You promised and everything," Joker nodded and Hifumi sighed with relief. Joker could feel his mind race as he thought of an excuse, and he glared at Justine as she let out a small giggle.
"I'll still do it for you, but I think it would be better if it came out of your own mouth. I mean, this is an exercise in trust and all, I really wouldn't want people to think I was making stuff up about you." Hifumi rubbed his chin while starting at Joker. He nodded with a sigh,
"True, that would be unfortunate…" He smiled and walked over to Joker. He put his hand
shoulder and spoke earnestly, "Thank you Joker, I think I will show up in person tomorrow. I'm glad that I have friends like you in this place, I wouldn't know what to do if I was alone." Joker let out a small laugh and brushed off Hifumi hands.
"It's no problem really. Well, I'm gonna head to bed now, I'll see you tomorrow I guess." Hifumi nodded as Joker backed away toward the door. He left while Hifumi continued to work, whistling the theme from some anime Joker swore he could recognize. He made his way back to his room, and laid in bed. He finally had time to think about what Igor had told him.
"How could Monokuma or whatever be able to control those palaces? And what about the other people who can access them? He's the one who gave me these powers, but someone else might be able to have them" Despite the thoughts flooding Joker's mind, he eventually managed to fall asleep. He woke up to a knock at his door, and he went to answer it. He opened it while yawning and Kyoko came into the room.
"Sorry for the early wake up call, but we have to make sure we get there before anyone else." Joker nodded rubbing his eyes, and Kyoko grabbed him and pushed out of the room. He followed her quick footsteps down the cafeteria. They got there when it was still empty, and Kyoko nodded. She sat at one of the center tables and Joker followed her. He finally looked at the clock, and he felt himself wake up completely.
"Kyoko, you know we're an hour early right?" She nodded, and leaned back in her chair.
"It's better that we're early than we're late, trust me." Joker sighed and stood up. He began to pace around while she took out a small notebook and started to take notes. Time passed and people started to show up in the room. When the hour came, Hifumi, Mondo, Aoi, Sakura, Joker, Kyoko, Chihiro, and Taka were there. Kyoko put her notebook away and Joker sat again beside her. She stood up and looked around the room.
"I'm glad you all decided to come. Now... who wants to begin?"