Chapter 5-8

The Route of Ruination


Isaac felt the smoke scorching him, waves of heat coming from all directions. He was low to the floor, able to see better down where the breathable air was. The Ultimate Reporter headed for the door nearby, as he could hear someone screaming on the other side in unbridled terror.

The extension building at Hope's Peak that was for all those that were in media, a place where they could be their own news station and information source, had caught fire this morning. Despite not having experience in firefighting personally, Isaac had gone inside to ensure his friends and classmates were safe.

He had already pulled two of them out, and had gone back in once more as he heard distant screaming. Where was the fire department? How had the fire gotten this bad? While those questions were buzzing in his head, the reporter could only think of saving those trapped inside.

Isaac couldn't identify the person screaming behind the door, the intensity of their terror making it impossible to even discern the gender of the person. Still, he knew it had to be someone he worked with, he had to save them! The closed door didn't open, it was locked or stuck.

"Hey!" Isaac screamed, pounding on the door. "Hey in there! If you can, open this door!"

The screaming continued without pause. Whoever it was, they were in a panic that couldn't be reached through. Isaac took a deep breath, and then rammed up against the door.

"Come on," he snarled in frustration, and hammered into it again. He threw his shoulder into the door, bashing it with all his might. His body was racing with adrenaline and even trembling slightly in fear; he did NOT like being in a place that was hot and burning.

But the thought of someone being seared to death, like his family did in front of him, he could swallow that terror and thus slam into the door once more. He heard a cracking sound…

There was a feminine scream of horror, though he couldn't recognize where it came from. All he knew was that the overwhelming sound and feeling of the world coming crashing down on him. Pain, agony, his body was pinned under rubble.

Something was burning his arm, and he couldn't move. He screamed in pain, squirmed and tried everything physically possible to pull his arm back. All vision was gone, and he realized his amount of oxygen was going to run out fast with how heavy he was breathing.

Pain eventually forced him to black out. Isaac could only think of Hara as he lost consciousness, mentally apologizing for doing this to her.


"Isaac, I'm sorry, but you have to accept this-"

"No I don't have to accept anything!" Isaac shouted as he pointed his good arm at the Hope's Peak representative. "No help was sent, I had to do what was necessary to save lives! You aren't going to pin the blame on me for the building collapsing!"

"Isaac, we're talking about…"

"What, you trying to use her as a bargaining chip, again?" Isaac scoffed, snarling at the man in his hospital room. He was considering calling a nurse to get this man out of here, but was going to fight this battle. "Just give me more ammunition, it'll make the story all the better."

"…is dead, Isaac," the man tried to argue. "And because she was in that building because of you-"

"Stop trying to pin the blame on me, I don't want to hear anymore of it. Now please, get out of here, I'm expecting visitors."

The Hope's Peak representative sighed heavily, and left the room. Isaac placed his good hand on top of his bandaged arm, and winced at the thought of it being a consistent reminder of what happened. It especially hurt when he thought about what Hara was going to think about it, and though he didn't doubt her, he had heard of those who left their lovers because the change brought about by injury…

As soon as he was thinking about her, he could sense her presence. Glancing up, he smiled and said, "Hey again. Hope you didn't run into that guy who just left?"

"…"

Isaac lost his smile, exhaling and said, "I'm sorry, I'm just… trying to put on a brave face. Are you… are you upset with me?"

"…"

"Yes, I believe you would be. I'm sorry, but at the same time, I'm not. If I didn't do what I did, then some of my friends would be dead…"


"And this," Isaac said to Pyrrha, as he gestured with his sleeve-covered arm, "is my wonderful fiancé! Hara Pathik, the Ultimate Explorer, as she was known at Hope's Peak."

Pyrrha glanced over at the utter lack of a person being there. She bit her bottom lip, as her mind buzzed in apprehension, "Oh no, the rumors were true," she thought to herself, as she nervously clenched her hands together. "I had heard that Isaac Bellamy hadn't gotten over the death of Hara during his time at Hope's Peak. No one ever got through to him… he never excepted it!

"I know it's kind of romantic, but it's just so sad! What do I do? Do I talk to 'her'? I… suppose I should."

"You two look just adorable," Pyrrha said, smiling cheerfully as she feigned ignorance on knowing about the two. "Tell me, did you meet in Hope's Peak Academy?"


"No," Saiko barked at the two people, as well as Monodam, outside of Penjar's Public Pool. "You do NOT try to convince Isaac that Hara isn't actually there."

Fiora and Eisei exchanged glances, confused by this response to Eisei's suggestion. "Pardon me," the dentist said as he adjusted his swimsuit, "but I have studied many types of psychology and the human mind. It is very unhealthy to allow Isaac to continue his delirium and hallucinations."

"Don't you think I've tried?" Saiko responded, shaking her head. "Don't you think others have tried?"

"But what a'boot his family?" Fiora asked intrepidly.

"He… he doesn't have any. He doesn't really have anyone but me, and the memories of her. He's imagined her for so long, it's permanently ingrained in his mind."

"I am afraid I don't fully understand," Eisei admitted, "but I should not push this. Have you explained this to the others?"

Saiko nervously glanced to the side, and muttered, "Not really. I mean, I didn't even want to tell you two. How much would you like to tell a whole bunch of strangers that your best friend is delusional?"

"But still functional, as far as I have seen. If it'll help, the two of us will help you in this endeavor."

"You'd… you would help me out with that?"

"Of course."


"I-FIGURED-I-SHOULD-INFORM-YOU-ALL-OF-A-PLAN-THAT-WAS-CRAFTED-BY-ONE-OF-YOU-BASTARDS," Monodam said to all of the women (and Eisei) in the Love Hotel's female-side cafeteria. They all were rather confused, as they had gathered together to just eat breakfast, and plan out their day. "YOU-ALL-SHOULD-LISTEN-UP, BECAUSE-THIS-PLAN-WAS-CONCOCTED-BY-ISAAC-AND-HARA-LAST-NIGHT."

"Wh-what?!" Saiko screamed, bolting upright and staring hard at Monodam. "How dare you! How DARE you bring up Hara's name? You little bastard, I'll-"

"ISAAC-HAS-AN-ALLY-THAT-IS-DESIGNATED-AS-HARA."

The women (and Eisei) exchanged glances in confusion, though Saiko was staring daggers into the monotone cub. She had her hands balled into fists, as she hissed in air. "What do you mean?"

"ONE-OF-YOU-IS-"HARA"- TO ISAAC, AND-HAS-BEEN-IN-CONTACT-WITH-HIM. THIS-PERSON-WILL-BE-HIS-PERSONAL-ALLY, AND-WAS-WITH-HIM-LAST-NIGHT."

"Wait a minute, what?" Aka blurted out, crossing her arms. "Isaac only thinks his dead girlfriend is there, he hasn't seen any of us being her."

"THIS-HOTEL-DOES-THINGS-TO-YOUR-MIND. AT-LEAST-THE-HONEYMOON-SUITE-DOES. SO-I-AM-HERE-TO-RELAY-THE-MESSAGE, SINCE-ISAAC'S-ALLY-IS-TO-REMAIN-ANOMYNOUS."

"Who is it?!" Saiko turned towards the other women, her eyes blazing with contempt and fury. "Which one of you is using my friend? Who's manipulating Isaac?!"

"Hey, how do we know it isn't you?" Aka fired back. "You're the only one close to him!"

Saiko and Aka almost came to blows, with Pyrrha desperately trying to keep them apart. After the two calmed down enough for reason, Monodam started to explain Isaac's plan for meeting in the middle for arranged marriages.

It wasn't until Monophanie came running in, desperate to save Monodam from Monokid's new rampage of sniper fire. Saiko would spend a great deal of that day very bitter over what had transpired, but Eisei kept her company.

The trial for Yejoon's death resulted in the group trying to debate who was "Hara" without bringing up the fact that she wasn't there. Everyone took part in it, even the argumentative Blake, because it was easier to go with this angle than fight against Isaac who behaved like Hara was right there.

After all, during the third trial of Shinobu's death, trying to argue that point with Isaac never worked. Saiko and Pyrrha were most insistent, especially when Isaac was insistent that Hara had an idea on the situation. This was an aggressive struggle with those who did not wish to play along with the delusion; however, no one could argue when the point Isaac was making for Hara turned out to be true.

It wasn't until after the fourth trial, before Monokuma opened up the western plaza and the nightmares began, that Saiko had a change of heart. She had taken several people aside, away from Isaac, and spoke to them in private.

"Listen, going forward, things are becoming so unpredictable," she had said to Eisei, Fiora, Souma, Pyrrha, and Crystal, "I don't know what could possibly happen next. And I know everyone says, 'Don't even think about it,' but I've done a thousand autopsies on people who didn't plan on being on my slab."

"What are you saying?" Eisei said, his voice calm but with a slight quiver.

"I'm saying if something happens to me, if I'm not around anymore, please get Isaac to realize the truth."

"What?" Fiora balked, immediately shushed by Saiko and thus lowering her voice again. "But why? You were always so adamant we keep it up…"

"If something happens to me, I truly fear how far Isaac can sink into this delusion he's built up. If he starts hallucinating me, if he starts acting out in an attempt to convince everyone that Hara is still here, if he sinks into a quagmire of depression…"

Saiko ran her hands through her blue hair, then glanced up at everyone. "I've been meaning to try and find a way to bring him back to reality, and now this place is ruining my own perception of it. The dead giving us hints, the robots becoming humans and then robots and then humans again…"

She glanced over at Fannie, who was sticking close to Ishiku. The two were quietly talking together, as they had been since her return as a human.

"I'm not going to leave things up in the air if something were to happen to me. If it does, I'm begging you, help Isaac with his delusion. Tell him the truth if you need to.

"But for now, I'll try to do what I can. And so long as we're working together to find the answers to this place, to Despair, I feel like we'll still be a functional party. Spread this around, tell everyone about it… except Blake, don't tell that bastard."

Said bastard would, in a few days, delight in rubbing it in Isaac's face that Hara was Saiko's killer. Some of the Hope's Peak graduates felt that Blake's attempts to drive Isaac insane backfired entirely, as now the Ultimate Pyro was a follower of Chaos and Isaac saved Fiora from bleeding to death.

Isaac had been a major part of solving every case, including his beloved friend who had asked them to do what she couldn't if she left this world. And now, with the thunderstruck reporter seated in the operating room, those who were informing him of the truth felt like they had just stabbed in the back.

Or maybe it was in the heart.


Isaac stared wide-eyed at Pyrrha, his jaw slack and his hand over his heart, clutching at his shirt. He stood up suddenly, which led the romance novelist to get up too, holding her hands up to urge calmness.

"Isaac, please-" she started to say.

"That's… that's not funny," he blurted out. "That's not funny at all! Why would you say-"

Shuuya walked over, holding his hand out towards the reporter. "You keep calm, there will be no outbursts of violence or screaming."

Pyrrha gaped at the bounty hunter, and started to protest, but he was quick to respond, "I'm used to this, trust me."

"What… why… you all…" Isaac stammered, glancing at everyone in the room. When no one spoke out, and barely any could look him in the eye, he began laughing incredulously. "You all are part of this? You all think that I'll just believe this insanity? That Hara was never here, dead for almost a decade?!"

"Isaac, please listen to me," Pyrrha begged, clasping her hands together. "This isn't a joke, this is very serious!"

"This is bullshit, is what it is!" Issac shouted, ignoring Shuuya's stern look. "You cannot be serious! Hara and I came here together, you met us at the start, Pyrrha!"

"I… ran into you alone, and you introduced me to nobody. You've been doing that ever since you got here."

Isaac thrashed around in incredulous outrage, eventually kicking at the chair he had been seated in. Shuuya ran over to stop him, and the two began to fight until Pyrrha frantically got in-between them.

"Stop it, stop it, STOP IT!" she shrieked. Kimiko ran over to help, grabbing Isaac and holding him up against the wall. Pyrrha held Shuuya back, even though she was no match for him if he wanted to fight against her. "Please, this isn't helping anyone! We're doing this because Saiko asked us to!"

"Saiko," Isaac sputtered out, glancing amongst them all and then at Kimiko. "Saiko would have told me. This is ludicrous. Hara's alive, and you all, you're all…"

His eyes frantically scanned the others, as he gripped his hair through his beanie. He stared at Pyrrha, Ishiku, Yitro, and then back at the biker gal who was holding him against the wall.

Isaac's mind burned, it hurt him how many different thoughts and answers to this incredulous claim were buzzing through his mind. "N-no, you've all betrayed me. You… no wait, that makes no sense."

He gripped at the wall, and muttered, "There's no reason you all would be a part of this. I'm not that special, and you're all… wait!

"You… you all have been brainwashed! You were in the trial room, something happened there, right?"

The others didn't know how to react to this kind of questioning. Kimiko, still holding onto him, reasoned, "Look, there was a dizzying flash of light right at the end of Ken's execution. We all kind of got up, and Fannie was dead…"

"You were all probably brainwashed! That's happened before, it happened-"

"Isaac, stop it," Shuuya ordered, crossing his arms. "It's not that simple. We remember you behaving like this since you got here."

"Then it was a mind-altering flash that made you-"

"It doesn't WORK LIKE THAT!"

Shuuya's bellowing voice echoed around the room, causing everyone to flinch. His red eyes were flashing intensively, almost like fire could shoot from them, as he stared down Isaac.

"Mind-altering technology does exist, yes, but it takes the most fine of programming and precise knowledge of the one being affected. For this to work, you would have to have exact knowledge of everyone's whereabouts and feelings, and how their brain processes information.

"The reason why it worked for Despair during their Killing Games is because they had their victims in captivity for long periods of time. Hope's Peak, the moon base, the space station, the floating island, all of them were kept in a secure location and we hadn't heard from them in months until the games started.

"And what's more likely? That the Mastermind behind this game decided to abduct Hara, brainwash all the rest of us, and do this all to spite you? Or that your own actions are why your lover is dead, and you've deluded yourself all this time?"

Isaac stared at Shuuya, shivering as he gripped at his chest. Kimiko had let go of him, balking at the assassin who had just verbally tore into the reporter. The others were all shocked too, and it was Yitro who spoke up.

"Why are you being so rough on him?" the swordsman asked. "This isn't his fault."

"He's never going to accept it any other way! After everything we've all been through, all the death, all the betrayal, and now that things are more tedious than ever, I'm not going to let it drag on. You, Pyrrha…"

He turned towards the writer, who flinched slightly. "Wh-what? Saiko asked us to do this, and it's not right…"

"Yes, and you started this. Are you going to let him thrash around physically and verbally as a result?"

"This is a huge shock to him! We need to help him, not-"

Isaac growled in fury, and punched the wall behind him with his scarred arm. "Stop talking about me like I'm not here! I can hear you! Why are you all treating me like an escaped mental patient?"

Ishiku rushed over, holding his hands up as he approached Isaac. "Listen, Isaac, I'm sorry. I know this is a lot, but I know what you're going through."

"What… how…"

"Look, I almost threw myself out the third story window because I felt that intense despair and futility. What you're feeling right now, I understand, but we're here for you."

"Hara isn't dead! Hara's been helping us all this time! She… she…"

Isaac reached for his good hand, and felt the engagement ring around his finger. "No, I'm still wearing this ring. I wouldn't go out and buy an engagement ring out of delusion! Saiko wouldn't let me! She…"

He slumped against the wall, sliding down it as he stared at his ring. "No. She helped solved the cases, she was framed for Saiko's murder. All the time we spent together after Hope's Peak, how she helped me and me her…

"I can't believe none of that was real," he clutched his hands together, fingers rubbing against his ring. "She… she can't be a figment of my imagination!"

His mind was burning again, memories of the two of them traveling across the world. They went on hikes, visited cities, enjoyed entire weeks alone. He remembered how she was still shy, even with just him, blushing and cute when she would talk about things with him.

Isaac gripped his hair through his beanie, pulling on it so hard that it hurt. "She can't be fake! She can't have been imaginary all this time! She… she went on interviews with me! People at work know her!"

"They're not here, Isaac," Shuuya stated, crossing his arms. "We're here, and we're very real. You've been talking to yourself all this time, and Saiko enabled it because she felt it was best.

"Ask yourself, if she was real, why isn't she here? Why didn't she come here after the trial?"

Isaac stared at his engagement ring, just blankly as he tried to stop the shivering. "N-no, I refuse to believe this! Hara isn't dead!"

Futaba moved in with the group, squatting down in front of Isaac. She adjusted her glasses, and said, "Listen to me, Isaac. When we deal with such a personal tragedy, sometimes our mind does whatever it can to cope with this.

"You were buried under burning rubble trying to save your coworkers. Hara followed you in there, she was trying to help you too; she was a strong woman, and even braver with you. There were those who blamed you for the building collapsing, you even blamed yourself…

"What happened was not your fault, but part of your mind continuously told yourself you it was. You had to convince yourself it wasn't entirely, and you built up the idea that Hara was alive and well. The average person doesn't know how to deal with this, that's why it took so long."

She sighed, sitting down in front of him. "The name for this mental coping escapes me, but it is something that tends to happen over such an intense and sudden loss. It's something that parents, especially new mothers, due if they lose their children; you may have seen that somewhere in pop culture, a woman who couldn't get over the unfair and tragic death of her child and thus carries on as if they were still there?

"This can happen when someone loses a loved one, and your mind just couldn't cope with it. Saiko was determined for us to not shatter this for you, as the grief may have destroyed you, especially in such a terrible place as this. But she asked us to help you if something happened to her."

Futaba sighed, adjusting her glasses once more with the hand that she had a glove over. She glanced down at her own artificial hand, and said, "You need to reflect on your life now, and come to terms with this. I'm afraid you cannot afford to live in delusion any longer, and nor can we. Please, we'll do whatever we can to help you."

Isaac lifted up his head, tears streaming down his face. "I… I cannot accept this. I remember our travels, I remember graduating Hope's Peak with her and her celebration speech that I helped her practice. There has to be proof she was here, there has to be! How could you all not remember…"

He gripped his beanie, and gasped in realization. "Wait, she didn't spend time here with just me! She spent time with Crystal during the mornings! She'd remember! I have to go see her, I have to check our house and find the things she brought with us!

"I have to find proof she was here!"

Isaac stood up and hurried out of the room. Pyrrha immediately followed after, and Futaba was right behind them. Ishiku and Kimiko made to follow, but Odelios and Hikari stopped them respectively.

"We shouldn't crowd him," Hikari remarked, shaking her head sadly. "Goodness me, I cannot even begin to think of what he's going through."

"Yeah, Pyrrha and Futaba are the ones best suited for this right now," Odelios agreed. "We should just take everything step by step from here."

Kimiko growled in frustration, then kicked at the floor and based around the room. She kept glancing at Fiora. "This is just bullshit on all levels. I mean, with Ken, with Isaac, with Fiora…"

She blinked, then stared at her unconscious friend on the operating chair. The machine was working on her terrible wound, which was hard to look at, but Kimiko was tough enough to do so. "Wait, guys, there is one thing we didn't account fur, eh."

"What's that?" Shuuya asked.

"If Isaac is right, and we were mind-wiped-"

"That's extremely unlikely."

"But if we were," the biker leader insisted, "Fiora was not in the trial room with us all."

Ishiku winced as he glanced at Fiora. "So we'll know the truth when she wakes up? Is she in danger?"

"She has a sword wound through her chest, and is at the mercy of a medical machine run by the Kubs of Monokuma in a haunted ghost town," Hikari bitterly remarked. "She isn't safe, darling."

Yitro took a deep breath, then said, "I'm staying here until she wakes up. I don't care what this asylum throws at me."

"Wait, are the hallucinations still happening here?" the steampunk model nervously glanced down the hallway. It seemed to warp, like she was suffering vertigo, and then she started to see figures.

Figures of people she didn't want to remember, like her stalker, like those who tried to kill her, like Ken…

"I-I-I… I cannot stay here," she muttered, gripping at her sides. "Oh God, I'm sorry, but this place…"

"It's okay, Hikari," Kimiko said, walking over to her. "I'll go 'oot with you-"

"No no, you need to watch over Fiora, darling. She deserves the most attention, not me," the model quickly said, collecting herself. She glanced at the hallway again, and said, "I should go check on Isaac, he needs our help."

"We'll go with you," Ishiku said, patting Odelios's shoulder. "I refuse to let anything else happen tonight."

"Indeed, watch over our movie maker," the clown said. "We'll take care of everything else from here."


Day 17, ? AM

Housing District

Isaac Bellamy's House

The reporter felt like his heart was going to explode in his chest when he saw the first piece of evidence of tampering: the pixel picture of himself on the outside of his temporary house. It had been him and Hara there, both of them, and now it was just him.

He flew into the house, and started going through the room like he was about ready to tear it apart. Everything he remembered Hara bringing wasn't there. Everything of hers he remembered being with his stuff, right down to her toothbrush and other hygiene items, were not there. The room had all the appearances of him living alone there.

Isaac frantically fished in his pockets and pulled out his cell phone. The photos on there, he knew that would…

His phone was dead. Confused, he tried turning it on, but that didn't work. He plugged it into his charger, but that didn't work. It was like his phone was dead, entirely; his heart started to feel the same.

"Son of a bitch!" he screamed, overcome with fury and desperation that made him want to smash the phone. He lifted it up, hollering, "What the hell… what the hell is happening!?"

"Isaac!"

Futaba and Pyrrha were at the door of his place, the former sternly staring at him and the latter clutching at her top over her heart. The romance writer slowly approached, saying, "Don't do anything rash, please."

"I had photos of her on this," he panted, sweat rolling down his forehead. "I know I could prove it. It's not working, it needs to work!"

"Isaac, please listen to me, I'm begging you," she implored, walking up to him. "We're not your enemies."

"You're… you're telling me that the woman I loved, the one I spent years of my life with, the one I'd spend the rest of my life with…"

He fell to his knees, clutching his cell phone, staring at the black screen in the hopes that it would turn on with the charging picture. "You're all telling me she died years ago. I cannot accept that."

"Isaac," Futaba said, walking into the room as she stood nearby him and Pyrrha, "several of the most prominent members of Hope's Peak were here, we know about the history of where we graduated. Shinobu, when she was alive, wanted to be honest with you, but we told her it wasn't a good idea.

"We're all flawed people, physically, mentally, historically. We have our wounds, and yours was that you put up this idea that Hara Pathik was alive and working alongside you; however, I'm sorry. I really am, but do you really think we're working against you?"

Isaac collapsed to the floor, gripping at the carpet as his cell phone bounced to the side. He choked on his emotions, tears leaking from his eyes as he tried to contain himself. "No… no, I'm not crazy. I wouldn't do that!"

"You've been through so much, Isaac," Pyrrha said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You lost your family to a serial killer, you lost Hara to a senseless tragedy, and now Saiko is gone. We aren't trying to hurt you, we're trying to help you."

"I couldn't be that deluded! I couldn't… I wouldn't…"

Futaba let out a long sigh, and said, "Listen, it wasn't just Shinobu, I knew what happened too. I hate to admit it, but I didn't know how to talk to you about it. I tried talking to more people than I normally do to think of something, with Shuuya, with Crystal.

"I've seen cases of someone who has developed multiple personalities when tragedy hit them harder than they could handle. I've seen people refuse to accept death to extreme degrees. And it happens to all kinds, even intelligent and capable people like you.

"I know all about the reasons and symptoms, but I don't know the cure. I don't know how to fix it, I have always been an observer. And it's on me that it took this long to help you, but we are going to help you."

Isaac gripped the carpet so hard, his knuckles turned white. He was heaving, gasping, as he couldn't stop from crying. "But… how… why… in this evil town? Did I get called here just to be told this? Hara wanted to come too, she wanted to help, she was… was…"

He locked up, as an idea came to his mind. "Wait! Hara spent time with Crystal apart from me!"

"Isaac," Futaba started to say.

"No no, she wrote me notes saying she went on early morning walks with Crystal. I have to talk to her! She has to know something!"

Isaac was out of the house in a flash, Futaba and Pyrrha right after him. He headed straight to the Southern Plaza, sprinting like his life depended on it. The new place was confusing, but he had the determination to search every last inch.

"Crystal?" he called out. "Crystal! Are you still here? I need to talk to you!"

He thought he heard something off in the distance, something high-pitched. The sound of Futaba and Pyrrha right behind him felt like the horrible scenario of his lover being dead catching up to him. He started sprinting faster, and could see several figures in front of an old-looking hotel.

Though when he saw the figures more clearly, he could immediately tell something was terribly wrong.

"ISAAC!" Drake shrieked in terror, running towards him. "Help! Help, she's gone crazy! That girl's trying to kill Ignatia!"

Isaac scanned the area, and saw a struggle taking place nearby a car; normally, the car inside of Penjar would have been the most startling thing, but it was who was attacking Ignatia that shocked him. He knew who this girl was…

Annabelle Lupin was pushing her knees and one of her hands down on Ignatia, and had a set of car keys in her other hand. The smaller girl was possessed with some kind of super strength, because Ignatia was struggling desperately to keep Annabelle from stabbing her in the eye with the keys.

And her eyes were bubbling, churning with the chaotic nature, as she snickered cruelly. She was shaking, overcome with malicious mirth. "I'mma gonna take your eyes," she shouted at Ignatia. "Then you cannot see as well as talk, mime!

"AHAHA! AHAHAAAAA!"

"When she came out of the car, she started convulsing, then she attacked us!" Drake desperately shouted to Isaac. "I tried pulling her off, but she's… it's not human! Please, help me, I cannot do it mysel-"

There was a sudden burst of movement, and Isaac aggressively kicked Annabelle right in the stomach. The little girl's eyes widened in that split second of pain and realization, then she was launched from on top of Ignatia. Slamming against the wall, she slid down, and then got right back up.

A sinister grin was spread across her face as if it were carved there. Her eyes frothed with that churning malice, and her body shook as she spat out more sadistic laughter. "Ow," she blurted out sarcastically. "Oh hi there. Why don't I stab you, mister, right in-between your legs? I mean…

"I know enough biology to know how to neuter you with these car keys."

Cackling madly, Annabelle sprinted towards Isaac. The reporter grit his teeth, and then rushed at her. There was a clash of bodies, and the much taller man struggled with the Chaos-driven child. He gripped her from behind, slamming her down on the floor.

"ISAAC!" Pyrrha shrieked. "What are you doing?! You're hurting her!"

"There," he strained to press Annabelle on the ground, "is no other way to stop someone infected with Despair!"

"She's a child!"

"SHE is going to kill you all!" Annabelle shrieked, laughing so hard that she gagged on her own saliva. Choking, spitting, she fiercely tried to get out from under Isaac.

Drake was shaking with fear, completely unnerved. Ignatia had scooted away, gripping at the ground as she tried to recover mentally. Pyrrha and Futaba stood there, not knowing what to do; it was only because of this moment of silence that the romance writer could hear a voice from inside the car.

"... someone! Anyone! Get me out there! Hurry!"

Pyrrha rushed over to the car, searching for a person. No one was in the vehicle, and she tried to think of what that could mean. Just as she thought they might be in the trunk, she heard the voice from the floor. "Down here, miss. Hurry, pick me up."

The redhead glanced down, and saw a cellphone. The voice was definitely coming from that, and picked it up to put it near her ear. "Hello? Who's there?"

"I'm not a caller, I'm an AI. Look at my screen."

The very last thing that Pyrrha expected to see was a digital version of Ryoma Hoshi staring at her, almost like he was trapped in the device. He was clutching a cigarette in his fingers, almost casually, though his expression was anything but. "Listen, I'm programmed with an anti-despair feature. You need to get her to look into the screen!"

"But it's not Despair, it's Chaos!" Pyrrha explained, clutching the cellphone in her frantic worry. "It's… oh God, Monokuma wasn't lying!"

AI Ryoma glanced to the side, and his virtual cigarette snapped in half. There was a moment of silence, before he spoke again. "Bastard bear is here too, huh? Alright, listen, young lady…

"Do it anyway. My programmer fixed a lot of features into my AI, I might be able to evolve the anti-despair program into an anti-chaos."

"'Might'?!"

"It's that or Miss Lupin is going to kill you or herself, so go! NOW!"

Pyrrha gripped the AI device and headed over to Annabelle and Isaac. She tried to hold the screen in front of Annabelle's face, but she twisted and turned away, eyes closed.

"Get that dead guy out of my face!"

"You're going to have to force her," AI Ryoma said. "Hold her down and pry her eyes open!"

"I… I can't," Pyrrha stammered, glancing between Annabelle and Isaac. The reporter was still struggling, holding down the child so tightly that it looked ready to pop one of her arms from her socket. "He's already hurting her, and-"

"Miss, if you don't do it, someone is going to die! Hurry! She would want you to do it!"

The romance writer winced, and then grabbed Annabelle's hair, pushing her down to the ground. She placed her knee down on the child's head, and then reached for her eyes. Annabelle started crying out in a way a child would if being seriously hurt, and Pyrrha felt her body tremble as she was revolted at herself…

But she managed to place her fingers on Annabelle's eyelids, and forced her eyes open. Almost pushing the screen up against her face, the glow from the device intensified.

"Scanning…" AI Ryoma muttered. The device was turning rather warm in Pyrrha's hand, the electronics working in overdrive.

"You… you little midget dwarf height-challenged bitch," Annabelle snarled, her body thrashing against the combined efforts of Isaac and Pyrrha. "I should have smashed you to pieces! No one would miss you anyway! No one would miss a midget killer FAKE PERSON!

"LET GO! LET GO, DAMN IT! I'm gonna kill you all, you child abusing bastards! CHAOS! FUCKING CHAOS! I'll end you, I'll… I… oh God…"

The struggling stopped, though Annabelle tensed up. Her eyes didn't need to be forced open anymore, but Pyrrha couldn't afford to let go. The AI device was getting uncomfortably hot, and there was an electronic strain coming from it.

A flash of light came from the device, and then Annabelle slumped to the floor. There was a moment of silence that seemed to hang in the air, and then AI Ryoma spoke up. "Done. You can let her go now."

Pyrrha let go as if Annabelle was on fire. Isaac was slower, heaving in exasperation, hands ready to grab her again in case that wasn't the end; however, what happened next made him flinch.

Annabelle sobbed out loud, covering her face with her small hands. It was the kind of heart-wrenching crying that sounded like a broken child. There weren't any words from her.

Isaac didn't really know what to do, as he slowly moved to her side. He was trying to think of what he could say, when AI Ryoma beat him to it.

"Kid, please pull yourself together. We don't have time to waste."

Annabelle sobbed harder for a couple seconds, then took in a long, deep, shuddering breath. Lifting her head, her face was wet with tears, snot, and saliva from how badly she had lost control during all that. "R-Ryoma… I…"

She glanced around, seeing the five adults around her. Annabelle gasped, then sat up for a brief moment with wide eyes. Then she bowed her head, and shouted, "P-please forgive me! I tried to hurt you all! I didn't mean it! It… it was-"

There were footsteps approaching her, and she nervously looked up. Ignatia, the woman she had tried to stab, squat down in front of her. Annabelle shivered and closed her eyes, expecting punishment…

It came in the form of the mime placing her hand on the blonde girl's head, and giving her a comforting pat. The young investigator stared up in confusion.

"We know it wasn't your fault," Drake said. "It was Chaos. It controlled you."

"Oh God," Pyrrha whimpered. "You poor thing, that infection thing Monokuma told us about turned out to be true! We're so sorry!"

"I don't see why you're apologizing," Futaba said with a scoff. "Isaac was the one who kicked her like a football, and then slammed her down on the pavement."

Isaac swallowed nervously, feeling all eyes on him. "I did what I know works on those suffering from Despair."

"You KICKED her!" Futaba shouted angrily. "You could have broken her ribs, damaged her internal organs! You're just mad about what happened over the news, and you took it out on her!"

"It was necessary!"

The retort didn't come from him, but from Annabelle as she picked herself off the ground. "I was… going to do horrible things. I've seen what people infected with Despair did, and I didn't think it was ever possible for me to do that," she rubbed at her eyes and nose as she spoke, trying to clean herself up a little. "I don't care if he had to hurt me, I would have preferred that over hurting someone innocent!"

She placed her hand on her ribs and stomach, wincing at how sore she felt. "I mean, there's no shooting pains, I don't think he broke anything. Thank you… um."

The girl stared at the reporter, and asked, "Isaac? Isaac Bellamy, the Ultimate Reporter?"

Isaac let out a small laugh. "You remember me, kid?"

"I do, you talked to me and the others who escaped Kuma-Kuma Land. It's been a while, but I remember how nice you were. I-"

"Hey!"

Crystal came heading over, her jacket fluttering behind her with how fast she had sprinted over. Heaving as she tried to collect her breath, she said, "What the hell is going on? I heard screaming, and… Isaac? You're here… wait, who's the kid?!"

She glanced around, staring at everyone there. "Um, wait a minute. What are you all doing here?"

"We're here," Futaba said, crossing her arms as she spoke, "because someone beckoned us here. We're all Hope's Peak graduates, and this place seems to be of great importance to Despair. And Chaos."

Annabelle winced, as she held onto her sore side. "I, um… I am Annabelle Lupin, and I was going to be the Ultimate Forensic Investigator."

"What?" Drake blurted out. "But you're a kid! I mean, I'm sorry. You must be a prodigy."

The blonde girl blushed a little, as she said, "Y-yeah. I am, at ten years old. And I'm still determined to be one, a real forensic investigator. Oh!"

She grinned over at Isaac. "You told me your close friend Saiko was a graduate of Hope's Peak who also was a forensic investigator when we spoke! Is she here? Can I meet her?"

Isaac felt like someone just stabbed him in the heart with a serrated knife. He sat down at the ground, staring at the street. Annabelle watched this, and an intense feeling of dread seeped into her. "Wh-what's wrong? I don't… oh gosh, what's happened?"

"A lot," Pyrrha muttered, gripping her shirt over her chest as she clenched the AI device. "A lot has happened. But Annabelle, what on Earth are you doing here? Why are… HOW are you here?"

The blonde girl reached into her pocket. "I got a letter. A message about-"

"Annabelle," AI Ryoma said. "I'm sorry, but I have to interrupt you here, kid."

"Ryoma!" Annabelle reached out to the device, which Pyrrha gave to her. The kid looked ready to cry again, as she stared at the digital version of her friend. "I'm so sorry about what I said! I didn't mean it, you know that right?"

"Yes, of course, kid, but-"

"Oh no, I cursed! Don't tell Tiana and Haruto, because they'll kill me! And then they'll kill Naruhiko, because they know that's where I learned those words-"

"Anna. Focus."

AI Ryoma stared up at her, and said, "Where is Kyoko? We need to find her."

Annabelle gasped, and whipped her head towards to the hotel; her ponytail almost became a literal whip with how fast she moved. "Wait, she didn't come out after I set off the car alarm? But that was the signal!"

Crystal glanced at the hotel, her eyes widening as she asked, "Kyoko Kirigiri? One of the Future Foundation members? She's here?"

Isaac stood up and headed into the hotel, with everyone following after him. He scanned the lobby, not seeing anyone nearby; just incredibly dusty furniture, peeling wallpaper, and dead potted plants. "Miss Kirigiri?" he called out. "Hello? Are you there?"

There was an awful feeling of dread brewing in him. When Annabelle came in afterwards, the expression on her face showcased that feeling was mutual. She started running around the lobby, shouting, "Kyoko! Kyoko, where are you?"

When the girl stumbled a little, clutching her side again with his free hand, Isaac felt an incredible amount of guilt. He moved over to her, and said, "Hey, don't push yourself too hard. I'm so sorry-"

"I… I am fine. Really," Annabelle assured him, though she hissed in pain. "Just please, we have to find her. I'm so worried about her, she's the reason I'm here!"

Annabelle started down one of the hallways, but Isaac was nearby her. He felt his hands shake, for reasons he couldn't explain. Though when he made it to the end of the hallway, into a kitchen of sorts, his dread was given clarity… and horror.

Kyoko Kirigiri lay on the floor, blood dripping from a wound on her temple. She lay sprawled out, barely breathing. Nearby her was Souma Koukai, laying on his stomach, blood streaming from a wound on his forehead.

And standing over them both was Anzu Amika, holding a blood-stained metal object. It took a moment for Isaac to mentally register that object as a various lid holder, usually kept nearby coffee cups, something that would be found in a hotel dining area like this.

Annabelle shrieked in horror, but Anzu didn't move. Isaac found himself cry out the actress's name, and then she flinched hard. She turned around towards Isaac, as the others were all coming inside the cafeteria to this scene.

"I-Isaac?" Anzu blurted out. "Wh-what? What are you… I…"

She glanced down at her hand, as if just now noticing that she was holding onto an unorthodox metal tool. A tool dripping blood, to which she noticed the two people lying on the floor. She shrieked, dropping it, and shrinking back.

"No! No no no! What happened?!" she shouted, as Annabelle sprinted over to Kyoko's side, and Futaba moved over to check on Souma. "I don't… I… I didn't-"

"Don't you move, you BITCH!"

Crystal rushed over at Anzu, grabbed her, and slammed her face down on one of the tables. She applied a great deal of pressure to her, and Anzu shrieked in pain.

"Crystal! What are you doing?" Pyrrha hollered, her green eyes wide in shock. "Stop it!"

"She hurt them!" Crystal shouted, pushing Anzu down harder. "She just assaulted two members of the Future Foundation!"

Anzu strained out in agony, though she wasn't struggling against Crystal. "I… I don't remember-"

"You tried to kill Odelios yesterday, you just attacked two more people! You violent, evil, treacherous-"

There was a high-pitched cry of anguish from Annabelle, alerting all of them to the child. She stared up at them, sobbing in terror. "K-Kyoko isn't waking up! I think she's really hurt!"

"Souma looks rather hurt too," Futaba remarked, gently moving the public speaker. "Though I cannot tell if it's a concussion or not."

Crystal growled as she glared down at Anzu. "We left you alone, and you attacked two people. That's it, we cannot trust you anymore."

"Wait wait wait!" Pyrrha pleaded. "She's our friend, we cannot just jump to conclusions."

Anzu whimpered, then let out a sharp gasp as she grabbed ahold of the table she was being held against. "N-no. I… you cannot trust me. I don't know if I did this or not."

Crystal pulled her up and pushed her up against the wall. Drake and Pyrrha winced at how painful it looked, as Ignatia moved over towards the military adviser, as if ready to help. The mime stared at Anzu, then typed out a short message.

[We should lock her in one of the houses, and have someone guard. I volunteer to help with that.]

"I agree with that. We need to take her to the houses, as well as the two injured; after all, our medical room is occupied."

"I don't," Pyrrha stammered out. "I cannot believe we're doing this! She's one of us, she's a friend."

"She's a danger," Crystal spat out. "Look at the two people she assaulted, Pyrrha, if you need more of a reminder of what happens when she's left alone with people!"

"Look, everyone," Isaac called out, holding out his hands. "Everyone calm down. Now, Anzu herself just said she doesn't think she can be trusted, so Crystal and Ignatia, you need to put her under house arrest. We need to get Souma and Miss Kirigiri to beds too, and monitor them."

"Oh dear goodness, I hope she's okay," Annabelle whimpered, gently touching Kyoko's shoulder. "Please be okay, Kyoko. Oh gosh."

Isaac moved over and lifted up Souma, as Futaba picked up Kyoko. Pyrrha moved over to Drake, whispering to him that they needed to get a first-aid kit to help the injured. Ignatia was nearby Crystal, as the military adviser held onto a shaking, emotional Anzu.

Annabelle walked alongside Isaac, glancing around at everyone as she held onto AI Ryoma. "Okay, I think I'm going to need a little bit of catching up to do," she admitted.

"We've got a lot of that to do," AI Ryoma muttered. "But we first and foremost need to help Kyoko. This feels like my fault."

"No, it's nobody's fault," Isaac said, "except for the Mastermind behind this Goddamn game. That manipulating bastard, I…

"I'm going to find them, and I will end them."

As he carried Souma out of the building, there was a startled gasp from Drake. "If Souma's here, where's Eisei? Oh no, where could he be? Eisei!"


Day 17, Early Morning

Enoshima Asylum

VIP Medical Room

Kimiko folded her arms as she leaned against the wall. She had the urge to spit to the side out of frustration, but didn't feel it best in a room that actually looked and felt like a hospital room. Right now, she was regretting telling Odelios and Ishiku that they could leave to help the others, but it was for the best.

She glanced around to see what the others were doing. Shuuya was standing nearby the medical chair, almost as if on watch. Fiora slumbered on the chair, the device having finished and powered down. Monodam was seated on one of the devices' surfaces, completely motionless.

Yitro was seated, constantly glancing at Fiora up from the romance novel he had; the biker gang leader was confused how he got one at first, but he explained how he had left it here when he was watching over Blake. She had also noticed it was one of those novels one used to see at the front of grocery store aisles for lonely housewives.

"Why do you read that, eh?" Kimiko asked him, tired of the silence. "Surely there are better books a'boot banging."

"Oh, they are not that bad," Yitro said with a small smirk. "They have characters, development, and a passion for the subject. I don't really care for having to get exceptionally complex for this."

"Yeah, but… aw never mind, Angelique mentioned that she tried for years to get you to stop, I doo'nt knoo' why I think I am going to."

The swordsman snickered as he rolled his eyes. "Her influence carries on, it would seem. Oh, Angelique… I wonder…"

He stopped for a moment as his mirth disappeared. Staring at Fiora, he murmured, "Could Fiora channel her? No, no I shouldn't think that."

"It's not a terrible thing to hope for something like that. It begs the question if she still can, but I think we're all joo'st hoping for the best in a full recovery."

She sighed and adjusted her cap, then remarked, "We may be here a while, but I doo'nt mind. I'll get a damn sleeping bag if need be."

Shuuya glanced over at her upon hearing this. "You believe her life is in that much danger?"

"After what happened tonight, I doo'nt knoo' what I believe anymoo'r," she admitted. She frowned at Shuuya, and added, "And you're staying here too, you obviously fear something could happen to her."

The bounty hunter shrugged at this. "Maybe you're right about that. Maybe I just want to see what she remembers, especially after Isaac's revelation."

"I wouldn't call it that," Yitro remarked. "But yes, Fiora was the only one outside the trial room besides Isaac, it makes me wonder. I just hope she's safe with the three of us."

Kimiko chuckled lightly at this. "We have a bounty hunter/assassin, a swordsman, and a biker gang leader in the same room. Anyone who comes in here is gonna get fucked up if they try to hurt my Canadian sister."

Shuuya nodded at this, then stared up at Monodam. "And why are you still here?"

"YOU-WILL-NEED-TO-HAVE-SOMEONE-HELP-WITH-MISS-STENTON'S-MENTAL-STATUS-WHEN-SHE-AWAKENS."

"What? What do you mean?"

"SURGERY-ON-A-WOUND-THAT-WAS-DEALT-DURING-A-SPIRIT-CHANNELING-CAUSES-MANY-MENTAL-PROBLEMS. IT-IS-POSSIBLE-SHE-MAY-SUFFER-MEMORY-LOSS, LOSS-OF-MOTOR-SKILLS, DELUSIONS, HALLUCINATIONS, AND/OR TOTAL-VEGETATIVE-STATE."

Kimiko and Yitro were rather horrified to hear this, both staring at Fiora with amplified concern. Shuuya sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he asked the cub, "And how exactly how are you going to help with that? There's no possible way you have experience in this."

"WANNA-BET, YOU-SARCASTIC-BASTARD?"

The bounty hunter rolled his eyes and turned away, while Kimiko boggled at the green Kub. "Since when did you get so sassy?"

"YOU-KNOW-HOW-MY-SISTER-DIED? MY-DISGUST-FOR-ARGUING-AND-NOT-GETTING-ALONG-IS-AMPLIFIED-FROM-HER-LOSS. ALSO, MY-EXCITEMENT-FOR-HELPING-IS-HIGHER."

"And why do you want to help us so much now?"

"THE-ONE-WE-BOTH-CALL-CINNAMON-ROLL."

"You've never called Drake that…"

"NOT-WHILE-HE-IS-AROUND, OF-COURSE."

Kimiko sighed at this, then she heard another feminine sigh. The biker gal whipped her head to Fiora, who was stirring in the big medical chair. Her eyes fluttered open, and she was staring up at the ceiling.

"Fiora?" Kimiko hurried over to her friend, hands on the armrest. "Girl, are you okay?"

Yitro was nearby just as quickly, with Shuuya standing on the other side. Monodam turned towards Fiora, looming over her.

"LET-US-HOPE-VEGETATIVE-STATE-IS-NOT-THE-END-RESULT," the green Kub hyped.

"Doo'nt even joke a'boot that," Kimiko snapped. She placed her hands on Fiora's shoulder, and softly said, "Fiora, honey, can you hear us?"

The movie maker groaned softly, one of her hands gently lifting up and placing over where her sword wound. She strained out, hissing a little, then murmured in a voice so soft that they almost missed it, "Wh-what? Wha' happen?"

"If you all would allow me?" Shuuya asked, glancing at Kimiko and Yitro. "I have experience talking to trauma victims."

Kimiko grit her teeth, crossing her arms in frustration. It was obvious she had a lot to say to that, but a quick glance at the weary Fiora made her stay calm for her sake. Shuuya leaned over Fiora, and spoke rather softly; it was unusual, coming from such a tough guy.

"Listen carefully to my voice. You're in a safe place, you have been through a terrible ordeal. Can you tell me your name?"

Fiora glanced up at him, then looked around at Kimiko, Yitro, and even Monodam. She took a few seconds, and muttered, "I'm Fiora R. Stenton."

"Very good. Do you know where you are?"

"Um, no, I doo'nt think I've ever seen this room befur, eh."

"Do you remember what town you are in?"

"… N-no?"

Kimiko couldn't help but let out a terrified gasp. Yitro folded his arms as he clenched his fists, trying to also contain his emotions. Shuuya took a deep breath, and continued.

"Alright, Fiora, do you remember what year it is?"

"N-not in particular, eh."

Shuuya glanced at Yitro and Kimiko. "Alright, here's the problem: she has some realization, but it seems some of her memory is lost or just hasn't caught up with her. We need to ask her something that everyone here would know, like a worldwide event, to see how good her memory is."

"AND-I'LL-BE-ABLE-TO-HELP-CORRECT-IT," Monodam blurted out, raising one of his spring-arm paws into the air.

"Holy Christmas martians," Fiora cried out, staring wide-eyed at the small robot. "A chubby metal chameleon?!"

"THAT-IS-NOT-HOW-I-IDENTIFY."

"Oh my God, it talks! It's a chubby green parrot!"

Shuuya drummed his fingers on his arm, and glanced over at the others. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"What a'boot her parents?" Kimiko suggested, taking advantage of Fiora's fascination of Monodam by picking up the robot and holding it in front of her. "We all knoo' how prominent that was, and we know the details."

"Yes, but not all of them. It has to be something we all know the details to."

Yitro glanced up at the ceiling, folding his arms as he thought over this. "What about the Hope's Peak Killing Game? Everyone here knows all about that, what happened, and how we're all connected to it because it was where we graduated."

"That would definitely work." Shuuya leaned in towards Fiora, gaining her attention again. "Fiora, I need to ask you a serious question now."

"Okay?" she muttered, wide-eyed and confused.

"Who was the first victim, and the first killer, in the Hope's Peak Killing Game?"

There was a palpable amount of scrutiny visible on Fiora's face, as she glanced around the room and held her mouth open, audibly straining as her mind was. After about a minute of contemplating, she grinned as she spoke proudly.

"It was Yasuhiro Hagakure," she stated, "and he was killed by Gundham Tanaka, Evil Supreme Overlord of Ice!"

"What?!" Kimiko exclaimed, gripping her hat in astonishment. "That's not even close."

"It was fitting for the Overlord of Ice to be titled that," Fiora carried on, "because he froze Yasuhiro. Poor handsome man…"

Shuuya shook his head, while Yitro sighed heavily as he glanced between the others. "Is there nothing," the swordsman asked, "we can do?"

"IF-YOU'D-ALLOW-ME?"

Monodam jumped down on the the armrest of the medical chair. He pulled back one of his spring-loaded arms, and then smacked Fiora across the temple. The movie maker let out a startled cry that warbled a great deal.

"Hey!" Kimiko grabbed Monodam and lifted him up, shouting furiously, "What the hell are you doing, hitting her?"

"IT-IS-NECESSARY-FOR-SOMEONE-WITH-THAT-KIND-OF-MENTAL-TRAUMA," the green Kub said, as Fiora lifted her hand and held on to her wobbling noggin. "THINK-OF-IT-LIKE-THAT-GAME-WHERE-YOU-HAVE-TO-BALANCE-THE-BALL-AROUND-THE-HOLES-IN-THE-MAZE."

Yitro frowned and muttered, "I'm not entirely sure what you're refering to, but you'd best hope you aren't just hurting her."

"THAT-IS-NOT-HOW-YOU-GET-ALONG. TRY-ASKING-HER-AGAIN, YOU-BASTARDS."

Fiora let out a confused grunt as she stared up at all of them. Shuuya sighed, tapped his forehead, and asked, "Fiora Stenton? Who was the first victim and killer in the Hope's Peak Killing Game?"

The movie maker pursed her lips, then smiled. "It was Sayaka Maizono, killed by Leon Kuwata!"

Kimiko shook her head, and muttered, "Well, at least she's got the right genders for the killer and victim."

Shuuya swung two fingers and whacked Fiora across her other temple. After a goofy sound from the movie maker (and an upset frown from Yitro and Kimiko at the bounty hunter for going ahead with that method rather abruptly), he repeated the question.

"Kaede Akamatsu killed Makoto Naegi," guessed the movie maker once again.

"She's got the genders mixed up again," Shuuya remarked as he smacked Fiora's temple again. "And now she thinks survivors died first."

"… Ow," Fiora complained, rubbing her face. "Um, what's the question again?"

"Who were the first victim and killer of the Hope's Peak Killing Game?"

"… Toko Fukawa killed Shuichi Saihara?"

Whap!

"Wait, no, it was Mondo Owata who killed Hifumi Yamada!"

Whap!

"Kaaaaaaeeeeedeeeeee-"

Whap!

Fiora let out a lengthy groan, and then lifted a finger as she attempted her next guess. "It was Professor Mishima due to an unfortunate voting set-up with Nao!"

"What?" Kimiko blurted out. "Who even are these people?"

Shuuya rubbed his forehead again, and then glanced over at Monodam. "Are you sure this is working?"

"HER-ANSWER-IS-CHANGING, ISN'T-IT?"

The bounty hunter/assassin muttered a slightly agreeing grunt, and gave Fiora another smack. Repeating the question another time to her, Fiora stared up at him. "It was… Mah… Mahiru Koizumi…"

The three watching her tensed up, shocked that this had worked.

"Who was killed by Peko Pekoyama!"

"NO!" Shuuya shouted angrily, and gave her a bit of a harder smack.

"Hey, stop that!" Kimiko cried out. "Why are you hitting her like she's doing this on purpose?"

The assassin paced a bit in the room, and declared, "Because we're in the midst of a crisis right now, Kimiko! Everything terrible is happening at once, and we need answers. And every time this bullshit happens, with Despair and Chaos playing us like medical instruments, Fiora is in the middle of it."

Yitro folded his arms, as he put himself between Shuuya and Fiora. "Are you thinking she's a traitor of sorts?"

"Yitro, she's been involved in a Killing Game, a scheme with Shinobu behind our backs, a spirit channeling possession, her parents' killer being discovered and now having gone mad, and more. How can all these things happen to one person?"

The swordsman glanced back at Fiora, who was rubbing her sore temple. He reached over to put a comforting hand on the woman's shoulder, as he spoke to Shuuya. "I know you want answers, and I also know that in your line of work, you go for it very directly; however, you cannot just smack her for answers."

With a tense pause amongst those in the room, Shuuya and Yitro staring each other down as Kimiko held Monodam intrepidly, Fiora broke the silence with a question no one saw coming.

"Yitro, am I in the hospital now because I'm giving birth to our child?"

The swordsman turned towards her, the amount of confusion so thick that even he couldn't cut through it. "What? But… Fiora! You have your memory back?"

"Um, I think," she said, still rubbing her head. "Everything is still very hazy, eh. Hi, Kimiko, what on Earth is that thing you're holding onto?"

"HELLO. I-AM-MONODAM-AND-I-AM-ONE-OF-THE-SURVIVING-KUBS-OF-PENJAR."

"Penjar? Kubs?" Fiora repeated. "Survivors? What is going on?"

"Fiora," Shuuya said, approaching the movie maker, though Yitro kept an eye on him, "who was the first victim and killer in the Hope's Peak Killing Game?"

"Rantaro Amami killed Mahiru Koizumi, and almost killed Mikan Tsumugi, but he was brainwashed. Please doo'nt hit me anymore, Emanuel."

"Excuse me? I'm Shuuya."

"My memory of this place is extremely lacking, I only remember coming to Penjar, and some of you. I remember Yitro, because we had sex once and it was very nice and he's very nice…"

Yitro pulled on the collar of her shirt, trying to hide how much he was blushing as Kimiko smirked at him. The conversation earlier about silly romance novels had become a little bit more like real life, in her eyes.

"I also remember you, Kimiko, because you and I are Canadian buddies," Fiora said with a small smile. "I remember Shinobu, Anzu, Ye… Yejoon," she shivered a great deal, "and Emanuel, the guy who kept HITTING ME!"

She glared at Shuuya, who merely returned her anger with a calm stare. "Fiora, Emanuel is dead. I'm Shuuya Yukimura, the Ultimate Bounty Hunter."

"And Ultimate Assassin," Kimiko added, her smirk growing on her face.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!"

Against all the odds, and against all medical care, Fiora leapt up out of the chair and away from Shuuya. Kimiko had to drop Monodam ("OW.") to catch her friend. Fiora pointed in terror at Shuuya, and cried out, "An assassin?!"

"It looks like her memory is still quite scattered," Shuuya said, completely unfazed by this. "Fiora, you don't need to fear me, I only hunt down people who have committed evil."

Fiora didn't seem all that convinced, as she clung to Kimiko. The biker gang leader nudged her as best she could while holding her up. "Wait, Fiora, could you tell us how much you do remember?"

"I… I remember that I came here because I got a message saying there woo'd be answers to the Tragedy, to my parents' death, and moo'r. When I got here, there was a bunch of people, but I… I doo'nt remember any of them except you, Yitro, Yejoon, and Emanuel!"

"IT-SEEMS-HER-AMNESIA-IS-BASED-AROUND-THE-TRAUMA-THAT-PENJAR-GAVE-HER," Monodam ascertained. "THOUGH-SHE-MAY-REMEMBER-MORE-IF-WE-GIVE-HER-TIME, COMFORT, AND-FRIENDS-WHO-WILL-GET-ALONG."

Yitro took a deep breath, then walked over to Fiora. He took her fedora, which had fallen to the floor a while ago, and put it back on her dual-colored hair, pushing down her ahoge. With a smile, he gently caressed her face, and said, "I'm just glad you're alright, Fiora."

"I got stabbed!" was her flabbergasted response. "With a sword! In this awful too'n! That I barely remember anything…"

"Fiora, I just have to ask this: do you remember learning about what happened to your parents?"

The movie maker shivered, clinging to Kimiko for a few seconds. Her pupils shrunk, and her breath came shortly at first. "Y-yes," she admitted. "I remember hearing Blake say that, I remember… almost killing him. But Yejoon stopped me. Where's Yejoon?"

"He's dead, Fiora."

She clenched her teeth, hissing in pain as her mind felt like it was burning her. "Oh God, how can I not remember that?"

"I also need to ask you: do you remember Hara Pathik?"

Fiora glanced around the room, at everyone (and everybear) there, and then spoke intrepidly. "N-no. I doo'nt, is she one of the other people who is here? Is she another assassin?"

Shuuya sighed, and rubbed his forehead. "I guess there is no one who can back up Isaac's claim. I feel bad having to break this to him, but it must be done."

Yitro shook his head, and said, "I don't know what to do. It's extremely late, we're all confused and upset, and we have more issues than I can mention. Chief among those is that Blake is running around now, and I'm not leaving Fiora alone with that Chaos-deranged madman out there."

"Me neither!" Kimiko declared, then glanced down at the woman they were talking about. "Um, but I do think I shoo'd put you back doo'n on the medical chair. She's still gotta stay here in this asylum."

"I'm in an asylum?!" Fiora squealed in terror. "Did I go mad-crazy psycho hose-beast after I was stabbed?!"


Day 17, Early Morning

Housing Area

Souma Koukai's House

Isaac double-checked on Souma's head injury before stepping away from the bed. The medical tools they had provided a way to stop the bleeding and bandage the wound, but the damage done would have to be accessed when he woke up. The reporter sighed, and said, "I just hope you'll be okay, Souma. Don't worry, we'll watch over you."

He stepped outside, just as Crystal stepped out of Anzu's house. In a rather amazing coincidental timing, Pyrrha with Annabelle close by stepped out of the house that was formerly Aka's. The prodigy rubbed her hands together nervously, as she walked alongside the redheaded writer.

"Kyoko's here because of me," Annabelle cried out, clutching her hands over her heart. "Oh, I hope she's going to be okay. She's going to be okay, right? There's no way a blow to the head could damage her, she's tougher than that!"

Pyrrha was at a loss for words, and scanned the others. Isaac and Crystal had joined the group of people who had been together in the southern plaza. Now it felt like the majority of the group was there, but they felt very vulnerable; they still hadn't found Eisei, despite everything that happened.

"Okay, we need to strategize this here and now, and fill in everyone else later," Crystal declared. "We cannot allow Anzu out of this house, and we also have to have people watching over Kyoko and Souma."

"Because we need to ask them what happened if they get up, right?" Drake asked. He realized what he had said, and glanced down at Annabelle. "I mean, they will get up! They're definitely going to be fine."

"Drake," Futaba spoke up, folding her arms in a very serious manner, "we cannot just leave them unguarded. Blake is out there, and God knows what he'll do."

Annabelle glanced up at them, craning her little neck to try and join the conversation. "Who's Blake?"

Hikari hissed in air, trying to psyche herself up to talk about the dreadful pyro. "When we all arrived here in Penjar, sweetie, not all of us were nice people. Blake was someone who was difficult the entire way, but now… he's fallen to Chaos."

"Wait, like I did?" Annabelle asked. "But I thought you all told me that was because of an artificial infection made by Monokuma, was he also a late arrival?"

"No, he's just lost it," Futaba explained. "We discovered he did something terrible in the past, and instead of trying to find redemption, he became outraged that we weren't instantly forgiving him and willing to have sex with him, apparently."

"Futaba!" Drake squeaked frantically, pointing at Annabelle and motioning for silence. Ignatia nearby face-palmed, but Futaba didn't seem all that alarmed.

"Oh, she knows how biology works, she's a genius with forensics," the anthropologist responded, glancing down at Annabelle. "Plus, I happened to see when you were in that floating amusement park Killing Game, you've seen how bad people get when they want someone else."

Annabelle bit her bottom lip, and nodded solemnly. "Y-yes. So you have someone you cannot trust, which I also know about too. But then are we going to have guards for this place? Like a two or three-man watch?"

"That would be the best idea," Crystal said, "but we have to take into consideration that it's already incredibly late, and we're all exhausted. We'll need to set things up to ensure Kyoko and Souma are okay, and Anzu isn't getting out of there."

She glared over at the house they had placed the actress in. Through the window, she could see Anzu sitting on the side of her bed, staring downwards; the actress hadn't moved in the last few minutes, seemingly in a deep funk. Crystal shook her head, and then asked, "We cannot lock her in, maybe we should board her up in there?"

"That's ridiculous," Isaac remarked, crossing his arms. "Not only would it be next to impossible to provide her food and water, but if Blake sets fire to the building, she'd have no way to escape. And that's exactly what that pyromaniac would do."

"Aren't we jumping the gun on this?" Drake asked, nervously glancing at all the others. "She may not be that dangerous."

"Drake, she was in the room with Kyoko and Souma with a blood-stained tool in her hand," Crystal snapped. "She doesn't even think she's innocent. I know she's come off as a friendly and flirtatious girl, but she's now a danger to us; if we just let her move around, and someone else gets hurt, or even killed…"

The military adviser groaned as she rubbed her head, then noticed everyone stared at her. "Look, I know you all may be thinking I'm overreacting, but I just want to keep her under containment until we can figure out more on our situation. With Ken's betrayal, with the Seed of Despair and the Entity of Chaos, and so much fewer of us left as Monokuma and whoever's behind him revels in the misery and pain, we cannot keep letting the pattern continue.

"There can be no more temptations, no more need for revenge, or whatever's happening in this God-forsaken town will spread out and cause a second Tragedy. You all saw it with Annabelle, that virus version of Chaos is real."

Annabelle swallowed nervously, but before she could speak, a voice came from her pocket. "You've got a lot of fair points, my dear lady, but you've still got a ways to go. If you would allow me to speak?"

The group stared at the prodigy in confusion, until she reached in her pocket and pulled out the device. Holding it up, everyone saw the avatar of Ryoma Hoshi, who casually smoked on a cigarette. He regarded those looking at him, and spoke.

"With every Killing Game that happened, there was a personal vendetta or plan involved. This Killing Game is probably no different, and it is the meeting of Chaos and Despair in the same place. So long as you are here, they will work every angle.

"You should ask yourselves, why is there a Killing Game happening here? Why this town, why you all? And so long as you need to work towards this answer, you need to discover who you can trust. Annabelle and myself will help you as much as we can."

"At the risk of sounding like an overprotective parent," Isaac said, staring nervously at Annabelle, "why on Earth did Kyoko bring Annabelle here? This is no place for a child, and she's already been through so much!"

Annabelle lowered Ryoma's device so the others could see her face. She breathed in deeply, and then spoke as calmly as she could manage. "I got a letter a little while ago. The Entity of Chaos sent it to me, whoever he… she… they are, I dunno. But what I do know is…

"They killed my father. And when I was kidnapped for the Kuma-Kuma Land Killing Game, they personally hunted down my mothers, and… and… they murdered them both."

Annabelle shivered, trying to contain her emotions as she heard the others gasp in shock and horror over this. "Whoever the Entity of Chaos is, I'm going to discover who they are, and I'm going to stop them. And thus, it's my fault Kyoko's here, she was also, um, invited in the letter I got.

"With her unconscious, I only have Ryoma here on my side, but I have all of you. I need to know everything that's happened, and we need to find out fast. I'm so terribly afraid that whoever this Entity of Chaos is, they're planning something horrible, and we're all involved."

"You have good reason to fear Chaos, you fucking brat."

Everyone turned in unison at the sinister voice approaching them through the mist. Blake Shokyaku, eyes bubbling with Chaos, was chuckling as if he couldn't control it. His hands were behind his back, moving slightly.

He glanced around at the shocked faces of the graduates, then shook his head. The churning madness in his eyes was gone, but it felt only temporary. "Aww, did you all miss me that much?"

Futaba stood in-between him and the group, eyes blazing in fury. "You're not welcome among us anymore. Get the hell out of here."

"If I leave this town, everyone's gonna be a Chaos fanatic, like that little football there was," Blake said, snickering hard enough to sound like hiccuping. He glanced over at Isaac, and remarked, "So sad and mad that your dead wife is dead and you're finally coming to terms with it that you kicked a child? And you all call me a jerk."

Isaac started to feel a kind of anger he never thought possible build inside him. He started moving towards Blake, but Pyrrha stepped in front of him and clutched his chest. "No! Don't let him antagonize you," she pleaded, staring desperately at Isaac. "He wants you to lose it."

"He already lost it, Red," Blake shouted, shrugging nonchalantly. "He thought for years his dead wife was standing next to him, and you all enabled it. Again, why exactly am I the bad guy here?"

"Oh, you know why," Hikari spat at him, crossing her arms. "Now while we cannot make you leave Penjar, you aren't going to bother us."

"Hate to break it to you, lezbo-bitch, but it's the other way around. You all are going to listen to me, or I will leave Penjar, and spread this amazing new Chaos sensation across the world. Just like fire."

His eyes bubbled for a brief moment, and his entire face seemed to light up with an unnatural shine. Even his hair was standing up on end in some cases, waving as if the wind curled it around like a pyre.

"So how's about one of you pussies," he chuckled and then corrected himself, "I meant those with actual pussies, not the guys here, come get acquainted with me. Because if I don't get laid tonight, I'm leaving, and I'll make sure all your families and friends that survived the Tragedy die to my next fire.

"Fiora thinks it's so tragic what happened to her parents on accident, blaming me for it. Guess what? I can do SO much MORE damage if I intentionally try! AHAHAHAHA! UPUPUPUPU!

"WHICH BITCH IS FIRST?" he shrieked, deranged grin so wide that it appeared to be splitting his face apart. As he cackled, Annabelle nudged Isaac. She pointed at Blake, then at Ryoma. The reporter nodded, and nudged Pyrrha out of the way. "IS IT GONNA BE YOU, RED?!"

"You'll never," Pyrrha shouted at him, "ever touch me! You vile piece of shit!"

"Oh, I really think you ought to change your mind," Blake hollered at her. "Because if you don't spread your legs for me, I WILL make good on my promise. Don't worry, Cinnamon Tits, I won't break you…

"Though maybe if you let me do whatever I want with you, I won't include the lesbians and the unconscious sheila you got in Aka's house in my pussy par-"

Isaac tackled him, the taller and stronger man knocking Blake down on the ground like he were the Ultimate American Footballer. Not caring how rough he was being, Isaac gripped Blake's head by the hair, almost pulling it out as he slammed him down, palm on the guy's forehead. Then his other hand moved to pry open Blake's eyes, as he used his knees to keep the pyro down.

"F-fucking-YOU WOT?!"

Blake clawed up at Isaac, trying to stab into the reporter's eyes with his nails. Both of his arms were grabbed, one by Pyrrha and the other by Ignatia. His legs tried to kick, but Futaba pinned those down. Annabelle ran over and held the Ryoma AI device in front of Blake's eyes.

The bright light illuminated his pupils, and he struggled so hard that he was in fear of dislocating something. The graduates held him down and refused to let him budge, and then he started screaming. Hollering and shrieking, the most blood-curdling noises they had heard, it was unnerving to them; however, they didn't back down.

When the light had shown into Blake's eyes for a minute, he stopped thrashing. Letting out a gurgling noise as drool ran from his mouth, he flopped in their grasp. The bubbling and churning of Chaos in his eyes was gone, and his pupils came back to normal. Though when the graduates let go of him, he appeared unconscious.

There were a few moments of silence, as everyone tried to collect themselves. Then Ryoma spoke from his device. "A reaction like this means he didn't want to let go of Chaos, like those who wanted to be infected with Despair. You'd best be careful, he definitely is an unruly one."

"That's putting it damn mildly," Isaac muttered. He sat down on the ground next to Blake, then smiled a little at Annabelle. "Good work there, Anna."

"It felt like the best thing to do," she said with a shy smile as she held Ryoma close to her. "I already did this with Kyoko, to ensure she isn't infected with Chaos when she wakes up, and I was kind of wondering if we could use it as a method of defense."

"That's not part of your official Penjar inventory, little missy!"

Annabelle's eyes widened when she heard that high-pitched voice of despair and cruelty nearby. She slowly turned, and, with the mists curling around her and the owner of the voice, she came face-to-face with the Kuma of Despair.

"Hello there, Annabelle Lupin," Monokuma said, his red eye gleaming as he leaned in towards her. "So nice of you to accept our invitation. However… he wasn't on the list."

Something grabbed the Ryoma AI device, yanking it with a strength that the young girl couldn't stop when startled. Annabelle gasped as she saw Monokid running away from the scene, clutching Ryoma's device in his paws.

"NO!" she shrieked, standing up and sprinting after Monokid. "Bring him back! PLEASE!"

"Haw haw haw, I got me a new toy!" Monokid hollered, disappearing into the mist as quickly as he appeared from it.

"RYOMA!" Annabelle shrieked, running in the direction she had last seen the blue Kub. "NO! RYOMA!"

She ran into a building, the mists too thick for her to see. Annabelle stood up in a daze, though she could hear one last thing from the deep voice of the AI.

"Don't worry about me, kid. Do what you need to do!"

Annabelle started crying, unable to contain herself. When Isaac knelt down next to her, she grabbed ahold of his shirt and sobbed uncontrollably. "I-I… I lost him. I promised him, I promised Kyoko… n-no. It's all we had left of him! What have I done?"

As the others managed to catch up with her, she was shivering as she rubbed her head against Isaac. When she collected herself enough to glance up at him, there was a terrifying chuckle nearby.

"Oh, I really think you should worry about yourself more, Annabelle Lupin," Monokuma said, his paws up in front of his face and claws extended; the steel blades gleamed with the hateful red light from his eyes. "Because guess what? Even if you're Chaos's guest of honor, I don't particularly want the bite-sized survivor from one of my relatives' failed games."

Someone grabbed Monokuma by his plushie head, and chucked him far away from Annabelle and the group. Most of the people there were surprised to see it was Hikari, who pointed defiantly at the bear. "You stay the hell away from her! It's against the rules for you to harm her, anyway, so don't you dare try anything!"

Monokuma stood up slowly, wiggling as if to shake himself off. "That's kind of my thing, I dare try things with those involved with my Killing Games. So yeah, while I am not going to attack her directly, she and Kyoko Kirigiri are now active participants in Penjar, tourists like the rest of you.

"And it's actually pretty good timing, because now that Chaos has stepped up its game, I'm going to have to too. I already lifted the limitations of killings, I've been lax about attacking each other during and out of trials, and I've seen a lot of you try to kill yourselves…

"But you know what? I feel like we're getting near the best part of Penjar's tour. The southern plaza is open to everyone, no one needs special permission to enter the armory there! Upupupupupu! I wonder how you all will behave when you have the arsenal that could take supply a military force at your fingertips.

"Maybe you'll kill each other later today since you have the guns, knives, and explosives to do so without having to get all creative with bonfires and extension plugs and dead girl's swords! Though you really should mark my words here and now."

Monokuma strut towards them, and his claws extended further, each one a foot long. "Penjar is a city of blood and death and backstabbing and murder. Always has been, always will be. You think you'll break that cycle? You think you'll best the madness that is bottled up in here, within every building, in the mist itself?

"I welcome all challengers to try and stay alive the next few days, because I plan for you all to eat yourselves in the process of suspicion, doubt, fear, and dread. And the last thing you'll feel is DESPAIR! DESPAIR THAT YOUR PATHETIC LIVES ARE FORFEIT! UPUPUPU…

"AHAHAHAHAHAAAAA-"

BLAM!

The sound of gunshot was almost muffled out by Monokuma's blaring voice, but still noticeable; especially since the bullet tore through the bear's head, blasting fluff and inner workings of the metal puppet on the floor. As a blood-like oil dripped from both sides of his head, Monokuma's eye turned off, and he slumped over "dead."

From out of the mists came Eisei Amane, holding a military-grade assault rifle in his hands, a lollipop in his mouth, and a grim determination in his reddened eyes. He wordlessly flipped the safety back on the rifle, then peered over at the group of graduates.

Flipping the lollipop over to the other side of his mouth, he asked, "Who's this child, where's Souma, and what transpired when I was away from you all?"

"E-Eisei," Drake whimpered, "wh-what are you doing with a gun?"

"That is not the answer to any of my questions, please enlighten me before asking your own."

"No no no," Crystal spoke up, standing tall and staring at Eisei with her hands on her hips. "You cannot possibly think it's okay to carry that around."

Eisei narrowed his eyes, which even from this distance and the mist around him, she could see how red they were from a great deal of heartbroken crying. His small shoulders shook, and he replied, "I lost Saiko. I'm not losing anyone else. Please, don't make this difficult, I want to help you all."

"Who is this?" Annabelle asked frantically, pointing at Eisei as her eyes were wide in fear. "Why does this cute lady have a gun? Why'd she shoot Monokuma? You cannot just shoot Monokuma, what were you thinking?! Are… are you…"

Annabelle then suddenly, to the shock of everyone, walked right on over to Eisei. The ten year old girl was just as tall as the dentist, so when she approached, they were perfectly eye-to-eye. She reached up and gently cupped Eisei's face.

"You lost someone," she asked, her own eyes stained with tears, "didn't you… mister?"

Eisei shivered again, and let go of the rifle; the strap around his shoulder kept it from falling to the ground. Annabelle pulled him in for a hug, and he almost fell into it. Everyone just stared in shock and silence, unable to think of what to say or do.

That was when Odelios and Ishiku sprinted on over, both wide-eyed in panic and worry. "We heard a gunshot," Odelios shouted to the group, "and like total idiots, we came running towards it, for some reason!"

"Wha happa?" Ishiku asked, gripping his emerald staff tightly. "Why are we shooting at each other? What…"

The clown and magician surveyed the area. Eisei, with an assault rifle slung on his shoulder, was embracing an unknown, blonde child as both of them were crying. Blake lay unconscious, sprawled out on the street. Eight of their group were nearby, in a manner of shock and confusion. Monokuma lay "dead" with a gunshot through the head.

"Alright then, average Wednesday for us," Odelios crossed his arms and closed his eyes as he spoke matter-of-factly. "I declare that everyone needs to congregate so that we can share all information between us, before this gets out of hand.

"Get everyone who can leave the asylum together with us, and we are going to discuss what is going on, or it's going to just be silly."

Ishiku sighed, and said, "Yeah. It's been a terrible, terrible day, but it's not over yet. Please, let's just try to organize as best we can."

Isaac nodded, and stood up, walking towards Annabelle and Eisei. "Yeah, they're right. Let's listen to them, and get everyone we can together, we need to group together. If we don't, we're really going to lose. Choas and Despair are more serious than ever.

"Come on, guys. Hara, let's go, we gotta make… sure…"

He had reached out to place his hand on her shoulder. It wasn't there, she wasn't there. Isaac turned, looking for her, and Hara wasn't there.

Hara wasn't there.

"N-no…" he thought.

Hara was never been there.

Isaac felt himself start shaking, and couldn't stop.

Hara was dead. It was his fault she was dead.

The world felt so heavy and cold, and his heart was swallowed up by a pit of despair and sorrow.

Hara was DEAD. Saiko was DEAD. His family was DEAD.

He was all alone in a city of death, despair, and chaos.

Chaos.

Despair.

Death.

DEAD.

Isaac collapsed to the floor, the world growing cold and dark and suffocating…


"I couldn't be more honored to graduate from Hope's Peak Academy. The world is such a fascinating place, and I have seen so much of it from this wonderful place of education and learning. It is totally radical, bodacious, and tubular, as my Holmies say, yo yo!"

There was a short pause in the speech, as the cavalryman glanced over to his friends, all waving their arms desperately to signal he was saying the wrong thing, all the wrong things. The Novoselic merely chuckled and waved at them.

"I foresee many wonderful events and relations between my country and Japan, maybe more will be invited, and we'll see more here. I would love to lead the way, to start something great here. Coming to this wonderful place and earning enlightenment has changed my life, and I hope more follow in my footsteps.

"Please forgive me for my ramblings, I am just so happy, with my friends, with my future, and with… everything. Here's to an honorable future, in which we change the world! Blessings from Novoselic to all of you!"

-Ken Kishi's graduation speech


Chapter 5, The Path to Penjar, is now over.

The Entity of Chaos has made their move to claim Penjar.

The Seed of Despair grows within Penjar.

The trapped soul within Penjar is threatened by a growing menace from the other side.

Despair.

Chaos.

Death.

It all grows and festers within the mists of Penjar.

Monotaro, the Ultimate Determination/Forgetfulness, has died.

Monosuke, the Ultimate Preparation/Perversion, has died.

Monophanie, the Ultimate Encouragement/Disgust, has died.

19 Survivors reside within Penjar.

TO BE CONTINUED.