Chapter 6: Awaken, City of Hope! Part 6 (Deadly Life)

Remaining Citizens: 7

Ai Mizuno (Zombie Land Saga): Ultimate (Zombie) Idol

Ryuji Sakamoto (Persona 5): Ultimate Track Star

Emma (The Promised Neverland): Ultimate Moral Compass

Gold (Pokémon Adventures/Pokémon Special): Ultimate Hatcher

Miles Morales (Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse): Ultimate Successor

Yu Ishigami (Kaguya-sama: Love Is War): Ultimate Pessimist

Killua Zoldyck (Hunter X Hunter): Ultimate Assassin

Danganronpa Cast:

Gundham Tanaka

Byakuya Togami

Aoi Asahina

Hajime Hinata

Mahiru Koizumi

Nagito Komaeda

Shuichi Saihara

Himiko Yumeno

Maki Harukawa

Third-Person POV

"What do you mean you're not sending anymore Monokumas?! What's even happening on your end?!" Tsumugi confronts her cohorts on a large computer screen.

"The forces we have been combatting need to be snuffed out immediately, plus the Zetsubou Facilities are in danger of being shut down by them. Resources will be scarce if we send more units for a killing game that should have concluded by now." A sinister womanly voice states.

"Well excuuuuuse me for not doing research on a horror-comedy idol anime! My tastes in media are quite specific. And as for the resources, why not capture and hypnotize more living creatures? Your world has Pokémon, Arceus knows how many you can get there!" Tsumugi rolled her eyes.

A younger, girly voice giggles, "Wow, Big Sis Tsumugi really can't handle her plans falling apart, huh?"

A condescending male voice then chimes in, "If you need more strength, then why not just use your last emer—"

A dark robotic voice interrupts him, "Ha, like a plain human could tap into their power that easily. I've dealt with a gem of that caliber before and believe me in saying that I, a man made of metal, managed to use its power before the 'geniuses' from my universe could finish studying it."

"Yeah yeah, I saw your movie, you were great…" Tsumugi snarks, "And for your information, I was going to it. I'll get back the second emerald immediately when I use this one. As strong as my participants may be, nothing matches a jewel containing the ultimate power…" she says with a deeper voice.

"Wow sooooo edgy~. Oh, speaking of edge, how has our other ally been? Maybe his gem could prove useful…" The condescending voice rings out again.

"He… hasn't been answering my messages. But whatever, he has his own plans to carry out! You all do too, so don't start slacking!" Tsumugi turns off her computer screen in frustration, "Ugh… hm?"

The Monokuma head that Ai hit across the trial room was staring right at her.

"What are you looking at? Tch… time for the last resort." Tsumugi clutches a blue gem in her right hand, as it gives off a light glow.

Ai's POV

"Y'know, I just noticed something kinda weird." Miles spoke up as we moved.

"Yeah? How weird?" Ryuji asked.

"It's probably a coincidence, but your robot pirate thing shot out electric blasts, right?"

"He did… please don't bring him up when it still stings." Ryuji had a few tears in his eyes, I wonder why.

Miles looked to Killua next, "You've got this electric aura thing that helps you move faster…"

"Pretty much." Killua shrugged.

"I have my venom powers, and your little mouse has lightning in his cheeks." Miles continued to Gold.

"Okay…" The trainer responded, his goggles over his eyes.

Finally he turned to me, "And we just saw you can absorb electricity and use it to fire lasers and stuff. You see what I'm getting at?"

"So what you're saying here is that there's a pattern with five of us having something to do with electricity?" I came to a conclusion and he nodded.

"Like I said though, probably a big coincidence. Though you gotta admit… it's shocking." Miles joked.

"Booooo." Ishigami bluntly responded as he held onto Togebo for dear life.

"It was a good way to… spark conversation though." Ryuji chuckled.

"Ha ha…" Emma lightly laughed, embarrassed to hear that, as am I.

"Right! I'm feelin' amped up currently!" Gold joined in and now I'm starting to feel pain from these puns.

"Okay guys, we should just stay focused now..."

Thank you, Killua, for saving m—

"... Although it's easy to feel ec-static about what's ahead."

WHY?

I groaned heavily as those doofuses laughed, "Can we please stop now?"

"Ha ha, okay okay, sorry Ai. It's in my nature to quip, I'm Spider-Man." Miles apologized.

"Hmph." I grunted as I crossed my arms and looked away from him.

"Y'know, Ai. On the way back after shutting down the power, I grabbed something from the Hope-tel that I figured you needed." Killua told me.

"And what is that?" I asked, expecting another joke.

He lowered his eyebrows so that I could tell he's being serious, "Well I saw that you've been taking good care of it since our trial and… oh wow."

Killua pauses mid-sentence after seeing many different types of Monokuma units in the streets. We all landed atop a small apartment building near the shopping district. I could even see the shops and food courts from up here.

Emma was softly petting Togebo while Ishigami was leaning over on his back, "Thank you for the lift, you cutie!"

Ryuji turned to Miles, "How many do you think are down there?".

His suit's eyes shrunk as he focused, "Man the tech in this suit is wild. Let's see, about twenty…"

"That's not too bad." Gold began stretching his arms and legs.

"...For each of us." Miles finished.

"Okay that's bad..." Gold seemed to have retracted his statement, "... But not for me. Yahoooooooo!"

Insert Song: Fódlan Winds (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

Gold flies down headfirst into the crowd of Monokumas, unleashing his team and beginning the brawl.

"Gold, wait!" Emma called out to him.

Oh brother.

"Don't worry, I'll go after him. You all pair up and take care of your Monokuma groups." I commanded before hopping off the building to help him out.

Soon everyone else joins up, except for Ishigami who's still on the rooftop, and it's just us fighting waves of Monokuma units. The types that we're fighting are quite distinct compared to the ones at the concert. Ones in guard uniforms with riot shields, round garbage throwing bots that roll at you, as well as very aggressive types with large claws that just leap at you.

"Tah! Hyah!"

I swing my baguette batons like I'm at a batting cage with hundreds of baseballs flying towards me. My suit is actually quite easy to move around in, it's really helping with my speed which is good when there's multiple targets. Never imagined fighting robot bears dressed like this, but I never imagined being struck by lightning or becoming a zombie idol either.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Hey, could've grazed me there! Be careful!" Killua scolds Emma as he rips the head off of a Monokuma.

"Sorry! Ishigami, how's it going up there?!" Emma speaks into her earpiece.

We hear Ishigami's tired voice reply a few seconds later, "The turrets are almost done, but you better keep them from climbing up the building and gutting me first."

Ryuji blows robot brains out with a shotgun, "For sure, dude. Bam!".

He swings his hammer into the Ball Monokuma and Miles smashes it into pieces with an electric punch. The two of them give each other a thumbs up, before Miles camouflages himself.

Emma ducks under a lunging Beast Monokuma before shooting it in the back with an arrow.

"Shouldn't there be less of them now that the power's out? She shouldn't be able to produce more, right?" Emma wonders.

Killua gave her a possible answer, "Shirogane must have had some reserves, I don't think she has any other way to get more units, unless she's already gotten the dimension device up and running."

"I guess, but are we just going to battle waves of these bots until there's no more? Tsumugi will probably escape by then!"

I then spoke up to reassure Emma, "Don't forget we have more allies, and speaking of, I think that's them calling now."

"Mizuno, this is Shuichi. I think I managed to find Tsumugi's hideout, yet this is only based on intuition for now."

"Intuition or not, we'll take whatever hints we can get pal. I don't think anyone wants us to be stuck here fighting bots for a while." Ryuji is then saved by Miles with a robot spider leg skewering the Monokuma on top of him.

"Okay, Tsumugi is a cosplayer. It's a little on the nose, but if a cosplayer needs supplies to make outfits…"

"The costume shop? Gah!" Ishigami guesses as he spots Monokumas climbing up the building he's on.

He activated the turrets and they blasted many bullets into the bears.

"I could be wrong, yet it does make sense. It's full of outfits based on killing game participants, which you may have seen before. At the very least there could be something in there that's important. We'll handle whatever Monokumas are around it while you go search. Good luck."

Shuichi ended the call and we have our destination, we just need to clear a path. But how? It was then that I saw Gold's two tailed monkey, Aibo, as well as Pibu on Gold's shoulder.

"Hey Gold, do me a quick favor." I said to him as we're back to back.

"Ok, what?"

"Tell Pibu to shock me."

"HUH?!" He reacted like I expected him to.

"Just do it, and have Aibo launch me into the air."

Gold regained his composure and responded with: "Uh… you got it! Pibu, Thunder!"

"Chuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" Pibu's tiny body released a bunch of volts into me, which I'm glad did not hurt.

I then hopped on to Aibo's hand-shaped tails and I am then launched upwards. I clench my fist before slamming it into the ground, lightning hitting all the surrounding Monokumas and powering them down. I heard Gold whistle and Emma clap as I dusted myself off. I think the suit provided most of the power right then.

"Sweet! Now we got a clear shot to the costume shop, let's go!" Miles swung over to pick up Ishigami.

"Not bad." Killua complimented me as we ran side-by-side.

"Thanks." I told him as we reached the costume shop.

In the distance I see the ultimates of this world fighting other Monokumas. Mahiru stuns a couple with her camera before Hajime knocks them away. Gundham sends his hamsters to tear apart the robots from the inside, wire by wire. Nagito ends up tripping as two Monokumas with their claws out crash into each other.

I see Shuichi nod at me as he and Byakuya used some kind of megaphone guns.

"Think they need our help?" Gold looks over to them as he recalls his Pokémon.

Then a Monokuma with a knife lodged in its skull lands next to us, courtesy of Maki.

"Nope. Let's go." Miles replies.

The store is just as it was the last time I saw it, full of outfits based on other killing game participants. The missing black wig from the first murder is back on its rack, next to a large pompadour. Seeing all the needles, string, and sewing machines lying around really does make this a cosplayer's paradise. I have no idea how Shirogane manages to completely become a character though, it's like she's a shapeshifter.

"Okay, I think it's a bust. Other than cosplay stuff she could use, there's nothing here!" Ryuji groans.

Ishigami then looks outside, "Uh… we better find something soon. It's beginning to look like bear season."

I peek outside the store windows to see an incoming group of Monokumas, though… very unsettling ones. They're disfigured, left eyes all bulging out and they're crawling on three long limbs. Just terrifying to look at, so I turn away quickly to rid myself of any potential nightmares.

"Yeesh, that's just a whole lotta ugly out there!" Gold said with his teeth clenched.

Emma then perks up, "Wait! Isn't this outfit the same one on the big statue in Enoshima Park?"

I check to see what she's talking about, "She's right, the… 'Twin-Tailed Goddess' statue!"

"Wait, so does this costume have, like a key or something inside it? I don't get it…" Ryuji takes it off the hook and then…

KA-THUNK!

It's a hidden passageway!

It has to lead to where Shirogane is, but… it's a little cramped. Not enough room for all of us to go through.

Suddenly, those freakish Monokumas begin to break through the door and windows.

"We need to move, now." Killua stated.

"But I don't think we can all—" Emma is then interrupted when we hear Ishigami clicking away on his laptop, readying explosives.

"Go to hell, dumbasses."

Multiple bombs go off, blowing away Monokumas across a few blocks. Gold takes out his large Pokémon, Exbo I believe, with fire coming from its neck. Ryuji puts his mask back on and readies his hammer, Miles does the same with his mask and has his spider legs out.

"You're all sure about this?" I ask the four of them.

Strangely enough, Ishigami is the one who answers, "I'm obviously going to slow you down. I never even expected to survive this long, so I should contribute instead of being dead weight until the end of the game. We'll catch up, after you take care of that bitch."

"Couldn't have said it better dude. Let's kick ass." Ryuji charges outside.

"If any of you get knocked down, promise me that you'll get back up. No matter how many times it happens." Miles requests.

Emma, Killua, and I nod our heads as he joins the fray.

"One more thing!" Gold raises his finger up as we're beginning to enter the corridor.

"Yeah?" Killua looks at him, expecting something dumb to come out of his mouth.

Gold tosses me one of his Pokéballs. I press the button and out pops Pibu.

"Pi! Pi!" He lets out as he crawls onto my shoulder.

"I'll take good care of him." I tell Gold, who just gives me a two finger salute as he hops onto Exbo and dashes away.

Those boys are the bravest I've met, I truly hope that we all make it out of this. I couldn't stomach learning that they all got killed while we were facing Tsumugi. I've seen too many dead bodies during my stay here, and I do not want to see any more, unless my own un-dead body counts.

Pibu nuzzles my cheek and I pat his spiky hair, "Quickly now!"

I entered the tight corridor alongside Emma and Killua, brushing away any cobwebs in my path. I saw a bright light at the end of it, and we walked into an elevator room. Like the ones you might find in an office building.

A screen above the elevators flickers on and Tsumugi's face appears, although she's looking frustrated at us. Pibu's cheeks emit sparks as he stares angrily at his captor.

"Took you long enough to find this place! The audience wouldn't want this to drag on for too long!"

"It's your fault for making such a big city. And what audience are you talking about?" Killua asks.

"This is being broadcasted to your worlds! Well… was being broadcasted until you guys smashed all the cameras and killed the power! I had to switch to backup power just to send this message and keep the elevators running! Ahem, anyways, it won't matter anymore. It's all gonna be reset anyways." She regained her composure and tried to make herself look presentable.

… Reset? Is this what she meant by starting the killing game over?

"You're not making sense here, what do you mean by reset?" Emma looks up at the monitor with disdain.

Tsumugi scoffed, "It's something from a canon that's irrelevant nowadays, but it's always fascinated me. Do you know what that gem you took was?"

"You mean that diamond we found that powered the city…" Killua recalls.

"Yeah, thanks for that, thieves. Though I still have one more with me, thank goodness I decided to remove it from that location before you arrived."

Killua raised his finger to interrupt her, "Said location having many Monokumas around it, making it look suspicious."

"Oh quiet, I haven't thought of everything! If I had, then you'd all be in those tubes by now! Just like the Jabberwock Island killing game participants during Danganronpa 2!" Tsumugi said as her eyes twinkled.

"Dangan...ronpa?" I tilted my head.

She rolls her eyes, "It's the title of the fictional series the killing games are from. The world you all are in is the Danganronpa one, I was oh so thrilled to learn that it wasn't just FICTION! The worlds you're all from are considered fiction as well, but you just exist in another reality, isn't that just exciting?!" Ech, she's drooling.

"Okay, you're getting off topic, what about that gem?" I pinch the bridge of my nose in annoyance, I'm just tired of her.

"Fine fine, it's called a Chaos Emerald. They're from Espio's world, seven jewels with so much power in them that it's pretty much limitless when they're gathered." She explains.

"Limitless… you were using something that strong to power this city?!" Emma's eyes widened.

"Yup, and just one of them allowed me to use a device (that some companions of mine built) to travel to different worlds to begin this killing game!" Tsumugi adjusted her glasses and they gleamed.

"I figured you weren't working alone, I can faintly remember hearing voices coming from your computer, but why tell us this?"

She laughs at my question, "Just to stall you with exposition. You all now have half an hour until I use my emerald for another purpose!"

"WHAT?!" The three of us gasped, ugh, she managed to fool us.

"The countdown has begun, and when it hits zero, The Genesis Wave will wash over Monocity! The killing game will begin again as I want it to be, without any rebelling and rule breaking on either side! You three may have been a pain to deal with, but I can't just get rid of you. I'm just gonna make due with having you all forget everything and go about the killing game none the wiser!"

Start over?! All that we went through, the loss, pain, everything… we'll have to go through it again?

No…

I refuse to let that happen!

I hit the elevator button and the doors open up. All three of us quickly entered and pressed the button leading upwards to the top floor. Her message continued on a screen inside the elevator.

"By the time the timer hits zero, everyone will see each other as strangers once more. I thought about taking the survivors and just making a new killing game with new faces… but rebooting is a better option! Unlike what Hollywood is doing, this will be an improvement over the original!"

She continued to speak as we ascended higher and higher, above the city where we could barely see our friends fighting it out on the ground.

"The friends in those pods will be back to normal too and you won't remember anything you went through, you could consider letting it happen..." She smugly suggests.

No, if we do… then it would all be for nothing.

We can't forget this experience, how it's changed us for better or for worse. How the mistakes we have made have led us into becoming the best possible versions of ourselves. The death, trials, executions, no one should go through it even once.

We have to end this now.

"After what we went through, absolutely not, lady." Killua scowled.

Emma clenched her fists, "You won't change our minds, we'll end this game completely!"

After receiving our answer she turned off the screen. Almost there… at the top of the tallest skyscraper in the city, is our opponent.

"Ai." Killua speaks up.

"Yes?"

He hands me Trunks's sword and looks into my eyes with a look of determination. Emma puts her hand on my shoulder to reassure me, and Pibu nods in approval. I clench the sheathed blade in my hands before strapping it to my back.

The elevator door opens and we walk out...

Next time, the final battle, and the epilogue as well. See you all… tomorrow, and thank you once again.