Mists of Penjar

by The Kobold Necromancer

Graduated students of Hope's Peak Academy want to know how Despair was able to spread so fast and ruin so many lives. In an abandoned town known as Penjar, where windless mist creeps down old streets, they have come to find the answers. But Despair, and its Kubs, still have plans even in this seemingly forgotten place. [Part 1 Spin-Off of Crit Fail's Legacy of Despair Series.]

35. Chapter 5-3: The Path to Penjar

Chapter 5-3

Expressway of Emergency

---

? ? ?

Killing Game Realm

Jabberwock Island

Sprinting from the Mastermind, the Queen, was like an uphill hike for the survivors. There was no time for words, the threat of that woman catching up to them made their legs the only thing they would concentrate on.

The group of eight crossed a rather large bridge, onto another island that appeared to be more like an urbane neighborhood than a tropical get-away. They moved into an old-fashioned diner, collapsing into the plush seats.

"You were all so brave," Nagito said, as he struggled to catch his breath. "Thank goodness we got away, for now."

Kazuichi dropped Chiaki into a seat, and all but fell down to the floor, sweating like crazy. The gamer gal stood up, walking over to his side. "Would you like some water?" she asked.

"Ugh… buh… yes, please," the mechanic gasped as he lay there. Chiaki walked on over towards the fridge behind the counter, as Kazuichi tried to catch his breath. "D-damn, little buddy, you're a bit heavier than I thought."

"Hey," Mahiru chided him, "boys shouldn't talk like that about girls."

"Hmmm," Anzu said, a smile spreading across her face as she observed Chiaki, "it's probably because of her big jugs!"

Mahiru turned towards the actress, jaw dropping as those words registered with her. "H-hey, girls shouldn't talk like that about girls either!"

"'Jugs'?" Chiaki repeated, as she leaned down to Kazuichi and held out a water bottle.

"I didn't say that," Kazuichi cried out as he seized the water bottle, eyes flickering all over the place in his exhausted confusion. "It was the new girl! She's a pervert, you know!"

"Yeah, I kind of am," Anzu admitted. "Still, maybe we should strategize while we have the chance."

Chiaki nodded, glancing around at her friends. The classmates of Class 77 nodded too, and the leader smiled. "Well, right now, we're just running away from this OP boss. Maybe it's like a gauntlet, where we cannot win a fight, just keep moving."

"We'll eventually run out of places to run," Teruteru remarked as he wiped his brow with napkins from the napkin dispenser at his table. "And if not that, we'll run out of stamina first. And that'd be far worse, to go out using up all your stamina…"

The chef's nose bled slightly again, and he used napkins to clean that up. Mahiru groaned in disgust, and cried out, "I'm surrounded by perverts!"

"Mahiru," Chiaki started to say.

"No no no, I have to say this! Teruteru is a total pervert, Akane and Angie have no shame, Nagito is… just weird, Kazuichi's such a boy, and the new girl… um, what was your name?"

"Anzu."

"Anzu, thank you. Anzu's as big of a pervert as Teruteru! You're the only one here normal, Chiaki! How'd… how did it come to this?"

Mahiru covered her face as she began to sob, until Hikari moved over to her. The model in the artist's body really resembled the affectionate island girl, as she pulled Mahiru into a hug.

"Hey, listen to me," Hikari whispered to the surprised photographer. "You don't have to worry about that anymore. Let's just focus on the problems here and now, and don't worry, I do have some shame, darling.

"I promise not to hit on any of you beautiful women until we are out of this crisis. Now, let's talk about what we're going to do."

Mahiru nodded, wiping at her eyes. She smiled a little, then muttered, "Didn't know you played for the other team, Angie."

Hikari merely giggled, and then turned towards everyone. "Now, we cannot run forever, so we need a next step. First off, why don't we review how this Mastermind… the Queen, as it were, came to be like… that?"

"We don't actually know," Chiaki admitted. "There were sixteen of us, our class, to begin with. The Killing Game started, but we didn't hurt each other."

"Yeah, none of us could do it," Kazuichi said, sitting up from the floor as he slogged down the water. "Mostly thanks to our little buddy here."

The gamer gal had a shy smile on her face, as she adjusted her hair. "I think I helped. Still, it was when other students showed up that things started going… wrong."

"Who is the Queen?" Hikari asked.

"We don't know. We just know that one day, she showed up. Her figure was cast in darkness like that, her hair like horns, hands like claws. All the other students have dispersed, we don't know where they are."

Chiaki sighed, and rubbed her forehead. "She killed over half of us, and she… took some of their talents."

"Wait a minute, what?" Anzu balked. "How did she do that?"

"I don't really know. It was like Mega Man, taking the power from the defeated. She stole the talents of Sonia, Fuyuhiko, and Hiyoko, as she killed them. The others, she just… killed outright."

Chiaki rubbed at her eyes, and sighed before continuing. "Ibuki, Nekomaru, Mikan, and Hajime… all of them dead as well."

Hikari nodded, taking all of this in as she covered her mouth in shock. "So you're all that's left?"

"Yes… I think."

"Do we know what this Queen wants?"

"I have a theory that she wants specific talents, as she was particular about hunting down specific people. Everyone else was killed because they got in the way…"

"I'm still certain she would want my luck," Nagito said, smiling sadly. "Though my friends here won't let me sacrifice myself."

"You aren't going to give that monster what she wants!" Mahiru barked at him. "We don't care if you don't value your life, you aren't going to throw it away! Understood?"

"Yes, Mahiru."

"Always so commanding," Kazuichi said with a small smile. "I still think you could take the Queen, Mahiru."

"Stop that," Mahiru snapped at him, a pink blush highlighting her freckles.

"Hey, if anyone's taking on the Queen," Akane shouted, "it's gonna be me! I'll beat that bitch yet!"

As Mahiru and Chiaki tried to calm down their excitable friends, Teruteru turned towards Hikari and Anzu. "Ladies, if I may…"

"They seriously don't remember Peko?" Anzu asked, miserably hanging her head in shame. "I came into this world, and suddenly they cannot remember a good friend of theirs. I'm trying to act normal, but I'm just… just so…"

"Cheri, it isn't your fault, this world, the realm itself, works in very sinister ways. It wasn't your fault. Just please, hear me out.

"My friends don't remember Byakuya and Gundham. It's possible that your friends took their places, so we need to find them."

Hikari scratched at her chin, then stared down at the short chef. "But how come you remember?"

"I'm a bit of an oddity, beautiful. Well, an oddity in this realm. I have a feeling that you'll need to do a lot of traversing across the plane to find all your friends."

Anzu sighed and rolled her eyes. "Great, we're going on an adventure. We're supposed to search all of the islands part of Jabberwock while that invincible monster of a woman chases us?"

As she said this, she glanced out the window of the diner. Someone was coming up from the cave that led down to the beach. Someone who appeared very perplexed and concerned with the crimson sky…

Someone with a fancy, shiny suit, that is.

Anzu and Hikari ran outside, with the students of Class 77 following shortly afterwards. Souma was rather startled by the rush of people coming at him from the diner, though he recognized Anzu being at the forefront.

"Goodness me, what is going on here?" Souma asked, staring at the two of them. "Miss Y… wait, Miss Yonaga?"

"It's me, Hikari," the model in the artist's body declared. "Okay, long story short, you're in the Killing Game Realm in your own body, but I'm in Angie's. Anzu's here, as are a bunch of our friends, as there is a very evil, unstoppable madwoman coming to kill us and possibly steal our talents."

Souma stared at her, then at Anzu, and then let out a small laugh. "Sure, why not. It's not like my requests for things to work out or make sense was ever granted to begin with."

"Now don't pout," Anzu scolded him, "we'll get through this yet."

"Um, everyone," Nagito spoke up, pointing behind the two ladies and the newcomer gentleman, "I think we should start running again."

The Luckster was gesturing towards the Queen, that malevolent shade of a person, walking across the large bridge to the island they were on. She was staring straight forward, each step echoing across the land. It wasn't until she was almost at the end of the bridge that her gaze turned towards the group of survivors.

"Running time?" Souma asked.

"Running time!" Kazuichi confirmed, picking up Chiaki. The gamer gal blinked, then found herself being carried off alongside all of her friends, and the three newcomers, who were now sprinting the hell out of there.

"Yes, keep prolonging this game," the Queen called after them, "I do so enjoy watching you struggle."

---

Day 15, ? PM

Western Plaza

Enoshima Asylum

"Okay, let's not starting panicking," Ishiku said, pacing back and forth in the room he and Fannie were inside.

"I'm not panicking, Ishi."

"I know, I'm mostly saying that for myself," he admitted. "Why can't we find anyone else in this damn asylum? Why are there more locked rooms? I don't understand!"

Fannie frowned in concern, and chewed on her bottom lip. "This might have been something Monokuma had planned."

"What do you mean?"

"He never told us his contingency plans, Ishi, so I don't know what specifically he will do; however, when the tourists of Penjar aren't behaving in a way Monokuma wants, he tries to push things in either his way, or to make it more interesting."

"Great," Ishiku declared, "Monokuma is that kind of DM!"

"I don't really know what that means…"

"What it means is that he has total control, and can bend the rules as much as he wants."

Fannie sighed heavily, then nodded. "I suspect that was why Monokid started acting so aggressively during the last challenge, and started making up new rules on the fly."

The white 'n pink-topped young lady stared up at the ceiling, and muttered, "It's so weird, knowing I was part of that family, but now they're all violent and awful now that I've stepped away. It makes me wonder how much I'd be pushing this if I was still part of it."

Ishiku couldn't help but think about his Despair-addled parents upon hearing that. He grumbled to himself as he mentally pushed that away, and approached Fannie. "You really shouldn't dwell on what could have been, my lady. You must focus on the here and now."

"You are right. Do you want to keep looking for our friends?"

"I would like to find Odelios, at the least. I'd," Ishiku rubbed his head, and smiled slightly, "really like to know where my friend is. Heh, funny, only a couple weeks here, I already feel such friendship for the guy."

"Do you have feelings for him?" Fannie asked. "I mean, I know you have feelings for Anzu too. I don't mind, I know this is a confusing time for you, and I'm still trying to understand all of these emotions and feelings too."

"Fannie, I have to say again, let's not focus on what might have been. We should go out there and find all our friends."

The former bear nodded, and then her face lit up. "Oh! Oh I know what we can do!"

She cleared her throat, and called out, "Monocrow! Monocrow, can you come here, please?"

There was a brief moment of silence, with Ishiku staring at Fannie in confusion, as the girl smiled and swished her hips while waiting. The magician glanced around the room, wondering where the bird was going to fly in from if he did show up…

There was a banging against the door, making both of them flinch. A muffled, "Ow… oof," came from the hallway, then the door was pushed open and Monocrow waddled in. "You could have opened the door for my arrival, you know."

"Wait, you actually come when called?" Ishiku asked.

"Not really, I usually come when needed; however, Monophanie is an exception. Hello there, Monophanie."

"Monocrow, I go by Fannie now," she responded, crossing her arms and huffing. "I would prefer you not to use the name that was given to me by the intrusive one."

"Yes, of course. It is a shame, my image was even shifted due to his influence, but I cannot shake it. Amazingly cryptic, is it not?"

Ishiku knelt down in front of Monocrow. "So you're able to answer questions?"

"Yes, as much as I can."

"First off, what's that behind your ear?"

"I don't have ears," Monocrow started to say, then Ishiku reached forward. As the crow face-faulted in the horror of some terrible pain, he then saw a chocolate coin being showcased in front of him. "Oh that's right, that little trick of yours. Good show."

"Heh, I couldn't resist," Ishiku said, then flicked the coin over to a grateful Fannie. "So, bird man, what can you tell us?"

"I am quite capable of tracking others within the city, where they are, where they went."

"Good! Where's Odelios?"

"In this asylum."

"Okay, but where in the asylum?"

"That's all I can say. He hasn't left the asylum since he arrived here with you all."

Ishiku let out an annoyed sigh. "Well, at least we know he didn't leave… what about Anzu?"

"Also in the asylum."

"What about everyone else who was in the asylum?"

"If you mean Drake, Ignatia, Ken, and Yitro, they are all presently in the asylum."

"Then why can't we find them?"

"It could be because of one of the extra side effects to Monokuma's rule altering that is taking part tonight. You see, he didn't really like that people were going to try and power through the night, and sleep in safe places tomorrow. One of those precautions is that a great deal of the doors have been locked up until tomorrow morning."

Fannie gasped in shock. "You mean to tell me that people are stuck in rooms until the morning? But what if the rooms don't have a bathroom? Where will they throw up if they need to?"

"Why is that the first… n-never mind," Monocrow stammered. "But I don't think you'll have to worry about that, for most of them anyway."

"Why?"

"Another part of the rule bending was releasing a sleeping gas into the mists and the buildings after the Monokuma Theater segment ended. So most people are asleep now."

"Wait, what?" Ishiku exclaimed. "But that's… that's cheating! People will have nightmares!"

"If they fell asleep outside of the safety of the three buildings, yes."

"Wait a minute, Monocrow," Fannie spoke up again, stepping forward and nervously handling the chocolate coin. "If Monokuma released sleeping gas into the buildings, why aren't Ishi and I asleep?"

Monocrow chuckled, rubbing under his beak. "Why indeed."

Ishiku sighed in regret, and sat down on the floor. "Okay, we don't know where our friends are, who is affected by what, and you're just going to continue being cryptic. Thanks a lot, bird brain."

"I am helping you as much as I can, for my love and comradery of Fannie as a founding member of Penjar. Would you like any more of my services?"

The magician flopped onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. "Sure thing, Monocrow, what else can you offer?"

"There is the option of switching benefits, should you request it from me."

Ishiku sat upright immediately. "What? You can do that? What do you mean?"

"Each building grants a certain benefit, and that benefit can be transferred from someone if you ask me. This can be done even without the other person or persons' consent."

"Wow," Fannie said in awe of the bird, "I never knew you had such power, Monocrow!"

"I still am part of this city, no matter what Monokuma does… though I dare say that it is very tricky to use my powers."

"What do you mean?"

"You must call upon me, and can only ask when you are all alone, like making a pact with a devil, one could say; total privacy is required. That is how the first person to use it did so."

"What?!" Ishiku cried out incredulously. "How can someone use it when none of us know about it? And when so many people are sleeping too?"

Fannie took all this in, and asked, "So who asked for the power transfer, Monocrow?"

"I cannot say that, I am sorry."

"Ishi… could this be the work of the two possible traitors of the group?"

"Damn," Ishiku tightened his grip on his staff, "I hadn't thought of that! This is such an enigma, we don't even know what places grant what powers!"

"Well, let's try to get what we can, okay sweetie?" Fannie said with a sweet smile. "Monocrow, is there anything else Monokuma did to bend the rules like a 'bad DM'?"

"He's not railroading the story on you, or throwing dangerous monsters at you as punishment for not doing what he wants."

"What?"

"Oh, sorry. Ahem. What I meant to say was, there are a couple other things…"

As Monocrow quieted down, Ishiku and Fannie heard the most horrible scrapping sound coming from outside of the room. Curiosity and concern overriding commonsense, they hurried out of the room and into the hallway to see who or what it was.

The hallway, the walls and floor of the asylum, it was all unfocused to their vision; as if incredible heat was coming from everywhere. Standing down the length of the hallway was a human figure, holding something in their hands.

Taking a step forward, the figure was now more visible to them in the badly lit, blurry hallway. The person was wearing a hooded cloak, their face hidden with a black morph mask. With these articles and the rest of their black, raggedy clothing, they resembled a medieval executioner.

The very large axe in their hands was also a rather daunting clue as to what this being was dressed up to be.

"Oh holy shit," Ishiku cried out.

"Wait! Don't worry, Ishi-honey," Fannie said with a confident smile. She held up the chocolate coin, and said, "This is just a hallucination caused by being in this place! It's really good, but the hallucinations aren't solid!"

She then tossed the chocolate coin at the executioner. Fannie giggled, until the coin bounced off the stomach of the executioner, and rolled back towards them.

There was a moment of silence, as the executioner rubbed at their stomach with two fingers gently. Then they started to walk towards the two, scrapping their axe on the floor.

"Fannie," Ishiku whimpered.

"Whoever that is, they're real! RUN!"

Fannie and Ishiku sprinted away, with the executioner heading after them slowly but surely; the telltale sound of the metal axe head scraping on the floor or the wall gave away their position to those running away.

Monocrow stepped to the side, back into the room he met the two in, and watched the executioner walk off. The red light in his lightning bolt eye flashed, and he flew away.

---

? ? ?

Killing Game Realm

Jabberwock Island

The large group was sprinting down the street of this island, passing by commonplace businesses and buildings. Though they were frantically retreating, they noticed red electricity arcing through the buildings, destroying everything inside those buildings.

The same lightning crackled in the black clouds of the sky. Occasionally, it came crashing down and struck a palm tree, causing it to catch fire, explode, and/or fall over.

Anzu knew none of this made any sense. None of it was physically possible. The ocean itself churned and whipped around like a frenetic display of violent waters, as if to taunt them there was no escape. No ducking into the buildings, no swimming away, just running…

Running from the Queen, who was far off but still within eyesight of them down the long road. Anzu felt like her lungs were burning, her legs were like lead, but she still moved forward.

After what felt like an eternity running down the longest road in the world, they could see there was a skyscraper up ahead. Though the closer they hurried down that road, the more the building looked familiar…

"Is that… Hope's Peak?!" Souma cried out incredulously.

"What's Hope's Peak Academy," Hikari asked, "doing HERE?"

"Let's worry about those details later," Anzu shouted. "Just get there! Hurry!"

The road led to unpaved ground, and the gigantic academy was looming on the rocks that were bordered by ocean; it would have been a structural impossibly and an intense danger, if this were the real world. The front of the academy was not the traditional entrance, it was a solid concrete wall with a large vault door as the only way inside.

Standing in front of the open vault door was a figure wearing a trench coat. The person turned around, having studied this bizarre anomaly, and then noticed the large crowd of people coming towards him.

"Shuuya?!" Hikari called out. "Get in the building, there's something awful coming for this!"

The bounty hunter glanced at the inbound group, then saw the Queen, that shade of death with a swarm of insect-like shadows and red lightning around her. This wasn't the time for questions, and Shuuya was fast to react.

He sprinted into the academy, turning around to gesture for them to hurry. The group finally stepped off of the road, heading across the unpaved terrain…

And then the vault door slammed shut, locking them outside. The group came skidding to a halt, and several of them tried to pry open the vault door. It didn't budge.

"What the fuck?!" Kazuichi swore as he set Chiaki down. "Why did that happen?"

A pounding could be heard on the vault door from the inside. "Hey!" Shuuya shouted, his voice quite muffled but still coherent. "What happened?"

"That's what we want to know!" Hikari yelled. "How do we get this back open?"

The group looked around, until Kazuichi saw an electronic lock with a numeric pad on it. He hurried over to push on the buttons, until Chiaki grabbed his wrist. She shook her head, and pointed up in the rafters over the entrance.

A machine gun was pointed right at the electronic lock. Kazuichi flinched, glanced at the lock, then back at the machine gun. "W-well, maybe it's not working right now…"

"You cannot take that risk," Chiaki said, shaking her head.

"Little buddy, that freak is heading towards us, and there's no other way out of here! We have to try!"

"W-wait," Hikari shouted, waving her hands, "maybe Shuuya has something in there to help us!"

"Who's Shoester?" Akane asked, folding her arms as she contemplated options. "Is he the guy who locked us out here?"

Souma pounded on the vault door. "Shuuya! If you can hear me, try to find something to open this damn door! Our options are quite limited right now!"

"I'm looking, damn it!"

Anzu took several deep breaths, then stared at the numeric lock on their side. She walked over to it, when Hikari grabbed her arm. "Don't you dare," the model warned the actress.

"Someone has to!"

"That's a three-digit code number," Chiaki calmly explained. "You have a one in a thousand chance of picking the correct number, and we don't know if even one wrong guess will get you shot."

Nagito smiled as he approached the electronic lock, and said, "Well, sounds like it's my job to-"

Mahiru held him back, standing between Nagito and the lock. "No! How many times do I have to say it, Nagito? You aren't throwing your life away!"

"This is a matter of luck, and that is what I am best at. You can trust me-"

There was an intense flash of light, making everyone flinch and cover their eyes. They could hear what sounded like a sharp snap and a small explosion. When they all braved looking again, they saw the electronic lock was completely fried, red sparks flying from the remains.

"Was that part of your luck too, Nathan?" Akane inquired, scratching the side of her head.

Nagito was just as startled as the others. He slowly glanced back towards the road, and there he saw the Queen, standing on the edge of that street. She had one of her hands extended, a finger pointing at the lock. There was a crease on her face where her mouth would be, extending into a sadistic smile highlighted with the color of blood.

"Oh, nice," Teruteru muttered, "she shoots lightning now."

"Hey! Guys!" Shuuya shouted from inside of the academy. "There's an electronic lock here, three-digit code! I'm trying it out, but it may take a while to guess the right one!"

"Wait wait wait!" Anzu shrieked. "Is there a machine gun pointed at you? It could be hidden up on the wall!"

"What?! There's no machine gun, and if there was, I've already tried several codes! Any idea what the number could be?"

The Queen lowered her arm, and her evil smirk vanished. She started walking slowly towards the group.

"Guys?" Shuuya called out, as those outside stared at the approaching monarch of death. "Guys?!"

Nagito started walking towards her. Mahiru ran over to grab his arm, but he pushed her off. "It's me she wants," Nagito shouted, "I'm sure of it!"

"Nagito! God damn it, I told you-"

"I know," he said, casting a sad smile at Mahiru, "but I'm choosing not to listen. That's my decision…

"Hopefully, it buys you all time for that man to guess the correct code."

Shoving Mahiru away, Nagito sprinted right up to the Queen. She stopped her movement, staring into Nagito's eyes as he peered into hers. Everyone else watched, shivering and terrified at what could happen.

"You want my luck, don't you, Queen?" Nagito asked, braving a step forward. He had the most confident smile on his face, as he extended his arms. "It comes with a price, I must say! Go on then, take it!"

There was complete silence now. It was as if the roaring ocean had been muted, the wind stopped, people could only feel their pounding hearts. Inside of the academy was the sound of beeping, error noises muffled like a taunt to the survivors.

The Queen stared at Nagito, and stepped forward. Nagito didn't flinch, he merely stood there, arms out, confident grin on his face. She then reached forward…

No, she didn't reach, she swing her arm towards Nagito's chest. The sickening sound of a human body being pierced echoed around the area, and the Queen yanked her hand back. Blood coated her up to her wrist.

Nagito fell to his knees, hacking and coughing up blood. The Queen glanced down at him, and said, "I do not want your tainted version of luck as well." She then swung her bloody hand towards his neck…

And the group watched Nagito's head be cleaved off and sent careening through the air, splashing into the ocean. Mahiru and Kazuichi shrieked in horror, the others frozen in place.

The Queen flicked her bloody hand, then scanned the group of survivors. She was like a robot, slowly and meticulously turning to look at each and every one of them. Everyone was so frightened, they could barely move; only the sound of error noises and beeps from inside of the academy could be heard.

"Mahiru," Kazuichi whispered to the redhead, loud enough that only she and Hikari, who was standing nearby, could hear. "Look after Chiaki, okay?"

"Wh-what?" Mahiru stammered out, her face blue with shock and revulsion. "What are you saying?"

Kazuichi let out a humorless laugh, and adjusted his beanie. "I'm saying… thanks. Thanks for everything. If that hope-addicted bastard can buy you some time… then so can I."

"N-no. You can't. YOU CAN'T-"

Mahiru shrieked as she grabbed Kazuichi's arm, but the mechanic was too strong for her to stop. The photographer let out a cry as she tried to follow after, but Hikari grabbed her to stop that.

Kazuichi sprinted towards the Queen, bellowing out as loud as he could. Before anyone could do anything, there was a blur of movement and another battle cry. Akane had followed after when no one was looking, alongside Kazuichi, and joined the fight.

The Queen only regarded the two as they came sprinting towards her. That bloody smile of hers returned, as the wind began to spin around the area.

Thunder roared, lightning flashed so vibrantly and violently that everyone had to cover their eyes and ears. They couldn't even risk glancing, the intensity of the noise and light was too much.

Inside of the academy, Shuuya pressed at the buttons frantically, trying one after the other. He could hear the thunderclaps and screams outside, no matter how muffled.

"Come on, come on, come on!"

Then, so suddenly he almost missed it, the electronic lock beeped out a successful chime. The vault door audibly unlocked, and he ran over to push it open. "Get in," he called to them, "get in now!"

The survivors couldn't hear or see him, so he grabbed the nearest person, Souma, and shook him. Alerted, the public speaker braved a glance, and then realized what was happening. He went over to help alert the others, shaking their shoulders.

Anzu was the last one, and she could hear Mahiru shouting, nearly hysterical. The actress started to move towards the vault door, when she heard the most awful voice in her life shout.

"YOU."

She wasn't sure why she turned, but she did. Anzu could see the bisected body of Akane, the lifeless form of Kazuichi with a gaping hole in his chest. Then there was the Queen, standing nearby the collecting pool of blood, the liquid life force splattered all over her dark form…

And she was pointing towards Anzu, eyes wide with intensity.

The actress froze up, unable to do anything in an intense panic as she saw the Queen start to come at her. Hands grabbed her shoulders, and yanked her towards the vault door.

"Come back here," the Queen hissed. "You cannot escape me for long!"

Anzu felt herself be pulled into the academy, then the vault door was grabbed by multiple people. They pulled it shut, and it slammed with a great clang. The survivors could still hear thunderclaps outside, almost like gunshots ricocheting off of the vault door.

All of them were standing or sitting down, gasping for air. Mahiru was sobbing bitterly on the floor, punching it as she wretchedly tried to speak, but it came out incoherent with her grief.

"Everyone," Shuuya spoke up, "whatever that was, I have a terrible feeling that the vault door won't keep it out forever. We should get moving."

"Moving? To where?" Souma asked. "We are in a replica of Hope's Peak Academy that is surrounded by the ocean in the midst of… of… a tsunami of sorts!"

"Not much point in staying here, monsieur," Teruteru said to him, straightening out his clothing as he stood up. "Maybe we can find something inside of here to help us?"

Hikari moved over to help Chiaki up, as the gamer gal sniffled and clung to her. "I cannot believe how many we lost. Kazuichi… Akane… Nagito…"

"Goddamnit," Mahiru swore, pounding the ground with her fist. "Kazuichi, you idiot… you didn't have to go and prove you were a man like that… idiot…"

Anzu moved over and helped her up, as the group walked into the main lobby of Hope's Peak Academy. All of them glanced around, confused and apprehensive still, but the inside of the building was almost pitch black. No light was coming in through windows, and only the dim, florescent lights from nearby the vault door gave a slight shine in the lobby.

"Something's wrong," Shuuya remarked. "Why's it so dark?"

"Can someone find the light switch?" Chiaki requested. "We need to be able to see to progress… I think."

"That's not a thinking point, that's a knowing point, cherie," Teruteru said, chuckling at his friend. He walked over to the wall where the light switch was, and reached up… but was unable to reach it. Mahiru noticed this, and wordlessly walked over to flip the switch.

As soon as she did, the survivors almost wished she hadn't. The lights above were the same malevolent red as the sky was outside, as if they were in a photo negative room for a hateful production. Though as concerning as that was, the scene in the main lobby was far worse…

There were what appeared to be bloodstains on the walls and floor, as well as mechanical wreckage, explosion scars, and fluff from demolished Monokumas.

Two bodies lay in the main lobby, one against the wall and one on their back, staring lifelessly up at the ceiling.

The group recognized Mondo Owada, the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader, as the one propped up against the wall. The other one was a little difficult to recognize, because her striking red hair matched the spiteful red light: Ryōko Otonashi.

"W-w-wait," Hikari stammered as she recognized Ryōko. "What is SHE doing here? How is that possible?"

"What do you mean?" Souma asked. "Ryōko Otonashi was a member of the Hope's Peak Killing Game. Even if…"

"She was Junko Enoshima," Shuuya spat out, "not a member of Class 78!"

As the students of Class 77 and the graduates tried to process this, Hikari turned towards Teruteru. The other graduates did too, as she approached the chef.

"Teruteru, you knew that the Queen isn't Junko Enoshima," she interrogated him.

"Y-yes, beautiful, she isn't."

"How? How could you know that?"

"I've been in this terrible, terrible Killing Game for so long now! I've seen my friends die over and over, my own life taken and remember every bit of pain… and it's always for naught, because even when there are survivors, they don't get to go out on their happy ending…

"Don't you think I'd recognize the mood, the attitude, the very essence of Junko Enoshima, the one who is always responsible for this MISERY more than anyone? When she corrupts someone, when she ruins someone, I know it was her at this point!"

Teruteru slumped against the wall, sliding down before pointing over at Ryōko. "I even know that's her, her own self stripped of her memories, just so she could experience the despair of waking up to what an evil, awful person she is."

Hikari glanced once more at Ryōko's body, which Chiaki was studying rather closely. The model turned back to Teruteru, and asked, "But you said the Queen is her protégé!"

"Yes. It has been a pattern surfacing frequently now. You see, Junko is as devious as she is gorgeous, I hate to admit. This Killing Game Realm, I know its existence is not for one purpose, the woman has contingency plans upon plans."

Hikari sat down, trying to comprehend everything being said, as the others let this sink in too. "We thought that Junko Enoshima," she whispered, "the Ultimate Despair, was trying to find a way to revive herself through this realm. Are you saying that there's another who is trying the same thing?"

"I don't know if that is their end game. How could they know about that?"

Someone called out to the group around Teruteru. "Hey hey," Chiaki 'declared,' because her voice was still as soft as ever. "I think you should all know something."

"What is it, Miss Nanami?" Souma asked.

"It's just that… Ryōko here, that's what you said her name was? She has the same fatal wound that the Queen inflicted on those that she stole the talents of."

"What?" Shuuya said. "Why would the Queen want the talent of the Ultimate Amnesiac?!"

"Unless she knew that Ryōko was actually Junko Enoshima," Anzu said, "and that she was the Ultimate Fashionista? Or Ultimate Despair?"

"Now hold on," Mahiru cut in, frowning at them, "I don't understand half of what you all are saying. How could the Queen know about who this girl is, we've never seen her before!"

"I thought you two said," Hikari asked the two surviving girls of Class 77, "that the trouble started when students from other classes showed up?"

"Yes, but we didn't really get a chance to know most of them, just you, Angie," Chiaki said. "The Queen showed up shortly after you, and that's when the killing began."

"Why didn't you all hide yourself here?" Souma asked.

Chiaki and Mahiru stared at each other, both of them looking like they had been asked an impossible question. Teruteru sighed heavily, and said, "It's possible that this academy didn't… exist until now."

"Okay, what now?" Shuuya balked. "That's impossible!"

"The impossible is the norm here, handsome monsieur," Teruteru said with a small laugh. "Unless you have an answer for how the ocean, the sky, and the Queen were all possible just now."

Hikari shook her head, trying to make sense out of everything there. Then something dawned on her, something so terrifying that her heart skipped a beat. "Wait a minute, if the academy just now came to be, or opened up, or whatever…

"Then how did the Queen kill Ryōko before we got here? And Mondo, and all the destruction in this room?"

Everyone looked up, shaken by how terrifying this realization was. That was when they heard a tremendous crash, coming from several floors up above. Something was being destroyed, with what sounded like the force of a wrecking ball.

"Please don't tell me," Hikari squeaked out, "that she's here already?"

"Alright, we won't tell you," Chiaki offered. "Perhaps we should find a place to hide?"

She waited a few seconds, then realized that Kazuichi wasn't there to help her move fast anymore. The gamer gal let out a long, sad sigh, and walked slowly towards one of the doors leading out of the main lobby. The others watched her go, with Mahiru right behind her.

"I… I know they're more or less figments of imagination in this Killing Game," Anzu said softly, "but they seem so real. Their pain, their loss, I want to help them, but…"

"Cheri, you can only help yourselves at this point," Teruteru said. "To survive is key, now more than ever, to ensure this evil doesn't escape."

"Is this more or less us dodging the Queen until whatever this place is," Souma questioned, "spits us out?"

"I'm not sure, but I would prepare for the long haul… and not a lot of answers to your questions."

There was a shriek from beyond the doors that Mahiru and Chiaki went through. The graduates and Teruteru hurried forward, abandoning their conversation, until they saw what had scared the girls.

Mahiru, blue with fear, was clutching her camera as if it was her lifeline. Chiaki stared with wide eyes, unable to fully comprehend what she was seeing.

Byakuya Togami, the Ultimate Affluent Progeny, was lying dead on the ground. He had the same fatal wound in his chest, and his eyes and mouth were clenched shut, as if he had unbridled fury towards whoever killed.

"Another victim of the Queen," Chiaki whispered, hands over her heart.

"Why does he," Mahiru cried out, "look so much like Byakuya? Why?!"

Souma and Shuuya moved over to try and calm the two down, as Anzu started shivering hard. Hikari and Teruteru noticed this, especially when she bumped against the wall and slid down it.

"Darling, it's okay," Hikari tried to assure her. "We're going to make it out of here."

"It's… it's the Queen," Anzu stammered. "She's particular with the ones she steals the talents from: Affluent Progeny, Princess, Yakuza, Traditional Dancer."

"Yes, I noticed that too," Teruteru said. "She desires talents that are about power and style. The only question is, what did she want from Ryōko?"

"It's not that I'm worried about…"

Anzu swallowed hard as she looked at the two. "Before we got into the academy, she was pointing at me. She called out to me. She wanted me.

"Why would she want me?!"

---

Day 15, ? PM

Western Plaza

Monokuma's Arcade District

Crystal walked through the entire building once more, just to situate herself. She still felt uneasy, especially since this place felt like it was made out of the nightmares and video games.

The unusual ball pit and child's jungle gym in the left side of the building was also filled with arcade games, coin machines, and candy dispensers (though no candy was in them).

The middle section of the building, which was where the main door was located, was filled with arcade games as well as the prize type, like a crane game; this crane game, however, had dangerous weapons inside.

Luckily, no one had the Monokuma Coins required to activate the machine. Crystal wasn't even sure how to get them even if she wanted to. The glass for that crane game appeared rather thick, but someone strong with the proper tool could break it. She hoped no one did, or if they did, the guns and poisonous containers inside the crane game were empty.

The military adviser wandered to the right side of the building. This was where the cafeteria area, the kitchen, computer room, the stage, and a locked maintenance room down a short hallway. Crystal scanned each of these, as Pyrrha watched her from one of the cafeteria tables.

"That's the fifth time you've paced throughout the building," the romance writer called out to her. "Is it really necessary?"

"Know the area, know the battlefield," Crystal responded from the computer room. "I would rather be prepared than caught off-guard."

Pyrrha tilted her head to the side. "Any particular reason why?"

Crystal peaked around the corner to stare at the writer. "You mean besides the fact that we're in a Killing Game in a mysterious ghost town, there's been several murders already, and we have three curiously unconscious people in the building with us?"

Pyrrha chuckled. "They should be fine, we're keeping them behind the stage. Even if someone snuck in, they wouldn't know they were there."

"Oh yes, because they cannot simply check behind the curtain. Come now, Pyrrha, why are you so lax about security?"

The redhead shrugged and smiled. "Because I trust you, and no one else can bother us here. You seem to become more paranoid now, is something in particular bothering you?"

Crystal crossed her arms, and walked over to Pyrrha. "Look, I get the feeling that you won't let this go if I don't tell you…"

"I can be a very stubborn woman~"

"Then you want to tell me what you've been writing there?"

Crystal poked at the small notepad that Pyrrha had been scribbling on for a while now. Blushing, the writer pulled it away, squeaking out in embarrassment. She let out a small, defeated sigh, and admitted, "Poetry."

"What now?"

"When I have time to dabble, I write romantic poetry. It's silly, it's stuff that'll never get published or anything like that!"

"You've already had multiple novels published, how is your poetry too silly?"

Pyrrha sighed and sunk down into her seat. "With my novels, I put all the aspects of romance in there: lust, guilt, apprehension, defensives, trust, nervousness, desire, desperation, the whole works. With poetry, it's the happiness I focus on, romance being a purity that is glowing with joy.

"I enjoy romance being so giddy and pure, and that's what I do with my poetry. I have to focus on all aspects with it in my writing, and in real life."

Crystal raised an eyebrow. "You certainly seem to fawn over romance in real life quite a bit."

"Love is something that helps conquer even the worst situations. People are so very quick to dismiss it because they've seen or experienced divorce, break-ups, or abusive relationships. I find seeing love one of the greatest things in the world, much like how I imagine you'd feel when a military plan comes together."

The military adviser chuckled lightly. "Yes, I guess so. After everything America went through, for things to work out was always a blessing.

"However, you shouldn't be embarrassed, Pyrrha. Poetry can be quite nice, and even if it's sappy, sometimes we need a little of that. I know how much people need a bit of stress relief."

"Thank you for the support, Crystal. Now, please," Pyrrha folded her hands and placed them on her lap, "tell me why you're moving all over the place."

Crystal bit her bottom lip, and glanced to the side as she crossed her arms. She was quiet for a few seconds, before she let out a defeated sigh stronger than Pyrrha's.

"Because you make me unfocused."

"Huh?"

"Pyrrha, before the night with you and Odelios, I hadn't had much of a love life, not even much of a sex life. Now I have both of you interested in more of me, sexually and personally. I've never had that, and I cannot do that now…"

"But you and I have been kissing a bit here."

"Yes, that's why I am trying to stay my distance from you. I don't know how you awakened a desire in me that I never knew existed, I wasn't that attracted to women beforehand."

"Wait, are you thinking it's like I'm exploiting a weakness?" Pyrrha asked, frowning in concern. "I'm not trying to take advantage of you."

"Oh I didn't think you were, at least not intentionally." Crystal winced when Pyrrha's expression turned sad. "What I mean is, you just got done telling me that romance is a complex web of emotions and feelings…

"I cannot afford that now, things are too dangerous. I don't know if it is lust, affection, desire, or romance you and Odelios feel for me, but I cannot let myself be distracted when lives are at stake. Not anymore…"

Pyrrha's expression softened when she saw how tense Crystal was. She tucked her notepad and pencil into her pocket, and hugged her friend. Smiling at her, she said, "You don't have to worry about me then. I'm sorry, I got a little carried away with how we have Isaac and Hara, as well as that budding romance with Drake and Ignatia."

The writer giggled, then her eyes started to grow in realization and fear. "Ignatia," she repeated, and then suddenly sprinted towards the stage. Crystal, confused and concerned, followed her, as Pyrrha rushed behind the curtain to the backstage area.

The redhead inspected the three unconscious people, going through pockets. She found Shuuya's combat knife and tossed it away, as Crystal arrived to the area. "What are you doing?" she asked her friend.

"When Aka and I took care of Ignatia, she was trying to stab herself when her body started acting on its own," Pyrrha explained as she searched Fiora. "I need to make sure they cannot hurt themselves!"

"Oh gosh, I hadn't thought of that; however, being disarmed won't stop them from possibly hurting themselves if they start moving on their own."

"Then we should watch over them," Pyrrha said. "Heh, guess you'll have something serious to do then."

"Guess I will… I wonder if they're in the same state as Ignatia and the others, they're not holding anything."

---

? ? ?

Killing Game Realm

Hope's Peak Academy

Walking through Hope's Peak, something that should have been a pleasant trip down memory lane, was like going through a nightmare manifest in this awful realm. It wasn't just that all of the lights were that evil red glare, but the whole building creaked and growled as if it were haunted.

The seven survivors, apprehensive about who or what could be in the academy, turned off lights after they were done searching a room; they didn't want to leave a trail, so to speak. Occasionally, Mahiru would take a picture, though she always would murmur, "Why am I doing that?" after each one.

One of the biggest rooms on their path was the gymnasium, a place that they could remember the opening ceremonies during their first days. While most were thinking of avoiding it, Shuuya was alerted to the door handles and the lock.

He walked over and inspected closer, seeing bloody handprints on one of the door's handle, as well as scratches on the lock. "Something's wrong here," he said to the others.

"Do we really have to go in there then?" Souma asked, appearing quite uneasy. "We won't gain anything going where there isn't anywhere to hide."

"We should still investigate," Chiaki said, walking towards the doors. Mahiru was on her side right away, as well as Hikari. The three ladies pushed the doors open to the gymnasium…

It was horribly dark in there, so they searched for a light switch. Anzu managed to find them, and turned them all on. The whole room was illuminated in that awful red light, and they all saw what, and who, had been left here.

Sayaka Maizono, the Ultimate Pop Sensation, lay dead a few yards from the main doors. A trail of blood was left behind her, she had obviously been trying to get away from someone while seriously injured. A short distance from her was the body of Mukuro Ikusaba, the Ultimate Soldier, clutching a handgun in her cold hands.

Neither of them had the wound to signify their talent had been stolen, but both had grizzly impalements through their chests and stomachs. The survivors kept their distance, troubled and not wanting to disturb them.

The exception was Shuuya took the time to retrieve the gun from Mukuro's body. He inspected it, and muttered, "Damn, empty. She unloaded it onto whoever killed her."

"Would it be the Queen?" Hikari asked him.

"You know as much as I do."

"True, sorry. Hey, Shuuya, out of sheer curiosity," she asked him, trying hard not to let the bodies or the blood or the wicked light get to her, "what was the number for unlocking the vault door?"

"I started at zero, then worked my way up, figuring there wasn't any other way to do it," he admitted. "I rather lucked out, it was 052."

"Fifty-two? Wonder why that was the number."

"Again, your guess is as good as mine."

The group inspected the rest of the room, then recognized the large curtain for the stage. They exchanged glances, and Teruteru asked, "Should we check back there?"

"I mean, is it necessary?" Souma inquired. "I sound like a broken record, but honestly, we've only found those slain by this Queen."

"Awful, evil despair," Anzu spat out. "Why is it always despair?"

"It wasn't Despair this time."

The voice behind the curtain startled them all. The graduates were surprised to see Ken walk out from behind it, and he was dragging something with him. When he tossed it towards the edge of the stage, several of them shouted in horror at what it was: a dead body.

Though it wasn't just any body, it was the corpse of Junko Enoshima.

"What?!" Hikari shrieked.

"What the hell!" Souma cried out.

"Gaaaah, what is going on here," Teruteru hollered, "and who IS this handsome man?"

Ken rolled his eyes, and stared down at the body of Junko Enoshima. "This was the lady of Ultimate Despair, was it not? I found her back here, when I woke up… I'm going to guess that we're in that haunted realm we've been hearing about so much?"

"What a way to make an entrance," Chiaki remarked. "So you were hiding back there, and then decided to show us this upon walking out?"

"Um, yes," Ken admitted, rubbing the back of his head in shame. "I admit, it sounds really bad when you put it that way; however, I recognized the voices of my comrades from Penjar."

"Penjar? What?" Mahiru blurted out, glaring at Ken. She grabbed Chiaki's shoulders, and cried out,"You scared the hell out of us, you know that? What kind of boy does that?"

"I am no boy, I am a man. Now could someone fill me in on what's going on?"

Anzu and Souma helped Ken catch up, Chiaki inspected Junko's body along with Hikari and Shuuya. The gamer gal winced when she noticed the sick, almost perverted smile of delight that was on the dead girl's face.

"She has the same fatal wound," she remarked, "that is to steal someone's talent."

"But how are both Ryōko and Junko here?" Hikari asked. "They're the same person!"

"Once again, we know as much as you, Angie-Hikari," Shuuya remarked, raising an eyebrow. "Any of you know about this?"

He was staring at Chiaki, Mahiru, and Teruteru, all three perplexed and lost looking. The chef spoke up amongst them, "Monsieur, if we knew something, we'd speak up."

Hikari approached him, and knelt down to whisper, "You're sure you have no idea?"

"I am honestly as baffled as you are. I have not seen both Ryōko and Junko in the same Killing Game."

"What do you say that we get out of here?" Mahiru implored, holding onto Chiaki again. "I don't like it here one bit-"

The gymnasium doors swung open, the loud creak startling them all. They collectively turned, and saw two figures standing in the doorway. When the two approached, the graduates felt an odd combination of relief and concern wash over them.

"Okay, as much as I thought I would enjoy coming back to Hope's Peak," Futaba said, straightening her glasses as she approached them, "I really don't like what the hell is going on here."

"Indeed," Yitro remarked, crossing his arms. "What's going on here, do any of you know? Ken, Souma, Anzu, Shuuya, what's… going on…"

The swordsman trailed off when he recognized the students of Hope's Peak, two of whom were officially dead; he stared at Mahiru, remembering everything said about her from several people during the trials.

"Wh-wh-what is this?" Mahiru shouted, uncomfortably returning his stare. "Why are you looking at me like that? Why are there so many adults here?"

Chiaki hugged her friend, squeezing her in her arms as she said, "It's okay, they don't mean us harm. They're just here to help."

Futaba was also staring at Mahiru, taking several deep breaths as she tried to find the appropriate words for this scenario. "What alternate universe of horrors did we walk into?"

As she said this, the lights started flashing. This was unnerving by itself, but the sound of power in the building was fluctuating as well, almost like someone struggling to breathe. The group left the gymnasium, trying to explain everything they knew to Futaba and Yitro along the way.

"Are we going to fight this Queen," Ken asked, "or are we running from a fight?"

"Everyone who's gotten near that evil shade of a woman," Mahiru cried out, "is dead! Don't you dare try to prove yourself!"

"It would seem that she killed a lot of people in this warped version," Futaba remarked, "of our academy. Isn't she a creative sadistic one?"

"Wait, what?" Anzu said, as the group stopped for a breather in the lobby outside of one of the dorm areas. "Why would you say that, Futaba?"

Futaba and Yitro exchanged glances, then the swordsman pointed in the direction of the cafeteria. "Both of us woke up in the kitchen connected to the dining area. There was a horrible, gut-wrenching smell coming from one of the large ovens."

"Mon Dieu," Teruteru shouted. "Please don't tell me…"

"There was a body in it," Futaba calmly remarked. "Charred beyond recognition, no idea who they could have been beforehand."

"Goddamnit," Shuuya remarked, crossing his arms, "seems the Queen's MO is going to differ from stabbing and slashing."

"But why?" Chiaki pondered aloud, pulling her hood up over her head. "Why would she do that? If it was her…"

Before they had a chance to debate this, they could all hear the creak of a door from the dorms. A collective turn of their heads would greet Saiko, who was stepping out of one of the rooms.

"Hey there," she called out, recognizing them. "Does anyone know what the HELL is going on?"

They rushed over to greet her, Anzu and Hikari hugging her. Saiko was rather surprised at how familiar this brown-skinned bikini wearing girl was with her until she explained that she was Hikari. The forensic investigator glanced around, then saw the other three out of place.

"And they are?" she asked.

"They're themselves," Hikari explained. "I know, it's a little confusing."

"A 'little'?" Mahiru balked, gripping herself as she started to hyper-ventilate. "You all get more and more strange every time someone new shows up!"

"Please, you must forgive her," Chiaki said, wrapping an arm around her friend. "This is all very overwhelming. Though I am curious, are you a student of the academy, miss?"

"Huh? Me?" Saiko asked. "I've already graduated."

"I see. But then why were you in someone else's room?" Chiaki asked, pointing at the room Saiko had come from. "Toko Fukawa" was printed on a name plaque on the door, much to the group's surprise.

"I guess that was who she took the place of," Hikari muttered. "Toko was probably hiding in her room, away from the Queen."

Anzu glanced around the hallway, observing the other doors. "Maybe we could try hiding in one of these rooms? They're lockable and soundproof."

"No, we'd be backed into a corner," Shuuya said. "That isn't very strategic-"

He was interrupted when there was a thumping against one of the doors, as if something heavy was slammed against it from the inside. The door that had shook had the name "Makoto Naegi" on it.

"Probably best to leave it be," Futaba offered. "If we start opening every door we come across…"

Hikari and Chiaki approached the door at the same time, and knocked on it. The two exchanged glances, smiling slightly at the other's impulsiveness.

The door handle rattled, and then it opened to feature one of the unfriendly faces from Penjar. Blake stood there, staring at the large group in the hallway in front of the door. "Oh, you're all here too?" he asked, rolling his eyes. "Great, it's as damn crowded as that stupid ghost town."

"Blake, are you okay?" Hikari asked. The Australian pyro stared at her, specifically her bikini clad top. The steampunk model was about ready to slap him, when she heard a voice behind him.

"Who's there? Is it her?! Why'd you open the door-"

In the room was Aoi Asahina, hiding behind her bed though daring to peek. The Ultimate Swimmer was trembling as she observed who was at the door.

"What's going on?" Aoi shouted, then she grabbed at her sides. She began to shriek, so shrill and intense that the people in the hallway began to panic.

"She'll bring the Queen here with that noise!" Futaba declared.

"Let's get out of here," Shuuya offered. "No sense in-"

Hikari was inside of the room, pushing past Blake and over by Aoi's side in an instant. She grabbed ahold of the screaming girl, and held her tightly. "Calm down! Calm down, we aren't here to hurt you," she assured her.

Aoi stopped screaming, and her trembling lessened. She stared up at Hikari, and whimpered, "W-who are you? How did you get in here?"

"It's a long story. I'm so sorry, we need to get you out of here before we can fill you in."

The swimmer stared at her, then shook her head. "No. No there's no way to get out of here. Hope's Peak Academy is a death trap, all the ways are sealed."

"We can get out through the vault door at the front, we know the passcode-"

Aoi shook her head, interrupting Hikari's confident words. "No. No one can escape the Queen. No one… no one will ever… EVER escape the Queen."

…

…

…

CRRRRRRRRRRRRRACK!

The most ear-splitting sound of wood splitting, metal snapping, and a variety of building material breaking thundered throughout the building. Almost everyone was pitched off of their feet, falling to the ground.

A massive crack formed across the hallway, and raced across the edge of the other side of the dorm rooms. The building split off, and then began to fall.

Everyone stared, in thunderstruck horror, as the dorm rooms on the other side of the hallway, the walls, the ceiling, everything on the other side of that splitting crack, just fell away. It all fell down, down the side of a cliff.

They were now outside, the hallway was outside and on the peak of a cliff. Hope's Peak Academy was atop of a perilously high cliff, with large sections of the gigantic building breaking off and falling down. Down below, a distance no human could survive falling from, was the churning, ferocious waters of the ocean.

The wind howled, thunder crashed from dark clouds, and the red sky beamed down its malevolence upon them. The group struggled up to their feet, some of them recognizing Jabberwock Island down and off in the distance, being flooded entirely.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!" Blake shouted.

"YOU THINK WE KNOW?!" Shuuya hollered back.

A large section of Hope's Peak came crashing down, a pillar of concrete and steel. It landed on the other side of the hallway, sealing off their way to head back into the academy. The impact of it hitting the ground caused a shockwave that knocked many of them down…

Mahiru was nearly pitched over the side, but Anzu managed to catch her before she went over, grabbing her arm. Ken was almost knocked over as well, but Yitro grabbed ahold of him and pulled him back.

When the winds blew again, the group was losing all sense of balance. Teruteru's short stature did not help him, and he fell towards the edge of the cliff. When he toppled over the side, Saiko managed to grab ahold of his arm.

Teruteru lost his hat, which went sailing down the lethal distance and off into the hurricane. He looked down at the horrible fate, and then up at Saiko. She struggled to pull him up, he was a lot weight for her to hold up with one arm.

"H-hold on," Saiko managed to say, then shouted, "s-someone! Help me! HELP!"

"Hey."

She saw the look in his beady eyes, and he was… smiling. Teruteru shook his head, and said, "You're not risking your life for me, Saiko-beauty. I'm sorry."

The ground, the remains of the hallway, started to crack underneath Saiko's body. She was holding onto a piece that was losing its foundation, and she was grappling desperately with the floor for a firmer grip.

"N-no," she stammered. "Don't you dare-"

"Mademoiselle Saiko," Teruteru said, "I'm so very sorry… take care of the group for me, cha'?"

He then twisted his wrist, wrenching himself free of her grasp. Saiko watched him fall, and fall, and fall… he looked like a tiny pebble, falling into the waters below.

Souma and Futaba pulled Saiko up, as she stared down in shock at what just happened. The group moved into the room that Aoi and Hikari were in, and Blake slammed the door behind them.

The soundproof room was like magic, it was impossible to tell that they were now an ocean and cliffside view for the most unexplainable, precarious place they could imagine. No wind, crashing waters, or crumbling building sounds penetrated through the room.

With twelve people in the room, it was rather crowded, though no one was really thinking about that right now. Aoi was sobbing, clinging to Hikari, who stared at Saiko. The bluebell was breathing hard, staring at her hand that Teruteru had been in a minute ago.

"Teru… teru?" Mahiru whimpered, her curled hands in front of her trembling lips. "N-no."

Chiaki sniffled, and the two girls held each other; Mahiru started to bawl, clutching her friend as close to her as possible. The graduates all stared silently, unsure of what to say or do.

"Alright," Blake snapped after a minute, when both Aoi and Mahiru stopped crying so hard, "what the fuck is going on?"

"Long story short," Anzu muttered, staring at Saiko the whole time, "we're in the Killing Game Realm. That place I told you all about when I fell into a coma? You're all in it."

"And the Queen is some evil force coming for us," Souma remarked. "Someone who is not Junko Enoshima."

"Well then, anyone have any idea how to get us out of here?" Blake asked, crossing his arms. "I don't fucking like this."

"Oh sure, Blake," Futaba snapped, "we all know how to get out of here, we just thought that we'd take a scenic tour before we did so."

"Listen, you stupid cunt-"

"If you cause any trouble," Shuuya hissed, moving right up in Blake's face in an instant, so fast no one even saw the bounty hunter move, "I will break every bone in your body, and drag your butt behind us as bait. Got it?"

Blake snarled, balling his hands into fists, but was silent. The room was quiet as well, until someone spoke.

"You all saw the Queen?"

Aoi stood up on shaky legs, before sitting on the side of the bed. Hikari quickly sat down next to her, and wrapped an arm around the swimmer. "Do you," she gently asked the brunette girl, "know anything about her?"

"She killed all my friends. She killed Sakura, who is so strong and kind and good… the Queen just outright killed her. Ryōko, Chihiro, Sayaka… Ma… Ma…"

Aoi slumped forward, covering her face with her hands. Hikari held her gently, glancing at the others to wordlessly ask for help. Chiaki walked over, kneeling down in front of the swimmer gal.

"Please, it's very important," the gamer girl said, "that you tell us everything you know. The Queen killed all my friends too, everyone but Mahiru there."

She gestured towards Mahiru, who walked over and put her hand on Chiaki's shoulder. Aoi glanced at the two, then at Hikari, and slumped again. "She's everywhere," the swimmer muttered, "she's no one and all over the place. I cannot breathe, it's like being trapped underwater… Sakura… Ma… Ma…"

"She's in terrible shock," Saiko said quietly. "If we push her, she might not be able to say anything for a long time. And even then…"

"Even what?" Ken asked, folding his arms impatiently.

"I've seen people in this state. People in shock, you cannot push it, and what they say may sound like a riddle. Please, be patient with her."

Aoi shivered a great deal, then spoke once again. "The Queen… killed all my friends. She took Makoto first… my… my boyfriend."

"I'm so sorry," Hikari said, holding Aoi tenderly. "It's okay, you're with us now."

"No, no, no one is safe with her," she repeated herself. "She stole Makoto's luck. I don't know how, she just did. When she did, anything was possible for her. She started killing other people, stealing talent, everyone. Students, teachers, staff, it's… it's…

"It's just violent chaos with her. Nothing but chaos, chaos and death."

Everyone exchanged glances, recognizing that accursed word. "Wait, is it actually Chaos," Ken asked, "and not Despair, that the Queen works with?"

"But she killed Junko… and Ryōko," Anzu remarked. "Wait, maybe we're just going off of a word here."

"CHAOS!"

Aoi's piercing shriek made everyone in the room flinch. She grabbed ahold of Hikari, and declared, "The Queen is Chaos incarnate! Everything goes her way, and that way is death and blood! My Koto… my sweet, sweet Koto…"

"But who is the Queen?" Mahiru asked. "Was she someone in your class? Someone who was going to Hope's Peak?"

Aoi shook her head, gripping at her ponytail. She breathed hard for a few seconds, then finally said, "I don't know who she is. Who was she? Who was she? Who was… she…"

She repeated the same question, over and over, unable to stop no matter what those around her did. Saiko let out a sad sigh, scanning the others. "I don't think we have a lot of time… not even sure what we're supposed to do. But can we try to help her?"

"How, exactly?" Shuuya remarked. "I hate to sound callous, but we're trapped in this realm, in this room, inside of a crumbling building on top of a cliff. And since we literally walked into this building about ten minutes ago, all notions of what to do realistically are gone!"

Saiko turned to Anzu, gently pulling her away from the rambling Aoi. "Anzu, do you have any idea how you managed to escape last time you did?"

The actress glanced over at Mahiru, who was still trying to help calm Aoi down. She nervously whispered, "I don't know. I mean, in my version… I was someone else. Then I… I killed Mahiru, she came back to life and tried to kill me, and when she took the camera I had on me, I was suddenly awake again."

"So what you had on you kept you there?"

"I don't think it's that simple, Saiko, because when I was in the same vision as Kimiko, she didn't have the item that transported her there, in the vision."

Saiko took several deep breaths, remembering all the ways she had to keep herself calm. "Okay, we can still solve this. We just need…"

Something echoed out in the hallway. The door and walls that had blocked out the noise of the hurricane, the building falling apart, the ocean thrashing down below, it didn't block this out. It was the sound of footsteps, footsteps that echoed hauntingly…

The footfalls of the Queen were coming towards their room.

"What?!" Ken shouted. "How?"

"Quick, lock the door!" Yitro hissed.

"It's no good."

Aoi stood up, startling everyone with how calm she was. She turned to look at all of them, her eyes devoid of emotion now. "The Queen can pick any lock. She'll be in here any minute now."

"Damnation, why couldn't I have my sword?" Ken shouted. "Quick, find something to arm yourselves with, people!"

"There's one way out of this," Aoi continued, walking over to the bathroom. "Everyone needs to get in here."

She grabbed the door handle, lifting and shifting it, and then pushing it open. "Makoto was given a faulty bathroom door. It can only be opened if you know how. Go on, go in there."

The group of survivors hesitated for a few seconds, not comfortable with this plan. Blake moved first, then Saiko and Anzu, then slowly but surely the graduates moved into the small bathroom.

The shower had to be opened, and four of them crammed in there. It was an incredibly tight squeeze, and the others had to push and shove to get in. The bathroom felt no bigger than an outhouse, with how much they all had to cram themselves inside of there.

Outside of the bathroom were Hikari, Mahiru, Chiaki, and Aoi. Hikari stared at the three other gals, and said, "Go on, get in there."

"There's no way we're all going to fit in there," Chiaki said. "I've played enough Tetris to know about that."

"Chiaki, we have to try," Mahiru said. "Come on now."

The gamer gal exchanged glances with Aoi, who still appeared emotionless and defeated. Chiaki glanced once more into the bathroom, and nodded. "Okay, you know what? Mahiru, Angie, get in there. I'll push up against you, just don't make it weird?"

"Quit being weird yourself, Chiaki," Mahiru scolded her, and moved in. The photographer was wedged up against Yitro, who tried to murmur an apology, but he was almost suffocating.

Hikari moved in, pushing up against Saiko, trying hard to make her different body as small as possible…

Then Chiaki shoved Hikari in as much as she could, grabbed the door handle, and pulled it shut.

"NO!" Mahiru shrieked. She grabbed at the door handle, but the faulty door was adjusted from the other side. The photographer pulled hard, struggling with it, but it refused to budge an inch, as if locked tight. "Chiaki! Open this door! Open it, please! PLEASE! CHIA-"

Everyone in the room could hear the main door to the bedroom open. Yitro, in a sense of desperation, reached to Mahiru and pulled her back, clapping his hand over her mouth. She struggled and let out a cry, muffled, until she heard voices in the room.

"Hello there," Chiaki was saying. "You're the one that killed all my friends. For what, may I ask?"

There was a moment of silence, and then the gut-churning sound of someone being stabbed. Mahiru let out a horrified shriek, but Yitro muffled her as much as he could. Everyone heard Chiaki let out a pitiful cry, then collapse to the floor.

"Please," Aoi begged, "please leave her alone. She means nothing to you, you don't have to-"

Another horrific shanking sound came from the room, with a fainter cry from Chiaki. There was a primal scream of emotion, and Aoi shrieked, "WHO ARE YOU? WHY ARE YOU HURTING US?!"

Footsteps, Aoi must have been charging at the Queen, and then a punching sound. There were two more, before a terrible slashing sound could be heard. Someone fell, though it sounded like more than one piece of them hit the floor.

Everything went quiet, the survivor group holding their collective breath. A scratch could be heard against the door, like someone running something sharp against the surface.

"I know you're in there," the voice of the Queen said from the other side of the door. "I know SHE is in there. Give her over, and I'll spare the rest of you."

The group was silent, and then Blake hissed, "What are you all waiting for? Do it, give her that redhead."

"Fucking shut up," Anzu whisper-shouted at him, her crimson eyes blazing at him. The two were wedged close together in the shower.

"It's her or us!"

"Blake, shut up right now," Yitro hissed at him, "or I'll-"

"Do you really think a door can stop me?"

Metal noises, scratching and scraping, could be heard against the lock of the bathroom door. It unlocked, and the Queen chuckled as she pushed on the door.

It didn't budge. The sound of the handle being moved more, and the door being pushed and even slammed up against, but it didn't budge. The Queen was silent for a moment, then there was a furious shriek that reverberated quite painfully in all those ears.

"WHAT IS THIS SHIT? THIS DOOR WON'T STOP ME!"

There were fierce stabbing noises, like someone trying to jam a knife or a lance through the door. Despite the intense poundings and piercings at the door, it stayed firm and didn't break.

The furious, strained panting of the Queen came after the attack stopped. She slammed her fist on the door, and shouted, "Very well then. If the last bit of luck from that common twerp is what is protecting you, I'll just drain it!"

The sound of a flat impact, possibly her slapping her palm on the door, echoed in the bathroom. They could all hear the sound of buzzing, like a swarm of the most furious insects, growing in pitch and rage every second…

A brilliant flash of light engulfed the room, dulling everyone's senses…

---

Day ?, ? ?

Penjar

Ishiku Shyre's House

Ishiku sat down on the floor, next to Fannie. The two of them were silent for the most part. Though while the magician was gripping a sword in its sheathe, ready to pull it out and slice someone at a moment's notice, Fannie appeared nonchalant. Actually, she appeared to be enjoying herself, sitting with her legs folded in, smiling as she dined on another chocolate coin.

"So have you ever used a sword before?" she asked, curiously staring at him with an affectionate smile.

"Yes, many times before in my acts," Ishiku replied, his voice deep and gruff. He was staring at the front door of his house, as if expecting someone to come barging in any minute now. "I've actually used a lot of weapons before in my act, they can be very entertaining with the right audience."

"Is that why you have this?" Fannie asked, lifting up his staff.

"No, that is a family relic and something very close to my heart. I take it everywhere I go that I possibly can."

"You don't have trouble at airports?"

"No one's said anything yet…"

"I see. Aren't you afraid that it'll be broken?"

"It's been through quite a bit of shit, my dear Fannie. I have accidentally dropped it in a bonfire, into a pool, seen it been run over by a car, and dropped from three stories. It hasn't been broken or scratched."

Fannie stared in awe at the staff. "Wow! That's incredible! But how does dropping it from a trio of books show it is sturdy?"

"No no, stories as in a tall building, like the asylum."

"Oh! Sorry, sometimes words are complicated for me."

"They're complicated for everyone, don't worry. I speak three languages, and I don't know how it works half of the time."

"You're so smart, have I ever told you how attractive I find that?"

She giggled and leaned in to kiss his cheek. The smooches continued, even as she tilted his head and attempted to plant them on his lips. "Um, Fannie? Mmm… mmmfffannie? Fan-mmmph?"

"Mmmyes?"

"I'm trying to watch the door, in case that executioner comes through. Don't distract me too much."

"Oh! Yes, that's right! I thought we lost that meanie when we ran out of the asylum!"

"I swear I saw them come out of the building… or maybe right at the entrance. Goddamnit, we should have stayed, he could hurt some of our friends!"

"We can only do so much, Ishi. Would you like to move out and take on the executioner?"

"The thing is, I don't think I can take a six foot, muscular murderer holding a giant axe. I'm hiding here with you in the hopes that we don't have to confront him, or it'll be most likely be really bad for us."

"You're honest! I do like that~"

Fannie moved in to kiss him more, and he gently tried to stop her. Before he could succeed, something startled them both and did it for him: the sound of the TV turning on! Fannie and Ishiku jumped, and stared up at the television that was now broadcasting.

---

(Day 16 has now officially begun!)

(Monokids' Town Hall Greeting)

*Monokid and Monodam are standing on the front stairs of the town hall, with Monocrow standing in-between them with his wings spread.*

Monokids - "Rise and shine, ursine!"

Monocrow - "Soar and plan, avian!"

Monokid - "So what the fuck are you all doing during our absence? Are you having another orgy? A pool party?"

Monodam - "WE-HOPE-YOU-ARE-ALL-GETTING-ALONG-YOU-BASTARDS. HOPEFULLY, MONOCROW-HAS-BEEN-A-GENEROUS-HOST."

Monokid - "A pool-orgy?!"

Monocrow - "Everyone seems to be doing very well so far. I do enjoy conversing with them, as well as assist them in their endeavors."

Monokid - "Stop using words with more than two syllables! … Oh shit, I just did!"

Monodam - "WHY-ARE-MOST-OF-THE-VISITORS-OF-PENJAR-UNCONSCIOUS-RIGHT-NOW?"

Monocrow - "I believe your father has enacted a couple hidden rules to prevent his plans from being avoided. This has led the majority of people to lose consciousness, and most of them are having trouble coping with that."

Monodam - "WHAT-DO-YOU-MEAN?"

Monocrow - "Wherever they are mentally, their bodies are still capable of moving about. Hehe, luckily, there's no rotating saw blades or vats of acid."

Monodam - "…"

Monokid - "I will royally fuck you up if you had more fun than us, you damn bird! I will slap a bitch, I will bitch a slap, I bitch-slap a will!"

Monocrow - *regards Monokid, then turns to Monokid* "Is he always like this now?"

Monodam - "YOU-GET-USED-TO-IT. NOW-IF-YOU'LL-EXCUSE-ME, I-NEED-TO-CHECK-ON-DRA-"

Monocrow - "You may want to check your tavern out first, Monocrow. Or have the two people watching this do that, it could mean life or death."

Monokid - "Don't you tell Monodam what to do, that's my job! Anyway, I'm bored of this, I'mma go poke an unconscious person! Any idea when they'll wake up!?"

Monocrow - *tilts his head as his lightning bolt eye gleams wickedly* "No."

Monokubs - "So long, bear well~"

Monocrow - "I bird you good day~"

---

Ishiku and Fannie exchanged glances after the television turned off. The magician sputtered out, "W-wait! It's 9:30 AM?!"

As he reached for his cell phone, forgetting about his watch, Fannie tapped her lips. "Huh, I don't remember the opening announcements being so hostile."

"Fannie, it's not 9:30…"

"Oh really? That's good-"

"It's 11 AM!"

Fannie blinked, and then asked, "Wait, what? I don't understand, how did that happen?"

"Apparently, we were up all night avoiding that executioner, we didn't even notice the hours fly by! But that's not the worst part, we only have an hour!"

The white 'n pink-topped girl still was rather confused, until the idea of noon dawned on her. "Oh no! And if everyone's unconscious inside of the buildings-"

"They'll be locked to those! We need to hurry, get them out of there!"

Ishiku and Fannie stood up, heading out of his house, him with the sword and her with the staff. Outside, they noticed the mist swirling rather aggressively down the road.

"That's concerning," he muttered, before he turned into Fannie. "Should we split up?"

"I think it would be best, since the morning announcement said someone's life was in danger at the tavern. I can go there, if that's okay?"

The two planned out their operation, kissed for good luck, and then sprinted off. The mists of Penjar were racing almost as fast as the two were, hurrying around the city…

Though if one could sense the mood of a city, they would be able to tell there was a storm brewing, as if fury was building up deep within.

---

? ? ?

Killing Game Realm

?

When the overwhelmingly bright light inside of the bathroom died down, the feeling of fatigue left the survivors. They were all lying down on a tiled floor, and it appeared to be the bathroom for a school, rather than the tiny one they had all been stuffed in.

Hikari stood up first, examining the red walls and ceiling. The spacious bathroom was much nicer when it came to legroom, the condition of the place was rather awful. Vines were growing out from every corner, floor and ceiling, and extending throughout the walls.

"What the hell," she said, shaking her head. "Oh my head… damn greased gears, what happened? Where are we now-"

"LET GO OF ME!"

Mahiru pushed off of Yitro, who had a faint hold on her. She shoved away from him, getting up and hurrying over to the door. The redheaded photographer was out of the room before Hikari could react, though she swiftly followed after.

When Hikari stepped out in the hallway, she noticed that it definitely looked like an academy, though worn down by time. Vines were growing down the walls, and grass was coming out between the tiles.

Mahiru stood there, petrified with confusion and fear. Hikari approached her, unsure what to say.

"I am," she softly said, "so very sorry we couldn't save Chiaki."

"I'm the only one left," Mahiru whispered, fumbling with her camera. Her hands were shivering, her eyes were almost devoid of emotion like Aoi's had been. "Everyone else is dead, they all died to the Queen. How come I'm alive?"

"I'm sorry, darling, I don't know-"

"WHY DID THEY ALL HAVE TO DIE?!"

Mahiru grabbed Hikari's coat, staring into her eyes for answers. The steampunk model froze up, aware that everyone else was coming out of the bathroom now and was witnessing this.

"Why does the Queen want me? Is that really true?" Mahiru continued to press for questions. "I don't understand anything going on! Please… please just do something to end this! End this madness, end this awful, awful killing spree!"

"Mahiru, I don't know how," Hikari admitted.

"I do! If the Queen wants me, then kill me!"

Yitro stepped forward, pulling Mahiru off of Hikari. "No. We are NOT killing you, Mahiru. We are going to find a way out of this place, and you're going to make it with us. Come on, let's not talk about death like that any more."

With Yitro putting his hand on Mahiru's back and guiding her onwards, the others all followed after. Hikari sighed as she watched Yitro quietly talk to Mahiru, silently impressed how he took control.

The group of now ten survivors walked through this odd, time-claimed academy. Ivy, grass, and even weeds and flowers were taking control of the building in every nook and cranny.

There were many rooms, each of them specialized after a certain theme, but they were devoid of people or anything of interest.

As they continued on throughout this floor, Futaba sighed as she glanced around the area. "This almost feels like some kind of amazing specimen of a building. Like, I wish we could study it some."

"It's not real, though," Shuuya remarked. "None of this is real, it's all some bizarre magic or something else."

"Yes… I just hope we find the answer to all of this."

Saiko sighed loudly, shaking her head. "I just want to find Isaac and Hara, then find a way out of here, then find something with lots of sugar and/or carbs to eat."

"Hopefully, we'll find people soon," Ken remarked. "It seems the usual violence will not be found here."

Souma, out of curiosity, opened a door that had a piano on it. When he looked inside, he cried out in horror, and some of the others peered inside.

The body of Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist, was lying dead on the floor. Nearby her was Miu Iruma, the Ultimate Inventor, dead with a large pool of blood under her. The survivors cried out in shock, and Souma closed the door in a hurry.

"Just had to jinx it," Blake snapped at Ken, "did you, honor boy?"

"Sh-shut up," Ken blurted out. "It's probably just another Killing Game, it doesn't prove the Queen is here!"

"We'll know if we go in and check their wounds," Anzu said, shaking her head. "I'll do it, if no one else will."

"Look, at this point," Hikari said, "we should assume the worst. Let's all just get the hell out of here, and-"

The lights in the academy all went out, encasing them in darkness. Then that wicked, sinister, red light came pouring in through the windows outside, and the lights of the school turned on with the same hateful shine.

"No no no NO!" Mahiru shouted. "God damn it, how could she find us here!?"

"Let's just get the hell out of here!" Futaba cried out.

The group ran through the school, passing by the body of Kirumi Tojo in one of the hallways. All of them dead from the same cause of death as the others.

When they found a door to the outside, they stepped out, only to see that this academy was in what could only be described as a gigantic birdcage! The incredibly large bars around the school's wall, a very tall brick one, had the sinister light shining through them.

"Okay, this is," Blake spoke up, sounding rather defeated, "so many levels of fucked up."

"We need to keep running!" Hikari declared.

"To WHERE, you bitch? We're in a giant cage! That cunt you're all so afraid of is just going to find us anyway."

Hikari rounded on the Australian pyro, clenching her fists. "You know, you can just stay here and die then. Give up, no one's stopping you!"

"How about you-"

"Hey! HEY over there!"

The group of survivors turned to see a young man waving at them from nearby a circular building. As he waved, someone walked out next to him, a rather short being, and casually waved at them too.

"Eisei!" Saiko sprinted over to him, moving faster than all the others. They all caught up as she seized the dentist in a tight hug, and noticed that Eisei wasn't alone.

Drake, Ignatia, and Fiora were all at the entrance of this unfamiliar building. The young man next to Eisei was Shuichi Saihara, the Ultimate Detective, and there was also Kiibo and Himiko from Class 78.

"Oh thank goodness," Drake cheered, as Ignatia waved at them casually, "you're all okay!"

"It hasn't been easy for us," Eisei admitted, as he managed to breathe again once Saiko stopped squeezing him so tightly. "This lady known as the Queen showed up a little while ago. She is on a homicidal rampage."

"And why are we here," Fiora declared, "and not Hope's Peak? Why am I here a'geen, eh?"

"Wait, again?" Yitro asked her. "You were here during your vision, Fiora?"

"Yeah! Where is here?!"

Shuichi cleared his throat, gaining the attention of everyone there. "This is the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles."

"It is sometimes known as UAGJ for short," Kiibo offered, standing proud in front of all the humans. Ignatia was standing a short distance from him, though he didn't notice. "Or is it UAFGJ? Which is easier to pronounce?"

"Uggggh, that's not important right now," Himiko whined. "We really, really need to get out of this academy before the Queen shows up. Of course she had to have an anti-magic shield, what a pain…"

"Do you all have a plan?" Hikari asked them.

"Actually, yes," Shuichi said. "Kaito and Kokichi are working to prepare a way out of here. They should be back shortly, or we could meet up with them… though we shouldn't travel in too big of a group. It'd be easier for the Queen to spot us."

"Wait, we cannot go just yet," Saiko interrupted, waving her hands. "We don't know if everyone from our group is here yet! We haven't even found Isaac or Hara."

"Your friends went with those two towards the bunker," Eisei remarked, motioning towards the far end of the caged academy's border. "Both insisted that they help out, but wished that no one else risk going outside with the murdering going on; I don't think they trust Kokichi very much, he was acting a little off."

Saiko let out a small sigh of relief, and chuckled lightly. "That's so like them. It's good to know that they're safe. Well, we still gotta look for everyone from Penjar, don't we?"

"This is everyone who came into the Killing Game Realm. No one else needs to be found."

The words came from the last person they expected, so defeated and worn-out that it was like a soul ready to die. The group all turned towards Mahiru, whose eyes were devoid of all joy and hope.

"What are you saying?" Saiko blurted out. "Why wouldn't they be here?"

"They aren't in here. Everyone from Penjar who is in here has gathered at this point," Mahiru said, sounding more robotic than Kiibo. "If anyone else fell asleep in Penjar, they're not here."

"But that doesn't make sense! And how… how could you know that?"

Mahiru's face twisted slightly, a humorless smile on her face as she pulled her camera strap off of her shoulder. "Anzu, Eisei, and Fiora can tell you… I become perfectly aware of everything when I'm about to die. Like who you all really are, graduates of Hope's Peak residing in Penjar."

While Shuichi, Kiibo, and Himiko were rather befuddled, everyone from Penjar stared at Mahiru. The photographer took her camera and started circling through her photos. Tears fell down from her eyes, as she looked.

"So many good ones this time… I had a wonderful time with all of my friends, given weeks before the killing started. I wonder, does this make this good or bad?"

"Mahiru," Anzu stepped close intrepidly, "please tell us what's going on."

"What must we do to stop the killing?" Eisei inquired. "We are many, we can do it."

"Come on, Red," Fiora implored, "please! Help us help you!"

Mahiru regarded them, then turned towards Hikari. She smiled again, so full of sorrow that it made the model want to cry herself. The photographer reached out, offering her camera to her.

When Hikari took it, Mahiru pulled her in close and whispered right into her ear, as she held onto the model in Angie's body. "The affiliate of the coterie is the start, the antilogy of tribulation is the weapon. I'm… sorry."

"Huh? D-darling, what are you saying-"

"NYEH!"

Himiko's terrified scream alerted them all, and they stared to where she was pointing. At the front doors of the academy, with a swarm of ebony and crimson shade around her, was the Queen. Her eyes were focused on the group, and she reached towards them.

"RUN!" Shuichi shouted, grabbing Himiko and spiriting with her in his arms.

The Queen sprinted towards them, moving incredibly fast before stopping next to a lamppost. The shade around her turned into a blade, and sliced the post at the core. Swarming around the severed end of the lamppost like a large fist, she lifted her arm, and the lamppost was raised like a huge club.

She swung it downwards, in the middle of the group. It slammed down, shattering into pieces, as the large group of survivors was split in half.

Hikari pulled Mahiru to the side, clutching her in her arms. Blake, Eisei, Saiko, Fiora, Ignatia, Anzu, and Drake were all on the same side as her, as were the members of Class 78. Everyone else was near the doors of the large, circular building, though Yitro moved towards the other group…

Before flames like a welding torch came shooting up from the impact area of the lamppost. This geyser line of hellfire was an overwhelming divider for the group.

As Hikari made Mahiru move fast along with her, heading towards the stairs that Shuichi was going down to a plaza, she could hear the Queen sprint after them. She glanced over her shoulder, and saw it was her that the Queen was heading towards.

That monstrous shade of a woman was too fast, she wasn't going to dodge in time! Before she could do anything, Mahiru used all of her strength to shove Hikari out of the way.

The Queen's claw-like hand struck Mahiru, sending her flying off of her feet as if struck by a wrecking ball. The photographer crashed into Blake and Fiora, knocking the two down with her. The three crashed down the stairs, falling down in a heap on the ground.

Hikari cried out and sprinted down to them. Blake was struggling to get up, but his left leg was broken, the bone jutting out from his skin. Fiora rubbed her head, dazed and unable to focus on anything. Mahiru was lying on her back, gasping hard and whimpering; her chest appeared crushed, she had been mortally injured.

As Hikari and Saiko tried to help Mahiru up, Ignatia hurried over and grabbed Blake and lifted him up. Drake and Eisei moved to Fiora, getting her up and pulling her to the side. Kiibo moved over, getting Mahiru's shoulders.

"We must hurry," Kiibo said. "I believe her chest has been compressed, she will suffocate if we do not get her to the medical room."

Saiko and Hikari managed to get Mahiru up on her feet, just as there was a flash of dark red. A spike, the length of a yardstick, dark scarlet and dull black, was impaled through Mahiru's chest.

Hikari, holding her arm, felt her fall through her fingers as she fell over dead. The model stared in absolute shock, seeing the dead, lifeless look in the poor girl's eyes.

"N-no," she whimpered.

"Oh dear God," Saiko cried out.

"This is your last warning."

The cold, cruel, echoing voice of the Queen was right behind her. She turned around, shivering, to see those wicked eyes staring into hers. "If you do not give me what I want…"

There was a battlecry, as Shuichi came sprinting up and slugged the Queen in the face. She turned her chin, then rounded on Shuichi. The detective flinched, and shouted, "Himiko, get Kaito and Kokichi! Hur-"

The Queen seized Shuichi by the throat. Squeezing, choking the young man, she spat out, "I don't need more of this talent."

There was a blossom of blood from Shuichi's neck, and his head rolled off of the top of her hand. His body slumped down as well, and then she turned back to Hikari.

"You… you evil," Hikari stammered, shaking but standing her ground, "you awful, evil, vile-"

The Queen reached up and grabbed Hikari's neck. She glanced to the side, noticing that the others were now approaching, but froze when she had the model in her hand. "Now her talent, I would normally take," the Queen said, "but I am still a woman of my word. If you wish for me to not rip this fair gem's heart out, or tear her limbs off one at a time like a flower's pedals, please give me what I want."

Saiko, the closest but still feeling utterly powerless, stared up at the Queen as she tried to find the right words or actions for this scenario.

"Wh-what do you want?" Drake shouted.

"Yeah, brah," Fiora slurred, pointing unsteadily at the Queen. "Ya wanna leave this place? You want Ultimate Talent? Do you… do you need a hug?"

"Please," Kiibo implored, folding his hands together. He glanced down at Shuichi's body, winced, and turned his eyes back to the Queen. "Don't hurt any more of my friends. Tell us what you want."

"Glad to know I don't have to impale you all. Very well, what I want is…"

The Queen was cut off when she heard the sound of engines in the distance, though they weren't far away for long. Two mechs landed down in the plaza, both of them the size of the same mechs the Kubs drove when they executed Jin Nahm.

These mechs had a gatling gun for one arm, and a large fist for the other. One of the mechs pointed its machine gun arm at the Queen.

"Let go of her," a male voice from inside the cockpit said, "you bitch!"

"Neheeheehee! Now now, Kaito," another male voice inside the other one giggled, "that's not how you talk to a lady!"

The second mech flexed his arms, making his fist come rather close to swatting Eisei, and his machine gun lazily pointed in Anzu's direction. The first mech had its machine gun on the Queen, who still clutched Hikari's neck.

The Queen stared at the first mech, then glanced over at the second. Her eyes settled on that one for a few seconds, then widened in what appeared to be shock. She released Hikari, who quickly hurried away from her along with Saiko.

"Kaito Momota," the shade of death and blood said, a smirk spreading across her face, "are you aware of your partner's true intentions?"

"You asking me to predict Kokichi? No one can guess what this lovable little shit has intended," Kaito responded back, his voice echoing slightly due to his mech's mic. "But why doo'nt you leave, if you doo'nt wish to be a smear on the ground?"

Hikari froze up, and turned around. "Wh-what? That accent…"

The Queen snarled, and raised her hand towards the mech. "How about I kill you instead?!"

A spike fired from her palm, and impaled through the cockpit's visor. The mech stumbled backwards, and the second one pointed its gun at the Queen.

"Hey now, that wasn't very nice," Kokichi said, as his mech's gatling gun spooled, "but then again, neither is this!"

He let loose a swarm of bullets, the sound deafening around the plaza. The Queen held up her other hand, and a large shield of the same color and material of her spikes formed in front of her. The bullets ricocheted off of it, and she frowned in distaste.

"Nothing can stop the overwhelming nature of Chaos," the Queen scolded. "You really should know better, Kokichi Oma!"

"I'm sorry, I cannot hear you," Kokichi shouted, "over the sound of my machine gun destroying your shield."

"THERE IS NO GETTING THROUGH CHAOS, YOU LITTLE SHIT!"

Hikari, staring at the impaled mech, could see the pilot inside. Kaito's head was right next to the spike, having dodged that fatal stab with a turn of his neck. He snarled as he pointed the machine gun arm at the Queen, and spooled it to prepare for fire!

The Queen raised her other hand, and another shield formed in front of her. Bullets sprayed with incredible noise and force, but her shields held firm. Hikari watched it happen, and then something clicked in her head.

Moving over to Mahiru's body, she yanked the large spike from her chest as she mentally apologized over and over to the dead girl. When she took it out, she lined up the spike at the Queen's back.

A couple green hands coiled around the spike, and she saw Kiibo standing on the other side. The two nodded, pulled back, and then swung forward together. With an intense cracking noise, the spike stabbed through the Queen's back, impaling her all the way through.

There was a shriek, enough to make the ground shake and the buildings tremble. Everyone was knocked backwards, covering their ears. The mechs stopped their fire, though the reverberations of the scream made everything feel like chaotic noise.

As the Queen slumped to her knees, the shade around her started to fall off of her body. She struggled to stand, her eyes wide in terror as she frantically tried to pull herself together. It was too late, she was bleeding and rotting at an alarming rate.

Before she fell apart completely, her eyes were exposed, then her face. One of the graduates saw it, if only for a few seconds, but they recognized that face.

And it chilled them to their very core, freezing them and making their heart lock up in terror.

The Queen slumped forward, and turned into nothing more than a human-shaped corpse of shade. The fragments writhed helplessly around on the plaza floor, as if trying to find a new master or mistress to cling to.

Hikari stood up, and scanned the area. Almost everyone was standing in place, afraid to even move. Kiibo was also up, inspecting what he had helped do. He turned towards her, and asked, "Angie? Are you okay?"

"I… I…"

"Hikari!"

The cockpit to the first mech struggled to open, the spike getting in the way. Kaito yanked it out, opened the broken part of the vehicle, and then jumped out. "Hikari! We gotta get the hell 'oot of here, eh!"

"H-huh?" Hikari stammered as she stared at Kaito. "Wait, are you-"

Another scream of agony and rage echoed around the plaza, and Hikari almost fell over. Her head whipped around, trying to find out where it was coming from, when a pair of strong arms seized her in a hug.

"Come on," Kimiko, with Kaito's voice and body, said as she held onto Hikari in Angie's body. "I'll explain later when we're back in too'n, eh!"

Hikari clutched ahold of Kimiko, and there was a brilliant flash of light that overwhelmed her senses…

---

The acute rush of adrenaline made Kimiko flinch as her eyes snapped open. She was lying on a bed, arms around Hikari's body. The steampunk model also jumped as she woke up, sitting up suddenly.

"What do you mean, you'll… Kimiko!"

Kimiko stared up at her, then let go of her and sat up. Hikari opened her mouth to speak, then realized her bathing suit was disintegrating, both of them. Panicking, she threw herself off of the bed, landing out of sight at the side.

"Don't look at me naked," she shouted.

Kimiko walked into the bathroom, pulled out a bathrobe, and tossed it towards her without looking. Hikari stood up after putting it on, clearing her throat. "Okay, can you explain… anything that just happened?"

"I remembered how Anzu holding onto the microphone that sent me into the vision did the same fur her, so I did the same with you, eh," the biker gang leader said. "I was in the vision, as Kaito, fur some time befur you showed up.

"It was rather peaceful, though Kokichi seemed to knoo' something was wrong. It was like Teruteru, but he gave no acknowledgement to anything, he joo'st kept marching to the beat of his own drum."

"Kokichi Oma didn't die during the Hope's Peak Killing Game, how could he know anything else? It could just be that the Killing Game Realm was playing games with our heads, like usual."

"Well, I doo'nt have all the answers, joo'st what I saw and did. But I have to ask you, did everyone make it 'oot okay?"

"Y-yes," Hikari stammered, thinking back to the deaths of Aoi, Chiaki, and especially Mahiru came to mind. "Everyone from our group made it out alive, though we should check in the morning. What time is it?"

The model started to move towards her desk where she put her cell phone down, and then realized that her skin was normal again. She stared at herself, then grabbed her phone.

"11:36 AM?!" she shouted incredulously. "Wait, we were asleep all that time?"

"Huh? Wait, really?" Kimiko stammered, as she checked her phone too. "How's that possible? I wasn't in the vision fur hours! Wait… we were both unconscious fur hours?"

Before either of them could expand on their theories or confusion, they could hear someone coming up the stairs. The echoing sounds of footfalls reminded them of the Queen, and both froze up for a moment.

"Hello?" came the familiar voice of Ishiku. "Is anyone there?"

Kimiko moved towards the door, and stepped out into the hallway. Ishiku hurried on over to her, saying, "Kimiko, you gotta get out of the hotel now! It's almost noon, and there's a lot to go over."

"Ishiku, we have a lot to talk a'boot fur sure, but please, give us a minute. You woo'dent believe what we've bin through."

"I've learned about a hidden rule that's been used without our knowledge, there was an executioner chasing me and Fannie last night like Pyramid Head, and I haven't slept a single wink. What's going on with you?"

Before Kimiko could respond, Hikari leaned out of the bedroom, waving at Ishiku. "Ishiku, darling, give me a minute to get dressed, then we can talk. Don't worry, it's just Kimiko and myself here."

"Are you sure?"

The two ladies were a little stunned by this. "What on Earth do you mean by that, darling?"

"Let's just say that some people wound up in places they didn't think they could be…"

---

Day 16, 11:47 AM

Western Plaza

Near the "Shy" Monokuma Statue, Center Area

"I told you not to touch 'em, you dumb fucker!"

"You don't get to tell me what I can and cannot do, you little shit! Now move out of the way!"

"My rifle says otherwise, bitch!"

Hikari, Kimiko, and Ishiku were walking to the center area of the plaza to see a bizarre confrontation between Anzu and Monokid. Monocrow was perched on the statue of Monokuma, watching everything going on. Whatever the two were arguing about, it had to do with something at the base of the statue.

A great deal of their group were gathered up nearby, watching with concern: Crystal, Pyrrha, Yitro, Drake, Ignatia, Fiora, Ken, Shuuya, Futaba, and Monodam. Deciding to be a leader of sorts, Hikari stepped forward and loudly cleared her throat.

"Excuse me, Anzu-darling," she said, approaching her, "but what is going on?"

The adult actress noticed her, then pointed down at the base of the statue. On the ground was a collection of dark clothing that included a thick cloak with a hood, a morph mask, and a rather realistic two-handed axe with a head as wide as someone's torso.

"… Good heavens above and sea horses below," Ishiku shouted when he saw the axe. "That's… the same stuff that the executioner who chased Fannie and I last night was wearing!"

"And you ain't allowed to touch it," Monokid shouted, pointing his rifle at Ishiku next. "You ain't allowed to touch this unless you have specific permission."

"Who has that specific permission?" Hikari asked.

A devious chuckle came from the blue bear cub. "Who do you think, sweet cheeks?"

The graduates exchanged glances, and Crystal sighed as she rubbed her forehead. "Great, we have either a madman or a traitor amongst us, and only they can pick up their disguise and weapon?"

"Where did they even come from?" Anzu asked. "I mean, what is going on with all of this? No one had this battle-ax, it had to come from this town!"

"Anzu, I know you have a lot of questions, as do most of us," Ken spoke up, "but we have precocious time."

"It's 'precious little time,' darling," Hikari corrected her friend. "And you're right, this can be resolved later, once we get everyone here."

"That's going to be difficult," Futaba remarked, crossing her arms. "You see, while most of us were in that Killing Game Realm-"

"Wait, what?" Ishiku tried to interrupt, but the anthropologist continued without stopping.

"We all were unconscious until approximately 11:30 AM. Apparently, a lot of curious things happened while we were out of it."

She glanced over at Crystal and Pyrrha, who both nervously glanced to the side as if ashamed. Hikari glanced at them, and grinned mischievously.

"What did you get up to, ladies?" she asked.

"Nothing," Crystal said quickly, "but apparently, we either fell asleep during our shift and don't remember it, or we're both really bad at staying on look-out."

"What are you talking about?"

Pyrrha sighed, and remarked, "Isaac is in the maintenance room of the arcade."

"What?!" Kimiko shouted. "But how is that possible?!"

"We have no idea! We honestly don't know what happened, Crystal and I were looking after our three unconscious friends behind the stage all night, and somehow, he managed to come into the arcade, get into the locked employee's room, and now he cannot get out!"

The group exchanged highly befuddled glances amongst them, and then Shuuya spoke up for them. "He was calling out for help when we woke up. None of us know how this is possible, it just is."

"So Isaac got into a locked room and now he cannot get out," Hikari summarized. "What else do we need to know about?"

"I… I cannot find Odelios," Ishiku admitted. "I went to the asylum first, I got everyone out of there because I know how many people are there. But I have no idea of knowing where my friend is."

"He came to the arcade next," Futaba said. "That was when we heard Isaac. Next, he went to check the fortune teller tent and the hotel, correct?"
"Yes. No one's in the tent, but Kimiko and Hikari are the only ones in the hotel."

Hikari swallowed nervously. "But what about everyone with Isaac, who had to spend the night outside? Hara, Saiko, Eisei, Souma, and Blake, where are they?"

"No idea, for now," Shuuya said. "We'll go look for them now, if you want?"

"So long as we're all on the same page," Fiora remarked, rubbing her head as she spoke. "Urgh, stupid headache, it hasn't left since I banged my noggin in the Killing Game Realm!"

"Again, what?" Ishiku asked. "What do you mean by tha-"

"ISHI!"

Everyone turned to see a figure walking through the mist, towards the main plaza. It was Fannie, walking very slowly due to the fact that she was carrying Blaze in her arms. The pyro was almost limp in her arms, as blood dripped from his leg.

"There's something really horrible I have to tell you," Fannie shouted, struggling to hold up Blake as she moved towards them. Yitro moved in to take the guy off of her hands, as the others asked:

"Oh my God, is that blood coming from his leg?!" Kimiko shouted. "Is he bleeding?"

"Wait, is that bastard's leg broken?" Anzu hollered. "Just… just like it was in the Killing Game Realm?"

"Wait, was it that or the nightmares?" Shuuya asked.

"Fannie, did you carry him all the way here?" Ishiku inquired, comfortingly holding her shoulders.

"Y-yes, he apparently fell from the second floor to the first floor, and his leg is very badly injured. I had to leave your staff there for a little bit, sorry. But that's not the worst part!"

"What's the worst part?"

Fannie whined, quite upset, and crossed her arms over her chest. "He kept grabbing my boobs the whole way here when I was trying to help him!"

Slurred chucking came from Blake, and he waved over at her. "Yolo, babe! After the shit I saw in that dream, and how I'mma gonna bleed to death, I wanted to feel those puppies once!"

Ishiku's eye twitched, and he unsheathed Peko's sword. "I AM GOING TO AMPUTATE THAT LEG FOR YOU, BAD SIR!"

"Now now now," Yitro said, turning to put himself between Blake and a nobly outraged Ishiku, "let's punish him after we make sure he doesn't die."

Blake groaned in pain, then laughed in spite of it all, still slurring his words through the agony. "Mate, we need a team of surgeons to get me patched up in time; damn bone is broken really, really, really bad.

"Saw someone in prison get a leg as fucked up as this. Bastard died of infection even when they set it right."

Yitro glanced around the group nervously, as they were studying Blake's leg. They couldn't see it because of his pant leg, which was soaked in blood; though some of them remembered seeing the broken bone jutting out through the tore leg in the Killing Game Realm.

"Wh-what can we do?" Drake asked. "We cannot just let him die!"

Ignatia motioned to him, and showed a message for a solution, [The only way to save him would be for someone to leave Penjar to get him to a hospital. We have no medical team or equipment, he cannot stay here.]

After Drake read this out loud, Shuuya nodded in agreement. "She's right, someone has to leave town at this point. But who to do that?"

As the group discussed this, seeing who would be willing to leave Penjar, Anzu glanced around in desperation. Monokid stood near the executioner's gear, Monodam watched everyone silently, and Monocrow was doing like the green cub from atop the statue.

"Monocrow," she called up to the bird, "is there anything, anything at all we can do to fix Blake here?"

"I'm glad you asked me, Anzu. As it turns out, there is a room filled with equipment that can patch up your friend, and get him walking by tomorrow!"

Everyone was quite surprised by this. Drake approached Monodam, and asked, "Is he telling the truth?"
"I-CANNOT-CONFIRM-IT-MYSELF-BUT-I-CAN-CONFIRM-MONOCROW'S-WORDS."

"There is a room in the asylum that has highly advanced medical equipment," Monocrow continued, "but it has… restrictions. I wonder who of you will be able to get into there and activate it, but if you do, it'll patch him right up."

Yitro sighed ruefully, and remarked, "Okay, I got him now, I'm going to carry him there unless anyone has any objections?"

"How about me?" Blake murmured. "Can't someone with big tits help me out again?"

"How about we throw him out of Penjar," Ishiku growled, "and let him drag himself to another hospital himself?"

"Ishi, it's okay, honey," Fannie remarked, smiling at him. "What we need to do now is find all of our plans and get today settled."

"What a delightful idea from my former favorite daughter!"

Monokuma popped up behind Fannie, making her scream and leap into the air. Ishiku caught her, but it knocked them over and sent them crashing to the floor.

"You have a lot to answer for, Monokuma," Shuuya snapped at the bear.

"What's with the sleeping gas treatment?!" Fiora shouted. "That's cheating, eh!"

"Not to mention sending so many of us into that Killing Game Realm," Futaba remarked, crossing her arms as she narrowed her eyes. "You want to explain to us what the deal with that was?"

"Yes yes, you don't like my house rules, but too bad when it's my house!" Monokuma said with a cackle. "Still, thought I should give you the lowdown on how they're going to expand, since you all insist on bending and cheating your way out of the rules!"

"We are not cheating, you despair avatar," Ken shouted, clenching his fists tightly. "You are the one twisting the rules with your sleeping gas and demented mind games!"

"Upupupupu! Ahahaha! Oh, you poor Ultimate graduates, you cannot keep up with a small town's laws? You might want to consider how long you want to be tourists here if you cannot cut footloose! However, I'm going to be generous here…

"If you are not in one of the buildings by 1 PM, you are not allowed into one at all! Also, the sleeping gas will kick in earlier tonight, so as to stop more of this trickery you are all employing against Penjar's rules!"

Kimiko rolled her eyes. "And to think that you were going on a'boot how we coo'd solve all the mysteries of Penjar, but then you go and make it even moo'r difficult!"

"Hey toots, I took the truth serum out of the mist for you all for tonight! I'm a generous bear!"

"Oh please, you foul, odious bear," Ken snarled, "you did that so whoever wears that sinister cloak and carries the wicked axe wouldn't reveal it was them!"

"Did I? Did I really? Maybe it was that I didn't want you going off some place else when you're supposed to be visiting our town?"

"Wait, hold up," Yitro declared, "you're telling me you're fully aware of that alternate realm?"

"Of course I know, I know every inch of my beloved town, even if it is in an alternate realm or reality! I cannot have you seeing the truth in your dreams! I-mmmph!"

Monokuma slapped his paws over his mouth, as if to shut himself up from spilling too much. Ishiku sighed and rolled his eyes, and spoke up.

"Okay, enough cryptic hints about that nonsense! What about the fact," he pressed, "that Monocrow can steal a building's advantage from someone and give it to another person?"

"Hang on, what?!" Hikari exclaimed, holding her hand over her open mouth. "What's this, Ishiku?"

"Monocrow told Fannie and I that if he gets total privacy with someone, he'll steal someone's advantage and give it to someone else! And someone's done it, too! Who did this, how could they know about this?"

"Oh, I really don't know about that. I'm not a birdbrain, unlike him! Upupupupu!"

Monokid was obnoxiously laughing, Monodam was silent as ever, and Monocrow watched from above still. The bird eventually said, "I feel that you all need to focus on what you're going to do today, if you don't wish to be locked out of the buildings. Monokuma's powers put all of your lives at risk."

"Okay, people," Crystal spoke up, "we need to get moving. It's noon now, we have one hour to get into whatever building we want for tonight."

"Do we have any idea what advantages they have yet?" Futaba inquired.

"No, or at least none we've discovered, but we're going to have a few people willing to enter the asylum and stay there for today. Yitro is carrying Blake in there, who'll go with him?"

"I've been in the arcade and the asylum," Yitro offered.

"Since I've been in the hotel and the tent," Hikari spoke up, "I'll go with you."

"I'll go with you too," Kimiko said, "just in case."

Ignatia raised her hand, and Drake was by her side at once. Anzu raised her hand, but Crystal shook her head. "No, Anzu, we need you out here right now."

"Huh? Why?"

Crystal pointed up to Monocrow. "You're the only one that bird listens to, or at least the one he listens to most. We need you to ask him for help in location the others."

"I am aware of everyone's positions in Penjar," Monocrow said, chuckling to himself. "I'll help Anzu so long as I am not needed elsewhere."

"I-WILL-GO-WITH-DRAKE," Monodam buzzed in, "AND-ASSIST-HIM-WITH-THE-ENDEAVOR-OF-HELPING-THIS-BASTARD."

"Aww, look at that, Blake," Futaba said, grinning at the pyrotechnician, "even the bear cub says you're a bastard."

"Fuck off, bear cub," Blake spat out.

"HAW HAW HAW! Even the bastard tells you to fuck off, Monodam!" Monokid shouted.

Ignoring the blue bear cub, the group discussed amongst themselves where each of them should go. With Monokuma giving no more answers, just laughing at them as they tried to plan for today, they all agreed to where they would be tonight.

Some of them made their way to the cafeteria, to prepare food and bring it to everyone; they were all growing incredibly hungry, and with the deadline being a little less than an hour, they had to get something in their stomachs.

Anzu was standing with a small search party as she called Monocrow down. The bird fluttered down to her arm, and asked, "What would you like to know, Anzu?"

"Where… where is Odelios?"

"He is in the asylum."

She sighed heavily, and muttered, "So he never left there? He's stuck in there again if he wants to avoid the killer nightmares. Alright, Monocrow, please tell me where Hara is."

---

Day 16, 12:14 PM

Penjar's Public Pool

Game Room

"Isaac! Saiko! Where are you?" Hara called out desperately, searching through the room. She frantically hurried onto the next room, where she almost ran into Anzu.

"Oh goodness, Hara! Careful there, you're much taller than me," the petite actress insisted.

Hara stared at her, then at the others part of her group: Crystal, Ken, Kimiko, and Hikari. She glanced among them, and the explorer talked with a very noticeable quiver in her voice.

"I cannot find Isaac, Saiko, or anyone else I was with when I fell asleep! I wasn't even in the café, I was inside of the town hall! I don't even know how that's possible, but I was looking and looking, have any of you seen them?!"

"Calm down, Hara," Crystal said, walking up to pat the woman's shoulder. "We'll find everyone with you. Though we do know where Isaac is."

"You do? Where?!"

"We'll tell you later, but right now, let's find our friends."

Anzu nodded, then turned to Monocrow. "Oh, Monocrow? Where's-"

"It may be prudent for you to ask where Saiko is right now."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because she's here, in the pool."

There was a moment of silence as this dawned on everyone. Hara sprinted through the building, getting to the pool and stopping short when she saw someone in the water.

…

…

…

Saiko was floating in the middle of the pool, motionless, as the water rippled around her. She almost looked like a pool toy carelessly left in, her blue hair splayed out like a cerulean paint splatter.

Hara screamed to her friend and dove into the water. She grabbed Saiko's body and pulled her out of the pool as the others came running up. The explorer laid Saiko down on the ground, and checked for breathing.

…

…

…

"GAAAAH WHAT THE HELL!"

Saiko sat upright, almost clonking her head against Hara's. She thrashed her hands around, her wet clothing sticking to her. "Where am I? What happened? Who the fuck poured water all over me?!"

She was answered by Hara hugging her with immense relief causing the taller woman to squeeze her smaller friend rather tightly. Straining to breathe, Saiko pat her shoulder to call uncle.

"You're so lucky, darling," Hikari said to Saiko after Hara released her. "The nightmares must have made you sleepwalk."

"Throwing yourself into a pool when asleep," Ken remarked, frowning and crossing his arms. "That would have been a terrible way to go."

"Yeah, luckily you were floating on your back," Kimiko said, patting Saiko's wet shoulder. "Happy to see you alive and well, Saiko."

"There is nothing 'well' with my current status," she responded, though managed a small smile. "Well then, I assume a lot of shit happened?"

"Yeah, and we have to find a couple more people," Anzu said, lifting up her bird buddy. "Lead the way, Monocrow?"

"Certainly. Now, as for Souma…"

---

Day 16, 12:35 PM

Penjar's Public Cafeteria

Kitchen

"So apparently, in my unconscious state, despite being in a vision instead of the nightmares that Monokuma was trying to inflict on us, I was playing dress-up. That's why I look like this."

Pyrrha couldn't help but giggle. Souma, the quite serious public speaker and prominent member of the Future Foundation, was dressed like an American hippie during the 60s. With a tie-dye shirt that was like colorful vomit, shiny pants with frayed leggings, a red headband, rose-tinted glasses, and boots that were more decal than lace, he was not exactly looking himself.

"Why are you keeping the glasses on?" Fannie asked him, tilting her head to the side. "Or rather, any of it? Granted, I think it looks nice on you."

"Look, we're racing against the clock, I came here after the search party found me. They told me you are all making food, and the deadline is at one o'clock. If you have to make it in before then, I want to assist you all. How can I help?"

Ishiku, Pyrrha, Fiora, and Fannie exchanged glances at those words. "Why are you talking like you won't be joining us," Fiora asked, "in any of the designated safe spots?"
"Because, my dear Fiora, I am determined to see what these dreams entail. I want to know what Monokuma is hiding from me, and I will risk it again, even if it kills me."

"That's so not groovy, dude," Ishiku said with a laugh.

"Yes yes, have your fun, Mr. Shyre, but I refuse to let this go. Now please, allow me to assist."

Fiora guided Souma over to a section of the kitchen, and got him to start chopping vegetables with her. As they worked, she spoke, "You knoo', if you really want to experience those dreams, you coo'd always go into the psychic tent. That's one of them, but it doesn't have protection."

"Aha, a fine idea, Miss Stetson! But I must confess, I feel a touch unsteady sleeping in a vulnerable place. There is at least a lock on my small house away from home."

"Well, I'll join you! I want to see if there's something special a'boot that place."

"That sounds like a plan!"

"You might fit in with the decor there, hippie! Heeheehee!"

"If I had known I would be the butt of these jokes, I would have taken the time to change instead…"

---

Day 16, 12:54 PM

Western Plaza

The Bears' Motel

Eisei shook his head as he sat down on the side of the bed. He stared down at his feet, which had so much blood on them from the scratches of walking across rubble. Hissing in air as he felt a healing salve be applied to them, he clenched his teeth on his current lollipop stick and fell back on the bed.

"Why did this happen?" he asked, gripping his hair as he tried to fight crying out from the pain. "Why would I take off my shoes when sleep-walking? This makes no logical sense!"

"Neither does whatever vision you were talking about earlier," Saiko remarked, rubbing the salve onto Eisei's feet. "At least I don't have to worry about you making dumb jokes about a foot fetish while I do this, knew there had to be a reason I'm in a relationship with you now."

"I'm curious as to what you mean by that comment, but I think we should focus on the more serious matters at hand."

Eisei stared up at the ceiling, rolling his lollipop around in his mouth. "To recapture the course of last night, we all fell asleep because Monokuma gassed us; presumably, this was to stop us from staying up all night."

"Bastard really is thinking of everything," Saiko remarked. "And then we were all sent to this Killing Game Realm as a result. Goddamnit…

"I saw something awful in there, Eisei. I… I don't want to talk about it, it makes me like shit even thinking about it. But maybe later tonight, I will."

"You can trust me whenever you feel like it. You seem to be cursing a great deal more too."

"I've got good Goddamn right to, but hey, don't worry about that. So yeah, I woke up in the pool, you woke up when they found you walking over the lab's ruins."

"And we picked the hotel so that you'd have a shower for your soggy state, as well as a good place to sleep. I can prepare food for you in the kitchen."

"I love you, Eisei."

"Now come on, I believe our relationship is a little too early to be saying that-"

Saiko pulled herself up and onto him, kissing him sweetly. "You have no idea how deep my love for those who provide me good food is, Eisei. Once we get you a pair of slippers, we'll get us some food~!"

"Sounds like a good continuation of a plan."

Saiko nodded, then rolled onto her back on the bed. The forensic investigator stared up at the ceiling, and started to think back on the day. "Is it… is it wrong that I agreed to Hara's request, about me staying here?"

"She was correct in her statement that you need to have a good night sleep over everything else. There is nothing you can do for the puzzle and predicament Isaac is in."

"Heh, we've been glued at the hip since we got here, I almost feel like they're helpless without me. I mean, we had our own lives after Hope's Peak, and they're the closest friends I got…

"But maybe it's best for them to have a little time together, even if they gotta talk through a closed door."

Saiko and Eisei spoke for a few more minutes, then the dentist requested some water, as he was feeling rather dehydrated due to the pain. The forensic investigator obliged, adjusting her bathrobe before heading out into the hallway of the motel's second floor hallway.

As she walked towards the stairs, she heard the creaks and bumps echoing throughout the area. Still unnerved by them, as this creepy place wasn't much to her liking, she headed on down to the kitchen. The other guests for the motel were already there, having some drinks and a conversation.

Ken turned his face, blushing slightly when he saw how immodest Saiko was. Futaba couldn't help but stare a little, aiming for a peek, though Shuuya subtly stopped her.

"How is Eisei?" Ken inquired as he sipped his water.

"He's fine, just recovering from how roughed up his feet were. Thanks again for carrying him, handsome."

"It was no problemo."

Saiko chuckled and shook her head, then poured a glass full of water. As she did so, she casually asked the trio, "So why'd you all pick this place?"

"Last safe place to try out," Futaba admitted. "And I'm kind of going where this handsome man goes."

She flicked at Shuuya's chest, and he cleared his throat as he said, "Yes, well, I haven't been here yet either. Plus, I would much rather sleep on a bed tonight, my back still hurts from that stage we slept on."

"Better than the floor of a dark room in an asylum," Ken remarked, shaking his head. "Anyway, I am just hoping to no longer have visions or nightmares, or creepy robots making noises in the middle of the night."

Saiko nodded, then started to head back upstairs. "Here's hoping it works out as planned, though that's never really been the track this train has been on, now has it?"

---

Day 16, 1:01 PM

Western Plaza

Monokuma's Arcade District

"TURN OFF THIS TRACK!" Fannie screamed in utter annoyance. "I'm so sick of this song! I hate it! I hate it SO DAMN MUCH!"

The song blaring from the overhead speaker, and from speakers inside of all of the Monokub animatronics onstage, was repeating itself once again. Ishiku was rather surprised at Fannie's outburst, despite being rather sick of hearing about a once-powerful nation and being on the threshold of something.

It was also concerning how quick she was ready to use Peko's sword on the animatronics. Ishiku had to beg her not to try such a thing, as he held onto her and his emerald staff tightly.

Hara, in front of the locked maintenance room that was down the short hallway, knocked on the door. "Honey? Can you try and find that button you pressed to turn on the music? It's really unnerving poor Fannie."

"I'm trying, I'm trying! Damn it, there's so many of them, and none of them are labeled!"

Isaac's faint response through the door could still be heard by Hara, who stuck close to it. She glanced out at the cafeteria, where the other three people in the arcade currently were.

Fannie was howling in disgust, hands over her ears as the music track played yet again. Ishiku was trying to comfort her, but it wasn't easy with how much she hated this tune. Anzu was worriedly watching the animatronics, as they were all moving quite a lot.

"I really don't like how fast these things are moving," the actress admitted, calling out to Hara. "Those stupid blood-stained instruments of theirs look ready to break."

"Of all the buttons he had to push," Ishiku said, "he had to turn them all on and also play the annoying music."

"MAKE IT STAAAAAWP!"

"He's trying, Fannie honey."

"TRY FASTER!"

From inside the maintenance room, Isaac called out, "Gosh dang, I can hear her from here! Tell her I'm doing my best, darn it!"

"We all know you are, sweetie. Please, just try and think hard. Don't worry, I'm right here."

"Thank you, Hara, but I'm not getting cabin fever just yet."

As Fannie wailed about the stupid track mentioning showtime over and over, Anzu moved over to Hara. "So no idea how he managed to get himself in there?"

"None. He woke up in there, and he says it's all monitors and buttons, like some weird set-up for a security guard's room. Luckily, there's a bathroom, but no food, and no way to give him some of ours."

Anzu sighed, and shook her head. "Once we get all this noise cancelled out, we should tell him about that vision we had. I'm sure he'll want to hear about that."

"How are you doing, by the way?"

"It wasn't my first rodeo in the Killing Game Realm. Though I think that Queen took a few years off of my life due to the fright she gave me."

"Goodness, she almost killed you?"

"Oh, um," Anzu scratched the back of her head, before pulling on one of her blue bangs, "you see, I thought at one point she was coming after me; however, I realized I was wrong."

Hara stared at her, and asked, "Why did you think that, may I ask?"

"I, um, I felt really guilty about something bad I did last night before I fell unconscious, so I kind of felt like the Queen was coming to enact punishment on me. I'll tell you about that later, but I know it couldn't have been me the Queen was after. Why would a power-hungry bitch want a porn star?"

She chuckled, though nervous and not very convincingly. Hara's shy nature could see this, and she rested a hand on the girl's shoulder. "You can talk to us, Anzu. We're here to help each other."

"I'm serious, I'm certain she wasn't after me! I think she was after Hikari, since she was the only one of us who was in someone else's body. Maybe there was something about Angie that she wanted?"

Hara shook her head, and said, "All these questions and theories, I really hope we can get Isaac out of there soon."

"STOP THE STUPID COUNTING, WHY DOES THIS SONG HAVE TO REPEAT THE DAMN COUNTING?!"

"… Or at the least, he can turn off the music before poor Fannie has an aneurysm."

A voice called out through the maintenance room door, "I'm trying, Hara-honey!"

---

Day 16, 1:01 PM

Western Plaza

Enoshima Asylum

On the first floor of the asylum was a hallway that was darker and more dreary than any other part of the sinister building. The rooms throughout the hallway were full of outdated medical practices and the tools involved, some of them like horrendous torture chambers.

At the end were double doors that had been locked tight when people who had been in the asylum had previously tried them. This time, when Monodam led Yitro, who carried the critically injured Blake, down the hallway, the bear cub shoved open those doors with no problem.

The room was pristine, well-lit, and had an adjustable chair/bed in the center. There were numerous machines around it, mostly mechanical arms that had various medical tools at the end. A couple of these arms appeared to be laser pointers, though far more intricate than a simple guidance tool.

When Yitro had made his way into this room, carrying Blake, Monodam informed everyone else that only those with the correct qualifications could come in, or whoever was their "patient."

Crystal moved into the room out of curiosity, though didn't want to stay long. Pyrrha came in for a moment, then scurried out when she said how this room freaked her out the most. Drake and Ignatia tried to enter, but Monodam insisted that they had no authority to enter; the same was told to both Hikari and Kimiko.

Yitro had placed Blake on that patient chair, and turned towards Monodam for further instruction. The swordsman was guided to an electronic palm reader, next to a touchscreen placed on the wall. When Yitro tried one of his hands on the palm reader, it beeped in confirmation. The touchscreen lit up next to it…

[CONFIRMATION. USER: YITRO STANA.]

[DO YOU WISH TO EXPEND YOUR ONE-TIME USAGE OF THE ENOSHIMA FIX-ALL TREATMENT?]

[YES] [NO]

Yitro stared at the touchscreen, glanced over at Blake, and then sighed. "One-time usage for this bastard… very well."

He touched the [YES], and the screen lit up with a grinning Monokuma face, one with him wearing a stethoscope. The sound of machinery powering up made the room shake slightly, then the mechanical limbs around the patient chair started to move.

"Hey, what the hell is going on?" Blake shouted. A laser scanner swept his body, focusing on his bloody leg. "What is this fucking thing gonna do to me? I don't like this!"

"BE-CALM-YOU-BASTARD," Monodam instructed.

"Like hell I'm going to be calm when there's fucking machines ready to probe my asshole! Get me out of here!"

As Blake tried to pull himself out of the chair, a digital, female voice could be heard from a speaker on one of the machines. "Patient must remove all garments covering the wound."

"I ain't removing shit! You want me to take my pants off when this alien device is gonna stick a probe up my butt? Fuck that!"

Yitro growled in frustration. "Monodam, is there anything here we can use to subdue him?"

"TO-USE-THE-MACHINE-TO-ITS-FULL-POTENTIAL-WOULD-REQUIRE-SOMEONE-WITH-MEDICAL-TRAINING."

"So I cannot activate anesthetic unless I have the training, even though I used my one chance with this miracle machine?"

"TO-BE-BLUNT, YES."

"Damn, Saiko would be the only one qualified for that. Blake, could you please just let this thing do what it needs to, in order to save your Goddamn life?!"

"Like fuck you're gonna take off my pants so this fucking thing can probe my ass! I'd rather bleed to death right here and now! Get me out of here, Yitro!"

"Is our patient not behaving himself?"

Monocrow, who had flown into the room at some point that Yitro had missed, perched himself on one of the machine arms. He chuckled, and added, "Shame, your friends did so much to ensure that you can make it through this alive, and you're about to spit in their faces? Not very good of you, sir."

"Fuck off, crow," was Blake's response.

Monocrow turned towards Yitro, eyeing the swordsman and extending a wing as if to gesture vaguely. "I sensed you were in trouble, so I came over here. Now we don't want Blake to perish, so I thought I could give my assistance."

"How's that, Monocrow?" Yitro asked suspiciously.

"Monodam, my boy, could you help out our patient for the sake of getting along?"

"THAT-SOUNDS-REASONABLE. THANK-YOU, BETTER-BEING-THAN-FATHER."

Monodam jumped up onto the patient chair, and approached Blake. The pyro glared at him, until the green cub slapped him across the face.

"OW! What the fu-"

Slap. "TAKE-OFF-YOUR-PANTS." Slap. "IT-IS-FOR-YOUR-OWN-GOOD." Slap. "YOUR-BODY-REQUIRES-PRECISE…" Slap. "HUMANE…" Slap. "CARE."

As Monodam slapped Blake around until the pyro shouted he would comply, Yitro watched with a large grin on his face. Monocrow also chuckled, and said to the swordsman, "You can go check on your other friends, Yitro. We have this."

"Thanks, bird and bear. Heh, never thought I'd say that."

Yitro left this pristine medical room as the machines started up, since Blake had finally removed his pants. The sight of his bone protruding from his leg was horrific, so ghastly that even Yitro didn't want to stick around to see how the operation would go.

Out in one of the hallways of the asylum were Drake and Ignatia, having a conversation, though the cartoonist appeared a little upset to Yitro. Approaching them, he could hear Drake's almost desperate pleading.

"Why are you always so willing to leave?" he asked her. "Please, Ignatia, could you tell me that?"

Ignatia shook her head, then noticed Yitro near them. She typed on her cellphone, then showcased the message to the swordsman, [Drake's unhappy because I was going to volunteer to take Blake out of Penjar when that was the plan.]

"Really now? Why you, of all people?" Yitro inquired. "You seem to have someone who wants you to stay, Ignatia, maybe you have a purpose here."

The mime gal shook her head again, harder this time, and walked off. Drake moved to follow after, but Yitro stopped him. "You should let her have a little time alone. She's obviously got something going on, and prying won't help."

"I just wish she felt she could open up to me," Drake lamented. "I want to help her so bad, but she has these walls that she keeps up at all times, and doesn't want to let me in."

"Don't worry, one day, I'm sure you will."

Ignatia moved down the hallway, passing by one of the rooms and missing that others were in there. What was once an employee break room was now a gathering spot for several of the graduates, specifically a group of the women wanting a moment to themselves.

Hikari, Crystal, Kimiko, and Pyrrha were all sipping water while trying to think of a conversation to have. After everything they had been through, it was hard to think of where to start.

Eventually, Kimiko spoke up, running her finger around the rim of her glass. "So, um… y'all wanna knoo' how big Kaito Momota's dick is?"

When the three women stared at her, with something other than keenness in their eyes, the biker gang leader laughed. "Oh come on, I had to think of something to start a conversation with!"

"That's not exactly something we should discuss," Hikari said, shaking her head.

"Oh, I don't know," Pyrrha said with a sly smile. "There's something terribly romantic about astronauts. It's a very under-appreciated genre and profession, one that involves such bravery and skill!"

"We're not having this conversation," Crystal said rather sternly. "I'm sorry, but I'd rather try to focus on getting through the night. I've been seeing things in the shadows since I got here, I swear…"

"Yes, this place is awful, I cannot believe I agreed to stay here," Hikari admitted, swallowing down her water nervously. "But Kimiko and I promised Ishiku…"

The military adviser raised an eyebrow at her. "And what would that be?"

"Odelios is somewhere in here, but he and Fannie are in the arcade tonight since it's the last safe spot they haven't tried. He asked the two of us to find him, and see why he's staying hidden."

"Oh no," Pyrrha exclaimed. "That's right, how could we forget? Crystal, we have to look for him too!"

Crystal sighed, shaking her head. "More distractions… you're all lucky I rather like that clown. Very well, I'll assist you. It shouldn't be too hard, because after all…"

She stood up and flipped her blonde hair back, adding with a grin, "It'll be like looking for a madman in an asylum."

"That's the spirit," Pyrrha said. "Come on, you and I can look together! We'll find him first!"

After saying good-bye for now, the two left Kimiko and Hikari to themselves. The two ladies stared at each other for a minute, before the biker gang leader said, "We should probably look for him too. It's that or sitting around in an asylum."

"You honestly want to go walking around all the floors of an asylum?"

Kimiko chuckled, standing up and cracking her knuckles. "I knoo' I've bin a bit emotional during my time in this too'n, but I'm still a daredevil biker bitch. Let's go exploring, shall we?"

"While we have time, darling."

---

Day 16, 1:03 PM

Western Plaza

Third Eye Psychic's Tent

Fiora giggled excitedly, setting up the projector that had been used for the opening and closing ceremony. All of her experience with movies and projection allowed her to use her phone as a source for material.

Souma, who was slightly unnerved with the tent's bizarre objects, watched her set up the projector on the psychic's table, and then the light from it showcased the opening credits for a movie.

"Yay! I made it work," Fiora cheered. "Now we can watch my movies!"

"I'm sorry, what?" Souma stammered, glancing nervously at her.

"Oh, I have all of my work on my phone, it's specially made so I can watch them and better myself! I haven't had a chance to show anyone here my movies yet, and I thought you'd like to do so. I'd love to knoo' what you think, Souma."

Clapping excitedly, Fiora used her phone to circle through her filmography. "Which sounds best to you right now: Siberian Tigers in a Ski Lodge, Star Clasher-Blaster Master, Dusk of the Evil Undead, Holy Crap the Eye Boogers are Back, Missionary Tribadism Compilation 3…"

Fiora's eyes went wide, and she giggled nervously, blushing profusely. "Oh, um, ehehe… that's not one of mine, it's, um, a private video fur me. Joo'st forget I said that, eh! Now, um, let's see…"

She moved through her filmography more. "I also have: Gal-Axing, I Am a Teenaged Wendigo, The Soda Can, The Soda Can Recycled, The Soda Can: Energy Slam… that's the prequel to the first one, haha! What do you think?"

Souma stared at her, glancing outside as if he was considering making a break for it. "I think… I'm wondering if Monokuma will sleeping gas us sooner rather than later."

"Oh yeah, that'd be really bad if you fell asleep during a crucial part of a movie. We'd have to watch it a'geen!"

She went back to listing off her movies. Souma listened silently, constantly glancing at the tent entrance as he considered his options, very few of them involving watching one of her movies.

---

Day 16, 8:55 PM

Western Plaza

The hours went by, rather fast for the graduates inside of this ghost town. The mists swirled around the buildings and down the paths, still aggressive compared to its normal, drifting flow.

Inside of the asylum, almost everyone was wandering around the gloomy hallways and peering into the sinister rooms. Odelios was still nowhere to be found, and it was making them more concerned by the hour.

Yitro stayed in the medical room that had, surprisingly, fixed Blake's leg perfectly. There wasn't even a scar where the bone had broken through his muscle and skin, though the skin was bright pink as if it were brand new. The pyro was unconscious due to the anesthetic, and so the swordsman was able to read a book as he "watched" him.

The motel was active at first, with Shuuya, Futaba, and Ken exploring the building on both floors. Saiko was taking advantage that Crystal had left her Nintendo Switch in her old motel room, and thus she was teaching Eisei how to smash; she would be rather surprised at how fast he picked up on it, and how he made all the adorable characters very dangerous.

Fiora was leaning back in the beanbag chair at the psychic's table, giving director's commentary to Souma as they watched another movie. Souma was mentally praying harder than ever for Monokuma to bring the sleeping gas and bring him into the nightmare realm of torture and possible death, over this.

Inside of the arcade, Hara was sitting down, leaning against the door to the maintenance room. She smiled as she spoke, because despite not being with her lover, she still felt calm when talking to him.

"Tell me, Isaac," she said, "after this horrid town is finally behind us, will you take a vacation?"

"I feel that might be your area of expertise, finding a far-off place we can hike and have only ourselves as company," he said with a chuckle, also seated with his back to the door. He was watching the screens, which gave him a view of inside the arcade. "But you know, I think you'll still want some action."

"Isaac Bellamy, how well do you know me?"

"You live for the thrill of seeing places that very few eyes have seen, Hara. It's how I persuaded you to come with me on this."

"Heh, maybe I came because I love you, and I didn't want to be too far away from you for so long."

Isaac laughed, shaking his head in amazement over this woman who cared so much about him. He glanced up at the screens, and noticed some movement. "So it looks like Monocrow is talking to Anzu again."

"I wish she wouldn't be so affectionate over that bird. We don't know how sinister it truly is."

"She's also in the same room as Fannie, someone else we don't know we can trust."

"Yes, but Fannie is a person. Monocrow is a robot, or is it an animatronic?"

"No, I think that's what we call those machines on the stage. Why won't they stop moving? Damn it, why doesn't technology just work when we need it to?"

He glared at the monitors, which were broadcasting feed all over the arcade: at the front entrance, the main room on the left, the kitchen, the center arcade room, the cafeteria on the right side, the computer room, the stage, behind the stage, and in the small hallway that Hara was in.

He could see her, leaning up against the door to the maintenance room, from that feed. The reporter could also see the animatronics moving around on the stage, still acting like a robot band that were forever recklessly playing one song.

"At least you managed to get the entire soundtrack playing, sweetie," Hara said, glancing up at the speaker on the ceiling in the small hallway. The variety of music, fitting for a pizzeria/arcade, was still rather distracting and fairly loud. "Don't blame yourself, you did what you could."

"No one wants to stay in a room with those things jerking around. You know you can join the others, talk to them instead of sticking around this door."

"I want to be with you, Isaac. I know I sound a little clingy and needy, but after everything, I just want to be with the man I love as much as I can. Even just hearing your voice makes me feel like I can make it through this, that we can accomplish anything."

Isaac took a deep breath, and exhaled while a calm, sad smile formed on his face. "I love you so much, Hara Pathik."

"The feeling's mutual, my reporter sweetheart."

At the other side of the arcade, Anzu was carrying on her conversation with Monocrow. Fannie and Ishiku were trying to two-player Uno, because the actress was apprehensive about playing the game again.

"Are you three going to limit yourselves to this room?" Monocrow asked, scanning the area. "Granted, it has a lot of the pizzeria's best functions…"

"The kitchen, the ball pit, the jungle gym, arcade games, and more, so yeah, we'll be fine!" Anzu assured the bird. "We kind of have to, Fannie's utterly freaked out by the animatronic of her bear self. She doesn't want to be anywhere near that, or the others."

"And Ishi?"

There was an indignant gasp from nearby. "HEY! Only I get to call him that!"

A few Uno cards were thrown at the bird, with a Skip stuck to his face. Monocrow sighed, and muttered, "Ever the outspoken and emotional one, that one."

"So you knew the cubs before we arrived?" Anzu asked.

"Yes, I did, though they weren't cubs when I knew them. I cannot say what they were, it's a bit too complex for me to go over."

"Can you give us a hint?"

"All I can say is, their personalities are the key to what they are. Over time, they developed more from their basis, and then they became the rapscallions you know, even if they are all a little off."

"Aren't we all." She sighed and leaned back in her chair. "By the way, can't you tell us anything about the powers these buildings grant us, or however it works?"

"No, I'm not allowed to."

"Well, can you give us any information on this power stealing ability you have?"

"Not really, except that I can tell you when it will be available next."

Anzu blinked in shock, and then leaned forward. "Wait, 'next'? What do you mean?!"

"My apologies, but you are allowed to make reservations, which will delay any other requests until the ones reserved happen at their designated time," Monocrow said, smirking as he covered his beak with one of his wingtips. "I am afraid I didn't get to elaborate the details with Ishiku and Fannie when they were asking me, and you were all so frantically trying to get into these buildings and find everyone once you were all awake…

"I mean, I barely had enough time for myself, but luckily, I did get to talk to some people who were interested in working with me, with what little Monokuma left me."

Now Fannie and Ishiku were over by Anzu's table, rather stunned and shaken by what they were hearing. "There's more to this ability swap!?" Fannie asked.

"If you want to know the complete details, someone can reserve the right to do the power swap with themselves and others. Someone already has made multiple requests, and I'm just SO overjoyed.

"After being cooped up by Monokuma for so long, this bird's going all out! Hahaha! What a joy to finally do what I was made to do! It almost feels like…"

"Wait, calm down for a minute," Anzu balked. "Monocrow, what you just said… I'm begging you to tell me, did this person swap with… with…"

The actress bat her eyes, which were starting to roll up in her head. She flopped down on the table's seat, struggling to keep her increasingly dizzy self upright. Fannie and Ishiku moved over to help her, but she was fading fast.

"Ugh… so sleepy," she moaned. "The sleeping gas… already?"

"Indeed it is. Sorry, Anzu," the bird said, spreading his wings, "but part of the pact I made with this second person was that it was to be activated when the sleeping gas was released."

"Huh? What?" Fannie asked, clutching Peko's sword in its scabbard. "You mean it's going to be now?"

"Damn it, why are all these things announced at the literal last minute?" Ishiku shouted, clenching his staff. "I cannot… believe…"

The magician felt an incredible dizziness overwhelm him. He saw that Fannie was falling down next to him, but he was out of strength and consciousness within seconds. Monocrow waited a few seconds, and then flapped his wings.

Taking off through the window, the white 'n black bird soared overhead Penjar's western plaza. His gleaming red eye scanned the area, and he let out a dark laugh, then a deep sigh.

"Good night, Penjar, and… good-bye."

---

…

…

…

…

…

…

"I won't allow this…"

"Od… io… s…"

"If I could…"

"Y… un… mah… stir?"

"… end you as well."

"You mean you still don't know who you truly are?"

…

"Naw, I don't really feel like telling you now."

"Hehehe… upupupu-"

CRACK!

…

…

…

…

…

…

---

Day 16, ? ?

?

There was a sudden burst of static from multiple sources, loud and sharp enough that it, noise-wise, resembled a high-powered chainsaw ripping through the screen. Isaac flinched, as the sound was enough to shake him out of his daze.

The reporter glanced around the room, then saw that the monitors in this maintenance room were all broadcasting static. As he stood up, shaking his groggy head, he muttered, "What the hell is going on? Did I pass out or something?"

Then, much to his surprise (and consternation), Monokuma appeared on all of the screens with the music of his theater playing. Though Isaac didn't really want to watch it, there was something different about it, and it started to unnerve him…

---

(Day 16 is JUST BEGINNING!)

(Monokuma's Eulogy Presentation)

*Monokuma is plummeting down a lengthy mineshaft, holding onto a lantern as he flails helplessly.*

Monokuma - "It's 9:30 PM, do you know where your children are? Upupu, I love using that quote, despite not really knowing where it came from. Well, I know where my children are. Two of them are dead, one of them decaying and one of them scrap metal."

*Monokuma is now in what looks like a gigantic, underground city. You can see the 'sky' is actually solid rock, like inside of a huge cave. The city is full of Kumas who are all wearing raggedy clothing, scraps of leather, masks, goggles, and mining equipment.*

Monokuma - "My favorite son is right now rummaging through some girl's clothing, possibly hoping to find panties! Oh the scamp, oh the little perverted rapscallion! I do love him so! My other favorite son is, well, I don't actually know what he's doing right now. Who can tell with that one?"

*Monokuma is now running from a lot of these underground versions of himself, as they are all baring (har!) their sharp claws and sharper teeth and the sharpest of pickaxes.*

Monokuma - "And my least favorite daughter in the whole wide world…

…

…

…

"Oh dear, that is SO much blood and viscera where she be. What has she been up to? I'm sure when some of you find out, I'll get the rest of you up to investigate. Damn youths nowadays!"

"Thank you, everyone, for paying attention to this special version of Monokuma Theater. Though really…

"I just mean you, Isaac. Only you get this nice little message.

"SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS!

AHHHH HA HA HA HA HAAAA!"

---

The monitors all clicked off, and the room was flooded with light from the ceiling. Isaac flinched, and then noticed that the camera feed for the arcade was back on. He scanned them, trying to figure out what was going on.

Hara was not in the small hallway leading up to the maintenance room. He scanned the other screens, and then his eyes rested on one of them.

…

…

…

No.

Isaac clutched at his chest, his heart skipping several beats as he almost blacked out. Before he could get a grip on himself, the screens buzzed out, all replaced with footage of Monokuma standing in front of Town Hall.

"A body has been discovered! Please report to… oh, half of you are still asleep, aren't you? Okay, give the antidote to the sleeping gas a couple minutes to settle in, and I'll do this again. It's only fair that way, isn't it? Upupupu…

"AH AHAHAHAHAAHAHA! HAW! HAW HAW HAW!"

Isaac ran away from the cameras and slammed against the door to the maintenance room. "LET ME OUT," he bellowed, crashing into the door with all of his strength again. He pounded on it, so furious and desperate that he was damaging his scarred arm, but he neither noticed or cared.

"LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW!"

"HAW HAW HAW! UPUPUPUPU! AHAHAHAHA!"

"SHUT UP, YOU GODDAMN BEAR!" Isaac had tears spilling from his eyes, slamming his fists repeatedly against the door. "Please God… don't let this happen… please… please…"

As he started to slump down, he could hear someone fiddling with the door handle. Isaac almost fell forward, catching himself on the floor as he stared forward to see…

Shuuya standing in front of him with the door in hand, the motel's second floor hallway sprawling out behind him. "Isaac?!" the bounty hunter blurted out. "Wh-what the hell! How… but you're-"

Isaac sprinted forward, almost shoving Shuuya out of the way as he made his way down the hallway, down the stairs. He almost tripped over something in the lobby, nearby the front door, but nothing would stop him.

The reporter felt like his heart was going to explode out of his chest, but he kept running. The distance between the motel and the arcade felt like a hundred miles, and the mists were swirling around aggressively as if trying to push him away.

When he made it to the arcade, he sprinted inside, to the right side of the building, and hurried towards the stage…

…

…

…

…

…

…

Isaac couldn't fathom it. He couldn't register it. He stumbled forward, his whole body numb as he had to fight to keep himself from falling down.

There was so much blood on the stage, blood that soaked through a dark cloak and morph mask. Blood all around an executioner's axe, but none on the blade…

Blood was running down the side of the Monophanie animatronic. The precious life fluid was dripping down the blade of Peko Pekoyama, which was impaled inside of the machine and the body pinned up against it.

Isaac took a step forward, and could now see everything. Hara Pathik, the Ultimate Explorer, his fiancé and lover…

…

…

…

… was cradling the bloody, mutilated body of their best friend, Saiko. The sword's handle was protruding from the short woman's chest, a fatal wound amongst other deep cuts in her body, including her stomach and neck.

Saiko's eyes were cold and faded out, blood dribbling from her mouth. She seemed to be staring, almost accusingly, forward, at the person holding onto her.

Isaac flinched when there was a loud sob from nearby. Across the cafeteria, Fannie and Ishiku were staring at the scene, both thunderstruck in horror of what they were seeing. Hara also flinched at the noise that pierced through the cacophony of moving animatronics and music playing overhead; she turned, almost as stiff as the robots around her, until her eyes rested on him.

"I… saac?" she slowly said, peering up at him with tears free flowing from her eyes. She was completely covered in blood, even on her face as it mixed with the tears. She struggled to speak, her voice raspy and shaking, but she managed to say one more thing…

One more thing that made Isaac feel like he was going to fall into a black hole of despair and never see the light of day again.

"Did I kill Saiko? N-no… I… I did… no…"

Hara slumped down, and Isaac managed to catch her in time. He held her close, as she was shivering hard enough to equal a seizure. Isaac clutched Hara, as he felt himself crying too and unable to stop.

Saiko Kobayashi, the Ultimate Forensic Investigator, was dead. She was impaled through the heart with Peko's sword, just like the last victim that this blade had claimed. And all the while, the animatronics moved about, pretending to play their instruments, as if to celebrate another victory for despair.

---

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20 Survivors remain in Penjar now…