Chapter 5: Funhouse Frazzle (Part 2 - Fruitful Imprisonment)

(Coyler's note: I have a feeling that this is becoming my main writing priority. I mean,it has now become my longest fic that feels the easiest to write for. Oh well,I suppose it doesn't really matter as long as I can have some fun writing. I should probably get back to Danganronpa Wawanakwa Island at some point,and believe me I will! For now it might be best to save it for last so then that way I can focus all my time into updating it,which would probably be better for how long it is. As for Total Drama Take 2 it's basically in the middle ground. Still getting work done and it's certainly something I wanna work on,y'know? Meh,guess it'll all get sorted as I go on. Since Despair Academy has reached it's halfway point and Take 2 is nearing it's merge in the next two episodes chances are they'll both be over in a month or two depending on if I get hit with Writer's Block or not. Anyway,that's enough of my pointless rambling from my trademark writer's notes that I feel I can't write updates without. Coyler,out!)

Darkness. It was all Topher felt he could see. He was shrouded in darkness and very dreary. It was if he had somehow been knocked out and was finally coming back. Lights started to get brighter,a greenish hue enveloped his vision. He thought he could hear talking around him,and that he was shaking. As his hearing and vision returned back to him he blinked and rubbed his warm,heavy eyes. Slowly sitting up and running his fingers through his hair,all he could think was, "Fucking hell,what happened?" and "Where the fuck am I?". He lay back down and looked around before someone started shaking him again. The room was green with a continuous moving pattern across the walls and floors. "Hmm,strange. That pattern looks like...grapes?" he thought to himself. As he regained his vision properly he could see around him. There was a small flower garden around some chibi playground equipment,a large archway and hall labelled "Grape Hall",a set of the stairs to the left of the hall and an elevator directly behind him on the right side wall.

He also realised the person shaking him was Alejandro. "Wake up muchacho,get up" Alejandro said,firmly shaking him back and forth. "Aw...huh?" Topher mumbled. "Oh good,you're finally awake" said Brick as he marched over and helped the producer to his feet, "It's about time too". "What in God's name happened?" Topher asked, "All I remember is that we were in a theme park riding a roller coaster and then...we got on a train with Monokuma" he recounted. Brick nodded, "Correct my friend. It appears that Monokuma is the reason we are in this new area". "Seriously? You think the bear is the reason we woke up here?" Heather asked. "Seems most logical,if only I could remember though" added Alejandro. "I might know what's going on" said Brick, "From what I recall,we had just finished up on the roller coaster on the Fourth Island when Monokuma asked us to follow him for the next murder motive. Once we followed him and boarded the Monokuma Train outside a large structure it stands to reason that we were knocked unconscious by a sleeping gas. Upon awakening we find ourselves in a strange building,so it's clear to me that our next motive will most likely be lying in wait somewhere within these walls". Alejandro folded his arms, "An excellent assumption. Your logic certainly seems to make sense". "Indeed it does!" came a high pitched voice. Looking over to the other side of the room near the Grape Hall archway was Monokuma,who was chuckling to himself. "At last,finally we can get some answers" sighed Heather. "Answers indeed" Monokuma chortled, "Though I've gotta admit,you got me impressed Brick,right on the ball you are!". Brick titled his unibrow, "I was?". Monokuma gave him a thumbs up, "Yep yep yep! Completely right about the sleeping gas and the motive residing inside here" he explained. "So,what is it? The motive I mean" Topher asked. Monokuma rubbed his paws, "Your new motive is a real knee slapper. Here's the basic rundown. Currently you've all been brought here to The Funhouse and locked inside. The Funhouse features two sections,that of Grape House where you are now and Strawberry House,which can be accessed through the elevator over there" he explained. "Strawberry and Grape House? I'm beginning to sense a theme" said Bridgette. "Like what? That we're gonna be locked in food themed buildings with no food?" Harold joked,making the others laugh,including Monokuma. "Woah,incredible! You figured out the motive all by yourself Harold,surely that's a new record!" Monokuma announced.

The others laughed. "Heh heh,riiiiight" said Heather. "A funny joke sir" added Brick. Monokuma titled his head, "A joke? Hmm,how curious,I never mentioned it was a joke. I'm 100% dead serious!". Lindsay gasped, "So Harold was right? Oh no!". "Oh yes!" Monokuma retorted, "This motive is just as Harold said. From now until the next murder is committed you'll all remain locked inside the fabulous Funhouse with no food to speak of! Believe me,you can search as hard you want but you'll find not a single crumb. Nadda. Zero. Kaput. You got that?". Heather scoffed, "Locked inside some buildings themed around food despite having no food to speak of. Just great". "Definitely great for me,considering this really is a do or die situation" said Monokuma, "Since you don't eat until someone bites the dust,it means that this could equate to at least one murder and one executed blackened to get out OR every last one of you wither away into nothingness" he explained. Topher sighed, "Dam,talk about rough. I thought we were just gonna have a day the fair. Guess I was wrong on that front". "So very very wrong my dear chap" Monokuma chuckled in a fake British accent. He waved his paw, "Alrighty,everybody follow me for the grand tour of your new home!".

Topher monologue: We were given a tour around the two buildings that would become our new home. First Monokuma took us around Grape House. On the first floor were shown Grape Tower,which was just a tall tube that we couldn't see the ceiling of with green lights. Across the tower was the door to Strawberry House. Next we visited the second floor of Grape House where the dorms were. There were five rooms in total. Two deluxe rooms that were sound proof and had lavish furnishing,two normal rooms that were similar to our cabins and lastly one room that was basically like a garden shed,very cold and dirty. According to Monokuma,the exact same room layouts are across the other side of the building in Strawberry House. On the third floor we found very little. Just a mini museum dedicated to Monokuma,which he called the Monokuma Archive. There was pictures and items that looked as if they were old. Surely something like this killing game hasn't happened before,right?

After getting into the elevator on the first floor we were taken to Strawberry House. On the first floor there was a statue of some woman called 'Ms Enoshima',as written on the bronze nameplate. Definitely suspicious. My assumption is that she might potentially be someone behind this whole ordeal. Either that or it's just a random statue to add to the room. On the right of the statue was Strawberry Tower. Upon entering we found we were just back in Grape Tower,only with red lights instead of green. Still on the first floor was a room labelled 'Final Dead Room',which according to Monokuma was a super hard test that could only be attempted once,with the prize being 'the secret of the Funhouse'. He also told us that anyone who passes can go in and out without needing to redo the challenge. We briefly looked at the second floor to see that it was indeed the same as the Grape House dorms. On the third floor there wasn't anything special,just another one of those small flower gardens like from the first floor of Grape House. Once the tour was finished,Monokuma left us to ourselves.

*Strawberry House Garden - Floor 3*

"Geez,this place really is a prison" grumbled Lightning as he leaned against the wall. "Dare I say it's 'fruitful imprisonment',right?" said Harold. "I guess you could say it's 'fruitful' to escape" added Bridgette. "So you're saying an attempt would come up 'fruitless'?" asked Lindsay. The three laughed at their bad puns,while the others groaned at how bad the puns were. "If there was an award for not being funny,you guys would've tied" snarked Heather. "You got that right" agreed Scarlett. Brick ran his fingers across his unibrow to either end a few times,clearly trying to think. He brought a fist down into an open palm, "Okay,for the time being it seems we should just try and settle ourselves. Nothing that we can do right now,so keeping our spirits high is the best option" he explained. "We should also limit heavy movements and stuff so that we don't waste our energy. Without food,loads of exercising would make us drop weight right down to the bone" said Bridgette. "Just our sha-luck that we got loads of stairs up in this joint" Lightning complained, "And another sha-thing! How in God's sha-name can The Sha-Lightning keep up his sexy muscles and big broad sha-shoulders when he can't eat,work out or digest that sweet sweet protein?!". Topher placed a hand on the athlete's shoulder, "Don't worry dude,you'll never lose muscles like that" he assured him. "Believe me man we are ALL in this for the long haul,for better or worse" reminded Brick. He bent one arm against his waist and struck another in the air, "RIGHT! First thing's first,I believe we should begin by establishing our living quarters!" Brick suggested.

Lindsay gave a thumbs up, "Yep yep! That's totally a good idea Brick!". Ella nodded in agreement, "Definitely the best thing to do!". "Sounds good. How do we go about it?" asked Bridgette. "Hmm,maybe we could draw straws?" Alejandro asked,tapping his chin. Harold and Topher folded their arms and nodded. "Good idea man" they said simultaneously. "The only question is...anyone got any straws?" Scarlett chuckled. The others all mumbled and scratched their heads,unable to bring out anything useful. Scarlett then had an idea and walked over to the flower beds,picking up a handful of flours and using her teeth to cut them into different lengths. "Here" she said, "We can use these". "Great idea Scarlett" said Harold as he took the flowers. "Yeah,with these we can decide who gets what room. The longest for the deluxe rooms,the medium length for the regular rooms and the shortest for the shit rooms" said Topher, "Since there's only ten of us,maybe we should split the guys and girls up between the two houses?". "Radical idea!" agreed Bridgette. Heather filed her nails, "I guess that would work. Myself and the other girls can stay in Grape House. The guys'll just have to put up with Strawberry House till we get outta here". Brick clicked his fingers, "Excellent thinking guys! Now,let's sort out these rooms!".

Topher monologue: And so we drew flowers to decide who would get each room. As Heather said,the girls and guys would be split between the two houses,though knowing Brick and Ella I imagine they'll probably bend the rules a tad to be with each other. On the guys side,Harold and Brick were staying in the deluxe rooms. Myself and Lightning were in the mediocre rooms and Alejandro was in the shitty room,much to his annoyance. Over on the girl's side,Scarlett and Lindsay were in the deluxe rooms,Bridgette and Ella in the regular rooms and Heather in the not-so good room. Would've been nice to have a deluxe room with soundproof walls and a big fancy bed,but I suppose I should be grateful to not be in drafty dump dorm. Wouldn't exactly be very cash money. Upon assigning rooms,I headed to my dorm to take a nap.

A few hours later,Topher woke up from his nap. He took some stretches and changed back into his clothes. He adjusted his hair in the mirror above the room's dresser, "Heh,looking excellent as always Tophman. Now,who should I go and hang out with today?" he asked himself. Walking out of his room he wandered around. He later found himself standing outside of Strawberry Tower. He pressed the button to open the doors,but they didn't open. "Strange. Did something break?" he wondered. A few seconds later the doors opened and the red hue pulsed through. Stepping inside he couldn't help but look up. "It's odd that I can't see the ceiling. Maybe it's because of the bright lights" he muttered to himself. "Maybe Monokuma's just tryna hide a bad patch job?" came a voice. Topher turned around to see Harold. He waved, "Yo Harold,what's up man?" Topher greeted. Harold shrugged, "Nothing much really. Just jacked off to Mt Lady in my deluxe room. Y'know,the usual stuff". Topher had a face of surprise, "Oh...that...uh...that's nice". "Want me to show you my material? Trust me,some of it is pure gold!" Harold exclaimed. Topher sighed, "Well,it has been weeks since I got to have some proper man time to discuss women with a pal. Sure,why the hell not. As long as you don't ask me to drop the belt or drop yours I'm cool with it" he chuckled uncomfortably. Harold clicked his fingers, "Awesome! C'mon,I'll show to the album I smuggled in. I always keep loads of pictures in my wallet just in case".

Topher monologue: I spent some time discussing and ranking anime girls with Harold. Not exactly my proudest moments,but some good laughs were had.

Harold put his palms together and pushed them down to click his knuckles, "Question,do you play any video games?" he asked. "Video games?" said Topher. He shook his head, "Not really. I do play Candy Crush when waiting for stuff or Mario Kart at home but that's about it" Topher explained. "You really should invest in some systems and software. Nothing better than sitting down with a good collection to play for hours on end" said Harold. "I would,but finding the time to play that kinda stuff would be tricky" said Topher, "Like,what sort of stuff do you play?". Harold's eyes lit up, "I play lots of stuff! My favourite genres are probably platformers and collectathons though I do enjoy a good open sandbox,shooter or racing game. As for party games,they work best with three or four people,it's never really fun to play that kinda thing on your own" Harold explained. Topher quirked an eyebrow, "What's a collecathon?". Harold pushed up his glasses, "A collecathon is apart of the platforming,basically where you run around just collecting stuff". "Is the 'stuff' important or whatever?" Topher asked. Harold shrugged, "It depends. Usually you've just got to collect loads of stuff to unlock different progression gates in different areas,but the main reason is just because there's a huge satisfaction a player gets by running around collecting everything possible. I'd say Banjo-Kazooie is one of the best examples,that's definitely a F.G.O.A.T" Harold explained,smiling as he thought about the game. Topher laughed, "A what?". "A F.G.O.A.T,it stands for Favourite Game Of All Time" Harold replied, "I've got loads of games that fit into the category for me. Banjo-Kazooie I already mentioned but there's also others like Mega Man X,Mega Man X4,Link to the Past,Skyrim,Pikmin 1,Sonic 3 and Knuckles and Crash Team Racing. All of them are so much to play through,they never get old!" Harold exclaimed. "I think I've played Mega Man X and Sonic 3 before" said Topher,tapping his chin, "When I was younger I used to watch my Dad play them all the time. He always let me sit next to him and sometimes even play. I loved spending that time with him,because he was always working so I never really got to see him much" he reminisced. Harold smiled, "That's why video games are so special. Each game across the world can invoke feelings of nostalgia and bring us some of the happiest moments in life" he said. "Couldn't agree more" Topher added, "What's a game you've got some heavy hitting memories for?". Harold rubbed his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "That's a toughie" he rasped, "Maybe when I first got Minecraft on the Xbox 360" he said,landing on a choice, "I had gotten from a rough day at school. I woke up late,got in trouble,some bullies ruined my work and projects and it rained on my walk home from school. After walking into my house and having a cup of tea,my Mom walked in. After telling her how shit my day was,she suddenly told me she was going out to the store for some stuff. I shrugged it off and went upstairs to work on my drawing for a manga I was working on" Harold explained,recounting the story. "What happened when she got back? Did she buy you the game?" Topher asked. Harold clicked his fingers, "Bingo. I had wanted to own the game for ages when I watched some older YouTubers make videos on it. Knowing this when my Mom came home she went up to my room and handed me something in a GameStop bag. I reached in and there it was,in it's blocky glory. Since my Xbox Live had run out the game was stuck in Version 12,but I didn't care. I relished every second and ran home after school everyday to play. It was one of few games that made me feel at genuine peace" Harold smiled,looking down at a clenched fist with a small,single tear running down his cheek. Topher also smiled to himself. "He really does care deeply about video games and nerding out,like it holds a special place in his heart. Without it,Harold just wouldn't be himself. I think myself and Harold grew a lot more closer today" Topher thought to himself.

As time passed,Topher and Harold continued to talk. They felt like they could go on forever,but were stopped when a voice came over the loudspeakers of both Strawberry and Grape House demanding that every student should report to Grape Tower. Picking themselves up,Topher and Harold left the deluxe suit and got the others before walking into the elevator and heading for Grape House. Upon exiting they headed for Grape Tower,where they met the girls and Monokuma. "Welcome boys and girls!" Monokuma announced, "It's time for something very special!". "Is it Old Spice body wash?" Brick asked. "Wha? No,it isn't body wash Brick" Monokuma snapped, "Since you guys have decided to not move around so as to not waste energy,I've decided that at 11am each day you'll all take part in 'Monokuma's Super Happy Fun Go Time Training Boot Camp' to strengthen your muscles!". "Oh you gotta be kidding me" moaned Heather. "Seriously? A boot camp is just gonna make us more tired and sha-stuff!" added Lightning. Ella placed a hand on his back, "I think that may possibly be the point". Alejandro leaned against one of the four stone pillars in the tower, "Do you expect us to begin now?". Monokuma shook his small head, "Not at all,not just yet! Tomorrow I'll expect you all to be here at 11am. All the clocks are set to ring at 11am,though if someone murders the sessions will be cancelled. That won't stop the clocks from droning,so keep that in mind" he clarified. "What a bummer,was hoping to at least get loads of sleep while here" quipped Bridgette. Monokuma started walking off, "That's it for now,ta-ta all!". He left the tower,leaving the students standing in the green lights.

Topher monologue: The next few days were certainly challenging to say the least. Every day we were woken up 11am by the clocks in the respective house lounges,though we did have to wake up those in the deluxe rooms as they were soundproof and lacked any types of clocks. Monokuma pushed us to the limit as the days passed on and on. We were growing hungrier and weaker with each passing minute. Despite all this,there was no killing or violence. We knew we couldn't cave to Monokuma's demands. And honestly,maybe it would've been better for us to all die as pals rather than two or three people sacrificing themselves. Brick did try and retain order and spent a lot of time with Ella,obviously. I also found myself attached to Harold and Bridgette. Those two made a dark,despair inducing incident seem fun in a weird sense. Things were seemingly lightening up,though I did have a pretty close call last night. It was during a mind clearing walk I had been on...

The lights on Strawberry House were a dim,dark red. Topher slowly walked down the stairs so he could go to Strawberry Tower since he was feeling stressed and found it a good place to let off steam. He scratched the back of his neck as he walked down through the crimson halls. As he reached the bottom,he could hear voices. Slowing down,he took a peak around the corner to see what was going on and was careful to not be spotted. Outside the Final Dead Room was Brick and Ella,who were having a conversation that Topher decided to listen in on.

Ella paced back and forth, "I can't believe you actually went in there! W-what if you had died?" she said nervously. "Ha, 'what if I died?',do you hear yourself woman?" Brick scoffed, "As if a little escape room would be enough to do me in". Ella sighed and put her arms around her. Brick sighed too,walking over and putting a hand onto her shoulder, "Look. we're in a crisis here. It's been days since we've been fed,everyone is starting to lose hope. Makes me sick seeing everyone sitting around just waiting to die. If I didn't go in there to try find even a scrap of food,no one would've" he explained. "I...I s-suppose that's true" said Ella. She weakly smiled, "You always do your best to think about us all,don't you?". "Of course I do. Wouldn't be able to call myself a man if I didn't try my best to protect those who can't protect themselves" smiled Brick. Ella looked up at him and gave a weak laugh, "My hero" she whispered. "Yep" Brick chuckled. He looked at the doors of the Final Dead Room, "a...hero".

"Whew,this is some serious shit" Topher thought to himself behind the corner, "I'm not sure I was meant to hear any of that". "C'mon,I'll take you back to Grape House and help you get to bed. We've got more work to do tomorrow" said Brick. Ella smiled and titled her head,putting one arm around Brick as they walked towards the elevator. As the doors closed,Topher could see them leaning in to kiss each other. "Yep,some heavy stuff right there. I bet putting her to bed ain't all he'll be doing" Topher muttered. He turned around and walked back upstairs to his room. The dim lights gently flashed across his face as he returned to his room. "Let's hope something good can happen tomorrow. At this point I'll take anything if it means some food. It took some time,but eventually he was comfortable.

He drifted in and out of sleep and being awake. At one point he could've sworn he was losing his mind. He thought he could hear an alarm ringing,but wasn't sure what time it was. "I must be crazy from hunger" he mumbled. Another time that same night,he thought he heard a loud crash. Too tired get out of bed,and assuming it was just his imagination. He closed his eyes once more,returning to sleep. Tomorrow would certainly bring food. He just didn't know it yet.

-END OF PART 2-

(Coyler's note: Sorry that this one took so long,I guess writer's block has returned to me once more. That and school has been a nightmare with all the work they've been loading onto me,you'd swear I was a fucking Liberty Ship or some shite. Hope you enjoyed Harold this chapter,I definitely wanna use him more if I can. Though I won't spoil whether or not he'll get to be around for more,heh heh. Glad I could finish this update,hope it was a good time. Coyler,out!)