Chapter 1-2: Keys to a grim Future
"Boss, you sure it was a good idea to send those kids to HQ? I mean… They just survived the Hell up there… Now this?"
"You know the orders. Anyone who gets here gets sent there. They need all the help they can get if we want to end this Tragedy outside." Myo said in annoyance.
"I know I know… Uf. Those stairs are always so damn annoying." Bravo sighed.
"Talking big for someone who's not carrying a corpse." The other Rabbit mercenary growled as he was carrying on his shoulder the Despair corpse that fell on the elevator.
"Alright, we're almost there. There should be four more Despair outside, kill on sight."
"Yes, Ma'am!"
The moment they set foot outside the storehouse, the Despair noticed them and immediately rushed towards them for some kills, unaware of who they were preying on. It didn't take a single minute for the Rabbit Mercenary trio to kill the four fools.
"Alright, let's resume the plan again."
"We dispose of the Despair corpses on their truck being remotely controlled towards the closest city and get rid of the kids' cars." Myo explained.
"The truck has destroyed wheels."
Myo sighed, looks like this will take time, maybe they'll find a few wheels big enough in the Facility or storage. They should be quick. What if the kids were being followed…
It was pretty dark in the room, and yet they all saw what happened clearly.
The many many red eyes of the creature that was standing behind Naegi glowed in the dark… And that lantern it was holding illuminated the scene just brightly enough for everyone to see the monster's beak eat the Luckster's head.
Naegi was dead.
His headless body stumbled a bit backwards before falling on its butt, sitting on the ground… like… like a lifeless doll, but without the head.
Because Naegi was dead.
The monster's eyes turned back to yellow and locked on the rest of the deceased's classmates. It took a few steps forward, shing its lantern and not even giving a glance at the body sitting at its feet, as if it wasn't there at all.
Because Naegi was dead.
Naegi was dead.
He. Was. DEAD.
Sayaka was the first to finally react by letting out a deafening scream of anguish, bringing everyone out of their terrified and shocked stupor. The monster was now headed towards them.
Mukuro quickly got in a fighting stance and reached for her knife only to notice that it wasn't there, instead she had some sort of riot baton. She cursed under her breath, the tears in her eyes threatening to roll down her cheeks.
She grabbed the weapon and pointed it towards the monster that was still walking towards the group. Trying to keep her composure and emotions in check. But her mind was against that, she wanted to scream like Sayaka, angry that she couldn't keep Naegi safe.
But she was also scared, that creature that she never saw before ate the head of her friend in one bite, that… that…
"What the hell are you guys doing here?!" a voice suddenly shouted from behind them, "Wait aren't you… Damnit! No time for that! Yoon, Sanchez, Eva, you keep Big Bird busy while I take this… very damn large group to safety! Red should be joining you shortly." the man said.
"Aye Connor!" the three other people shouted.
"Let's go! Follow me!" He shouted to the young adults.
Togami and Mondo nodded and after shouting the instruction to the rest, they all followed that tall man, Connor, outside the Departement, away from the Abnormality.
Away from Naegi's remains.
"Alright. We should be safe here." Connor sighed as he led the big group in the Purple Department, "Well… If you guys are here… Where's Naegi?" he looked around with a smile.
Connor was a very tall man, he had long brown hair and hollow cheeks with small dark green eyes. He was wearing a grey overall: grey suit and pants with a black tie, a large grey coat that had a weird leg-like pattern on it in different shades of grey and he had a glowing black heart with blue border adorning his chest.
At hearing the name of their deceased friend, the Ultimates all looked down with dreaded expressions. Connor knew that look oh so well, and it didn't take long for him to put two and two together.
"Oh… So it was him upstairs who… Bummer." he sighed.
"'Bummer'...? 'Bummer'?! Our friend… Just died! What the Hell are you saying, 'Bummer'?!" Asahina exclaimed with tears in her eyes.
"Hina… Please calm down…" Sakura said in a sad tone as she put her hand on her friend's shoulder.
"Bu-..." the swimmer started but only broke down to tears.
Connor raised an eyebrow and quickly understood the mood, "Oh I see, first time, huh?" he said, "I'm sorry… Listen. The day is almost over so come with me, I'll bring you to where you'll spend the night." he said before turning around.
Shortly afterward, an alarm was heard around the Facility.
"Yup, day's over."
"Well, this is the living room. You weren't supposed to come today so your rooms are not ready yet, sorry." Connor apologized, "Make yourselves comfortable. We'll talk tomorrow… Also pyjamas are in this cabinet if you need them." he pointed at the furniture in the corner of the large room, "Good night." he finished and left.
No one said a word or moved after this one sided exchange. Their thoughts just went back on what was actually happening to them...They escaped the Killing Game of Hope's Peak… Survived for a month outside in a World of Despair… Somehow reached a facility of Lobotomy Corp… Only to get transported to the final one standing… and…
And…
And Naegi died.
This time Chihiro was the first to break the silence with a sob as memories of their time with Naegi flooded their mind. Then one by one, the Ultimates started to tear up and cry the death of their dear friend. The ones who weren't straight out crying like Sakura or Mondo had tears falling down their cheeks as they looked angrily at some corner of the room for not being able to save the young man. And the ones who would never want to be seen crying did their utmost best to hide the tears in their eyes.
No one said a word, leaving the tears and sadness to do all the talking needed for at least a couple of hours.
Once everyone calmed down and dried their tears, Kirigiri spoke up.
"Alright everyone… We need to plan what is our next step of action."
"What do you mean?" Hiro asked.
"What she means," Togami interrupted to explain, "is that the reason Lobotomy Corporation drugged us and put us in Employee suits is because they want to force us to work for them and die in the hand of those monsters."
"R-Really? But do we really have the stats to survive in this place?!" Yamada screeched.
"I mean, even Naegi who had more experience…" Leon started, looking down.
"Which is why we're going to escape this place." Kirigiri said in a determined way, not a single trace of incertitude in her voice, "That's what Naegi would have wanted."
"She's right. He risked his life to even save me a month ago and would do the same to everyone in this room." Mukuro added.
They all nodded.
"But how exactly are we supposed to leave? We got here by teleporter and we were unconscious during the process." Chihiro asked.
"There's no way that we'll be able to leave immediately… We have no choice but to play their game until we find a way out." Togami announced, "Which means there's a possibility…"
"That some of us might meet the same fate as Naegi."
Everyone got quiet at that remark, none of them wanted to die. They survived this long... They can't die like this!
"For now I propose that we try to adapt as best as we can and follow their instructions tomorrow." Celeste suddenly said, "It's best that we don't try to fight them back… for now."
"Holly crap, I totally forgot what you looked like without the goth lolita outfit and drills expansions." Hiro said, earning a glare from the gambler.
"Don't remind me…" she hissed… "I hope I can get some new ones soon…"
"We're going to survive this! We won't let Naegi's memory disappear with us!" Mondo exclaimed.
And after more chatter, they all agreed to try and sleep for the night and prepare themselves for what awaits them the next day. But even after all those encouraging words, no one managed to sleep and they were still fearing about what would come next.
The next morning, a tall, almost bald man with wide eyes and an emotionless expression entered the ex-students 'room'. He was wearing a big black cloak covered in bandages with some black feathers at the collar, he had one hand in his pocket.
Everyone was awake and ready to go.
"Oh. You guys are actually gonna behave nicely? Didn't expect that." the man said with a monotone voice, "Looks like I won't need to use it. Please follow me." he said and turned around.
The large group exchanged some looks and nodded, they needed to play the part to not raise any suspicions…
The bald man introduced himself quickly and nonchalantly as Armageddon, 'a top level employee' he added.
"...most of the time." he finished, making a couple of people raise an eyebrow.
The strange man brought the ex-students in a large room where Connor was waiting for them and smiled when he saw the group.
What was very particular about the room was the machine… It looked like an arcade one. It was rather bland and classic looking. But what really stood out was the big white box shaped object attached to the back of the machine, the box had some gold straps on the side and a big neon sign with the word 'EXTEND' on it.
"Ah Armageddon, you brought them. Did you-" Connor said to his co-worker
"No. They followed pretty calmly. Do you have the key?" the partially bald man answered and asked.
"Yeah. Right there." the long haired man answered by taking some little X shaped object from his pocket.
"Alright then, I'll leave you to it. I'm going back to work. Nothing There won't be calm by itself…" the employee said before leaving the room without saying any other word to the students.
The group all had their gaze focused on the long haired man who was approaching the machine.
"Watch this." he said with a smile as he inserted the object in his hand into the arcade machine.
The machine then suddenly came to life, making some 8-bit sounds and a text appeared on the screen.
DO YOU WANT TO USE LOB POINTS TO EXTEND THE DATA ON THE X-KEY?
YES NO
Connor used the joystick on the machine to change the pointer on 'YES' and pressed a button. The text changed.
COMMAND CONFIRMED✰
DO YOU WANT TO USE EXTRA LOB POINTS TO INCREASE STATS?
YES NO
Connor this time pressed the 'NO' button.
COMMAND CONFIRMED✰
The machine then turned off and loud noises could be heard from the box. And after half a minute of noises, a very big compartment opened up like a drawer on its side, some blue light glowed from the component.
"Well? Anyone wants to take a look?" the tall man asked with a smile once he saw what was inside the large drawer.
No one dared to move, feeling uneasy about whatever was inside except for Kirigiri who frowned with determination and walked forward. She glanced at the drawer and what she saw made her eyes go wide and her iron mask fell for more than just a few seconds as she brought her gloved hands to her mouth and let out a loud gasp.
"Wh-What the-?!" she exclaimed.
"Ah, he's waking up." Connor said.
"What is inside?" Togami demanded.
"It's-it's…" Kirigiri stammered.
Inside the compartment, floating in a blue liquid and with the same cross object on the belly was…
...Naegi Makoto.
Naegi slowly opened his eyes as he heard voices around him. He instinctively reached out, grabbed the border of the box he was in and pulled himself out. He was confused… He remembers being face to face with Big Bird then… darkness…
"Urgh… Wh-What happened?"
He doesn't even remember what he was doing in that box… soaking in that strange water… Also why were all his friends looking at him like that… And why was he naked?
Wait, what.
He looked down and turned all red.
"WHY AM I NAKED?!" he exclaimed and brought his hands to cover his privates.
"Let me get some clothes for you." Connor smirked before walking away to give some space to the group of friends.
"M-McIlton-san?"
"Naegi-kun… Is that really you?" Sayaka asked with a trembling voice.
"NO!" Togami suddenly exclaimed, pointing at the naked should-be-dead classmate, "I can accept Teleportation, Monsters and weird Organisations but this! Human Resurrection? No! That's not possible! Naegi. Is. Dead!" he shouted some more, shaking his head in disbelief.
"He's right! That means he's a g-g-g-g-g-ghooooost!" Hagakure exclaimed in horror.
"What?!" Yamada screeched with him.
"What?" Naegi said in confusion.
"Everyone SHUT UP!" Sayaka yelled, silencing everyone, she turned once more towards Naegi, tears in her frowning eyes, "Is that really you?"
"Y-Yes! How could it not be me?"
"But you… Died… I-If you're really Naegi Makoto! Tell me something only he could know!" the Idol exclaimed.
"Uh… Alright. But are you sure you want me to say it in front of everyone?"
At this statement, the blue haired girl blushed and approached the still naked brunet who blushed even harder. She leaned forwards so he could whisper what he was about to say to her. After he told her, her eyes went wide, she took one step back as tears suddenly poured out of her eyes.
And just as suddenly, she jumped in his arms, crying out his name.
"A-Ah! Maizono-san wait!" Naegi stammered.
Seeing the scene and confirmation that Naegi was there and alive, other students started to approach and join in a group hug.
"WAAAAAAIT!" He screamed, "Everyone, back! I'm naked here!" he yelled some more, his face red as a tomato.
His friends all stop in their movement, realizing that it was indeed true that the Luckster was standing in front of them completely naked with his hands covering his private parts. Some started to grin while most looked away, blushing. They were all so focused on seeing their friend alive that they ignored the fact he was in his birthday suit during all the exchange.
"And here's your clothes." Connor said, suddenly beside him and giving him some folded employee suit and underwear.
Naegi immediately grabbed the clothes to better hide his nether region.
"You can dry and get dressed behind the Extend machine." the older man pointed at the machine Naegi came out of.
He nodded, his face still flushed and walked towards the space to change.
That's when Mondo decided to jab at him.
"Hey Naegi! Nice ass!"
The Luckster let out some gibberish screech as he threw a hand behind him to cover his butt while walking faster, making everyone, even Connor laugh.
A few minutes later, Naegi came back to his group, dressed this time. his face was still a bit flushed from the previous embarrassment. Some of his friends were looking at him with grins on their faces, making him send a non-threatening glare at them.
"Alright, I guess you have a lot of questions. We have some time before your next meeting with some higher ups, so ask away." Connor grinned.
"Alright then." Togami said before anyone else then pointed at the machine, "What on Earth is this thing that can bring the dead back to life?"
"This is Abnormality Tool T-09-0∞0, the Extend Machine." The man started, "While it does bring people from the dead, there is some catch." he started.
The Extend Machine was an old arcade machine that lost most of its secondary functionalities. But the main one was still active and vital for Lobotomy Corporation's final stand against the Despair in the outside world: Extend lives, but only if you had enough points.
Those points, that the company renamed 'Lob Point', are obtained at the end of a successful day with a score determined by the Abnormality depending on the number of casualties. Those points can be used to extend the lives of fallen employees and also to make them stronger during this new extended life until they fall again.
But one of the lost functionalities of the machine was resistance to certain death factors, for example if you died by being crushed, in your extended life your body would be more resistant and would have survived from being crushed to a certain limit. The only second functionality available is the 'trauma of death resistance' that you get when you extend your life for the first time.
"That is pretty accurate… I mean. I clearly remember dying by Big Bird's beak… And I feel scared of that thought… but way less that I expected." Naegi blinked, reaching a hand to his neck, the brief feeling of having his head decapitated sending a chill down his spine.
And finally the most important part of the Extend Program is the X-Key. This object stores every data and memories of the person who is connected to it. It heals all kinds of damage prior to one year before the first data-save.
"What exactly does this OP item look like?"
"Didn't you guys notice yet? Naegi had one on his belly, over his belly button. That's an X-Key. In fact, you all have one!" Connor said.
At hearing that, everyone touched their stomach or checked it and gasped at seeing that instead of the little hole was a metallic X.
The X-Key can't be detached from the body and if the body dies, at the end of the day the corpse will turn to ashes leaving only the employee's clothes, not EGO equipment, and the Key behind.
For some reason, the Abnormalities can't destroy an X-Key, even if the employee gets devoured or absorbed, the X-Key will remain behind or will be spit out.
"But… if we have the X-Key on us right now…" Chihiro started.
"Y-Yes… It means you all died when arriving once already. The portal makes accidents like that. Um… Y-You should ask a higher-up for more information..." Connor looked away, suddenly losing all the smiles and confidence he showed until now.
It was clear for at least four of the Ultimates here… he was lying. Something else happened. Something that he didn't know or couldn't tell them.
Before anyone could ask more questions, a small woman with green hair barged in the room.
"Ah! There you are! Malktuth is waiting for you!"
"F-Frikss-san?!" Naegi exclaimed.
"Oh hey kid! Long time no see!"
"B-B-But-" the Luckster stammered, he clearly remembers that she… died or something.
"Extend Machine. You know the drill by now, Naegi." Pauline Frikss smirked.
"She's right though. A Sephirah wants to meet you to talk in more detail of the situations you all are in now." Connor clasped his hands together and led the way, "Follow me."
"You heard him, kids. Let's go."
The students were starting to get increasingly nervous. They all died already? But when? And with the X-Key on them… can they even leave this place anymore?
Baka's notes: So yeah, I used the Extend Machine from Zanki Zero and made it an Abnormality to explain the Lob Points and Character maker in the game.
Hope you liked the chapter!
Next will be either Slayer or 5in1 Bride (finally!)