Chiaki blinks, suddenly snapping out of her thoughts. 'Wait, is it just me, or does everything look a lot dimmer than it was a few minutes ago?' She looks above, and sees that there's a bunch of dark clouds looming above them.
"My, the weather appears to be rather unusual." Sonia comments as she looks up at the sky as well. "It's a shame I neglected to bring an umbrella for today."
Souda, in contrast with that, nervously mutters, "It's not going to rain right now, is it?" as he pulls his beanie even further on top of his head. It's faint, there's also a few more squeaks coming out from him too, though it's getting muffled by the loud crackling from the skies.
Those weird squeaking noises aside, a frown goes over Chiaki's face as she considers that possibility. 'If it's going to rain, it just had to happen right when I still haven't found my hoodie too.'
The skies grow even darker, and it didn't take long before everyone starts muttering on whether they should get going to their cottages by now or not. Despite all the different signs pointing to it though, weirdly enough, not even a single raindrop has fallen from the sky. Instead, the crackling noises grow louder and louder, almost like something is coming closer to their location.
"Oh no…" Alter Ego fearfully whispers, his eyes widening. "T...This isn't supposed to happen at all."
Being one of the people who are nearest to him at the moment, Chiaki immediately turns around to look at Alter Ego as soon as she heard him said that. 'What…what does he mean by that?' As she studies the increasing fear on the smaller boy's face, she suddenly realizes that something isn't right with this at all.
Alter Ego turns to face them all. The friendly smile and somewhat shy temperament he had is totally gone, his face now looking a lot more serious than how he was not too long ago. He yells at them in a surprisingly firm voice, "Everyone, you should all get out of here right now!"
Kuzuryu crosses her arms, huffing as she demands him in an eerily calm tone, "Maybe tell us first what the hell is going on? Weren't you the one who roped us into this shit in the first place?"
Alter Ego bites his lip, and then he shakes his head in dismay. "I'm sorry, but there's no time to explain right now, so please, just go—"
In the end, despite Alter Ego trying his best to warn everyone, no one was able to take even a step out of there, and something suddenly pops up and jumps out somewhere from the center statue. The…thing, whatever it was, eventually lands back right in front of them. And now, everyone can see what it is.
For starters, it looks like a stuffed bear animatronic of some sort, with one half being white, and the other being black. The white side of the bear looks normal enough, more or less looking like a stuffed toy, but the black side of the bear has a twisted grin and an oddly-shaped eye that glows red. Chiaki isn't sure why, but there's something about the bear that gives her the chills.
The reactions are immediate. Tsumiki fearfully steps back, her eyes going wide as she squeals at a higher pitch than before, before tripping from behind and proceeded to fall on her rear. There are some others who reacted similarly as Tsumiki did, such as Souda and Hanamura running behind everyone else.
At the same time, there are others who are most likely, still afraid of what their situation has turned into, but they stand their ground regardless. Some, like Nidai and Sonia, even stay close to the others in case if things do go south.
And then, there's Tanaka, who immediately comes forward to directly face the strange stuffed bear. Kuzuryu does the same thing, albeit with an air of pride around her, and Pekoyama follows closely behind her.
The weird stuffed bear didn't say or do anything yet. It stays right there on the same spot, somewhat slumping forward in its current position, as if it really is a stuffed toy.
Tanaka steps forward, closing his distance with the stuffed bear by at least less than a meter away. He crosses his arms, narrowing his eyes at it in disgust of some sort, like he's personally offended by its existence. "Is this some kind of pitiful attempt at comedy? I never thought that I'd lay my eyes on such an abomination."
Kuzuryu, on the other hand, didn't come as close to the bear like the team manager did, more or less sneaking a peek at it whenever she can. "What the hell is this thing?" She mutters out loud in disbelief, more or less repeating the team manager's main point in a much cruder way.
At that moment, the bear starts moving, startling everyone once it finally did. A somewhat high-pitched voice comes out from it as it faces them. "Aww, that kinda hurts! You guys really don't remember me at all?" The bear stands up, raising its arms as it introduces itself, "Why, it's your good old despair buddy, Monokuma! Aren't you all glad to see me again?"
Chiaki stares at the stuffed bear, wondering if she heard any of that right. 'Why is it talking? And what does it mean by us not remembering it at all? I…I don't remember seeing this bear from anywhere before.'
"What the fuck?! Did it seriously just talk?!" Kuzuryu shouts, echoing that sentiment. And then, in that exact moment, Pekoyama protectively steps in front of her.
Tanaka quickly steps back, screaming something incomprehensible. Though, based on his facial expressions and how he sounds, he's probably cursing out at the bear.
The others have rather similar reactions to hearing it talk for the first time too. Some of them even start wondering how and why this stuffed bear is talking to them, or that if this is all some kind of weird Hope's Peak Academy-specific prank done to haze the freshmen. It didn't help that even its statements sound so…concerning and specific. Why does it call itself their 'despair buddy', of all things, and why does it act so overly familiar to them too?
Monokuma, as it called itself, ignores those concerns and reactions. "Anyways, that's enough with the chit-chat for now, because I've got some good news and some bad news for you guys! First, the bad news. Sorry to say, the school trip as it is will officially be canceled, starting now!"
Chiaki didn't like how ominous that sounds. 'If that's the bad news, then I don't have any high hopes for what the good news would be.'
"What the hell do you mean by that?!" Souda screams.
It…or rather, he cackles at them, like he's having some twisted fun from all of this. "But, the good news is, I've got something a hundred, no, a THOUSAND times more fun and exciting to replace that lame little excuse to keep you guys slacking off. So starting now, we're going to begin the Killing School Trip!"
Hinata's face darkens, his fists shaking and clenching at his side. "K-Killing School Trip?" He repeats in a subdued, yet completely furious tone.
"That's right!" Monokuma gleefully affirms, delighting in everyone's horrified reactions. "From now on, if you want to get off this island, you're going to have to kill someone else," He puts both paws over his belly as his grin grows even wider. "And get away with it!"
"Don't be absurd! No one's going to kill anyone just like that!" Koizumi shouts, pointing a finger towards him.
"Oh," Monokuma tilts his head to the side. "Are you sure about that?"
Before the confrontations can escalate any further, Alter Ego quickly walks forward, setting himself right in front of everyone. The small boy's whole body is shaking so uncontrollably, and yet, he lifts his head up, glaring at the bear straight in the eye as he shouts, "I…I won't let you hurt any of them!" while spreading his arms, like he's trying to shield them all from the bear.
The bear laughs even more. "Is that a threat? I mean, seriously, have you seen yourself in a mirror lately? You're starting to make feel bad for who I'm about to call in." He puts both paws over his snout, his laughter slowly devolving into snickers. "Well, almost."
Alter Ego doesn't move from his spot, but his face noticeably begins to turn pale. "W…What are you going to—?"
Monokuma doesn't even bother to let him finish what he's saying. "Come forth! Awaken, my Monobeasts!"
The earth around them rumbles, with some of them even nearly falling off to the ground from just how intense the shaking and rumbling is. Chiaki struggles to keep her footing steady and even then, but there's nothing much she can do, especially when there's nothing to grab and hold on.
If that wasn't bad enough, the Jabberwock statue starts shaking as well, just like from when Monokuma showed up, only with far more force and intensity. It only lasted for a few seconds at most, but it felt so much longer than that. Finally, the statue crumbles away as five more things pop up from where it once stood.
These…Monobeasts, as Monokuma has called them, stand behind the bear himself. Appearance-wise, they all resemble mecha versions of horse, an eagle, a gorilla, a snake, and a tiger. They're all also far larger than anyone ever expected; in fact, their size would make even Nidai himself look like a pebble in comparison.
With their imposing size and various equipment they've been armed to the teeth with, there's no way anyone can fight off those things.
"And now," Monokuma raises a paw, like he's trying to emphasize it for dramatic effect. "Here's a little example of what happens if any of you guys try to break the rules or commit violence against me, your new headmaster!"
Without any warning, the eagle mecha takes off into the sky; everyone freezes, unable to do anything but watch as it aims its gatling gun towards Alter Ego.
But, right before it can truly fire, Nidai jumps down on Alter Ego, narrowly saving the smaller boy from the bullets that would've riddled his body all over. Most of the bullets harmlessly hit through the sand, exactly on the same spot the smaller boy was in a few moments ago.
However, one of the bullets ends up going astray.
Chiaki's eyes widen. That bullet's heading straight towards her!
Her mind knows she should get out of here while she can, and yet, she can't move. No matter how much she tries to force herself to, her body can't move at all. Her legs have completely frozen from fear.
The stray bullet grazes through her cheek, barely missing the side of her face.
It might've been just her, but it feels like her heart had truly stopped for a second. She didn't feel anything at first, but as seconds go by, her mind starts to catch up and eventually register the stinging sensation from the cut. After that, she then feels the warm blood dripping down from it. It made her feel even more shivers run up her spine.
She hasn't done anything but standing there in the same spot, and yet, she finds herself completely out of breath. Her ears are ringing all over; as the rest of her surroundings have gone completely muffled, the only things she can truly hear at the moment is her ragged breathing and her quickening heartbeat.
There's only a single thought keeps running through her mind. 'If it had been a little closer, if that…Monobeast had aimed just a little bit higher, I…I would've been…' She forcefully swallows the lump in her throat, unable to even bring herself to finish the thought.
Whatever Monokuma is planning for them, it hasn't even truly started, and yet, the threat has intensified already, especially after he introduced those…Monobeats, which would no doubt be used to force them into compliance.
'This…can't be real, can it? This just has to be a nightmare, right? Right?'
As much as she wants to convince herself about it, that if she closes her eyes, she'll wake up back at her home and forget that anything of this ever happened, she can't. Although it has already gone numb by now, the graze on her cheek is far too real for her to dismiss it as part of her imagination.
"Nanami," Komaeda calls out to her, his hand touching her shoulder. "Are you okay?"
Chiaki bites her lip, quietly taking deep breaths, to try and force herself to calm down. "I…I'm fine," She hurriedly says, wiping the blood off her cheek with the back of her hand.
"Are you sure about that?" Hinata suddenly interjects.
As she turns to face him, she notices that Hinata is right next to Komaeda, who looks just as worried as the brown-haired boy is. She replies in a less sure tone, "Yeah, I think. But you guys don't have to worry about me, really."
She looks around, glancing at how the rest of their classmates are doing. She can hear them all else voicing their disbelief at this situation, some of them sounding more frantic than the others, and honestly, she can't blame them at all. Even if it's right in front of them, it all feels so unreal; to think that their school trip has been hijacked and turned into some twisted death game.
'Can I even trust any of them now?'
As much as she wants to believe them and give them the benefit of the doubt, she can't ignore the fact that some of them would get tempted by the idea.
For now, everyone on this island knew only one thing.
This is only the beginning. The beginning of the despair Monokuma will unleash upon their once peaceful school trip.
Prologue
Welcome to Jabberwock Island! Life's a Beach
END
Surviving Students:
16
A/N: Woo, that should wrap up the prologue, especially now that everyone's favorite despair bear is here at last! :D
