Prologue - Part 1

"Ow."

That was the first sound that came out of my mouth as I woke up. At least, I think I woke up. My surroundings were dark and I couldn't even make out my own hand. My back was sore, which is what elicited my 'ow,' and I could feel myself lying on something hard.

I sat up and rubbed my head, squinting and trying to see. My eyes should have adjusted, but they didn't. That could only happen when there was no light around.

Shit, surely this couldn't be…

"Nyria!" I yelled. "Did you lock me in the fucking shed?!"

No response.

That little shit better not have locked me in here. I stood up, feeling the rough concrete beneath my hands. I fumbled around in my suit pockets to find my phone so I could use its flashlight.

Wait, why have I got my suit on? Even my little sister wouldn't dare do anything to me while I'm working.

Well, I supposed it didn't really matter. I found my phone and pulled it out, although the edges felt more defined than I remembered. I fumbled around for the power button, having no idea which way I was holding it, and finally managed to turn it on.

Welcome, Camper!

Name: Leona Kurakawa

Age: 19
DoB: December 1st

Ultimate Talents: Animal Trainer, [REDACTED]

Likes: Money, Animals

Dislikes: People, Rain

Blood Type: A

Height: 6'1

Weight: 162 lbs

"What the fuck?"

It took me a second to realize I had said it out loud. This was not my phone, and as I let the dim light of the frustrating auto-brightness screen illuminate the room, I realized I wasn't in my shed, either. Where am I, and why does this device have all my personal information? And the redacted… don't tell me they also know…

Clearly, something was up. As the initial grogginess wore off, I realized my head felt light and I was a bit dizzy. I've been drugged, I realized. I've seen the signs many times in many species. Who would want to-? Oh, right. Everyone.

I sighed. Unfortunately, the list of people who would want to drug and/or kidnap me was not a very short one.

Well, I had more important things to focus on. I couldn't find the brightness setting on the weird phone, so I just had to move the screen across the room until it caught on something shiny. I walked over to it and found a small key with a tag attached to it. I held up the phone screen so I could read the tag.

GIRLS CABIN

What the hell does that mean? I wondered, stuffing the key in one of my pockets. I looked around, seeing nothing else of note in the mostly gray room until I found a door on one of the walls. It had a knob but no keyhole, so the key I found would be useless.

Surely, I thought, surely my kidnapper- or kidnappers- weren't stupid enough to give me a direct way out.

There was nothing else to try, so I just shrugged and turned the doorknob. Apparently whoever drugged me was an absolute idiot because the door opened easily as I pushed it and sunlight came rushing in, making me squint and throw my arm up over my eyes.

"Maybe their tactic was to blind me when I left," I growled, stepping outside to find a big clearing surrounded by a thick forest. There were a few buildings that looked like log cabins scattered around and held signs that I couldn't read from my distance. To top it all off, there was a large, unlit campfire in the center of the clearing with eight benches surrounding it. "What is this, summer camp?"

"That's what it looks like!"

"Jesus Christ!" I swore, swivelling to find the voice. My gaze fell on a girl who was grinning, bouncing on the balls of her feet. She was of average height, with freckled caramel skin and dark brown hair with blue tips in long, loose pigtails. She wore half of a white robe with pale blue accents and a teal skirt, and a pair of blue cat-ear headphones with a thin microphone rested atop her head.

"Hii!" The girl greeted. "I just got out of a weird room- like you, I'm assuming! I decided to sit out here and wait for the next person to come out!"

I turned around and sure enough, there was a row of sixteen small, square buildings made out of wood, all sitting side by side. All of the doors were open, the last one being mine.

"There are other people here?" I clarified.

"That's what it seems like! I came out of the door next to yours, so maybe everyone comes out in order."

I rubbed my temples before clearing my throat, trying to regain some dignity. "Well, we should look for an escape instead of standing around." Honestly, this girl was getting on my nerves. She had presumably been drugged and kidnapped alongside me, but she seemed so happy and excited all the same. It bothered me more than I'd like to admit.

"Huh? Escape?" The girl frowned. "Why would we escape? It's so fun here! My memory's a little hazy, but we probably signed up for this, right? Why else would we be here?"

"We've been kidnapped!" I snapped, at the edge of my patience. There was really no reason to be professional with this girl, it's not like I was selling her anything. "And I would never have come to a place like this by my own free will. It's so childish! Are we not highschoolers?"

"Yeah, but being childish is fun! You should really relax sometimes," the girl giggled. "I know I'd definitely come here. My name's Miku, by the way, but you'll probably know me as the Ultimate Voice Actor!"

There was a pause.

"Ultimate Voice Actor?" I repeated. "You're an Ultimate? Why haven't I heard of you? I'm the Ultimate Animal Trainer, after all. Although I suppose voice acting is not something I'd be interested in."

"Oh, oh my goodness!" Miku gasped. "You're Leona Kurakawa, aren't you?! Wow, this is so awesome! I never thought I'd meet you in person!"

I was a bit taken aback. "So you have heard of me. Please call me Leona, in the case that I'm forced to stay with you for much longer."

"Okay! Leona!" She repeated as if testing the name. "Wow, this is so cool! I'm your biggest fan!"

"I've got no time for this," I interrupted. "Your delusions are distracting me from escaping. As we have very clearly been kidnapped, I'm going to look for a way to leave."

"H-Huh? Delusions?! Hey, that's mean!" Miku pouted.

"Deal with it," I retorted, turning away. "If you're smart, you'll look for an escape too." I hurried out of earshot, heading towards the cabins.

I entered a building that was a bit larger than the others. It was sitting along a path that led from the campfire to another area. When I stepped inside, I saw some picnic benches and an open door leading to a room labelled KITCHEN, as well as four other teenagers, all around my age. Two seemed to be in conversation near the kitchen, while the other two were looking around the room.

"Hello," one of the ones who was standing around greeted as he spotted me. He had pale skin and short, brown hair. He wore a mint green vest over a long white shirt and dark pants. "I assume you're another Ultimate, too?"

"Is everyone here an Ultimate?" I asked with a frown, walking over to him.

The boy nodded. "Right. I'm Hiroshi Satou, the Ultimate Percussionist."

"Ah, I believe I've heard of you. Anyways, the fact that we're all Ultimates means we were all due to attend Hope's Peak Academy together. Those two facts can't be a coincidence," I stated.

Hiroshi nodded again. "I agree. I haven't seen you around here yet, but you're Leona Kurakawa, aren't you? Have you found any way to escape?"

I almost breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, someone sensible. "Yes, that's me. No, I haven't found anything yet. This was the first place I went after meeting Little Miss Ray-of-Sunshine back at the building I woke up in."

Hiroshi frowned. "Hm, I don't think I've met her yet. I was the first to wake up, so it makes sense that I wouldn't know her if she awoke later. I've had time to explore this place a bit- it seems like we're in a campsite. I've tried to leave the boundaries, but it seems like there's an invisible wall surrounding the area or something like that. I've seen a building for toilets and a storage shed, and there's a large building near here I haven't explored yet."

"I see. Oh, right- I found this in the building I woke up in," I said, remembering the odd key and pulling it out of my pocket. "It says 'girls cabin'. Did you receive a similar one?"

"Yes, it seems like everyone has one," Hiroshi said, pulling a key that was almost identical out of his breast pocket. It read BOYS CABIN. "It seems like they're gender coded, considering what yours says."

"What does it mean, though?" I wondered aloud. "If I didn't know better, I'd say these were communal room keys."

"Actually, I don't think you're that far off," Hiroshi said. "There are two cabins side by side next to the campfire, and it seems one has blue accents and the other has pink accents. It's a long shot, but perhaps they want us to sleep there."

A dry laugh escaped me before I could stop it. "What next, we have to make crafts and roast hotdogs by the fire together while we sing happy songs? This is all such a joke. A campsite? Sleeping quarters? It's almost like our kidnappers want us to stay here and mess around instead of torturing us or killing us or whatever else."

"I think they're probably trying to lead us into a false sense of security," Hiroshi replied. "Why, I don't know. But…" he glanced back at the other three people in the room. "...I think it might be best to get to know the others here. We could be stuck with each other for a while."

Eurgh, more socializing. Just what I needed right now.

But instead of voicing my concerns, I just said, "I suppose you're right. I might as well talk to those three and see if they have any more information."

"Right," Hiroshi nodded. "Oh, and Leona?"

I turned back to him as I was getting ready to walk away.

Hiroshi leaned in closer and lowered his voice.

"Don't tell anyone, but… I think I might have seen bear tracks."

I couldn't help but shudder. Believe it or not, I had actually had to work on a bear once. It almost mauled me four separate times. They were particularly mean creatures.

"Screaming teenagers is not what I need right now," I assured him. "I won't mention it; better to keep it to ourselves." With that, I left him to go talk to the other boy who was standing alone, looking under all the tables. He had somewhat light skin and short black hair, and he wore a red outfit with a white sash across it and a shooting star on the breast. His movements were… odd, to say the least. When he was walking around, he often made sharp turns, his body tensing up before he made it relax like he was trying to shake off a bad habit.

"Have you found anything?" I asked, making him jump. I barely suppressed a chuckle.

"Ah- no, unfortunately not," he replied, clearing his throat. "Oh, you're new, right? I don't recognize you. Considering I've only seen five other people so far, I suppose that's not unusual. My name is Seiko Konya, and I'm the Ultimate Marcher."

Ah, that explains his strange walk. Five people, though? Who else has he seen?

"I'm Leona Kurakawa, the Ultimate Animal Trainer," I greeted. This conversation is so dull. If he doesn't have anything to tell me, I might strangle someone. "Have you found anything outside this building, at the very least?"

"No, I haven't been anywhere else, unfortunately," Seiko admitted. "This place is strange, isn't it? I believe we've been kidnapped and taken to a campsite. I can't seem to find a way out, but I have plans to keep looking all the same."

Well, he's straightforward. Nothing new, though. "I see. I'll leave you to your search." I couldn't even feel relief that I was getting out of a conversation because I was just stepping into a new one.

The two other boys in the room were idly chatting. One boy, who had dark skin and curly blond hair and wore a green shirt with a tan cape-like piece of fabric and bowtie, noticed me approaching and turned to face me.

"Hi!" He greeted. "It's always relieving to see another face around here. Well, I'm a bit sorry you have to be in this situation too, but I prefer to look on the bright side of things."

"Right," the other boy, a pale boy with short, neat brown hair and a black-and-white server's uniform agreed. "Ah, my apologies, miss. Where are our manners? I am Hoshi Ito, the Ultimate Server and this is Kaoru Sugiyama, the Ultimate Designer."

"It's Sugi," Sugi corrected.

I was a bit taken back by Hoshi's formality, but if someone else had the decency to act formal, I probably should too. "I'm Leona Kurakawa, the Ultimate Animal Trainer. It's a pleasure to meet you both."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, too, Miss Kurakawa. I believe I've seen you on television before. You've got quite the reputation," Hoshi commented.

"Oh, I have, too!" Sugi butted in. "They say you can train any animal! I think that's really cool."

It's not as glorious as it sounds. "Well, I've always had a sort of connection with animals." And I like them a lot better than humans. "Have the two of you found anything of interest around here?"

"Just the kitchen," Hoshi replied. "It's fascinating. Every surface is pristine and it has every ingredient, piece of equipment and dinnerware you could think of."

"It's so strange," Sugi added. "There are so many amenities provided for us here. Considering we've been…" he shuddered before continuing. "...u-um, probably kidnapped… it's actually a pretty nice place, I guess."

"I suppose," I replied with a frown. "Well, if you two haven't found anything else of note, I'll be on my way."

"Have a nice day, Miss Kurakawa," Hoshi called as I left. Have a nice day? We've just been kidnapped. Surely not everyone here other than Hiroshi is an imbecile.

Hopefully I didn't have to speak to anyone else, though knowing my luck thus far, it would be a given.

This is going to be a long day.

-oOo-

Author's Note: Here's the first chapter of our story (It was, uh, originally 17 Google Docs pages long so I had to split it in half...)! I actually created the plot and cast two years ago with my good friend, CitrixeSoda (I don't believe they have an account on here). The monobots (yes, monobots plural) will be introduced in the next chapter and honestly, I absolutely love them- and I hope you do, too.

Something to note before reading the next chapters: Even if you won't know why yet, important or interesting information is in bold.

Current Character List:

[F] Leona Kurakawa - Ultimate Animal Trainer - 19 y/o

[F] Miku Fukairi - Ultimate Voice Actor - 16 y/o

[M] Hiroshi Satou - Ultimate Percussionist - 18 y/o

[M] Seiko Konya - Ultimate Marcher - 17 y/o

[M] Kaoru "Sugi" Sugiyama - Ultimate Designer - 18 y/o

[M] Hoshi Ito - Ultimate Server - 19 y/o