Prologue- Part 2

With nobody else to talk to and nothing else to see, I left the cafeteria building and headed further along the path. I saw the storage shed Hiroshi had mentioned, the only building made out of anything other than wood. It was made out of a bright red brick and had a slanted concrete roof, a rake sitting next to the door. Strange. Isn't the entire purpose of a storage shed, well, storing things?

I also saw the bathrooms, but they weren't too exciting. It was just a set of bathrooms and showers, each section separated by gender, of course. At the end of the path, I found a large cabin with two square windows alongside large, wooden double doors. I pushed them open and entered the room, where many other teenagers were waiting inside. As I looked around, I saw Miku comforting a crying boy who I recognized. I believe he's Lado Kaido, the Ultimate Adversity. I always thought that was a depressing 'talent'.

A boy with square glasses, caramel skin and brown hair who was wearing a white lab coat and gloves was inspecting a room, a girl with long, wavy red hair and circular glasses speaking to him while writing in a notebook. Another girl with fair skin and dark brown hair in short pigtails who wore a similar style of circular glasses was talking to a fair-skinned girl with short, messy brown hair, who didn't seem to be paying attention to her. The latter seemed to be inspecting something on a door. A lock, maybe?

Finally, there was a stocky boy with pale skin and deep purple hair who wore a really weird outfit. It was like something straight out of a fantasy book, a purple robe with jagged edges and elaborate black or white sashes running across it. There were some kind of pale golden shoulder plates and I could barely tell what he was dressing up as. Did this guy try to play a fantasy RPG and accidentally signed up for a prestigious school instead? Everyone here seems to be going to Hope's Peak Academy, so he must not be an exception.

I also realized he was heading straight for me. I opened my mouth to try and say something but he cut me off.

"I am Ura the Mage King!" He boomed. "Although these peasants seem to have taken to calling me Kohaku. Surely they can see I am not the Ultimate LARPist, but a real king of mages!"

I was so stunned I couldn't even laugh.

No, that was a lie. Once I recovered, I absolutely cackled. "Excuse me? Ura the Mage King? Ultimate LARPist? This is such a joke! You're almost as bad as Mister Bad Luck over there," I said, pointing at Lado. "This isn't the DD meetup, bozo. Go get kidnapped somewhere else."

"Ura the Mage King does not tolerate this kind of behavior from his underlings!" 'Ura' growled. "Bow before me to atone for your grievous sins before I cast a spell and send you into the next dimension, peasant!"

"I think I'll pass," I replied with a chuckle. "I've got plenty of things to do that are infinitely more important than you. If you'll excuse me, I'll be off talking to the saner people."

"You will pay for this!" Ura called as I walked away. I knew he'd never make good on that threat. Ultimate LARPist. What a joke. Get a real talent.

I decided to walk over to the two girls first, since I wanted to check out what the girl fiddling with the door was doing. As I walked into earshot, I could hear the girl with the pigtails telling the other girl some terrible dad jokes. The other girl was very clearly trying to ignore her and subtly shuffling away from her. The second girl seemed familiar somehow, like I had maybe seen her on television somewhere.

"Really, Ayami, improv is my forte! I'm shocked you aren't laughing. Although, I'm better on a stage and in front of a crowd. Better jokes come to me when I'm actually inspired," the girl telling the jokes said.

Ah, she must be the Ultimate Comedian. I can't quite remember her name, as I don't care for things like petty jokes that only serve to make other people laugh. In my opinion, the best jokes are the ones that make you laugh and make the rest of the room fall silent from something along the lines of shock and/or horror.

I cleared my throat to make my presence known and the Ultimate Comedian turned around. The other girl was still focused on the door, however, and I was now close enough to see her trying to pick a bright yellow lock decorated with white polka dots.

"Oh, you don't look too exciting," the Ultimate Comedian stated wryly. "But I can make anyone laugh, even the likes of you! I'm Aratani Hagihara, the Ultimate Comedian, after all!"

"Jeez, you are annoying," I said, already feeling irritated. "You don't win people over by insulting them." I turned to the other girl. "Earth to whoever-you-are. Have you had any luck with that lock yet?"

The girl didn't look up. "No," she said. "Locks were practically made for me, but I can't seem to figure this one out. As much as I hate asking for assistance, I don't suppose you miraculously have a talent that could help me out here?"

"Actually, I do. Being the Ultimate Animal Trainer may not have prepared me for this, but I have other skills. No point in being a one-trick pony," I replied, kneeling beside her while Aratani whined about us ignoring her. "Let me try."

"I doubt you'll have any more luck than me," the girl said dryly. "I'm the Ultimate Escape Artist, after all."

"Your overconfidence will be your downfall," I scoffed. "I was wondering where I had seen you, though. Ayami is your name, correct?"

"Ayami Kimura," she replied as I started fumbling with the lock using her— quite sophisticated— lock picking tools. "You're Leona Kurakawa." It was a statement, not a question, but I nodded anyway.

Both of us sat there in silence as I tried to undo the lock. I thought I knew the mechanism of a lock inside out, but this seemed to be different somehow. It looked like a normal lock on the outside, but on the inside, the mechanism must have been pretty sophisticated.

"It's no use," I said, handing back the tools. "This is no normal lock."

Ayami nodded. "That is what I deduced. Being kidnapped is quite inconvenient."

"That it is," I agreed with a chuckle. Of course the Ultimate Escape Artist would find being kidnapped inconvenient. "I'm sure you'll find a way to escape soon. I haven't made any progress so far, but as soon as I've met all these plebeians, I'll work on finding a way out."

Ayami nodded. "Give me a day and we'll all be out of here," she said matter-of-factly.

"Like I said, your overconfidence will come back to bite you," I said, standing up. I shoved Aratani aside so I could leave. "Move out of the way, Dad Jokes."

Aratani started protesting and calling me immature names but I had tuned her out at that point, opting to talk to the last two people in the building.

"Raiu, this is for a very important interview!" The red-haired girl was urging. "Come on, you know I need a story!"

"With all due respect, Scarlett, I don't know you," the boy— Raiu, presumably— replied with a small sigh. "You won't even get to publish your work if you don't help my find a way out of here. I've been looking for a hidden switch in the wall or something along those lines.

"As much as I hate to admit it, that only happens in movies," I butted in.

Both of them swiveled around to face me.

"Oh my. You're wearing a suit in this weather?" Scarlett gasped. She was wearing a simple dress shirt with a pocket full of pencils on the breast and a dark gray square skirt. She held a small notepad in one hand and a pencil in the other. "How horrendous! You must be simply burning!"

"It's air conditioned in here, Scarlett," Raiu assured her, adjusting his rectangular gray glasses. "She'll be fine. Plus, it's not hot enough outside to induce heat stroke."

"Ultimate Doctor?" I guessed. "Nurse, maybe?"

"Close. I'm actually the Ultimate Apothecary," Raiu replied with a friendly smile. "I create drugs and other medicines."

"Holy shit, they allowed you to do that underage?" I asked incredulously. "Assuming you didn't start a year ago and immediately become famous."

"Ah, well… I don't quite get to do all the things I would as an adult or someone with a degree or anything- although since I've turned eighteen, I've been permitted to widen my horizons a bit- but I do have a few liberties because of my skills, yes," Raiu said with a nervous chuckle, adjusting his glasses again.

"Well, I'm Scarlett Blake, the Ultimate Journalist. I come all the way from America!" Scarlett said proudly. Now that I thought about it, she did look the part.

"And you're Leona Kurakawa, correct? The Ultimate Animal Trainer?" Raiu asked.

"Yes," I confirmed. Maybe I should have done more research on these people. They seem to know me a lot better than I know them. "Have either of you found anything of note?" I asked for what must have been the millionth time.

"Yes, actually," Raiu said. Oh, thank God. "There's some sort of shed on the path connecting the two parts of this 'campsite'. It seems to be locked, however. There was a small window in the back but it was quite dark and all I could make out was something shiny. I'm still unsure of what it was. Furthermore, just look around this room. Isn't it odd? It's like we're ten years old again, going to a summer camp to have fun."

I took a closer look around the room and realized Raiu was right. There was a section full of tables with arts and crafts supplies on them and there was a large stage on the wall opposite the entrance. Oddly, there was also a vending machine in the room. "I wonder why this, of all places, is our prison. There's an invisible barrier around the area so it was clearly made to keep us here."

"That's just not true," Scarlett retorted. "I swear, everyone is whining about 'oooh, I've been kidnapped,' 'oooh, I want to go home.' But surely we haven't all been kidnapped! Who in their right mind would capture sixteen famous children all about to attend the most prestigious school in Japan? This is most likely a reality TV scenario, and they want us to have no idea what's happening so it'll give the viewers a good reaction. Look!" She waved at a camera that was situated in a corner of the room, making me grimace. "I'm sure we probably all signed something to be here. My memory is just a bit hazy at the moment."

"You're delusional," I scoffed. "Reality TV? Really? That's the best you could come up with? We were drugged and put into a concrete cube with barely any light and nobody to help us out."

"Sure, but why would these have our personal information on them, in that case?" Scarlett demanded, holding up a phone identical to the one I had found.

"Wh— where did you get that?!" Raiu asked. "Am I missing something here?"

I squinted at him. "You know, I was getting some smart vibes off of you at first but the fact you never even checked your pockets for a light in that room says a lot."

"I never have my phone on me!" Raiu protested. "What are those devices, anyway?" He fished around in his lab coat pocket and pulled out a similar phone. His face turned white when he turned it on and saw what must have been the oddly specific information on his screen. "This isn't my phone."

"Our phones must have been taken when we were kidnapped," I said with a pointed look at Scarlett. "I have no idea what these phones are, though. They're pretty creepy."

"See, I still think these are a dead giveaway to the fact that we're in a TV show. Why else would it have this information on it?" Scarlett pointed out.

I just sighed and rubbed my temples. "I'm wasting my time here. I'm gonna go check out the cabins at the front."

"You should really think about my theory!" Scarlett huffed. "It's perfectly plausible!"

"Perhaps we should just let her search," Raiu said. "Please tell us if you find anything," he added, turning back towards me.

"Sure," I replied, with no intention of fulfilling that promise.

I decided to look around the lodge a bit before I left. The arts and crafts area was something straight out of a kids' show, having ten small, wooden tables with two chairs sitting side by side at each of them. Some tables were covered in flecks of paint, like they had already been used. Various pots of painting, drawing and crafts supplies were on each table and there were sheets of paper on a large, round table in the center which every other table and chair faced. This is so weird. Did they find an abandoned campsite and decide they were too lazy to waste money on somewhere else to hold us?

I also noticed a few stacks of folded chairs in the corner of the room, like everyone was supposed to gather in this building for an announcement.

Speaking of, the last thing of interest in the room other than the door Ayami was inspecting was the stage. It was large and open with wooden planks making up its floor. An oddly short microphone was plugged into the wall and it sat in the center of the stage. Only then did I notice the speakers at the base of the stage, facing outwards into the rest of the room.

Since there was nothing else that seemed particularly exciting, I headed back outside the lodge. I turned to my left and did a quick sweep of the girls' bathroom, although I didn't find anything useful. The shower room was full of lockers but they were all either locked or empty. I made my way back to the campfire and headed for the log cabin with pink accents. I pulled the key out of my pocket and tried a lock in the door and, sure enough, the door swung open.

Inside the cabin were four bunk beds in a row. The beds were all made and there were names on the top and bottom bunks.

MIKU FUKAIRI

ARATANI HAGIHARA

MIYO AKEMI

ZARA AKEMI

LEONA KURAKAWA

AYAMI KIMURA

TATSUO SHIMIZU

SCARLETT BLAKE

Well, those are the names of myself and the other girls I've met so far. That means Tatsuo, Miyo and Zara must be the others.

As if I had summoned them, I spotted three girls huddled on 'Zara's bottom bunk. One, a girl with tan skin and a large pink bow fastening her brown hair in a ponytail, was sobbing into her hands while the other two were seemingly comforting her. Another girl looked almost identical to her, although she didn't have makeup on like the former did. They both wore the same icy blue shirt and skirt with a snowflake on the breast. They must be sisters, I realized. Miyo and Zara Akemi, based on the names from the bunks. I think they're the Ultimate Figure Skaters. But I don't know which is which.

I thought I should probably just come back later, but one of the girls looked up and waved to me. She had brown hair in a high ponytail and she wore some sort of leotard with long sleeves. "Hello," she greeted. "Sorry, you caught us at a bad time. Miyo is just struggling to come to terms with this whole thing… I think we all are, really."

So the crying one is Miyo and the other one is Zara. "I see. Have the two of you seen the rest of the campsite yet?"

"You don't have to talk like I'm not here," Miyo sniffled. "Sorry for crying, I just… I want to go home."

Zara patted her back. "Me too, Miyo. That's why we should try and find a way to get out of here."

Miyo just gave a weak nod in response.

"I've seen the rest of the campsite," the other girl said. Tatsuo, I think? I vaguely recognize her from television. "I haven't really found anything of note, but there's a weird shed that I couldn't get open."

I nodded. "Someone said he found a window at the back, but all he could see was something shiny that he couldn't identify." I looked around the room, frowning. "Damn, there are eight girls here? It must have taken a lot of effort to get us here."

"There are most likely eight boys to make it even," Zara said. "I know it would drive me crazy if there were more of one or the other. I've met a few already, and I saw one going into the other cabin."

"I haven't met those two yet, but I've met six other boys. Well, five. One was just… sniveling in the corner. I couldn't really talk to him," I replied.

"What's your name?" Miyo mumbled. I had honestly forgotten she was even there. "I'm Miyo Akemi, and this is my twin sister, Zara Akemi. We're the Ultimate Figure Skaters."

"I had gathered that much, but at least that confirms it," I replied. "I'm Leona Kurakawa, the Ultimate Animal Trainer. And you're Tatsuo Shimizu, right? The Ultimate Trapeze Artist?" I asked, turning to Tatsuo.

"Yes, that's me," Tatsuo confirmed. "I can't say I recognize you, but I've definitely heard of you. You have quite the reputation in my hometown."

"I see." Being famous for my work was still somewhat surprising to me. I'm sure none of my fans would stick around if they knew what happened behind the scenes.

"Well, if there are eight boys and eight girls, I suppose I've met everyone," I continued. "I'm going to go look for an esc—"

I was cut off by a chime that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. I looked up and spotted a television screen that had the word ANNOUNCEMENT plastered on it.

"All campers, please make your way to the lodge!" Said a soft voice from the television. "Attendance is mandatory. Thank you!"

The message repeated twice more before the screen went blank and the voice faded.

"Don't make me go, Zara!" Miyo cried, clutching her sister's arm. "I don't want to see our kidnappers! What if they hurt us?!"

The announcement was bothering me. It seemed like a perfectly normal, non threatening camp announcement. The voice didn't have any malice in it, either.

"They said attendance was mandatory," I pointed out. "These people are unpredictable. You could get killed if you stayed here."

"Hey, don't scare her!" Zara snapped.

"If anything, I am saving her," I retorted, annoyed. "What I said is true. If we go, we may have a chance of living to see another day and escape this place."

"Well… Miyo, it's up to you whether you want to take the risk or not," Tatsuo said.

There was silence for a few seconds before Miyo spoke up.

"O-Okay… okay, I'll— I-I'll go. Let's go, Zara," she said in a shaky voice.

"Are you sure?" Zara asked. Miyo nodded.

With that, everyone stood up and we all left the cabin, heading to the 'lodge' which I assumed was the large building I had been in earlier. Everyone I had met already was inside, but there was another new boy in there as well. I assumed he was the one Zara was talking about.

"Sayin!" Ura said, walking up to the boy. "I must know. Since you've had time to reflect, have you yet changed your ways?"

"Kohaku, I'm the fucking Ultimate Occultist, you moron! No, I have not changed my ways!" Sayin snapped back.

"You will address me by my proper name and/or title!" Ura said with a disapproving frown. "Ura the Mage King!"

"U-Um… everyone, may I have your attention, please?"

Everyone's heads collectively turn towards the stage where I saw quite possibly the strangest thing I had seen all day.

There were two… things standing on the stage in front of the short microphone. One looked like a half-white, half-black wolf and the other seemed to be a half-white, half,cream mouse. The left eye of the wolf was a robotic eye that glowed red, while the left eye of the mouse was a simple pink flower that seemed to be made out of metal. Both of them were smiling, but the wolf's grin was much more malicious

Who just spoke? I wondered. And why are there… what, robot animals? Why are there robot animals on the stage?

"What is going on?" Someone yelled. Aratani, I believe. "Where did the animals come from?" For some reason, she looked at me, like I had all of the answers just because these robots happened to look like bipedal animals.

"O-Oh! Apologies, dear campers. Thank you all so much for coming."

It took me a second to realize the mouse was the one who was speaking. It was subtly moving and it almost looked nervous, somehow.

Miyo and Lado screamed.

The wolf whacked the mouse over the head with its arm. "Monomausu, you're scaring them! Don't forget, Master only put you in charge of the announcements because this is below me!" It chided. "You've got to make a better first impression!"

The mouse— Monomausu?— hid its face behind its arms. "Oh, I'm so sorry, everyone! I messed this all up…"

"Let me handle this," the wolf said with an exasperated sigh. "Ahem…" he seemed to take a deep breath somehow before screaming into the microphone, "EVERYONE SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME!"

The room fell silent. You could probably hear a pin drop as everyone stared at the wolf.

"Now that I've got your attention," the wolf said, satisfied, "allow me to explain. You are all at Camp Hope, a wonderful place where you can hone your Ultimate talents and make new friends! I'm Monokami and this is Monomausu. We're your camp directors!"

"U-um, it's supposed to be Mono-ōkami, not Monokami… isn't that how Master spells it?" Monomausu interjected.

"It's Monokami!" Monokami snapped. "Like the deities! Because I'm better than everyone else!"

"But I think your name is supposed to be Mono-ōkami because you're a wolf…"

"Shut up, Monomausu! Nobody asked!"

Monokami cleared his throat and turned back to us. "Feel free to explore and socialize to your heart's content. Your Monophone should have a tab for the camp rules, the map of the camp and information on your fellow campers now."

Multiple chimes could be heard around the room and everyone pulled the weird phone out of their pocket. Sure enough, there were now four tabs instead of a solid screen with our information.

PERSONAL

RULES

MAP

CAMPERS

It seemed like the others I had arrived with were all curious about the rules, so I tapped that option as well. I went through the list, bewildered, and I couldn't tell if it was a joke or not until Raiu started listing off the rules out loud.

"Rule number one," he started. "Violence against the camp directors is strictly prohibited. Rule number two: Violence against other campers is strictly prohibited. Er… rule number three: Participation in daily crafts is mandatory." He paused, and it seemed like everyone was confused.

"Daily crafts?" Asked Ayami. "What is this, summer camp?"

"Yes!" Monomausu said. "You're at Camp Hope, our wonderful summer camp. You'll all be required to do daily crafts with me at 8AM in the lodge. It'll be so fun!"

What a joke, I thought. This is the dumbest shit I've ever heard. We've just been kidnapped and now they want us to do crafts?

"Rule number four," Raiu continued after everyone had quieted down. "Sleeping anywhere other than the cabins and sleeping in the opposite gender's cabin is strictly prohibited. Rule number five: Be kind to all the other campers. And… Rule number six: Have… fun..?"

If everyone wasn't yelling about the crafts rule, they were all yelling now. Shouting for answers, screaming protests. My fingers pressed to my temples as I tried to process what on Earth was happening. We are at a summer camp. Two robotic animals are our camp directors. We are supposed to do daily crafts, make friends and have fun here.

This would all make a lot more sense if we weren't drugged and kidnapped to be taken here!

"Everyone, quiet!" Monokami yelled. "These rules are non-negotiable. You may explore the campgrounds as you please, but you may not leave the boundaries or attempt to enter rooms that are locked. That's just bad manners! Furthermore, the equipment closet will be opening shortly in the lodge so you can play sports if you so wish. Also, you must go to sleep and wake up at reasonable times!"

"A-and please, campers… enjoy this time at Camp Hope!" There was almost something like a warning in Monomausu's voice. Like a sign that the worst was yet to come.

And then I processed what he said.

Please enjoy this time at Camp hope. He said this time, not your time or something else along those lines.

Was he warning us to enjoy the fun while it lasts?

-oOo-

Author's Note: I've finally introduced Monokami and Monomausu (Am I allowed to say my favourite character in this fan-fiction is Monomausu?)! And we've finally got our full cast of sixteen students- er, campers. Camp Hope sounds like a pretty wholesome place, doesn't it? I'm sure nothing will go wrong.

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

[M] Lado Kaido - Ultimate Adversity - 16 y/o

[M] Kohaku "Ura the Mage King" Nomura - Ultimate Live Action Roleplayer/LARPist - 18 y/o

[F] Aratani Hagihara - Ultimate Comedian - 17 y/o

[F] Ayami Kimura - Ultimate Escape Artist - 17 y/o

[M] Raiu Kosetsu - Ultimate Apothecary - 18 y/o

[F] Scarlett Blake - Ultimate Journalist - 18 y/o

[F] Miyo Akemi - Ultimate Figure Skater - 16 y/o

[F] Zara Akemi - Ultimate Figure Skater - 16 y/o

[F] Tatsuo Shimizu - Ultimate Trapeze Artist - 18 y/o

[M] Sayin Lukro - Ultimate Occultist - 17 y/o