Alice Calaway, the Ultimate Undertaker

Alice had already found her way to the lobby when the odd announcement played through speakers she hadn't previously noticed. As it was on the exact opposite end of the part of the building that she could access, the lobby had been the logical endpoint of her investigation. There was a door on each wall, three locked and the fourth one, that she'd come in through, open. She sat with her back to one, facing the only open door, so that she could see whoever entered as they came.

She assumed there would be others. An announcement like that announcement wouldn't make much sense if it were just for her, even if she wasn't already in the lobby. If this was a class trip, like it had said, she guessed that meant there would be classmates joining her soon.

In the meantime, Alice took a moment to survey her surroundings in a little more detail. The lobby was large and comfortable, with a pair of large circular benches, each one ringed around an enclosed fire pit. What she had to assume was the check in counter served as the room's focal points along with the twin fire pits.

She found that they warmed the room nicely. Wherever she was, they seemed to like their fireplaces, she had noticed. Almost every room she'd checked had one. Alice wasn't sure whether that was a sign that they didn't have proper central heating or that they had to limit their power usage, but she couldn't deny that, even with the situation as grim as it appeared, the fires in each room gave off a cheery warmth that made things feel a little less dire.

It took almost no time at all before people started to arrive. A brown haired girl in a very elaborate leotard and an eccentric looking boy with black and purple hair with a guitar slung over his shoulder were the first to enter. The boy smiled at her and approached in a surprisingly casual manner, while the girl seemed more hesitant, looking around the room.

"Are you the one who called us?" The girl asked in a thick but melodic accent. Russian, Alice thought.

Her strange companion nodded. "Can you tell us what the hell is going on here?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know any more than you do. I got here first, that's all." Alice told them apologetically, smoothing her sensible black skirt.

He sighed and sat down on the other bench. "I should've known it wouldn't be this easy. But hey! It's nice to meet you. I'm Dracon." He flashed her what seemed like a very practiced smile.

"I'm Zasha." The girl said, her tone bright, but her smile equally as practiced as Dracon's. She decided to take a seat next to Alice.

"And I'm Alice. Can I... ask an odd question? Where did you get the guitar?"

"Oh, this?" Dracon grinned. "It's mine. I guess it came with me, however I ended up here in the first place. Zash' and I were thinking... maybe crazy fans brought us here? She's a figure skater, and I'm the lead guitar in a band. Lights Fall Low, maybe you know us. But what about you? Got any crazy fans?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm an undertaker. We don't exactly wind up with groupies."

"Are you an undertaker or the Undertaker?" Everyone jumped as a new girl stepped into the room, a determined grin on her face that rubbed Alice the wrong way.

Somehow, it seemed like everyone was turning up in pairs of two, so far. And with one boy, one girl, each as well. This newcomer was with someone as well, a pale boy in dark clothes, who waved awkwardly. She didn't wait for a reply before continuing on, "Dylan and I? We're Ultimates. What about you three?"

Osamu Fujino, Ultimate Snake Charmer

Osamu quietly stroked the snake tucked away inside his sleeve and listened intently to the growing crowd of fellow Ultimates. Takumi was the most skittish of his snakes, and he wanted to do what he could to keep her calm. Umeko was still comfortably draped around his neck, hidden by the collar of his shirt, and Oshime had coiled up to nap in his pocket. He didn't generally like going out with all three of them for fear of spooking people, but he didn't want to leave them alone in a potentially dangerous environment, so he'd make do with keeping them hidden.

He was surprised that no one had noticed him yet, seated behind the check-in counter, but he had to appreciate the opportunity it gave him to learn about the others before revealing himself. Trusting anyone enough to casually chat with them after waking up under such mysterious circumstances just seemed bizarre to him. He was used to trusting no one but himself, his father, and his animals.

"I've been called the Ultimate Guitarist." the one with the guitar and the beautiful accent, Dracon, told the others.

The Russian girl, Zasha, nodded. "I was just picked as the Ultimate Figure Skater." She said proudly.

Alice, the quiet, thoughtful girl Osamu had been watching the longest, nodded. "I am the Ultimate Undertaker, yes."

One of the newcomers, a girl with multicolored hair, smirked at all of them. "I'm Shadastra Middleditch, the Ultimate Filmmaker. This is Dylan."

The quiet boy with her waved a bit nervously. "And, um, I'm...I'm the Ultimate Medium."

Osamu could see Alice going stiff even from afar. "I thought Ultimates were only for real talents?" She asked.

Osamu wasn't sure he believed in mediums either, but this seemed very rude to him. The others seemed to agree. Dracon shook his head. "I'd think a chick who works with dead people would be less skeptical. There's some weeeeiiird shit out there in the world."

"There are many things unexplained by science." Alice agreed tensely, clutching something she seemed to be wearing around her neck. "But mediums are con artists. Exploiting grieving families to make a quick buck, with no concept of the sacredness of the spirit."

"I… don't actually get paid for what I do, most of the time." Dylan replied sheepishly. "It's not like that. I just… have an ability and people s-seem to... need me to use it. That's all."

Alice scowled at him and turned away, obviously unconvinced. Osamu shrank back a bit into his hiding spot, worried the situation might grow even more tense, but it seemed whoever was running things here had other ideas. Just as it looked as though the argument might escalate, a cluster of other teenagers showed up, all of them led by… a robotic woman?

Despite clearly being mechanical, she wore an actual, sharp looking uniform dress like Osamu might have expected to find at a maid cafe. Poking out the top of a fake, metal hairdo, the robot woman also had a pair of cat ears which were actually moving.

All of this almost made her look like a normal human woman, except that where normal human limbs and skin would be, there was painted metal or plastic, with clearly mechanical joints in the elbows and legs that seemed to be wearing roller skates until you realized that she was rolling along without moving them at all.

"Right this way, everyone! I know you're all so confused, but the Headmaster will be here any minute now to explain everything!" She announced in a bright, cheerful voice that sounded surprisingly human.

Her group of seven students appeared totally unconvinced, however, and Osamu couldn't say he blamed them. Being gathered together by a weird robotic catgirl to meet a mysterious 'headmaster' was not at all reassuring.

"Who exactly is this headmaster?" One of the seven newcomers asked. He was a thin Korean boy, wearing a finely tailored suit, his blonde undercut pulled up into a ponytail.

The robot swiveled towards him, face shifting into a mechanical facsimile of a smile. "Why, your Glorious Headmaster Monokuma, of course! In charge of the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Youth. Your school?"

The suited boy frowned at her. "I have not started at the Academy yet, and I doubt I am the only one."

"Please hang in there. The Librarian is gathering the last few students and then your Glorious Headmaster will answer all of your questions!" The robot replied in the same perky tone.

"And who, exactly, are you?" One of the biggest guys Osamu had ever seen asked from the back of the group. He was at least six feet tall, with broad shoulders and a thick, heavily muscled frame that could be seen underneath his white button down. One hand rested on a seemingly empty pouch on his hip that reminded Osamu alarmingly of gun holsters in action movies. "Will you tell us that much at least?"

"I am the Receptionist!" She responded. It was starting to get more than a bit creepy how unwaveringly bright her voice remained. "Now, if you would please excuse me, I should take my post again."

Osamu watched with alarm as she rolled right toward his hiding spot behind the desk.

"Oh... hello there." She greeted him, bending down. Osamu had thrown himself haphazardly to the floor upon realizing his cover was in danger, and now looked up at the robot Receptionist, swallowing hard as everything went to hell. "You must be another of the missing students! Please join your classmates over by the fire pits. Students are not allowed behind my desk!"

Everyone in the room turned to stare at Osamu. He stood up, trying to seem casual. "I, um, w-what's…going on, everyb...body? Uh... s-sorry..."

"Who are you supposed to be?" Shaddastra asked with a scowl. "And why were you hiding back there like a creep?"

"I'm… Osamu. Osamu Fujino." He sighed. "I was just… trying to figure out what was going on."

"Don't you know it's rude to eavesdrop?" Asked Alice, apparently willing to rejoin the conversation, now that Dylan was no longer the focus.

"Aw, leave him alone!" Dracon said, waving Osamu over to sit next to him. "He's obviously spooked. Why wouldn't he be? This is a seriously weird situation."

One of the girls who had arrived with the Receptionist, a tall, pale girl with tattoos across her shaved head and bright green facial jewelry stepped forward worriedly. "In this sort of situation, it isn't fair to judge people for hiding away!" She scolded Shadastra in a warm, high pitched voice that seemed incongruous with the intimidating body mods- at least until he noticed that her tattoos were hearts and stars, and her clothes and jewelry were bright and cheerful.

Osamu hesitantly made his way to where Dracon was seated, deciding that doing so would be marginally safer. Quickly, The pale girl quickly joined them. All the commotion had disturbed Takumi, who peeked out from his sleeve anxiously.

"Whoa, is that a snake?" Dracon asked excitedly.

"I… yeah." Osamu would never trust someone so easily on his own merits, but it was harder to dislike someone who liked snakes. "I'm the Ultimate Snake Charmer. It's my thing."

"That is very cool." Dracon responded, leaning in to get a better look at the reptile.

Despite Dracon's excitement, Osamu noticed a couple of the others shifting away from him and sighed, tugging his sleeve back down over the curious snake. "Sorry, I'll introduce you later. Now's not really the time for that."

Dracon nodded regretfully. "Later, then."

"I'm so sorry about the rest of the group." The pale girl told Osamu, "We're all under a lot of stress. It's easy to let one little thing get disproportionately scary. Your snake is cute, though!"

Osamu smiled gratefully up at her. "Thank you. I know we're all spooked right now."

"I'm Kumi, by the way, Kumi Ichikawa! The Ultimate Caregiver!" She beamed with pride at both boys and reached into a bag slung across her waist. Kumi retrieved two granola bars, and insistently shoved one into each of their hands. "So, if there's anything you need to feel more comfortable, let me know! All of us have a better chance of getting through whatever is going on here if we can keep calm and stick together."