Author's Note

Hour 00 (11:59 PM)

Danger Zones: N/A.

Student(s) Remaining: 42.

For the class of Beacon High, the reactions to their current dilemma were more or less predictable. Some were pissed off, only fighting off the urge to jump Torchwick thanks to their basic survival instinct. Others were silently panicking in their seat. And perhaps there were even some holding on to whatever hope they had left.

However, nobody would expect how Dove Bronzewing (Male Student No. 1) was reacting to the whole situation; calmly. In fact, the entire time he hadn't even flinched from the concepts being given to him. Instead, he seemed to just be absorbing the whole thing, stone-faced and uncaring, as if he had already accepted what he was being told; be the last man standing.

Of course, it was hard to really understand anything about Dove. Simply put he was a strange boy, always had been. Athletic, intelligent, an ace student, jack of all trades yet a master of all of them; practically the perfect human being in all but one way; emotion. Or more accurately, how he seemed to lack it. It was rare to see Dove say anything, and it was even rarer for him to actually mean anything behind it. It was as if he simply went along with whatever was happening, never bothering to question things or figure out a situation first. As if he wasn't even alive…

Thus, it wasn't very hard for him to fall into a bad group; particularly Cardin Winchester's (Male Student No. 11) little gang of hoodlums, which were rounded out by Russel Thrush (Male Student No. 7) and Sky Lark (Male Studnet No. 13). In every way, Dove didn't fit in with them, outside of maybe general athleticism. They were punks; ruffians who didn't care who they would have to hurt to get what they wanted, and often what they wanted to do was to simply terrorize and harass the rest of the students of Beacon High, or at least the ones they could get away with.

And yet, every day, Dove simply hung around them like a fly on the wall, and nobody questioned it anymore. He didn't even particularly take part in their antics, he just was...There, though often his mere presence seemed to ramp up their intimidation factor. He was a constant, horrifying pain in the side of all who opposed to likes of Cardin Winchester, all without doing a thing.

But at the moment, Dove was focusing on none other than Mister Torchwick, who with a smile, proudly said, "Now, roughly every minute, I'll be releasing one of you out into those wilds, meaning you better be fast if you want to get away from all the early action. Oh, and be sure to not forget your bag. It'll basically be the only way you'll survive the night, let alone the game!"

None of the class responded to this, as Torchwick pulled an envelope out of his pocket. Tearing it open, he pulled out a paper and looked it over, while one of the armed men opened up the door, and the other one grabbed a bag off the rack beside him. "First up...Boy number one, Dove Bronzewing!"

And thus, in a single movement and without hesitation, Dove stood up from his seat and promptly ran toward the door, not even having to react as the man threw a bag at him, which he caught in a single movement. Within seconds of his name getting called, he was already running down a long corridor, aligned with guards on both sides, before running right out of the building.

Running into the open just outside the building, he was met with a small, almost scenic area. A simple gravel path leading to two diverging ones into the forest, with a large green hill between them. On all sides of the building were miles and miles of thick jungle, vines and weeds all around them, and above, rain from the storm began to pour down, smashing into the ground with force comparable to hail.

However, despite this, Dove took no time to run off into the forest, away from the paths given. He now had a goal in mind for this game, one he'd follow without mercy; survive at all costs.

"Girl number one, Dew Gayl!"

Jaune Arc (Male Student No. 3) watched as Dew Gayl (Female Student No. 1) stood up from her seat with her usual apathetic look, and calmly walked over to the men. She was probably one of the most athletic girls in the class, so he had no doubt that she'd be fine out in the game, but with Dove out and on the run...He couldn't lie that she wouldn't be surprised if she learned of her-

Wait, what was he thinking, that wasn't going to happen! Nobody in this class would actually kill each other...Right?

Sure, Jaune had to admit there were more than a few bad eggs, but none of them were bad enough to actually try and kill someone he'd think...Though maybe that was just wishful thinking. He couldn't deny that it wouldn't be especially difficult for him to imagine the likes of Mercury Black (Male Student No. 5) strangling the life out of someone...Or anyone in Cardin Winchester's gang…

Oh God, Cardin...That was one person Jaune desperately wanted to make sure he avoided encountering out in the game. He was already a pretty big jerk to him and his friends, and that was without a real reason for violence. He couldn't imagine how things would go now that he had a reason to stir trouble.

"Boy number two, Flynt Coal!"

But that wasn't the worst part for Jaune...It was just the tension. The horrible atmosphere, his scared classmates, the fact that some of them probably were gonna get guns?! It...It was a lot to take in. He had no idea how the rest of his class was going to react to this mess. How did he even know they'd all act the same out there either? Fear and anger can change a person with little effort...Would friends kill each other? Would some of them take this chance to hurt those they despise? Or perhaps even use it as an outlet for their pent-up urges-

"Girl number two, Weiss Schnee!"

And just like that, Jaune's whole world seemed to freeze.

Walking up to the front of the room with shaking legs, Weiss Schnee (Female Student No. 2) attempted to give off confidence in every movement; she had a straight posture, a calm look on her face, and above all else, especially when compared to the rest of the class, was a shining, bright example of beauty, practically untouched from the horrors of this brand new world…

But every aspect she attempted to portray, was betrayed by her own fear. The posture was ultimately stilted, and the way she walked was more comparable to a toddler than anything proper, like she was attempting. Her pale complexion and running mascara only showed how underprepared she truly was. And her beauty seemed to come undone, as she nearly collapsed as her bag was thrown at her.

If that was him, Jaune would have already been out of there, unwilling to show his face...And yet she stopped, just before the door, to look back at the class. From what he could see, her eyes were on Ruby Rose (Female Student No. 3)...Maybe. It was hard to tell from his seat honestly. But after a moment, she seemed to scan the room...And her eyes landed squarely on him.

The two just stared at each other for what felt like minutes, when truly it could have been no more than a few seconds. As they did so though, Jaune did the only thing he could think to do...Smile. A small, genuine one, and for a moment, Weiss seemed to forget her worries, as she let out a breath. And without another word, she ran down the hallway and out of sight.

Velvet Scarlatina (Female Student No. 6) couldn't be called many things, but there was one, simple way of describing her that everyone could agree on; she was a nervous wreck.

Back at Beacon High, Velvet was the photographer for the newspaper. A good job to be sure, and it helped her interact with a lot of people. In fact, she had probably met or at least spoken to everybody in this class. But in every interaction, she'd somehow find a way to screw it up. Maybe she'd stumble on her words too much. Or make them angry by taking the picture at the wrong time. Sometimes she'd just say nothing at all, and for a few of them, that'd be the worst decision in the world…

Her status as an immigrant didn't really help matters. Immigrants, whether people would admit it or not, stand out like a sore thumb in high school. Basically everyone can tell, and the sad truth is this; if you stand out in high school, it makes you a target. And the worst part? She was from Spain. Because clearly, her family moving here now, when the complications between the English and Spanish are at some of their worst in recent years was a great idea…

And now here she was, at a school, in the middle of nowhere, just watching as she saw Jaune Arc run out of the classroom, tripping over himself on his way since he was in too much of a hurry. Having to prepare herself for the inevitable fact that her classmates were gonna kill each other. Or the fact that her friends might kill her...Or the possibility that she could…

She quickly shook away these thoughts, looking up just in time to see two people exit. The first was Ruby Rose. Velvet didn't know her too well these days, but back in middle school, they were actually pretty good friends. Though Ruby was friends with almost everyone so that probably didn't mean as much to her. And the second was...

Yatsuhashi Daichi (Male Student No. 4)...

The biggest, strongest, most imposing guy in class who nobody wanted to mess with. None of the gangs even went near the guy, because in an actual fight, he'd destroy them. He could probably even throw them, like a baseball. In fact, Velvet's seen him do it before to a small, pesky freshman who was messing with her.

He was one of her closest friends...Actually he was one of her only friends. And yet here she was, watching as he slowly stood up from his seat, and with each loud clomp toward the door, walked away into the night, no idea of if she'd ever see him again…

Or her family...Or her little rabbit named Chem...Or...Or…

And there, and then...Velvet Scarlatina went silent. She was practically broken in that moment. Unmoving, unfeeling, just shaken to her very core. In the process, she barely even processed how some of the kids left soon after.

Yang Xiao Long (Female Student No. 4), Ruby's sister who was out of there quicker and angrier than anyone before her. Mercury Black (Male Student No. 5), who wasn't much more than a violent mook. Arslan Altan (Female Student No. 5), who was probably more muscular and aggressive than most of the guys in class. Bolin Hori (Male Student No. 6), a quiet kid who she had never spoken to. And-

"Girl number six, Velvet Scarlatina!"

Pyrrha Nikos (Female Student No. 11)...Perfect student. Class president. Member of the Fencing, Boxing, Wrestling, Softball, and Tennis teams. A part of a majority of the clubs in school. She was who girls were compared to by their mothers. She was the 'prize' every guy desperately wanted to get their hands on. A girl who had lived a full life just by the age of seventeen. A survivor of horrors far too similar to this...

Every exit had her silently analyzing her competition as if they were no more than chess pieces on a board, a very concept Pyrrha found disgusting, and yet couldn't stop herself from doing. It was practical. Safe. Something she needed to do if she wanted to get out of there. If she wanted to-

No...No she couldn't do that...She shouldn't. Not to them.

But regardless, she watched on, as each student left one by one.

Russel Thrush and Reese Chloris (Male/Female Student No. 7) were next to leave after Velvet, who she was positive had start crying on her way out the door. Russel did nothing of the sort. In fact, he was annoyingly arrogant, strutting up to the door, taking his bag and walking off with a hum. Luckily, Reese was more respectful, simply grabbing her bag and getting out of there as fast as possible. Pyrrha couldn't lie, she didn't have the highest of hopes for her, but if she could do anything, it was probably getting away from the action before it got too intense.

Next were Sage Ayana and Ciel Soleil (Male/Female Student No. 8). Pyrrha had never seen Sage without Scarlet David (Male Student No. 9) by his side. They were practically inseparable. But at the same time, she didn't need to worry about him. He was a close second to Yatsuhashi Daichi in terms of size and strength. He'd be fine. The same goes for Ciel actually. While she wasn't strong, she had an incredible mind. Pyrrha had no doubts the two would adapt fast to the game.

Scarlet followed a bit after. He was a bit shrimpy and a pretty boy, but reasonably athletic and charismatic enough that she'd say he could get away from most choice encounters. The same went for Gwen Darcy (Female Student No. 9), who left about two minutes afterward.

Sun Wukong (Male Student No. 10) left a bit afterward. If Pyrrha could say anything about him, it was that he was far smarter than he let on. If anything, he could have an advantage thanks to being underestimated. Then May Zedong (Female Student No. 10) left and Pyrrha could safely say that unlike Sun, it was perfectly reasonable to underestimate her. Most of the time she was stoned out of her mind, and when she wasn't she was hanging out with Nolan, who she could just as easily see getting high relatively early, especially cause she doubted that they just didn't take something with them.

And then came the exit of Cardin Winchester.

There were few men in Pyrrha's life that she loathed as much as Cardin. Every day, she saw the thug harassing some of her closest friends on campus, for seemingly little reason more than just for the kicks of it. He was a sadistic bastard of a man, one who walked into the depths of Hell with his cronies not far behind. And something told her he had no plans of easing up now that he had no reason to hold back, especially if he found his favorite punching bag...

Which is why she was so glad to hear her game next. In the span of the next ten seconds, she was in and out of the building, thrust into the pouring rain. Leaning against the side of it, she reached into her bag and pulled out two things; her map, and her flashlight, as she looked the thing over for just a moment. At the moment, she had only one goal in mind, one that she refused to allow to fail…

Find Jaune Arc...And protect him till the moment she dies.

Among the class, there were few who were less known than the likes of Ivori Frame (Male Student No. 15). And in his eyes, this was nothing but an upside. When you were popular, you may have had many friends, but just as many potentially loathed you for the same reasons. If you were hated, good luck doing much of anything without a crowd making to burn you at the stake for your sins.

If you were unknown...Than nobody cared about your existence. And in a game where everyone was supposed to kill each other, this couldn't have been more of a benefit. Nobody was gonna spending the game hunting him down over a petty grudge, and with how quiet he was it was unlikely that most would even be able to find him unless he allowed them to.

So to say Ivori was confident about his chances was...A bit of an understatement. Sure, he didn't have plans to actually play the game, but it was a nice advantage at least. He'd probably find a place to hide early on and meet up with Kobalt Leaf (Male Student No. 20), then just let him handle most of the dirty work. He was pretty reasonably athletic with a killer backhand, so he just had to find him a nice melee weapon or even just a good stick and they'd be fine.

As he went through his thought, Ivori had seen more than a few of his classmates. There was, of course, the pair of Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie (Male/Female Student No. 12), who would probably make a very dangerous combination out in the field. The disrespectful punk known as Sky Lark followed soon after that. Ilia Amitola (Female Student No. 13) left about as quickly and quietly as possible, while the panicking mess of Roy Stallion (Male Student No. 14) did the exact opposite, sort of making a fool of himself in the process. Lastly, there was Octavia Ember (Female Student No. 14), who was functionally a beauty queen thrust into the middle of a war...She wouldn't last long, not without a group anyways.

And then, his name came.

Ivori stood up from his seat and calmly walked over to the men, taking his bag calmly and exiting without a fuss, though he could swear he got screamed at by one of them to go faster. As soon as he stepped out, he ran off to the side of the building and calmly took a seat underneath the tree. Sure, he'd be soaked by the time Kobalt got out, but it didn't matter. It was just water after all.

Fear...Power...Control.

While she'd likely never admit it to these people, Cinder Fall (Female Student No. 17) couldn't lie...Those were the very things that really got her going. Always had been, ever since she was a kid. So in a lot of ways, she really didn't mind the whole idea of killing her classmates. They weren't exactly a crowd who matter all that much to her. In fact, she would be lying if she said she knew most of their names.

The only ones in class she bothered to acknowledge more often than note were Mercury Black, who was already long gone by this point. If he was thinking right he'd be waiting outside for her, but Mercury isn't the type to actually do the smart thing. Probably more likely he ran off after some dumbass who lingered around a bit too long for their own good. Maybe Rose, or the Schnee girl. Hell, if it's a good day it'd maybe have been Xiao Long. A threat like her getting taken out real early would certainly make the later parts of the game less of a headache.

But on the bright side, Emerald Sustrai (Female Student No. 16) was still here-

"Girl number fifteen, Coco Adel."

Fucker.

Anyways, Emerald was at least still here. In a lot of ways, she was probably the closest thing Cinder had to a 'friend' in class, though she wouldn't really call it that. It was more that all she had to do is say something, then Emerald does it. Simple, calculated, consistent.

Certainly a lot easier than Mercury who will always cause a fucking scene, even for the most minor of shit. If she wants him to smash somebody's teeth in, he better well fucking do it and not worry about the consequences. That's her job! If she was telling him to do it than she already thought the whole thing out. She was smart, a hell of a lot more than anything that had ever gone through his head. Hell, he was lucky whenever he did basic math correctly.

"Boy number sixteen, Nadir Shiko."

Anyways, Cinder already had a plan for this damned game. First, meet up with Emerald and Mercury and get any doubts in their mind out of the way. Make it clear she was in charge and if they don't do what she says they're going to die...Well, they still are gonna die, but she's not telling them that.

"Girl number sixteen, Emerald Sustrai."

And there she goes. Eh, she'll wait for her like the loyal dog she is...Crap, what was she thinking again? This shit is the reason she needs a notebook...Well, a new one anyway.

...Oh yeah, that game bullshit. Basically she'll meet up with the two, kill everyone in the game, stab them in the back, maybe even literally, then win. Boom, she goes home, gets a decent fortune if what the 'teacher' was saying is true, and get a new name so she doesn't have to deal with all the dramatic bullshit involving the families of these kids wanting her dead.

"Boy number seventeen, Fox Alistair."

There goes the blind boy. If Emerald is smart she'll just off the guy on his way out, though admittedly a steep cliff could probably off him for them.

She would probably be leaving any minute now...And Cinder was excited about it, about every opportunity she'd have to do whatever she wanted. A chance to truly commit to every heinous act she had ever imagined in her mind, but could never act on because of this pathetic school system. It was practically orgasmic.

"Girl number seventeen, Cinder Fall."

Yes...Yes, Cinder would enjoy this game.

There were a few unspoken rules among the students of Beacon High. Don't make puns around Mister Port unless you want to annoy him. Don't eat at the cafeteria cause there was always a fifty percent chance of either Nora Valkyrie or Yang Xiao Long starting a food fight that you're unlikely to walk away from with clean clothes. Don't mess with Cardin Winchester or Cinder Fall.

And avoid Blake Belladonna (Female Student No. 20).

Blake was one of the exchange students of the class, and of the three, she had quickly gained quite the reputation for exactly where she had come from. The Republic of Greater East Asia. Also known as one of the most feared nations in the world, and one of the most open about their anti-American views.

In some ways, this was advantageous. Unlike Ilia Amitola or Velvet Scarlatina, she was never really bullied by the other kids. Instead, she was avoided as if she was the plague. And it showed thus far too.

Every kid who had left the class who wasn't either an exchange student, an immigrant, or Yang Xiao Long hadn't even spared Blake a glance in this class, even after arriving in here. Hell, when the kid next to her, which she thinks might have been Roy, woke up, the first thing he did upon spotting her was flinch and fall out of his seat like an idiot. And since then...Nothing. It was like she didn't even exist.

That much had persisted pretty well with everyone who had left in the last five minutes too; Nolan Porfirio (Male Student No. 18), Neon Katt (Female Student No. 18), Neptune Vasilias (Male Student No. 19), Nebula Violette (Female Student No. 19), and Kobalt Leaf. No matter how few of them were left in here, by the time Kobalt had bolted, not a single one up till them had given her a look.

She was a ghost...And one of the last kids in class.

Looking back, she saw pretty well who was left. There was Brawnz Ni, a dumb jock who seems to spend more time pumping iron than sleeping, and Penny Polendina...Who weirded her out. Even now, despite the situation, she was smiling, entirely carefree and oblivious to the world around her. It was as if she existed in her own little world and that this whole thing was just a dream in her eyes-

"Girl number twenty, Blake-"

And just like that, Blake jumped up out of her seat. On a fly, as if on survival instinct, she ran forward, grabbed her bag, and disappeared, leaving Brawnz and Penny alone in the large, open classroom. One that had been flooded and compact only moments ago, but now was just...Empty.

Brawnz seemed to be gripping down on his chair with strength comparable to a gorilla, practically on the verge of tearing it in half while on it. Meanwhile though, Penny...Just sat there.

...Waiting...

"And girl number twenty-one, Penny Polendina."

Torchwick promptly took time to catch his breath, throwing the paper off to the side as the last girl of the class was thrown her bag and left the class. This class certainly put up a lot less of a fight than the last one; he actually had to kill a couple of 'em last time just to get them to shut up about all their bullshit on having rights.

Good thing too. He really didn't want to get a dock in pay this time just because some spoiled brat threw a fit about it. But that was done and over with now.

No kids left to bother him.

All the bags were gone.

He could relax...And enjoy the show.

Let the games begin.

42 Students Left to Go.

GOOD LUCK.