AN: Thank you to everyone for the support you gave in the story! I'm glad so many of you are excited to see a story like this. First off, I want to apologize. I wanted to get this chapter out on Monday because it was like eighty percent complete, but I've been having some crazy migraines and I didn't actually get around to finishing it until today. I hope you enjoy it! I got so many cool characters and I can't wait for you to meet them all! Introductions aren't really going to be introductions though. Due to the nature of the story, the characters will retain their memories of each other so this should be interesting. I'll be doing four introductions per chapter so hopefully they should be done pretty quickly. I can shorten it to three per chapter if it gets to be too much info though. Hopefully that's not the case but we will see. I hope you guys enjoy!
"So what exactly are we doing this for? These guys are nobodies. Nobody will care if they die."
"This is a test. I need to know if these new bracelets really work or not."
"Is that really the only reason? There must be something else."
"Of course there's another reason. Do you not understand how big of a threat Branch Z actually is? Eliminating them would be a great help to our cause."
"I don't really understand how these kids could be a threat to us."
"Think about it, these kids have been through hell and back with each other. They've witnessed the sacrifice of someone they love and have survived with each other for a long time now. The amount of trust these kids have in each other is despairingly high. Most of them would gladly take a bullet for each other. They reek of hope. That's why we have to get rid of them."
"I guess when you put it that way..."
" Don't worry, They'll break soon enough, everyone does."
"Ugh...dammit." I muttered, grabbing my throbbing head. "What the hell was that?" Whatever was in those capsules knocked everyone out cold. No one had any time to react. I hope everyone is alright. Who could have done something like that? No one was supposed to know we were here.
"Joker? Are you ok?" Said a voice coming from slightly above me. Whoever it was was obviously tougher than the rest of us. They seemed to be the only person who was actually on their feet at this point. I rolled over to see who it was that was actually talking to me.
"Get up Joker. Things don't look good."
"Kou?" I muttered while covering my face from the bright red light emitting from the monitor above me.
"You know to call everyone by their code name Joker. Now let's get you up. You're the only other person awake right now." She grabbed my shoulders and helped me to my feet. I should have seen it coming. Kou Hamasaki, the former SHSL Policewoman, was the first one up from that gas.
Kou Hamasaki
Former SHSL Policewoman
Code Name: Bulldog
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 120 lbs
Kou Hamasaki, the former SHSL police woman was one of our strongest memebrs. She was one of the first to actually get it together after we ran from Hope's Peak. She was kind of our non-official leader if you would say. Thanks to her though, we actually did manage to survive longer than we should have. I'm greatful to her but she definitely isn't who she was before now.
"Bulldog? What's going on here? What were those capsule things?" I rubbed my still aching head and brushed off the debris that got stuck to my clothes when I dropped. She looked around the room at our knocked out classmates and frowned.
"I'm not sure. Whatever it was was intentional though. Someone attacked us. Someone managed to knock us all out cold. What strikes me as odd is that everyone seems to be ok though. Apart from a few scratches, nobody seems to be seriously injured." She brushed off her clothes and straightened me up as well. She wore nothing too flashy. She had on a typical uniform consisting of a blue shirt with a combination of a navy blue tie, vest, and pants. She also had on a white bike helmet. She had long, messy black hair that stopped at about her waist and had short bangs coming off from her helmet.
"That being said, are you ok Joker? Are you in any pain?" She asked while grabbing my shoulder. She always enforced our code names but for the most part, we really didn't use them when speaking to each other. We trusted each other more than that. She looked at me with her greyish-blue eyes. She had a small amount of freckles on her face as well.
"No...I'm fine. Just a bit dizzy from the gas. I should be good though. Is nobody else awake?" I said looking around. She put her fingers on her chin and shook her head.
"You're the only one who's woken up since myself. That being said, I didn't exactly wake up long ago either." She said, slowly walking around the room looking at our comrades. All of them were breathing but they seemed to still be unconscious. Kou sighed as she examined everyone.
"Nothing to do but wait until they wake up."
Almost as if by magic, we heard the first sound of life coming from somewhere. Kou and I immediately tried to find the source of the sounds we were hearing.
"Ugh...my head." Said a voice coming from one of the chairs. I made my way towards the voice and saw who it was.
"Yukiko? Are you alright?
Yukiko Kisaragi
Former SHSL Shinto Priestess
Code Name: Luna
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 110 lbs
Yukiko Kisaragi was another one of our former classmates. She was always a joy to see. She always had a smile on her face, no matter what hardships she faced. She's always had a thing with praying upon the gods but with her talent, it's to be expected. Unfortunately, after the tragedy at Hope's Peak, she almost fell into despair. Thankfully we were able to help her out of it before it got worse.
I grabbed Yukiko by her shoulder to help her get up. I'm glad someone else woke up so soon. I hope everyone else does as well. As soon as I get to Yukiko, Kou comes and starts to ask questions as well.
"Luna, are you alright? You aren't hurt anywhere right?" She walks over to us and straightens Yukiko's clothes.
Yukiko was pretty average in terms of looks. She had long, dark brown hair tied into a high ponytail. Her bangs were parted, exposing her royal blue eyes. She wore the traditional Priestess clothes, consisting of a red hamaka with a white haori. Her image definitely screamed "priestess" that's for sure. She was cute really. Of course now's not the time to be thinking like that, considering she must be extremely confused right now.
"Oh...Itsuki? Kou?" She rubbed her head. "I'm sorry, I'm feeling a little bit light headed. What happened to everyone?" She took a look around at everyone, still unconscious.
"Someone attacked us." Exclaimed Kou. She definitely wasn't one to say anything lightly. Yukiko covered her mouth in shock.
"Are you sure? Who would do something like that? Have the gods truly forsaken us this time?" She got up and walked around the room, looking at everyone. I figured I might as well try and calm her down.
"Hey, were not one hundred percent sure it was an attack. It could have just been a trap that malfunctioned or something. We did set up a lot of them while we were staying here." Kou looked at me, already preparing to prove me wrong.
"I don't recall anyone setting up any traps like that. And even if we did, what would be the purpose of putting it in this room? We hardly used it while we were here." She was right. There would be no point in trapping this room. Who was it then that set that gas trap up? It had to have taken some time, that's for sure.
"What are these bracelets on our wrists?" asked Yukiko, looking at her wrist. I looked down at my hand and sure enough, there was a bracelet on me as well. I don't remember ever putting something like this on. What the hell was this doing here? I looked over to Kou, who was also playing around with her bracelet.
"It won't come off." She said. "These bracelets are stuck on our wrists." I attempted to remove mine but it didn't budge. Somehow, it was stuck.
"This is starting to get strange." I said. "Something is definitely wrong here." Kou started to walk around the table, examining everyone and checking if everyone had a bracelet as well.
"There is one on everyone here. It looks like there's a screen of some sort on them but nothing is displaying. Whatever they are for, they aren't activated yet." She sighed and took a seat at her chair. While we were all examining our wrists, someone else spoke up.
"What happened? My head is killing me." I turned and saw that it wasn't Kou or Yukiko that was speaking.
"Hokama?" I said staring at the former SHSL Juggler.
Hokama Ebizo
Former SHSL Juggler
Code Name: Klutz
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 149 lbs
Hokama was the former SHSL Juggler. While we were attending class, he always used to entertain everyone with his juggling skills. He was definitely the best I've ever seen. Unfortunately, during the tragedy, his girlfriend was killed by the reserve course students. He really hasn't been the same ever since. Nobody brings it up, mainly cause of how sensitive a topic it is to him. We all know he isn't a bad person though.
"What are you guys doing? What happened to everyone here?" He asked, looking at the people still unconscious at their seats.
"We believe someone may have attacked us while we were at the meeting." Exclaimed Yukiko. "We were knocked unconscious by some form of gas"
"Whoever it was also stuck these bracelets to our wrists." Said Kou. Hokama looked down at his own wrist and saw his bracelet. He tried to play around with it and take it off but like us, he had no luck.
"I should have known someone would try this. We should have had some people watch for this stuff." He said. He wasn't wrong. In some ways, we were careless. We should have checked the room out first before sitting down. I guess the sight of the factory really did lower everyone's guard.
"It's too late for that now." Said Kou, still seated at her chair. "We're in this together now." Hokama nodded and sat back down at his seat.
"So what do we do? Sit here and wait for everyone to wake up? He asked, crossing his arms. "Doesn't seem like the best plan."
"It's better if we're all together before we take any action." Said Yukiko. "We're all stronger together." She smiled. That was something I could agree with. I'm sure with all of us here, nobody would dare try something. It gave me a bit of relief just thinking that.
"I just hope we aren't here for long." Said Hokama, adjusting his hat. He was pretty nice looking compared to what I was wearing. He had on a red and black suit with black pants and shoes. He has a matching fedora of the same red and black color. His hair was blonde and pointed up to the front and to the left.
We tried to help people wake up by shaking them but no one was budging. That gas was definitely strong. I hope everyone does wake up. I sit down and start thinking when I feel a tug at my shirt. I turn my head and it's Yukiko that is tugging at me.
"Hey Itsuki, do you really think everything is ok?" She whispers to me. I want to tell her it's alright but at this point, I can't be sure either.
"I...I'm sure everything will be fine." I say to her. I hope i'm right about that. Yukiko looks down and sighs.
"Luna, Joker, come here. People are starting to wake up." I hear coming from the other end of the table. I look over and see Kou and Hokama lifting up people from the ground. It looks like everyone else is starting to wake up. I'm glad to see that we wouldn't have to wait much longer for them. Me and Yukiko walk over and start helping people up as well. The person closest to me was a male.
"Satoshi? Are you ok?" I say lifting the former SHSL Bartender to his feet.
Satoshi Yoshihara
Former SHSL Bartender
Code Name: Haze
Height: 6'0"
Weight:148 lbs
Satoshi Yoshihara, the former SHSL bartender. He was always someone that you would want to talk to. He was always willing to listen to everyone's problems. Funnily enough, while he always listened, he never really opened up to anyone himself. I'm not even sure if I know everything about him.
He got up, rubbing his head and looked at me.
"Itsuki, thank goodness you're alright"
"I should be saying that to you. You guys have been out for some time now. Are you ok?" I say to him, helping him maintain balance. He steadies himself and his clothes and nods.
"I don't feel any different. Nothing really hurts other than the small bump I got falling unconscious." He buttons his vest and looks around. He wore a red dress shirt, combined with a black vest and black tie. His pants and shoes were also black, and the buttons on his vest had gold buttons on it. His hair is dark grey and slightly curly. His entire fringe was pinned back with two wire clips, exposing his turquoise eyes.
"Itsuki, what happened?" He said.
"Someone must have set that trap up. We were all knocked unconscious." His eyes opened and he looked up at the ceiling.
"You think they set those capsules somewhere above us? Maybe we can find out how it works and use it to find out who did it." That honestly wasn't a bad idea. Maybe we can see how good of a person were dealing with. We can know if it was an amateur or a professional were dealing with.
"How would we even reach the ceiling?" I asked. He shrugged his shoulders and just looked around.
"Beats me. I just thought it was a nice idea. Is everyone else ok?" He said, looking at everyone else who was just waking up.
"I'm not sure. They just woke up. It's probably a good idea to go and check on how they are doing." He nodded in agreement. We walked towards everyone else. I need to check on everyone. We might be dealing with something bad.
I hope not...
And there it is! I hope you like the chapter. If you got your OC accepted, you should check your inbox sometime within the next week for a PM. Again, I apologize for the delay. Hopefully the next chapter will be quicker. Let me know how you like all these characters so far. Hope you all have a good one!
