Prologue: Welcome to Hotel Despair! Part Two
The students looked up at the elderly man, excitement in their eyes. Soon enough, the man began to speak. "As you know, this class is headed on a field trip to the Maizono Memorial Resort and Spa! Is everyone excited?" the Headmaster asked. He was met with affirmative cheers from the students. It was clear they were excited about this.
"Excellent! His Majesty was kind enough to fund this little excursion, so let's make the most of it!" the Principal began. "Please have your things packed tonight. The plane leaves first thing in the morning. And… dismissed!" he finished before leaving the stage.
Once he left, the students chatted amongst themselves. Murmurs of "This is gonna be great!" and "I can't wait until tomorrow" emerged from the crowd. Most excited for this was Seran, who pondered what the vacation would be like. Various flights of fancy entered his head, as he imagined spending the vacation with Madoka. A small blush crept up on his face, especially when the thought of Madoka in a revealing bikini popped in his head. However, he quickly shook that thought out of his head.
"No! Madoka is a friend! You're not like those assholes who only want her for her title!" he thought to himself. He wanted to remain friends with her, and didn't want to complicate things, so he suppressed any naughty thoughts of Madoka as best as he could.
The next day, the students boarded the plane, packing their luggage into the Cargo Loader as they made their way onto the luxurious aircraft. To think that Makoto Naegi would fund this whole trip wasn't too farfetched, as he was a generous person. Still, it came as a surprise. Then again… his daughter would be going on this field trip, and from his experience from interviewing dads for a manga Seran had published, he knew that Makoto would want to spoil his little, or in this case "not-so-little", girl as much as possible. To be honest, he couldn't blame him, as he would do the same if he had a daughter.
About four hours later, the plane started its descent onto Maizono Island, the island on which the Maizono Memorial Resort rested. And to be frank, it was every bit as impressive as the Headmaster made it out to be. The area was lush and tropical, with white, sandy beaches on one end, and a majestic cliff on the other side. The focal point, however, was the resort itself. The resort consisted of six buildings; one tall building surrounded by five smaller, but still impressive buildings. Like Hope's Peak, it was an angelic white. In the front courtyard was a statue of Sayaka Maizono, one of the students lost to the First Academic Colosseum. Said statue was surrounded by four fountains that continuously sprayed beautiful gushes of water.
As the plane landed, the students eagerly awaited the resort for themselves… and as soon as they were able, they made a bee-line for the front doors. When the students stepped inside, however… their surroundings began to whirl and twirl, the colors becoming inverted. Most of the students passed out immediately. Seran, however, managed to stay conscious long enough to utter one last phrase…
"W-What… the fuck…?" he uttered before he too lost consciousness.
When he came to, Seran found himself inside a luxurious suite, which came with a living area, small kitchen, a bathroom with a shower, and a separate bedroom. However, when he looked out the windows, the skies were cloudy and overcast, like a storm was coming their way… except the skies were a blood red instead of the normal gray that clouds produced.
"That's weird. It was sunny just a minute ago…" he said to himself before noticing a card key on the table next to him. It was marked with his own name, so he assumed this was his room. He quickly pocketed the card key and left the room.
The white-haired boy made his way to the main lobby, where the other students had found themselves. The first to speak was Miki. "Duuuude… anyone get the number of the thing that hit us just now?" she moaned, still having a headache.
"Your guess is as good as mine, Miki" Madoka added. The other students started muttering amongst themselves. They all decided that it was best to get some fresh air, so they left the lobby and went into the courtyard… immediately taking note of the blood-red clouded sky.
"I'm pretty sure that's not normal…" Karin spoke up. For once, Madoka nodded in agreement. But just then, a monitor on a post next to the entrance turned on, revealing static… and a strange silhouette.
"Ahem! Do I have your attention? Cool. I'd like you all to come to the Maizono Fountain! That is all!" the voice from the silhouette told them, before the monitors shut off. The students were left in discomfort, but had no other option but to go see this person. Perhaps they knew what was going on. And so, they went to the Maizono Statue…
"Good! We're all here! I'd like to start Vacation Orientation now!" the same voice came out from behind the statue. It was a slightly high-pitched voice that spoke in a Bostonian accent, similar to Coconuts from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. The class only stared at the statue as something pointedly abnormal happened…
From behind the statue leapt a large teddy-bear, about the size of Koi. It landed on its butt, and looked at the students. The bear itself was… abnormal. It was white on one side, and black on the other. The white side looked like a normal teddy bear. The black side, however… had a slash-like red eye and a sinister stretched grin coming from the muzzle. The belly was one white oval, with a belly button bearing an X-mark on it.
"Is that… a stuffed bear?! Did a stuffed bear just leap out from behind the statue?!" Seran couldn't help but bellow in pure shock.
"'EY! I ain't no stuffed bear! The name's Monokuma! And I'm your Field Trip Guide!" the bear huffed, shaking its stubby fist at the Mangaka.
"AAAAAAH! THE TEDDY BEAR! IT SPEAKS AND MOVES!" Miki screamed, visibly freaked out now.
"I told yaz! I ain't a stuffed bear! My name is Monokuma, and I'm yer Field Trip Guide!"
It was then that horror found its way onto Seran's face. He knew who this was. He heard stories of the Tragedy, and knew all-too-well who the plush toy standing before them was…
"Wait… you can't be! Makoto-sama killed you, AND your Mastermind!" he exclaimed, visibly afraid. At that, Monokuma let out an audible chuckle…
"Upupupupu… you should all know that ya can't keep a good bear down!" the bear responded. "Anyway, now I'd like ta start ya all off with a simple explanation of this field trip!"
"See, yer a whole untapped well 'a hope! As such, I need ya ta be safe durin' yer trip! That's why yer field trip's been extended! As fer da new end date… there ain't one!" The whole class merely stared in fear as those words came out of the bear's supposed speaker. "In layman's terms, youse guys are ta spend the rest 'a yer lives here!"
"T-This is horrible! I can't spent my whole life here!" Hibiki squeaked.
"Don't worry yer pretty little head. The budget is IMMENSE! Yer still gonna have a Luxury Vacation."
"That's not the point!" Madoka added.
"Well… it ain't like there ain't no way ta get outta here…" the bear began. "Fer escapin', I have one particular rule I'd like ta share wid ya."
The class listened intently, wanting desperately to escape.
"Ya see… da only way youse can leave is if ya 'Graduate'."
"And how does one graduate?" Mokuso asked.
"Simply put… ya gotta murder someone!"
A dead silence filled the room… the one to break that silence was Tanzo. "What do you mean by 'murder'?" he asked.
"Aw, c'mon! Murder means murder! Ya know… stabbin', burnin', chokin', crushin', hexin', etcetera."
"Bitch, you must be out of your fucking MIND if you think we're gonna kill each other!" Seran spoke up. However, he was interrupted by Madoka, who now looked like she had been taken over by predatory instinct.
"I've held back for long enough… TEDDY BEAR DIES!" Madoka shouted, charging at Monokuma. The bear, however, merely evaded.
"Youse were REAL close to breakin' da rules! I'll let it slide this time, but next time, expect corporal punishment! Now den…" he began before passing out holoscreen devices. By this time, Madoka had calmed herself down a bit. "Dese are yer E-Handbooks! Don't go losin' 'em! They're indestructible, water-proof, and now heat-proof! Dey have a complete list 'a school rules, so read 'em carefully! Ya don't wanna get punished, do ya?"
Each student took their E-Handbooks and checked them. Upon starting up, they showed each student's real name.
"And wid dat, I bid ya farewell! Let da Luxury Vacation 'a Mutual Killin' begin! But before I do…" Monokuma began, before facing Madoka. "What's yer name, Tubby?"
"My name is Madoka Naegi! Not Tubby!" Madoka bellowed.
"Ah! So YER Hoodie's daughter! I'll be honest. I wasn't expectin' such a tub 'a fat like youse!" he chimed before disappearing, leaving a pissed-off Madoka. Seran quickly comforted her, causing her to calm down and face the other students.
"Well, if I've learned one thing from Daddy, it's that we should stick together at a time like this…" she explained. "If we let this get to us, we're only giving Monokuma what he wants."
The other students agreed on that… but some were a bit skeptical.
Seran, however, only hoped that things would go well… what would this "Luxury Vacation of Mutual Killing" entail? Would everyone stay strong, or would there be some who would give in? Was there any way out? All these questions spiraled around in Seran's head… and it would be a while before they were answered…
And so, the Prologue is finished at last. There are a few things I should mention before I close off.
Yes, I went with Monokuma's voice from Faulerro's "Danganronpa the Abridged Thing". I thought it would be a nice touch.
I've come up with the first Motive, but the Second Motive onwards is up for grabs.
Anyway, I'd like to thank you all for your OCs. Without them, this wouldn't be possible for me. I'll see ya next time.