A/N: Good evening, my wonderful readers! I'm ultimate unkn0wn and I'm back with an update! We finally meet our beloved mascot, Monokuma. Not much to say in the Author's Note this time... If you do enjoy this story, however, I'd appreciate it if you could post a review and let me know just how you feel! It'll definitely help me update faster. ;)
EDIT: Oops, nearly forgot to answer the reviews!
1995hzq: In the current Arc, some of the killings will be different. I won't say any more than that, but there will be different victims and killers. In the second arc, there will be no killing whatsoever.
With that said, until next time!
Disclaimer: I do not currently and never will own the Danganronpa series. I own only this story. All characters and dialogue taken from the series belong to Spike Chunsoft. Some dialogue taken from the series has been paraphrased and edited to fit the flow of the story.
Any words in bold refer to words or names that are regarded as important.
Any dialogue in italics and 'single quotation marks' are a character's thoughts.
Any dialogue in "double quotation marks" are spoken by a character out loud.
PROLOGUE Pt. II: Welcome to Despair 💀
The room before the gymnasium was very extravagant. Red banners with the school emblem emblazoned on them hung from the ceiling, red carpet was laid out on top of the wooden floor and there was even a trophy case filled with plaques, trophies and antiques. The students had all gathered before the gymnasium doors, none brave enough to enter. Although, when Makoto looked again, he saw that not everyone was here. It seemed only the students who had stayed behind like he did in the main hall were gathered here. Were the others already in the gymnasium?
"God, I had no idea this Hope's Peak Academy place was gonna be such a pain in my balls. It really ain't that much different from the time I spent in juvie. Hell, this place is even worse!" Mondo grumbled, scratching the back of his head angrily. While most of the other students disliked his language, they had to agree with him that so far, Hope's Peak Academy was nothing like their expectations.
"And why isn't there anyone here? Walking through the halls, I didn't see a single person..." Sayaka added, looking a bit unnerved. Makoto corroborated her statement, as he, too, recalled an unusual lack of other living beings within the school. Admittedly, he hadn't really explored more of the school (his mind had been entirely focused on heading for the main hall, after all) but it was definitely odd that he didn't see even a single teacher or student roaming the halls. Earlier, Makoto had attributed it to being the first day, but it seemed no one else had seen anyone, which meant the school was only inhabited by the students gathered around him at the moment.
"Uh, isn't that, like, seriously not good?" Junko murmured, looking paler than normal. It seemed Kiyotaka wished to remain hopeful, however, as he insisted, "Th-They're just trying to spook us! They'll take those metal plates down later, I'm sure of it..." though his voice was very uncertain and wavered.
"Umu. All we can do now is hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Nothing ventured, nothing gained," Sakura stated, her voice calm and steady. It seemed she wanted to help calm the others, and sure enough, the students were beginning to relax somewhat. It was true, after all. Whatever was going on would likely be revealed by meeting whoever that voice that called them here belonged to.
"Well hell, it ain't like I'm scared or nothin'. Let's just get this over with! Hey! Where's whoever called us here!?" Mondo growled, his voice fading as he dashed to the gymnasium, flung the doors open, and entered all in under a few seconds. Kiyotaka quickly followed after the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader, though to stop Mondo from running rather than anything else. Soon, Sakura, too, left for the gymnasium, with Hifumi running after out of fear.
'I'm getting a really bad feeling about this... There's this weird feeling in my gut... It's like...that sickly surprise you feel when you're about to fall,' Makoto admitted to himself with a nervous gulp. A quick glance at the students left behind told that they were also hesitant like he was. Still, they didn't have a choice. Waiting any longer would only be delaying the inevitable...
With a deep, shuddery breath, Makoto stepped towards the gymnasium doors and opened them. The doors opened with a long, winding CREEAAAK, and light poured out into the room, nearly blinding the brunette. Once his eyes adjusted, the blinding light lessened, revealing a magnificent gymnasium with a stage at the far end. The other students were gathered inside. In front of the stage, sixteen chairs were laid out on a red carpet. There was a podium at the center of the stage and a large banner with the school emblem stitched into it hung innocently above the stage. Truly, the sight before Makoto resembled an entrance ceremony.
"Oh. It really does look like an entrance ceremony..." the brunette murmured to no one in particular. Yasuhiro waved at Makoto with a confident yet relieved look on his face.
"See? Told ya! It's totally normal entrance ceremony stuff," the Ultimate Clairvoyant laughed. Makoto chuckled along, albeit nervously. Somehow, the normalcy of the "entrance ceremony" merely highlighted just how not normal the entire situation was...
The students had just relaxed when the voice from the announcement suddenly rang through the gymnasium.
"Hey there, howdy, hello! Is everyone here? Good! Then let's get things rolling!" the voice cackled. All heads turned to the podium on the stage where the voice originated from just as something popped up from behind the podium, landing on top of the wooden furniture. It was a...white and black teddy bear?
"Huh? A teddy bear?" Chihiro murmured, voicing the thought that was on everyone's minds.
"I'm not a teddy bear! I...am...Monokuma! And I am this school's headmaster!" the voice from earlier shouted, appearing to originate from the bear itself. The stuffed animal had one beady, black right eye and an eerie, red left eye in the shape of a lightning bolt. Its colors were split right through the middle, with the right side colored a pure white and the left a jet-black, save for its belly, which was also colored white. Even the bear's mouth was odd, with the left side being full of pearly whites and the other as empty as space. What little teeth it had was curled in a smile, but due to the bear's chilling appearance, the smile looked more like a sneer.
"Nice to meet you all!" the bear giggled. Its voice was so out of place with its cheeriness and carefree tone... Upon hearing "Monokuma" speak, Hifumi let out a shocked scream, shouting, "That teddy bear can talk!"
"Calm down! I'm sure there's a speaker inside it," Kiyotaka stated, trying to convince everyone that there was nothing to be startled about, though his equally-as-perturbed face betrayed his confident tone.
As if angered, Monokuma growled and replied, "I told you already... I'm not a teddy bear. I'm Monokuma! And I'm your headmaster!" It — actually, no, he, as evident from the masculine tone the voice owned — angrily raised his arms and one could almost see steam come out of his ears. At this, Hifumi let out another startled shriek, this time shouting, "Waaaaah! It moved!"
"Seriously man, calm down! It's prolly just a remote control toy or somethin'," Mondo growled, though, like Kiyotaka, Mondo sounded as though he was really attempting to assuage himself rather than the others. At this, Monokuma let out a sigh before placing his arms behind his back and keeping his head down.
"How dare you compare me to a child's plaything! You've cut me deep. Deeper than the Mariana Trench..." he muttered, sounding rather hurt. Makoto almost felt bad for the teddy bear... At least until Monokuma seemingly bounced back and happily held his stomach as he chuckled.
"My remote control system is so complex, even the folks at NASA can't recreate or even comprehend it!" Monokuma guffawed. Then he angrily raised his arms again, shouting, "Ah, but don't make me say stuff that might destroy NASA's dreams. I just couldn't BEAR that!"
"'Bear' that? Really? You are...unfortunate," Celestia sighed, looking a bit surprised to hear the terrible yet funny pun spout from the bear's mouth. As if disregarding that statement, Monokuma went on, exclaiming that they needed to "move on and get started". Junko interrupted him with a roll of her eyes and a rather disturbed expression, asking if he was "giving up already" and whether there would be any more bear puns. Monokuma merely told her to "quiet down".
"Umu. He has abandoned the gag..." Sakura noted, though Monokuma seemed to ignore that, as well, as he then told everyone to "stand at attention" and bow.
"Good morning!" the bear called out as he bowed. Kiyotaka followed Monokuma's orders without hesitation and belted out a loud, "Good morning!" rather enthusiastically. Touko flinched at that, letting out a shocked, "Y-You don't have to s-say it back...!" The others were just-as-visibly-startled. After all... This was nothing ordinary, and it certainly wasn't the time to be so nonchalant like Kiyotaka was!
"Now then, let us commence with a most noteworthy and memorable entrance ceremony! First, let's talk a bit about what your school life here will be like. Now, ah, make no mistake-you few students, so full of potential, represent the hope of the world. And to protect such splendid hope..." Monokuma began, as though everything that was happening thus far was normal. But the next words to come from his mouth were anything but normal. "...You will all live a communal life together solely within the confines of this school. Everyone will live in harmony together, and adhere to the rules and regulations of the school."
It was as if the students had all been slapped in the face at once. Makoto could scarcely believe his ears.
"Ah, now then...regarding the end date for this communal life..." Monokuma continued on. "There isn't one! In other words, you'll all be here until the day you die! Such is the school life you've been assigned."
'...Huh?' Makoto still found himself unable to comprehend the words Monokuma had spouted.
"Wh-What did he just say? Until the day we d-die...?" Touko piped up, looking absolutely horrified. The color had drained from her already pale skin and she clasped her hands over her heart. She practically embodied how the entire group of students were feeling.
"Oh, but fear not! We have quite an abundant budget, so you won't lack for all the common conveniences," Monokuma added to his already-incredulous-claims. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly and seemed rather nonchalant, as if the words he had said were all normal and average.
"That's the least of our worries right now!" Sayaka shouted, her fear clearly present on her face. Even Junko was in disbelief, as sweat dripped down her face profusely. She even questioned if this was all just a joke, saying, "Yeah, what the hell? You're saying I have to live here forever? You're screwing with us, right?"
Monokuma's reaction was instant. He let out an angry growl and raised his arms dramatically again.
"I am not screwing with you! I am no liar, of that you can be 100% sure," he answered. "Ah, and just for your information...you're completely cut off from the outside world. So you don't have to worry about that dirty dirty land beyond these walls ever again!"
"Cut off...? So all those metal plates all over the school..." Makoto began, having realized something. "They're there...to keep us trapped in here?"
"That's exactly what they're there for. No matter how much you may yell and scream for help...help will not come. So with all of that in mind, feel free to live out your life here with reckless abandon!" Monokuma laughed in response, a cheery, relaxed grin on his face.
"Come on, what the hell is this? I don't care if the school or whoever else is behind it all, this is just a really bad joke," Leon started, his skin having begun to blanch like the others. The truth of the matter was beginning to sink in, and so was the fear. Still, the students tried to cling to that final hope that, maybe, juuuust maybe, this was all a terrible joke...
Mondo let out an angry shout, telling Monokuma to "cut this shit out" and that the joke wasn't funny anymore. The bear harrumphed angrily back, huffing about how the students were all skeptics for not believing that this was their reality.
"But I guess you can't help it, huh? You all grew up in an age where you're taught to doubt your neighbor... Well you'll have plenty of time to find out whether or not what I say is true. And when that time comes, you'll see with your own eyeballs that I speak the undeniable truth, upupupu!" the toy bear giggled, his high-pitched voice sounding even more eerie as he laughed at this hellish situation...
"Having to live here forever would be...quite the problem," Celestia muttered. It seemed that even she was displeased by this fact.
"Come, now. What's the matter with all of you? You decided of your own free will to attend Hope's Peak Academy, didn't you? And now, before the entrance ceremony is even finished, you've already decided you want to leave?" Monokuma suddenly remarked, tilting his head to the side quizzically. Then, he straightened up, as if he had remembered something. "Oh but you know... I guess I did forget to mention one thing. There is one way for you to leave the school..."
"R-Really...?" Touko asked, looking shocked, but hopeful.
"As headmaster, I've crafted a special clause for those of you who would like to leave! I call it...the Graduation Clause!" Monokuma continued, again speaking nonchalantly, as if the news were ordinary. "Now, let me tell you about this fun little rule. As I mentioned, in order to maintain an environment of harmony here, we rely on a communal lifestyle. And if someone were to disrupt that harmony, they and they alone would be allowed to leave the school. That, my students, is the Graduation Clause!"
"What do you mean by 'disrupt the harmony'? Speak clearly!" Byakuya scowled, looking just as irritated by Monokuma's skirting around the point as everyone else felt. At that, the bear gave the group of students the most bloodcurdling giggle they had heard yet.
"Upupupu... Well, you know... If one person were to murder another."
"M-Murder!?" Makoto yelled, unsure if he had heard right, yet he was certain that that was what Monokuma had said.
"Stabbing, strangling, bludgeoning, crushing, hacking, drowning, igniting, how you do it doesn't matter. You must kill someone if you want to leave. It's as simple as that," Monokuma stated matter-of-factly. "The rest is up to you. Give it your all to achieve the best outcome in the worst way possible."
A chill shot down Makoto's spine... "You must kill someone if you want to leave." As soon as the brunette heard those words, his blood went cold.
"Upupupu. I bet that got your brain juices flowing! Beats the heck out of a human catching a salmon, huh? Like I said before, you guys are the hope of the world. But you know... Taking that hope and seeing it get murdered creates a darkened shadow of despair. And I just find that so...darn...exciting!" Monokuma shouted.
"What the hell are you talking about!? To kill each other is...It's!" Leon cried out, his voice cracking somewhat from his fear and shock.
"To kill each other is to kill each other. I'm sure there's a dictionary here somewhere if you need it," Monokuma replied, having interpreted Leon's cries as cries of confusion.
"We know what it means, that's not the problem! Why do we have to kill each other!?" Aoi answered back, clenching a fist defiantly.
"Yeah! Stop blabbering on with all this nonsense! Just let us go home already!" Hifumi added to that statement, shouting with all his might.
"...Blabbering?"
Monokuma couldn't understand why the students seemed to struggle so much at understanding their situation.
"Blabbering, blabbering, what do you mean blabbering!? Stop blabbering on about blabbering on! You guys just don't get it do you? 'Let us go, let us go!' You keep on saying the same thing over and over and over and over...! Listen. From this moment on, this school is your home, your life, your world. Got it?" the bicolored-bear growled. "And you can kill as much as you wanna kill! So go ahead, go on a kill-kill-killing spree!"
"Alright, come on... How long are you gonna keep this up?" Yasuhiro piped up this time, sounding rather exasperated. Monokuma blinked.
"You got us, okay? You scared the hell out of us. So you can go ahead and reveal the trick now," the Ultimate Clairvoyant explained with a confident grin.
"'Reveal the trick'?" Monokuma parroted, rather befuddled about what Yasuhiro was talking about.
"Yeah, cuz I mean... Y'know, this is all some kinda trick and all, right? So uh, like..." the brunette replied, looking somewhat thoughtful. By this point, Mondo had had enough. The Ultimate Biker Gang Leader stepped up and shoved Yasuhiro out of his way before howling, "Listen up, asshole! This shit's gone way too far! What the hell kinda joke is this!?"
"Joke? What, you mean like your hair?"
Monokuma's response had been the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back. Mondo let out a furious roar, then there was a loud BOOM! emanating from the floorboards where the biker had kicked off from. Launching through the air, Mondo practically flew at Monokuma and grabbed the bear, lifting him into the air where Monokuma flailed his limbs.
"Gotcha, you little piece of shit! I dunno if you're a toy or a stuffed animal or whatever the hell! Either way, I'm gonna rip you to fuckin' shreds!" Mondo yowled, spittle flying from his mouth as he angrily shook Monokuma to-and-fro.
"Waah! Violence against the headmaster is in violation of school regulations!" the bear cried, still flailing his limbs uselessly.
"Shut the fuck up! Let me outta here, or I swear to Christ..." Mondo growled, shaking the bear again when Monokuma suddenly fell limp. A faint beeping could be heard from the bear, though Mondo paid it no heed.
"What, no smartass comeback this time!?" the biker asked after Monokuma continued to remain silent. "Stop that goddamn beeping and SAY SOMETHING!"
Then, Kyoko shouted out, "Watch out! Get rid of it!" much to everyone's surprise. The beeping grew faster, rapidly increasing in tempo. "Hurry up and throw it!" Mondo clicked his tongue, slightly irritated that a girl was giving him orders, but decided it might be best. He flung Monokuma through the air, watching as the bear scaled high above the group's heads...
Until the bear was ripped apart by an explosion accompanied by a humongous KABOOM!
"The hell!? Th-That sure as shit wasn't a joke. It blew the hell up..." Mondo was the first to react and he looked terrified.
"Ah, but you know... This means the teddy bear's been destroyed... Right?" Chihiro piped up, hoping to lighten the mood. Unfortunately, she was proven wrong when a familiar face popped up once again from behind the podium on stage.
"I told you, I'm not a teddy bear! I'm Monokuma!"
"Uwah! There's another one...?" Leon drew back, having hoped, like the others, that the bear truly was destroyed.
"You son of a bitch! You seriously tried to kill me just now!" Mondo growled, the blood draining from his face for the first time since he'd entered the gymnasium.
"Well, yes. I was serious about trying to kill you. You did violate one of the school regulations, after all. I'll let you off with a warning this time, but you'd better be careful from now on. Any naughty boy or girl who violates my rules won't get off with just a little swat on the butt," Monokuma growled back, even going so far as to unsheathe his razor-sharp claws in his anger.
"H-Hey... So does this mean there's like, a bunch more of you around here somewhere?" Junko suddenly asked, catching everyone's attention.
"Monokumas have been placed all throughout the school, yes. Plus, don't forget the surveillance cameras installed everywhere. And if you're caught breaking any rules, well... you all just saw what happened, right? Upupupu... And I won't be so forgiving with my punishment next time. So don't let it happen again!" Monokuma responded with a cheery giggle.
"Th-That's not even punishment. That's just...wrong..." Aoi said, horrified.
"Now then, lastly..." Monokuma continued on, having chosen to ignore Aoi. "To commemorate your joyous entry into our school, I have a little something for you..." He pulled out a sleek, black smartphone-like device and showed it off to the students. The device's screen was lit up and showed a blue background with a faint Hope's Peak emblem emblazoned on it.
"This is our official student handbook! Pretty cool, huh? As you can see, it's fully digital. So naturally, we call it... The e-Handbook! ...Ahem. Yes, well, moving on... This handbook is absolutely vital to a healthy school life, so don't lose it! When you start it up, it will display your name. Always make sure you have the right one!" the bear explained. "Now, this is not your everyday notebook. It has so many more uses than that! Also, it's completely waterproof. Splash it, wash it, drown it, it'll keep on ticking! And thanks to its space-age design, it can withstand an impact force of up to ten tons. Very resistant! It contains all of our school regulations, so make sure you review them thoroughly!"
With that said, Monokuma went on about how while the rules were strict, they served to "protect" the students and that it would be utter chaos without them. It seemed then that he had nothing more to say, as he concluded the entrance ceremony and told the students to "enjoy their abundantly dreary school life". He then waved goodbye and jumped off of the podium, disappearing behind it.
Just as suddenly as he had appeared, he had left, and the room wasn't the only thing he'd left behind. The students gathered to discuss what had just occurred, but it seemed most of them were just as lost, confused and terrified.
"Everyone, we need to just calm down. First, let's just take a second to summarize everything we just heard. Based on what Monokuma said, we essentially have two choices. Choice number one is that we each stay here, living a 'communal life' together until the day we die. And the other choice is..." Kyoko began, though she trailed off at the end and allowed Celestia to finish her thought.
"If we want to get out of here alive, we have to kill someone. Right?" the ravenette said, not quite meeting anyone's gaze.
"But...killing someone... That's..." Chihiro whimpered, tears welling in her eyes at the mere thought of it.
"We were abducted out of nowhere and stuffed into this place meant to look like a school. And now we're supposed to start killing each other? This is... This is...this is just...! What is this!?" Hifumi cried, biting his fingernails nervously.
"A lie, is what it is. All these ridiculous things we've heard... This all has to be fake!" Kiyotaka answered, still in disbelief that the "killing school life" was indeed a reality.
"Right now it doesn't really matter if it's real or fake. What matters is..." Byakuya began, his voice calm and composed. He had kept his gaze somewhere else for the duration of the entrance ceremony, but now turned to face the group.
"Is there anyone here who's seriously considering all this...?"
...There was no response. No one could find any words to speak. They all stared at one another, trying to gauge each other's thoughts. Makoto could almost taste the hostility. And that was when it truly hit him. He had finally realized the true terror hidden within the rules Monokuma had laid out.
"You must kill someone if you want to leave."
Those words had planted vicious thoughts deep within each of them. Instead of friendly gazes, all they could see when they faced each other were suspicious stares. The students were forced to wonder, "Is somebody going to betray us?"
And that was how Makoto's new school life began... This school, which had come out of nowhere to raise his hopes so high... It is not a school of hope.
In reality, it is...
A school of despair.