Chapter 4: The Sisters Who Tore the World Asunder
The blonde girl with her hair in pigtails entered the airport just as the plane was touching down.
"Wassup bitches? Junko Enoshima's in the house!" She said. Nobody seemed to notice. "Really? Nobody at all? Damn, this place really is out in the boonies."
She headed up toward baggage claim, taking several cases off the belt and stacking them for her to sit on while she waited. They weren't her luggage, but that wasn't her concern. Then she noticed the black-haired, freckled girl approaching from the runway, carrying only a single backpack. Her dear sister, Mukuro Ikusaba.
"Uh oh, someone better check their pet crate! Some kind of smelly, mange-ridden dog has gotten loose!" Junko said aloud, though directed at nobody.
"Could you repeat that in Japanese, ma'am? I don't speak skanky whore," Mukuro responded. She walked toward Junko and pulled her into a hug.
"Hey sis, welcome home… Could you loosen up? You're kinda crushing my ribs here," Junko said quietly. Mukuro let go of Junko. "Thanks, you need to grab your luggage?"
"Nah, all my personal belongings are right here. I hope this school provides uniforms. I see you're living it up though."
"I already moved my stuff, I don't know who owns this stuff," Junko said, starting the walk out of the airport.
"Wow, the more things change the more they stay the same, I guess." Mukuro followed.
On the way to the limo that would take them to their dorms, they kept their conversation innocuous to avoid unwanted attention. They arrived back at the limo, and Mukuro looked surprised.
"Damn, I heard you landed a gig with a modeling agency, but I didn't think you were this successful," she said.
"A paltry challenge for the magnificent Junko Enoshima! Hop in, before I decide to make you walk." Junko said. Mukuro climbed into the limousine.
"Junko, huh? I guess you need a stage name if you want to have a peaceful life after being famous… We have privacy in here?" Mukuro asked as she closed the door. Junko nodded. "Okay, so what's the plan?"
"World domination, as always!" Junko said, in a somewhat playful tone. She wasn't joking. "Yeah, the whole child soldiers thing didn't pan out, apparently being half the height of the opponent doesn't confer as many benefits as I thought."
"I could've told you that was an awful idea."
"Yeah, well you weren't there," Junko said, very pointedly. "Besides, I still got access to a robotics factory out of the deal. I'm more of a big picture person, but now that we're back together they won't stand a chance."
"Okay, so what's the actual plan?"
"Hope's peak."
"That a mountain?" Mukuro had been out of Japan for a while, so she'd fallen out of the loop on trends.
"No, the school for talent!"
"Ah… Wait, what are our talents?"
"Ultimate Tactician and Ultimate Analyst of course!" Junko handed Mukuro her student card. Mukuro glanced over it.
"These say Ultimate Soldier and Ultimate Fashionista," Mukuro said.
"Really? The scout must be a drunkard like the rumors say…" Junko said. Mukuro nodded before realizing the most immediate problem with her student card.
"Wait, it's been years since I was in Japan, how did they scout me?"
"Okay, I may have called in one of my connections to get these spots, but it's gonna pay off big time, I can tell," Junko said. She was rocking in her seat.
"Sorry, you're gonna have to fill me in a bit more here, do we have a solid plan or are we just seeing what opportunities present themselves?"
"A little of both, I heard through the grapevine that Hope's peak had a super-talent project in the works and I want to have a look for myself. If nothing else, having tons of talent nearby will make it easy to find people to help achieve our goals."
Junko took a sip of the fancy water she'd brought. Wouldn't want to risk losing her figure to alcohol of all things.
"Okay, so I gotta know why you decided to fly to this part of town rather than the main airport," Junko said.
"Not many planes flying between Bolivia and Japan to begin with, I had to take what I could get. Sorry if it's a bit out of the way," Mukuro said, taking a drink for herself.
"Don't worry about it, I certainly wouldn't want to piss off 'Massacre by the million' Mukuro," Junko said.
"If anyone could do it, it's 'Red Ravager' R… Wait, you changed your name, damn… We should probably hold back with the nicknames when we're in public though…"
"Yeah, yeah," Junko said as she did a brushing off gesture toward her.
The pair arrived at Hope's peak, Junko busily sketching on her notepad and working out potential angles. Mukuro got distracted with the boy who was currently entering the school. Junko quickly took notice.
"Uh oh, looks like freckles has discovered boys! I don't stand a chance now!" Junko poked her with the cap of her pen.
"Oh, stop it." Mukuro grinned at the comment and shook her head, but she kept staring at him.
"We're gonna have to get you past your shyness sometime this year, I mean you'll go to a war zone but you won't talk to someone you like? It's weird."
Junko took note of the buildings nearby, looking for one in particular.
"Steel and glass, on the right," Junko said, keeping her voice low. Mukuro finally broke her stare and looked where Junko had stated.
"I see it, that where the project is taking place?" Mukuro asked, also keeping her voice down.
"Not sure, but it should be where the subject is being kept."
"And where are we going right now?"
"I got access to this nice little bunker, away from the prying eyes of the regular students."
"How'd you get that?"
"Courtesy of the trustees. I'm sure they won't mind that we're borrowing it." Junko skipped along the road toward the statue of the school founder.
A few hours later, Junko and Mukuro were deep in the halls of the building. Mukuro pulled the knife out of the corpse of the guard she had just killed, wiping the blood off with a rag.
"Well, that's five now. For all the fancy doors and cameras you'd think they'd have more guards for something they're trying to keep secret," Junko said. "I hope you have a plan for getting rid of these bodies, I would've just knocked them out if I were you."
"Not as easy as it sounds, sis. Trust me, I'd be all for making them think they passed out on the job if it were feasible," Mukuro wasn't even breathing heavily as she spoke.
"Fair enough, the room should be just down here."
Mukuro shoved the body in a closet before following her sister. Junko found the large metal door.
"Retinal scanner? Damn, I wonder if any of those guards have access…" Mukuro was moving to go grab one of the bodies she had left behind.
"Don't worry, I've got this," Junko pulled out a plastic bag containing an eye, using a toothpick to hold it up to the scanner.
"Do I want to know how you got that?"
"Not if you want to think of me as your innocent baby sister," Junko said. Though they were twins, Mukuro had always been the "big sister".
"Gotcha."
The scanner accepted the eye, and the door opened. Inside was a large room with bare metal walls. The room was entirely empty, save for a single cot. Sitting the cot was a young man with red eyes and short, inky black hair.
"Izuru Kamakura!" Junko said with glee.
Izuru sat unflinching.
"Nice room you've got here, very… spacious!" She said, spreading her arms wide.
Izuru continued sitting silently, not moving an inch.
"C'mon Izuru! Say something!" Junko said.
"Okay," Izuru's voice was a flat monotone.
"Come with us, with your help we'll have the world at our fingertips in no time!" Junko was getting riled up.
"Okay." Izuru responded, again with no hint of emotion.
"He seems a bit… off..." Mukuro said, struggling to find the right word.
"No, he's perfect!" Junko said.
"Your taste in guys is a bit questionable… But I guess we could use the help." Mukuro said.
"First order of business: High five!" Junko dashed at Kamakura.
"Wait, Junko no!" Mukuro shouted, but it was too late.
Junko woke up in the hospital, her hand in a cast.
"What am I gonna do with you?" Mukuro stood by her bed.
"You know you love me," Junko stuck her tongue out at her. She then got up and started for the door.
"Doctor said to keep your hand immobilized so it can heal, so don't take that cast off, okay?" Mukuro said.
"Yeah, yeah…"
As she was leaving the hospital, Junko passed by a boy with blonde hair reaching his chin. She stopped.
"Wait, who are you?" She asked.
"Uh… Ryota Mitarai?" the boy said.
"Oh, you're the Ultimate Animator! Don't you recognize me?"
"Um… you're one of my classmates?"
Junko scowled and pulled out a magazine, holding it next to her face.
"Oh, you're Junko Enoshima!" Ryota seemed embarrassed.
"Ding ding ding, we have a winner! Now my lovely assistant will tell you your prize!" Junko waved her hands toward Mukuro, who had just exited the building.
"I honestly don't know what we're doing now," Mukuro said.
"And to top it off, a free trip to the hospital!" Junko said.
"But I'm already here!" Ryota looked freaked out by Junko's antics.
"Indeed! Fast service, eh?" Junko slung her uninjured arm over his shoulder. "And what brings you here, aside from meeting the beautiful and talented Junko Enoshima?"
"Uh… My roommate told me to go because my health isn't very good…"
"Oh? Anything to tell about this roommate?" Now Junko was on a roll.
"Well, he's a nice guy… eats a lot… he's taking my place in class so I can work on my life's goal…"
"Life's goal? Sounds important," Junko said, feigning interest to keep him talking.
"I'm trying to make an anime that will bring hope to people's hearts," Ryota looked at her with a bit more conviction.
"Aw, that sounds amazing. Would you like help with that? It wouldn't be for free, but it would be a terrible shame for you to pour your heart into it and have it fall by the wayside." Junko ran her fingers along his chin as she spoke. Not very subtle, but sometimes subtlety got in the way.
"Uh…"
"My card." Junko pulled a business card out of her cleavage, handing it to Ryota with a warm smile. "Get back to me if you're interested."
"Okay…" Ryota turned back to the door, staring at the card. As he left, Mukuro walked toward Junko.
"How do you do it?" Mukuro asked.
"By being my magnificent self, of course," Junko responded.
Without their teacher's guidance, class 77 joined with Junko's plans one by one. First was the imposter, won over with promises of friendship and purpose. Then was Mikan, who was actually a fan of Junko's, and joined immediately despite never having met her in person. Gundham had heard that the sisters liked rabbits, and ended up aligning himself with them with guarantees that his "demons" would be respected. Ibuki was all too happy to have someone who liked her music, and joined with Ryota to add sound to his anime. Nagito took a few tries, but joined after he met Izuru and saw "true hope" within him. Chiaki got drawn to the group when Junko feigned interest, but didn't join until Mukuro started geeking out with her over first person shooters.
Some were even easier, offering an album of pictures of herself in swimwear won over Teruteru, and Akane followed the catering. With so many of his classmates already under her command, Nekomaru joined in with no demands. Gundham won over Sonia, and Kazuichi followed Sonia.
Then were the troublesome ones. Mahiru and Fuyuhiko couldn't be bought easily, and were stubborn enough that Junko's speeches weren't effective. Junko couldn't even pin down what Peko and Hiyoko would want. In the end, Junko managed to blackmail Mahiru into joining, and she became more cooperative when she got involved in Ryota and Ibuki's project. Fuyuhiko finally caved and joined at the insistence of his fellow students, and Peko followed him.
Hiyoko had some respect for Mahiru, but wasn't about to join just to follow her like so many others. Instead, she came forward with her own offer, joining Junko if Junko would mentor her on manipulating others. A strange demand, but Junko took it. With all of class 77 at her disposal, Junko's plans of world domination were closer than they had ever been before.
Mukuro, Junko, and Izuru stood at the front of the classroom, in front of the Hope's peak student council.
"Are you sure we need to do this? They could be useful later," Mukuro asked her sister quietly.
"Their talents are all lame, and the plan needs people to lose faith in the system." Junko whispered back. She turned toward the student council.
"Welcome, Hope's peak student council! I'm sure you all know me, but you probably don't know dear Izuru here," Junko said aloud, "Say hello, Izuru."
"Hello," Izuru said flatly.
"Ain't he cute? Anyway, to test him out, Hope's peak has decided to have him fight all of you at once."
"Wait, what? Who is he? Why do we have to do this?" The girl with long red hair pleaded.
"You'll have to ask the trustees! Or, rather, someone else will have to ask because you'll be dead. Speaking of which, smile! You're all on camera!" Junko whirled around, gesturing at the cameras around the room.
"We won't give in to your threats! We're the student council, we must remain strong for the hope of all!" the dark-haired boy said.
"Good to hear. Izuru: Kill them all," Junko said, almost shouting the last words.
"Okay." Izuru took the order with the same attitude as if she had told him to bring her a glass of milk. That is, with absolutely no intonation or apparent feeling.
The massacre was bloody, especially with the weapons Mukuro had placed around the room. At least two students got killed by their own classmates instead of by Izuru.
Junko took the recordings of the event, and got Izuru to help her splice them into exactly the tape she wanted. They wouldn't know who started the fire until they were already choking on the smoke.