AN: Chapter Five yay. Sorry for my momentary death but I'm alive now. We got another piece of fanart by Sushii-Sushii to show as well! :)
/art/DRA-Class-Trial-484034555 - the website is Deviantart.
Reven228: idk but influences coming soon :p
Akorin Kokoro: Well that won't be until much later. I think.
TheRoseShadow21: Terror in Resonance has awesome music, yeah. Didn't really like the finale though.
The Meme Queen: Ooh let's sink the ship! Thanks for the review!
Cartoonfanatic1: Thanks for the review!
PSISomething: Thank you! Hope you enjoy the rest!
Shyjoker: I hope dreadfully and despairingly.
Location: ? | Time: ? | CHAPTER FIVE | 19 DAYS LEFT
Soundtrack: Re Despair Syndrome
"...Y'all, things are getting bad down here...Monokuma has completely taken control of the situation – I mean, what the hell?! I thought I was supposed to be the big baddie this time...Wonder if any of ya got any consistency left in you. Tch."
…
"Looks like this group's getting through a bit quickly though, ain't they? Still got eighteen days left before the next time and we already at six people...As Monokuma would say, upupu, huh? Yeeeah...well, whatever. It's time that I start to really shred them all up! No listenin' to Monokuma no more! He ain't got control over me! Time to go bark up his tree! ...I can make puns too. We don't gotta use 'beary.' Because that's beary stupid."
"...Teehee."
...SEVEN DAYS LATER
Location: Keiko's Room | Time: 7:00 AM | CHAPTER FIVE | 12 DAYS LEFT
"Good morning everyone! Rise and shine! Get ready for another beeeautiful day!"
Monokuma's monochrome voice resonated through the room. It's been seven days since Hikaru...well, you know. He died because he didn't trust any of us, yet in the end, he regretted his death, didn't he? I wonder what that even means..? But I guess you crawl before you walk. If Hikaru was still alive...maybe...
...Well, a lot can happen in seven days. In our case, we mostly forgave Noah. It wasn't going to do us any good to just quarantine him from our existence. Ever since that trial, being around him was dreadfully awkward. He seemed to be a lot less open about everything, and he hasn't spoken to any of us for awhile. Who knows when Noah last let out his voice? I was worried for awhile that he'd purposefully rat on my "secret," but he never said anything about it. I think he keeps his word, no matter what he says.
...But then again, maybe it would be better for someone to reveal what I did. I already told Mirai, but...
Flashback!
"...S-so, you forgive me then?" I asked.
"Yeah, I guess so," Mirai said. "...But I wonder...you should probably stay silent about that."
"About my secret..? But shouldn't I tell everyone?"
"It's just going to cause discord between us," Mirai said. "Right now, we're down to six people, so it'd be best that we don't cause anything."
So seven days, I've been wanting to squeal, but deep down, Mirai was right. If I told everyone what I did, the others would obviously jump at that idea.
...Mirai, Unmei, Yoshinori, Shougo, and Noah. The other five that are still alive with me...I wonder if we'd really kill..? I guess Noah's a slim possibility, but now that our numbers are so small, it's kind of hard to see.
Well, either way, I should head to the cafeteria.
I got changed, and headed out the door.
Location: Cafeteria | Time: 7:23 AM | CHAPTER FIVE | 12 DAYS LEFT
"Yo, girl," Unmei said. "This is nice, isn't it? It's been an entire week and nothing completely awful happened."
"Oh, Unmei."
"Sometimes, I think it'd be best if we'd just be dead. But then I think I'd be disappointing all the decimals."
...What?
Ignoring that comment, I noticed the emptiness around the room. We filled up six seats at the cafeteria, but everything felt so...small. There wasn't much life going on in the room. Not like the situation led up to it at all, but it's a shame. I remember...when the others were here, we were having fun, weren't we? Well, fun isn't completely accurate, but we weren't so depressed.
But the mood now was so heavy. We talked a little bit, but aside from that...
"...H-hey," Shougo piped up, in the middle of my thought bubble. "I know it's probably better this way, but don't you think it's kind of strange that Monokuma hasn't shown up in...well, a long time?"
"Maybe he's playing with Meowykins," Mirai said. "I could use a game of tag."
"I doubt that's what he's doing," Yoshinori said, standing up. "Anyways, isn't Monokuma going to unveil a fourth dome for us or something? That's what he usually does, except the first time someone died."
...Huh, that's true. We didn't get access to another dome after Hideki's murder. It's not something to worry about, I guess.
"It's been seven days and we haven't heard from the bear," sighed Shougo. "Frankly, it's both a good and bad thing. But without some other dome, there's nothing else we can investigate."
Seven days. It's been seven days, and all we could do was watch and wait as death came to us. When the countdown stops, we aren't going to be worrying about anything. There isn't going to be time to worry about anything – truthfully, we'll all be smashed in and drown in this case of glass.
When I was a kid, I would always look up to my parents, because they always had an answer to everything. Their ideas, thinking back, were dumb though. Dumb like a fucking monkey jumping down on a pogostick – circus animals trained to do nothing but act.. But they were idealists, so they always had a backup plan should their first stupid plan fail. I felt...like my parents. Doing something right now – is there really a point? We're just putting on a show for Monokuma. That's how I felt.
...Well, whatever. It's not like we can do anything anyways.
"I haven't seen Meowykins around either," Unmei said. "Are they...up to something?"
"Noah hasn't been saying anything either," Yoshinori pointed out. "But I bet he has something on his mind, right?"
I looked at Noah sitting in his chair. He wouldn't look at us – completely expressionless. No emotion, no gusto. He was an empty shell of his old self. Maybe that wasn't his own self? Maybe he was just acting and this is how he's really like. I guess from what he's told us about his past, being an empty shell wasn't exactly out of the question.
"...I don't really have anything to say that's worthwhile," Noah sighed.
...Maybe my secret? If I can't say it, someone has to...
"But we should be looking around for clues, shouldn't we?" Noah asked. "We can't just stick around here waiting for God's hand."
Soundtrack: AoE Second Suite Movement 5P+3P
"Who's God?" asked a familiar voice. "Is it me? I wanna be God for once!"
Meowykins..?
"I'm purring right now," Meowykins giggled. "Like a dog."
"Correction!" Yoshinori shouted. "Dogs do not purr!"
"Y'all are so annoying. Always pointing out my mistakes. Well, you know what?! A dog can purr if he wants to purr! Just like how humans can create World Wars and pocket watches."
"We haven't seen you for a week," Mirai said. "Did something happen?"
"Well, I was bored of y'all since you were just sitting here doing nothing," Meowykins said. "So I think it's a good idea that we take y'all down to the final dome, don't you think?"
"The final dome..?" Noah asked. "Meaning..."
"You don't need to enlighten us, Mr. Goto," Meowykins said. "Final means last, doesn't it, Mr. Goto? Maybe if last actually means last, then the last dome, or final dome if you will, will be the final dome you go to. Isn't that right, Mr. Goto?"
"...I abstain," Noah sighed.
"L-let's just cooperate with this thing," Shougo said. "So, you're going to take us there by submarine, right?"
"No way. I'm bored of that," Meowykins said. "I'd rather lick myself in polarizing areas of my body."
"What the hell is he talking about now..?" Unmei sighed. "You know, Meowykins, you've never been much of a threat. We don't even have to go to the last dome, do we? It's not like there's going to be any important hints."
"On the contrary, my wonderful lady," Meowykins said. "If you consider my usage of the word bitch and what it actually means, then bitch isn't exactly offensive if I say it towards you. The description is so accurate after all, meow."
"Can you just take us to the dome already..?" Mirai asked.
"Meow! Well, like I said, I don't really feel like taking you all there. So how you're going to get there is by taking an elevator that you'll find at the library!"
"The library?" I asked. "Did you just build something there overnight..?"
"It's not really something I built," Meowykins said. "Monokuma set up everything."
"By the way, where is Monokuma..?" Unmei asked. "I...I'm getting kind of nervous."
"Oh, him?" Meowykins asked. "Hmm, you won't need to worry about that thing! Meow!"
"W-what? Why?"
"...Hey, you still think I'm not a threat, girl? I'll can kick all of y'all in the teeth if I want. But I won't do that...you'll just have to do that yourselves."
"E-excuse me?" Unmei asked. "I'll knock your teeth in if you ever TRY to come near me."
Soundtrack: Tropical Despair
"Ho? You want to say that to the guy who defeated Monokuma?"
...What..?
"Meow!" Meowykins purred. "You know, the reason why you haven't seen that disgusting waste of space lately wasn't because he was taking a shit in the ol' Pacific. Don't you think there's a reason that I'm here, and he isn't? Maybe because that weakling never deserved to exist in the first place! Meow!"
...Monokuma's gone? Then...
"Why are you keeping us here?" I asked, my thoughts running out of my mouth. "Is there a point in keeping us here? Can't we leave..?"
"...It's very important to me, you know," Meowykins said. "I need to make sure...to make sure that you all die. It's that simple! Meow!"
"What?!" Unmei yelled. "We aren't going to kill each other anymore! I'm sure you know that!"
"Is that so?" Meowykins asked. "I'll tell you. I'm constricted by the rules of this place, so I can't directly harm any of you. So should I take the Monokuma route and give y'all a motive?"
A motive? Another one? No...that never ends well.
"This isn't going to be pretty, is it?" Mirai asked, his voice whispering pings of worry.
"Anyways, head on over to the library. The elevator will take you horizontally down a glass hallway, and there, you'll see the final glass dome. And no matter what you say, this last motive will tear you all up!"
…This is hard to take in...Meowykins never made an exact presence for me, but to think that he defeated Monokuma. That's unheard of!
"Bye now! Meow!"
And with that, Meowykins had left, probably waiting over at that last dome.
…
"He said that this last motive will drive us all to murder. Is that basically it?" Mirai asked. "No...there's no way that something like that will ever happen again..."
…
No. I doubt that, Mirai. It's always when we let down our guard...
That someone is killed.
"Well, let's head to the final dome," Noah said. "We'll accomplish nothing by standing here. Meowykins most likely intends for us all to go. Let's not think about what will happen if we don't."
"If we don't go?" Unmei asked. "Y-you think he can force us?!"
"What do you think..?" Noah asked. "He apparently defeated Monokuma. There's nothing else we can do..!"
...There's nothing we can do. There's nothing I can do.
Is...another murder really going to happen? I have a bad feeling about the future. Something bad is definitely going to go down.
Music Halts
Location: Final Dome Entrance Lobby | Time: 8:05 AM | CHAPTER FIVE | 12 DAYS LEFT
Soundtrack: Third Island Theme
"...What is this?" I asked to myself.
As the glass elevator entered the lobby of the final dome, we were greeted by an unbelievable sight.
The tackiest place I ever saw, the entire dome was glowing pink. LED lights shone from inside the dome, reaching so bright out to us that it almost burned my eyes. The elevator slowly crept into the pink bubble, and inside, the lobby contained everything. There were computers, monitors, and what looked like buttons on the wall.
"Welcome to the final dome!" Meowykins exclaimed, from the middle of the room. "This is only the lobby, so if you wish to explore the rest of the amenities here, please take the stairs from behind that big computer!"
The room was set up like a complete science lab. As we entered, there were computers and monitors directly to our left, and right. And a huge computer was located in the center of the room. It was designed as a complete circle – the command center, so you will.
"In the back of this dome, is one big room," Meowykins nodded. "I want to see you all there when you're done investigating, but take your time! Have fun with this! I think this will be the last day you're all alive, anyways."
...Huh?
"D-did he just say..?" Unmei began to ask.
"See y'all later! Meow!"
...The last day we're all alive?
"...We shouldn't really take that seriously," Mirai said with tons of optimism. "I...guess I'll go and investigate the rooms on the second floor."
The second floor...the entrance is located from behind that big computer, right?
"Well, tell me what you find later," Mirai said. "Bye, Master."
Mirai left swiftly, and skipped up the stairs. He seemed a bit too optimistic, but whatever. I guess I'll investigate down here...
I took a look at the computers to my right. They were smaller monitors, and they didn't even begin to compare to that huge one in the center of this place. I felt small under all of this technology – sent make to the stone age. I needed some cloth to wrap around my body nude. That would complete the package.
"This computer is certainly high tech," Noah said. "I don't believe I saw anything like it."
"Yeah, guess not," I said. "It's kind of ominous. I don't know why."
"...Well, if you don't mind, can you take a look at those computers for me?" Noah asked.
"Huh? Why?"
"I want to check out the main computer in the center of the room. We might find some valuable information."
Valuable information, huh? Like that exists. But I guess there's no harm.
"I'll see what I can find," I replied, pulling up a seat and turning one of the monitors on.
"Thanks," Noah said. "I'll report back with what I found on the main computer."
Nodding, I waited until Noah stepped away, and looked at the desktop as it turned on. There were lots of icons for useless crap. There were a couple shortcuts to some documents , but none of them really caught my eye.
Hope's Peak Academy! Scandal at the School of Hope! In other news, did KikiShima get knocked up?! Famous actress PREGNANT?! All details here!
Sounds like fake pop culture dreck to me...I decided not to bother with this.
Reverse Course Student List
I considered clicking this one, but I didn't really feel the necessity. I guess I'll check it out later when Noah comes back.
Future Foundation: Rehabilitation Program
...Now here's something interesting. Double clicking on the link, I held my breath, hoping that whatever was contained in that document wouldn't give me a stroke...
Future Foundation: Rehabilitation Program
It is of great importance that this document is not leaked to the general public. Soon, we shall be launching a plan to rehabilitate members of despair and wipe out another possible threat of Super Highschool Level Despair. We have created a special program that will allow us to emulate a different version of what SHSL Despair did to the six students long ago. We shall gather fifteen of the most dangerous SHSL Despair students currently alive, as well as add in a special program to monitor these systems.
If you wish to participate in the assistance of this event, please reply back soon. We would like to get started as soon as possible.
...Ok, so, what is this..? Six students? What do they have to do with us..? I wonder if that document was really important in the first place...
"You finish checking this computer?" Noah asked, walking behind me.
"Yeah," I said. "Nothing too important. Something about the Future Foundation that doesn't really apply to us... I don't even really know what the Future Foundation is. Also, there's something about a Reverse Course student list, but I waited until you came back to check. There's one useless article about some pop culture stuff. An actress KikiShima got knocked up or something. Hope's Peak apparently got in a scandal."
"Why not check it out anyways?" Noah asked.
"I want to explore the rest of the dome," I said. "I'll just look at it anyways."
"...Well, I can look at it for you," Noah sighed. "The results of my search on the main computer weren't too satisfactory either, so I feel like discovering something."
"What did you find..?"
"Well, it wasn't a typical computer, really. It took me to this strange program that listen a bunch of program names. It followed a pattern like: B_1, up to 8, and G_1, also up to 8. I tried to click on them and see what they did, but they were password locked."
"Password locked..?" I asked. "Did you guess what it was..?"
"Tried a couple, but came up short," Noah said. "Anyways, you can go on ahead. I'll check out the files you didn't see."
"Thanks," I said. "Good luck. And...uh, thanks for...keeping my secret, I guess."
I kind of wanted him to tell the others, but it was thoughtful to actually keep it a secret like he said he would.
"Don't worry about that," he sighed. "Good luck in the rest of your search..."
I nodded, and headed behind the main computer, ready to explore the second floor. Walking up the stairs, I was greeted my a long hallway, stretching far and far away...and on the sides of this endless hallways, were doors leading to unknown rooms.
Location: Ballroom | Time: 8:26 AM | CHAPTER FIVE | 12 DAYS LEFT
...Is this a ballroom? There are banquet tables spread all around the place...there's even a bar in the back of the place. I've never drank before but it seems like a good time to get loose. Just kidding, of course.
"A bar?" Yoshinori asked. "This is what you humans use to get drunk, isn't that right?"
"I-I guess so," I said. "You've never seen a bar or ballroom before..?"
"No...Look at this place!" Yoshinori swooned. "It's so amazin! I feel like getting on the middle of one of those banquet tables, getting drunk, and dancing around naked with a lamp on my head!"
...Well, since is just a ballroom, I'm just going to go ahead and leave.
"Hey? Where are you goin'?"
Location: Underwater Military Base | Time: 8:54 AM | CHAPTER FIVE | 12 DAYS LEFT
What in the hell is this place..? This looks like something you'd find in Russia. There was a huge machine making submarines and throwing them out into the water. It seemed so surreal...the submarines were being made so fast.
"Submarines are kind of fun, aren't they?" Mirai asked.
"I guess, except the submarines are being used to take us to hell on earth," I said. "Not exactly my definition of fun."
"In my opinion, fun is fun if it's fun. And submarines are fun!"
...So are you saying you enjoy being taken to class trials?
"Anyways, it looks like this is where Monokuma and Meowykins were making their submarines."
"But we only ever used one," I said. "Why would they need more?"
"I dunno," Mirai said. "Maybe to show off? ...I like submarines."
F-focus, Mirai...
"I've been looking for clues around this place, but I can't really find anything. This dome is really strange."
Strange, huh? That's an understatement so far...
Location: Strip Club | Time: 9:12 AM | CHAPTER FIVE | 12 DAYS LEFT
A strip club..? How insulting. Why is there a strip club here of all places?
"...Hmm..." Shougo was muttering something to himself in the back of the room. ...I didn't really want to talk to him, considering he wandered into a strip club.
The middle of the room had a small walkway. It extended from the middle of the room – a platform shaped like a heart, extending to the back through some tacky red curtains. In the center of the heart platform, there was also a huge pole that I assume was used for pole dancing. I almost vomited from the ambiance of this place...
...Ah well. There's no reason to stay here anymore.
Location: Boxing Ring | Time: 9:25 AM | CHAPTER FIVE | 12 DAYS LEFT
...The boxing ring was in the back of the hall, meaning this is where Meowykins wanted us to meet up. He wasn't here, though I guess he'll come when we're all together. In the meantime, I guess I should investigate this place. There wasn't much to it, except for a storage closet in the back and a big boxing arena in the middle of the room. I almost felt like fighting someone, until I realized all I could do was ride horses.
"This is a boxing arena, huh?" Unmei asked. "I've never been to one, I was never one for fighting."
"I kind of want to try it," I sighed. "Maybe I'll have time to do some boxing for fun if we ever get out of here."
"Boxing looks a bit painful though," Unmei said. "Aren't you worried you're going to cripple?"
...Please, Unmei, it's not like I'm building a career off of boxing.
"Anyways, did you check the storage closet?" I asked her.
"Yeah, nothing important in there," she said. "There's the usual cleaning supplies and some bandages, but there's nothing there that would harm us, I don't think. Unless someone wants to poison us with bleach or something."
I...can totally see that happening.
"Hey," Noah said, walking into the room.
"Oh, Noah."
"I tried to check out the files that you told me to look at," Noah said. "But they were password locked too."
Really..? I guess they're important then...
"We'll talk more when the others get here," Noah said. "Then we can all talk about what we discovered until Meowykins gets here."
...Indeed. Time passed, until everyone suddenly gathered together. And so, we began to discuss...
"...So, I'll go first," Noah volunteered. "I took a look through all of the computers and monitors downstairs at the lobby."
"And? What did you find?" Mirai asked. "...N-no! Something...gross?!"
"No," Noah said. "There were a couple of files I tried to look through, including a list of codes for some program, but they were all passcode locked. There was also a document that mentioned the Future Foundation, which was the only document that was readable."
"The Future Foundation?" Yoshinori said. "I remember hearin' about that...remember when we found that document about the rehabilitation program."
"...Right, I do remember that!" Unmei said. "It talked about something about Junko Enoshima...and this boy named Nagito Komaeda."
"But this document was also named after the rehabilitation program," Noah said. "It discussed about fifteen students who were being placed through a simulation of what Super Highschool Level Despair did to six other students."
"...An emulation?" I asked. "What does that mean..? An emulation of what? And we still don't know what Super Highschool Level Despair even is."
"Well, I have a theory," Noah began to say. "But...I'll explain it once I get more evidence. However, it's likely that Super Highschool Level Despair...are the people who are putting us up to this killing game."
They're the masterminds, huh? That's what Noah's saying... I guess the name Super Highschool Level Despair is fitting, but what's the point? Why do this to us?
"This name, Junko Enoshima," Noah added. "It disturbs me..."
"Why's that?" Yoshinori asked.
"I've heard that name before," Noah said. "My, er, ex girlfriend used to read her magazines. She was a supermodel who appeared on front covers everywhere. She was pretty famous for those interested in fashion. I wonder why her name is being mentioned so much."
Junko Enoshima...Come to think of it, I recognize that name too. It's not so much recognition though...it's more of a strange pit of familiarity in the bottom of my stomach. What is this feeling..?
"Anyways, aside from that, did anyone see anything different?" Noah asked.
"No, not exactly," Yoshinori said. "We all split up upstairs, but the only thing notable was probably the military base that Mirai explored."
"But there wasn't anything that important there either," Mirai noted. "A bunch of machines were just making submarines, and sending them out into the ocean. They probably made the fun submarine that takes us to the different domes here."
"By 'they,' you mean Monokuma and Meowykins, right?" Shougo asked.
"...I don't know," Mirai said.
"O-okay then," Shougo said. "But hey, I discovered something too..."
"In the strip club?" I asked. "There was something important there?"
"Yeah. In the back of the curtains, there was a door to this room...but it was locked, so I couldn't get inside."
"It was locked? Why?" I asked.
"I don't know, there's something important in there, probably.
Music Halts
"Meow! There is indeed something important in there! And I'm here to relinquish it all! Meeeeowwww!"
And all of a sudden, in the boxing arena, stood Meowykins.