A/N: Wow, I'm really surprised and humbled by the responses I've received to this. The amount of characters I received was a huge shock, and there were so many good ones, but unfortunately I couldn't accept them all. I sincerely thank everyone who gave this not-so-original story of mine attention. Seriously, another SYOC showed up right after I posted the intro chapter. It makes me happy that so many of you gave my story attention, in a sea of many, many SYOC stories. I'll try to write something good for you all, and I hope it at least meets your expectations.
One last thing to note. Once all of the character introductions are done, I will add an Accepted Characters list along with credit to their creators to the bottom of the first chapter.
PROLOGUE: The Beginning of the End, or, Welcome to the First Day of the Final Days of the Rest of Your Lives
...
"...ey..."
"...on, wake..."
"...you hear me?"
"...unconscious, or..."
"Hey!"
I could hear voices. Everything was dark, but I quickly realized that was because, well, my eyes were shut. My eyes slowly began to open, my vision blurred at first, until I eventually was able to make out the shapes of two people standing over me. One was looking away, and appeared to be talking to someone else. The other was looking at me, their hand on my shoulder as they carefully tried to shake me awake.
"F-Finally! Jesus Christ, you had us worried for awhile now!" It was a female voice. As my sight cleared further, I could see she had dark black hair that she had done up in a bun on top of her head. Her eyes were brown, and relayed relief now that I was awake.
"Told you he wasn't dead!" A distant male voice called out.
"No shit he isn't dead," A rough male voice replied, "He was obviously breathing the whole time."
"He sure looked dead though," A female voice piped in.
"We uh, thought you were maybe in a coma." The second figure that had been looking away was looking at me now as they spoke. Their voice was light, but looking at them I could see they were a boy. He had a gentle smile on his face, and had crouched down a bit to get a better look at me. I could tell he had messy orange hair that seemed to go in every direction, and that he was somewhat tall and lanky.
"Yeah." The black-haired girl said with a nod, "One of the others told us we had to be really careful about waking you up if you were in a coma. I didn't think you actually were, but-"
"She kept wanting to shake you awake," the orange-haired boy chuckled, "That would've been bad if you really were comatose."
"Didn't she end up shaking him anyway?" An unseen girl asked.
"J-Just a little! That's all, I swear!" The black-haired girl said defensively, looking flustered from the sudden attention, "It worked anyway, I think."
"U-Um," I eventually managed to speak out, my voice audibly hoarse, "What's going on? Why...why does everyone think I was in a coma? What happened?"
"Oh, wait, you're probably confused." The orange-haired boy said as he shook his head, "Shoot, sorry man. We're all kind of confused too. One of us found you laying unconscious in here and called for help. Honestly, we all woke up unconscious in this school a little while ago, but you were the only one not in a classroom. So, we kinda assumed the worse."
"School?" I asked, "Then, I really am...?"
I slowly sat up and looked around. I was still in the gymnasium, but I was no longer alone. I couldn't tell how many there were, but there were a lot of kids here now. They were most likely other students, just like me.
"Hey, take it easy," the girl told me, gently stopping me from sitting up any further with her hand, "You were out way longer than the rest of us. Just take it slow, alright?"
Despite her attempts with calming words, I was feeling panic begin to rise in my chest. The very few memories I had were beginning to return to me, and the realization that I was still in the school made me feel a sense of dread.
"H-How did I get here?" I questioned, my panic easily caught in my voice, "I can't remember how I got here!"
"Shh, it's ok, neither do we," the girl said consolingly, "Don't get worked up, that won't help anything. We're in the same boat though, none of us remember how we got here."
I shook my head. I wasn't sure if that made me feel any better or worse. I had to ask one more question.
"Do...Do you remember anything else?"
"Huh? Like what?" The boy asked, not understanding what I meant, "Like she said, we can't remember how we got here. I dunno, there's not much else to forget to be honest."
"No, I mean..." I struggled to find the words, and eventually went with, "Your memories...do you still remember them?"
That just earned me a confused look from the both of them.
"I can't remember anything!"
I don't even know why I blurted it out like that. Maybe it was because I was scared and panicking, but still, it hardly seemed like the best way to reveal something like that.
"What'd he say?" A female voice asked, her worry apparent.
"Oh shit," a male voice muttered, "Maybe he really was in a coma, or hit his head or something."
I took that as meaning everyone else had mostly intact memories. It was just me then.
"That's not good..." the black-haired girl started to say, a grimace on her face, "Do you, uh, feel any pain? Does your head hurt at all?"
I shook my head.
"Can you stand then?" She continued.
"Uh, I think so," I replied, and forced myself to try to stand up. I was a little wobbly, but otherwise felt fine, and told them so.
"Good to hear," the orange-haired boy said with a grin, "That's one less worry to deal with now."
I nodded, then took the chance to fully look at where I was now. I was indeed in the gymnasium, with what I counted was fourteen others students in there with me. As I looked around I could see that the bleacher seats were pulled out, as if in anticipation for a big game. Other than that, there was also a lone podium at the end of the gymnasium. I wondered if maybe it was for the principal, as I'd imagine they'd use it during an orientation assembly.
"So. That's taken care of then," One of the boys stated, breaking me out of my train of thought, "What's next?"
"No clue," a girl responded, "I'm confused as hell right now."
"We all are," another girl sighed, "We should probably catch the last guy up on what we know."
"Oh, yes," a boy agreed, "That'd probably be a good thing."
"I'll tell him," a girl in a light purple suit said as she stepped forward, "Let's keep this short and sweet-"
"So basically the opposite of you." A different girl interrupted with a jeer. Everybody just stared at her. I had no idea why she just randomly insulted the girl in the suit, but her victim didn't even acknowledge her and just continued with her explanation.
"The last thing any of us remember is walking up to the front doors." The suited woman explained, "At that point, every single person fell unconscious, and then woke up in one of the classrooms down the hall. Some time after that, someone found you, and we've all been in here since. So far, including you, there's fifteen of us here. We haven't found any adults or teachers. Also, I don't know if you noticed, but the windows are all covered with steel plates, and there's cameras everywhere." There was a beat. "I think that's about it."
"Pretty much," a boy nodded, "It's weird how you ended up in here though."
"And why you can't remember anything either," added a girl with a pensive look, "You're not hurt, so why'd it happen?"
"Maybe whoever zapped us with memory loss, hit him harder than the rest of us," a boy suggested.
"That's fucking stupid." Another boy said bluntly.
"This whole thing's stupid," the jeering girl agreed, "I came to this dumbass school because it's supposed to be an easy ride, but everything's all screwed up."
"Besides, memory loss is a bit of a stretch," another girl jumped in, "How would it even be possible?"
"Obviously it is not possible," scoffed a boy with a very heavy Russian accent, "It is not the least bit logical."
"U-Uh, it could be, maybe," a girl said shyly, "Like, maybe, someone used hypnotism, or something."
"That could explain why specific memories were able to be taken," one of the boys guessed, "I should know, it's my talent. That wouldn't explain how it happened to me too though, I'm pretty much immune to it myself."
"But why though?" A girl asked, "The hell is goin' on!?"
Everybody was talking so much, I couldn't get a word in. I had to tell them, the memory I had of waking up in a classroom, the document I'd found, how I'd fainted when I entered the gymnasium. I knew it was important somehow, but I didn't get to have the chance at the moment. As, just then, a new, startling voice began to speak.
"Eh? Testing! Testing! One, two, three? Hey, is this thing on?"
Everybody froze. That voice, it sounded almost child-like and cartoonish, but at the same time, it sounded evil and devious. It chilled me to the core. It's strange, how something as simple as a sound can affect someone so drastically.
"I said, hey, is this thing on?" The voice repeated itself, it's gender unclear, "Come on now, can't you bastards hear me?"
"Wh-What the hell is that?" Someone eventually managed to say. I hadn't realized it had been my own voice asking that question.
"Ah, there we go," the cartoonish voice spoke up again, "I knew you all weren't deaf! What's the matter? Is my sexy, velvety voice too much for you bastards to handle?"
"Cut the shit!" One of the boys exclaimed, "Who the hell's talking right now? Tell us what's going on right fucking now!"
"Ooh, such foul-mouthed, excitable youth!" The voice exclaimed, "I love it!"
"We're not kidding. Show yourself!" The suited woman commanded.
"Upupupu...if you insist." The voice said sinisterly. A great rumbling noise could be heard in the distance, as if something heavy was being shifted around. There was a sudden burst of smoke, and flashing lights focused on the podium at the front of the gymnasium. There was a drum roll, and at the crescendo of it all, something jumped up into the air and landed behind the podium.
It...it was a teddy bear, of all things. Its fur was black on one half of the body, and white on the other, with a black beady eye on the white side and a jagged red eye on the black side. It had a goofy yet sinister smile, and its mouth didn't move as it talked.
Overall, it was extremely surreal to witness.
"Hello everyone!" Its greeting sounded cheerful, but it felt superficial. "It is I, Monokuma, your friendly neighborhood headmaster!" Nobody said a word in response, all of us stunned into silence. This was just weird.
"Eh? Why aren't any of you saying anything?" The bear asked in mock confusion, "Do I have something on my face?"
"Y-You..." A boy stuttered, "You're just a toy! How are you...?"
"That's what it is? Wait, what kind of toy?" The Hypnotist asked.
"That's a bear, innit? A tiny little robot bear?" A boy with with a think English accent asked.
"You can't see it?" A girl asked the Hypnotist, "The toy's right there, it's pretty much impossible to miss."
"Wow, I already can see how this is gonna go. How predictable." The bear sighed. "Let me save everyone a bunch of time and summarize how this conversation was gonna go."
"Ahem. Oh, aren't you just a toy?" It used a mocking high-pitched voice, which was a bit grating on my ears.
"No! I'm Monokuma!" It yelled at itself in it's normal voice. It kept switching back and firth between its mocking voice and normal voice as it spoke.
"Calm down, it's probably just being controlled by remote control. It must be a robot of some kind."
"I told you, I'm not a robot! I'm Monokuma!"
"I wonder who's controlling the teddy bear then. Isn't that weird though?"
"I'm not gonna tell you again! I'm Monokuma! Grr, you're all making me angry!"
"Uwahhh! How scary!"
"That's right! Be afraid! Bwahaha!"
"Ahem. So, how was that?" Monokuma asked, "Did I accurately summarize your very generic reactions?"
No one was sure what to say, least of all me. I had no idea how to process what just happened. This wasn't just weird, this was starting to cross the line to becoming crazy. Seriously, how was anyone supposed to react to that?
"...What the hell was that?" I eventually asked.
"Yeah, seriously, what's going on here?" The black-haired girl added.
"Did you trap us here or something?" A different girl asked.
"Are you seriously a robot bear?" A boy pondered.
"Oh my, so many questions." Monokuma giggled, "I can't answer all of them of course, what would be the fun in that?"
"Nobody gives a shit about fun," a boy countered brashly, "Tell us what's going on! Now!"
"Well I give a shit, so how about that?" The bear looked angry, and flashed a claw at us before calming down. "Here's what I can tell you. Yes, I trapped you all here. No, I will not tell you how. Instead, I'll tell you why. You see, all I want, is despair."
"Despair?" A girl questioned in surprise. "Whaddaya want that for?"
"Reasons." Monokuma grinned.
"Arright, so how does trappin' us here do that?" The girl asked next.
"Oh, easy. You're all gonna live here indefinitely."
It was a simple statement, but it still managed to make my chest tighten in fear.
"Indefinitely!?" A boy asked. "Like, forever?"
"No shit, that's what indefinite means, dumbass," scoffed the jeering girl from before.
"Rude." Pouted the first boy.
"Guys, I don't think you're understanding what that bear's saying," I started to say, my earlier panic starting to revitalize, "We're trapped here! We can't leave!"
"How? It's not like the exit's been blocked...oh..." A boy said in realization.
"The steel plates..." A girl whispered.
"Yep!" Monokuma laughed, "I've blocked off all the exits ahead of time. There's no escape!"
"No bloody way..."
"I do not believe it!"
"You better let us out! Now!"
"Upupupu! And so the predictable reactions return!" Monokuma smiled widely, "It's so hilarious, you're really no different from the rest!"
"The rest?" The orange-haired boy asked.
"Oops! I said too much!" The bear covered its mouth, but let go before continuing, "Well, I guess 'indefinite' isn't entirely truthful. There is one way to leave the school. All one has to do is Graduate."
"That's it?" Someone asked, I stopped playing attention to know who, "So, what, just go to classes for a couple years, and that's it? That's not too bad."
"Oh no, it's not that kind of graduation," the bear corrected them, "It's a special kind of graduation. It's known as a Super High School Level Graduation!"
"Super High School Level?" Someone asked, "Isn't that the term Japan uses for its students at Hope's Peak Academy?"
"Ooh, what a coincidence~," Monokuma said, its voice almost a purr, "Anyway, I bet you're all dying to know exactly what you have to do to Graduate. Well...too bad! I don't want to tell you bastards yet! I think I'll let you stew on it a bit. Meanwhile, you all can go explore your new permanent residence and get acquainted with each other. It'll make the reveal of what Graduation entails all the more despairing! Of course, the audience already knows what it is, so the wait will only be suspenseful for you bastards."
"...The audience?" I questioned, "Wait, is someone really watching this?"
Monokuma refused to say anything else, and with a sadistic smile, it suddenly seemed to sink into the floor and disappear.
"Wh-Where'd it go!?" Somebody gasped in shock, but nobody answered them.
I had no idea what Graduation was going to be, but I knew it couldn't be good. It made me feel sick to my stomach with worry and anxiety. And from the heavy atmosphere I felt in the room, I could tell everyone else felt similarly. We all felt at least a tinge of the feeling Monokuma was trying to inflict us with.
That feeling, was the beginnings of despair...
A/N: And so begins the story. No characters were named yet, but hopefully some of you will be able to recognize your character's lines during this chapter. Character introductions will start during the next chapter. I was thinking of splitting them up into two chapters with seven characters each, if you guys would prefer it a different way though then I'm open to suggestions. I'm hoping to have the next chapter done before the end of the week, so I hope to see you all then!