A/N: I'm glad to see that the second batch of characters were so well-liked. Even Jane has a fan already, ha! It was cool to already see some theories about the characters as well, even if they were small ones. I love seeing you guys theorizing and thinking about the characters.
One thing I want to note though. Soleil's creator and I talked about his character, and so you might notice that he'll be written slightly differently from now on. I wasn't writing him as fully in-character as I could, but it's been resolved now. If any of the other submitters want to talk to me about how I write your characters, I am always open to suggestions.
I think that's about it for this Author Note. Have fun with the final chapter of the Prologue!
Despite the school being quite large, we ended up making it back to the Gymnasium pretty easily. It was helpful that everything was labeled, and that all the paths were pretty much straightforward. Everyone else seemed to fare just as well, as everyone made it back to the Gymnasium at around the same time. Now that we were together, it was time to go over our findings.
"Everyone's here, right?" Spinel asked.
"I'm counting fifteen of us, so yeah, everyone's here," I answered, "So, how should we do this? Just go in a circle, and say what each group found, right?
"I'm fine with whatever." Viktoria shrugged.
"Yeah mate, sounds good ta me," Wilson agreed, "I'll start us off. Jesse and I found a Storage Room. I still don't know whether or not ta believe that we're really trapped here, but if we are, it looks like we'll be set for the rest of the bloody century."
"Y-Yeah," Jesse spoke up shyly, "W-We spent pretty much all of our time in there, just looking around...a-and even then, we barely made a dent...th-there's just so much stuff."
"I guess that's a good thing," Jean-Peal commented, his arms folded in front of him, "But I guess that also means that bear really does intend to keep us stuck here."
"Maybe he's not so bad then," Soleil suggested, "He's providing us with all the necessities, after all."
"I don't know about that," Spinel said, "But he does seem to be keeping us well-stocked. The Infirmary is top-notch as well, from what I've been told. Aiz, if you would. Please elaborate for me."
"...Ok," Aiz replied, "There is medicine and first-aid."
"...Go on," Keahi told her, making a motion with her hands to keep going.
"...That's all." Aiz replied simply.
"What?" Keahi asked, "Come on, that's not elaboratin'! Tell us more about it!"
Aiz blinked, then added, "There are also beds and wheelchairs." Keahi just groaned in response.
"Er, anyway, moving on," Viktoria said, trying to redirect the conversation back on track, "Raeger and I explored the dorms area. All the rooms are locked, but each door has a little pixelized sprite to show who's room is whose."
"O-Oh, that's convenient," Jesse commented, "I'd probably get confused otherwise, with all those doors there..." It was then that I noticed that she was writing in a small notebook.
"What's that for, Jesse?" I asked, pointing out her notebook.
"H-Huh?" She gasped, "O-Oh, um, I'm writing down what everyone's saying..a-as a sort of record."
"That sounds really useful," Charlotte told her, "Great idea there, Jesse." Jesse's blushed at that, and unsubtley hid her face behind her notebook.
"Aww! How adorable!" Viktoria said in delight, "She reminds me of a bashful little puppy." Jesse made a squeaking noise in response, and tried even harder to hide herself from view.
"Tori, you're doing it again..." Raeger mumbled to her.
"Huh? Did you have something you wanted to add to the discussion?" Viktoria asked with a mischievous grin, and when he looked like he was going to try to step out of the conversation, she added, "Nuh uh, I'm not letting you back away from this one. Wasn't there something else at the dorms? Something I forgot to mention?"
"Hold up, are you trying to keep important information away from the group?" Jane asked in surprise, "Come on, that's my job. It won't be fun sabotaging shit if I have to compete with someone."
"Stop talking," Jenny commanded, "Your side antics are taking us off course." She then looked expectantly at Raeger. He sighed, realizing he had no choice but to speak.
"There are eighteen doors in the Dorm Area," Raeger explained reluctantly, "However, there are only fifteen of us here."
"Damn it, even his voice is hot..." Wilson muttered under his breath. Raeger apparently heard him though, as his entire face turned a deep shade of red. Viktoria heard as well, and turned away to hide the fact that she was about to burst into a fit of laughter.
"Wait, seriously?" Spinel asked, not having caught on to that little debacle, "Eighteen doors? That's pretty strange, isn't it?"
"It's possible the three extra rooms are just that: extras." I suggested, just like I had before, "I mean, it's not like the rooms were built for us specifically, just for whoever was going to attend. It was probably just in case we were going to have a bigger class."
"No." Aiz suddenly spoke up.
"H-Huh?" I said, a bit surprised.
"No," she repeated, "Your reasoning would be correct...if us all being in the same class were true."
"What're you on about?" Charlie asked, his eyes narrowed.
"You don't mean..." Charlotte began to say, her eyes wide, "We're not in the same class? But why wouldn't we be?"
"For starters, do we even look like we are all the same age?" Mikhail asked, having kept quiet until now.
"Now that I think about it," Jean-Peal said, a hand on his chin, "Some of us are definitely older, and some are definitely younger."
"Correct," Aiz continued, "Different ages would then imply different grades."
"Ok, I'm gettin' it now," Keahi nodded, "Students within different grades wouldn't be in the same class. Seniors would be with Seniors, Juniors would be with Juniors, and so on. Makes sense ta me."
"Yet we're all here together," Soleil said, "And we all got grouped together at the Dorms despite not being in the same class."
"So then, does that mean there really were supposed to be others here?" Charlotte questioned, "If we're all just a mix-match of students, then where's everyone else?"
"M-Maybe we were chosen..." Jesse spoke up, "M-Maybe Monokuma trapped us, s-specifically...for some reason..."
"That's stupid," Jane deadpanned.
"S...Sorry..." Jesse mumbled, looking down.
"Don't be a dick," Charlie grumbled, "We're all confused as hell right now and are just tryin' to figure this shit out."
"Whatever, Scarface," Jane scoffed as she rolled her eyes.
"Would you mind not wasting my time every two minutes?" Jenny asked, staring down Jane, "Stop derailing this discussion. I'm not going to tell you again." The Avian Vet just stuck her tounge out at the Assistant, but didn't say anything else.
"Let's continue theorizing later," I suggested, "For now, let's just finish talking about what areas we explored."
"Well, ya ain't gettin' nothin' out of Jane after that," Keahi said with a sigh, "I'll just say what we found. Though honestly, it wasn't much. Just a simple Laundry Room, is all."
"At least we know we'll have clean clothes then," Wilson commented, "I wasn't really looking forward sitting around in my own filthy linens for the rest of my life."
"Speaking of filth," Jane began to ask, "Wasn't Scarface in the Trash Room, where he belongs? Come on man, you gotta contribute something. Don't be a useless side character."
"Whatever," Charlie said gruffly, "I found a Trash Room, but we can't do anything with it since that prick bear blocked off the incinerator with a gate."
"Incinerator!?" Keahi gasped. A metaphorical fire lit up in her eyes after hearing that.
"Yeah, that's probably why Monokuma blocked it off," Jean-Peal said, shaking his head, "He said something along the lines of wanting to protect the incinerator from the general student public."
"Huh?" Soleil asked, "Monokuma talked to you guys? When?"
"Oh, uh," Charlotte began to explain, "When we were exploring around, we saw Charlie and Monokuma arguing. Charlie asked why it was locked, the bear gave his reasons, and then Charlie asked how anyone was supposed to use the incinerator. Monokuma refused to tell him though, and then disappeared."
"That's strange..." Soleil began to say.
"No kidding." Spinel agreed.
"No, I mean," Soleil continued, "It's strange, because Monokuma talked to Jenny and myself as well."
"Huh?" I gasped.
"It was right before you three appeared," Soleil explained, "Jenny and I were exploring the cafeteria and kitchen, which is so wonderful by the way, I just love how state-of-the-art it is, it's just so-"
"Get on with it!" Charlie exclaimed impatiently.
"Oh, right, my apologies," Soleil said somewhat flustered, bowing slightly to Charlie, "Well, Monokuma showed up, and told us that the kitchen was well-stocked, and that we would never have to worry about there being a shortage of food, as he would bring in fresh produce daily."
"Wow," Viktoria said, slightly in awe, "That bear is really pulling all the stops to make us wanna stay. If I had to rate the school, I'd give it four out of five monochrome stars. It loses out on a star for being creepy as hell."
"As much as this place makes me wary," Raeger said, "It doesn't seem to be nearly as inhospitable as I'd assumed."
"I-I don't think we should feel too c-comfortable," Jesse warned, "Th-There's still a lot we don't understand about this place..."
"That's a fair point," Keahi agreed, "By the way, were there any other areas to explore? Or is that all?"
Everyone looked at Mikhail, who had barely spoken through all of this. He sighed, realizing he had no choice to offer his contribution from exploring.
"I went to check the classrooms," he said slowly, "However...they are gone."
"What!?" Viktoria exclaimed, "What do you mean gone?"
"I mean exactly as I say," he replied dismissfully, "They are simply gone. The hallway containing the classrooms are blocked off by a wall. It makes no logical sense, but it has indeed happened."
"What the hell?" Jane said, surprising everyone by being legitimately shocked by this information, "How's that even possible?" She paused. "I wish I knew how to do that. I'd block off the Cafeteria so all you fatties would starve to death."
Everybody groaned at her response.
"Was...Was that all then?" Jenny asked. Even she seemed taken by surprise, though she was doing her best to not show it.
"There was one last area," I answered, "A hallway off to the side in the Student Zone. There was a stair case that went both up and down about halfway down the hallway. It was indented into the wall, though it was blocked off by a gate."
"It sounds like there might be more to this school than we thought," Spinel said, "It's pretty unfortunate that we don't have access to more of the school, but I suppose there's not much we can do about it. Was there anything else?"
"Yeah," Jean-Peal nodded, "At the end of the hallway, there were these big double doors that were covered in red velvet. It was locked though."
"That's...pretty strange." Charlie muttered, "The hell is with all these locked doors and blocked off shit?"
"If you want to know, then just ask nicely." Monokuma replied.
"Ok, please tell us?" Wilson asked.
"..."
"OH SHIT!" Wilson suddenly screamed. Monokuma had suddenly appeared in front of us, as if from out of nowhere. We barely even noticed until Wilson began screaming.
"Where the hell did you come from!?" Charlie demanded.
"Where did I come from?" Monokuma repeated, putting a paw to his chin, "Oh, well, you see, when a mommy bear and a daddy bear love each other very much, they-"
"That's not what I meant you asshole!" Charlie yelled at him.
"Stop yelling." Jenny commanded, before turning to Monokuma and asking, "Are you here to give us information?"
"Of course!" Monokuma answered gleefully, "First off, the stair case will be blocked off until we reach the Second Act."
"What." Jane said blankly.
"Don't interrupt me, you naughty child," Monokuma told her, shaking his finger at her, "Anyway, the next piece of information is about the Trash Room. You see, there is only one key for the gate in there, and only the Trash Monitor of the week shall be blessed by its grace. Only they will keep it in their possession. So, who wants to be this week's Trash Monitor?"
"This is ridiculous..." Mikhail muttered.
"Ooh, do we have a volunteer?" Monokuma asked him.
"No." Was Mikhail's firm response.
"I'll do it," I volunteered, "I don't really think anyone else wants the job anyway."
"Any objections?" Monokuma asked everyone, "Good! Here's the key!" He then pulled a key from out of thin air, and tossed it at me. I caught it easily enough, and pocketed it.
"Are you going to tell us what Graduation is now?" Charlotte asked.
"You're quite the smart cookie," Monokuma answered, "Yes, that is the final piece of information for today. But first..."
"Oh come on," Keahi groaned, "Quit toyin' with us and just tell us what it is already!"
"My, my, such rude, impatient children," Monokuma whined, "I was just going to give you...these!" He jumped up into the air, seemingly levitating, and began throwing cards (that he once again seemed to make appear from out of nowhere) at everyone as if they were ninja stars. Despite being indoors, a wind began to whip up and lash at everyone as well.
"Hya hya hya hya hya hya hya! Rain Dragon Uryuu Ishida, I call upon thee to shower these bastards with my despair-filled gifts!" Monokuma called out. "Strike them all with a rainy death of arrows! I mean cards!"
"That reference barely even works!" Spinel exclaimed, standing his ground against the barrage.
"How the bloody hell do ya keep pulling shit from out of nowhere!?" Wilson exclaimed at Monokuma in fear as he protectively covered his head with his arms, "Do ya have some kind of goddamn hammer space in your pockets!?"
"It's a robot bear! It doesn't have pockets!" Keahi shouted, her multi-colored hair flapping in every direction.
Everything calmed down after a bit. Monokuma floated back down to the ground, and the winds disappeared and went back to normal.
"What...the hell...was that?" I gasped.
"It was just a fun way to give you your Student IDs!" Monokuma said happily, "Every student at Sky's Peak Academy gets one. It has your personal information, such as your name and Talent, as well as a Map of the school, and the Rules that everyone will live by while living in this school."
My eyes opened wide at that. Name and talent? I immediately began to look for my card among the many on the floor (for some strange reason, even though Monokuma had seemed to throw hundreds at us, there were only fifteen on the floor), but I realized that I actually had no idea what I even looked like. The best I could do was look for a card with an unfamiliar face on it.
"...There!" I exclaimed out loud once I found the winning card. I shakily picked it up, and looked at the picture shown.
"My name...is David Jameson..."
The person I saw had an average height at 5'8, with a skinny build and pale skin. He had medium-length messy brown hair, and green eyes. He wore a plain white polo shirt, blue jeans, and white sneakers.
Overall, he looked like the epitome of average, a generic blank slate.
I...I was just a blank slate.
"...There's no talent listed here!" I suddenly said in realization. I turned angrily to look at Mokokuma, and yelled, "What did you do to me? Why can't I remember anything? Why are you keeping it all away from me!?"
"Hmm..." Monokuma simply hummed in response, "I wonder why I'm doing that as well. Who knows, maybe it's just a mystery you'll have to solve. Upupupu!"
"Why don't we just beat the truth out of him?" Charlie suggested, "I don't care what weird powers he has. He's been jerkin' me around long enough, and I won't stand for him bullyin' ya like that either!"
"Y-Yeah! He can't stop us if we all go after him at once!" Charlotte agreed, stepping up beside me, "We won't let him just do whatever he wants!"
"Yeah man, we've got your back!" Jean-Peal said, stepping up beside me as well.
"...How disgusting." Monokuma sneered, "You all sound like the cast of a shonen anime. Next I bet you'll all start to say you'll use the power of friendship to defeat me."
"It does sound rather ridiculous," Mikhail said bluntly.
"FYI, you all might want to check the Rules section of your Student IDs." Monobear added, "You know, before you all do something you regret."
Those words didn't sit well with me, so I begrudgingly looked at my ID. Now that I was paying closer attention to it, I could see how high-tech it was. It seemed pretty similar to a smart phone with a touch screen, but with more flashy effects to it to make it seems more futuristic. The main screen had the options for my personal info, a map, and the rules, along with two blanked out options that I apparently couldn't access yet. I tapped on the Rules, and began to read them.
1. The students will live a communal lifestyle with no time limit inside the school walls.
2. The time between 10pm and 7am is called "Night Time". During Night Time there are places that are forbidden to enter, so please take care.
3. Sleeping is only permitted in the personal rooms prepared for you in the dormitory area. Anyone intentionally falling asleep elsewhere will be punished.
4. You may investigate the school as you please. There are no special restrictions on your actions.
5. No violence is permitted against the school's Headmaster, Monobear. Breaking this rule will result in punishment.
6. Destruction of the surveillance cameras and school property is forbidden. Punishment will follow if this rule is not heeded.
7. A "culprit" who kills a fellow student will Graduate from Sky's Peak Academy. However, they must not let any other student know they are the culprit.
8. Additional rules may be added by the Headmaster at any time.
"...What!?" I exclaimed.
"Oi, am I getting this right?" Wilson asked nervously.
"Is this some kinda sick joke or somethin'!?" Keahi yelled, an anxious tone apparent in her voice.
"R-Rule 7..." Jesse whimpered, "I-It..."
"N-No way, no freaking way!" Jean-Peal stammered, "You can't be serious!"
"I...I won't let you scare us like this!" Viktoria spoke up, attempting to muster up a show of bravado, "L-Let's just get him now, guys! Let's beat the stuffing out of him, while we still have an open shot!"
"Right behind ya!" Charlie exclaimed, fists clenched in anger.
"Tori, wait!" Raeger warned her, holding her back by her shoulder, "Rule 5, remember?"
"Wh-Which was that, the one about sleeping?" Viktoria asked, too flustered to think straight at the moment.
"No, you dumb ass hoe," Jane told her, "It's the one about not attacking the bear or you get punished."
"What does 'punishment' even mean?" Soleil asked nervously.
"Why don't you test it out!" Jane spat at him.
"Obviously it's something bad," Jenny said, trying to keep her cool, "I suggest that no one test out that theory any time soon."
"K-Killing, though..." Charlotte stuttered, "Monokuma wants us to kill! Why!?"
"Despair." Aiz answered simply, "He wants us to despair."
"Why though!?" Wilson practically screamed, looking like a nervous wreck as he spoke, "The little robot bear wants us to start killing people! What the hell is up with that?"
"Now that's the question, isn't it..." Spinel muttered. "Why. Well, Monokuma?"
"Hmm...How should I answer this..." Monokuma said thoughtfully, turning his back to us for a moment, "Why do I want to do this...Ah! I know!" He faced us once again. "I'm bored."
"...What?" I repeated.
"That is quite a disappointing motive," Mikhail said, shaking his head.
"Whaddaya mean youer bored?" Keahi asked, "What, is murder entertainment for ya or somethin'?"
"Yes, actually." Monokuma said, somehow grinning even wider, "I'm despairingly bored with nothing to do...so get to murdering! Chop chop!"
"You can't be serious..." Jean-Peal muttered, "You seriously expect us to kill each other, just so we get to leave this school?"
"Hmm...I suppose not. At least, not without further motives." Monokuma answered, "I picked a sturdier bunch of students this time, actually. It's always more fun to see you bastards struggle more against your natural instinct to kill. It makes things so much more interesting."
"Are you saying you've done this before?" I asked.
"Of course!" Monokuma exclaimed joyfully, "It's my favorite past time really. Watching kids murder each other, no matter the reward, is always so despairingly satisfying. And that's what I'm truly after. Despair. Upupupu! I just love saying the word! Despair, despair, despair..."
"Shut the hell up already!" Charlie yelled at him. "No one's gonna give in to your weird fetish!"
"I might," Jane interjected, "Just to piss you guys off."
"Oh my God shut up already!" Keahi yelled at her, obviously frustrated.
"P-Please, stop fighting..." Jesse mumbled, shaking nervously as she spoke, "N-No one...no one's going to k-kill anyone...j-just stop this..."
"You're all mighty sure of yourselves," Monokuma said mockingly, "None of you believe you'll eventually resort to murder, just to leave this school. You're all wrong, of course. But, how I up the ante a bit then? Make things even more interesting?"
"What did you have in mind?" Aiz asked quietly.
"I'll tell you all a secret!" Monokuma answered, "You see, I inserted a player into this game that I personally handpicked. Their purpose is to make this game keep up its momentum whenever things get dull. I'll be giving them some direction from time to time, but for the most part they'll be playing their part well enough on their own. Think of them as a Mole of sorts. With them in play, murder is pretty much guaranteed...unless you manage to oust them, of course."
"You're obviously only saying that to cause paranoia," Spinel sighed, "Like, that was almost too easy to see through."
"Ah, but you've forgotten one thing," Monokuma laughed, "I don't lie. It's actually against my programming to lie. It's to help make the game fair."
"Game..." Charlotte said, "Why do you keep using the word 'game'?"
"Because that's what this is!" Monokuma replied, "This little game is what I like to call, The School Life of Mutual Killing! And you're all invited to play. The only question left is, which one of you will break first? Who will be the first to kill? Who will be the first to die? Upupupu!"
"That's three questions actually," Jane said snarkily.
"Grrr! You get what I mean!" Monokuma growled, "This game begins now!" He began to spin at a rapid pace, almost like a ballerina, before suddenly drilling into the ground and disappearing. Of course, the floor was apparently completely undamaged from it. Nobody knew how Monokuma kept doing that, but one thing was certain.
As we all stood there, silently looking at each other, we all were thinking the same thing.
Would one of us...really, truly kill?
PROLOGUE: END
A/N: And so ends the Prologue! I'm liking these Sunday updates (even though this one came a few hours late, whoops), so I'm likely going to stick to that kind of schedule. Expect to (hopefully) see the next update, the beginning of Act 1, next Sunday!
Also, you all may have noticed that I put a poll on my profile. You can use it to vote for who the first six Free Time Events will be with. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th place in the votes will get Free Time Events during Act 1. In the case of a tie, I will break the tie using RandomGenerator.
One last thing. Here is the full list of Accepted Characters!
Aiz Espensen: Ultimate Pharmacist created by Vivid Nemesis
Charlie McCrimmon: Ultimate Billiards Pro created by dashunterman
Charlotte Lin: Ultimate Inventor created by QueenofMatoki
Jane Smith: Ultimate Avian Vet created by TrouserQueen
Jean-Peal Moreau: Ultimate Sketch Artist created by SSBFreak
Jenny Deerly: Ultimate Assistant created by Alicitizen
Jesse Hutchins: Ultimate Sidekick created by Colossal Fighter GX
"Spinel Labelle": Ultimate Hypnotist created by RagingWitch
Keahi McGovern: Ultimate Pyrotechnics Expert created by EnigmaxBell/50Zoned
Mikhail Shistakov: Ultimate Chess Player created by Awenia
Raeger Cruz: Ultimate Manager, and Viktoria Dragomir: Ultimate Comedian created by Prince Eric's Ariel
Soleil Tindol: Ultimate Chocolatier created by The Pocketwatch Ripper
Wilson Young: Ultimate Engineer created by A Dingus With Sweet Shades