Alright. So, now that we have the interlude out of the way in the form of the previous chapter, let's jump into some more light-hearted arcs now, shall we? I mean, we can't have constant darkness, blood, and guts being spilled. As fun as that is, we need to balance out the grim dark fighting for something more… light-hearted.
But, before we do that, it's time to respond to some reviews/comments!
[Response to Reviews/Comments]
(Qoutev) Unlucky the unfortunate magical girl: Uh… no. Besides, we don't know what Holly's Stand is, both from Part 3 and Part 8.
(Qoutev) Mal: I mean, yeah… that's kind of ironic considering WHAT it is. Also, thank you for saying my story is amazing! Much thanks!
Superfandroid: … take your cookie, good sir [if the emoji doesn't show up on Fanfiction Dot Net, just pretend there is one there]
(Ao3) TheSevenStars: Well then, you, good sir, can take this (digital) cookie!
With that now out of the way, let us BEGIN!
xxXXxxXXxx
[Jolyne Brooks]
Jolyne let out a groan as she slowly came to. Her head was pounding, no doubt because of a headache. She did fall flat on the back of her head after stabbing herself with the arrow, which constituted a headache. What didn't help, was that behind her, there was a series of knocks on her door, as well as a muffled voice that her ears weren't quite sure as to whom it belonged to. This was the second time she was waking up with a foggy memory, which made her extremely annoyed. As Jolyne sat up from the floor of all things, she yawned, stretching out her arms as she did so. The knocking continued, making her grit her teeth with annoyance.
"HOLD ON! I'M GETTING DRESSED!" Jolyne shouted, and when she did, the knocking ceased. It was a lie, but it made them stop. Stepping away from the door, Jolyne sat down on her bed and rubbed at her eyes, making sure to get the gunk that someone would get from having their eyes closed for too long out. When she did, a box appeared in front of her.
[Congratulations! You have successfully obtained a Stand from The Mysterious Arrow! However, as a result, you were knocked unconscious by The System so that your body could recover from having its soul transformed into a physical being. More will be expanded on once you head to somewhere without other people being near.]
"Oh… neat, I guess?" Jolyne murmured, clearing her throat. She sniffed her hoodie and blanched. It smelt like two-day-old sweat, and that was something she refused to be known for. She immediately took off her hoodie, and when she did, the knocking started up again. "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD IF YOU DO NOT QUIT IT I WILL SHOVE MY DESK LAMP UP YOUR ASS!" Jolyne shouted as loud as she could, the knocking abruptly stopping again.
She looked down at herself and was reminded that she was, in fact, not wearing a bra underneath her hoodie. Sighing, she decided to do away with her pants and questionable panties, then walked all the way over to the bathroom her dorm room was provided with, snag a towel off of the rack, and wrapped herself in it. It exposed a bit of her cleavage, but there was nothing she could do about that. The important part was that it covered her privates and most of her thighs.
She was going to deal with whoever was knocking at her door, have a shower, then put on one of the replacement school uniforms that Headmaster Kirigiri had placed on her dresser when she first moved into the room.
Twisting the doorknob, she was greeted by a face she hadn't seen before. The person was a boy, that much was for certain. He had short, black spikey hair along with two thin large eyebrows that if someone squinted while seeing would assume that it was a unibrow. However, to contrast that goofiness, he had a pair of intense red-coloured eyes. He was wearing the school's uniform, although it would've looked more appropriate if he was wearing an army uniform, or something similar.
"Uh… I don't mean to be rude, but who're you? I've never seen you here before," Jolyne asked as the boy nodded.
"Right. I'm sorry if I am interrupting something, but I'm here for two things. But first thing first, seeing as it is polite of me to do so, my name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru! I am from class 78! It is a pleasure to meet you, Senpai!" The boy, or Kiyotaka as Jolyne was made aware, said while bowing for a full second before bringing himself back into attention.
"I see… a pleasure to meet you too, Ishimaru…. Is there anything you need, because I was just about to have a shower and get dressed," Jolyne said as the boy cleared his throat.
"I apologize! I'll wait here till you're finished. I have a few things I want to say before I head out to my class, if you don't mind, that is, Senpai!" Kiyotaka stated, earning a furrowed eyebrow from Jolyne.
"Okay. Oh, and one more thing, cut the "senpai" crap out. Just call me Jolyne, Brooks, or anything other than that. That makes it sound like I'm in a crappy high school anime or some crap," the dual-haired teen replied, rubbing the side of her head with her free hand as the teen nodded, reaching into her dorm room and closing the door in what she thought was an attempt to keep her modesty.
Jolyne shook her head. When the door closed, she quickly walked into the bathroom. Originally, she wasn't going to have a shower, but now that she thought about it, it sounded like a really good idea. And so, after adjusting the handles in the enclosed glass shower box, she dropped the towel and got inside, turning the shower on as warm water hit her body.
Relaxation was the first thing she felt as the water pelted her body. As it fell, it made an almost soothing sound. It was similar to the same sound rain made when hitting the roof of a house, or the windows of a car. It was therapeutic in a way, making her muscles de-tense, her skin becoming less rigid in the process. The steam also helped, a warm feeling spreading throughout her body.
It was said that, in rough times, showers helped clear one's mind, drain one of all previous thoughts, and focus solely on cleaning oneself. It was meant both in a literal sense, as well as a metaphorical one. To clean one's body is also to clean one's soul. Any pent-up anger she had from fighting Kuzuryu and his thugs had all but washed away, allowing her to remain in a small form of peace.
As the water droplets hit her hair, all the dried, caked-in blood from her fights slowly became wet again, making the red liquid drip to the ground and giving her a slight panic attack upon seeing it. Her mind caught up to her before she could freak out completely, remembering that whenever she slept her injuries and wounds instantly healed, meaning that the blood either wasn't hers, or was hers, and it had dried, meaning that Blood Control didn't collect it when she plugged in the bullet wounds yesterday.
After that quick freak out, she looked over to the soaps and shampoo she had available and frowned. They were all basic brands that, if she remembered correctly from her past life, weren't all that good. Then again, she was never picky when it came to that. Plus, smelling like lavender would do her leagues better than smelling like blood and sweat.
And so, she did what anyone in the shower would do when they had one. Clean herself, while also humming a song she liked, the song in question being Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap by A.C.D.C.
Once she was done, she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. Her hair was no longer in the neat bob it had been in before. Rather, it was wet and straight down, though her bangs were pushed out of the way. She quickly dried off as much as she could, then grabbed a black brush which had been on the white porcelain sink counter, and brushed her hair back, keeping her bangs to the sides. When she finished brushing her hair, she looked at herself in the mirror.
She wasn't a fan of how her hair just… hung there. It wasn't particularly long, either, only reaching down to the tops of her shoulders. Unfortunatly, there wasn't much she could do about it, so, she shrugged her shoulders and exited the bathroom. As soon as she did, she marched over to the spare uniforms, opened her inventory by reaching into one of their pockets, putting the uniform into her inventory then putting it on her "avatar."
The fact that it fitted so cleanly to her body, almost as if she ironed it before putting it on, made her want to laugh like a maniac. But, seeing as she didn't want to be seen as insane, she decided against it. Walking toward her door, she opened it and stepped outside. Off to the side, standing patiently there, waiting for her as he said he would be was Kiyotaka.
"Wow, I didn't think you actually would've waited there. Guess what you had to say was THAT important, huh?" Jolyne said, putting a hand on her hip, shifting her weight slightly to one leg as she tapped her foot against the floor. "Well, what is it?"
The boy turned to her and, once again, bowed before straightening himself a second later. "Well, Brooks-san, I wanted to ask if you were okay. I heard that your classroom was attacked by some sort of gunman according to another one of my Senpai's, Nanami-san. It must have been rather traumatic," Kiyotaka said, his tone of voice laced with concern. Jolyne rubbed the back of her neck, a small apathetic smile on her face.
"I see. Well, it's nothing to worry about. The gunman got what was coming to him. Thank you for checking in, though, Ishimaru. Now, can I ask what the second thing you wanted to talk about was? I gotta get to class, or else I'll be late," Jolyne replied as the boy nodded.
"Right. Then I shall cut to the chase! I heard you were the Ultimate Magician. This might sound childish and selfish of me, but as the Ultimate Moral Compass, and also as Class 78s class representative, I was wondering if you could perform a magic show for my peers. Our class has been a bit divided as of late, and I think something like that would be not only beneficial but will also show my class what you're capable of, and be a shining example of what someone a year into Hopes Peaks educational system can do after having extra help harnessing their talent!"
As the words came out of Kiyotaka's mouth, Jolyne bit back a frustrated groan. She should've expected this sooner or later, but for it to happen this early was a little annoying and not to mention frustrating. However, there was something about that look in his eyes, a look of what seemed like desperation, that made her inner "nice girl" scream to just say yes. And so, with the urge to hold back a sigh, she nodded.
"Alright, I'll do it. However, it won't be the kind of magic you're probably thinking of. It'll be a private show for your class, which means that NO ONE speaks of it to ANYONE. Not the Reserve Course. Not their parents. Not the staff. Not even the Headmaster, even though he'll already know. Got it?" Jolyne explained, her voice demanding and leaving no room for argument. Kiyotaka nodded, bowing once again for the third time.
"Thank you, Senpai—I mean, Brooks-san! Whenever you're ready, speak to me and I shall arrange a time and a date!" With that, Kiyotaka rose from his bow, then left, speed walking down the hall rather than running. Jolyne wanted to laugh at his seriousness, but even she had to admit that it was pretty impressive just how reserved the teen was.
And then, The System had to rear its head.
[Side Story Quest!]
[Underclassmen in trouble! – Prologue]
Description: Class 78, your Underclassmen, need a bit of a "pick-me-up" before everyone starts to kill each other, metaphorically speaking, that is. Kiyotaka Ishimaru asked you to perform a magic show for them. So, show them some magic! Bonus points for convincing a certain heir and writing prodigy that you aren't using equipment to do what you do!
Quest: Perform a "Magic Show" for Class 78.
Rewards: 3,000 EXP, and 3,000 Yen
Jolyne shrugged. The Quest was pretty inoffensive compared to the last batch. She still had to spend a whole class with Class 77 – B, so she'd get that done first before she did this magic show. However, before she did that, she needed to go see what this whole Stand nonsense was. Meaning, that she had to go to her Ultimate Lab.
Originally, she thought about just going back into her room and testing it out there. However, if she did that, then she would be more easily interrupted and lose focus on what she was trying to do. That, and The System wouldn't continue what it wanted without the reduced presence of people. So, going somewhere isolated would be a far better idea. Henceforth, her Ultimate Lab.
The trek to her lab wasn't long. It took about 4 minutes to get to the top floor, waving at her passing Classmates who were wandering the school, sans Fuyuhiko and Peko, whom she assumed were still in the medical bay. She still had 30 minutes before the bell rang, seeing as all the clocks that she had passed said that it was 7:30 AM. Classes started at 8:00 AM, which meant that she had 30 minutes to straighten out what it was she got exactly.
Upon opening the sliding door and closing it behind her, she flipped the light's on. Once she was all alone, another pop-up appeared before her named "Stand Tutorial."
[Welcome to the Tutorial on Stands! First of all, we'd like to congratulate you on gaining one, as it is no easy feat! You must be a very special person to obtain one of these, and as a result, you've become stronger! Now. The first thing you must understand is that a Stand is linked to your soul! Meaning, that if it takes damage, so will you! Normally, Stands are invisible to those without Stands. However, seeing as you are also a System User, your Stand is visible to those without one! This includes interacting with it!]
[Alright. Now, it's time to summon your Stand! All you have to do is focus on your soul. It's easier than it sounds! Think of it as breathing in, and when you summon it, think of it as breathing out! Go ahead, try it!]
Jolyne did what it was the tutorial said for her to do, except, she took it literally. Taking in a deep breath, she focused on her soul. When she did, a white aura covered her body. She nearly lost focus when she saw it, her eyes widening. It almost looked as if she caught on fire, except she truly hadn't.
The aura surrounding her body made no light. It seemed to only be there for effect, and nothing more. But while the aura was up, she felt every bit of power that she had while using a spell. Except, it didn't consume any of her mana. As the aura flickered around her body, with each passing second, she felt her concentration fluctuate, the aura dying down while also flaunting its presence profoundly. She didn't want to lose her grasp on what she already had, so she went back to what the tutorial told her to do.
Jolyne took in another deep breath, regaining her concentration from before she had been taken aback by the flame-like white aura. The aura flared strong, and then, once she felt the build-up of energy reach its crescendo, she let out the breath she had been holding. At the same time she let out the held-in breath, she saw something flicker into existence out of the corner of her eye.
Turning her body to see what was now in the room with her, her jaw slacked ajar, along with her eyes widening to the size of dimes.
Standing in front of her was a giant. At least, in her eyes, it was. It was 6 feet tall and humanoid in shape and appearance. Its skin was silky white with horizontal lines stretching across its body. In every second line, the letters G, A, C, and T appeared next to one another, the word repeating forever across its body, but only on every second line. The creature, or Stand as she knew it to be called, was sparsely clothed in black garb. It was almost reminiscent of what executioners were depicted to wear in tales of the old kingdoms in the 18th century, minus the exposed crotch region, and the spiked collar. The top half of its face was masked, the mask itself sharing the same colour as the rest of the little clothing it wore. It had some sort of crown forged into the mask, making it seem as if it was a king of something, despite clearly looking like an executioner. Then, there were its eyes, more specifically, its irises. They appeared to look as if they were melting, though if they had been, it seemingly held no reaction to it.
Before she could do, say, or remark about anything, another box appeared in front of her, and to its left was another box, containing more text than the first.
[Stand name: Whitesnake – Rarity: Mythic – Lv. 1/150]
-Stats- (Level 1)
[ATK Grade: D]
[SPD Grade: D]
[RNG Grade: D]
[PRSTNC Grade: C]
[PRSC Grade: C]
[ Grade: A]
[Exp till next level Up – 500]
.
[Congratulations! You've now summoned your Stand, Whitesnake! As you can see, this Stand is a Mythic. There are only 4 Mythic Stands within the pool of available Stands, and the standard chance of gaining one is only a 0.15% chance! Your chances were boosted thanks to [Gamers Luck], so lucky you! Now, I know what you're probably going to ask. "Why is it so weak? If it's a Mythic shouldn't it be insanely strong?!" And you'd be correct! It should be! However, you have to make it strong! We aren't about to simply hand you an overpowered Stand just because we felt like it! You gotta make it strong. After all, a Stand grows as you do, we can't just give you a cheat code on a silver platter, now can we? For now, how about you put Whitesnake away for the time being, and step into the PTD? (For this tutorial, any cooldown you had before using it has been paused to facilitate this tutorial. The cooldown will NOT reset after the Tutorial is over, and if you have an available use for the PTD, this will not take it up. Another note: The Time Dilation that occurs within the PTD will also be paused for the sake of this tutorial).]
Jolyne blinked, and Whitesnake was gone. Confusion washed over her for a split second, then left as fast as it came. While she had a lot of questions, such as why there weren't any definitive numbers for her Stands stats, she assumed that the guide she was being given would explain it at some point. Not wanting to stop the tutorial, and seeing no negatives in doing so, Jolyne walked up to the mirror and stepped through into the training dimension gifted to her by The System.
As soon as she stepped into the world, after a few seconds to let herself get adjusted from stepping through a literal dimensional veil, a zombie from the Horde Mode she had done yesterday pushed itself through the ground, and above its head was its level and name.
[Basic Zombie – Lv. 3 – HP: 150/150]
Jolyne prepared for a fight, but the zombie didn't move. In fact, it stayed stalk still, occasionally swaying from right to left. The dual-haired teen raised an eyebrow, slowly approaching the zombie, the undead still unmoving. That was when a box appeared in front of it.
[Now, it is time to show you how to use your Stand in combat! But first, let's do an example of what to expect when you're using Whitesnake! First, punch the zombie, and see how much damage you do to it!]
The box disappeared as Jolyne shrugged. She didn't mind some free EXP. And so, Jolyne cocked back a fist, then struck the zombie. When her fist connected, she did 50 damage to the undead. Then, the zombie regained its health, making Jolyne recoil in annoyance. Although, before she could get too annoyed, and after thinking about it for a split second, she guessed that it made sense. This WAS a tutorial, after all.
[Great! Now, summon Whitesnake and have it punch the zombie! To do that, while having Whitesnake summoned, imagine you are Whitesnake, then, imagine yourself punching the zombie. Kind of like those times when people imagine beating people up, but this time, you are! It's just through a proxy! Try it out!]
Jolyne did as she was asked, channelling her soul and its energy as Whitesnake appeared by her side. The Stand moved in front of Jolyne while facing the zombie. It cocked back its fist, and then, it swung at the zombie at blinding speeds. When the punch connected, the zombie was sent skidding back, dealing 55 damage to it instead of 50 like Jolyne did.
"55 damage… well, it did say Whitesnake has a D in its ATK stat. Still, though, 5 extra damage means a lot when in a fight. That 5 extra damage could be the difference between life and death," the dual-haired teen thought, a finger on her chin as she bit the inside of her lower lip.
The zombie regained its health and ran back to the spot where it had been. Any obvious signs of damage that it had on its body went away as yet another text box appeared.
[Alright! Now you see the difference in damage. However, allow me to explain in case you are confused. Any Stand that you have will do 1.1 times more damage compared to your base physical ATK stat, and it will scale with that stat so long as it is a physical attack you are doing. Abilities are a completely different ballpark, but we'll get to that when you've unlocked an ability for Whitesnake. For now, let's try doing a punch barrage! Do the same thing you did from before, however, imagine as if you were punching faster than light itself!]
Jolyne hummed as the text box disappeared from her sight. "Faster than light?! Is this thing serious? If it can attack faster than light, then that pretty much makes me invincible! Especially if it's doing 55 damage per punch! Alright, let's try this out!" Jolyne thought, a smirk appearing on her face.
Whitesnake relaxed its shoulders, and then, it closed its right left hand, cocked back its fist, then, unleashed the first punch. After that, the second one followed suit at a speed faster than she could track with her eyes, the left fist repeating the same action with the right repeatedly, dealing 1.1 damage each time its fists hit the target. As the zombie got punched, it fumbled around like a ragdoll on strings as each impact left a visible dent, yet even so, it stayed in place. Once the final punch landed, the final damage count was 55. After a few moments, the zombie regained its health.
"Huh? Not even an increase in damage?! That's a fucking rip-off! What's the difference if I just punch them once instead of that?! While cool looking, it's a less productive way of dealing damage!" What bullshit!" Jolyne shouted, outrage in her tone as a box appeared in front of her.
[While I know it might look like nothing has changed, I'm sure you saw how the zombie couldn't move, right? Well, that's because when someone is caught up in a barrage, they are locked in place! While a normal punch can be blocked, or even parried, a barrage, on the other hand, cannot be blocked by conventional means, and almost always requires a tool and a person who can go at a similar speed to the barrage to block it. It cannot be parried either. Once someone is trapped in a barrage, they're stuck until it is done! To balance this, and to prevent spamming, every barrage has a 5-second cooldown. That does not mean, however, that Whitesnake is useless during this. It can still attack, which introduces combos into the picture! However, we'll focus on that at a later point. For now, kill this zombie, then exit the PTD.]
Jolyne frowned as Whitesnake clocked the zombie in the head three times in a row, killing it without so much as breaking a sweat. She was a little bit salty about the whole damage thing, but she guessed it made sense. Not only that, but the barrage lasted for about 5-seconds, and the cooldown was 5-seconds, so it was fair. And if she was forced to go by RPG rules thanks to The System, then she couldn't complain.
When she was done, Whitesnake slipped out of existence, the dual-haired teen walking toward the mirror as she stepped through it. Upon coming out, she looked up at the clock, frowning. 5 minutes until class began. If she didn't make it there in time, she'd have to wait till tomorrow to begin the quest she should've completed yesterday. But of course… other things got in the way.
For the last time in what she hoped was for a while, another text box appeared in front of her face.
[Alright, before we conclude this tutorial, there is a little something that needs to be said about Whitesnake in particular. Whitesnake is a special kind of Stand, as it can go on Auto-pilot. However, to activate Auto-pilot, you must summon it first, and when it is summoned, if you deem it necessary, it will enter Auto-pilot mode. It will be invisible for the first minute if the room is filled with other people, and then fully manifest for the public at large to see it, otherwise, it will summon the same way it does now. This allows you to maintain a hint of secrecy. When in Auto-pilot, Whitesnake gains its own voice, personality, as well as conscious thoughts. However, it will follow any orders you give it, regardless if it believes the idea is against your best interest. It will automatically carry out your will if you want it to. You won't even have to utter a single word, Whitesnake will automatically know. And while it is in Auto-pilot mode, any damage it receives it will not send back to you. If Whitesnake "dies" it will return to you, and be on a 2-minute cooldown. And before you ask, yes, while you have Whitesnake active, you can still use your magic. One more thing before this tutorial ends. Any EXP you gain from quests or killing enemies, half of it will go to Whitesnake, but it will not reduce the total EXP you gain from doing any quest. That is all! Have fun!]
Jolyne didn't know how to feel about that. The last part, anyway. The rest, on the other hand, was pretty awesome. And knowing that she could still use her magic while Whitesnake was out was also pretty handy. And, if it was that easy to level it up, then all that did was add more incentive to complete the quest she already had lined up.
But right now, she could worry about those quests at a later point. Right now, she had to get to class. "Oh boy… this is going to suck…. Potentially."
[?]
If someone had to sum up how one believed the world functioned in just one sentence, one might say that it revolves around the concept of Hope and Despair. Hope causes good things to happen, brings joy to everyday people, and allows society to thrive. Despair causes the opposite of what Hope does. Both have to maintain a perfect balance so that the world may live in a state of ever-lasting pseudo-peace. If one outweighed the other, then the world would fall into two categories.
If the world leaned too close to Hope and upset the natural balance, a dystopian nightmare would follow suit, filled with police states and authoritarian regimes with brainwashed citizens, all believing that what they have now is ideal and that the world should be run with very, very few detractors.
If the world leaned too close to Despair and upset the natural balance, then the apocalypse will surely follow. Chaos would be widespread, wars would be plentiful, and in a world devoid of hope, all one could do to survive would be to join those who fall in line with the new world order, or die trying to reclaim what was lost.
And when one stopped to contemplate the two options, one would agree that the latter seemed to be more… preferable over the latter. Because at least with the latter option, one had free will. If one stopped to analyze where the future was headed, one would see that the former was the world that everyone was slowly but surely heading toward. No matter what protesters in the streets said, no matter what the politicians said, that was how the world would look in twenty, maybe thirty years.
And if one saw that and wanted to change it, one would have to take drastic action. Things had to be done to prevent such a bleak, and boring world. Even if it was someone as crazy, and as mentally unstable as one Junko Enoshima.
Being the holder of two different talents, The Ultimate Analyst and The Ultimate Fashionista, Junko had what one might call a split mind. Her robotic way of breaking things down led her to the conclusion that Despair was the better route to take over Hope. However, her way of conveying that idea was… flimsy at best.
Due to her unwell mental state, which the blonde knew about, but didn't bother trying to fix or at the very least quell, Junko had a tendency to make her idea seem almost… undesirable. No one would listen to her, and a majority of those that did listen called her crazy afterward. Some people even called the cops on her during one of her rants, thinking she was some kind of terrorist espousing some bleak plan she had to cause mass unrest.
Well, they wouldn't be wrong to think that. Her plan was, to her own admission, very terroristic in nature. But, then again, what else was she supposed to do? Become a politician and run for Premier? That would be like making a plane mechanic try and fix a leaky pipe!
No one understood her, or her ideals, because she was too crazy and unhinged to properly illustrate them, once again, something that she would admit to being the case. But it wasn't as if she wanted to just cause chaos and "end the world" because she wanted to! Although a dark, less careful part of her mind wanted that, it wasn't the side that was actually formulating the plan, now was it?
What she wanted was for the world to turn out in a better way because the other option was drab, boring, and utterly twisted. Then again, so would be a world full of despair, but yet again, the freewill aspect was what made it far more alluring than a world full of like-minded people who had similar lives with the same family dynamic and the same names.
She would soon rather kill herself than let that future come to light.
And what was worse was that Hopes Peak Academy was pushing everyone toward that reality, knowingly or otherwise. And despite her downright fetishization of the feeling of Despair, deep down, she just wanted the world to have a better chance, or if the dystopian future that Hope would bring was cemented in stone, then perhaps she could delay it before it became true.
Now, granted, she had no real direction as to how to begin her little escapade. At least, in the beginning. Before she had been accepted into Hopes Peak as the Ultimate Fashionista, while also doubling as the Ultimate Analyst in the background, she had been directionless. More or less, she was a sheep amongst a world filled with wolves. Then, she got the invitation, and everything started moving forward from there.
With herself and her twin sister, Mukuro Ikosaba, being accepted into Hopes Peak, her plan to throw the world into Despair began. But first, she had to get a feeling for the school. And, as it turned out, the security in the building was lax. Actually, that was an understatement. It was practically non-existent. One would think a building containing the world's future hope would have more cameras or more security guards wandering about it, but it didn't.
And after she joined up with Class 78, she understood why.
Because there was no reason to have guards when the students doubled as them.
People like Sakura Ogami, Mondo Owada, and even Celestia Ludenburg, real name Takeo Yasuhiro, were far stronger than what they appeared, though for Sakura it was a tad obvious as to why no one needed to guard her. She looked like she could bench press a whole building if given the chance, but that was neither here nor there.
Who would need to guard them when they were already able to do so themselves? Despite this, it was still irresponsible, and it allowed her plans to progress far faster than they had before. Because of the school's non-existent security, and because her classmates, while smart, were incredibly trusting to those that shouldn't be trusted if you exclude Byakuya Togami and Toko Fukawa, everything had been going swimmingly!
Class 77 – B, the one she had her eyes on, was slowly falling into Despair with every passing week as misfortunate events kept coming to pass, all thanks to her subtle influence. The Headmaster was under the belief that she was a normal student with no ill intentions. Her classmates were dumb as bricks. Her sister was as submissive and controllable as she always had been. Her "boyfriend" Yasuke Matsuda was helping her look into mind control technology. And finally, Ryota Mitarai was helping create the Brainwashing Cartoon, which she would hijack, turning it from a cartoon that inspired Hope to a cartoon that inspired Despair.
There was nothing, absolutely nothing, that would stop her and her plan from succeeding!
But, almost as if the gods of the world had seen her be just a little bit more successful than she had any right to be, on a day like any other, while she was walking through the hall, she heard gunshots, six, to be exact. Junko assumed that this was because of Mukuro "harnessing" her talent in the training room she had nearby. What she hadn't expected was to turn the corner and see a dual-coloured, black and pink-haired teenage girl survive what appeared to be six gunshots to the chest and stomach area, which by all means should've killed her, then continued to watch as she turned around, morphed her arm into a giant red gauntlet, then impale her would-be assassin.
Now that…. That was an issue. Not only was it an issue, but it also threw a wrench in ALL of her plans. For someone like THAT to exist pretty much cemented everything that she had seen coming and more to be an absolute future, that her plan to plunge the world into Despair was impossible. Especially if they had someone as powerful as that under their watchful eye.
Then, she saw the girl's eyes, and all that changed.
Her eyes were brimming with rage, determination, and contempt for everything around her. But that wasn't what caught her attention, and while it was slightly concerning for someone like that to exist and have powers like that, what came next was what changed her plans completely.
You see, Junko had a knack for picking out what people were feeling at an exact moment and time. The dual-haired mystery girl was pretty pissed off. She knew that thanks to her body language. After all, getting shot six times doesn't do anything good for one's physical or mental well-being.
Another thing that Junko was pretty good at doing was sensing Despair. After all, she was obsessed with it, and therefore she was good at spotting it or even feeling it. So when she felt the large wave of Despair crash into her body, her mind, and her soul, she nearly choked on her own breath. The aura that permeated around her made Junko practically freeze in place, and for all her muscles to contract, squeeze, and lock her in place.
It was almost as if this random teen had a vice grip on her soul. The claws of Despair dug at it, piercing it, and invading every part of her being. There was nothing Junko could do to stop it, not even screaming helped, namely because she couldn't. The Despair was that intense, so much so that even she couldn't handle it. It was on a whole other level from what she was used to, and because of that, she was forced to stand stock still, not able to even move an inch.
When the girl left, Junko fell right to her knees, taking deep, labored breaths as she tried to regain any semblance of balance after the sheer intensity of what she could only explain away as a wave of True Despair. Not from her, or about her, or because of her, but rather, it was Despair incarnate; the truest form of Despair. The strongest form of Despair. Something that Junko had been looking for for a long time.
She smiled.
Junko, never, smiled. At least, not genuinely. The only times she smiled were to keep up appearances to the world at large. Most of the time she was deep in thought, scowling, or putting on a false masquerade of joy to mess with others.
But this? This was real.
And it was all because this was the type of person she was looking for. The perfect harbinger of Despair! Her original plan was to watch the Kamakura Project in the background to see if she could intervene and make the World's Hope turn into the World's Despair. She had only recently heard of it, so she had no idea when a subject would be picked, or if it was even possible, but she had to at least try, right?
But with someone with that potential already being in the building with almost God-like powers that no normal human should have, and for them to already have a strong stance on Despair in the first place made Junko feel things that she normally did not feel; but if she had to sum up what she had been feeling, it would be pure euphoria.
For someone to exude that much Despair, and not be hampered by it and continue to move forward with the determination of a bull made this mysterious girl's presence within this school that much more exciting. And that wasn't even considering the fact that she got that feeling from a mere glance as she turned the corner on the third floor of the building. If she had taken the fullest brunt of the wave, it might've caused her heart to cease beating!
The girl didn't notice her, which was a good thing. She wanted to save their meeting in person for a later date. But that wasn't important.
She ended up watching the girl from a distance—mainly, out of the second floor, as she was heading for the courtyard. Not even four minutes later, she watched as this mysterious girl man-handled one of the strongest people in the school, politically speaking, and reduced his girl-toy to nothing but a glorified meat puppet by impaling her. Junko also made a mental note of her physical strength, even if enhanced by whatever powers she had coursing through her veins, it was fairly impressive.
The only upsetting thing was that Nekomaru Nidai, The Ultimate Team Manager, was able to tackle her and make her stop doing what it was she was doing. She wanted to see more of what this mystery girl could do. But, for the time being, Junko was satisfied. She was satisfied knowing what she knew and knowing that someone that powerful and so full of Despair was within her grasp.
Now all she had to do was meet her and pick her brain, see what made her tick, and judge from there to see if she would be a useful ally. And if she proved to be somewhat useful to her plans in the future, Junko Enoshima knew that she could plunge the world into Despair, not only as a way to get her socks off but as a way to save it from the dystopian future it was driving full speed ahead into.
And when that day came, she would finally feel a sense of completion, knowing that, if perhaps not permanently, the world would be safe from the boring, dull future that it so desperately was trying to reach.
-To Be Continued-
Alright! Usually, I don't put these here, but I feel like I need to for a rather obvious reason, that being the characterization of Junko Enoshima. Now, for those die-hard fans of Danganronpa who are reading this, I want to make one thing very clear – I despise the characterization of Junko Enoshima within the canon of the Danganronpa universe.
I know that there are very few characters that the community doesn't like being mettled with when it comes to fanfictions; Junko being one of them. However, I want to stress that for my story to work, I had to change Junko's fundamental reason for starting the apocalypse. My reasons are simple. The whole "I'm doing it just cause I can" is something that I despise, and is poor storytelling. Everyone and I mean everyone, has a reason for doing, starting, and finishing something. In the canon of the Danganronpa universe, Junko has two talents. One for herself, and the other for her fake personality of Ryoko Otonashi. Those talents are The Ultimate Fashionista and The Ultimate Analyst.
In canon, it was clear from the get-go that Junko was smart, and was able to pick apart people without so much as blinking. And being the ULTIMATE Analyst, she might have been able to see something we, the audience, weren't privy to; namely, because we never were able to get a peak inside Junko's mind without it coming from the crazed words of a lunatic.
Henceforth, her new reasoning for wanting to end the world and start it anew. If you don't like it, then I'd love to hear why. I'm not going to change it, namely because I think changing it would ruin what I have set up for the very dark future.
But, that's enough out of me. I'll see you all in the next chapter, which won't be too long from now. Peace!