Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit, fan-based fanfiction. Dangnronpa V3 is owned by Spike Chunsoft and Kazutaka Kodaka

This fanfiction was also inspired by String Theory by NeoStarReset and Scintilla by Solum.

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Prologue Arc: A Small Spark of Hope

Darkness. That's all that surrounded me. It was a strange feeling, but, even stranger, it was comforting, oddly enough. I'm not sure why, but I wasn't bothered by this unknown void I had found myself in. I felt as if I could stay here forever, embracing the darkness and the security it offered. I didn't know why or how, but I knew when the darkness faded away, that I would enter a twisted, horrid world, full of deceit, madness, and despair.

I grasped at the darkness, trying my best to hold it tight, yet my efforts proved to be in vain when that darkness, peaceful and serene, was torn from my hold. I was falling. I was dying. I was living. Was I living? Did I even exist? None of that really mattered as I slowly opened my eyes. I existed now, and this was the hell I was thrown into.

Soon, I had managed to fully open my eyes, much to my dismay, but what greeted me was unexpected. It was more darkness. Of course, this darkness wasn't nearly as comforting as the one that came before it, but I couldn't let that get to me. And that's when I noticed something worrying: I was in a very enclosed space. I couldn't even move my arms a few inches before hitting cold metal walls that cornered me from all sides.

I managed to turn and see 3 slits along one of the walls, warm light pouring in from the other side. I suppose the sight of freedom was what finally got me to fight against my confinement. After struggling against the wall for a bit, I leaned back and managed to kick the wall, which was actually a door, open, almost sending it off its hinges.

The light was blinding, but only for a moment. Once my eyes adjusted, I noticed how I was in a classroom, though "classroom" is putting it lightly. The room was in a great state of disrepair. Vines and grass ran rampant across the room, and the desks and chairs all had a light level of rust and decay on them. There were also metal bars blocking the windows as well, though I couldn't imagine what they were for. Taking a step out of the cold metal prison and stepping out onto the wet, dew-covered grass, I spun around, taking it all in.

I now know what I was trapped in: a locker, but that didn't really ease my tensions. Where the heck am I? This could be a classroom if it didn't look as if it had been ignored for decades. Could this be a school or at least an abandoned school? I then noticed a few more lockers next to the one I was in. Could there be…? I slowly opened each but was met with nothing but empty space. Disappointing, to say the least. Was I actually alone, or were there other people around the area? Should I explore to make sure?

I was actually about to do just that, but then a fear-inducing thought entered my body. One that I had never thought I would have to ask myself. Who was I? The thought immediately made me freeze in place. I started to shake and shutter as the question and others similar to it began to swarm my mind. What's my name? What's my age? When was I born? Why can't I remember?

My head started to throb, forcing me to grasp it with my hand in a feeble attempt to calm myself down. The questions violently began to flood my mind, and I could feel some memories that could answer them, but the memories were hazy. What had happened? Why were my memories so foggy? I just needed a minute. A moment of silence to just think. The room was supposed to be silent, but now it felt like noise was trapped in the room with me. I didn't know where it was coming from, but I knew I had to get away. Get away get away GET AWAY.

I swiftly turned and entered the locker I woke up in and slammed the door shut. I closed my eyes and began to sort through my broken thoughts and memories. Slowly but surely, I began to recall everything I had lost.

My name was… Rin. Rin Wakuri, I think. That sounds right. Maybe? It's the only name that comes to mind. My age… around 20 or so. I think it's 21...right? What do I look like? Let's see. White hair with an ahoge, red eyes, as pale as can be, and my school uniform I think. Nothing too fancy, I guess.

The only other thing that could come to mind was the thought that I might be a college student. Maybe a freshman? The details are too few and broken. None of the things that I 'recalled' are things I'm confident are true. They all seem like placeholders. Unfamiliar and alien. The only thing that is concrete in my mind is waking up in that locker suddenly in this strange place. Actually, this place, now that my thoughts were more organized, now looked familiar, but why? I thought about it for a minute before an answer came out of my mouth.

"Danganronpa?"

Danganronpa? What was Danganronpa? Why was it familiar? I thought about the strange word more, and while I did, other strange terms came to mind. Monokuma. Truth Bullets. Killing Game. Class Trials. Ultimates. What did these mean? Urg… It was all so confusing! I opened the locker door and stepped back out into the rundown classroom.

I now know about myself (maybe?), but I still have questions about this "Danganronpa" stuff. Guess I should go around and see if there are any other people here. Namely, people that might be able to answer my questions. I made my way to the door and slowly opened it a crack so I could peer out and see what was out there. More grass, that's for sure. Other than that, I definitely looked like a school of some sort. I was about to open the door more when all of a sudden–

"Hell yeah! Found you!" A loud and vulgar mechanical-sounding voice echoed across the halls. Who-? "Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait!" The voice yelled as it got closer and closer.

That voice. It sounded… strangely familiar. Just like everything else here.

Just as I was about to exit, I heard metal stomping against the ground, causing me to sit tight in my hiding place for a little while longer. Through the crack, I saw two other people dashing through the halls. I couldn't make out much, but it was a girl with blonde hair and an ahoge and white hair pins and a navy blue-haired boy that was wearing a black hat.

They both also seemed to be wearing school uniforms, though I couldn't recognize them, though both of them wore different uniforms. I actually looked down at myself to look at the uniform that I was wearing. Nope, nothing like theirs. Were they kidnapped as well? If so, why? Aren't they kids? Well, I guess I might not be that much older than them. As the two dashed down the hallways frantically, I gaped as a large mech of sorts appeared and chased them.

What the hell?! What is that thing?! Are they going to kill us?!

I gulped, knowing I had to leave eventually. I slowly walked out of the classroom I was in and slowly followed where the two I saw went. I was praying to whatever god was in control of this world to please let me not run into that mech, or any other that might be in this godforsaken place.

My pace quickened a bit as I began to hear voices. There were multiple, though they all sounded scared out of their minds. I finally found the source of the sound when I came across a set of large double doors. I pressed my ear against the cold metal, and just as I thought, there were definitely people past there.

I carefully opened one of the doors, making sure not to make a single noise. I peeked in and saw not just the two people from before, but a total of 16 people, all high schoolers, judging by their outfits. Not only were there the 16 students but also 5 of those mechs from earlier, though they each had different colors. One was red, another was blue, another was green, another was pink, and the last was yellow. I could tell the students were all panicking as the mechs were talking amongst themselves. It seemed that, whoever was in those mechs, they were threatening to kill the students before the red one spoke up.

"Wait! We can't kill them in the Exisals! According to the schedule, the Exisals aren't supposed to show up till later!"

"But… we're in the Exisals right now…" The yellow one said.

"Ah, so we are."

"We messed up." The pink one groaned. "We're in Exisals right now. We're not supposed to be in Exisals for our first appearance."

"I told ya we should've read the script!" The blue one, the one from before, yelled loudly.

"No, ya didn't." The yellow one argued.

The four Exisals then began to argue whether or not they should exit the Exisals or not. The green one, meanwhile, just stood there quietly as the other four discussed what to do. I guess these things are called Exisals, but who is in those things? Are they the ones who brought us here? Why? For what purpose could they possibly–

"..." That's when I noticed the green one looking my way. I gasped and quickly shut the door, still trying to be quiet though.

"Hey, Monodam! Whatcha starin' at?" I heard the blue Exisal shout.

"Oh! I think he was staring at that 17th student that was looking through the door over there!" I heard the red one chirp happily. My heart sank as I felt my skin turn paler than it already was.

"17th student?! Why didn't you say that earlier, dumbass!? The yellow one screamed.

"How gory… another student that will have to suffer through this. I might puke at the thought." The pink one complained. Even through the door, I could tell she was trying to keep herself from getting sick.

"How the hell did we miss one!?" The blue one shouted. "Weren't there only supposed to be 16 bastards? Well, either way, I guess that means one more punk ass we got to grab."

And that's when I decided to run as fast as I could in the opposite direction. I can't let them catch me. I CAN'T LET THEM CATCH ME! If they have anything to do with this, which they most certainly did, then they probably knew what this "Danganronpa" stuff is. And that pink one earlier was talking about us suffering through something. I didn't even have to think about what it could be. The phrase from before was what immediately came to mind.

'Killing Game'. That's what we were here for, isn't it? They're going to kill us or force us to kill each other. It'll be a bloodbath. I don't want to die, I DON'T WANT TO DIE!

"Hahaha! Found you!" The red Exisal came crashing down from out of nowhere, stopping me in my tracks.

I swiftly turned and ran past the Exisal and dashed towards the stairs. The blue Exisal burst out from the corner and swiped at me, missing me just barely as I somehow slid under it and continued up the stairs. Just as I was halfway up the stairs, the pink one jumped down from the ceiling of the second floor and blocked me off.

Before I could even turn back around, the pink Exisal grabbed me and lifted me up. The grip on these things was horrible, as I could feel my body almost crack under the pressure. I'm sure I might have felt my bones crack or pop as the pink Exisal carried me back to the gym. I didn't even know we were there until I was tossed to the ground like a rag doll, the air being forced to leave my lungs as I was thrown onto my side without a care.

"ALRIGHT!" The blue Exisal exclaimed. "That should be all of them!"

"Now we can finally get started. This is all your fault Monokid." The yellow one complained.

"MY FAULT?! How was this my fault?!" The blue one yelled. "This is probably Monodam's fault! He saw the bastard but didn't say anything!"

The green one just stood there without responding. The other Exisals then began to argue whose fault it was that I wasn't found sooner. Seriously, who are these jokers? I groaned, both from the pain the Exisals had caused and the headache their stupid argument was causing.

"Hey, are you ok?" A smooth deep voice brought me back to my senses.

I tilted my head upward to see who was talking. It was a young man with light green hair and eyes. He was one of the people I saw before in the gym. Actually, this guy looked as if he was the calmest of the bunch. Even his voice right now didn't show any of the fear I had heard in the others' before. The green-haired youth stretched his hand out toward me to help me up. I took his hand and he helped me up, a smile on his face to probably calm me down.

"Thanks, Rantaro," I said as I got to my feet. I dusted myself off, noticing how my sides still ached a bit from the mistreatment the Exisals had given me. As I turned back to the student who helped me, I saw that his kind smile had warped to a frown of concern. His eyes were narrowed on me as he raised an eyebrow. "Um… what?"

"How do you know my name?" He asked.

"Your name? I don't–" I stopped immediately, cutting myself off.

Wait. I called him 'Rantaro', didn't I? Why did I say that? Is that his name? If so, how did I know that? I brought my hand up to my mouth as I thought, my breaths becoming more rapid as the seconds passed.

"My name is Rantaro Amami. I don't believe you were in the gym when I said that, so how do you know me?" The boy, whose name was Rantaro, asked, his words full of suspicion.

"I-I...uh- I don't–" I stuttered a bit, unable to give a proper answer. Not like I even had a proper answer.

I turned around to look at the others, the same look of confusion and suspicion was on their faces as well. That's when I realized that Rantaro's name wasn't the only one I somehow knew. For every face in this gym, I could attach a name that I was 100% certain belonged. As a test, I pointed at the first person I saw, the blonde girl with the ahoge from before who had white hairpins.

"Y-you. Y-your name… it's Kaede Akamatsu, isn't it?" She sputtered in confusion before answering me.

"Yeah… How did you know that?"

"Ah!" I clasped my hands to my head as my head started to throb again.

How?! I was having trouble with my own damn name earlier. How am I so confident when it comes to the names of these strangers? My vision became more narrow as the thoughts once again threatened to destroy me like before. It was as if the world didn't exist and I was alone in a whirlpool of stress and confusion.

Why do I know their names? Why do I know about the killing game? Am I right in thinking that's what we're here for? Why do I know? HOW do I know? Is what I know even right? It has to be, I was right about their names! If that's the case, then I'm going to die, aren't I!? I'M GOING TO-!

"Hey, hey! Calm down. I didn't mean to scare you." I hear a voice say as a hand is placed on my shoulders. I look up, still hyperventilating, at the face of Rantaro. "It's alright. I can see you're just as confused as us. Just try to take deep breaths. Don't think about anything else. Just focus on breathing."

I somehow managed to nod and closed my eyes. Deep breaths… just think about breathing. After a bit, my breathing slowed and returned to normal.

"Good. Now, do you think you could answer a few questions, or do you need a couple more seconds?" Rantaro asked. I opened my eyes and looked at him, before slowly nodding. "Alright. First off, how about you give us your name, as you seem to know ours alright." He said with a chuckle. I bit my lips a bit, before answering.

"It's... Rin Wakuri. At least I think it is." I said as I averted my gaze to my feet.

"Y-you think? You're not sure?" A different voice, a quiet, nervous voice of a boy. I looked and saw the boy in the hat and shook my head in response.

"No… I woke up with no memories at all. I had to think about it for a couple of minutes before I could even get any information on myself, but even then I'm not confident about it. 'Rin Wakuri' sounds right, but I'm not as sure about it as I was with Rantaro, or Kaede's names, for some reason."

"That sounds like a bunch of bullshit!" An angry blonde with long hair stated. That person… Miu Iruma? Wait, stop! Don't think about their names!

"But we can't be certain it is a lie," Rantaro said. "Ok, second question: do you know why we're here?" I was about to shake my head before one of the Exisal's voices cut me off.

"Wait! We're still in the Exisals!" The red one exclaimed.

"Oh yeah! That bastard from before made us forget!" The blue one yelled.

"Then let's get out before we get in trouble, it's not too late." The pink one chirped.

"Good idea, Let's do that!" The red one said.

As soon as he was finished, the fronts of the Exisals opened up, and the riders popped out like confetti. I had thought the people controlling the Exisals were humans, but I was very wrong.

Out of these dangerous mech weapons came 5 dual-colored teddy bears, each half-white and half the color of their Exisal. The white sides of the bears looked like normal teddy bears, but the colored sides of the bears had black lightning bolt eyes (except the pink and yellow ones, as they had white ones), as well as a sinister smile. The bears also had rosy cheeks, as well as what looked like binkies in their mouths and outie belly buttons. As they landed, they called out what seemed to be their names.

"Monotaro!" The red and white bear said. He appeared to have shurikens and wore a scarf.

"Monosuke!" The white and yellow bear said. He was the only one of the bears who wore glasses, and his yellow side had brown stripes across it.

"Monophanie!" The pink and white bear said. This one seemed to be the only female, as she had a bra on. She also had a flower on her left pink-sided ear, and her pink side had dark strips like Monosuke, but her stripes went up and down compared from side to side.

"Monodam!" The green and white one said. This one looked much different from the others, as this one was more robot-looking than the others, forgoing most of the teddy bear aesthetic for a more robotic one.

"Monokid!" The blue and white one, the final bear, yelled out. This bear had stars under his eyes and a clear "punk rock star" design, along with shoulder pads and an electric guitar (or at least a fake toy of one). Most disturbingly, Monokid also had chest hair. After they all had introduced themselves, they each did a pose and shouted:

"Rise and shine, ursine! With our powers combined, we are the Monokubs!"

…

"...Huh?" I couldn't help but gape at what I had just witnessed. It seemed I wasn't alone, as everyone else also just stared at the Monokubs in confusion and disbelief.

"See? We're outta the Exisals. Now we're not scary anymore, right? Right? Right!?" Monotaro asked.

"His desperation is strangely terrifying…!" Monophanie sighed.

"You punkasses better brace yourselves!" Monokid roared.

"And he's just outright terrifying!" She screamed.

"I'm a messenger from hell from the depths of hell, here to drag ya down to hell!"

"No, no, Monokid. You're sayin' 'hell' too much. It's ruining the hellish impact!" Monosuke criticized.

"Eh? What's hellish mean?" Monotaro asked.

"H-hey… what's with these stuffed animals? How are they moving?" One of the boys asked nervously. He had dark magenta hair and light purple eyes, as well as a goatee.

"I-I have no idea." A blue-haired girl with glasses and greyish-blue eyes responded, just as nervously.

"Moving stuffed animals…" A girl with long brown hair in pigtails and red eyes began to say.

"On top of that, it seems like they're calling themselves the 'Monokubs'." The shortest boy of the group stated.

"Wait! You guys call yourselves… the Monokubs?" Kaede asked.

"..." Monodam didn't respond. He just stood there, stoic as can be.

"Oh… Don't bother askin' Monodam. He only talks to close friends. The years of abuse have really done a number on his heart. Isn't that right, Monodam?" Monotaro asked after explaining.

"..."

"M-Monodam! You won't even open your heart… to me!?" Rantaro just stared at the creatures with a calculating glare.

"Looks like I was right. This is exactly what I thought it was. But who's behind all this? Why the ridiculous theatrics?"

"Wait. What did you think this was-?" I tried asking before Monokid interrupted me.

"Gahhh! Shut up, you! All o' you are reactin' way too normally to this! It's boring!"

"Reacting too 'normally'? What does that even mean?" I asked. Monotaro then began to examine each of us.

"Actually… don't their clothes seem kinda boring, too?" He asked.

"Wait a minute… Ya think maybe they haven't been given their first memory yet?" Monosuke asked while pushing up his glasses.

"Huh? That shoulda happened before they woke up…" Monotaro said.

"First memory?" I asked. Could I have not received that "first memory"? Is that why my memories are so hazy?

"Hey, answer my question!" Kaede commanded. "If you guys are the Monokubs, then-!"

"Hey! Who the hell are you punks!?" Monokid yelled at us.

"Huh?"

"What do you mean?" A girl with greyish hair and olive-green eyes asked.

"We're just wondering… do youse guys have Ultimate talents or anything like that?" Monosuke asked.

"Ultimate Talents?" I parroted. What the hell are those? Didn't I have that random word pop up in my mind earlier? Ultimates...

"I… don't have one," Kaede answered with a downtrodden expression. "I have a skill that I devote myself to… but I wouldn't call it an Ultimate Talent…"

"M-Me either… I-I don't… have anything like that." The boy in the hat from before said.

"Y-Yeah… same here." The magenta-haired boy said.

"W-Wait a minute! What even are 'Ultimate talents'? I've never heard of them, or at least I don't remember them." I asked.

"You don't remember what Ultimate talents are?" A boy with white hair, light blue eyes, and a hat asked.

"I knew it! They haven't gotten their first memory yet!" Monokid yelled. "That 17th punk also seems to be completely out of it too!"

"Monophanie… weren't you in charge of that?" Monosuke asked sternly, though Monophanie appeared to be sleeping.

"She's sleeping? Did she seem really tired to you guys?" Monotaro naively asked.

"She's obviously fakin' it," Monosuke yelled.

"Even if she's faking, she looks so peaceful. Let's whisper so we don't wake her up."

"Hmph! If you say so!" Monokid shrugged.

"A-Anyway… if you guys really are the Monokubs, then-." Kaede once again tried to ask her question, only to be cut off again.

"Don't worry about us. The real issue is youse bastards." Monosuke dodged the question. "Well, 'issue' is putting it mildly… This is actually a huge problem. Youse all have forgotten your talents and become generic high school students."

"Huh? Forgotten?" Kaede asked.

"Is that why I can't remember anything concrete?" I pondered. "And also, I'm a college student. That much I'm pretty sure of that...well, sort of."

"Geez… that one is really messed up. A college student and no memories. Are we sure he's supposed to be here?" Monosuke asked.

"Well, we might as well add him. Nothing we can do about it after all!" Monotaro chirped happily. "And about those memories, see, according to the backstory, there's this Ultimate Hunt goin' on. You've all lost your memories and become different people cuz of the Ultimate Hunt."

"Ultimate… Hunt?" I asked.

"Umm… What are you talking about?" The blue-haired girl asked.

"Well, in your current state, it's pretty much pointless to talk to you guys about this." Monosuke sighed.

"The first thing we need you guys to do is remember your true selves," Monotaro said.

"Yeah! You need to reclaim your sealed talents by regaining your memories!" Monophanie added.

"What the-!? Are you awake already?" Monosuke exclaimed.

"I don't get it… what are these sealed talents you're talking about?" A short boy with violet eyes and blackish-purplish hair asked.

"How are we supposed to talk when you keep askin' so many friggin' questions!?" Monotaro yelled.

"Yeah! We're not some swift-footed singer who's landed another future ex-boyfriend!" Monophanie said.

"That… seems too on the nose to be a random comment," I muttered.

"..." Monodam just stood there, shrugging a bit.

"Let's do this already. No one wants to watch a bunch of generic high school whiners and a college-level amnesiac." Monosuke said.

"First, we'll update your wardrobe so you guys look all cute and spiffy!" Monokid exclaimed. As soon as he said those words, the Exisals that were behind the cubs threw up many articles of clothing. No sooner after I blinked were new clothes seemingly wrapped around me, giving me a whole new look.

Instead of my uniform, I now had a large purple hoodie that was over a white and black shirt, along with some sleek black pants and white shoes. Around my neck were wireless black and white headphones. I also noticed that I now had a silver ring with a blue gem in it as well on my right hand.

Well, I will say this. Whoever thought to give me this outfit got my tastes down to a 'T'. I looked around and saw everyone in new and unique outfits as well.

"H-Huh? Wh-What am I wearing?" Kaede asked.

"Mm-hm! Looking good! Now you look more like Ultimates," Monophanie commented.

"Ultimates…? Really?" The nervous boy with the hat said.

"Next up, the memory youse all been waiting for," Monosuke said.

"Hell yeah! Get ready! Once the seal is broken, we'll be in the domain of the killing game!" Monokid shouted.

I froze as soon as I heard that phrase. 'Killing Game'. That confirmed my suspicions. We're here to kill each other. But why? How did I know that was what this was? Did Rantaro also know? Is that what he was about to say?

"Now then, after the Flashback Light helps you remember your amazing talents… This amazing story will begin for real this time!" Monotaro stated.

"W-Wait! Explain now! What do you mean 'Killing game'!? Answer me damn it!" I shouted, desperate for anything to help me understand. Instead, the bears just pulled out a large round flashlight device and pointed it at us.

"So long! Bear well!" They all chimed as they activated the device. As soon as its light hit my eyes, everything went dark again.

…

…

Ultimate Revival

Initiated