DANGANRONPA: EXHIBITION ZERO
CHAPTER 0: GRAND OPENING OF DESPAIR
Where am I?
I could only groan as I woke up, finding myself asleep on the floor in somewhere I didn't recognize at all. My head was pounding, and my vision was blurry. I slowly raised my head up from where I was been slumbering, blinking as my senses finally caught up with me.
Once I'd managed to regather myself, I took a short look at my surroundings while I pushed my head off the ground - I was in a dimly lit storage closet, of all things, with various items of all kinds stacked against the walls, but little else of note - a single lightbulb tried its hardest to light it up… to little success. There was a monitor and a camera in the room, but I couldn't focus on them. I was unceremoniously sprawled out on the floor, and I internally held back the urge to flinch… I did not like sleeping on the floor, thank you!
Let's just make sure my mind's not too foggy… I can at least recall that my name's Rina Prianne, and that I'm the Ultimate Diver. What a relief… I was almost worried that I'd potentially lost my memories thanks to whoever brought me here…
RINA PRIANNE - ULTIMATE DIVER
Now, get yourself together Rina, no use being knocked out and on the ground, right? You're the Ultimate Diver, you're supposed to be way better than this! Why am I even knocked out in a closet… where even is this closet, anyways? I've got no idea… great. What a way to wake up, am I right?
I might as well get out of this damn closet - it was dusty, and while I'm not claustrophobic, I'd rather not spend too much time in here. Placing my arms onto the floor, I sprung myself up, wiping the dust off my shoulder.
Looking down at myself, I nodded with a grin as Iwas, fortunately, still wearing my regular clothes - a light blue top that left one shoulder exposed, denim shorts, and blue sneakers. My cyan ponytail was luckily in place - thank goodness, and with those confirmations, I made my way to the broom closet's door, and grabbed the handle. Ignoring the slight fear tugging at my mind, I opened the door, and stepped outside.
"Alright, let's see just what I'm dealing with…"
Taking a step out of the closet, I walked out into what appeared to be part of an ornate hallway, with some paintings lining the way, breaking up the monotony of the brickwork wall. Weird… but whatever. At least this means I'm probably in a museum, right? Or at least a fancy mansion, that might be it. I looked towards a nearby window… yet it was so frosted that I couldn't see outside, and that continued with every subsequent window. There were more monitors and cameras, though, concerning me.
Am I being watched? Hopefully there's somebody else around here… I'm getting kinda worried, honestly. If this is a museum, where's all the guests? Or even just a worker? There's gotta be somebody around here, right? I have so many questions right now…
"Oh, hey," somebody called out from behind her, and I quickly span around to face the newcomer, who had probably just noticed her entering the hallway. She was just slightly taller than me, with fair skin and long black hair that fell to cover one of her eyes. She wore a galaxy-print jacket over a black shirt, with purple pants and black shoes finishing off her outfit, "Thank goodness, another person! I was getting worried I was all alone."
Me too… uh… whoever you are.
Her green eyes patiently looked at me, and I smirked. Gotta give off a good impression, right?, "You got that right," I grinned, but I had questions for her, "So… any idea where we are? It looks like a museum… but I'd think security would be much better in a place like that."
"That's what I think too," the other girl smiled politely, hands behind her back as she tilted her head inquisitively, "So…are you another Ultimate… or?"
Not gonna introduce yourself first? Whatever, leave it to Rina to keep conversation flowing! But a second Ultimate? Not something I'd expect…
"Hehe, you're completely right!" I ran a hand through my ponytail, flicking it for dramatic effect, "I'm Rina Prianne - the one and only Ultimate Diver!"
"I'm Celeste Diamond, the Ultimate Astronomer," Celeste introduced herself, waving with a calm smile, "Nice to meet you."
CELESTE DIAMOND - ULTIMATE ASTRONOMER
Astronomer? Honestly, I can see it, with her outfit and everything.
"Good to know the first person I meet here's sane," I sighed a breath of relief, as Celeste chuckled lightly. Much better her than a maniac with a knife, or something, "This is my first actually meeting another Ultimate, too!"
"Same here to both," she agreed, nodding along, "Does that worry you? Usually, we're scattered around the world - so two of us locked together in one place is ringing all kinds of red flags."
"I get what you're saying, heck, I've never met one before you," I agreed, throwing a finger gun of recognition her way.
"Good to know I'm not alone there. Also… doesn't this place just feel… off to you?" Celeste mused, raising a finger up with a calm smile, "Just in general?"
"Between the total lack of people, or windows, and the weird paintings, 'course it does," I pointed towards the nearest painting, which was pretty similar to the Mona Lisa. Only, the woman's face was replaced with that of a two-tone plush bear, and the painting was labelled 'Mono Lisa' instead.
"Mono Lisa…" Celeste read off, shaking her head in disbelief, "I can't believe this… who'd do something like that? Why would they put an obvious rip off in such a well-known museum?"
"I dunno, to make fun of it?" I snarked, trying to lighten the mood a bit, fortunately getting a small laugh out of Celeste, "I mean, if I had something like this, I know I'd want to make sure people saw how stupid it is."
"Fair point," the astronomer smiled, covering her mouth with her hand, "It's definitely… one of a kind, I've got to say."
…I should probably try and take this whole 'waking up in the middle of nowhere' thing a bit more seriously, honestly, but at least some humour won't hurt.
"Okay, let's get back to business," I peered down the hallway, "There's gotta be somebody else here, right?"
"Probably - I did here some footsteps earlier," the astronomer held her arms behind her back, before pointing one finger up, "Do you wanna look around together for a bit? There's safety in numbers, you know."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," I cracked my knuckles with a small grin, looking back at Celeste, "So let's go already."
Not long after Celeste and I started walking - in fact, only after a single corner - we eventually came across a third individual. He was slightly taller than Celeste, with a bright yellow top hat sat on his head, and an equally flashy and equally yellow cape that flowed behind him - held up by a diamond-shaped brooch. The rest of his outfit was all in black - a top with a few golden buttons and trousers held up with a belt. He had white boots on, and naturally tan skin. His brown hair reached about chin-level.
He looks… show-offy. I'd be lying if I said I hated that.
Once we approached him, he immediately flourished his cape… as if he'd seen them coming despite not even so much as facing them, "Greetings," he simply said, not wanting to elaborate further. I exchanged a confused glance with Celeste - honestly, he seemed pretty suspicious to me.
"Um… hello, sir?" Celeste greeted, giving him a polite wave.
Suddenly, he span around on his boot, his cape billowing in the momentum, "Helllllo there!" he greeted in a loud, booming voice, "Let me see…"
He tapped two fingers to his forehead, seemingly in thought, "We have an… Ultimate Diver, and an Ultimate Astronomer! As for your names - Rina Prianne, and Celeste Diamond!"
How the heck did he know? He doesn't look like the kinda guy to like sports or astronomy… so… how?
Celeste blinked in astonishment, "Wow. Spot-on."
"How?" I stammered out - it'd at least take me a minute if I saw another Ultimate I knew, and I sure don't know this guy.
The other guy bowed, "Thank you. That's just one of my many tricks - you may know me as Vincent Trinity, and I am the one and only Ultimate Magician, not to mention the showstopper of the Trinity Magic Troupe. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."
VINCENT TRINITY - ULTIMATE MAGICIAN
Okay, this guy is just a walking 'Ultimate Magician' label. I've heard of the Trinity Magic Troupe before, too… not enough to know this guy. Still, I wanna get one thing clear.
"How the heck did you know our talents like that?" I defensively snapped, as Vincent chuckled, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead betraying a slight nerve.
"A magician never reveals his secrets," he cryptically answered, as I shot him an unimpressed look that Celeste thankfully copied - hah, I've got support here, "But, just this once, I'll tell you the trick behind my illusion… I simply overheard your conversation, no more, no less."
…okay. You could've just introduced yourself when I was talking with Celeste, drama queen.
Celeste nodded, accepting the answer, "That explains that, then. You could've came and said hello - I don't bite, and Rina doesn't either."
Speak for yourself, if he does that again I might.
"I could have, yes," Vincent just smirked, "But, as a showman, I wanted a dramatic entrance, and just walking up and saying 'hello'... isn't going to cut it, I'm afraid."
"Y'know what?" I crossed my arms, giving his words some thought, "Fine, dude. It's better than walking out of some dusty old closet, at least. Not my finest moment… ugh. Now if I could dive out of something, that'd be better."
The other two both cast me half-sympathetic looks - hey, if diving was their best talent, they'd wanna show it off too! Vincent spoke up, "Well, hopefully you can find something to dive from… but in a museum, I don't think that's too likely."
"So, Vincent, have you met anybody else around here?" Celeste asked him while I sighed at the sad reality of being a diver in a museum, and the magician closed his eyes in thought.
"I met two others before you - an Ultimate Wanderer, and an Ultimate Influencer," Vincent claimed, "There's definitely more of us, though, since they both told me about the Ultimates they've met."
"Thank you, Vincent, we'll be on our way," the astronomer told him, ending the interaction, "I don't wanna waste any more time here - so we'll see you around."
"Alright then," he nodded, tipping his hat with a smirk, "Now, watch me disappear!"
The magician ran off with a flourish of his cape, leaving Celeste and I in his dust. That's one way to make an exit, I gotta say.
He's certainly a show-off, honestly I think he's kinda mysterious in a way. Comes with the job, I guess. Still, if he think he's the crowd pleaser around here, I've gotta prove him wrong… at a better time, of course.
"What the… oh forget it," Celeste rolled her eyes at his antics, seemingly already used to him, as an idea came to her, "Say, Rina - why don't we split up? We can cover more ground that way, plus I've already met some of the others - I don't want to make things too awkward yet, haha."
"Fine… you make a good point," I crossed her arms, giving it a quick think-over - as much as I liked Celeste already, we can both handle ourselves. If she wants to split, I'll do it, "Alright, alright, see you later then, Celeste."
I opened up her fist for a fist bump with the astronomer, who took it with a playful shake of her head. The two split off, with Celeste taking the paths they came from, while I went further on.
Celeste's cool, I like her already. Still… there's at least two more people around here somewhere, so let's keep going.
Walking further on through the halls - honestly, they were so identical they were kinda creepy - I managed to find another person - probably another Ultimate, if what Vincent said was true. She was on the shorter side with a slim build, with long, upper-back level wavy blonde hair, fair skin and bright blue eyes. She wore a vivid yellow top with an orange sun graphic, alongside a blue skirt and bright yellow sneakers, with white thigh-high socks finishing her vivid look.
"Oh, hey, I haven't seen you around!" she immediately ran over to greet me with an enthusiastic wave, and I grinned.
"Hey, wassup?" I greeted casually, as the newcomer beamed up at me with a wide-eyed, innocent smile… I could almost feel my heart melting.
"Oh, not much," she assured, laughing lightly… even if it was lightly strained, "Just been wandering around… this is a pretty cool place, right? I've never been to a museum like this before."
"Yeah?" I raised an eyebrow. 'Cool' wouldn't be the first word I'd use, but she seems… really naive, so I'll let her have it, "I guess so. I'm Rina Prianne by the way - the Ultimate Diver."
"I probably should've introduced myself earlier - I'm Sunny Daye, the Ultimate Influencer!" she flashed a small peace sign and a wink.
SUNNY DAYE - ULTIMATE INFLUENCER
Ultimate Influencer? Oh, I've heard of her before, she's incredibly popular for her gaming streams! But… I thought Sunny Daye was just a stage name…
"Sunny Daye… is that actually your name?" I questioned, quietly laughing to myself to try and not be rude, as Sunny chuckled, "Your name's a pun?"
"Yep, you're right!" she grinned, putting her hands together with a wide smile, "It sounds dumb on paper, but it makes me happy - and I'd like to think my millions of fans love it too!"
Sunny then crossed his arms, seemingly realising something, "Do you think my fans know I'm gone? I stream most days, so if we've been here for at least, like, a week, I'd think at least one of them would be looking for me. I can't even find my phone to tell them I'm okay… "
I was too stressed out at first to realise it… but yeah, where are our phones? But first things first, I don't wanna deal with her if she gets too sad… she seems like the kind of person who can change the mood of a room all by herself.
"And now my fans are gonna think I'm skipping out on them…" she complained, looking down dejectedly, "It would've been really cool…"
"Look, Sunny, it's not the end of world if you miss a day," I tried to console her, "Look, your fans can wait until we get out of here, and if they can't handle that, it's not your problem!"
"I guess so," Sunny smiled lightly, before another thing came to her mind, a small, slightly devious grin crossing her face, "Oh, by the way? I'm a guy."
Wait, what? Oh, damn, I got that wrong. He definitely pulls off the femboy look, though.
I held back my internal shock, only letting my eyebrows rise in slight surprise, "Dang, I was wrong - thanks for clearing that up."
Sunny beamed, seeming happy at the lack of any aggression, "No problemo! Well, Rina, I'll see you around, there's still so many people I wanna meet, so I won't waste any of your time!"
"Right back at you," I waved at the influencer as he skipped away cheerfully, and he gave me a wave too. Once I was on my own, I returned back to exploring.
Okay, I think I like him more than Vincent. More than Celeste? Maybe, but I've only spoke with both of them like… once each. Still, he's fun to be around, maybe a bit innocent, but fun.
I continued walking through the hallways, until I eventually noticed a plain-looking double door stood out of place. Putting her hand to the handle, she tried to pull it open, but it wouldn't budge. I tried to pull it open, but unfortunately, it wouldn't budge - and pushing gave a similar lack of results.
What is this, locked? Just great…
"Yeah, that fucking thing's locked," came a disgruntled voice from beside me, and I turned to face whoever it was - that's the second person out of four to sneak up on me.
She was easily the tallest person I'd met so far - probably just over six feet tall - with a muscular build, and dark brown skin. Her black hair was pulled into dreadlocks, with a blue beanie rested over them, and her brown eyes seemed incredibly annoyed with… well, everything. She wore a blue jacket over a black shirt, the former stained with oil - as were the grey jeans and brown boots she wore. A utility belt was worn around her waist, with tools slotted into it.
"I tried to pry it open, wouldn't budge one bit," she crossed her arms with a scowl on her face, giving me the distinct impression I shouldn't get on her bad side, "So what you're trying here ain't gonna work, dumbass."
"Well I didn't see you try, so excuse me for giving it a shot," I snarked right at her, getting a grumble out of her.
"Fair point, fair point," she conceded, and I visibly smirked, victorious, "Don't act so smug about it, I'm just pissed about being stuck here."
Aren't we all? But some of us didn't insult each other, so…
I rolled my eyes, but my smirk never left my lips. Still, she was pretty rude, and I'd rather not interact with somebody like that for too long, "Fine. Let's just tell each other our names and get this over with. I'm Rina Prianne, the Ultimate Diver. You?"
"Melinda Ridley. Ultimate Mechanic," Melinda introduced herself, "If anything's broken, trust me, I can fix it."
MELINDA RIDLEY - ULTIMATE MECHANIC
Should've known from the toolbelt, really. Not a fan of her, she's easily annoyed.
"Okay, fine. Let's just split up now, deal?" I turned to the mechanic, who nodded.
Good to know she can see reason.
"Nice to see somebody around here knows some kind of common sense," Melinda agreed, almost about to leave when…
"Aha, some fellow lost souls!" came a loud voice, and soon enough a blur of brown and red came into my view, "Greetings!"
Um, what? Lost souls? I have so many questions right now…
The individual it came from was an individual on the shorter side - around Sunny's height, with low neck-length straight brown hair and bright green eyes. She had fair skin, but what was easily the most interesting thing about her was her outfit - a brown cloak with a red flame decal worn over a dark red tunic, alongside brown pants tucked into large brown boots. Additionally, she wore a necklace with a small gem encrusted into it.
Okay, who let this fantasy novel reject out into the world?
Melinda gave the newcomer a wary glance, and honestly? I was just plain confused. She gave us both a grin, before continuing to speak, "Well, it would be rude of me to intrude on your conversation without introducing myself…"
"I am the Great Mage and Ultimate Roleplayer, Ally Starr!" she dramatically cried out, raising her arms out wide with a grin, "Warlords and demons tremble before me!"
ALLY STARR - ULTIMATE ROLEPLAYER
A LARPer. Well, could be weirder, I suppose… please tell me it's just an act and that she doesn't actually believe she's a mage. Please.
"And, my fellow adventurers, you are?" she pointed her finger towards us accusingly, "You are other adventurers, right? Not monsters or villains?"
Melinda rolled her eyes at the roleplayer's antics, crossing her arms, "Melinda Ridley. Ultimate Mechanic," she simply introduced, as Ally turned to me expectantly, her finger worryingly close to my neck.
"Name's Rina Prianne, the one and only Ultimate Diver," I introduced myself, and I gave the roleplayer a strained wave.
In response to our positive introductions, Ally put her finger away, and gave us a small grin, "Ah, so my mage's intuition was right after all! Well then, how have you found this dungeon?"
"Dungeon?" I questioned with a small chuckle, "This is a museum, though…"
Though sometimes it does feel like a dungeon, what with the lack of… anything.
Ally waved a finger at the diver with a sly smirk on her face, "Well, my semi-aquatic friend, anything can be a dungeon. And I declare that this museum is currently a dungeon - it meets all of the requirements after all!"
Please don't start listing them, please don't start listing them, please don't start listing them.
Ally cleared her throat, but Melinda cut her off, "If you start telling me them, I'm leaving," she bluntly butted in, giving the roleplayer an irritated deadpan.
"Aha… very well then," the roleplayer chuckled half-heartedly, rubbing the back of her head as she brought her attention to the door, "Oh? Have you tried to open that door, yet?"
"Don't bother, it's locked," I told her, but Ally still approached it with an inquisitive look.
"Ah, but has anyone skilled in the magical arts like myself tried to open it?" the roleplayer asked, and Melinda audibly facepalmed at the declaration.
"Well, no, but that's because that stuff doesn't even exist," I explained, giving the roleplayer a perplexed look as the shorter girl started her attempt to pry the door open, "Please don't tell me this is your 'magical arts'..."
"Hngh…" Ally huffed out, letting go of the door after realising that it just wouldn't budge, "Alas, friends, it seems that the door has too strong a seal for my magic to overcome."
"Some 'Great Mage'," Melinda rolled her eyes, but Ally seemed to ignore her snark.
"Well then, I can feel my sense of adventure tingling - and with that, Ally away!" she cried out, running away with a swish of her cloak.
I… have no words. She's certainly something, alright. I think she's almost harmless… almost. Why she gets to keep her staff, I don't know.
I exchanged a glance with Melinda, giving her a nod of understanding, "Well, if she's leaving, I'll go too," I explained, and Melinda nodded.
"Knock yourself out," she commented, and I walked away from the mechanic, giving her a wave as she left.
As for Melinda? She's blunt… but I can honestly respect that.
Fortunately, at least one of the doors was open - and I entered it to find a library, with dusty old books lining the walls, and several bookcases everywhere. A single desk was near the door, but I paid it no mind, kicking the ground in slight boredom.
At least it's not another hallway, I guess…
"Careful, you might ruin the books if you kick up more dust," came a sarcastic comment from right behind a bookshelf, and I turned around to face the voice's owner.
Am I really that easy to sneak up on? C'mon Rina, you're better than this, this whole situation's got you off your game.
He was a guy around my height, with chin-length wavy black hair, fair skin and sharp grey eyes. He wore a black jacket over a grey shirt, with red highlights on both, alongside similarly coloured pants and shoes. He wore black gloves, too, and honestly, I thought he looked like he was trying not to stand out. He had a build that suggested he ran a lot.
"So what, not like I've gotta care about this place," I rolled my eyes, getting a small chuckle out of the other guy, "Nobody's here besides us."
"You're completely right, how could I forget?" he smirked, rolling his eyes, "And besides, this place… well, it's not my style, I can tell you that much."
I watched him adjust his gloves, before deciding to shoot some questions his way. Unlikely he'd know anything, but it's worth a shot, "So… whoever you are. Got any ideas of what's even happening here?"
He frowned, crossing his arms as his eyes looked over at me, "If I did, I wouldn't be talking to you, would I?"
"Fair point," I conceded. He had a point, honestly, "Might as well get introductions done with - my name's Rina Prianne, the Ultimate Diver. You?"
"Virgil Anton," he told me, as he pulled his glove further on his wrist, "The one and only Ultimate Thief, at your service."
VIRGIL ANTON - ULTIMATE THIEF
He might be a thief, but he hasn't bothered me, so like… I can deal with that. Still gotta keep my guard up around him.
"That's a… strange talent," I noted, a bead of sweat rolling down my cheek as Virgil just shrugged.
"Really, I'd be far more worried if you didn't think it was strange, haha," he snickered, covering his mouth with his hand as he cast me a sly grin, "And Ultimate Diver, huh? I can respect that, anybody who can capture an audience deserves my respect."
Finally! Somebody here who doesn't just talk about themself!
I put my hands on her hips, grinning smugly at the praise, "Don't you know it!"
"Of course I do," Virgil smirked smugly, crossing his arms and closing his eyes, "There's an art to both of our talents, after all… both diving and thievery take some finesse to perform well."
"Oh, yeah, Ultimate Thief. Care to explain that?" I questioned him, leaning just slightly forward. I was pretty curious about how you'd get a talent like that… also how you'd not get arrested for it.
"I steal from people," he shrugged with just his right arm dismissively, "It's really not that hard to understand, you know?"
Way to avoid the question. But fine, if he doesn't wanna talk, I guess I can't make him… yet.
"Fine," I relented, and Virgil relaxed, "Whatever. Look, as long as you don't try stealing my stuff, I can deal with it. I was just curious, you know?"
"Oh, that's fine," the thief nodded,, "And don't worry - I've got no intentions of ever stealing anything you might have here - they're not worth my time."
Ouch, way to be a dick about it. But whatever, assuming he's not lying, at least he's not gonna steal from me. That, I can live with.
I nodded, mildly insulted but reassured nonetheless - but I still wanted to throw some words back at his face, "Heh, my stuff's just too good for you. Whatever, I'll see you around, then."
"You too," Virgil nodded, and we split off… leaving me back with just my own thoughts for company. Again. I turned out of the library, returning back to the main room.
He's… strange. Nice enough, just kind of strange… and a thief. Don't forget that.
I walked through the halls slightly more, eventually coming across a crossroad, which split off into several more hallways. But, far more interestingly, were the two people conversing in the center of the room.
The first was… really short, with a lithe, skinny build. He probably didn't even reach five foot, I guessed, and his messy black hair reached to around his neck, and he had fair skin. He wore a white sweatshirt, grey pants and black shoes, with a long galaxy-print scarf wrapped around his neck. His face was locked into a wide grin, grey eyes looking up at his companion.
His companion was taller than me, with a more average build to her. She had lightly tan skin and fairly curly brown hair. She wore a white button-up shirt beneath a brown vest, which was in turn beneath a beige trench coat. She also wore tan pants and beige shoes, and a brown fedora with a black-and-white band rested on her head. Her coat was lined with pockets, but not a single one was full - yet a pen rested on her ear anyways. A small notepad was in her hand, and she was frantically writing things down.
"Well, if you know what's happening here, just tell me already," she seemingly interrogated the short guy, sounding fairly frustrated already, "Nobody else I've interviewed had any idea whatsoever - so any clue to the truth helps!"
Looks like I missed the start of… well, whatever this is supposed to be. But if the gremlin-looking guy has any idea what's going on, I'll be listening.
In response, the other guy simply nodded with a grin, resting his hands behind his head, "Sure, whatever, ask away, nyehehe."
"Okay, first up - name, and Ultimate talent. The boring, important stuff," she pointed at him, "I need to know for the record."
He was about to speak, but his gaze turned to me briefly, and his grin widened. He gave his interrogator an overly exaggerated yawn, before turning away from her, "Nah… I don't feel like it. Next question"
She gave him an annoyed glare, "Just tell me… it's really simple."
"How about… no," he poked his tongue out, further provoking her.
"Just… ugh…" The girl frowned, muttering under her breath as she wrote into her notepads, "You're the worst…"
Understatement of the century, I've only just met him and he practically screams 'nuisance'.
I decided to try and help out, and moved forward. The girl immediately jumped at me, pointing her pen right at my face with a practised movement, "Hey! Have you got any idea what's going on here?"
Despite the immense feeling of deja vu, I gave her a somewhat honest answer, "Of course I don't, what do you think I am, a kidnapper?"
My response seemed to catch her off-guard, and she raised her arms defensively, "Look, I'm just trying to figure this out - and unless we were taken by some outside force, somebody here brought us here!"
She has a point… but she's also annoying.
I wiped some sweat off my bro "And… pointing fingers is going to help? How?"
"I've gotta start somewhere, haven't I? I'm Desiree Mora, the Ultimate Journalist!" she introduced herself, giving a slight grin.
DESIREE MORA - ULTIMATE JOURNALIST
At least somebody here has a talent that could maybe help us figure out what's going on… my own included. I doubt there's a pool here, haha…
Desiree puffed her chest out proudly, and it was my turn to introduce myself, "Well, I'm Rina Prianne, the Ultimate Diver!"
"Oh, I've heard of you," Desiree noted, putting a finger to her chin, "You won all those diving competitions, am I right?"
Finally! Somebody who knows me around here! Kind of hypocritical since I hardly knew anybody here, but whatever, am I right?
"Heh, good to know somebody here knows who I am!" I grinned. If I had a fan here, all the better, "Was I good then or what?"
Desiree just shook her head indifferently, immediately souring my good mood, "I mean, if you think you were good, knock yourself out - I don't know you well, just enough to know your name. Somebody with my talent has to find out a lot, after all."
Way to ruin my fun…
My eyes wandered towards the other guy in the room with her, who just seemed to be enjoying watching us talk, "What? You guys are interesting to me, I just wanna watch. Keep going, please, this might get funny at some point."
On hearing the gremlin-like guy speak, Desiree stopped, and turned to face him again, "Anyways, back to you - tell me your name and Ultimate already."
"Fine, fine, I'm Dylan Underwood, the Ultimate Deez!" he declared proudly, and I chuckled, already knowing what he was trying to do.
"Don't finish that…" Desiree requested, with all of the exhaustion of somebody who knew the punchline already.
"Deez nuts, nyahaha!" he laughed, wiping obviously fake tears away as he cackled to his own terrible joke. Desiree cast me an unimpressed look, and I just shrugged - hey, it was his joke, not mine.
"Nyahaha, you should see the looks on your faces right now, priceless!" he laughed to himself, but soon stopped, "Well, that was an obvious lie, I just felt like messing with you guys - that's all."
So, are gonna get your actual talent now, or what?
"Fine, if you want my real title so much, I'm the Ultimate Prankster! But Ultimate Disaster's just got so much more of a ring to it, so I'd prefer that, nyehehe! Or you could stick with Ultimate Deez, that'd be funny."
DYLAN UNDERWOOD - ULTIMATE PRANKSTER
Honestly, not got much of an impression of him yet… other than that he's annoying. And 'Ultimate Disaster'? He's either a troll or a nutjob, and I don't know which one's better.
"Finally," Desiree breathed out a sigh of relief, opening her notepad and writing that information down, "Well, I've gotta go investigate literally anywhere else, so if you'll excuse me…"
Desiree abruptly walked off, pushing past Dylan and off into the greater museum… leaving me alone with the prankster. We stood in relative silence for a moment, until Dylan broke the ice.
"Wanna see a cool trick?" he asked, looking as innocently as he possibly could up at me. On one hand, I was interesting to see what he was doing. On the other hand, the first thing he did was lie about being me.
"You know what, sure," I decided to indulge the prankster - it'd at least be something interesting before just more and more walking.
"Okay, okay, soooo what you need to do is just lean close to me, okay?" he instructed with a smirk. I raised an eyebrow, not seeing where he was going with this.
"Why should I do that?" I questioned him, crossing her arms as Dylan sighed.
"Look, if I tell you, it'll ruin the fun," he whined, before he perked back up, "So just go on with it, trust me, you'll love it, hehe."
"If you say so," I sighed, leaning close to him… before Dylan flicked me on the nose. Despite his lack of bulk, it still hurt quite a bit, and I flinched back, "Dude, what was that for?"
"I wanted to see if you'd actually fall for it!" the prankster seemed to find that hilarious, and wiped a tear from his eye, "So, thanks for being my test dummy!"
With that, he gave me an over-the-top wave and walked off to where I came from, snickering to himself all the way. I shook her head in disbelief while rubbing my face, fortunately, he was too weak to leave anything lasting.
Rinny? Seriously? What the heck is his deal… I really hope I don't have to deal with him again too soon. Luckily, his 'prank' didn't leave too much of a bruise, thank goodness.
I decided to walk left from the intersection where I met Desiree and Dylan, eventually coming to a small cross-section that led to both left and right - however, both sides were dead ends. What really caught my attention were the sheer amount of doors here - each one featuring a small, chibi-style graphic on them - eight doors in each direction, and four on each side.
I decided to walk to the left, looking at the doors on both sides, and the graphics printed on them.
That one looks like Ally, and that's meant to be Celeste opposite her, I think. Then there's Melinda, and a blonde person I haven't met yet. Then we've got Desiree and somebody in a big hoodie, and that just leaves another unfamiliar person opposite… me, then.
I turned to look at the last door, and there was a small graphic of me in all my glory. If the context was any different, I probably would've loved it, but right now? It just added to my general sense of unease, "What the hell…"
Whatever, it's just a picture. No big deal, not at all… who am I kidding, this is just creepy by now. The other side's probably just got graphics of the guys, too. Let's just go back to the halls, at least.
I turned away from her portrait, more than ready to walk away, when I was suddenly face-to-face with a… pretty unassuming-looking guy. He was just over my height, and between his average build, short brown hair, and plain brown eyes, none of his physical features really stood out. He had fair skin, and wore a simple red polo shirt and grey pants, with red shoes finishing his look.
"When the heck did you get here?" I asked him quickly, crossing my arms at his sudden, creepy appearance.
"I've been here the entire time," the stranger commented, "Of course I'd get ignored though, just my luck."
I swear I would've noticed even somebody as plain-looking as you though… I'm not blind, that shirt should've stood out.
"Ugh, whatever, it doesn't really matter," I sighed, much to his apparent relief. I'm too confused to think too much on the small stuff, anyway, "Anyways, I'm Rina Prianne, the Ultimate Diver!"
I'm getting real sick of introducing myself by now, normally I'd love meeting new people but this is just getting out of hand.
The other guy laughed dryly, "Oh great, another Ultimate, I should've known. Whatever, I'm Jack Johnson. Ultimate Artist. Not like that's done me any good in life..."
JACK JOHNSON - ULTIMATE ARTIST
Artist? I wasn't expecting that, he looks so… uh… normal? I guess that's the word for it. But why does he sound so annoyed about it?
"What's with the tone, aren't you at least happy about your talent?" I asked him with a raised eyebrow. I know all the other Ultimates here love their talents, so why's he any different?
"Well, I don't hate it, per se," Jack explained, shrugging apathetically, "I do like art, I'm not gonna lie there. But it would be real nice… if people remembered me beyond just 'oh, that's the Ultimate Artist, whatever-his-name-is'."
I mean, I'd think most people who aren't into art wouldn't know your name… I didn't even know your name… or anybody's name here, but still.
"Dude, I didn't know your name," I tried to reason with him, "And besides, you didn't even know mine, so we're even."
In response, Jack just rolled his eyes, getting more passionate as he continued ranting, "I get what you mean. But, even some big-name art critics don't know who I am - I was credited as freaking John Jackson, for crying out loud!"
"That's gotta hurt," I flinched slightly, chuckling at the sheer absurdity of it, "Oof."
"Oof's right," Jack sighed, looking to the floor in general irritation, "Whatever, it's not like it'll matter while I'm stuck here. At the very least whoever kept us here remembered me for once, that's some kind of twisted victory. "
He let out a dry laugh at the last comment, and I was beginning to get tired of his constant pessimism, "Sure… take that as a win, I guess. Look, man, are you just gonna stand around and complain? I've still got places I wanna check out, so if that's all you're gonna do…"
"Sure, go for it," he rolled his eyes at me, "I'm not going anywhere, though - already been everywhere else."
Giving him a nod, I walked out of that corridor, sneaking peeks at the other side - sure enough, I saw chibi graphics of Virgil, Dylan, Jack, Sunny, and Vincent, alongside three more people I didn't know.
So… there's sixteen of us here. Probably. Good to know.
I continued my almost aimless wandering after leaving the hallway with all the portraits - going back through the intersection, while internally going over the little I knew - I was trapped in the museum after being invited there, there were at least fifteen others stuck with me who knew exactly what I did, and that was about it.
I tried to recall anything that happened between arriving at the museum and waking up in that storage closet, but came up blank… just great. I was brought out of my thoughts, though, when I noticed somebody else standing around. She had an incredibly vacant smile on her face, and was somehow shorter than Dylan… not by much, though. She had dull blue eyes, and messy, neck-length light blonde hair that almost covered her eyes - honestly, I thought she had just woken up. Her outfit didn't dissuade that, either - a blue sweater and grey sweatpants, with blue shoes being the main outlier. She had a pretty scrawny build, too, and fair skin.
I decided to walk up to her, giving her a wave… and not even getting a single reaction, "Hey, what's up?" I asked, and she didn't so much as turn to face my direction.
"Um, hello?" I asked again, placing my hand right in front of her face as my frustration began to grow, "Are you even listening to me?"
In response, her head drooped down… and she starting snoring. While standing up… right in front of me. In a museum she presumably wasn't familiar with.
If anything I can respect the sheer lack of fucks given… but still, sleeping right now? If a gentler approach won't work, then…
Deciding that there was no other usable option, I grabbed her by the shoulders and forcefully shook her awake, causing her to panic and push me away… only enough to get me off her.
"Wha… huh?" she stammered out in shock, before noticing me and throwing an awkward wave my way, "Oh… um… hi. Were you the one who woke me up or…?"
Welcome back to the world of the awake!
"Yeah," I admitted, giving her a nod, "Sorry about that, but I wasn't just gonna let you fall asleep like that here."
"It happens…" she lazily shrugged, and I got the distinct impression that she never had much energy in general, "...thanks, I guess."
"Well, I'm Rina Prianne, the Ultimate Diver? You?" I decided to get the name game out of the way - and besides, I was curious to see what this sleepyhead's Ultimate even was.
"I'm… May Summers. I'm… just the Ultimate Lucky Student. Nothing special, really."
MAY SUMMERS - ULTIMATE LUCKY STUDENT
How is luck a talent… if that's what it even means, anyway?
"Ultimate Lucky Student… what does that even mean?" I asked her in disbelief, scratching the back of my neck.
"Not much… honestly," she answered simply, yawning slightly as she spoke, "I was just chosen at random… heh."
"That… kinda makes sense. Honestly, I thought you were the Ultimate Sleepyhead or something," I joked, chuckling to myself as May rolled her eyes.
"It'd make more sense… luck isn't something I'm really known for…" she mused, tapping her chin "But… the Ultimate Lucky Student is my official title…"
"I can totally get that, yeah" I nodded along. So, May's just an ordinary person, I assumed… aside from one thing, "Oh, are you always this sleepy, 'cause I'm kinda worried, honestly…"
"That's… totally normal for me," she shrugged, "I'm not bothered… but thanks for the concern, anyway."
Yeah, I'm not letting her off the hook, nobody's THAT sleepy… right?
"If you say so," I let her be, since she didn't seem too fussed, "You got any ideas about this whole thing, anyway?"
"No clue…" May yawned, "Besides… I was sleeping until you woke me up from my nap…"
"You were having a nap standing up," I stated in sheer disbelief, "You must really like your sleep, huh…"
"Yeah…" she vaguely answered with a wave of her hand, "Though… some of it is more like really vivid daydreams…"
I'm not even gonna ask what she means by that.
"Ohoho~ do I smell romance?" came the voice of somebody else entirely, and soon a third figure strolled her way into our conversation.
She was only just shorter than me, with pale skin, red eyes (contacts?), and a scrawny build. She had black hair in a ponytail, with red and blue streaks decorating it, and a particularly smug look on her face. She wore a red jacket over a blue shirt with a heart graphic, plus a red skirt, white thigh-high socks and blue sneakers.
"Let me see… ooh, you two could be a fun opposites-attract type of pair," she chuckled to herself, putting her hands together into a heart and peering through it.
Is-is she pairing me together with May? Am I getting shipped? I mean, May's not the worst option here - she's at least better than Dylan, but… why?
Speaking of May, she had fallen asleep on the spot, leaving me alone to deal with this, the traitor, "What are you even talking about?" I asked her, just wanting to clear this out.
"Love, of course," she smirked, tapping her head with a knowing grin as she looked me over, "Oho… not gonna lie, you're definitely pretty hot. Top five out of the Ultimates here for sure… maybe even top three."
Hehe, it's always nice to be appreciated.
"Heh, thanks," I flipped my hair back with a smirk, soaking in the praise, "So… you're some kind of matchmaker, I guess?"
"No no no, not just any matchmaker, the Ultimate Matchmaker," she corrected with a wag of her finger, "Rayna Skye, gladly at your service, ehe."
RAYNA SKYE - ULTIMATE MATCHMAKER
A matchmaker? Well, I can tell. And oh boy… our names are similar, that'll be confusing later.
"Rina Prianne, the Ultimate Diver," I introduced right back, casting a finger gun towards the matchmaker, "So, you found anything interesting, Rayna?"
"Other than you?" she tried flirting again, and I honestly thought she came off as desperate by this point… we had literally just met, "I mean, there's sixteen of us here, all stuck together with no way out… romance is gonna blossom eventually, I just know it!"
She's completely love-obsessed… I guess she's not gonna be much help trying to figure out what's going on.
"I mean, if you think it will, knock yourself out," I answered, giving a look towards the still-sleeping May to confirm that she hadn't somehow snuck off, "But with these guys?"
I let out a small chuckle, "Yeah, that ain't happening."
"You underestimate my power," Rayna grinned, tapping the side of her head smugly, "And if you're not gonna start smooching me or her anytime soon, my talents are better used somewhere else!"
With that, Rayna left with a skip, leaving me alone with May… who had just woke right back up.
"Wait, were you just faking being asleep the whole time?" I asked, and she threw a so-and-so hand gesture out with a sly, yet sheepish smile.
Dang… that's smart.
"Yeah I did - not a big fan of people like her. Now, can I please get back to my real nap… I don't wanna use too much energy…" she yawned, and I figured I wasn't getting much more conversation out of her.
"Well… I'll just leave too. Still got some more people to meet, y'know?" I threw a small wave at May, before turning my back to her.
"Fine by me…" May shrugged, and I walked away from the lucky student, "Stay safe…"
May's alright… really sleepy, and kind of confusing, but she's cool. Rayna's general horniness just concerns me, not gonna lie.
I returned to the crossroads, seeing nothing of note back where May and Rayna were… other than more doors that I couldn't open.
Why's there so many doors that can't even be opened in the first place? Isn't that, y'know, the point of a door? I get one or two… but all of them?
Ignoring my internal complaints, I was about to go through to the final path from the intersection when I saw somebody else coming from the opposite path of me..
He was taller than me, with faintly tanned skin, and brown hair pulled into a short, low, ponytail with a very athletic build to him. He had blue eyes, and wore an orange sports jersey with a large '12' printed on his chest and back, and blue jersey shorts alongside orange sneakers. Upon noticing me, he waved at me with a grin on his face, and walked over, offering a fist bump as he did so.
"What's up, dude?" he asked casually, as I gladly returned the fist bump with a grin.
"Just, y'know… trying to figure out all this," I gestured to the museum around us, and the athletic guy seemed to get what I was talking about.
"Aren't we all?" he chuckled, rubbing the back of his head, "Oh, by the way, before I forget, I'm Tyson Tysons, the Ultimate Athlete."
TYSON TYSONS - ULTIMATE ATHLETE
…Tyson Tysons? That's his name? After Sunny Daye though… I can't really judge him too hard for being named like that. But a fellow athlete who actually seems pretty cool? I'm all for it!
"I'm Rina Prianne, the Ultimate Diver," I introduced myself to him, and the athlete nodded, before throwing me a big thumbs-up.
"A diver? Pretty cool, dude," he complimented, and I smiled at the praise. Always nice to be appreciated, "I've not done much water stuff myself, y'know? But anything else, you name it, I've played it. Team sports, track-and-field, I've done it all."
So a real jock-of-all-trades, you could say? …Note to self, never say that out loud.
I nodded along, and Tyson flashed me a wide, earnest grin, "So, dude, what do you think's happening here? I wanna think it's, like, some dramatic opening ceremony… but I'm getting real creepy vibes, y'know?"
"I feel you," I nodded along in agreement, crossing my arms as Tyson grew uneasy, "Still creeps me out that we're all locked in here…"
"Look, it can't be that hard to find a way out, dude, don't worry about it!" the athlete reassured, "I mean, there's gotta be a door or something somewhere, y'know?"
"There isn't," came a dry, yet distinctly smug, voice from the path I was hoping to come from, and I turned to the source.
The voice's owner was perhaps the tallest person here, with lightly toned skin and chin-length silver hair. His eyes were the iciest shade of blue, hidden behind his glasses. His outfit was a well-kept suit, in a pale shade of grey with gold buttons , alongside a lilac tie and similarly kept grey slacks and white shoes. While he was by no means as muscular or athletic as Melinda or Tyson, his build was still on the stronger side of the people here.
"Have you been everywhere?" I asked the stranger, who threw an unimpressed look my way, "There might be one somewhere we haven't even looked!"
"Naturally," he replied, his uninterested expression getting on my nerves, "There's not a single door here. It's entirely locked-in - naturally, whoever kept us here doesn't want us leaving. If you'd used your brains, you'd have came to that logical conclusion as well."
Dylan, I'm almost sorry for ever calling you the worst person here, this guy's already pissing me off so much and he's only said three sentences.
"Dude, no need to be that harsh," Tyson disapproved of him, taking a step back from him. "She was just throwing ideas out."
"I'd trust my analysis to be on-point, more-so than your mindless assumptions," he bluntly stated with a scoff, "After all, I am the Ultimate Analyst. And before you ask, my name is Kristoph Omorro."
KRISTOPH OMORRO - ULTIMATE ANALYST
I already don't like him… but an analyst? Yeah, I can see it. Doesn't change the fact that he's already a massive asshole.
"Now, I'm going to go elsewhere - I don't want to waste any more time in this conversation," he decided with an abrupt snap of his fingers, making my blood boil. Who does this smug bitch think he is?
"You're not going anywhere!" I called out to him in outrage, and he turned his head around in mild interest.
"Oh? And why's that?" he asked, not even turning his body to face me as he spoke, "Do you have an actual, valid reason to keep me waiting, or are you simply unreasonable?"
"Well, uh, you can't just-" I was about to say, yet the analyst cut me off before I could finish.
"I see it's the latter," Kristoph cut me off, adjusting his glasses as he looked down at me, "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm leaving for real."
Good riddance… I didn't want to talk to him anyway.
Fortunately, he actually did leave us alone, and I turned to face Tyson with an exhausted sigh, "People like him are the worst… he acts like he's so much better than us!" I complained, throwing my hands up in the air as Tyson nodded along, "I can't stand people like him…"
"At least he's only one guy - pretty much everybody else here's cool, I think," Tyson reassured me, and I felt inclined to mostly agree… I was still wasn't fully over Dylan's prank yet.
"You said it, not me," I smirked, happy to know Tyson was on the same page as me, before realising that I should probably still try to look around, "So… have you been that way yet?"
I pointed at the one remaining direction, and Tyson shook his head in disagreement, "Nope, dude. Wanna check it out?"
"You're on," I gave Tyson a nod of approval, and we were about to go that way when an irritating noise blared into my ears, and I covered them to try and block even some of it out.
What the hell is this? An alarm?
"Testing, testing. Check one, check two," came a scratchy, obnoxious-sounding voice from who-knows-where - probably a speaker somewhere, I guess, "Could all visitors to the Marshwood Museum please make their way to the Grand Hall around… right now! Don't be late, puhuhuhuhuhuhuhu~"
Who even was that? Was that… our captor?
With that eerie laugh, the 'announcement' ended, and I was practically speechless - as was Tyson, "Should we go there, dude?" he asked, prompting me to think it over.
On one hand… it's a creepy voice telling me to go somewhere when I've probably been kidnapped, which is a red flag if I've ever seen one. On the other hand, it's probably the only lead I've got…
"Let's go," I decided, "At least we might get some answers, right?"
"That's true!" the athlete agreed, and together we walked down the last pathway, coming across a wooden double-door that presumably led into the Grand Hall.
Tyson's a really cool guy, I definitely wanna hang out with him when we're all out of here. But now… let's see what this announcement's for…
If the Grand Hall could be described in one word, it definitely wouldn't be 'grand'. Maybe 'average', or even 'decent' if I was being generous, but it was definitely NOT 'grand', sitting at around the size of an average gymnasium. In terms of decor, it was almost an extension of the hallways, however several trophies sat proudly on display on one side, and a large stage was set facing us as we came in, with a single podium - probably for speeches, or something like that. A screen was right behind it, too.
Besides myself and Tyson, there were only three people in there - Vincent and Sunny were in the middle of a conversation on one side, while a shorter individual sat by their lonesome on the side. Tyson moved off to join the magician and influencer, leaving me to talk with the newbie.
The newbie was incredibly short and incredibly pale, sat at around May's height with wispy auburn hair. Their amber eyes were focused on their hands, which were twiddling around awkwardly from beneath their clearly oversized grey hoodie. They also wore pretty oversized dark grey sweatpants, and orange sneakers added some colour to their otherwise dull outfit. Build-wise, it was hard to tell thanks to how baggy their clothes were, but they seemed on the scrawnier side… their gender was impossible to tell.
I approached them, and upon noticing me, they flinched back, their eyes darting everywhere except right at me, "Hey," I casually greeted, trying to not come off as harsh or sudden.
"Um… er… hi?" they waved back, seemingly unsure of even saying just that, "Is that what you're supposed to say to people?"
…I wanna ask what they mean here, but I won't… they seem really on edge, and I don't wanna make it any worse.
"Yeah, it is," I reassured them, and they let out a small, relieved sigh, "Anyway, I'm Rina Prianne, the Ultimate Diver. And you're…?"
"Oh, sorry for not introducing myself earlier, I'm, uh, Ember Ashe," they introduced, tugging at their hoodie strings, "I'm just the Ultimate Programmer, haha…"
EMBER ASHE - ULTIMATE PROGRAMMER
A programmer? Well, I have no idea how to do any of that stuff, so… good for them!
"I make computer programs… stuff like that, really, it's no big-" they began to ramble, and I sharpy cut them off with a question that was on my mind.
"Hold on, I just wanna ask… what's your gender?" I requested… I'm not gonna assume again after Sunny, and Ember was somehow more androgynous.
"I'm non-binary, yeah," Ember admitted with a nod, even if they still refused to look me in the eye, "So, um, I'll just walk away now, I don't really wanna get in your way or anything, haha…"
"Hey!" I shouted out before they could run, causing the programmer to jump up in fear. I swiftly apologised, "Sorry."
"But, you're not getting in my way, don't worry about it," I tried to reassure the programmer, "Honestly, you're at least better than some other people here… like, I dunno, him," I pointed to the door as Kristoph came in, the analyst deadpanning towards me as I badmouthed him.
Don't be a fucking prick and I won't call you out for it, it's that simple.
Ember let out a small chuckle, but still walked away from me, "If you say so, but, uh, I still wanna move away… there's too many people in here now…"
Just like Ember said, the others had almost all filled in, and the room was getting almost crowded - still enough room for us all to stand around without feeling cramped, but there were still fifteen of us in here. Virgil entered the room with a cool nod, and I watched Ember shrink into a corner as fifteen of us arrived.
There goes Ember… they're nice, just… incredibly awkward. I'm not getting good conversation out of them, that's for sure…
"And that should be all of us, yes?" Ally called out, looking across the room, "My magical prowess senses that we're all here!"
"We're missing one," Celeste corrected her with a calm point of a finger, "So, let's just be patient and wait for him, okay?"
"Yeah, I don't see Jack anywhere!" Dylan piped up with a grin, "Can he be any slower… my feet hurt…"
"I'm right here," Jack grumbled, but none of us really paid him any mind.
"I remember our latecomer being very scatterbrained," Virgil noted, the thief absent-mindedly inspecting his jacket's sleeve, "We might be waiting a while…"
As if he had been summoned to directly counter Virgil's claim, the sixteenth and presumably final visitor to the Museum of Hope made his 'grand' entrance, calmly opening the door without a care in the world.
He was pretty much my height, with soft brown skin and shaggy brown hair. His brown eyes seemed incredibly at ease compared to the worried, frightened or at the very least frustrated looks everybody else wore. His outfit was simple, consisting of an oversized green shirt, brown cargo pants and brown boots, with a brown backpack slung haphazardly over his shoulder. He had a lean build, and greeted everybody with a relaxed wave.
"Wassup, how's everyone doing?" he asked far-too-casually, moving in to the group.
"Terrible, thanks for asking," Rayna snarked, rolling her eyes as the newbie moved in, "Just got kidnapped, so my day's not been the best…"
"Damn, that sucks," he chuckled, "Mine could've been better… not a big fan of enclosed spaces, y'know?"
"You… do realise that we've probably been kidnapped, right?" Sunny told him with an awkward laugh, "How aren't you worried?"
"Well, just go with the flow, that's what I always say," he admitted as he lazily swayed back-and-forth, "Life's not about the destination, it's about the journey… so I don't really stress myself out with things like getting kidnapped."
"Usually I'd respect that kind of belief…" Desiree sighed, rubbing her head, "But in a situation like this, I'm not sure how that even applies..."
"Eh, I just think it sounds good, so I kinda live by it. It's never failed me yet," he chuckled, rubbing the back of his head with a smile, "And besides, I've never been to a museum like this before, so that's kinda neat too."
He's either the biggest optimist or the biggest idiot I've ever met, and I'm not sure what the difference is.
"And… who are you, exactly?" I asked him, "We didn't talk in the halls."
"Oh, yeah, there's some guys I haven't met yet, my bad. I'm Mikaio Heath, the Ultimate Wanderer."
MIKAIO HEATH - ULTIMATE WANDERER
So his talent is that he… gets lost really well? What? How does that even count as a talent?
Ember also seemed to have the same question, and the programmer asked it with a shy tap of their fingers, "So… you, um, travel a lot or something… am I right?"
"Yep! No destination, no worries," he smiled proudly, "And if there's no destination, I can keep the journey going as long as I like. Pretty smart, right?"
So he gets lost easily, that's what I'm thinking.
"No, it's not," Melinda grumbled, the mechanic holding her head in frustration, "And even then, you're not going anywhere while you're here, idiot."
"I got lost wandering the halls," he stated with his seemingly eternal easy-going look, speaking as if he had a point, "So… I'm still travelling around, in a way. Just… only in one museum instead of the whole world."
"He's got you there, nyehehe," Dylan laughed, and Melinda rolled her eyes away from the prankster with a look of sheer disgust.
"Anyway, now that we've all met Mikaio," Desiree spoke loudly, tapping her pen against her hat to try and get everybody's attention, "What do you think we've all been gathered here for?"
"An opening ceremony?" I guessed, rubbing my chin in thought, "I don't see what else it could be…"
"Yes, Rina's right, that would make sense," Vincent tapped his hat too, with more flourish than the journalist had, "If it was a mere announcement, wouldn't our holder have just said it over the intercom?"
"What if they're just gonna kill all of us?" Dylan suggested with a dark grin, "I mean, we're all just sitting around here, right? We're sitting ducks?"
"Away with your foul ideas!" Ally shouted at him, and the prankster just giggled as the roleplayer waved her staff at him… yeah, I'd be laughing at that display, too, if it weren't for the overall situation that most of us seemed to have grasped by now, other than Mikaio and maybe Dylan or May… the latter two were both hard to read.
But… what if he's right? Sixteen Ultimate students, all locked in one big museum… it'd be too easy to just kill all of us right here and now…
"Look, let's just all wait and see what's going on, okay?" Celeste tried to reassure us, hands raised high in a placating gesture.
"Yeah, let's just wait and see!" I backed up Celeste, and most of us got the idea by then.
Then, without warning, something popped up from behind the podium, landing on top of it. It was… a stuffed bear? A really weird one, though… half-white, half-black, with the white half looking normal while the black half looked far more sinister, with an evil grin and an intimidating red eye.
Um… what? It sort of reminds me of that painting I saw back with Celeste…
"What is that?" Desiree was the one to break the silence, the journalist scratching her head in confusion.
"It's a stuffed animal," Kristoph bluntly stated the obvious, glaring at it with a scrutinising gaze, "I have no idea why it's here, though."
"It's… kinda cute," May admitted.
"I'm not cute!" it suddenly screamed out, in the same annoying, scratchy voice from before, "And I'm not a stuffed animal either! I'm Curator Monokuma!"
Why am I getting a sinking sense of dread… it's just a remote controlled stuffed animal…
"Gyack, it talked!" Rayna jumped back in fright, the matchmaker hiding behind Tyson.
"Haven't you ever seen a talking bear before?" Monokuma shouted at her, his 'face' blaring red for a brief moment. Rayna shook her head no.
"You're the curator of this museum?" Jack asked, seeming to be in disbelief, "But you're just a stuffed bear…"
"Can bears not have museums nowadays?" Monokuma almost rolled his eyes, if it weren't for the fact that he physically couldn't, "But you heard me right… I'm the curator of the Marshwood Museum, and the chaperone for this here museum class trip!"
"Chaperone? Class trip?" Virgil questioned, the thief gripping his arm as he looked at the bear, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Of course… who'd want to leave sixteen rowdy teenagers all by themselves in a place full of priceless artifacts? Who knows what kind of 'wacky' hijinks you'd get up to?" Monokuma taunted, chuckling to himself.
"The fuck…" Melinda growled at the bear's attitude.
"I want out!" Dylan cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted what we were all thinking, "It's super boring in here."
"You want out, huh? It's super boring, huh?" Monokuma tilted his head, "Well, too bad! You're all stuck here until you get old and die!"
"We're… stuck?" Sunny whimpered, tears pricking in his eyes.
"What do you mean, we can't leave?" I glared at him, too shocked to say anything else.
"It's that simple - you can't get out. You're trapped, stuck, kidnapped, captured, however you want to say it!" Monokuma giggled, and I felt sick.
He's… gotta be lying… right? I've got a life to live, I can't spend it all here!
"You mean… I can't leave?" Mikaio echoed, a slight twinge of unease making itself visible on his face, "Bummer…"
"Oh, what's that I'm hearing? You want to leave?" Monokuma raised a paw to his ear, "Well, don't you worry! It's simple!"
"I don't like where this is going," Jack sighed, the artist looking towards the floor with a dejected expression.
"Well, what is it?" Rayna asked desperately, "I've got ships that need sailing!"
"Oh, it's simple. Verrrrrrrry simple, actually!" Monokuma clapped his belly, cackling to himself, "All you've gotta do… is kill one of your fellow classmates! After all, that would certainly destroy the order of your school life, wouldn't it?"
…Kill somebody? Wh-what the hell?
The moment Monokuma finished saying that, the vast majority of the group erupted into a flurry of emotions - between tears and frightened exclamations, I couldn't hear myself think.
"We've got to… commit murder?" Tyson uneasily stated, rubbing his shoulder with a dejected look, "What the heck? That's… that's messed up!"
"Really?" Monokuma questioned, tilting his head, "Well, whatever you think doesn't matter here! If you want to get out… well, you better start killing!"
Everybody was silent at that, the entire group in a collective shock at what the bear had just said. I looked around the room, seeing a variety of expressions - from Melinda's angry death glare, to Ember's tear-struck face, to Kristoph's focused stare. Nobody spoke, until Monokuma broke the ice.
"Aww, can the little children not handle the idea of killing a beloved friend?" Monokuma taunted, and I held back my growing urge to give the little shit a piece of my mind.
"What's the catch?" Kristoph questioned bluntly, the analyst seeming completely unfazed by the announcement, "You've just said that, in order to leave the museum, I need to kill somebody, correct?"
"Correctamundo!" Monokuma affirmed, "Gold star to you!"
"If that's all… then what's just stopping me from killing somebody in this room right now?" the analyst finished his question, pushing his glasses up and prompting Sunny to inch away from him in fear, "It's not that simple, is it?"
"Ooh, you're a clever one," the bear chuckled, covering his mouth, "But, as a reward for being so smart… I'll spill the beans!"
There's more? We've already been kidnapped and told to kill each other, how can this get any worse?
The screen behind Monokuma whirred to life, showing what looked like a courtroom, with Monokuma sat as a judge of sorts. To his left were three generic-looking male students, and to his right were three equally generic-looking female students, "When a student kills one of their classmates, they become the blackened! Of course, it would be way too boring for the blackened to just get away with murder like that… who knows what kind of nasty savages we'd be letting loose?"
"No, here, we do things in a more… civilised manner. When a body is discovered, a class trial will be held, and you will vote for the culprit! Vote right, and the blackened is punished and your museum school trip will continue as usual. But vote wrong… and everybody else will be punished, and the blackened can walk away scott-free!" Monokuma explained, and my sense of dread only increased at his words.
"What's… punishment?" Desiree inquired shakily.
"Oh, just a little execution!" Monokuma announced all-too casually, "Guillotine, slash slash! Electric chair, bzzt! You know?"
"Ex-execution?" Ember stammered out, the programmer managing to pale more than usual.
"I swear to fucking God…" Melinda shook her fist in anger, clenching her teeth at the bear but not commenting any further out loud.
Virgil was speechless, but the thief's expression was one of cold resignation. To his side, even Dylan seemed to be in mild shock, the prankster's near-eternal grin replaced with a wide-eyed look of shock.
"C'mon May… just wake up…" May muttered to herself, rubbing her eyes, "This has gotta be a bad dream…"
Sorry May, but we're all stuck in this nightmare together…
"Dream?" Monokuma leered intimidatingly towards us, his red eye practically staring into my soul, "This isn't a dream! This is reality, whether you like it or not!"
"Well, nobody here's gonna kill anybody!" Tyson angrily declared, pointing towards the bear, "Isn't that right, dudes?"
"Yeah, he's right!" I backed him up, pumping my fists in determination with a renewed sense of vigour, "I'd never kill anyone!"
Ally also joined in with us, brandishing her staff and pointing it at Monokuma, "Begone, foul demon! I refuse to play your games!"
"Ah, the rebellion of youth…" Monokuma seemingly recollected, wistfully looking up to the ceiling with a sigh, "Buuut… this is your reality now, there's no point in fighting it! And besides…"
Monokuma pointed up to the top of the room, and out of nowhere, two large machine guns descended down, pointing at Tyson and Melinda especially, but the message was clear.
Are those fucking machine guns? He can just… summon machine guns?
"If you're thinking of attacking the Curator… think again," he warned us, shifting between being irritably upbeat and genuinely terrifying at the flip of a coin.
"Haha…" Mikaio chuckled awkwardly, "What the heck…"
Nobody else spoke anything to that, the only sounds in the room being Sunny and Ember's sobs, and Melinda's low, seething growl. The rest of us were in too much shock to respond, not wanting to anger the bear. The guns fortunately returned to where they came from, but the effect was all too real.
"Now, before I go…" Monokuma pulled out a remote upon noticing our stunned silence, pressing the large red button on it to cause sixteen tablets to fall from the sky, "These are your Monopads, and they're essential to life here at the Ultimate Museum! They're one-of-a-kind, so don't lose them. They have all kinds of important information - they show the time, they have your maps, they act as keys to your rooms, and most importantly, they hold the rules, which are very important to any communal life!"
"So, any questions?" he asked, but before any more questions could be asked, he disappeared, "Have a happy museum life! Puhuhuhuhu~"
With that, Monokuma was gone, leaving all sixteen of us too shell-shocked to move for just a moment. My mind was still racing through the events that had just happened, too shocked to move.
So uh… we're all trapped, and this sadistic bear wants us to kill each other? I-I don't even know what's going on anymore…
"Well… shit…" Jack groaned out, being the first one to break the silence, "What the heck was that…"
Vincent clenched his teeth together, the magician covering his eyes with his hat, "This is truly terrible…"
"It really is, what a shame…" Dylan commented, poking his cheek as his voice was laced in insincerity.
"What the heck's that supposed to mean?" I questioned the prankster, frowning at his tone.
"Exactly what I said, I don't wanna die!" the prankster protested, covering his mouth with a sly grin on his face, "Or are you so stupid that I need to repeat myself?"
"Shut the fuck up," Melinda glared down at him, "Nobody wants to deal with your bullshit right now."
"Dudes, dudes, stop fighting, it's not helping! And besides," Tyson pumped his fist, his face strained but still giving off a determined smile, "None of us would kill anybody, so there's nothing to fear!"
"Yeah, Tyson's right!" Sunny piped up, wiping the tears out of his eyes and piping up with some renewed vigour.
I grinned at the influencer and athlete's optimism, "So there's nothing to fear!" I joined in, managing to get a few extra smiles across the room - Ally, Celeste and Vincent all seemed to agree, but others were either still panicking, or not convinced.
"Hmph," Kristoph huffed, looking down towards me with a condescending glare, as if he considered us all idiots for having a slight hope, "Are you all idiots?"
"I might be an idiot, but that doesn't mean everyone else is!" Tyson stared up the analyst, who glared coldly at the athlete, "And what's that for, dude? I trust you guys already!"
The analyst scoffed audibly, pushing his glasses up with a scowl, "Trust? We've hardly even met each other, and yet you already trust them so much? That blind trust will get you killed."
"But-" Tyson was about to cut in, but Kristoph interrupted.
"Take a look around. Do you seriously think that nobody here wants to leave? That nobody here is capable of murder?" the analyst finished, coldly looking at all of us.
Desiree tapped the pen on her ear, nodding slowly, "Unfortunately… Kristoph's completely right. We've got no clue what anybody else is feeling, what anybody else is thinking or even what anybody else is planning… trust won't come easy in a situation like this."
I looked around at the rest of the group, each and every one of us having made some distance from one another. Their faces showed a wide variety of emotions, yet each and every one led back to one single thought. Is somebody actually considering it?
While I'd like to say I don't think anybody here is planning murder… I can't really say for sure. I don't really know many of them… scratch at, any of them at all.
With the pressure of potentially being betrayed by any one of them weighing down on my mind, I realised just how hopeless the situation was. Not to mention, without any other way out, the chances of somebody considering it… was above zero. The fear and distrust I could see in the others' eyes only confirmed it - it was a matter of 'if', not 'when'.
"Alright, alright, enough negative energy!" Ally shouted out, the roleplayer raising her staff out in protest as if to banish the despair filling the room, "We can challenge those thoughts tomorrow!"
"Fine by me," Jack drawled, the artist's dry tone not coming off as draining as it did during my first meeting with him, "Not like we've got much else to do, anyway."
"Oh, we should also check out those Monopads, right?" Rayna pointed towards the tablets, and I noted that a few were already taken. I moved to grab one myself, and tapped it on.
Immediately, the screen lit up with my name, before going onto a home menu with a few buttons - there was a map, luckily, alongside a list of profiles and rules. Additionally, there was a camera, which was a neat addition. The time was displayed as 9:00PM, so it was reaching the night.
"Hey, sweet, my name pops up when I turn it on," Mikaio smiled, any semblance of fear or worry long-gone by now, "Not gonna lie, this thing's pretty cool."
"So there's a camera, rules, a map, and a list of profiles? Certainly whoever's controlling Monokuma doesn't want us to be entirely uncomfortable," Virgil noted, tapping his chin.
"Before we do anything else," Vincent said, "I believe it would be beneficial to read the rules, no?"
Not finding any fault in his reasoning, I clicked open the rules app, and on-screen a list of the school's rules displayed.
#1: Students must live in the Marshwood Museum for the foreseeable future.
#2: Once a murder takes place, all surviving students must participate in a class trial. The culprit is considered 'blackened'.
#3: If the blackened is exposed during the class trial, they alone will be executed.
#4: If the blackened is not exposed, all remaining students will be executed.
#5: If the blackened survives the class trial, they will 'graduate' and re-enter the outside world.
#6: The killing game and class trials will continue until only two students remain.
#7: "Nighttime" is from 10PM to 8AM. Some areas will be off-limits at this time.
#8: Violence towards Curator Monokuma is strictly forbidden.
#9: Curator Monokuma will never directly cause a murder, unless a rule has been broken.
#10: Your Monopads are very important items. Please do not damage them.
#11: If a door has been locked by Curator Monokuma, you may not enter it. Otherwise, feel free to explore to your own discretion.
#12: Students who violate these rules will be punished by Curator Monokuma.
#13: In order to prevent murderous rampages, a single student may not kill more than two of their fellow students
#14: All punishments will be decided by Curator Monokuma.
#15: Further, there may be new additions to the school rules according to the convenience of the Curator.
"Ah, most of these rules are self-explanatory," Vincent nodded, and I felt inclined to agree, "And yet… I am curious about the thirteenth rule. If he wishes for murder, what does he gain from a rule such as that?"
"Monokuma seems to want to put on a show of sorts," Virgil noted, "Especially with these 'class trials'. I doubt he'd want so many of us out of commission so quickly. As it says, it's there to 'prevent murderous rampages.'"
That's a… poor way of wording it, I gotta admit, but he's got a point. At least nobody here's gonna turn into a serial killer… or, I guess act on existing serial killer urges.
"So…" Celeste lowly began, bringing our attention to her, "I think we should all rest for the night, then, and talk more at breakfast tomorrow? We all have maps, so we can all find the dining hall in the morning. It's been a stressful day, so we should all get some rest - does that sound good to everyone?"
"Of course it does!" Desiree smirked, the journalist managing to pull out a smile despite the circumstances, "After all… we've all gotta let this sink in, y'know?"
"Um, sure, haha," Ember joined in, before the programmer yet again noticed all of the eyes on them, and their visible awkwardness multiplied tenfold, "I haven't got anything else to say, so um…"
"Don't worry, we get it," Mikaio lackadaisically replied, fortunately stopping the programmer from going off on a tangent, "Yeah, that sounds A-OK in my book."
"So we all agree?" I checked, managing to get some form of affirmation out of each of them - even if Kristoph's was just a haughty glance of acknowledgement, "Well then, let's go!"
The fifteen of us all made it to the rooms marked with our names, each of us approaching our own door. I tapped my Monopad against the door, unlocking it and opening my way into the room.
The moment I entered the room, I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. Without a need to keep up appearances, I slumped against the door and took a look at the room.
If it weren't for the circumstances, I'd honestly consider it a pretty good room - it was just spacious enough without feeling too big. There was a desk set up with a pretty large mirror, alongside a nicely sized bed that looked all-too inviting. A table was neatly set up in the corner, and much like every other room in the museum, there was a security camera and a monitor.
So Monokuma can watch me undress… because of course he can. Creep.
On top of the table, there was a small note, and I picked myself up from the ground to read it.
"'Dear all students…'" I read aloud, "'Please note that your rooms are completely soundproof, so if you want to-'"
You know what, fuck it. I'm not reading that.
Crumpling the note into a ball, I threw it into a small bin in the corner, and walked over to the room's closet. Opening it up, I found several copies of my current outfit, alongside a few sets of blue pyjamas.
How… did he know what clothes I wear? And my- actually, screw that, I'm not even gonna ask. I do not want to know...
Changing into something more comfortable to sleep in - a blue pair of pyjamas - I moved into bed, placing my Monopad on the bedside table, before I drifted off into an uneasy sleep. There was one big worry clouding my mind - would anybody here actually commit murder?
Author's Note: Not got much to say here… but welcome to the start of the fic. I've always wanted to write a Danganronpa fic with my OCs, and despite pretty much all of these OCs being designed for Total Drama, I think they'll be a fun group to write in a scenario like this. This is my first time writing in first person, too, so I'm hoping it wasn't too rough on that front.
I'm excited to show them off going forward, so with that out of the way… have a nice day, and Kadachi out!
16 Students Remain:
1: Rina Prianne - Ultimate Diver
2: Ally Starr - Ultimate Roleplayer
3: Celeste Diamond - Ultimate Astronomer
4: Desiree Mora - Ultimate Journalist
5: Dylan Underwood - Ultimate Prankster
6: Ember Ashe - Ultimate Programmer
7: Jack Johnson - Ultimate Artist
8: Kristoph Omorro - Ultimate Analyst
9: May Summers - Ultimate Lucky Student
10: Melinda Ridley - Ultimate Mechanic
11: Mikaio Heath - Ultimate Wanderer
12: Rayna Skye - Ultimate Matchmaker
13: Sunny Daye - Ultimate Influencer
14: Tyson Tysons - Ultimate Athlete
15: Vincent Trinity - Ultimate Magician
16: Virgil Anton - Ultimate Thief