Prologue: The Ark to Life and Death
Warning: This fic contains intense violence, lots of cursing, character death, and possible spoilers for the Danganronpa series, most notably the first one. But hey, everyone lurking in this fandom has at least played the first Danganronpa so no need to worry much there!
With that said, please enjoy!
Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence.
God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.
So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.
So, make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out..."
"One…"
"Two…"
"Three…!"
The heavy metal vault was finally knocked down. Hundreds of officers, each a member of the Special Assault Team, rushed in, their armed rifles with green laser pointers aiming at every corner of the building they were in. Their comms beeped, walkie-talkies echoing throughout the hall as static-y voices desperately reached through their communication devices. And with each static, each voice had a similar response to each examination of the different places they were in.
"Clear!"
"Area 1 clear!"
"All clear here too!"
"Heading to the second floor. Stand by."
"H-Hello? A-Anyone there?"
"Halt, we got someone!"
In an instant, every officer by that vault pointed their weapons toward the source of the voice. Their fingers hovered over the trigger. The room was dim. Any sudden movement and these people would not hesitate to pull that trigger and add a corpse to the eerie atmosphere they were currently patrolling in.
"Stay right where you are and don't move!"
The figure that the officers were pointing at stopped. They stopped coming anywhere closer. Maybe it was the command from the officer or maybe it was the fact that the figure could see all too clearly that these people were serious with their weapons.
A SAT commander walked forward, keeping his men behind him before shining his flashlight over his rifle. He got a clearer look at what exactly they were dealing with. No. Who? Who they were dealing with.
The figure looked to be bruised, beaten, and battered. They were bleeding. Their clothes in disarray. Their leg, broken. A long blood trail leading from the corner to where the figure currently stood suggested that they had limped their way to the commotion. And now the figure was being blinded by the flashlight shining in their eyes. That certainly didn't help the fear from the figure. The trembling that they had felt as the person spoke up, tears trailing from their eyes.
"Th-They… They're all dead," the person huffed, voice quivering as they collapsed to the ground. "All of them…"
"We got a survivor here!" the commander lowered his flashlight and voiced his announcement through his walkie talkie as he rushed over to the person along with a couple of other officers. "I need medical attention! Take them to the med-"
"Sir?" the voice of an officer from the walkie talkie interrupted the commander.
"What?"
"...Jesus Christ, I'm going to be sick," the officer gagged from beyond the comms. "There are bodies. Holy shit. It's a bloodbath, oh my God."
The commander remained silent before turning to the person. He raised his rifle. The fear in the figure forced them to tense up. The commander was in no need for medical assistance.
"...What the hell happened here?" he asked, his voice serious.
He was in need of answers…
PROLOGUE: THE ARK TO LIFE AND DEATH
Cell #01
Titus Erskine found the cell to be a little too tough than he had originally thought.
The cell was small. There were concrete walls and a concrete floor. On the walls were random carvings of different symbols, something one would expect in a prison cell like this. There was also a bunk bed that had fallen over as well. Any attempt to reposition and sleep on that would also probably mean catching some sort of disease. After all, there were strange stains on the mattress and pillows.
But Titus didn't care about any of that.
Using a rusty nail file he found on the floor, Titus spent his time flat on his knees, hunched over what he had deemed the weakest part of the metal bars that separated him from his freedom. Of course, freedom was blocked off by a roll-up door, so after he got rid of the cell bars, he would have to figure out how to get that open as well.
"Almost got it…" Titus said, shaving the side of a cell bar before the rusty nail file ultimately snapped off. "Damn it. No matter, I'll find another one!"
"...Just give it up already," Abigail Ellsworth sighed, hugging her knees as she sat back against the wall. Just watching Titus attempt the impossible was tiring. "You've gone through at least three of those. What makes you think a fourth will work?"
"Confidence dear, confidence!" Titus declared. "If I found three, I can find three more!"
Titus was 6 feet tall. He was of African descent and wore his hair in long neon-colored braids, which included green and pink. He had vitiligo, with most spots around his nose and mouth, and some on his knuckles. He also had light green eyes, and a soft face, but nothing too sharp about him. He is also sort of lanky, with long arms and legs. To cover the legs, he wore big camo-printed ripped pants, fishnets on both the right and the top, and a strange… trippy shirt. He also wore Demonias.
It was a strange appearance which was ultimately perfected with that annoying streak of confidence on his face. Though, Abigail couldn't complain much. She had a similar style that most people would deem strange back at home.
She was of British descent and was a fairly pale girl with sharp brown eyes and typically, a smug expression on her face. Her medium length spiky hair that covered her left eye had been dyed with a light purple color and green streaks painted on the right side. She also wore a black crop top that was made to look like a short-sleeved shirt with black and white striped sleeves and a white collar. On her shirt was a red broken heart that dripped into the words "BROKEN DREAMS".
She also wore black jean short shorts, fishnet stockings, and a pair of black lace up platform boots that reached to just below her knees. As for accessories she had a black choker connected by a silver ring in the middle, various piercings in her right ear, a purple septum piercing and black fingernail paint.
She was basically your typical goth girl. And she didn't give a damn if she was just a typical goth girl either.
Listening to Titus speak however, she could only scoff at how hopeless his determination was.
"Yeah well, good luck with that," Abigail sighed. "If whoever put us here placed not only metal bars but a metal door like that as well, then clearly they don't want us leaving any time soon."
"Then what's the point with all of these nail files?" Titus declared, holding out yet another nail file.
"How the-" Abigail raised an eyebrow at how many nail files this man kept finding in the room. "I- I don't know. Maybe whoever was here last had a thing for nail files. I don't fucking know."
"Well I know!" Titus beamed. "This is just like an escape room, but a little extreme! These nail files are here to help us escape! So come help me cut this metal bar!"
"...Honestly, I'd rather just sit back," Abigail shook her head. "Your confidence is a little degrading for my taste."
"Aw, shame," Titus looked down a bit before continuing to try to hack at the metal bar. The nail file snapped. "Ah. There goes yet another nail file. Time to find more."
"Surely there can't be anymore-" Abigail muttered before…
"Found one!" Titus declared, holding yet another nail file.
"...I've been wrong before," Abigail sighed as she rested her head back on the hard concrete wall.
Cell #02
Ina Hamamura didn't need the help of Carter Franklin if she was to escape this cell of hers.
Like Abigail and Titus's in Cell #01, Cell #02 had a similar structure to it: Concrete walls with strange markings, though the markings had a floral pattern compared to the random squiggles in Cell #01. The bunk bed was similarly toppled over except there were no mattresses or pillows on. In other words, there was no bed, just the bunk. The only thing that was the same was the metal cell bars and the metal roll-up door that was trapping the two inside.
And while Ina Hamamura was actively looking around for an alternative way to escape, Carter Franklin trapped himself in the corner, his body shaking and fidgeting as he glanced at the unrecognizable room he was in.
Carter was 5'6 and had a thin, scrawny figure. Being half white and half African, he had warm, medium toned skin with a small smattering of freckles on his face. His dark brown hair was very thick and wavy and was just about… four or so inches in length. His hair was rather hard to tame, and thus, had strands going in all different directions.
His face was shaped like an oval. His cheekbones and forehead were wide, while his chin was more narrow. He had slightly bigger hazel eyes which peek out through his hair and wore black, trapezoid framed glasses. Carter also had a slightly wider nose, and medium sized lips.
He also didn't really have any muscle mass on him and wore an olive green, sleeveless sweater vest over a light gray button up with thin dark gray vertical stripes. The button up's collar is folded, and its tails go past the sweatervest's hem. One of his cuff sleeves is folded and the other is not. In the sweater vest's pocket is a small black covered notebook, a pen, and a pen and pencil used for quick notes. Carter also had slightly baggy blue jeans and brown loafers with gray socks.
"Calm down Carter," Carter told himself as he ran his hand through his hair before fidgeting with one of his cuff sleeves. "Calm down and think. Who did you piss off to make them throw a silly prank like this? Think. Think."
"You think this is some sort of prank?" Ina had been walking around, looking around the room for any sort of clue. "You're more clueless than I thought. This is obviously the work of demons."
"D-Demons?" Carter looked up, his entire body tense. "W-What do you m-men- I mean, m-mean?"
Carter had trouble even looking at Ina. She was a person. The only other person in the room with him, meaning he would have to stare and talk to her straight in the eyes right? But that was hard. That was just hard for Carter. How could he just randomly talk to her? Sure they were the only ones in the room but just… ugh! Why was this so hard?
He looked at her again but then looked away. He had trouble just maintaining at least two seconds of sight on her.
Ina on the other hand didn't seem to notice Carter struggling to look at her. Instead, she walked back and forth, trying to think of a way out.
She was Japanese and had sparkly blond hair in the style of a hime (princess) cut. This included cheek length sidelocks, the fringe reaching just above the eyes, covering the eyebrows and was grown long and straight at the back. Her eyes were colored with forest-like green. She also seemed to be of mixed heritage and her height was higher than average: 175cm. Ina was very blessed in the chest area, having Cs almost Ds. Despite that however, Ina was quite slim with a weight of 59.5 kilograms.
She wore a baggy light blue T-Shirt with the word "Freedom" printed in yellow at the center which was tucked into some charcoal black trousers. Over her shoulders was a similarly coloured black jacket that hung over her shoulders. She wore black laced boots. Attached to her trousers on the front right pocket was a small bell keychain.
"Don't play dumb," Ina crossed her arms, glaring at Carter, suspiciously. "If you're here, that must mean you yourself have been captured by the demons… or you're a demon yourself. Well? Which is it? Answer me!"
"H-Hey, l-look lady, I don't know about any d-demons!" Carter closed his eyes, his fidgets becoming more and more apparent. "I just know that I went outside to go somewhere and suddenly I'm here! That's all!"
"Am I supposed to believe that?" Ina looked at Carter as if what he had just said was the most pathetic lie she's ever heard. "If you are not a demon, then prove to me you aren't!"
"H-Huh?" Carter opened his eyes wide. "H-How the heck do I do that? You're crazy! Just my luck! I lose consciousness and I wake up here in a cell with a crazy lady talking about demons! Can my life get any worse than it already has?"
"Sure, it can!" Ina declared with a serious glance. "The demons would've decimated you and your family after they take over the entire world."
Carter gave a side-glance toward Ina before closing his eyes. This wasn't helping his anxiety over the situation. Not one bit.
"Please be a prank, please be a prank, please be a prank," Carter crossed his fingers as he repeated the phrase over and over again.
Cell #03
"Hey!" Haruto Walker yelled at the metal bars and the metal roll-up door that was similarly closed shut. "Open up! If this is some kind of sick joke, I'll personally fuck you up if you don't let us out right now!"
There was no response.
As expected.
But that didn't stop Haruto from slamming his fist into the cell bar. Like Cells #01 and #02, Cell #03 had that similar outline as well. Symbols on the wall, only these symbols look more like cracks in the wall if anything, and bunk bed that was toppled over, but this time the mattress and pillows were scattered about.
On one of the mattresses was Mimi Kazoo, who sat there smiling as she closed her eyes in thought. Haruto stared at her, a little bewildered but a little peeved by her reaction to the situation.
"You're smiling?" Haruto looked at her with a harsh stare. "What the fuck are you smiling about? Unless you're the one who trapped me in here!"
"Hm?" Mimi opened her eyes before giggling. "Would you like to hear a story?"
"A story?" Haruto asked before clenching his fist. "Are you fucking with me right now? Why the absolute fuck would I need to hear a goddamn story in a time like this?! And- And answer the fucking question!"
"You must relax," Mimi smiled sweetly toward Haruto. "Too much anger does no one any good. You should sit with me and listen to my story!"
Haruto looked at this strange girl.
Now that he was getting a closer look and not being blinded by the irritation he felt talking to her, he can only note that this girl was more than beyond strange.
Mimi Kazoo had her navy blue hair placed into two pigtails, with them reaching around her waist, and only leaving her bangs free on her forehead as well as some long strands of hair. She was a 5'3, and dark-skinned girl, considering she seemed to be of Argentinian descent and had olive eyes. She was pretty skinny as well, weighing only about 110 lbs. She had some freckles on her nose and cheeks and bright, white teeth with a small tooth gap in her two front teeth. Her big, bold eyelashes also gave her a very innocent look to her gaze.
But that was far from the strange part. The strange part was that Mimi wore a dark blue witch dress that goes to her ankles. Under her dress was a white turtleneck. On top of the neck part of her white shirt was a yellow collar with a silver brooch attached to it. Her black shoes were pointy, similar to those of an elf, with a small elevated heel. She also had some white ribbons that she braided in her hair. Finally, she had big, black, round glasses to complete her look.
"...Oi, Halloween isn't for another five months," Haruto declared. Mimi looked at him, confused and curious about what he meant. She didn't seem to mind her look.
But this girl should settle for a more normal look… like Haruto's look!
Haruto was a tall, fair-skinned young man standing at a solid height of 6 feet. He seemed to be half-British and half-Japanese, with nape-length, bleached blonde hair with cowlicks sticking out of his head and soft spikes, along with long bangs that hung over his sharp, light blue eyes. He possessed a V-shaped face with a sharp jawline. He could be quite handsome, but that feature is overshadowed by the almost permanent scowl on his face. He also had a rather lean body with a noticeably chiseled physique, reflecting someone who regularly exercises.
His outfit consisted of a black leather jacket over a plain white t-shirt and a dog tag necklace around his neck. His bottoms consisted of dark-blue skinny jeans and a pair of white converse jeans.
See? Normal!
"...I know Halloween isn't for another five months, but what's your point?" Mimi looked at Haruto, confused.
"You serious?" Haruto asked, glaring at Mimi. Oh this girl was totally fucking with him right now. "I'm talking about the shit you're wearing! You look like you just came out of Comic-Con, retard!"
"...Oh, my dress?" Mimi blinked, glancing at her clothes before innocently smiling toward him. "I don't know what you're talking about, but this was a very special dress given to me from the Good Witch of the North."
"Uh huh, and I'm the Bad Witch of the South's pet monkey," Haruto deadpanned. "Just get off that fucking mattress and help me find a way out of this dump!"
"Oh, but for a dungeon like this, I imagine we should sit here and wait for our knights in shining armor to come save us," Mimi bashfully stated.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Haruto glared at Mimi. "I'm not waiting for some gimp in a suit of armor! And I don't need saving! I got a life outside of this prison and I'm not going to waste it sitting around and listening to you spout the plot to the Wizard of Oz!"
Haruto punched the metal bars once more. They didn't budge.
"Son of a bitch!" Haruto yelled, as he continued to punch the bars.
"I wonder who my Prince Charming will be," Mimi mused to herself before giggling toward Haruto. "I wonder who his Prince Charming will be?"
"Fuck off!" Haruto yelled.
Cell #04
Jared Ceartas knew a prison cell when he saw one.
Lord knows how many creeps and sickos he had to put away when he was still a young cadet. Well, he was still young but no longer was he a cadet. He tapped on the cell bars and then later the metal roll-up door before noting the numbered padlock that was holding the cell shut. Then he gave a nod and turned to Holland Delaney, his partner in this cell.
Cell #04 didn't have much of a note besides the numbered lock. It was pretty the same as the previous cells, with random symbols on the wall, a bunk bed, and a sewer grate. Okay, the sewer grate was new but there didn't seem to be anything of note. It was just a hole on the bottom side of the wall, like a mousehole but barred up.
"Good news and bad news." Jared nodded. "Good news is, our organs are still intact. No scarring of any kind from where I've checked. Bad news is, we're locked in with a padlock and I don't know the combination."
Holland silently stared at the combination lock that Jared had been referring to.
"…It's strange," Holland mused, his emotion never changing. "Why would they put a combination lock for us to use?"
"Yeah, that is strange," Jared nodded ."You would think they would put it outside of the cell door."
"…Yeah that's true," Holland noted.
That was definitely not what he was referring to.
He eyed Jared, no emotion on his face but more so out of curiosity.
Jared had admiral coloured eyes and denim-coloured not-so messy hair that was hidden under a police hat with a diamond symbol embellished in it. He wore an almost full-on police uniform with the exception being his beige shirt and white gloves. He also wore black boots.
This was pretty much a clear contrast to what Holland himself looked like.
Holland was a young man with fair skin and shoulder length black hair with bangs long enough to fall over his eyes. He had heterochromia, giving him one light blue eye on the right and one dark, almost black but not quite, brown eye on the left. He wasn't super muscular but he was tall and well built enough to look intimidating. Holland also clipped his bangs back on top of his head with a hairclip making him out to be a bit of a pretty boy, if you will.
Holland also wore a white hoodie with red draw cords, the hoodie bearing an image of Kirby, and half colored joggers: the right being red and left white. He wore mismatched socks (white on right and red on left, opposite to the color pant leg) and he also wore simple black high tops with the laces always undone.
"...Have any ideas why they would put it in here?" Holland spoke after examining Jared for a moment.
"Huh?" Jared blinked. "What makes you think I would have any idea why a combination lock is here?"
"...You are a cop aren't you?" Holland asked, raising one eyebrow but his expression never-changing. "Or is that just a fashion statement?"
"Huh?" Jared blinked before realizing what he was wearing and also realizing just what he did for a living. "Oh. Right. I am a cop. But believe you me, never in my years of being an honorary cadet have I ever seen an exit practically spoon fed to a prisoner!"
"...So you know the combination?" Holland asked, looking away, seemingly uninterested. But that was just his expressionless face.
"I didn't say that!" Jared declared. "But if you think about it. Since it's one of those old combination locks, what's stopping us from trying every number that could work?"
"...It's a 4-digit lock," Holland told him. "The odds of getting the correct combination is 1/9999, but I suppose we have time to kill to figure this out."
"Then let's start with 0001," Jared gave a nod before fidgeting with the lock. He fidgeted it with it for a while as Holland watched him silently. Jared tried again, grunting and groaning as he tried to move the numbers. He tugged and pulled.
Nothing.
"I knew it was too good to be true!" Jared gritted his teeth. "Damn bastard gave us a lock that doesn't work!"
"...I suppose they anticipated we would punch in every combination," Holland noted. "The numbers just don't move?"
"No matter how hard I try, it's like the numbers are glued in place!" Jared exclaimed. "Glued to… 6660."
It was Holland's turn to look at the combination lock.
He was right.
6660.
Now that wasn't very reassuring at all.
Cell #05
"Please let us go!" Zuri Auraline pleaded as she banged on the metal roll-up door that was blocked off by the metal bars. "I'm sorry for whatever it is we did, but please! Please free us!"
"Alright, you need to calm down," Kanenoshin Amao looked at Zuri critically. "You're American, right?"
"W-What does that have to do with anything?" Zuri tried to wrestle the bars off, but with her physique, it was clear it wasn't going to work. "I just- I just want to be free!"
"Yeah, well American girl, you ain't gonna be free if you're just wailing like a banshee in a swamp," Kanenoshin shook his head. "Whoever put us here isn't really going to just set us free y'know."
"I-" Zuri stopped herself from debating more on the matter. He was right. Anything else she would say would be futile and might come across as, 'not the right thing to say when you're locked in a cell with someone else'.
Cell #05 had a noticeable sewer grate on the bottom of the wall that looked way too sturdy to even be pulled off. There were no bunk beds, therefore no bunks or beds and relatively the place was empty. No markings on the wall. Just a sewer grate and no other tools one could find to help them escape.
Zuri didn't even know how such a thing had happened.
She just opened her eyes and here she was: in a cell with Kanenoshin Amao who seemed to be judging her look, moreso her clothing. She didn't understand. Why was he staring at her like that?
She was a dark-skinned girl with a rather slim-looking body type. Starting with her head, she had dark black hair that was messily maintained, ending near her chin and being pulled back into a sharp-looking short ponytail. Two long strands on the side of her hair are dyed bright yellow, giving her hair an electric look. She had black eyebrows that are somewhat large but not noticeably so. She also had large green eyes that are spaced a bit apart from her small curved nose, a black beauty mark under her right eye and a sharp and well-defined chin, but slightly rough-looking ears that are darker at the tip.
For her body, she had a short neck connecting to her thin chest area, which isn't particularly developed at all. Her shoulders and arms were soft-looking, but her hands seem and even feel particularly rough, with her fingers being long. Back to her body, she didn't have many curves to her, as her hips and torso area flow seamlessly together to make a flat look. As for her legs, they are quite long and smooth, making their way down and connecting to dainty feet.
Zuri wore a black shirt with sleeves so long they cover the palms of her hand (though she still has her fingers and upper half palm exposed). On top of the black long sleeve is a green crop top that has two light green lines criss-crossing each other. The crop top left the lower part of the black long sleeve exposed and showed that it hung a bit near her waist, which also showed that she had light green shorts on with some tears on the fabric. Her legs are left exposed, though she also had some kind of black and green knee band on her left leg. She wore black boots, which also have a black and green color palette (the laces being green and the shoe mostly being dark with some green lines). Finally, she also wore a green string styled in a bow to tie her ponytail up.
"I think we should just sit back and wait until something happens," Kanenoshin suggested. "Oh but also get ready to attack whoever enters because this could be like one of those moments where the guards come in and take us out to be transported elsewhere. So let's be ready."
"G-Guards?" Zuri blinked. "There are… guards?"
"Of course!" Kanenoshin sat back against the wall. "Every classic scenario like this will have guards coming in to transport us to an obscure location!"
"Are you… sure about that?" Zuri asked Kanenoshin.
"What?" Kanenoshin looked at her, a more judgemental look on his face. "You don't believe me, American girl? This is basic stuff people should know back in the 1900s!"
"The- The 1900s?" Zuri stared at Kanenoshin.
"Oh right," Kanenoshin looked a little disappointed. "American girl is also a Gen Z prototype. Of course. "
"Um, I have a name," Zuri tapped her chin. Though harsh, she tried to say it as a correction and not like a brat. "It's Z-Zuri! Zuri Auraline!"
"What kind of Gen-Z name is that?" Kanenoshin asked Zuri before shaking his head. "You look more like a Sarah anyway!"
"S-Sarah?" Zuri blinked, confused. "Th-Then, what's your name, mister-"
"Kanenoshin Amao," Kanenoshin introduced himself. "But, you can call me Kane. Because Americans always mess up my full name for some odd reason."
"I see," Zuri twiddled her fingers. Should she compliment his name? No. With how hostile he's been with Gen Z and Americans, maybe she should keep quiet. So as such, all she could do was examine who Kanenoshin Amao was.
What was he wearing anyway?
From what Zuri could tell, Kane was of average height and slim to fit build. He had a short undercut and dark yellow eyes. There were dark glasses on his head and he wore a white shirt with a brown jacket, a brown vest, a dark gray tie, black suspenders, gray trousers with dark gray vertical stripes and brown loafers.
Something that made him look very… vintage.
"Anyway, plan is, we wait and strike when something happens," Kane ordered Zuri. "You got that American girl?"
"Um, my name is Zuri," Zuri repeated, a little quiet.
"That's what I said isn't it?" Kane blinked toward Zuri before slowly shaking his head and mumbling to himself. "Typical Gen Zers."
Zuri sat down a few meters away from Kane.
Yeah, she was going to have to keep quiet around this man. He didn't seem too fond of her. Zuri had a feeling.
After all, from what she heard, she was a typical Gen Zer.
Cell #06
Now that's a man!
Maggie LaDroubi couldn't help but stare as Barracuda tried to pry the metal bars apart with his bare hands. She eyed his appearance, intrigued and curious.
Barracuda was a gigantic man of Russian descent. Being 6'8 and 300 pounds made him out to be as large as a refrigerator. He had short, bright red hair with a middle part, as well as eyebrows and mutton chops to match. Across his face was a scar, starting from his nose to his right cheek. Sharp emerald green eyes are behind some red, square glasses. He was also very broad: with large shoulders and generally very muscular, much like a bear if you will.
He wore a short-sleeved, military green shirt with camo pants and black military boots. He also wore a metal chain and his outfit seemed to be generally military-based.
"No good," Barracuda shook his head. "These bars won't bend no matter how hard I try."
"I do know something else that bends," Maggie licked her lips as she glanced down at herself and then back toward Barracuda's muscular arms. "Unfortunately, it might need a little assistance…"
"Oh yeah?" Barracuda turned to Maggie. "What's that?"
Maggie merely sat on the mattress, extending her legs almost in a revealing way. Barracuda stared at this. He didn't seem fazed or rather, he was confused on what she was doing.
Maggie was of Lebanese descent and had dark brown hair braided into a long ponytail that reached down to her shoulders. She had an hourglass figure that defined her borderline perfection in beauty. Her skin was light olive, almost matching her brown, almond-shaped eyes. In addition, she wore diamond stud earrings and a decent amount of makeup.
She wore a dark purple crop-top that had a red rose design embedded in the center. Along with that was the fanciest blue jeans one can find and black low heels.
She licked her lips once more and bashed her eyes toward the giant Russian man.
"You're looking at it sweetheart," Maggie gave a sly look.
"Sw-Sweetheart?" Barracuda blinked before beaming with pride. "Heh! Thank you! But I can't be a sweetheart if I haven't found a way for us to escape just yet!"
Maggie raised an eyebrow. It seemed like he didn't seem to understand her attempts at flirting. But at the same time, he did have a point about needing to escape. Maggie got up from the mattress on the ground.
Compared to the previous Cells, Cell #06 was a cell with no markings on the wall but plenty of mattress and pillows missing their bunks. So essentially it was all bed and no bunk. Also to note was a keyhole visible on their cell door, something other Cells lacked.
"How about that keyhole over there," Maggie gestured toward the keyhole on the cell door. "Maybe your beautiful muscles won't be able to get us out. But if we find the key…"
"Then we'll be able to get out!" Barracuda grinned and nodded. "Good idea! Oh, and the other door after that door, I can easily punch through, right?"
"That's what I'm counting on," Maggie gave a smile, feeling a slight tingling sensation when the words 'keyhole' and 'punch' were said.
"We got a working plan!" Barracuda grinned. "Now, if we were keys, where would we be?"
"Well, it's not going to be lying on the floor so unless the key is in one of the mattresses or pillows," Maggie gave a shrug before Barracuda hauled a mattress into his arms.
"You're right!" Barracuda exclaimed. "Yeah! This is familiar stuff! Yes! The keys would definitely have to be in the mattress!"
"Then let's get looking," Maggie took the time to admire just how effortlessly Barracuda was lifting the mattress, who on the other hand was getting ready to tear it in half. "You check the mattresses, I'll check the pillows."
"Good plan!" Barracuda grinned as prepared to tear through fabrics and loads of whatever mattresses were filled with. "Gah! We make such a great team!"
"Oh and I think we'll make something better in the near future," Maggie winked toward Barracuda.
Barracuda stopped what he was doing and stared at her.
"Oh yeah?" Barracuda glanced at Maggie. "What's that?"
"Oh nevermind," Maggie gave a sly chuckle.
Barracuda didn't know it, but she knew exactly where she was going with that train of thought.
Cell #07
Cassandra Mura stared at the sewer grate on the side of the wall.
Similar to Cell #05, the cell had a sewer grate. However, unlike Cell #05, there were arrows pointing to the inside of the grate and the bunk bed was practically glued to the side of the wall. Cassandra should know. She tried pulling it earlier.
"I'm hungry," was the first thing Mayu Mashiro said as she looked around the room, a slightly bored look on her face. "I can go for some ramen, some burgers, some chicken, some pie…"
"Will you please stop," Cassandra sighed in frustration over Mayu's words.
Cassandra was a fairly slim girl with a light skin tone and fair complexion, and long black hair. She had light blue eyes and seemed to be Asian American.
She wore a black, unzipped sweater over a red blouse, with black jeans and black shoes. She also wore a blue bead bracelet on her left arm.
And she also definitely wasn't with having to be in a cell with a prestigious-looking pomp like Mayu Mashiro.
Mayu Mashiro had waist-length brown hair with square bangs hanging over her eyebrows. Her eyes were ruby-red, and she stood to be around 5 feet. She was rather pretty, what with a beauty mark under her right eye. She was also slightly chubby, and she had D-cups.
She wore a patriarch purple corset dress and black lace wedding gauntlet, a glove with a finger loop. For footwear, she wore thigh high socks and black mary jane heel-shoes. She also wore long butterfly hair clips to tie her hair into pigtails.
"Oh, what's wrong?" Mayu gave a look toward Cassandra. "Was I bothering you with talks of food that only a queen like me can enjoy?"
"Um, yes, you were," Cassandra rolled her eyes. "And news flash princess, we're in a cell. So all that food you're thinking about, doesn't exist anyway."
"Hm," Mayu tapped her chin in thought as she stared at Cassandra, eyeing her rather simple appearance. "I can understand why I was brought here. But why you?"
"Excuse me?" Cassandra turned to face Mayu. "But what is that supposed to mean?"
"Well, I'm obviously very important as a person and figure in society," Mayu clapped her hands with a smile. "But you don't even look nearly as important as I do. In fact, you look like an average-of-the-mill city girl with an unimportant family."
Cassandra quickly stomped towards her, an expression on her face telling Mayu that she wasn't amused by her jabs.
"Say that again," Cassandra challenged.
"Hmm?" Mayu blinked before clapping her fingers together and looking to the ceiling. "Which part? The part that you're not important? Or that you're just an average girl from an average family?"
"Alright, fuck you bitch," Cassandra clenched her fist before turning back and focusing more on what was inside the sewer grate. "When I escape here, I'm leaving you behind for whoever put us here. Sincerely hope it's a fucking creep who'll do all kinds of nasty shit to you."
"And you're going to escape how?" Mayu perked her head with a small smirk.
"Like I'm going to tell you," Cassandra growled. "I mean it. I'm high-tailing my way to freedom and leaving your ass behind."
"How selfish," Mayu shook her head. "You should be helping me get out too. After all, I do come from a very powerful family."
"Yeah and I don't give a shit," Cassandra tried to mess with the grate to see if it was loose. "So go die in here for all I care. I'm leaving this place alone."
Alone.
This entire interaction just proved why she stuck to it alone. And with Mayu Mashiro in here, she was grateful that she was going to be going at it alone…
Cell #08
Arthur Kingston rubbed his chin as he noted the markings on the wall.
Out of all the cells, Cell #08 was the most natural looking prison cell there was. There wasn't only the bunk bed, but the markings on the wall included tally marks. There was a small window that was also barred up but it was higher up on the ceiling. However, no light seemed to be shining through the window. And of course, the metal barred cell door and the roll-up door that covered up said bars.
Being in a cell was definitely a first for Arthur. Trying to escape a cell with an accomplice on the other hand... was also a first.
"Ugh, this is so hard to escape from," Yuumi Kizuchi pouted as she tossed herself onto the bunk bed's mattress.
"Prison cells aren't usually meant to be easy to escape from," Arthur shook his head toward Yuumi. "Now quit lounging around. We need to find some sort of clue that could potentially point to our freedom."
"But why?" Yuumi frowned. "Whoever put us here is mean! How can I explore the world if the world is just one tiny room?"
"Well you can escape the tiny room if you quit lounging around and help look for clues," Arthur deadpanned toward Yuumi.
Arthur didn't want to know how he got put into this mess.
He was Arthur Kingston. And one of the first things that can clue you into his attitude is the chin-length dark blue hair that covered a good portion of his forehead and even eyes. Speaking of which, he's had bright yellow eyes that reinforce the seriousness his entire body gave off. He had pale skin which also conveniently matched the snow-like colors on his body. His body was lean and looked to be quite agile whilst having strong enough non-bulky arms and legs. He also had a diamond-shaped face, stood at the height of 6 feet and 6 inches, weighed about 190 pounds, and when putting all this together he gave off a cold but focused aura.
He wore a white suit with a black shirt seen underneath it which also had a white tie on it. His long black plants lead down his white shoes which have a blue outer sole. Needless to say, the clothing made him look quite proper.
"...Blast," Arthur sighed as he stared at the tally marks.
"What?" Yuumi looked up from the bed, curiously.
"Nothing," Arthur stated. "I assumed the tally marks meant something given the way they were arranged."
"Let me see!" Yuumi hopped off the bunk bed and scampered toward where Arthur was looking.
The tally marks that Arthur referred to included three sectors of lines that were arranged like a sentence. There were three tally marks on the first one, five tally marks next to that, and one tally mark on the third.
"Maybe it's a secret code of some kind!" Yuumi declared, looking proud at figuring out something so simple.
"...To what?" Arthur coldly stared at her before shaking his head. "There's no safe or anything like that in this room."
"Hey, but you said to find clues and I found this clue and said what I thought the clue meant!" Yuumi looked down.
"...Um, I found the clue but that's far from the point," Arthur placed his hand over his forehead as he shook his head.
Arthur looked back up toward Yuumi. From the time he's spent with her in the room (however long that was), he gathered that she was kind of… slow. He glanced at her appearance.
Yuumi was a young girl with rosy tanned skin, a small build and round, bright sky blue eyes. Her tousled honey blonde hair is tied into low pigtails by thin dark blue hair ties.
She wore a light blue and white shirt with a white collar. The side of her shirt is light blue with white in the middle. The collar is accented with blue and yellow. Between the collars, there were two blue lines with a blue flower beneath them. She wore a red tie, with a gold line at the end and a gold buckle at the top. Her shirt had six blue buttons, and on the right of her shirt, there was a blue rosette accented with light blue and white. The ribbons of the rosette were light blue, and in the rosette was a golden music note. Yuumi's sleeve cuffs were dark blue and accented with white. She wore a red, white, and blue belt with a golden buckle on top of his shirt. Her pants were white. She wore brown boots with golden shoelaces. Her boots have dark brown parts on the side and on the tip of her boots. Yuumi also wore a white hat, and similar to her belt, the hat band is red, white, and blue with a gold buckle. Attached to her hat are two blue ribbons with a vertical red and white line on the side.
She also had a companion toy with her that looked similar to a sailor penguin which she never let go of, no matter how tight she held it close to her.
Perhaps she was nervous about their situation?
Arthur shook his head. This really wasn't something he should care much about. He placed one hand in his pocket and trailed his hand against the wall, hoping to find something off on the walls.
"What are you doing?" Yuumi perked her head curiously.
"Doing what I said I would be doing," Arthur merely stated. "Looking for clues."
"But we found a clue already!" Yuumi exclaimed.
"A clue that has no relevance to our situation," Arthur sighed. "So best we find something else, or we'll be stuck here for the rest of our lives."
Yuumi gasped.
"I don't want to be stuck here for the rest of our lives!" Yuumi exclaimed.
"Then help look for clues," Arthur stared at Yuumi. "And if you do, then I… will give you a treat. Or something."
"Oh, I like treats!" Yuumi beamed. "You're really kind Mister!"
Mister? Arthur was silent.
Now that just made him feel old.
...
Then it opened...
"It… opened," Arthur breathlessly stated. His eyes widened.
The roll-up doors had opened up, revealing what was beyond the cell bars that still contained Yuumi and him inside. And to his surprise, it revealed everyone else in their respective cells.
All nine cells. One had yet to open but there was everyone else. Two people in each cell looked just as confused on what was happening or why there were others in the same predicament. There was a metal vault in between two of the cells and in the middle of the room was a red button encased in a small glass dome. At first, everyone stood in a collective silence, but ultimately the silence was broken by Haruto, who had gone back to banging on the cell bars.
"Hey!" Haruto exclaimed. "Open the fuck up right now or I swear to Christ-"
"Hey, you know, just because those doors opened doesn't mean it makes those cell bars weaker," Abigail retorted in slight annoyance.
"Then what the fuck am I supposed to go and do huh?!" Haruto growled. "Just wait here and die?!"
"How about you go and calm down, alright?" Jared looked at Haruto, a serious expression on his face.
"Oh yeah?" Haruto glared at Jared, specifically at his appearance. "And what the fuck are you supposed to be? A cop?"
"No shit dumbass," Cassandra crossed her arms, looking at Jared with slight distaste but even more distaste for how much of a ruckus Haruto was causing. "Even a baby could tell he's a cop."
"But if he's a cop, he should know about why we're here right?" Yuumi raised her hand as a suggestion.
"Yes, of course," Titus nodded with a smile. "A cop would know the ins and outs of a prison cell! We're saved!"
Jared looked at Titus's happy face before scratching the back of his neck.
"Erm, not exactly," Jared also noted just how psychedelically odd Titus looked but who was he to judge? "I'm as in the dark as the rest of you."
"S-So we're not going to be r-rescued?!" Carter exclaimed, wide-eyed in shock.
"No, of course we're going to be rescued," Jared assured Carter. "However long we may have been stuck here, the police force will be looking for us right away. I can promise you that."
"Th-Think happy thoughts, Carter," Carter tried to take in deep breaths. "We will be rescued. J-Just like the nice officer said."
"So that's it then?" Ina crossed her arms, her focus shifting toward Jared. "We're going to trust the police to free us? Do they even know where to look?"
"Oh um…" Jared blinked.
"They'll be trying to look for us but I doubt they'll get here until we've relatively starved to death," Arthur sighed.
"S-Starve?!" Carter exclaimed.
"Oh my, I don't want to starve," Mayu pouted.
"It's so like those demons to waste time," Ina grumbled. "Can't even do their jobs right."
"A-And there you go with that demon talk again…" Carter sighed.
"Either case, I don't want to starve!" Mayu exclaimed.
"You said that already," Cassandra frowned. She was definitely not happy sharing the same cell with this girl.
"What we need to do is try to find a way out," Kane took charge, stepping forward to the cell bars. "Has anyone found any clues to how we can escape from these cells?"
"This guy found like nine nail filers," Abigail deadpanned, pointing her thumb back at Titus. "Does that count as a clue?"
"I wouldn't say so," Maggie frowned. "That sounds way too excessive if you ask me."
"Our cell has a 4-digit combination lock," Jared tugged on the combination lock.
Again. It didn't budge.
"Did you try all the numbers from 1 to 9999?" Yuumi asked.
"Well, we were going to but the numbers won't budge," Jared stated. "It's just stuck on 6660."
"The demon number," Ina narrowed her eyes.
"Plus a zero," Carter pointed out.
"Kane and I's room have a sewer grate," Zuri pointed out, rubbing her arms. "If that counts as a clue…"
"Well, I wouldn't see why it would be," Jared noted. "We have a sewer grate in our room as well."
"Yeah, we got one too," Cassandra crossed her arms. "Only our wall has an arrow pointing to it for some reason."
"Could that be a clue?" Yuumi perked her head, curiously.
"Maybe," Titus smiled. "We have markings on our wall too!"
"Us too," Arthur nodded. "But, about those sewer grates… We don't have anything like that. Just a barred up window but it doesn't seem to lead to the outside."
Holland was silent. His mind was grasping everything that the prisoners were saying. Sewer grates? Combination lock. Markings on the wall? Clues? Arrows? To him, this was beginning to sound like-
A noise forced everyone to quiet down. Holland had to look up, his thoughts interrupted but his expression never changing since he was first introduced.
The metal vault between Cell #04 and Cell #05 had opened, allowing a man to enter the chamber of cells.
The man had worn what seemed to be a demonic mask and had planted himself firmly, standing in front of them right next to the button within the glass dome. He held out his single-horned cane. The cane was corroding, with its original coloration being gold. The horn on the cane looked devilish. It was sharp and it protruded from the side and pointed upwards.
The mask itself looked like it had two separate masks connected to one another, functioning as a helmet that covered the man's entire head. The mask itself had four horns. The front of the mask was a V-shaped mask that covered the man's entire face and had two horns that curved to the top. The right horn however was chipped off and there were visible cracks on the right side of the mask. A more visible cracked line trailed from the top of his head down to the side of the mask's chin, even crossing over a red horizontal, jagged eye. The other eye was also red but did not share the horizontal and jagged look as the right. Behind the front mask were two other horns protruding from the side that also curved up.
The masked man also wore a black suit with a red tie and black pants. However, the dark colors of his clothing seem rather jaded and smoky. Underneath his black suit was a white collared shirt that was noticeably dirtied and looked more black than white, but still one could tell its coloring used to be white. The man also wore black gloves and black leather laced shoes.
The vault had closed, paving way for everyone to express their opinions toward the masked man.
"I fucking knew it!" Ina was first. "A fucking demon trapped us here!"
"Th-The demon was real?!" Carter exclaimed.
"Are you the fucker that trapped us here?!" Haruto attempted to wrestle off the cell bars. "Get the fuck over here so I can smash that ridiculous mask into pieces!"
"He looks cool," Mimi mused.
"You shut the fuck up!" Haruto exclaimed.
"...How troublesome, how noisy," the masked man shook his head. "You're trapped in a chamber that could very well be your doom. Yet you fret about as if you have control over the situation you're in. Perhaps that's what you were all raised to believe in. That you have control over your own life just because of your… talents."
"...Talents…" Arthur mused, staring at the masked man.
"Um, m-my mess is kind of a life now- I-I mean, life is kind of a mess, but, you, yeah you um," Carter was stammering too much. He failed to make his sentence work.
"What do you want from us?" Barracuda asked, unamused by the masked man's words.
"...I want to see false idols crumble," the masked man stated. "I want to see the world purged of the gifted. I want to see all of you perish…"
"What the fuck?!" Haruto looked bewildered by his last comment.
"Th-That's not fair!" Zuri ran toward her cell door in fear. "I… We've never done anything to you! Why are we being perished for something we didn't do?"
"Yeah man, we don't even know who you are," Abigail frowned.
"Who even are you?!" Maggie crossed her arms. "You're seriously pissing me off."
"...My name is White Collar," the man's mask curled into a sinister grin, with the grin itself resembling what you would expect from a sinister looking jack-o-lantern. Sharpened lips that extended itself to the upper parts of his cheek, the man's distorted British accent continued to echo off through the group's ears. "And it's true. You didn't do anything to me personally. But your very existence is an inconsistency to the world's balance."
"What are you talking about?" Kane gritted his teeth.
Titus looked at White Collar. He was no longer smiling. He hadn't been for the past few minutes. This entire situation was worse than he had originally thought. So much for an escape room!
"Keh," White Collar stifled a chuckle. "You really don't know, do you? Or are you just feigning ignorance? Maybe you've forgotten. Or maybe it's something else all entirely. Whatever the case may be, I'm having a change of heart. It would be quite unfair if I just terminated you all, wouldn't you say?"
"How are you going to terminate us all, demon?!" Ina asked with hatred in her voice. "There's… 16 of us and 1 of you!"
Ina had to pause to count for a moment.
"16 yes, but you're all separated in prison cells," White Collar gave a nasty demented grin. "Realistically, it would be quite easy to terminate you two by two. But realize that I'm giving you all a chance to live and rediscover your sins."
"Sins," Maggie clenched her fist as she looked away.
"I haven't done anything sinful," Jared looked away.
"I… Have I done something wrong?" Yuumi blinked, looking a little scared and confused.
"What's the chance to live?" Arthur crossed his arms, serious.
"A very simple task," White Collar answered. "All you have to do is have someone, anyone, escape from your cell and hit this red button."
White Collar gestured to the red button encased in glass. He tapped on it with his cane which made a small clink sound.
"When you do, all the cell doors will automatically open, and you will be free," White Collar explained. "It's as simple as that."
"And how do we escape?" Mimi looked toward the demon man in curiosity.
"That is entirely up to you," White Collar answered. "I've set in stone the puzzle pieces. All you have to do is piece them together. However, you have 30 minutes. 30 minutes before you lose your chance to live."
"We have 30 minutes to escape or else we die," Barracuda looked away.
"This is a twisted escape room man," Titus looked a little fearful.
"Good luck," White Collar's mask grinned. The grin looked as if he was hoping they would fail. And that grin was all they could focus on before he reopened the vault and exited through it. Then the vault closed, sealing itself shut.
No one said anything. No one until Carter spoke up, his mind racing with different emotions: fear, stress, and despair.
"Th-This has to be a sick joke," Carter hugged himself tightly. "Th-This has got to be a c-crazy dream. Y-Yeah, any second now, I'll wake up back in bed, safe and sound!"
"Hey dickhead," Haruto growled. "Whatever shit you're spouting isn't helping us get outta here. Now how the hell are we gonna get outta here?"
"By pressing the red button, just like what Mr. Collar said," Yuumi raised her hand with a smile.
"Yeah, I knew that dumbass, but how?" Haruto crossed his arms.
How? Some people had ideas. But from Jared's point of view, it looked like Holland had a keen idea on how they were going to get out of the cells. Holland had been silent throughout White Collar's introduction and Jared couldn't help but notice that he had been thinking to himself for a while now.
He reached out his hand.
"Hey, you got some sort of idea right?" Jared asked Holland.
Holland looked surprised, albeit an emotionless surprise, that Jared had suddenly reached out to him. He gave a nod.
"This entire chamber," Holland rubbed his chin. "This entire chance White Collar's giving us. It's like some sort of game. Like what the guy with the trippy appearance said, this is a twisted kind of escape room."
Of course, he was referring to Titus, who pointed to himself, silently asking if Holland was referring to himself.
"But why put us in an escape room?" Maggie asked, hand on her hip. "I mean. What kind of psycho would imprison someone and then give them a chance to escape their imprisonment by using their brains?"
"...I don't know," Holland shook his head.
"What matters is that we escape," Arthur said, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "We can focus on the why after."
"Then where do we start?" Cassandra asked, crossing her arms.
"Well, like he said, if this is a form of escape room, then there should be clues at our disposal that can allow us to escape," Arthur explained.
"He did… say something like that earlier," Zuri gave a nod.
"That is entirely up to you," White Collar answered. "I've set the puzzle pieces in stone. All you have to do is piece them together."
"And we've already gone over the clues," Holland continued, looking away. "We have a combination lock in our cell. So if we can find the code…"
"But don't you remember?" Jared blinked. "The combination lock is-"
Jared grabbed the combination lock and scrolled through the numbers. He stopped. He scrolled through the numbers? He glanced at the numbers he scrolled through. They went from 6660 to 3560.
"It's… no longer stuck?" Jared widened his eyes. "Then that means-"
"The combination lock was set to function when the game would start," Mayu concluded. "This man really planned out everything. I am impressed."
"That means he was always going to give us a chance to escape!" Titus smiled. "I knew such a man couldn't be that evil!"
"We still have less than 30 minutes to get out before we all die somehow," Haruto glared at Titus. "Now who the hell here's got a code that we can use for that combination lock?"
"Let's just try 0001 all the way to 9999!" Yuumi declared with a raise of her hand. "It will have to be one of those numbers!"
"We don't have the time for that!" Kane clenched his fist. "We'll be long dead before we even reach the 2000s!"
"...The tally marks," Arthur widened his eyes.
"Oh?" Mayu perked her head.
"Yes, of course!" Arthur gave a nod and a smile, finally understanding. "We have tally marks here in our cell. Perhaps that might be the code we are looking for."
"Oh yeah!" Yuumi smiled. "I forgot all about that!"
"Well hurry up man!" Barracuda called out. "What are the numbers?!"
"...There are three tally marks for the first, five tally marks for the second, and one tally mark for the last," Arthur had gone over to the wall to read the tally marks.
"So 351," Jared gave a smile, went to plug in the numbers, and forgot it was a 4-digit combination lock. "Wait. What about the last number?"
"We only have the 3 numbers," Arthur crossed his arms as he glanced back at the wall. "If there was a fourth, I would've mentioned it already."
"So… it's not for the numbered lock?" Mimi asked.
"Fuck!" Haruto cursed. "So much for the lead!"
"...No wait," Holland shook his head. "It's not over yet. Try 3510."
Jared looked at Holland. Although the guy hadn't shown much expression throughout their time together, it really did seem like he knew what he was getting at. So Jared did as he was told and-
Click.
"It unlocked!" Jared cried out in glee. "You are a certified genius!"
"...It was just a simple trick," Holland looked away.
"Of course," Arthur nodded in agreement. "Since there were no tally marks for the fourth, the answer would have had to be 0. We almost faltered there a bit but I'm glad we were able to have someone catch that as quickly as we needed."
He smiled toward Holland who didn't seem to care or mind.
"Open the door now," Maggie smiled. "We're saved!"
"On it!" Jared smiled as he tossed the lock to the side. He pushed the cell door and it opened up no problem.
The collective relief from everyone echoed throughout the room. Cheers and smiles were made. They were saved! Now all the two had to do was press the red button and-
A loud sound of something draining rumbled throughout the chamber. The cheers and smiles were quickly replaced by concerns and confusion. The room shook. Everyone looked around. Eventually, only a couple of people ended up figuring out where the source of the noise was coming from: the sewer grates.
Whatever was coming out from the drain was coming out quickly. Something was slowly bubbling out of the drain. A liquid. Water.
Water. Water?!
"Whoa, what the flank?!" Kane exclaimed.
"It's just a little water," Cassandra raised an eyebrow as she stared at the sewer grates blowing out water with a small rush.
That's when Yuumi cried out.
"Ah!" Yuumi exclaimed. "There's-"
The water that was spewing out in Cell #08 was rushing far from the window that seemed to lead nowhere. Now they knew where it led: water and lots of it. Not only that, but the ceiling was spouting water into the middle of the room, just inches away from the glass dome covering the red button.
"Okay, this is a lot more water than I would like there to be," Cassandra bit her lip as she watched the water slowly rise up to her ankles.
"What's with all the water?!" Haruto exclaimed.
"It must be what Collar was talking about," Arthur deduced. "We have 30 minutes to get out of here, otherwise-"
"The room will fill up with water and kill us all," Mayu held her hands together, unhappy with how much water was leaking through into the cells. .
"W-We're going to drown?!" Yuumi asked, her body soaked from the rush of water splashing down. For the first time, she looked horrified by what was going to happen to her. She hugged herself, cornering herself away from where the rush of water was. "No no no no."
"Everyone calm down!" Jared exclaimed as he felt the water rise from his ankles to higher up his ankles. "There's no need to worry! The button is within arms reach. All we have to do is just press the button and then we'll be home scot-free!"
"Then go press the button already!" Maggie exclaimed.
"Right!" Jared nodded before rushing toward the glass dome with the button. He opened- He… attempted to open the glass dome. That's when he stopped and stared. "Um, okay. Slight problem."
"What is it?" Kane asked.
"The glass dome won't open," Jared began to sweat nervously. "It's locked. We need a key to get it opened."
"But… I don't think any of us ended up finding a key," Zuri nervously noted.
"Shit!" Barracuda exclaimed, clutching his head in slight fear. "Are we screwed?!"
"Not if we continue to find more clues," Arthur rubbed his chin with a frown. "If the code for the combination lock was on the walls, then check the walls for any markings of any kind!"
"We have flowers on the wall!" Ina called out from Cell #02. "How is that going to help?"
"Maybe splash some water on it," Mimi suggested. "Flowers like water!"
Ina splashed some water on the markings on the wall.
Now the wall was wetter.
"It didn't work!" Ina exclaimed.
"Maybe you need to draw water on the drawing of the flowers?" Mimi noted in slight confusion.
"Hey, this average girl found arrows pointing to our sewer grate!" Mayu pointed to Cassandra. She later pointed to the arrows as if people could see where she was pointing. "That's definitely a clue!"
"Don't call me an average girl, bitch!" Cassandra glared at Mayu.
"Enough," Abigail frowned as she tried to navigate through the water. "Lives are on the line. What's in the grate?"
Cassandra went to check. She didn't want to say it herself but she had spent her time checking how to open the grate that she never checked what was actually inside the grate. She felt through the rushing water until finally she felt something metallic. Something that could be of use.
Then with a tug, with help from the water, Cassandra pulled out what seemed to be a screwdriver.
"Well, there's a screwdriver in here but don't know how useful this will be," Cassandra frowned. One would have hoped it was a key. No. She would've hoped it was a key so she could finally leave whatever this sick teamwork exercise was.
"What are we supposed to use with a screwdriver?" Zuri looked even more worried now. The water was reaching up to her knees. The more time they waited around confused, the more the water was going to rise. And the screwdriver could be for anything!
"Maybe we have to use the screwdriver as a key!" Barracuda suggested.
"Screwdrivers don't work like that," Kane frowned toward Barracuda. "Not in any generation I've seen anyway!"
"Please, the only thing screwdrivers should be used for is obviously the sewer grates right?" Mayu climbed on top of the bunk bed. "So get to it! Unscrew the sewer grates, average girl!"
"If we weren't all about to die, I would shove this into your eye," Cassandra grumbled as she unscrewed the sewer grate that was spewing out all of the water into their cell. The lid came off. But nothing happened except that more water began to rush out. "Shit! Nice suggestion dumbass! Now we've got more water rushing in here!"
"Um, I only suggested it," Mayu held the bed with a huff. "You're the one who actually did it."
"You're the bitch who ordered me to do it!" Cassandra yelled, gripping the screwdriver tightly.
"Enough!" Arthur yelled from his cell. "We're losing time. Hand the screwdriver to the police officer and let him pass the screwdriver to whoever has a sewer grate!"
"But the water-" Carter exclaimed.
"There's no time to argue," Arthur urged. "My cellmate here is hyperventilating and we're nearing death. Those sewer grates are our best option of finding anything that could help us."
Hearing this, Cassandra didn't have to think twice to wade through the water in order to hand Jared the screwdriver. Once the officer received the screwdriver, he attempted to fit it in the keyhole for the glass dome. Now that he got closure that it for sure didn't work, he looked around.
"Alright, now who here has sewer grates?" Jared asked.
"Our cell does!" Zuri raised her hand.
"We did too but we got a bunch of water," Mayu shrugged.
"Alright, who else?" Jared asked, looking around.
After a moment of silence, Holland tapped Jared on the shoulder, gesturing him to the sewer grate that was spewing out water from the cell they had left.
"Oh, right!" Jared blinked. "We'll try ours first!"
Jared hurriedly sped through the water, attempting to fight through the rushing and rising water in order to reach the sewer grate. Once he made it, he unscrewed the screws. Was there a key? Well, no. But there was more water that ended up blasting him in the face.
"Did you find the key?" Maggie called out from her cell.
Jared coughed out the water that had so rudely smacked him in the face. He was completely drenched. Who wouldn't be at this point? The releasing of that grate made the water rise up to the waist. Gripping onto the screwdriver, he made his way back to the button and panted.
"Nope, but I did find more water," Jared groaned.
"Hey you!" Ina glared at Arthur. "Are you trying to get us to drown quicker?! We're just damning ourselves for every sewer grate we open up!"
Arthur remained silent. It was that or nothing at all. But he didn't have time to look down on himself. There had to be another clue! Something else they were missing!
"We have a sewer grate here too," Zuri reminded Jared. "Maybe we can try opening that up."
"N-No!" Carter cried out. "W-We… Th-That's too much of a risk at this point!"
"What choice do we have?" Kane crossed his arms.
Jared didn't even need to think twice about this banter. He was already making his way to deliver the screwdriver. Once Zuri received the screwdriver, she hurried past Kane and unscrewed the screws- except one because by the time she got rid of the third, water shot out, surprising her and knocking the screwdriver into the water.
"Ah!" Zuri exclaimed. "The- The- The screwdriver!"
"Ugh, you lost it?!" Mayu cried out, annoyed.
"You fangled Americans!" Kane clutched his head in aggravation.
"I-I'm sorry!" Zuri quickly apologized. "I didn't expect that much water to come flowing out! I'll go get it back! I swear!"
"Bitch, if you don't find it soon, I will drag you to hell with me when we die!" Haruto gripped the cell bars tightly.
"I-I'm sorry, p-please just give me a moment!" Zuri was terrified. Their entire escape was botched because of this. They were all going to die. And it was all her fault.
"Wait!" Kane widened his eyes. "Gen Zer! Look! There's something sticking out of the grate!"
Zuri was already trying to hold her breath but when she saw something gleaming from the grate, she hesitantly tried to reach for it. It looked like that once the grate had opened, it had rushed to the open and got snagged between the lid and the wall it was connected to.
But what was it?
Zuri felt it. She took it. She raised it high in the air.
"It's a key!" Kane widened his eyes. "Oh! We're saved! We're saved!"
"Yes!" Arthur beamed proudly. Though there was a hint of a smirk directed toward Ina, the person who had doubted his assumptions.
"Hurry up and hand it to the cop now!" Mayu ordered.
"Girl, you need a chill pill!" Titus told Mayu as he scratched his wet hair.
"I don't blame her," Abigail looked toward Titus. "We are all about to die…"
Zuri pushed through the rushing water and held out the key for Jared to take. Once he took it, he raced toward the button, trying his best to fight through the water. Then he shoved the key into the keyhole and turned. The glass case popped off and the button was finally exposed.
"Yes!" Jared grinned in success.
The water had reached his waist. But now, it will be all over. With a slam of his fist on the button, every cell bar door opened. All except one. Cell #06 was still closed, locking Maggie and Barracuda inside. Even worse, the water wasn't stopping any time soon.
"Hey, what gives?!" Maggie exclaimed.
"Ah- Someone get us out!" Barracuda exclaimed, pulling on the cell bars.
"What- Wasn't the button supposed to open all of the doors?" Carter bit his finger in shock.
"The vault isn't opening either!" Cassandra gritted her teeth. "White Collar. That bastard! That piece of shit lied to us! We were always going to die here!"
"That can't be true," Zuri looked like she was about to faint. Of course, fainting in all this water would be troublesome so she didn't.
Jared was helping Yuumi swim to the vault. Then he moved back to help with the cell doors.
"We must be missing something," Jared declared. "What's different about your cells compared to the rest of ours?"
"Maybe they have a combination lock as well," Mimi spoke up after a while of silence as she swam toward the vault.
"If we did, we would've said something a while ago," Maggie gave an annoyed look toward Mimi.
"We don't have anything of note in the cell," Barracuda explained. "We just have pillows and mattresses that we ripped up!"
"Man, missed out on a slumber party!" Titus groaned.
"What else is in the cell?" Arthur sternly looked toward Maggie and Barracuda.
"Uh… nothing much," Barracuda scratched the back of his head.
"Hey, there's a keyhole here!" Carter exclaimed, having taken a glance at their cell door. "M-Maybe they need a key of some sort!"
"A key huh?" Titus blinked. "Ah! Like the key you're holding!"
"I know that!" Jared exclaimed as he attempted to fit the key into the keyhole. Then he took it out and tossed it onto the water, letting it float away. "Damn it! It doesn't fit!"
"Yeah, but you shouldn't have tossed the key away dumbass," Abigail rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"I got it!" Titus declared as he went to go fish for the key.
"A-Are we screwed?" Barracuda's face fell. "A Barracuda to go out by drowning. That's just a cruel joke."
"I-... I don't want to die!" Maggie exclaimed.
"Come on, think!" Kane ordered. "Is there any other thing that could've been used as a key?"
"I- We didn't have anything in our cell besides the sewer grate where the key was," Zuri looked down at the water slowly rising up to her chest.
"We only had a bunch of nail files that the weird-looking guy kept finding," Abigail shook her head.
"Nail files?" Jared blinked. "Maybe…"
Holland knew what Jared was getting at. He pushed through the water and headed to Cell #01. Then he attempted to search the area for any source of a nail file. That's when he noticed a couple of functional ones floating about in a corner. He took a nail file and waddled back to Cell #06.
He was silent for a second before he attempted to place the nail file in the keyhole.
"A nail file in a keyhole?" Maggie blinked. "How does that work?!"
Holland didn't say anything. He fit the nail file in the keyhole and then-
Click.
The door to Cell #06 opened up, freeing Maggie and Barracuda.
"Nevermind, it worked," Maggie looked ecstatic. "Ugh! You're my hero!"
Maggie extended her arms to hug Holland. Barracuda was grinning in relief. But neither got to each Holland because as soon as Cell #06 opened, the vault opened and began to flush all 16 prisoners into the next room.
The next room itself was visibly empty. However, as soon as the water washed everyone into the room, the water began to drain itself through the sturdy grate on the floor, seeping through before it would eventually leave all 16 prisoners on the ground with nothing but wet puddles on the ground. Some slowly got up, a little annoyed that they had to be wet, others coughed up water. Most notably was Yuumi who was still hugging herself as she coughed out the last of the water that had rushed through her nose and mouth.
Haruto was the first to get up and look around the room they were in.
"Where the fuck are we now?" Haruto frowned, annoyed.
The response came with White Collar's voice bouncing around the walls of the small room they were in. The room was very empty. Nothing out of the ordinary could really be described here except that it was large enough to fit all 16 people. But even then, it still felt a little crowded.
"Congratulations," White Collar's voice stated. "You survived. And what a show it was."
"Where are you, demon?!" Ina exclaimed, looking ready to attack White Collar once he appeared.
"Yeah, where are you?" Abigail glared. "Because you're pissing me off."
"Temper, temper," White Collar mused. "Is this any way to treat a man who has given you a chance to avoid drowning?"
"No, but it is a way to treat a psycho who tried to drown us in the first place," Abigail clenched her fist.
"Touche," White Collar noted.
"What now?" Jared crossed his arms, serious. "We survived your little game! Now how about you hold your side of the offer and let us leave."
"...Now when did I say that?" White Collar asked.
"What do you mean?" Maggie crossed her arms. "We got a chance to live. We lived. Now let us go."
"I'm afraid there's been a misunderstanding," White Collar's voice sighed. One could imagine that his mask would be grinning toward them if he was in-person. "You see, it's true I gave you a chance to live. But you forgot the second part to that chance: rediscovering all of your sins."
"B-But what sins?!" Carter exclaimed, terrified. "W-We've never- I've never-"
"A lot of these people are innocent," Barracuda stepped forward with a glare. "I don't believe that they would be sinful!"
"Y-Yeah!" Zuri exclaimed, tears forming in her eyes. "I just don't understand why you would be doing this!"
"...Innocent?" White Collar silently muttered behind the intercom where his voice was being projected from. He chuckled. "I see. You're all innocent. Then let's play a little game, shall we?"
"No!" Haruto yelled. "Fuck you and your games! I want out!"
"Yeah, your games aren't fun anyway!" Titus huffed, crossing his arms.
"Aside from the near-death experience, I thought that escape room was fun," Mimi pointed out with a blink.
"Scratch that, you can keep her, but at least let me out," Haruto pointed toward Mimi.
"I'm sorry but this is just one game you can't refuse," White Collar's voice began to sound a little more sinister. As if he were grinning for what he had planned. "Because if you refuse to comply, then consider this facility to be your life sentence. You are my prisoners, and you will play the game, or live out your entire lives here, in a prison of your own making."
The vault behind the group closed. The door before the group opened up, revealing a new location, one they have yet to see before.
And even more bizarre…
Coiled up at the entrance of the door was a large snake. It was black and white in colorations with red eyes and it didn't look like it was any species of snake anyone would recognize. In fact, it didn't look like a living snake. It looked robotic. And the noise… no… the voice? A feminine voice came from the snake, like something one would hear from a female robot:
"My name is Monohebi," the snake introduced itself. "Shall we begin the Killing Game?"
Silence.
Then:
"WHAT THE FUCK?!"
DANGANRONPA: CORRUPTED HOPE
And here is the first official chapter of Danganronpa: Corrupted Hope!
I hope you guys enjoyed it. For those whose characters were accepted, please let me know how I'm doing with your characters! Be sure to give me suggestions, tips, and any criticisms on how I portrayed your character because I know for a fact that maybe some of them need a little or a lot of sprucing up to do. And if you ever do give me those, do it by PM so no one catches on in Reviews ;)
Also, for future chapters, I do plan on releasing the entire Chapter all at once, which includes the Daily Life and Deadly Life. Because of this, updates may take longer than usual but I plan on dates of release being within two months of every release. Or maybe I might release a chapter one-by-one. Who knows? If it takes longer than that, shoot me a PM and I'll keep you updated on what's going on.
Other than that, I wanted to thank everyone who submitted their characters. I'll do my absolute best to give them justice and please leave a review to let me know how I'm doing! I would very much appreciate it!
Prisoners Remaining: 16
Abigail Ellsworth (oddlyillregular)
Arthur Kingston (SinWriter7)
Barracuda (Weekaro)
Carter Franklin (armadas)
Cassandra Mura (ExtraMeme)
Haruto Walker (theotakureader101)
Holland Delaney (Sempi)
Ina Hamamura (VividIsSleeping)
Jared Ceartas (Otterplay)
Kanenoshin Amao (benkj6)
Maggie LaDroubi (Project Drama)
Mayu Mashiro (zetsunaflame)
Mimi Kazoo (Idraegan)
Titus Erskine (Lidamek)
Yuumi Kizuchi (Shamelles410)
Zuri Auraline (CandleFire45)
