Bonus Chapter: Birthday Party Superstars! (or DRFN Plays Mario Party)

Remaining Citizens: 10?!

Ai Mizuno (Zombie Land Saga): Ultimate (Zombie) Idol

Ryuji Sakamoto (Persona 5): Ultimate Track Star

Emma (The Promised Neverland): Ultimate Moral Compass

Gold (Pokémon Adventures/Pokémon Special): Ultimate Hatcher

Miles Morales (Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse): Ultimate Successor

Yu Ishigami (Kaguya-sama: Love Is War): Ultimate Pessimist

Killua Zoldyck (Hunter X Hunter): Ultimate Assassin

Misato Tachibana (Nichijou): The Ultimate Arsenal

Marty McFly (Back to The Future): The Ultimate Time-Traveler

Shantae (Shantae): The Ultimate Half-Genie

Ai's POV

Kiibo City, Nighttime.

March 7th.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR AI… HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUUUU!"

"T-Thank you, everyone."

Jeez, this felt a bit embarrassing.

Sitting at the center of a long table (also includes a big chocolate ganache cake with vanilla frosting and my face on it) with everyone singing really made me blush a little bit. Yet it did feel nice to be celebrating with everyone, especially since two more people were brought back a few days ago.

"Yeah, happy birthday!" Marty shouted as he riffed on his guitar.

I was so glad to see him back up and moving again, ever since the beach party incident it was hard to imagine we'd hear his rocking again. Yet here he is, strumming along to the (admittedly loud and uncoordinated) singing along with…

"(blows into a party horn) Yay! Congratulations on getting old—I mean, staying the same age!" Shantae cheered.

The last time I saw her was the awful execution that she was put through, and both Gold and Ryuji hugged her immediately after seeing her again. She was EXTREMELY apologetic towards Marty when they saw each other, but in the end it was the result of Aoba's manipulative influence so he understood completely. He forgave her wholeheartedly, although he's a bit more hesitant when being offered fruit punch, which is a shame since everyone else really tried hard to master Alice's recipe for this party.

"So… how old are you really?" Gold asked insensitively.

BOOM!

Misato blasts him with a rocket launcher in response, "You shouldn't ask something like that to a lady!"

Gold is absolutely covered in gray residue, "(coughs) Sheesh, I was just curious!".

"Curious or not, it's still rude to ask that question!" Misato huffed in annoyance.

"I mean, she's not wrong but…" Miles was chewing on a slice of cake.

I sighed, "It's fine, guess I should tell you. I was around sixteen when I died, so I'm stuck at that same age now. Add on about 15 years from 2008 and…"

"Wait, YOU'RE THIRTY?!" Gold outbursts.

"Misato, shoot him again." I told her.

"Will do." She reloads.

"WHOA WHOA WHOA!" Gold begins running as the Ultimate Arsenal gives chase around the room.

Thankfully the explosions didn't distract me from enjoying the cake, quite delicious. Rich chocolate, creamy frosting, and a nice tasting chocolate cake underneath! Normally I would be against eating something like this, due how much I dislike carbs, but it's a special occasion after all. Plus it's not like I'm going to gain any weight from this… I hope.

"Wow, so you really do stay the same age?" Emma asked, chocolate on her face.

Killua rubbed a napkin on her cheek roughly to clean it off, "This whole zombie thing really does have a lot of advantages, huh?"

"Hey!" Emma glared at him and he just smirked.

"Surprisingly it does, strangely enough. Though not being able to go out in public without makeup outweighs the positives a bit…" I admitted.

"Don't worry about it, Ai, I've gotta go out and put on a mask every day when I fight crime. So… I kinda know how that feels. You just gotta let your true self shine even when you're hiding your face, you know?" Miles assures me.

"I get it, thanks for that." I nodded towards him.

"One thing you can't really get rid of though is the zombie smell." Ishigami chimed in from the back.

I frantically began sniffing my shirt and my sleeves, yet I ended up smelling just fine.

"Just joking, by the way." He said as my worries about not putting on enough deodorant went away.

Ugh, I know it's my birthday, but do I have to get teased this much?

"Alright! The console's ready, now who wants to ruin some friendships?" Ryuji calls all of us over as he's holding two Joy-Cons in each hand.

"Ooh! This could be fun, I'm in!" Shantae grabbed the red one.

Ryuji pockets a yellow one for himself, "Okay, I'm joining this first round. Ishigami, wanna come lose to me?"

The gloomy guy decided to stand up and walk over to the couch next to Shantae, "You're too overconfident, you really don't want to try me in this of all games."

"Try me." Ryuji looked him in the eye as he handed him the dark blue controller, "Okay who's up next? How about… the birthday girl?".

Me? I've mostly been watching them play this game, but it looked very luck-based. Not sure if that's to my liking…

"Come on, Ai, do it! Maybe winning on your birthday will guarantee some good luck in the future!" Emma assumes.

"I don't think that's how things work…" I raised an eyebrow at her statement.

"Come on, go have some fun! It wouldn't be cool to be a party-pooper at your own party, huh?" Marty encouraged me.

I sighed before going, "Oh, why the hell not?", and grabbed the cyan Joy-Con and sat down on my own chair.

Ryuji went to sit on the chair opposite of me and we turned on the game. Time to select our characters.

"DK's mine!" Ryuji selects Donkey Kong.

"Hi, I'm Daisy!" Shantae proclaims.

"Waluigi thinks he should have stayed in bed." Ishigami chooses the lanky purple rival.

Hm, I think I'm going to choose…

"Birdo."

Everyone else looked at me with judging eyes.

"What? I think she looks cute." I defended my choice.

Gold sat down at the dining table, still smoking from the rockets Misato shot at him, "Ai, you really need to figure out what the definition of cute really means."

"Pi Pi Pichu." Pibu hopped onto his cap and agreed with him.

Well, it's their problem that they don't find her cute. I scoffed as we picked the settings for the game.

20 Turns

Classic Bonus Stars

All Minigames (with help on)

No Handicap

And now, we're off to Space Land. It looked quite sleek and there were a lot of spacecrafts around the board. There was a large number 5 at the center of the board, which drew my attention as we listened to the rules. Apparently it's a timer, and there's a Bowser-shaped satellite with a cannon attached to it in the right hand corner, I think I can connect the dots there. There's also two stations for the "Snifit Patrol", which I couldn't figure out.

Then we rolled the dice to determine what our turn order was.

"Ha! Got an eight!" Ryuji grinned.

"Aw… a four." Shantae sighed.

"Six, maybe it'll be more helpful than going first?" I pondered to myself.

"And… Ten." Ishigami timed it just right.

"HUH?" Ryuji let out.

"Already cheating, huh?" Shantae pouted.

"Dies aren't loaded here, folks. Unless of course you get Custom Dice Blocks." Ishigami nonchalantly replied.

"It is what it is. Let's get started now." I told the three of them.

Insert Song: Space Land Remastered Version (Mario Party Superstars)

Turn 1/20

The goal of the game is to collect the most stars and coins by the end of the game. Playing minigames to earn coins and rolling high enough dice rolls to make it to the star on the board. There's also the features of the board to take into account.

The first star was near the center of the board, so it could take a few turns or more to get it depending on how we roll.

Ishigami rolls an eight and gets to land on an item space. He manages to get an item called the Skeleton Key, although I question why it's called that since it's just a key with eyes and a bow. I see him grip his fist, it seems like he got the item he was searching for. Looking back on the board, there's two locked gates that he could unlock to enter separate pathways. He really does know his stuff.

"Big number, baby! Ha!"

Ryuji gets a two.

"For real…?" He uttered as DK moved onto a blue space near the start.

Okay, my turn. And I manage to land on Ishigami's space as well. Not knowing what to pick from any of the barrels, I went for the one in the top right. I got a colorful-looking block.

"A Warp Block, swap spaces with a random opponent. That's risky…" I muttered as I read the description.

"Okay, I'm Ret-2-go! C'mon…" Shantae focused.

"One." Ryuji quickly stated as Shantae got the exact number soon after.

"Oh no, are you kidding me?!" She shouts as she lands on an event space.

We get chased back behind the starting area, farther behind the star.

"On the bright side, you're currently in the running for the Event Bonus Star." Ishigami brings up.

"Oh you… I'll be sure to get all of them by the end, you'll see!" Shantae shot back at him as he rolled his eyes.

The first minigame was Messy Memory, where you had to place items in the correct spots as they were before they were scattered.

"Wait, was that there? Or here? Or…"

"No no, this goes over here, I'm sure of it!"

Ryuji and Shantae were frantically trying to figure out what items belonged on which shelf, should have paid better attention, you two.

"There we go." I finished up and began to hum to myself confidently.

Ishigami finished up as soon as I did, which sent the other two into a panic.

"Time's up? I wasn't done!" Ryuji said as I saw he left one item on the ground.

Perfect score for me and Ishigami, while Shantae had a 6 and Ryuji had a five.

"Okay, how did you BOTH get it perfectly right?!" Ryuji complained.

"Strong memory, and I did mention that my eyes were better than most people, right?" I answered as I pointed to my red eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Same for me." Ishigami stated, but I swear I saw him sneaking a phone behind him. He really is cheating, but I'm not gonna call him out for it since it's just one minigame.

Not a bad start, despite having been pushed back after the Event Space.

Two Turns Later…

Turn 3/20

Ishigami is in the lead after obtaining the first star, while I was busy trying to find my lost thumb after it went flying during a button mashing minigame. Yet another problem with being a zombie, with enough force you can lose a body part as quickly as a cowboy doll. Or a spaceman, considering our current location.

"Let me roll high, please game!" Ryuji begged before getting a one, "COME ON!".

I cover my ears with my hands to block out the sound coming from his loud mouth.

"Take it easy man…" Ishigami told him.

"Asshole, you already have a star! But at the rate you're going, you won't have it long…"

I planted my thumb back into my hand and flexed it to test if it'll be ready for the next minigame. Now for my turn.

"Another Item Game. I guess I'll go for the Double Dice then."

Unfortunately I ended up with the Cursed Dice Block instead. Useful for holding up other players (or myself if I want to roll low), but not as useful as getting farther on the board.

Shantae landed on a lucky space to get more coins, and that brings us to the end of that turn. The next minigame was Parasol Plummet, for double the coins as it would usually offer.

"Ha ha, gimme that money!" Ryuji smiled as he collected multiple bags of coins.

"Tch…" I grunted as I got pelted by hammers from both directions.

The time soon ran out and I managed to get less than ideal results. 16 coins compared to everyone else getting twenty and in Ryuji's case thirty.

"Damn, 4th place…" I sighed as my lower amount of coins altered my placement on the board.

"Wooo! I've got thirty altogether!" Shantae cheered.

At least she's having fun…

Seven Turns Later…

Turn 10/20

"Finally… my first star." I paid twenty coins to Toadette and finally managed to be in the running for first.

Ryuji was winning with two stars and I was tied with Ishigami for 2nd after winning Roll Call, Trace Race, and Paint Misbehavin' alongside him. Shantae was in last, but she wasn't struggling with coins, just with avoiding the event spaces. Ryuji paid off the Snifit Patrol so that it would chase her (and sometimes us) even farther, so it really was rough.

Shantae's eyebrows lowered in anticipation, "Let something good happen on this turn… ha! Yes I got to Boo! And now…"

"Gonna steal from Ryuji?" Ishigami suggested.

"No, actually…" Shantae picked Ishigami instead, managing to steal 18 coins away from him and putting him at the bottom at 4th.

"... You will regret this." He said to her, with such an intense stare that I ended up giggling a bit.

Shantae stuck her tongue out at him and landed on a Versus Minigame space, meaning we have to give up a select amount of coins (ended up being fifteen each from us) and battle for them. With how intense things are getting between us already, I'm afraid that things are about to get worse, and low and behold we're stuck with a luck-based game.

Bowser's Big Blast, where we have to select a lever and hope the large Bowser Bomb doesn't blow up in our faces… And I'm going first.

"Stay calm, Ai!" Emma shouted from the back.

Killua chimed in, "Yeah, don't choke on the pressure. It's not like there's money on the line, oh wait…"

Thanks, I guess? I looked at the different colored levers in front of Birdo that I could choose.

"Y-Yellow!" I let out as I was hesitating on my choice.

The few seconds of waiting was agonizing, but I made it through and survived.

Ryuji rubbed his hands before going for the red lever. He survives and breathes a sigh of relief, "Man… I haven't even had exams that were this stressful…".

"Oh I seriously doubt that." I snarked and a few people in the back chuckled.

"Shut up…" He groaned.

Shantae bit her lip as she pulled down her lever and held her breath as we waited. Another one is gone and no one has been eliminated yet, she exhales.

"Well, this is probably it." Ishigami assumes.

He picks the purple one… and nothing but smoke comes out of the Bowser Bomb's nose.

"Dear god…" He whispers aloud as he is proven wrong.

"Jesus… didn't think games would end up this stressful…" Marty states as he's tuning his guitar.

Another round passes afterward and nobody is blown up yet. I didn't think it could go on this long, our luck shouldn't be like this.

"I'm getting bored, someone die please?" Killua yawns from the back.

I'm so glad that he said that in the time when we're way past the killing game, but still rude. Soon after he said that though…

"Pleeeeeeease…" Shantae begged for another pass.

That time, Bowser said no and the bomb began ticking down.

"My money…" Shantae had tears forming in her eyes.

Ishigami softly snickered, "That's only the beginning of your karma."

I'm so glad I haven't chosen to use the Boo to steal from anyone just yet. It's really starting to heat up.

Ishigami passed through his turn, as did I, as for Ryuji…

"Damn, but thank god that's over…" He accepts his defeat willingly as Donkey Kong is blasted away.

"I wonder… why can't you just move out of the way in the three second interval?" I questioned.

"Panic, I guess?" Miles gave his own answer as he was hanging upside down in the back.

So it was down to me and Ishigami for 80 coins. Only three levers were left and one of them cause the bomb to explode. ⅓ chance of losing, at least I get some of my money back in the end.

"Uh… eeny, meeny, miny, moe?" Ishigami chose the white lever.

And…. I win?

BOOM!

"Welp. That really shouldn't have gone on that long. Yay I guess?" The pressure really hampered my enthusiasm, but I am glad to have won this much money.

I can say that I am somewhat motivated to win now!

Six Turns Later…

Turn 16/20

Five turns left… and Ryuji just got a hidden block with a star in it. Putting him at 4, while Ishigami has three, and myself and Shantae have two each. I have the most coins, due to not spending much at the item shop, but stars are much more important even if I do get the Coin Star at the end.

"WOOHOO! HELL YEAH!" He yelled triumphantly as we all couldn't believe our eyes.

I saw Ishigami holding his hands together, like he was praying, "RNG-sus, strike him down within the next few turns please."

"SUCK IT LOSERS!" Ryuji continues gloating as I'm tempted to join in on the praying, "Everything's coming up Ryuji!"

One Turn Later…

"Ch-Ch-Ch-Chance Time?" Ryuji quivered as he saw what Ishigami landed on.

He's just now using his Skeleton Key that he kept since the beginning of the game, what is his plan here?

Ishigami just laughed, "Ha ha ha… as long as I make you lose, then that's fine by me. Time for chaos!"

"U-Um, you okay in your noggin there?" Shantae knocked on his head a bit, and he was unphased.

Three random blocks, on the left and right are our character's faces, while in the middle is what we have to give up.

"Let's see what's on the line here.. Ah, trade stars!" Ishigami sinisterly smiled at Ryuji.

"No no no no, have mercy." The delinquent begged.

Donkey Kong's face was on the left, whoever it is on the right is winning. We've got something big here… I'm gripping the edges of my chair intensely as the game is reflected in my eyes. Everyone was just starting to get tired in the back, but this hyped everyone up. All saying the names of whoever they wanted to win.

Everyone started to count down until Ishigami hit it, well except for Ryuji who was covering his eyes in fear.

"3…2…1…0!"

Donkey Kong must trade stars with… Birdo.

I won, holy crap!

Ryuji then sat up from his chair and walked towards Ishigami, "YOU."

We all had to hold him back from attempting to strangle the poor guy, safe to say they won't be talking for a while after this. Ryuji did say that this was going to ruin friendships, so… careful what you wish for?

Three Turns Later…

20 Turns Completed

We were awarded the Bonus Stars in the order of Rich, Minigame, and Event.

I was awarded the Rich Bonus, as I should for saving up so much.

Ishigami won the Minigame Bonus, his button speed was hard to keep up with. Especially against a zombie with hands that can come off when trying to rotate a control stick quickly.

Shantae managed to get the Event Bonus, leaving our results with…

1st Ai: 4 Stars, 148 Coins

2nd Ishigami: 4 Stars, 50 Coins

3rd Shantae: 3 Stars, 68 Coins

4th Ryuji: 2 Stars, (He got hit by the Bowser Coin Laser by accident when Shantae was just trying to move upwards)

Everyone was raising me up high in victory as they chanted my name, "AI! AI! AI! AI! AI!"

"Good game." Ishigami shook my hand.

"Yeah, thanks for Chance Time. That really saved me in the end, so sweet of you to give me the win even if it wasn't guaranteed." I smiled at him.

"N-No problem." He blushed a bit.

"Okay, I got next." Killua stated as he took the controller from my hands.

Miles picked up the Joy-Con that Ryuji dropped earlier and Gold swiped Ishigami's away.

"Oooh, me too! Can I?' Emma politely asked Shantae for hers and she obliged, at least someone's practicing manners.

Shantae then walked over to Ryuji and patted him on the back, "It's alright, I'm part of the Bottom Two with ya. No need to be sour, right? Ha ha…".

Ryuji, dejected, accidentally leaned back in his chair onto the remote and suddenly the TV input switched to cable. It just so happened to have some kind of news station on it. I would have figured that stuff was shut down when Tsumugi was defeated, so maybe they're recording from somewhere else.

"We are live here at Garreg Mach Monastery, where a huge skirmish with students of the Officers Academy is taking place!" Monokuma's voice says aloud.

"Garreg Mach… wait isn't that Bernie's school?" Emma realizes.

"The hell are those things?" Ryuji leaned forward to get a better look.

They looked to be some inky creatures with bits of Monokuma parts as some kind of armor. Dozens of them are swarming the poor students as the camera keeps panning around, how are they even transmitting this? However, those monsters aren't the only things I see.

"Feefee, use Ice Beam!"

"Fuwafuwa, Razor Leaf!"

Gold walked over by my shoulder and his eyes widened, "Fancy Boy? Wait, that is him!".

"You know him, Gold?" Shantae asked him.

He nods, "He's my junior Pokédex Holder from Hoenn. So weird that he's over there though… makes me wonder about everyone else from my world."

I turned back to the screen after his explanation and then I suddenly stood up as well. Right next to a silver-haired boy with a bow was also someone I knew:

"Junko?"

To Be Continued… (again if/when I feel like it.)

Happy Birthday to my favorite anime character, Franchouchou No. 3 Ai Mizuno! Also, happy birthday to me too tomorrow, I guess. The fact that we share the same birth month really makes me like her even more. Anyways, weird that this is a thing instead of another Fictional Guardians chapter, huh? Well I just felt like celebrating the best girl as a gift to her and myself in a fun way. I'm still working on the next chapter, don't worry, especially since the end of this chapter had a short preview of what's to come in the Trinity Trials! I hope you all look forward to that. One last thing before I leave, what I would really want as a great b-day gift (which is definitely not required) is that I would like to hear some long and honest thoughts about the Danganronpa stories. Whether it be about all of them, one single story, I just want to hear what you liked! Or something else, you could give me your theories on what's to come in Guardians, Epicenter, and maybe beyond? No pressure though, I just wanted to give y'all a gift of my own with this chapter anyways. I'll see you all later, and thanks for reading as always. - Renegade Braveheart