Proofread by: me, Comrade's Lament

Welcome To The Flock

Prologue 1

How the mighty have fallen... you're a disgrace to the people.

All you ever do is complain, you're no leader of mine.

Disgusting. Selfish. You only care about yourself.

You feel it too, right? You'd be better off dead.

So... do us all a favor and... die...

Testing Acidic Waters

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...

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"Kokoro?"

A voice somehow echoed in the darkness.

With how stiff my limbs were… reaching out to the voice was impossible. So I tried to speak... but nothing. My throat caved on itself, forcing me silent as I watched a figure dance in the fog, taunting my weakness.

I forced my hand to reach the figure. To reach… him.

Was I going to lose everything again? Was I destined to fail right at the peak of my new journey... again? Everything was in the palm of my hand before this moment. So why... why was I being punished like this?

Please, I can't lose it all like this.

The GHA. My title. And you...

...

...

...

"D-Dad...?"

...

...

...

And that's when I felt it... a hand on my shoulder. There was some hesitance behind the placement, but the presence grounded me at the very least. I could feel my body stirring awake. My eyes blinked, uneasily checking my surroundings.

And that's when I awoke to the strangest sight.

I wasn't in the comfort of my home, but instead facing that strange man from the airport... who was staring down at me with intense focus.

"GAAAAAAAH?!" I wasted no time, springing my hand up to get a nice clean smack across his face.

"G-Gck?!" The man managed to take the brunt of the slap, but his eyes blazed after the fact, "Fuck! The hell do you think you're doing?!"

Was this man serious?! I snapped back right away, "W-What do you think you're doing?! Where have you taken me? What are you planning to do with me?! Stay back!"

The man started to furrow his brow and stood up, rubbing the red mark on his cheek, "I lookout after you and this is the thanks I get? Shoot, just be quiet for a second-!"

"I will not be quiet! Get away from me!" There was no way I was going to be stuck here with this random man again. "I don't know why grudge you had for me at the airport, but let me go! Or I will report you! No... worse than that, I'll personally slap you again-!"

"Enough!" I couldn't sugarcoat it, his enraged shout was terrifying, but I stared him down all the same. Even in this scenario, I couldn't show weakness, not when I had just gotten onto the road to my dreams.

Perhaps he noticed that because the man deflated and sighed bitterly, "Jesus kid, enough, just calm down... I woke up here too."

I frowned, as I yanked my hands away from him. He was irked at that, a satisfying reaction for me. "And I just have to believe that? I don't know what you intend to do but I did not work my entire life to drop dead in some!" -I double-checked my surroundings... I was indeed in a classroom- "in some run-down excuse for a daycare! And I especially didn't intend to do it with some crank I met at the airport."

The man grumbled, standing far enough away that I felt I could breathe again, "You think I wanna drop dead in this goddamn room with a bratty kid who won't listen to a thing I say?" The jab my way earned a scoff from me. "Listen, I didn't intend to do anything to you. If I did, why the hell would I be collared like you?"

He suddenly pointed to his burly neck, and I noticed a strange metal thing wrapped around it that I didn't remember seeing before at the airport. Was that... a collar?

Wait a second. Seeing such a thing tickled my neck too... almost as if...?

I reached out hesitantly to my neck before the man grabbed my wrist firmly. I jumped, but his grip wasn't too painful, just shocking as he glared at me.

"Don't... you'll get shocked if you grip the bugger," the man explained with an irritated look, "we both got some sort of collars on us. It doesn't look good."

"W-We both have collars?" I didn't dare touch it but I could feel the silver metal coiled around my neck. Maybe it was just me, but it felt like it was squeezing my throat, cruelly like a snake to cut off air. "H-How… did this happen? How…?" I forced my confusion down and turned to the man, "How do you know they shock you?"

"Pft, I learned the hard way." The man looked annoyed that I kept questioning him, but seriously what else was I supposed to do? "And before you say you need proof or something, take a damn gander at my neck."

I did just that as I stared at the area. A ring of slightly scorched skin wrapped around the burly guy's neck, as if he had been shocked. I noticed his fingers also blistered an electrified red color.

"I tried to yank the thing off but no dice," the man growled, clenching his fist. I could tell it was killing him to be collared like this. "Now can you quit yapping at me? No point in kidnapping you or whatever if I got this crap shackled on me as well."

For someone so strong-looking, he got humbled pretty quick by a small collar. It could've been possible he was electrocutd then, but… could I trust him?

To be frank… no.

…but he hadn't tried to restrain me or anything, and for some reason, he didn't appear like a talentless nobody. If he was stuck in a room with me, an Ultimate, then perhaps he was one as well? I did see him at the airport for the GHA… and his ruggedly intense appearance despite the spiffy clothes felt familiar, as if I've seen him on the news or something.

...so... was this guy like me?

I thought about it for a long time. No, that couldn't be the case for this weirdo. I don't think he was an Ultimate, nor could I trust him, but my options were limited here. "Fine… I'll work with you for now, but I'm going to keep a very close eye on you sir, understood?"

"Knock yourself out, we ain't going anywhere anytime soon," he started to scour around the classroom, ignoring the door that led out to the place. Although from one look I could tell why he avoided it. Metal bars were blocking any chance of leaving from it.

On the door was a simple drawing of a torso piece and a message saying, "I'm scattered around from head to toe. If you find me, you're free to go. The item you seek is hidden about, it's the one thing you can't live without."

I rolled my eyes at the rhyming scheme. Was this supposed to be a school? Or was I was trapped in a children's book? Given the insultingly low-quality riddle, it appeared we had to find something to leave, and this torso on the door might've been the key to that.

Though I'm not sure in what form they want us to find this torso in. Do they mean a toy? A skeleton? Some prop? That was the cryptic part. Certainly whatever weirdo trapped me here didn't mean the real thing, right?

"We have to find a torso," I spoke aloud, defining our objective for the older man, "what's your progress so far?"

The man ignored me, not looking too keen on being given orders. "..."

"Well don't just stand there!" When he didn't answer right away I let myself snap a little. "If you're really stuck here, cooperation is the only way we're going to get out! So work with me, have you found anything sir?"

"If you can't tell my hands are empty, kid," the man pointed out, "I haven't exactly caught up on investigating given you were passed out the entire time. Which apparently earned me a slap to the face."

I raised a brow. Did this man look out for me while I was unconscious? That changed my perception of him... slightly, but it didn't matter right now, we needed to leave. "You can get a medal for your samaritan actions later, sir, for now we need to search harder for that piece."

"What do you think I'm doin' Kokoro?" The man huffed as he opened up school closets and dumped everything onto the floor.

"Making a mess clearly," I sighed as I looked around the classroom, "And I don't appreciate you referring to me on a first-name basis when I don't even know your name-"

"It's Ed," the man, Ed, bluntly answered, "problem solved."

Ed? Seriously? "Could you just give me your full name, or is that too hard for you?"

The man pretended to think about it, then shrugged, "nah, don't think you've earned that privilege yet kid."

"To know your name?!" I rolled my eyes. Something about his name must've been important, but it was lost to an absurd situation, "Fine Mr. Ed. I would've appreciated your last name so we could be formal but if that's not something you care about, I suppose we'll be improper for the time being."

I didn't bother to have him dismiss me or anything as I went searching around the classroom myself. If he wanted to be irritating then I had no problem working by myself. It usually ended up like that anyway.

The classroom itself wasn't anything special that I searched. The desks were lined up in neat rows, pointing forward to a teacher's desk. It didn't have much on it, just textbooks and folders. There were closets in the room, currently closed. The blackboard was drawn with freaky devil-horned children in suits as money rained down around them. Overall, nothing important. I've been in hundreds of fancier classrooms than this.

...the blinking camera on the ceiling though was an unsettling sight. It was activated and pointed directly at us, tracking our movements. So much for me 'keeping a close eye' on this random adult I was with, a camera was already doing it for me.

"Someone must be watching us right now." It was sickening to think I was being kept tabs on in such a manner.

"Yep… I bet someone is." Ed gave a heavy grunt as he cracked his knuckles, probably as a threat to the camera. "Don't gotta damn clue who though, and usually being on top of things is part of my gig."

"...I suppose in that we're the same." I frowned. Maybe he really was also stuck here like me. That or he was a fantastic actor. But given how rough and tumble he came off, I doubted the latter. "Anyway... if a torso was hiding somewhere, it would have to be hidden within a big space… so we should check the closets in this room."

"Brilliant observation," the man deadpanned, giving a slow clap, "The downside being I already checked them, remember? Or… did you forget that already?"

"I was distracted by the mess you were making when you were checking them," I narrowed my eyes at his unamused tone, "but if it's not in the closets, where could it be?"

I glanced around and slowly tried to investigate the room by myself. The only place of note was the teacher's desk, which I decided to check… just to be safe.

The teacher's desk, as said before, had textbooks and folders. The textbooks couldn't be opened since they seemed to be props, but the folders had some papers inside, specifically some newspaper articles and a brief... file on someone. A student maybe? The girl looked pretty young.

...

Student File: Ayano Minami

Talent: SHSL Weaver.

Gender: Female

Status: Missing?

Notes: Upincoming SHSL student. Known by her peers to be sassy and fashionable. Has since gone missing during Golden Laurel's grand opening-

...

That's where the file was blacked out with confidential ink., so nothing else could be read. But I still had to blink at this info. I'm not sure who this was, but apparently, she was SHSL material. I suppose she didn't make it big though if I don't remember her.

Strangely it talks about her going missing during Golden Laurel's opening. But I remember that day, it was a global celebration that was recorded live. I even watched it on television. But this girl wasn't part of that initial opening lineup. So… what was her deal? Who was she?

"You know the girl or somethin'?" Suddenly Ed's voice rumbled from behind me. Just feeling his looming presence made me stiffen.

"No, just studying her file," I decided to roll my eyes at the interruption, attempting to appear annoyed so he'd back off. "What do you know her?"

"Younger folk like this have no place in my world," the man barely paid a glance to her as he crossed his arms, "She's missing anyway so best move on to actually being productive here."

Ignoring his lack of care for a missing kid, I decided to spite him and check the newspaper article next in the folder. However I felt my heart sink at the title... a reminder for why I was here in the first place.

...

Golden Laurel Sanctuary: GHA's Newest Program!

With rumors circulating this year over the GHA's next big plan, sources have just confirmed a new exciting development is on the rise for the organization, a program known as the Sanctuary of Talent Development will be held in a new academy, Golden Laurel Sanctuary, which will be developed to educate the brightest minds of our generation with much older talent.

While Golden Laurel Sanctuary is not the first GHA school to utilize Ultimate's teaching Ultimate's, it is the first to do so on a global scale and utilize only the most influential Supremes outside of the Future Foundation. The program promises to make these students flourish under the experienced Supremes, with the first batch of sixteen students heading in this fall for the opening!

The promise that hope can come from all four corners of the globe and be rekindled by both the youngest and oldest talent among us is surely cause for celebration. Let us congratulate the GHA's next step toward Hope.

...

That was it within the folder, and yet I couldn't help but gaze longer at the newspaper article than necessary. My dreams of going to Golden Laurel, of finally making it big... all shot down from this strange situation.

Unless... this place might've been Golden Laurel Sanctuary?

...no, this situation was beneath the GHA, right?

"You know that ain't the torso, right kid?" Ed, always on topic, blankly stared at me. "Now ain't the time for some light reading."

"I know that," I grumble as I put the newspaper and student file back into the folder, "I just... I expected to be among bright minds like myself right now, not parading around this scavenger hunt with a collar on my neck and stuck with some buffoon with no regard for cleanliness. So excuse me if I appear a little distracted."

"I ain't thrilled about this either kid," he scoffed, "but we don't exactly have the luxury to daydream. Especially if our ticket outta here is right under our nose and we miss it due to your GHA fantasies."

"Does it look like the torso is under our nose?" I glance at the empty desk of papers, gesturing to it in disbelief, "We wouldn't have even missed anything-!"

That was... until I realized under the teacher's desk there was... a crack in the wooden paneled floor, showcasing some color beneath it. Perhaps indicating a hollow area underneath? I leaned down to check and felt some cool hair emitting from the crack.

"Right under our nose," Ed repeated. It seemed he saw it first and that's why he gave that brief jab my way.

I resisted the urge to slap him again as he bent down and snapped the panel off the floor with ease. There it was right underneath us, a small doll-like torso. It was partly dressed in some sort of flower ensemble of regal clothes, but I couldn't tell why exactly it was split up from the rest of its body.

I scrunched up my nose at the sight. Even if upon closer inspection I could tell it was a doll piece, it still looked a little too real for my taste.

Ed didn't give much of a reaction, as if seeing a separated torso was no biggie for him. Instead, he pulled it out effortlessly and lazily shoved it under his arm.

"Excuse you?" I narrowed my eyes at his rough handling of the piece, "watch what you're doing with that. You're not exactly being gentle with our only key to escape right now."

"Jesus, what kinda guy do you take me for?" Ed was seriously starting to look aggravated now. "I know you're on edge but get that image that I'm some sort of clumsy ditz out of your head."

Once he picked it up, our collars started to beep, and just like that the bars from the classroom door slid open, allowing us to exit. Despite my back and forth with this adult, I will say I was still internally uneasy with the situation, no matter how hard I tried to pretend it was all just a routine for me.

"Ugh, what the heck are we being forced to do?" I muttered, glaring at the door and then the torso.

"Whatever this is, I'm gonna have a long talk with the fucker who put me here," Ed spoke as coldly as he always did, but there was something from his deep rumbling throat that sounded deadlier than before… as if he'd make good on that threat.

"Resorting to violence already?" I raised a brow and folded my arms, "Ironic given we're in a classroom where someone your age should be teaching me such acts are immoral."

"Oh you're gonna be a real piece of work aren't you?" Ed this time rolled his eyes.

"Brilliant observation sir," I called back, though entirely meaning it in a condescending way.

Ed barely bothered to retort. "Just try not to get in my way kid… those who do usually don't live long."

With that he stomped out of the room first, leaving me with nothing to do but follow. If anyone was the piece of work it was this guy given the threat. But it didn't seem he would follow through on it with me, would he?

Actually, he probably would've. I just hope I'm not stuck with him for too long.

It's strange though, what was this sinking feeling creeping down my throat over the situation? Why was I trapped here? I was supposed to be attending the program that would propel me to new heights.

Now… I've never felt so low in such a degrading situation.

But I couldn't show that worry.

I'd never dare to show it to anyone… as an Ultimate.

The second Ed and I walked out of the classroom… the door locked behind us, forcing us out.

"Guess we aren't going back there again," i murder as i gazed around the new area. Instantly, two things caught my attention.

One, we had stepped into a large circular room with nine other doors, which included the door we just walked out of. The room was in the shape of a huge dome, styled like a cage, with a glass ceiling showing off a moon and towering jungle trees. The glass looked reinforced with steel beams holding it in place, so I wasn't sure if we could smash the glass to escape this area. It was all quite strange. Stranger was the moon actually… I remember it was daytime when I was kidnapped at the airport, so how much time passed since I've been unconscious?

I couldn't focus much on that, because the second thing I noticed made me pause for breath.

There were people…

The room was filled with faces, young and old, all bursting with obnoxious chatter. A few quieter minds took to the sides of the group and observed everything, while those loud and in charge forced their way to the center to discuss things with their peers. Most of the center group were occupied with adults, but I saw a few kids planting themselves there.

Especially one such girl, whose biting tone screamed at the top of her lungs, "The bitch really believes aliens took us! Fuck, are you on something? I wouldn't be surprised given that shit eating grin on your face clearly shows you don't understand jack!"

"Coming in all hot and bothered already Yumi?" the 'shit eating grin' person, a small girl with an even more annoying look of amusement, pulled out an umbrella and almost poked the screaming girl, "You know my theory holds some water! For example, aliens would probably abduct someone like you! You're a fascinating case study."

"BITCH! You wanna fucking go Freyja?! I'll kill you!" Yumi's already tiresome display of delinquency made me grumble.

…what the hell did I walk into?

Some adults, notably a motherly looking woman and an athletic looking guy, scrambled to try and pry this Yumi girl away from the smirking imp of a child, apparently Freyja from what I heard. Given the gremlin didn't appear to regret causing the scene accidentally, I could tell our personal relationship would be rocky from here on out.

"Pump the breaks and breathe girl!" The athletic man said as he managed to pull Yumi far enough away due to his strength.

Yumi blazed with the fury of a thousand suns. "I AM CALM!"

"Doesn't sound like you are kid," the athletic man sweated. To be truthful I could see a little hint of fear behind that wavering smile of his. "Ayo, Chuya, keep her steady!"

"Y-Yes Mateo!" The motherly woman, I guess Chuya, nodded as she held a squirming Yumi back, "please step back everyone. Especially you Casey, you're standing too close!"

A fancy boy, I suppose Casey, had swooped in somewhat close to the conflict like a vulture looking for its next meal. I think he was trying to help, or he was like those kids who heard a school fight was happening and booked it over without knowing the context. "O-Okay sure I'll back up… but like… why are y'all handling her like a fish? Ain't that Bohai's job or whatever? Actually, why isn't that giant handling this?"

I stared at the hulking adult Casey pointed at, but was confused at both the pirate attire and the fear in the man's eyes, "I-I don't wanna hurt her o-or anything! Isn't there a b-better way to calm her down? D-Dr. Bogweather? Any i-ideas!?"

A girl with long black hair and southern dress, Dr. Bogweather I assume, smoked from a weird pipe and nodded. "Since this is troublesome… I shall step in with an idea," Before I could question the absurdity of her… everything, she pulled out some sort of oversized mallet from her bag that raised some eyebrows. Seriously it couldn't be much bigger than her arm as she prepared to swing it down, "might I suggest calming the patient down with this mallet? I'll make it quick and painless."

"I'll hurt you if you take a step closer!" Yumi growled, which didn't deter the witch looking girl who was about to swing the old fashioned mallet down on her head, but somehow Yumi's threat made the huge giant of a man shrink back and drag the doctor away.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Meanwhile another adult, a… woman dressed in what I would generously call… cosplay attire straight out of a manga… cackled at the chaos. Already another face I instinctively felt I would tire off, especially given her bouncy outfit emphasized her scheming tone.

Seriously… what madness did I step into?

I had expected a more refined dialogue taking place with whatever parties were trapped here, but not this! Talk about disorganization! I had half a mind to step in right then and there to clean all this up. That was, until that same impish girl earlier, Freyja, looked my way and spotted Ed and I.

"Look! I was right! There's twenty of us!" Freyja was emphasizing our presence with her rambling lips as she smirked, "I told you that the eighth door probably led to another classroom! Looks like another theory proven right by yours truly!"

I don't know what she was spewing but it seemed we were the last ones to arrive in this bizarre group. Instantly the crowd looked our way, their eyes analyzing us in scrutinizing detail. I did little more than frown sternly at their interest in us. They all looked like lost sheep, all shackled with similar collars and clearly unsure of what was happening.

Although I was in a similar boat of confusion, I wouldn't let my tardiness in joining this… frankly irritating group affect their impression of me.

"Ahem, excuse me, what's the situation at current?" I stepped away from Ed, who looked like he could care less about the stares, as I joined the crowd with my head held high. "Speak one at a time, tell me everything you know."

Some kids blinked at me with that familiar dumbfounded look at my being in the conversation, but some of the adults gazed at me with intrigue, especially an older gentleman similar to Ed's wrinkled age who had darker skin, an eye patch, glasses, and was fairly overwhelming with his short but authoritative presence

"Taking initiative I see," the man's heavy voice made sure to point out my efforts before he straightened his own regal posture, "some of you could learn a thing or two from this child."

Yumi scoffed nearby since the comment was clearly leveled at her. "Oh right, cause miss goody two shoes over here is already kissing ass so that makes her perfect. Welcome to the fucked up buddy bunch new girl, enjoy your stay!"

What did she just say to me? She was one to talk, her attire was utterly lazy. She honestly looked like another passerby on the street, a clear nobody. And yet she spoke with so much hot air I'm surprised she didn't combust.

"Disregard her, she's been like this since we stepped foot here." Thankfully the man that spoke earlier continued, "we are currently discussing our situation. Everyone had woken up in a classroom of some kind before gathering here. There's no exits we can currently find in this room, and the classrooms we left are locked to prevent us from entering afterwards."

"No exits… are you certain?" I murmured, glancing around this supposed caged dome we found ourselves in. One look around and I could see he was telling the truth.

Suddenly someone snickered loudly enough to make my heart flare in annoyance. That snicker belonged to that weirdly dressed woman again. "Are your hard at hearing? That's what the old bloke here just blabbed! Tiago here checked everything personally, there's no exits whatsoever! Nada! Zilch! ZERO! We're basically trapped like lost birds in a cage! Haha!"

"We GET that point already, jeez Midas!" Another kid shouted before I could personally snap at the woman's insulting behavior. It came from a muscular kid in casual attire and black parkour shoes. "Ignore that lady, did you two find any exit in your classroom? We couldn't access your room before so what was in there?"

"Why would their classroom have an exit, Naohito?" An older woman with purple hair and glasses timidly asked the child. "If our classroom didn't… then-"

"I'm just double checking Jiyuu!" Naohito clenched his fist, stressing us for an answer. Despite improperly addressing that woman by her first name, she didn't fight on the matter and let the boy keep speaking, "so? Was there anything?!"

I glanced at Ed to see if he'd speak, but noticed he was observing the adults' faces in the room. Maybe he recognized some of them? My own brain was itching in familiarity at seeing some of these people, but this situation was too strange to focus on details like that, even if they were noteworthy.

Since he wasn't though, I decided to speak for the two of us, "our classroom had no such exit. We would've left already if there was one, and if we found something like it… we can't go back now since the classrooms are locked."

A loud growl and sigh left Yumi, who was still riled up from earlier, "So you losers didn't find anything? Jesus, you're fucking useless, all of you! Those GHA nimrods let fucking anyone have the title nowadays don't they?!"

…I did raise an eyebrow at the girl mentioning the GHA, but whatever mess I walked into took priority over that comment for now. She was acting unbelievably childish. "I'm sorry, and do you… a talentless nobody… have the means to judge me based on the GHA's acceptance of my work?"

Yumi smirked, as if she had an edge over me, "you really think you're the only talented one here? I'm a damn Ultimate myself, the BEST one at that compared to whatever fucking shit show you work under."

Ultimate…? This girl that was puffing around like a bull seeing red was an Ultimate? And actually… now that I glance at the other kids in the room, their auras appeared strikingly similar.

Was it true that these… insane looking kids Ultimate's in their field? And if that was the case, then what of the adults?

"How dare you disrespect your classmates in such a way!" The man I spoke to earlier, Tiago supposedly, reprimanded the child's conduct, "if you believe such an attitude will set you up for success in this place then it's clear you don't deserve the title of Ultimate to begin with!"

His words caused Yumi to twitch, as if he set something off internally or something, "oh you wanna talk about who doesn't deserve the title!? You and the rest of you Supreme fucks have a clear expiration date that I'm just EAGERLY waiting to see happen. So stop wasting my time and go crawl in a coffin gramps!"

…did she just say Supreme's?

I glanced at the adults now. Their aura shined even brighter than most of the kids in the room. Even Tiago stood with an overwhelmingly professional posture against Yumi's weak insults, as if he was above her in every way possible.

Were these really the faces of the best talent of the world?

The point was almost proven as some other woman stepped up to handle the situation with a controlled frown, her gaze bitterly cold to this child. "Your attempts to destroy the semblance of stability in this group won't go unpunished. Keep this back talk up and you won't like the outcome of how troublesome kids are punished by me."

Her words sent a shiver into the group. Yet Yumi in face of this blinding threat scoffed in the woman's face and turned away, "You wanna hit me, eh Valerie!? Then go ahead, show these people how fucking badly you wanna do it! But don't think for a second I won't swing right back you wrinkly old hag!"

God, so much vulgarity in just a few sentences. I had met this girl for thirty seconds at most and was already tired of her attitude, so much so I wouldn't mind if the older woman obliged the request and knocked her flat. To be honest from the twitch of Valerie's eye, she almost seemed to want to.

But hastily one boy stepped up with a nerdy lab coat and cracked goggles, attempting to diffuse this ticking time bomb between Ultimate's, "W-Woah let's take a chill pill guys… I mean… maybe we can smooth things over by talking it out? That always works! Right, Mr. Kaneko?"

"Trace here is exactly right!" Another middle-aged man, Mr. Kaneko for now, stepped up stroking his goatee as he praised Trace's efforts, "fighting like this won't solve anything. Any problem should be resolved through proper commutation, and as adults, we must set an example!"

That man said that, but I recalled him and this boy were one of those pairs steering clear of the fight.

"No no no! Let them fight Akinari!" That Midas weirdo from earlier cackled evilly as she interrupted Mr. Kaneko, or just Akinari, "it's such a bore with everyone pretending to be all kissy-kissy with one another! I say we take off the gloves early and have a brawl! I'll bet my life savings on whatever bitch throws the first punch!"

"…way to set an example," one of the quieter girls in the back blinked, dressed in studious clothes and having white hair. She at least appeared more capable than others here as she logically backed away from this insane situation.

"Please stay steer clear from this fight Ayame, we don't want you getting hurt now," that colorful woman from before, Chuya, reached out to protect Ayame. Though it was pointless since Ayame was already backing away hastily and also recoiled from the touch with a dark look. Chuya turned her attention back to the tense situation after that, looking determined, "please, I do not wish for this bickering to continue. The poor kids are being distressed by it!"

"And that man baby over there is as well!" Freyja's cat-like lips produced a snickering sound as she pointed out the gargantuan Bohai blubbering in the corner. "Louise, seriously, you should get him some fresh pair of pants or something.

"It's Dr. Bogweather," the Louise girl repeated, twirling around that unused mallet from earlier, "And he doesn't need new pants, he simply needs to calm down. Might I suggest I knock him out with this so he doesn't cry?"

"W-Wah! You're gonna h-hit me with that now?!" Bohai teared up, his muscles flexing with an effort to appear strong, "I know you didn't get to u-use the mallet b-before… b-but please reconsider! I beg of youuuuu!"

"Woah! Okay, let's crank down the violence folks!" That Mateo guy protected the giant, as he appeared more riled up given the intense heat in the room. Bohai gave an appreciative smile, but Mateo didn't catch it as he spoke up, "seriously this ain't fight club, the brawling here has got to stop! We can't be acting like children, no offense to the actual kiddos."

"None taken! Hehehehehehe!" A brightly dressed girl much shorter than him, an actual child, giggled as if none of this shouting and tension bothered her. "Also I just realized, you can't just talk about fight club! That's the number one ruleeee!"

"Damn, beat me to the reference…" Freyja murmured, "you look way to young to be watching fight club though Although I guess minors watch movies they aren't supposed to anyway so... actually never mind."

"Ha, well gotta be quicker than Miho next time," Mateo pounded his fist together as he smirked, "but anyway, aren't we supposed to be the best in our fields? We just got two new peeps here and we haven't even given them breathing room to tell us their names, let alone what happened before they got trapped here!"

"I imagine their story is the same as ours, quite boring!" Midas yawned in an exaggerated manner. "Say, why don't we continue the fight?! Now that was an exciting development!"

Jiyuu appeared much more fragile at those words as she fiddled with her glasses, "Now hold on, I think Mateo has the right idea so… m-maybe we should actually give them a chance to introduce themselves. All of u-us already did." The woman nervously turned to me and Ed, her eyes regretful for the antics around her as she managed a decent smile.

I stared at Jiyuu… stared at… everyone…

…was this really some of the GHA's best and brightest? I knew most Ultimate's weren't all they were cracked up to be sometimes, but all of these people specifically seemed downright insane with a few exceptions. But even some of the supposed Supreme's didn't match up with the reality of what I had so often heard.

They were supposed to be legends, gods in their fields. So how had I gone from hearing that to struggling to fake an indifferent expression to these petulant children around me?

I forced myself to channel my annoyance for everyone's disregard into a single frown as I glanced at Ed, who was preparing to introduce himself, or at least get it over with.

"It's Eddie." Was all he said

Wow, It was more than I got from him before. A whopping three more letters. But naturally but the others didn't look impressed. Tiago especially.

"That's it?" The lack of information made Tiago similarly blaze as I did. "That's nothing to go off of in a proper conversation!"

Eddie shrugged his broad shoulders. "This situation ain't proper. So it's all you're gonna get for now unless we're stuck for longer than necessary."

I shared Tiago's annoyance as I looked away. I still couldn't figure him out from that? Why was he so illusive in my head? In fact, why did none of these Supreme's instantly jump out in my mind? Was I far too drugged out or something?

Whatever the case, since Eddie's introduction left much to be desired, I lead by example, as I so often have to do…

"Fine then, I'll cut straight to the point," I stood straighter, arms behind my back as I nodded, "Kokoro Takano, SHSL Student Council President. I handle affairs, policies, and punishments for any school that needs dusting up on its image. My achievements can be mostly found in Monarch Academy, which I've helped make one of the top five GHA schools today."

Simple. To the point. I had practiced the whole spiel countless times with other adults. Usually, it would leave them a desire to know more about my transcript, or at the very least impressed with my performance.

But these people simply stared at me.

Eddie especially gave a half assed laugh, "now that was a mouthful."

"Well of course you'd think that…" I huffed. But to my shock others didn't appear engaged either. "Well? I introduced myself. Is there a problem?"

"No, there's no problem!" Trace tried to reassure poorly as he scratched his neck, "it's just that… uh-"

"Ain't no one asked for all that!" Midas gave a FULL ON laugh as she doubled over, wiping the tears forming under her mask, "hehe, guess you jumped the gun on that one! Now I can use that all to my advantage later!"

My cheeks started to heat as I pointed an angry finger in her direction, "And what exactly are you? You haven't been much help from what I've seen!"

Midas laughed again. "Supreme Villain at your service… NOT!"

Unbelievable. My one attempt to make an impression and it's been floored and forgotten by pretty much everyone here. "I don't know why you're laughing. You might be some sort of discount Supreme, but I've actually worked hard for my talent, which helped me get into Golden Laurel Sanctuary, a place I'm sure most you could only dream of attending!"

"W-Woah, wait I assume everyone here was attending Golden Laurel Sanctuary, right?" Casey glanced around the room, waiting for some others to chime in.

My heart dropped. "W-What?"

All of these faces couldn't possibly be here for the same reason I was, right? To attend Golden Laurel Sanctuary means you are an exception to the down trotted people, someone who had the means to change society. And these maniacs… were supposed to be in the same program as me? They weren't just any random Ultimate?

"Welp that backfired on you, ouch!" Freyja pretended to take a picture of me to commemorate my shocked expression. "But yep, you're not little miss perfect in the room anymore. Everybody here got in cause we're so great! Even that lucky student guy Adam, got in!"

"L-Lucky Student?" I shot a stink eye over who she was pointing at with her umbrella.

"Yeah I guess… that's me," A tired looking boy, Adam, who I hadn't noticed this entire time lazily blinked and waved.

His face was mostly hidden away from his hoodie, probably to block his eyes out of shame for the actual talented ones around him. Seriously, how could a Lucky Student of all talents be actually accepted into this place? This had to be a joke.

It wasn't just him, the rest of these people were seriously supposed to be attending the same program as me? It made my initial anger simmer more. "Hold on a second, so we're all a part of the GHA's newest program then? Does this include some of these... adults as well?"

I couldn't imagine some of these adults being teachers, but sure enough they nodded.

"Y-Yeah… we'd be your t-teachers if the program went n-normally," Bohai spoke up sadly, wiping his tears with his big hands. It was kind of creepy how an adult so intimidating looking was weeping like a child… and how someone like him might've been my teacher?

"But it didn't go normally, now we're trapped here," Valerie, who had calmed down from Yumi's attempts to provoke her, addressed the group with a formal look, "whatever plans the GHA had for our arrival have been interrupted by some third party."

Jiyuu bit her lip, definitely not taking this situation well, "i-is that what's happening to us? I was… kind of hoping this was Golden Laurel Sanctuary and this is how they invite p-people."

Naohito blinked, "are you insane? If this is how Golden Laurel welcomes their students, I'm booking it the first chance I get. No way am I gonna be collared like some dog!"

"I dunno, the collar is cute! It reminds me of a cute little choker for the neck!" Miho beamed.

Yumi rolled her eyes, growling, "and here this bitch goes treating it like a vacation or some shit!"

"It's not a vacation, it's school!" Miho giggled. But it's so strange! I didn't think our school day would start out with us already in class! Instead of my bed, I woke up here! Hehe! To think there's a school that teleports you right from bed to class! If more schools did that, attendance would sky rocket!"

"Yeah, I don't think that's exactly what happened, but good work thinking outside the box…!" Akinari tried to let that weird girl down easy, clearly somewhat amused by her imagination,"but yes, I've done some talking around and it seems we all were supposed to be prepping for our new school life in Golden Laurel Sanctuary! Now we're all here! With uh… split up doll pieces! Even I can't form a proper hypothesis on this one yet!"

"I can…" Suddenly Ed spoke, his voice dangerously angry, "given our status as GHA's newest representatives or whatever… some outside party has taken us hostage to have some fun."

Everyone went silent at that.

"Fun? Like a party or something!" Miho broke the silence with an innocent smile, her eyes brightly dancing like flames. "Is that what the bear looking guy is saying Jiyuu?"

"N-Not quite…" Jiyuu ignored the girl using her first name and uneasily smiled. "I can see where he's coming from. B-But I hope this situation isn't similar to that. It isn't… is it Yoshinobu?"

Given I haven't heard this name yet, I looked over at the adult being talked to, an elderly man I noticed. The entire exchange he had been in the back, not speaking up at all to the chaos around him, almost perfectly slipping by. He had a cane and was fiddling with an unlit cigarette he didn't have the lighter for, which made my nose wrinkle at the sight.

Finally, he gave up pretending he was smoking on something and put the cigarette down as he gave a thoughtful look. "It ain't uncommon for Ultimate's to be kidnapped in this day and age for any number of nonsense reasons. But it's usually one or two at a time. This case is much more high profile… a whole band of talented fools like us trapped together."

"For what purpose though? It's not anything bad right?" Trace squinted his eyes, a nervous sweat drop betraying his smile.

None of the adults talked, gazing quietly at one another with knowing looks. Whatever conversation they were having with their eyes was something us kids couldn't understand. Although given the GHAs history.

…given… Hope's Peak.

…the worst case scenario came to mind.

"Seems to be quite bad actually," Louise spoke aloud.

"Come on, don't say that," Trace tried to smile, course correcting his anxieties, "I think we're all just a bit tense. We need to be more like protons right now and stay positive! Aye?"

"Dude… really?" Naohito sighed.

"My bad," Trace deflated, "Heh, guess no one's in the pun mood right now?"

"No." Ayame bluntly answered, brushing her white hair aside, "But shouldn't we focus on getting out of here so what we think is going to happen, doesn't happen?"

"Sounds like a plan!" Mateo declared at full volume, leaving Ayame flustered nearby as he stepped up. "Screw these people who dragged us here! We were just riding off the star trails of our big break, and if they wanna kill the vibe, we just gotta kill their vibe right back and get outta here!"

"But how do we do that?" Casey flicked his fingers as he glanced at all the doors, "There's no door leading out of this room, and we can't even go back to the classrooms since they got locked when we left."

Mateo didn't say anything at first and scratched his head, "Uh… well. We just gotta bust outta here with like… something-"

"We have to assemble these doll pieces obviously," Yoshinobu pointed out the glaringly obvious as he pulled out a… girl's head?!

"A-Ah! That's a h-head!?" Bohai hugged the nearest person next to him in terror, that being Jiyuu who yelped from being lifted off the ground.

"It's a doll head from the classroom we woke up in, relax," Yoshinobu sounded amused from the reactions around, but got back on topic, "I'm gonna assume a similar pattern was used to get everyone else outta their classrooms. So it's time for show and tell, who found what body part?"

Slowly but surely, everyone took turns revealing the body parts from their room.

"We got stuck with one of the arms," Mateo revealed, waving it proudly like an extra limb. He was stopped with a glare from Valerie.

"Another arm pair here!" Trace revealed, doing jazz hands as Akinari presented the arm for everyone to see.

"You're acting foolish," Valerie mumbled as she calmly pulled out the hand from her classroom, "One of the hands was in our classroom."

"We had a hand to!" Freyja pulled out, "Although I didn't much of a helping hand from this lady I was stuck with given she tried to hide it... so it took longer to get outta the classroom." Midas stuck out a teasing tongue at that information.

Ignoring her, Casey pointed at a leg that Chuya held up uneasily, "we found this leg in our classroom, where's the other one?"

"Right here," Louise presented the leg she found as Bohai nervously shook holding it.

Finally came Eddie and my turn as the large man showed off the torso he was carrying. I spoke up for him with a resigned glare considering I've pretty much been forced to accept being in this group, "This was the torso in our room. Which should mean that's every body part right?"

Just as I finished speaking all of our collars turned green and a part of the floor sunk into the ground. Instantly we all crowded around to see something rise up from the floor. It was a large box, outlined with where the doll pieces should be placed, along with some sort of bird outline near the outstretched arm.

"Wowieeeeee… it's a barbie box! Cute!" Miho squealed with excitement as she clapped. "Christmas came early this year!"

"I don't think this is a Christmas present worth celebrating yet," Casey sweat as he tried to smile, "uh, anyone wanna step up to that thing?"

I decided I should probably do so out of everyone. I walked up and examined the box. There was nothing in there. "I suppose this is where we have to place the doll pieces then. That's the only explanation for why this box showed up."

"S-Should we really put these pieces together?" Jiyuu brought up a reasonable concern as she fiddled with her sky blue nails. "I'm just worried something bad might happen… i-if we do."

"It's not as if we have many options," I recalled the situation and bitterly closed my eyes. To be honest, seeing we had to put these doll pieces didn't exactly thrill me either. But there was nothing to be done.

"We have tons of options you haven't considered!" Midas suddenly had the audacity to speak again as she tapped her fingers together, scheming up a storm. "We can sit down and silently protest, doing nothing! Or break down the doors to classrooms again! Or we can throw Dr. Witchy Girl's mallet to the glass dome and escape that way! Seriously where is your sense of imagination?!"

"Those ideas are all equally terrible," Tiago shot down, "refrain from speaking such nonsense in the future."

"M-Maybe the mallet idea would w-work," Bohai scratched his beard nervously, "p-poor Dr. Bogweather didn't get to use it earlier…"

"Hm, I reckon it wouldn't do much good on that glass, now dynamite is much more effective," Lousie casually pulled a dynamite stick out of her bag, her sharp teeth forming some twisted smile. Though that smile faded into annoyance as a spark from her pipe lit the dynamite that she had to lazily put out. Seriously, what was this girl on?!

"Can I PLEASE have that!?" Miho dropped to her knees, pleading innocently with the witchy doctor girl as her eyes sparkled like fireworks, "If I find my kitty backpack again we can escape! It's got a lighter we can use, and a bunch of sparkling poppy fires that we can blow up near the walls!"

"You mean firecrackers?" Casey let out a half laugh, probably not believing it. "Someone wanna check in with this girl?"

"It was a black Kitty backpack, right?" Chuya murmured, "I believe I know where that is but-"

"WHERE?!" Miho pounced to Chuya who actually fell and needed Akinari to support the two.

"Girls… Chuya… Bohai… please, we are not doing any of these ideas," Akinari chuckled at their antics, but I had no idea what was so funny about accidentally blowing ourselves up.

"N-No I wasn't-!" Chuya blushed.

"Awwwww man," Miho stomped and poured, apparently really missing that backpack.

Valerie appeared similarly tired. "Since we haven't found another exit and the classroom doors locked on us, assembling this doll is all we can do at the moment." Valerie stepped to the plate with frighteningly quick precision as she gathered the doll pieces at the box. "Push forward and suck it up. We don't have time to waste here on nonsensical ideas."

Freyja frowned as she hid behind her umbrella. "Well you guys can build it, I'm not lifting a finger to make that wannabe Annabelle!"

"W-Why?" Trace blinked.

"Because it's creepy T-Race!" Freyja pointedly spoke Trace's name with an annoyed look, "And I'm not contributing to building artificial intelligence that could kill me! I have a future outside of the terminator's universe, thank you very much!"

Bohai, ever the optimist, said no one ever, shivered pathetically at that, "Maybe the girl is right, i-it could be!"

"Dude, this doll is like ten times smaller than you." Mateo's attempt to help Bohai get a grip was met with a whimper from the large man. So Mateo took the lead and put a doll piece together. "See, it looks harmless guys!"

"Great, you both volunteer to assemble it for us!" Freyja smirked, quite proud not having to lift a finger for this doll assembly. "Onward, let's get to it boys!"

"Don't sweat it, we got this!" Mateo grinned as he nudged Bohai, "This will be just like my unboxing videos! Except the other way around… cause we're putting parts INTO the box this time!"

"I-I didn't accept this though!" Bohai frowned.

Freyja raised a brow. "Okay, did you grow the back bone to refuse me?"

"N-No…" Bohai slumped and got to work.

Midas laughed nearby, relishing in Freyja's little power move… if you could call it that, "and that's how it's done my little henchmen! We could be done with your transformation from normal citizen to evildoer before lunch!"

"Shut. Up." Eddie echoed my thoughts as we watched the two men piece the doll together.

Bit by bit the task was done. First the torso, then the legs were snapped into place, then the arms. The hands had to be tightened in, and finally the head. Together at last, a girl could be made out from these pieces, her features fragile. She was tiny, more so than Miho's childish height, and yet an elegant black and white dress with flowers draped over her perfectly. Her obsidian hair flowed down into two loose hanging pigtails, and a laurel crown was wrapped around her head tightly.

Her expression was frozen. Her eyes were fixed shut, content. Vines and flowers dripped out like tears from her right eye, while her left eye was covered by her hair. A small permanent smile adorned her plastic face.

"...a child?" I blurted out. "So this is what all that fuss was about?"

"CUTEEEEE!" Miho squealed and tried to reach out for the dolls ribbons and dress, "she's so adorable! I want her! I want her!" Valerie put an end to her nonsense real quick by blocking her path.

Chuya gazed at the doll happily as her hands rested on her rosy cheeks, "aw… isn't she just the sweetest thing? Look at her face! So innocent! I just want to wrap her up in a blanket and show her off to all the other girls and boys here!"

Adam had a different impression. "Yeah we're meeting her… and it's not really that impressive. It's like a horror movie honestly."

"Exactly why I wasn't about to touch the thing," Freyja muttered.

"But you touched its hand earlier," Casey pointed out, smirking at the joke.

Freyja didn't find it funny and ran to wipe her hand on Casey's sweater, "Then boom! You're cursed now!"

"Woah, well don't curse me!" Casey yanked his sweater away and ran a hand through his silver hair, "Also this sweater is limited edition! Stuff this high quality doesn't wash easy!"

"You won't be able to get anything of quality if we can't get back on topic." I muttered from this circus act as I gazed at the doll and noticed it didn't match the outline of the box. "You put it together wrong. The left arm is outstretched and something is supposed to be perching on it."

"What? Nah, lemme see!" Mateo studied it. Sure enough he could see my point. "But we have all the body pieces don't we? What are we missing?"

"Use your eyes," I sighed and pointed out the outline shape, "part of the outline has the shape of a bird on her arm. Meaning some sort of bird object is supposed to go here… or perhaps some sort of toy."

"Oh you need a bird?" Naohito glanced at Tiago, "the old guy over there picked one up in the classroom we woke up in. Some sort of freaky owl thing."

Tiago grit his teeth and merely brought up some small object into his arms. "A Great Horned Owl was the creature… and I fear, it might confirm our theories from earlier."

In his arms was an owl, and instantly I could see the chilling issue with it. Its eyes… weren't normal. Instead it had a similar jagged design to those demonic Monokuma bears from years ago. They've since been decommissioned, but from history books at school alone I could tell this bird thing was trying to emulate them. It also had horns, shaped like a real demons… and its feathers were brown and black.

"Oh… shoot… that's…" Mateo groaned in annoyance.

"..." Valerie crossed her arms, a resigned look to her withered face.

"I see… then… that's what's happening here," Akinari's signature grin faltered, morphing into an exhausted sigh.

Older faces like Eddie, Yoshinobu, and Tiago said nothing. But their eyes happened to swirl with memories I couldn't decipher.

None of us kids in the room needed to be told what was happening this time. The design alone was painfully obvious. For me, a red swirling air was filling the room now. It was thick and devastating to my throat, a fiery pain that made me painfully aware of the event that was to come.

"What's this? A despairing air that isn't caused by the Doomsday Dame?" Midas decided now was the perfect time to revel in our silent fear as she proudly grinned, "what's with you heroes throwing in the towel so soon?! Are you all that pathetic as to already call it quits at the sight of such a laughable symbol of despair!"

"...I don't think you can call such a thing laughable," Ayame bitterly spoke, her voice holding a quiet intensity of utter disdain, "not when such a symbol has robbed millions of lives."

Midas thought on this, then actually laughed, puffing out her chest proudly. "Wow, you're really bad at this Hope business GHA people should be known for. I mean seriously, I'm laughing right now! Such an object of Despair is nothing compared to the terror that is the Madame of Mayhem! If a villain as grand as I can sleep through such boring messages of Despair, you all should be able to as well. Unless you're just actually really bad at doing your job of spreading Hope, then sure go ahead and give up already!"

As annoying as Midas's speeches were getting, I realized she was right. If someone as stupidly overconfident as her wasn't letting this symbol of despair get her down, then I personally couldn't be shaken up. I was going to change the world someday, so this would just be another hurdle to overcome, like many before.

"Even if we're piecing together the means of our demise… there's ain't nothing we can do but face it head on," Yoshinobu turned his back on the doll, but he looked far more prepared than anyone in the room. Despite taking a back seat this whole time. Like the other adults he probably was prepared for this horrific outcome.

It appeared he wasn't the only one who thought this. Eddie nearby gave a deep sigh and shrugged, "just turn the stupid bird on."

Tiago nodded, resigning our fate as Tiago placed the bird onto the child's shoulder.

The innocent girl and the demonic bird… started to make clicking noises. Their joints locked into place…. Their bodies started to sputter and move… and then with one final jerk of their heads…

…they slowly opened their eyes.

They snapped together perfectly. Like heaven and hell. Angel and devil.

The obvious mascots of a killing game... that we ourselves let loose.

"Yawwwwwnnnnn!" I flinched as the girl suddenly pretended to yawn, her limbs moving shockingly well despite not being human. She rubbed her eyes, blinked at everyone, and then giggled in a hum. "Baboo… our new playmates finally woke us up. Rise and shine, give them a proper greeting!"

As she said that, the owl, Baboo accompanying her sprang to life, flapping its wings in a great display of power as it hooted and flew elegantly around the room. Its feathers floated down around us, one landing on my suit that I brushed off hastily. Jeez, the theatrics weren't necessary…

"Get this shit off me!" Yumi appeared to agree with me as she tore the feathers out from her hair.

Finally the owl perched on the doll girl's arm, composing itself with a formal bow. "At your request Madam Laurel, I am awake. It seems the teachers and students have completed their first task. Although I will have to knock down points for all of your insults and rough handling of us both."

"Aw don't be a strict teacher on the first day," Madam Laurel, or I think just Laurel, leaned her head impossibly far to the side as she teased the owl, "you won't make any friends that way, and you'll be a lonely old grump forever!"

"If it means things progress smoothly, I shall be as strict as I need be," the owl let out a 'humpf' sound of superiority as he bobbed his head up and down, "please try not to show such leniency for these Ultimate's, Madam Laurel. They need to show their talents early on."

An absent hum escaped the girl as she petted the owl's head, making him fluster. "I can't make any promises if they are fun to be around~! That depends on them though. I'll always listen to you regardless Baboo!"

"Madam Laurel, address me as Mister Barneby from now on." The owl, Barneby, hooted with a rustle to his feathers, "if you continue like this, they'll be under the impression Baboo is my name…"

"Isn't it?" The girl joked. Although I couldn't tell, she sounded dead serious as she smiled.

The two were casually talking to each other as if the rest of us weren't there. As if we all didn't just wake up with no memory of how we got here! Their blatant disregard for our situation was starting to get on my nerves, especially since we all pretty much knew what was going to happen soon without their tiring back and forth exchange.

"The flying rat is talking!" Miho spoke first to the duo before I could shout at them, not as bothered by this sight as she tugged Chuya's apron. "Lookie! It's talking!"

"I can see that sweetie," Chuya tried to compose her voice as she glanced at the owl intently, "um… I apologize for the interruption… mister bird… but can you please tell us what is going on? We're all quite bewildered as of now."

"I am not a flying rat nor a normal bird," the owl deadpanned. "I'm a Great Horned Owl. Please get it right, as I'm your teacher and you will treat me with respect."

"Teacher? More like the class pet!" Midas couldn't stop laughing again as she almost dropped her fancy staff, "to think you are the ones who likely forced our being into this cage! I have to say, if it weren't for your frankly laughable appearances, I'd be impressed! Although I should clarify… almost… impressed. I am still the main star of the show when it comes to spreading evil throughout this world!"

The bird and the little girl stared at the cackling Midas, appearing just as annoyed as the rest of us from the villain. That was until Laurel giggled. "Aw Midas, you're so cute like this. But if you insult Baboo again, I'll tattle on you about your naughty behavior!"

Midas's laughter died down into an amused smirk. "Go ahead, tattle to your guardian for me! I'm the Shining Knight of Terror and Malice! My crimes are known around the world!"

The reaction made Laurel smile despite her attempt to lecture her failing. "You're going to be fun during our game, isn't that right Baboo?"

"Madam Laurel…" the owl looked uneasy and nudged the girl, "as much as I appreciate you standing up for me, we do have a few announcements to go through. And as Miss Yagami spoke earlier, yes… I understand you're all confused. So please let us introduce ourselves first. I am Mister Barneby, and this is my student, Madam Laurel."

"Laurel by itself is fine," the girl hummed, swaying on her feet, "and you all must be my new playmates. Welcome to your first day!" Despite her regal tone of voice, her wandering gaze made it seem like she wasn't invested in what she was saying. "I hope you're as excited as I am to start on a beautiful journey. I can't wait to explain it all to you-"

"Eh… don't bother," Eddie suddenly spoke up, his anger simmering dangerously under his intense glare. "Given fucking everything… it's obvious what you plan on revealing."

…

…

…

"...that being a killing game right?"

There it was. The possibility that had been looming over all of us like a guillotine preparing to strike. And now, the blade had fallen without warning. Eddie's words weren't minced to soften the blow, the blistering dread in the room was spinning around his statement, pooling into an acidic despair.

This was the scenario some of us had prepared for… that I tried to believe I was ready for. But now standing with these strangers, some clearly not right in the head, I was concerned just how long I could last around these people.

As for Laurel and the owl, both of them shared a look and then Barneby huffed, "Jumping to conclusions is a dangerous game to play Mister Orsino, and interrupting Madam Laurel even more so. I would hope not all of you believe this is a killing game right out of the gate, not before we properly explained what was happening."

"Nah it's fine," Laurel put a finger to her chin, offering reassurance in her own childlike way, "Given what that Enoshima lady did… it's natural to be pessimistic. I imagine for you older folk that's especially true… always prepared for the worst case scenario!"

"With how you're dancing around the subject, are you trying to say this is supposed to be something else?" Yoshinobu spoke up briefly, bored and unimpressed. "Because this all is kinda predictable already."

"Predictable…" Laurel paused, then nodded absently. "Predicable… hm…?"

"Don't drift off the space you piece of shit! I'll fucking pummel you for any sort of game you make me play!" Yumi snapped, preparing to charge at the doll before Valerie grabbed her arm. Yumi wrenched herself away. "Hey don't touch me bitch!"

"I'm trying to top you from doing something stupid," Valerie glared as she pointed at the mascots, "You don't honestly believe our captors haven't set up counter measures in case we try to rebel, do you?"

"S-She's right…" Jiyuu already appeared hopeless to the situation as she winced, "I think our collars already might be the first sign of that. If we approach them… t-then-"

"Zap! Punishment for you!" Laurel finished, appearing WAY livelier than before, "a gold star for our two lady teachers. If you try to hurt me or Baboo, we'll hurt you right back. Sounds fair, right?"

"Besides you just put us together," Barneby pointed out, attempting to reason with us, "Why waste energy tearing us apart again when we have all the answers you seek?"

"Because we already figured it out didn't we?" Freyja perked, "Rounding up the best of the best… slapping us with these collars… yada yada yada. Frankly it's insultingly obvious. This all mirrors that old game back then… well minus a few thingies I think."

"No you're right, it very much points towards this being a death game," Tiago folded his arms, "The world has taken great care to repair the damage of that horrific event! And now you wish to churn up another Tragedy similar to that?! You despairs will never accept the fact that Hope has won due to our efforts as Ultimate's!"

…

Laurel giggled. "You're right. You have won! So why in the world would we try to repeat the Tragedy?"

Murmurs filtered across the room. I raised my eyebrows at this.

Barneby quickly clarified, "The killing game of Hope's Peak during the Tragedy was in an effort to tarnish Hope and its reputation. But this is no such killing game, rather this is a game to celebrate the efforts of Hope, the GHA, and the future generation."

"The fuck are you spewing?" Yumi spat, though for once she managed to restrain herself enough to just shoot a deadly glare at them.

"Simply put, this isn't supposed to be a killing game!" Laurel suddenly smiled. "Because why would Golden Laurel Sanctuary want to hurt its guest? No… you're here to learn the lessons of what it means to be an Ultimate!"

…

…

…

What…?

Her words would almost be lost to me if it weren't for what she was implying. This… wasn't supposed to be a death game?

And even more insane, Golden Laurel Sanctuary would never hurt us…? With how they spoke, that must've meant…

…we're at Golden Laurel?

"How can this not be a killing game?" I spoke up for the rest of the group's behalf, my stern expression hardening, "Given everything, it seems to point to that."

"And to add onto that question…" Trace adjusted his lab coat, unsure of what was going on but taking initiative anyway, "you just talked about this being Golden Laurel Sanctuary. Does that mean the GHA might be involved in this?"

Mateo scrunched his face, "Uh, there's no way, right? I mean reports say Golden Laurel's never done something this outta pocket."

"You'd usually be right," Barneby nodded, "Let's just say for your question…. there's been a style change in teaching. Golden Laurel Sanctuary has always prided itself as being the "Safe Haven of Talent"... a place where skilled individuals can hone their craft. And this is why… you are all here today… because you were either invited or answered the call to work on those talents."

I thought back briefly to my invitation letter. I accepted the call to come here. That meant, I willingly wanted this?

"So to simplify…" Laurel giggled, "This shouldn't be seen as a killing game. Instead, this is the first step you all willingly took to cultivate your talents! You chose to come learn here… and now you will be doing that. Golden Laurel Sanctuary shouldn't be a place where death lingers! It should be a place where talent is celebrated forever and ever!"

"During your time here," Barneby took over, "you will be studying under the greats of talent. You'll be learning the history of hope and the GHA. And you all will grow from the shells of despair you have cocooned around yourself and blossom into hopeful butterflies."

"And to make sure that happens…" Laurel murmured dreamily, "we made a game that emphasizes your talents! And shows you that hope can triumph over despair!"

…

"So… you're all gonna be staying here and learning from your talents for the rest of the foreseeable future… unless you discover the truth about the GHA and Hope itself," Laurel quickly added.

"Of course there'd be a catch…" Adam muttered.

"That's still a sign of a death game bitch!" Yumi snarled, "you realize you're sentencing us to die in this shit hole if we don't find out the truth!"

"But… that's good right?" Casey perked up a little bit as he clicked his fingernails together, "they're saying instead of killing each other… we just gotta go to school and figure out the truth about the GHA or whatever. Isn't that just basic history class?"

"Oh! The truth about the GHA?" Freyja looked especially intrigued as she jotted down notes in some notepad she had, "given I've been preparing for this moment for ages, I'm pretty sure you can thank me later for my SPEEDRUN attempt to get us out of here! Trust me in all you really need if you wanna escape!"

"Yeah… and what if you don't find anything?" Naohito kept it realistic as he crossed his arms, "we'd still be stuck here."

"It sounds like an abstract concept indeed," Chuya agreed with most of our concerns as she scrunched her eyes, "while a game without death is appreciated, what does it mean that we must find the truth?"

"The truth… is very important! It's real… tangible," Barneby explained cryptically, "our history is built on the legends and principles of Hope… and the GHA has helped foster that hope to breathe life into you Ultimate's! Which is why we need those very Ultimate's… the perfect semblance of Hope, to discover the truth and present it to both Madam Laurel and I."

"That's right, Baboo and me represent… The Judges Of Hope, where we cast down our judgment to what the truth behind Hope itself is!" Laurel smiled, "and the reason this is happening to you twenty specifically is because you have the skill, talent; and humanity, to achieve that goal."

…

…

…

"What is this philosophic stuff you're talking about?" Mateo blanked out, "listen I'm not sure what is so funny about keeping us trapped here but here but I ain't laughing. I'm known online for how many types of chili's I can stick into my mouth, not discovering the truth and philosophies of the human mind or whatever."

"Y-Yeah I don't think… I could d-do that either," Bohai whimpered.

"This is… so sudden…" Jiyuu rubbed her arm.

Some of the Supreme's that spoke really didn't seem up to the task of pursuing the abstract concept. I could understand to an extent. Barneby and Laurel were making NO sense. But at the same time, for Supreme talent… they sounded sort of… weak?

In fact Laurel seemed to lighten up ominously at hearing the unease as she leaned forward. "Oh? Is that too hard for the best of the best to manage? That they can't face the truth behind Hope itself?"

"It's just that we have no idea what you're talking about honestly," Adam deadpanned as he stuffed his hands into his pockets, "and we also don't really care… either…"

"To simplify it EVEN MORE then," Laurel dreamily said, "all that you need to do in order to not be caged for the rest of your lives… is to show society YOUR TRUE HOPE. Show them… your best version of yourself, the realest… purest version of yourself. That's what Golden Laurel is all about. That is the Hope we want you to find."

The purest version of myself? I stared down at the red and gold tie on my uniform. The one memory of why I have worked so hard is to get where I am. If my purest version existed at all, it was the one standing here now.

…

Because of dad…

…

I shook my head furiously, "if we signed up for Golden Laurel… and the condition to leave is us essentially working to become the best version of ourselves, then it's just as we always planned originally. We signed up to be the best in this academy, and I intend to do that. I will become the best in this room, a pure version of Hope that will change the world and find whatever truth the GHA offers. That is my duty as an Ultimate… that's… what I plan to do."

Laurel stared at me… and with a reaction that made me freeze, the little girl giggled happily. Not like before where it sounded empty. This giggle was a pure one of delight and sinister glee.

"It seems like Kokoro is up for the task to become her best self," the doll snapped her head a little to the side as she walked up. "Who else wants to join her on the path of reflection and discovery! To understand true talent! To understand true hope! And to realize their dreams!"

Something as simple as becoming our best selves we somehow twisted wrong by this child. Was she… deriving pleasure from seeing us grow? Or was… she thinking of a different kind of growth? It didn't matter in the end because despite some looks I got, I noticed they were mostly indifference or downright pity.

"That's a lovely idea on paper but…" Akinari started, a more serious tone coming out of that once kooky mouth of his, "you can't change the work by simply stating that Kokoro, and it's not just about hard work either… there's a lot of factors around being talented, some painful."

"You think I don't know that?" I narrowed my eyes at Akinari. Where was this lecture coming from?

"No you might think you know, but perhaps you don't truly get it," Yoshinobu also stuck some salt in the wound for some reason as he gazed back at this doll, "whatever path of discovery this toy is yapping about, ain't one you wanna go down lightly. Heck, their path of Hope might be different then whatever you're assuming."

"I wouldn't take it lightly, everyone in my world has given up trying, but not me. I never settle for less than perfection!" I defended, trying to look composed. But from the looks I was getting, it felt more like I was being viewed as a spoiled child in the situation.

"You can go for that kid," Eddie of all people spoke last as he huffed. "But honestly it's just gonna be hell. You should know that as a Supreme… our fight to this point didn't come lightly. And if you think blind optimism from the GHA is gonna get you far… take it from those creepy ass dolls over here, whatever's goin' on with Golden Laurel ain't something you want to be a part of."

What I want? They had no idea what I wanted. Eddie had no clue what pain I had. I simply glared at him with a hateful look and turned away. I wouldn't change my mind. If this game or whatever could be survived by achieving my best self, than that's what I'd do…

…that's what I'd continue to do for my talent.

As for Barneby, he sighed at the rest of the group. "It seems some of you are against discovering the true Hope and history of the GHA. Very well, our school holds no ill will towards whatever path you choose… but should you wish to take the easy path and ignore your destiny… there is still one alternative to escape."

Eddie rolled his eyes, "…lemme take a wild guess… we kill someone and get away from it? That's the condition to leave?"

"...if you want to take the easy way out and ignore the call to perfecting your talents, then yes," Laurel finally nodded. Silence enveloped the room after, and I felt my own heart clench with bitter realization that at the end of the day, it still could be a death game. Laurel continued, "There is a graduating system that will make use of your skill against your peers in trials and murder cases-"

"So it is a killing game," Eddie deadpanned, "and you tried to play it off like some sort of study retreat or whatever."

Barneby hooted with little more than a huff of annoyance., "There shouldn't be any fuss over this. I'd think it's an honor to represent the pinnacle of talent forever in Golden Laurel Sanctuary. Whether it be through murder or study, the truth will be revealed on everyone's true potential and Hope. After all, that's why many of you came here, isn't it?"

Louise narrowed her sharp eyes. "I didn't quite agree to stay trapped here forever, I eventually wanted to use my status from this institution as a means to expand acceptance for my treatment methods."

"Y-Yeah, I w-wanna go home to the little fishes in the sea…" Bohai whimpered.

"I was planning some events for the orphanage I work to support," Chuya regrettably sighed, "to think they won't have me for long."

I was tempted to join their complaints, but I choose my side to become the best and stuck with it. I had so much going for me when I applied to Golden Laurel, and yet here I was now stuck within that very place with people who looked more willing to kill. To think we were stuck here to celebrate talent, some of these people didn't deserve to even be in the room. I glared at Adam particularly, a nobody who won scraps off the lottery. He just looked at me with a confused gaze.

Laurel eventually waited for the others to quiet down before grinning. "I know this must be frustrating, but if you wish to leave, the alternative method of murder is quite an attractive idea. It's still another way to test your skills… and you might be able to go home, at the cost of others lives that is."

Naohito tightly crossed his arms. "Oh yeah, if someone wins a trial you're are punished or something like that… right? I remember in class they said-"

"Executed, actually, there's a difference," Barneby corrected, "And again, if you don't wish to do such a thing-"

"We obviously don't!" Tiago stood up, his frame glowing with authority, "You have made a huge mistake in thinking we might bend to the temptation of being home sick when the sacrifice to pay is our very morals of character. We are the strength of society, the pillars that hold everyone else up! If we sacrifice that for our selfish desires, we're no better than the despairs!"

Tiago's resolve was shimmering, his eyes blazed with determination.

"You've also made the error that us adults would allow children to be executed…" Akinari actually glared at Barneby and Laurel, appearing disgusted as his older look sternly tightened, "If the environment was only adults or only kids, perhaps tensions would be bad. But even with this group… I doubt any adult would let a single one of these kids die. So even if your ideas on our Hope are abstract, I won't give in to whatever game you're planning.

Akinari's belief in morality allowed the other kids to be calmer. Despite us being Ultimate's, it was clear the adults shared more responsibility.

"And to think we'd ever let you be satisfied with seeing us break," Valerie raised her head to glare down at the two mascots, overwhelming the room with a shattering chill, "not only are we Supreme's… many of us are survivors that can weather any storm… march through any road. We will win this battle against your silly game, just like Enoshima lost all those years ago."

Valerie's declaration of survival burned in everyone, including myself.

Some Supremes' moments ago barely impressed me… but now, from those three, even Akinari begrudgingly, I felt myself suffocated by their dedication to getting through this crisis. To shift from comically stupid to leading the battle cry against this game. So this was what I had to surpass. To find my potential.

"…interesting, so this is their Hope? Or… is it?" Laurel murmured as she didn't appear to be upset. If anything she looked impressed, "Well I would hope your resolve is as strong as your words, because that's what we hoped you'd all say. If you refuse the killing game… then no one dies, meaning you're all true self sacrificing Ultimate's… the absolute best of the GHA. As it should be."

When Laurel said that, I detected that same hint of disinterest in her voice, as if not believing in her own words. Despite saying this game was to "build" our talents, she didn't appear to perk up as much as she did for that aspect of the game. It seemed she cared more for the Hope aspect… whatever that meant.

"That's right, you Supreme's are quite dedicated to your selfless behavior," Barneby praised, "I hope the children here learn a thing or two from you. Which is why… we should get started right away at preparing all of you for your roles during your time teaching in Golden Laurel! We have prepared a small test before the school semester can begin properly. This will be your Entrance Exam!"

"An Entrance Exam?" Chuya gasped.

"We have to do a test already…?" The exhaustion in Adam's voice was not hard to miss, "we just got here."

"Of course, a test would be required for evaluation of your personal level," Barneby nodded quietly, his red eyes suddenly glinting, "And that Exam will help teach you the rules of what happens when someone tries to graduate… and show us their development in the school."

"When someone… tries to graduate?" I murmur, thinking back to what that meant again before my eyes widened, "Wait… do you mean when someone…"

"Tries to leave the school? Yes…" Laurel murmured eagerly as she put a finger to her lips, "All of you have stood strong against the idea that you have to kill to escape. But according to our regular procedures we still must go over what happens if someone decides to take that fatal plunge And instead of explaining the rules… we thought it'd be much more effective to show both what would happen... and our true goal with this game… so…"

Before I had time to question what was even happening, a plume of smoke poured into the room. Panicked shouts and screams rang around me, no doubt from everyone's reaction to the sudden change in tone. I almost stumbled from one particularly loud person next to me, I believe Bohai, but someone caught me and held me close during the chaos.

I didn't realize until after the smoke cleared that it was Eddie who had steadied me. Everyone else was either clinging to their assigned partner or standing uneasily away from the source of the chaos... which was right...

...in...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...front... of my eyes...?

...

...

...

...

...

W-What... was this?

...

What was I seeing...?

...

Was this... reality? Was this... an actual...?!

"Shit..." Mr. Orsino's disgusted grumble woke me right up. From that alone... I could tell...

...this was real.

...

The body of a girl I had seen the face of before was sprawled out on the floor, a huge pool of blood around her head... scissors clutched in her fist… and a hammer similarly dyed red lying nearby.

And one look from her cold eyes... confirmed to me...

...she was dead.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!"

Someone's intense scream rang out. Followed by others, one after another. Even the calmer ones were caught off guard by this turn of events. As for me...? I could only just stare at what just happened.

To see an actual dead body, especially in this state, I… I never prepared for anything like this!

And what made it worse was that her face was strikingly familiar. It was one I had just learned the name of before all this after all. And Laurel confirmed that very name with a sickening smile.

"Ayano Minami... you're up! Show us the Hope of the one who killed you!"

{Author's Note}

A Sanctuary Update, one month after a Gold House update? The universe must be faling apart. LETSGOOO THO

Sanctuary has occupied my mind a lot lately and I NEEDED to get ths chapter oiut. What's so exciting this time about this prologue is that it's something I've planned very extenseively for a few months now. ANd it's very important to me on the idea of doing two things. One, showing that the Sanctuary cast is just as iconic and fun as the Gold House cast.

And two, you heard it from Laurel, this prologue is gonna have a trial. Or an Entrance Exam.

It might be overkill to do a trial so early into the story, but this trial is very important to me for the fact that.. I'm actually gonna try and test out my ability to write a murder mystery, and it'll help later explore some characters and lore. I can't wait to get into the invstigation, the trial itself, and then finish the Prologue. What's even more exciting for me is that the trial porition is all written out, which means I just need to write the investigation, and once I do that I can post the two back to back.

That's the plan anyway. Life can be messy and I might go awol again, but between last chapter and this chapter, I really hope this satisfies the Sanctuary cravings. I wish my writing was better in many aspects, but I just hope the interactions were fun.

As for the trial, there isnt much than can be theorized on now, all that can happen in investigation, but you can share your thoughts! And to give you a hint... treat this trial like any other trial (Except when you shoudn't heheh)

To wrap things off thanks to everyone in the server and reviews for being patient with me as I write both stories! Here is my chrismtas gift to you! And have a good new year soon as well everyone!

Take Care

CandleFire45