One thing Izuru never did was panic, but Hajime wasn't so lucky. Especially not in the face of this. He was the one who'd let Monokuma in here in the first place.

"You fiend!" Gundham cried, recoiling at the sight of their ursine nemesis. "What foul summoning spell has brought you back from the depths of hell? Even the forbidden blood magic should not allow this!"

"You… you…" Hajime could barely even string his words together. "You shouldn't be here! How are you here?!"

Don't let this be my fault. Not again.

"Why you…" Hajime turned and noticed Nagito suddenly looking completely serious, and completely furious. He was… unpredictable, but at least he could be counted on to hate Monokuma as much as the others did.

"How dare you show yourself back here?" He pointed a finger at the bear. "We already defeated you once! Your despair has no place in this world anymore!"

Monokuma tilted his head a little. "What's that? Defeated?" He looked scandalized at the speak very idea. "You didn't defeat me at all, mister. You had a severe case of 'I'm dead' at the time."

"Enough of this already," Fuyuhiko spat. "We know it's you, Junko. Just fucking show yourself."

"Hmm… how about… no!" Monokuma's cheery demeanor vanished for a moment as he snapped at the yakuza. "You can't just skip ahead to the final boss like that! This isn't that kind of game!"

"What do you mean, game?" Nekomaru growled at him. "Don't tell me… you're not going to try to throw us into another Killing Game, are you?"

"Why of course I am!" Monokuma threw a fist in the air and cheered. "You're trying to rescue the Ultimate Gamer, aren't you? How could I not take this opportunity to give you all a game of your very own?" He threw his hand over his head. "Where would the poetic justice be? Just the thought of it makes me faint!"

"No. No, we are not doing this again!" Hajime's voice nearly broke out of desperation. "Just – just stop this! Just tell us what you did with Chiaki!"

"Hmm? Well, that's awfully presumptuous of you. I'll have you know she's safe and sound, no thanks to all of you. And because I'm such a nice guy, I'll even tell you where she is!"

Monokuma paused for a moment, seemingly just for dramatic effect, before revealing the answer. "Sheeeeeeeee's… inside the Ancient Ruins on the Second Island!"

Everyone was momentarily quiet as they took in this information. Hajime felt the tension fade from his body ever so slightly.

"Really?" he said quietly. "She's… she's really there?"

"But Hajime knows the password!" said Ibuki, eyes wide with excitement. "That means we can go over there and rescue her right now!"

She turned around and started to run away, only for Monokuma to spring up in front of her wielding a very familiar bazooka.

"HEY! What did I say about skipping ahead!" he snapped at her once she had scrambled to a stop. "I worked my furry little butt off preparing this Killing Game for you kids, and you're going to enjoy it!"

"That's utterly preposterous." Peko stood with her sword still in front of Fuyuhiko, as stoic as ever. "There is nothing you can do that can force us to kill each other."

Monokuma turned his attention away from Ibuki and onto her. "Hmm, pretty sure I've heard that tune before, missy. But don't worry, kids! I'm a bear who gets bored easily. I'm not gonna make you go through the same thing twice!" he said. "There's no way you guys are gonna kill each other with all your memories, so… we're gonna mix it up!"

He suddenly vanished and reappeared on top of the statue… and just as he did, it started to rumble and crack. Deep fractures started to spread all the way up and down.

"Get ready for… Monokuma's New and Improved Rescue Mission of Mutual Killing!"

The statue exploded, and in its place emerged the five Monobeasts, looking none the worse for wear. They roared, they squawked, they let out whatever animal noise was appropriate, but all of them gathered loyally behind Monokuma as he landed on the ground, aiming their lethal weaponry at the students.

"What… what is this? What's going on?" Hajime's voice faltered as he stepped backwards with the other students. Maybe he could take those things in a fight, but how could he risk it? How far did his talent extend?

"I'll tell you what's going on! This is what you all have to contend with if you want to save your precious gamer girl!" Monokuma declared as he stood in front of the Monobeasts with his arms folded, looking as proud as ever. "Now, this Killing Game will come in two phases. In order to clear each of the islands, you'll have to complete that island's Adventure Phase. Each one will be a harrowing experience that will end with you battling against one of my Monobeasts… for one of these!"

From out of nowhere, he suddenly produced a large octahedral crystal and held it up. It was mostly black and white, but seemed to have a faint red glow pulsating inside it.

"Behold! The magical, mystical, and miraculous Monocrystal! There are six of them, and you'll need all of them to open the Ancient Ruins!"

He held his paws over his mouth and giggled. "Puhuhuhu! This is almost like a real Fantasy RPG, isn't it?"

"Th-those things… sort of look like Hope Fragments…" Teruteru said meekly.

"Are you accusing me of reusing assets?!" Monokuma snarled at him, and Teruteru yelped and shrank into himself. "What kind of lazy developer does that? …But yeah, they're Hope Fragments. I just gave 'em a new paint job. But who cares? You can't access the ruins without collecting all of them, and that's final!"

Ibuki was twiddling her fingers. "So… when does the mutual killing happen? …Or should Ibuki not have said anything?"

Monokuma glared at her. "Geez, hold your horses already! You kids today are so impatient," he huffed. "I was just getting to that. You see, after you defeat one of the Monobeasts and obtain a Monocrystal, then comes the second phase… and my personal favorite part! The Class Election!"

"Class… Election?" Hajime repeated. "Is that supposed to be like a Class Trial?"

"We've already told you, nobody here will be killing anybody else," said the Imposter.

"Even if it's your only way to continue?" Monokuma said with a devious grin. "You see, in the Class Election… you must vote for one of your classmates to be executed! And guess what, buttercup! Refusing to participate is strictly against the rules!"

"E… executed?" Mikan had seized up. Her eyes had gone wide. It was clear that some horrible memories were forcing their way to the surface.

"No… no!" She broke down, sinking to the ground and sobbing. "I… I can't go through that again… please… please!"

Monokuma looked annoyed at her. "Hmph… already full of despair and we haven't even gotten to the juicy stuff yet! Haven't the boys ever told you not to go too fast?"

"You're horrible!" Mahiru snapped at him. She had already knelt down next to Mikan, trying to comfort her. "What do you have to gain from all this? The real Junko is dead. The Tragedy is over."

"All we want is our friend back! Would you keep denying this to us, even now?" Sonia cried, holding her hands to her chest.

"Hmm… you kids really weren't paying attention in class, were you? If it weren't for the rules, I'd kill you right now for asking such ridiculous questions." Monokuma threw up his hands. "In case you've all forgotten, here's a refresher course! Everything I do is for the sake of despair! Despair is not a means to an end! It is the end!"

He clutched at his stomach and laughed. "And unless you all want to have come here for nothing, you've got no choice but to play along! This Killing Game officially begins at 7 am tomorrow morning! So everyone rest up… for some of you, it will be your last chance!"

His cackling filled the air, and then he vanished, as he'd done so many times in the past. The five Monobeasts all took off in different directions, presumably returning to guard the gates, and the Horse Mecha nearly stepped on them on its way out. Hajime and the others all screamed and ran out of the park, throwing themselves to the ground, diving to safety, barely escaping being crushed beneath its thunderous hooves.

Then they all lifted their heads up and watched, shaking in fear, as the metallic monsters all disappeared into the distance. Nobody said a word. There was nothing that could be said.

––

Half an hour later, they had all reconvened outside of the Old Building. Most of them weren't doing well. Mikan was still blubbering, and Mahiru was occupying herself by rubbing her back.

Akane was kicking a wall. "Dammit! What does Junko want this time?" she griped. "Is she tryna steal our bodies again?"

"Is there really no way we can save Nanami without playing Monokuma's game?" asked Ryota. "Couldn't we… just… go to the Ancient Ruins right now?"

"We'd have to fight a Monobeast, so no, we can't," said Hajime. "And there's no way he'd let us off that easy. It's not just Chiaki that's in there. The Ancient Ruins are the only place where we can begin Graduation."

Mikan looked up at him in horror. "Y-you're saying… until we finish the game…"

"We're stuck in the Neo World Program. Again," Hajime said grimly.

"This certainly seems like something Hajime should have prepared for… after all, this was all set up by him," said the Imposter, folding their impressive arms and looking squarely at him. It wasn't an angry look, but it was firm, and that was somehow even worse.

Hajime clenched his hands and lowered his head. He wanted to defend himself, but he couldn't. The Imposter was absolutely right.

"I… I don't know how this happened," he confessed. "The virus should have been gone… it was gone. I checked everything."

"Yeah? How do we know you're telling the truth?" Kazuichi said accusingly. "Maybe your Izuru side just got soooo bored living together with us, huh? Maybe you just needed some more of that sweet, sweet despair!"

"Everybody shut up!" Mahiru shouted, and her classmates all fell silent. "Blaming each other isn't going to help! That's what Monokuma wants us to do! Don't you guys get that by now?"

A few students started looking guilty, and Mahiru pinched her nose impatiently. "It doesn't matter how Monokuma got here. Right now, we all just need to focus on surviving the game. We all have our Student Handbooks in this world, right? We… we should go over the rules."

That seemed like a good idea, and so slowly, reluctantly, Hajime pulled out his e-Handbook along with everyone else and opened up the page detailing the school rules. The first six were the same as before – the rules Usami had created. Then things got different.

7. Students are forbidden to leave an island until they have obtained the Monocrystal from that island.

8. Before leaving the island, students must also complete a Class Election.

9. During the Class Election, each student must vote for exactly one of their classmates. They may also vote for themselves. Participation is mandatory.

10. Receiving the largest number of votes in a Class Election is strictly prohibited.

11. The Ancient Ruins may only be accessed once students have obtained six Monocrystals.

12. Additional rules may be added at the headmaster's discretion.

"…I don't understand Rule 10…" said Ryota. "Monokuma wants us to vote, but… getting the most votes is prohibited?"

"It's because of Rule 6. Monokuma can't actually kill us unless we violate the rules," muttered Fuyuhiko. "This is his loophole."

Everyone was silent. Hajime slowly lowered his e-Handbook, gazing at the ground. His enhanced mind was flashing through possible scenarios to get them out of this – overpower Monokuma, disable the Monobeasts, kill ourselves so we all wake up back in the real world –

He didn't like how that last one entered his head, but it did. And anyway, none of those possibilities ended with them successfully entering the Ancient Ruins and saving Chiaki.

There was only one way to do that.

"Excuse me, everyone."

Hajime and the others all turned around to see Peko suddenly walking over to them – he hadn't even realized she had gone. She was carrying, of all things, a trash can.

"Peko? What are you doing?" asked Fuyuhiko.

"I was scouting this island, looking for some way for us to escape," she said. "And I found something I thought you would all want to see."

She took the lid off the can, and everyone gathered around her and looked inside. Hajime's eyes narrowed.

"Monomi?"

The familiar pink rabbit was curled up inside the trash can, looking like she was going through a particularly strong bout of self-loathing. "Oh… hello, Hajime. Hello, everyone. I'd say that it's so wonderful to see you all again, but…" Her ears drooped. "Monokuma stole my powers again, and he stuck me in here… why is he so cruel?"

Hiyoko threw her hands in the air. "Oh, great. The one thing we needed to make this day even worse."

"Get out of there, Monomi," Hajime grumbled. He'd restored her himself, but if Monokuma had usurped her role again, then she was basically useless.

Peko turned the trash can upside down, and Monomi came tumbling out. Everyone circled around her, and nobody looked particularly thrilled to see her, not even Nagito.

"Well, well… long time no see, Monomi," said the Lucky Student. "I'd say that you being here might be the hope we need to overcome Monokuma's despair… but you weren't much of a help last time, so I doubt it."

"Ohhh… your words are so hurtful," Monomi sniffed as she picked herself up.

"We might still be able to get some information out of her," said Mahiru. "Monomi, do you… have any idea how Monokuma came back?"

Monomi looked even sadder and shook her head. "No… I wish I did…" she said. "But I don't know anything that goes on outside the Neo World Program… whether someone inserted him in…." She grabbed at her ears. "I've failed you all as a teacher."

Most of the students looked out of patience with her. "Hmph. Even more worthless than before," Hiyoko sneered in disgust.

Hajime suddenly remembered something. "Wait… maybe she can help us after all," he said. "She defeated all the Monobeasts last time, right? So… maybe she can help us do it again."

"Wait… she did?" said Ibuki. "Ibuki doesn't remember that."

"Yeah, me neither," said Nekomaru.

"Nor do I," Gundham said gruffly.

Monomi looked at them incredulously. "I announced it to all of you…" she whimpered. "Is it possible? Were you all ignoring me…?"

"We should get her up to speed," said the Imposter. "Listen, Monomi. There's another Killing Game going on. We're trying to rescue Chiaki – the real one. But Monokuma's making us go through this ridiculous game before we can get to her." They looked and saw they had everyone's attention. "We're trying to figure a way out of this, but until we do, can we count on your cooperation?"

Monomi looked confused for a moment, but she quickly straightened up. "Why, of course!" she cried. "It's my responsibility to look after all of my students! I won't let any harm come to any of you on this island!"

"Yeah, 'cause that worked out so well last time," Kazuichi muttered.

"Last time, we did not have our memories," Peko said firmly. "This time, we know exactly what is at stake. We have everything to gain from cooperation and nothing to gain from infighting."

"That's right," said Sonia, trying to look determined and brave like a princess should. "Things will absolutely be different this time. We will not fall for Monokuma's manipulations. And we will rescue Chiaki."

Chiaki… so many things had gone wrong today that Hajime was having a hard time keeping his focus on her. He had to keep telling himself that nothing had changed. Monokuma could throw whatever he liked at them, but it didn't matter in the end.

He had come here to rescue her. And that was what he would do.

Surviving Students: 16

––

A/N: Coming up next time: the first death…