Hello readers and welcome to my new chapter. So, I've been thinking hard about whether or not to do the opening. So, after much thinking and rereading all of the arguments, I decided to try and do the game opening. The reason is because it shows how serious this is going to be, compared to the anime opening.
But there will be a few alterations to it. First off, the scenes where the show Leon getting executed, I'll make it where they can't tell who's getting executed (Like maybe they only see a shadow or very brief appearance). And second, when the pictures of the characters are shown, it'll be the pictures from the anime opening (Mainly because I like those better).
So, I hope everyone is okay with that. I doubt the game opening it would take the seriousness of the watching the future series, much. But if I can't put the opening into words, I might just make a big implication that they watch the opening next chapter. So, with that, enjoy the chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.
Chapter 06: Watching the Prologue: Welcome to Despair Pt 6
"Wh-? Waaaaaah! That teddy bear can talk!" Hifumi cried out in shock.
"Calm down." Taka said, though, he's just as surprised. "I'm sure there's just a speaker inside it."
The bear, now known as Monokuma, spoke up angrily. "I told you already, I'm not a teddy bear!" He then jump off the desk and stared directly at them. "I'm Monokuma! And I'm your headmaster!"
"Waaaaah! It moved!" Hifumi cried out.
"Are you going to react to every little thing dude?" Leon asked in annoyance. "Your future self need to calm down!"
"This is all so surprising!" Hifumi defended himself. "Of course I would react like that!"
"Seriously man, calm down!" Mondo exclaimed. "It's probably just a remote control toy or somethin'."
That depressed Monokuma. "How dare you compare me to a child's plaything! You've cut me deep. Deeper than Mariana's Trench." He quickly got out of his depression. "My remote control system is so complex, even the folks at NASA can't recreate or even comprehend it!"
"Really?" Chihiro's curiosity spiked at the information given to them. "Is his control really that advanced than those of NASA? It's a bold claim to be made."
"I doubt we would be able to see the controls any time soon, so it will remain a mystery for right now." Byakuya said.
"Ah, but don't make me say stuff that might destroy NASA's dreams. I just couldn't BEAR that!" Monokuma said.
"Bear that? Really?" Leon groaned. "He had to make a pun?"
"A very bad one at that." Celestia stated.
"'Bear' that? Really?" Celestia questioned. "You are….unfortunate."
"Now then, moving on! We really must hurry and get started." Monokuma continued, not making anymore bear puns.
Junko commented on that. "Giving up already? No other stupid bear puns?" She questioned.
"Quiet down now, quiet down." The bear said, ignoring Junko. "Ah, okay so….!"
"He has abandon the gag." Sakura deadpanned.
"S-Seriously? A-At least stick t-to s-something for a while, b-before abandoning it." Toko said in annoyance. "I-I hate it, w-when p-people do that."
"On the bright side, we won't be hearing anymore bear puns." Leon countered. "That would've been even more annoying."
"Everyone, stand at attention and bow! And….good morning!" Monokuma stated.
Doing exactly as Monokuma said, Taka responded back. "Good morning!"
Everyone gave Taka a weird look. "Should've expected him to do something like that." Celestia commented. "Even in the situation our future selves are in."
"It's important to respect our authority figures!" Taka stated firmly.
Mondo rubbed his forehead. "Bro, that bear probably kidnapped us. I don't think that's an authority figure we should respect."
The Moral Compass had no rebuttal against that.
"Y-You don't have to s-say it back…." Toko told Taka in annoyance.
"Now then," Monokuma spoke up once again. "Let us commence with a most noteworthy and memorable entrance ceremony! First, let's talk a bit about what your school here will be like."
"Why am I getting a bad feeling about this?" Makoto asked randomly as nervousness slowly started creeping into him.
"I think we're about to see." Was Kyoko's response to that question.
"Now, ah, make no mistake - you few students, so full of potential, represent the hope of the world." Monokuma began explaining. "And to protect such splendid hope…."
That's when he dropped the bomb. "You will all live a communal life together solely within the confines of this school. Everyone will in harmony here, and adhere to the rules and regulations of the school!"
Silence. That was the response to Monokuma's statement. "What….?" Chihiro spoke, completely stunned.
"What the hell does he mean by that?" Mondo asked, confusion written all over his face.
"If it is what some of us think it is….this will be most troubling." Celestia stated.
'...Huh?' Was Makoto's thought process with what Monokuma stated.
"Ah, now then….regarding the end date for this communal life….." Another bomb then got dropped. "There isn't one! In other words, you'll all be here until the day you die! Such is the school life you've been assigned."
That broke everyone out of their stupor. "U-Until the d-day we die?" Toko questioned. "H-He t-turned Hope's Peak….?"
"...Into a prison?" Taka finished off, shock and horror written all over his face.
"That's their plan?" Byakuya questioned. "Just to keep us confined in the school?" He then shook his head. "No. I doubt that's the entirety of their plan."
"If that was it, then there's no reason to wipe away our memories." Kyoko agreed with the heir. "Unless it's to make Hope's Peak seem more dangerous. And there's a very small possibility there."
"Wh-What did he just say? Until the day we d-die?" Toko stuttered out in shock.
"Oh, but fear not!" Monokuma continued. "We have quite an abundant budget, so you won't lack for all the common conveniences."
"That's the least of our worries right now!" Sayaka exclaimed.
"Yeah!" Sayaka agreed with her future selves. "No one would be thinking about common conveniences in that situation!"
"That is quite correct." Celestia agreed with the pop sensation. Her next sentence doesn't, however. "We would think about it after however, if we were to stay there for a while."
It was Celeste's turn to receive a round of weird looks from everyone. "...That's Celeste for you." Makoto sighed.
"Yeah, what the hell?" Junko cut in angrily. "You're saying I have to live here forever? You're screwing with us, right?"
"No, I am not screwing with you!" Monokuma denied. "I am no liar, of that you can be 100% sure. Ah, and just for your information….you're completely cut off from the outside world. So you don't have to worry about that dirty dirty land beyond these walls ever again!"
"C-Cut off?!" Sayaka exclaimed, horrified at the thought of it. Cut off from her family, her friends….her dreams? "No! No, that can't be true!"
Makoto gritted his teeth. He can see that this part is affecting Sayaka a lot, and he doesn't want to make it worse, but he can't let her go towards the denial. "But there's proof of that." Makoto said reluctantly. "The metal plates on the windows, and the metal hatch in front of the main entrance. I bet that's used to keep us in."
"That would be the most accurate conclusion." Byakuya said in agreement. "It may also be used to keep others out."
That hit Sayaka hard. The thought of losing her family, friends, and her dreams, especially her dreams….just the thought of it made her scared. Made her shiver in fear.
Makoto, knowing how's Sayaka is currently feeling right, instinctively grabbed her hand. She clutched it tightly in response, holding onto Makoto like he's an anchor.
"Cut off?" Makoto repeated. He then remembered the metal plates on the windows. "So all those metal plates all over the school is there to keep us trapped in here?"
Monokuma nodded. "That's exactly what they're there for." He confirmed. "No matter how much you may yell and scream for help….help will never come. So with all that in mind, feel free to live out your life here with reckless abandon!"
"He's acting like we're okay with this!" Leon exclaimed. "But we're not! We're seriously not!"
"If this is some kind of sick joke it ain't funny! Not at all!" Mondo growled.
"Come on, what the hell is this?" Leon questioned, his face pale. "I don't care if the school or whoever else is behind it all, this is just a really bad joke."
"Yeah! Cut this shit out!" Mondo growled. "It isn't funny anymore!"
"If only it was a joke." Byakuya sighed. "I doubt anyone would go as far as to take our memories away just to make a joke."
"Relax. I'm sure they'll give us back our memories back once the prank is over." Hiro said, very laidback at this. Again, everyone ignored him, despite some wanting to punch him.
"You keep saying this is a lie, or a joke. A bunch of skeptics, all of you." Monokuma said in slight annoyance. "But I guess it can't be helped, huh? You all grew up in an age where you're taught to doubt your neighbor."
"Well, you'll have plenty of time to find out whether or not what I say is true." Monokuma continued. "And when that time come, you'll see with your own eyeballs that I speak the undeniable truth."
"Having to live here forever would be….quite the problem." Celestia stated, looking down.
"I think it would be way more than 'quite the problem'." Mukuro said. "Way more."
"Come now. What's the matter with all of you?" Monokuma questioned. "You all decided of your own free will to attend Hope's Peak Academy, didn't you? And now, before the entrance ceremony is even finished, you've already decided you want to leave?"
"Damn right we do!" Mondo roared. "We signed up to join a school, not a prison!"
"None of us signed up for memory loss or to live at Hope's Peak forever!" Taka agreed with his best friend.
"How would they be able to do that anyway?" Chihiro pondered. "Hope's Peak isn't exactly an unknown place, and people would want us to be rescued, along with the mastermind captured."
"Well, unless they have very big guns." Junko said out loud in 'wonder'. "That would probably keep more than a few away from Hope's Peak."
Makoto grew a bit pale at the thought. "Let's not think about that possibility please." Makoto suggested weakly. He'd rather not think about the possibility of people dying just to try and rescue them.
"Oh, but you know," Monokuma continued. "I guess I forget to mention one thing. There is one way for you to leave the school."
That got everyone's full attention.
"R-Really?"
"It's not fucking with us?"
"Is there a way for him to let us go?"
While the others are beginning to feel relieved to hear a way for their future selves to get out, Makoto, Kyoko, Byakuya, Mukuro, and Junko didn't believe it. The first three because they have their suspicion on that 'one way'. The last two because they know what the way out really is.
"R-Really?" Toko asked.
The bear than made a 'check me out' pose. "As headmaster, I've crafted a special clause for those of you who would like to leave! I call it….the Graduation Clause!"
"Now, let me tell you about this fun little rule." Monokuma started to explain. "As I mentioned, in order to maintain an environment of harmony here, we rely on a communal lifestyle. And if someone were to disrupt that harmony, they and they alone would be allowed to leave the school. That, my students, is the Graduation Clause!"
Their relief was soon gone, and was replaced with slight apprehension, when they heard the 'disrupt the harmony' part. "Disrupt the harmony?" Sayaka repeated nervously. "What does he mean by that?"
"Something tells me that this Graduation Clause isn't as innocent as it sounds." Kyoko said with narrowed eyes.
"What do you mean by 'disrupt the harmony'?" Byakuya asked suspiciously.
The bear covered it's mouth, letting out evil giggles. "Well, you know," He then dropped the biggest and final bomb. "If one person were to murder one another."
Nearly the everyone felt their blood run cold at this. Eyes got wide, faces were pale, and jaws were hanging left and right. Even Byakuya felt a chill down his spine at Monokuma's Graduation Clause.
"M-Murder!?" Makoto spoke out in horror.
"He expects us to kill each other?" Hina cried out, covering her mouth. Her face is white as a sheet.
"Are you kidding me?" Leon rhetorically asked, pale as well. "He's gotta be joking, right?"
"This is far from a joke." Sakura said gravely.
"So that's what the Graduation Clause is." Kyoko stated, grimacing. "And that's its goal. It wants us to kill each other."
"But why?" Sayaka questioned in distress. "What would anyone gain from doing that?"
"What would a psychotic murderer gain from killing dozens of people?" Byakuya retorted. His voice was sounding grave. "Nothing but the thrill of killing. That's most likely the mastermind's reason for doing, in theory at least. For fun."
"M-Murder!?" Makoto cried out in shock and horror.
"Stabbing, strangling, bludgeoning, crushing, hacking, drowning, igniting, how you do it doesn't matter" Monokuma listed off. "You must kill someone if you want to leave. It's as simple as that. The rest is up to you. Give it your all to achieve the best outcome in the worst way possible!"
More chills went down their spines. "D-Does he r-really e-expect us to k-kill?" Toko stuttered out.
"That fucker is crazy!" Mondo growled. "We wouldn't want to kill each other!"
Before anything thing else could be said, they suddenly heard Hiro chuckling. They all turned to the Ultimate Clairvoyant because of it. "Wow, this is a really good prank. It's scaring a lot of our future selves."
"You still think this a prank?!" Several screamed in disbelief. After what they're seeing, there's no way that any of them think this is some kind of prank. At least not to the extent Hiro is believing.
Monokuma giggled once again. "I bet that got your brain juices flowing! Beats the heck out of a human catching a salmon, huh? Like I said before, you guys are the hope of the world. But you know, taking that hope and seeing it get murdered creates a darkened shadow of despair. And I just find that so….darn….exciting!" He yelled the last part out.
"This is crazy!" Leon exclaimed. "This damn bear is crazy! How did we end up in this situation?!"
"You think anyone here knows the answer to that question?" Junko retorted. On the outside, she's really just putting on the facade as being as shocked and horrified just like the others. But really, she's mentally laughing in glee at all the despair around the room.
Seeing all of them horrified and distressed at the fact that the only way Monokuma would let them out is to kill each other, it's bringing so much pleasure to Junko. So much that she hasn't even registered the consequences about this yet.
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Leon exclaimed. "To kill each other is….It's….!"
"To kill each other is to kill each other!" Monokuma stated simply. "I'm sure there's a dictionary here somewhere if you need it."
"He's acting like we should have no problem comprehending what he's telling us." Mondo growled. "Like we would be okay killing each other!"
"But it's inhumane!" Makoto stated. "There's no way anyone here would agree to kill anybody."
'Not right now, at least!' Junko sang in her head. Once she gets her motives up and running, the killings will definitely begin!
"We know what it means, that's not the problem!" Hina retorted back at the bear. "Why do we have to kill each other?!"
"Yeah!" Hifumi shouted in agreement. "Stop blabbering on with all this nonsense! Just let us go home already!"
"You tell it future me!" Hifumi shouted in agreement with his future self.
The bear was silent for a moment. But then it spoke. "...Blabbering?" He repeated. Suddenly, the screen closed up onto the bear's face, it's robotic red eye glowing.
Several jumped at the close up. Hifumi cried out and leaped behind the couch in fear. "He's going to kill me!" He cried out in fear.
"R-Relax." Taka said, calming down his heartbeat. "I don't think Monokuma is going to kill you for this."
"Y-Yeah. I-It's too soon for a-a d-death to happen." Toko stated. Then she muttered to herself. "Although I wouldn't mind if you were killed off in the beginning."
"Again, can you not treat this like this is a story?" Leon groaned.
"Blabbering, blabbering, what do you mean by blabbering?! Stop blabbering on about blabbering on!" Monokuma stated angrily. The scene then moved away from Monokuma's face, though you can still see that it's angry.
"You guys just don't get it, do you?" Monokuma rhetorically asked. "'Let us go, let us go!' You keep on saying the same thing over and over and over and over! Let me say this to you clearly. From this moment on, this school is you home, your life, your world. Got it?"
"And you can kill as much as you want to kill!" The bear said more eagerly. "So go ahead, go on a kill-kill-killing spree!"
Many felt disturbed at the last part, this bear was clearly sadistic. Byakuya clenched his teeth in anger. "The mastermind is going to rue the day he messed with the Togami family!" He declared in anger.
"He's going to regret messing with the lot of us!" Mondo corrected, cracking his knuckles. "Once we find out who's this mastermind, I'm going to crack open his skull!"
"But what if the person is a girl?" Chihiro asked. Mondo faltered at that.
"...I'm sure others are going to deal with that." Mondo answered, looking away.
Several looked disturbed at what the bear is saying. Some like Chihiro are close to tears. Hiro, however, doesn't seem fazed at all. "Alright, come on….How long are you gonna keep this up?" Hiro asked Monokuma.
"Eh?" Was the response from the bear.
"You got us, okay? You scared the hell out of us." Hiro said to it. "So you can go ahead and reveal the trick now."
"Reveal the trick?" Monokuma repeated in confusion.
"Yeah, cuz I mean….Y'know, this is all some kinda trick and all, right?" Hiro questioned. "So uh, like…."
Everyone facepalmed or made a face of annoyance or disbelief at Hiro's idiocy. Possibly a mixture of both emotions for some.
Hiro, however, laughed. "Man, they're doing really good, playing the bad guy." He commented. "Everyone is believing the entire thing."
Celeste decide to speak up. "Hiro?"
"Yes?" Hiro responded back. When he turned towards her, he saw a dark aura surrounding her, with a sweet smile plastered on her face.
"Shut. Up."
Hiro gulped. "G-Got it!"
Several sighed in relief at that. They couldn't stand more of Hiro's stupidity. Mondo himself was close to knocking out the idiot.
"Dude, shut the hell up and move out the way." Mondo stated in annoyance. He shoved Hiro away and marched towards Monokuma, standing in front of the bear. When he spoke, his voice began to shake like thunder. "Listen up, asshole! This shit's gone too far! What the hell kinda joke IS this?!"
"Why do you guys keep saying this is a joke?" Junko asked randomly. "It's not as bad as what Hiro is doing or anything, but we should've known by now that this isn't a joke."
"It's human nature to not fully believe the worst possibility at first." Makoto sighed. Though he had to admit, there's a line between disbelief, denial, and just plain stupidity. Hiro is in the line of plain stupidity.
"Joke? What, you mean like your hair?" Monokuma casually insulted the biker.
"What the fuck did it just say?!" Mondo roared, standing up. "I don't care if that thing is robotic or stuffed, when I get my hands on it, I'll rip it to shred!"
Immediately, Taka and Chihiro grabbed onto Mondo's shoulder. "Mondo, calm down!" Taka stated firmly. "Control your anger!"
"Please take some deep breaths." Chihiro pleaded quietly. Mondo growled before doing what Chihiro say and taking some deep breaths. Slowly, he sat back down.
A few sighed in relief. That's one violent reaction thwarted.
That set the biker off. "FUUUUUUUU-" With a sudden boom, Mondo launched himself off from where he was standing and went straight towards Monokuma. Locking onto his target, he landed and grabbed the bear, lifting it up.
"Gotcha, you little piece of shit!" Mondo stated angrily. "I dunno if you're a toy or a stuffed animal or whatever the hell! Either way, I'm gonna rip you to fuckin shreds!"
The scene caused some of them to cheer, wanting to see Mondo rip Monokuma to shreds. "Make it suffer Mondo!" Hina whooped. Sakura shook her head at her friend, though she didn't blame her acting this way.
"Gladly!" Mondo exclaimed happily, despite not being the one to do it.
"Waah!" Monokuma yelped in surprise, flailing his arms. "Violence against the headmaster is in violation of the school regulations!"
"You think we would follow the rules when you're trying to get us to kill each other?" Leon questioned rhetorically. "Yeah right. Fat chance of that happening."
"The mastermind did a smart move however, communicating with us through Monokuma." Byakuya sighed.
Makoto nodded in agreement. "Otherwise, Mondo or Sakura would've subdued them by now."
"Damn right I fucking would've!"
"I would not let our kidnapper escape, that is certain."
"Shut the fuck up!" Mondo shouted back. "Let me outta here, or I swear to Christ…."
Monokuma then went limp, suddenly starting to beep. "What, no smartass comeback this time?!" Mondo grinned. The beeping continued, going faster, annoying and angering Mondo further. "Stop that goddamn beeping and SAY SOMETHING!"
Many were wondering what that beeping noise is. A second later, Kyoko and Mukuro shared a moment of realization. "It's a bomb!"
"Wait, what?" Was the response from the group to Mukuro's statement.
"A bomb!" Kyoko repeated what Mukuro said urgently, causing several eyes to widen. Especially Mondo's. "He needs to get rid of it!"
Kyoko's eyes widened in realization. "Watch out! Get rid of it!"
"Huh….?" Was Mondo's response as the beeping got faster.
"Hurry up and throw it!"
Stunned by the fierceness in her words, Mondo silently did as he was told and threw it. And as soon as he did…..
*BOOM*
Monokuma exploded.
That shook everyone up even further. Despite Mukuro's and Kyoko's warning, they couldn't help but feel shocked at what had transpired. "That son of a bitch!" Mondo breathed out in shock. "It really tried to kill me!"
"Bro almost got blown up!" Taka exclaimed, feeling his heart rate go up. "That was too close!"
"Thank god that Kyoko warned him." Makoto said in relief.
Everyone's eyes widened in shock. "The hell?!" Mondo exclaimed in shock. "Th-That sure as shit wasn't a joke. It blew the hell up!"
"Now our future selves know for sure that this isn't a joke." Celeste stated.
"No, not at joke! This has gone far from the line of joking!" declared Hifumi, who got back on the couch some time ago and now biting his fingernails in fear.
"But you know," Chihiro spoke up. "This means that the teddy bear's been destroyed, right?"
Several of the students immediately latched onto that. "She's right." Sayaka said, in a bit of relief. "Which means we might not have to worry about it anymore."
"And we can find a way out without any interruptions!" Leon grinned.
Byakuya (Along with a few others), however, did not believe that that was the end of Monokuma. He sighed. "Idiots. Do you really think that the bear's self destruction would just be the end of it?"
That hope was soon knocked down when they heard a very familiar voice. "I told you, I'm not a teddy bear! I'm Monokuma!"
And soon enough, another Monokuma bear appeared.
That wiped the grin off of Leon's face. "There's a spare?!"
"There's a spare." Junko groaned. The relief on Sayaka's was also wiped away quickly, and she clutched Makoto's hand even tighter.
"What did I tell you?" Byakuya sighed. "I knew this wouldn't be the end of it."
Leon immediately turned pale. "Uwah! There's anyone one?"
"You son of a bitch!" Mondo growled, looking very blue right now. "You seriously tried to kill me just now!"
"Well, yes. I was serious about trying to kill you." Monokuma stated, his red eye glowing angrily and his claws out. "You did violate one of the school regulations, after all."
"And that gives you the excuse to kill someone?!" Taka exclaimed. "That isn't how school regulations works at all!"
"Not to mention they were provoking us to attack." Chihiro said softly. "They should've known that we would've reacted badly to the whole situation."
"They did. And that why they set the trap there, as well as the school regulation." Byakuya stated. "I doubt those machines are cheap, so he needs to make sure the students don't end up destroying all of them."
"I'll let you off with a warning this time, but you'd better be careful from now on." Monokuma warned him. "Any naughty boy or girl who violates my rules won't get off with just a little swat on the butt."
"H-Hey," Junko spoke up hesitantly. "So does this mean there's like, a bunch more of you around somewhere?"
"Monokumas have been placed all throughout the school, yes." The bear confirmed. "Plus, don't forget about the surveillance cameras installed everywhere."
"So the mastermind will be spying on us everywhere around the school?" Makoto questioned.
"That means we can't try to find a way to escape, or plan, without the cameras watching." Mukuro sighed. "We would be on the mastermind's watch at all times."
"And if you're caught breaking any rules, well," Monokuma continued explaining. "You all just saw what happened, right?" He giggled evilly once more. "And I won't be so forgiving with my punishment next time. So don't let it happen again!"
"Th-That's not even punishment. That's just….wrong…." Hina stated, looking very disturbed.
"Agreed future me." The present Hina said, looking as disturbed as her future self.
"I think the term you're looking for is murder." Celeste stated with a straight face. "It would be murder."
"Now then, lastly," Monokuma changed the subject. "To commemorate your joyous entry into our school, I have a little something for you." He then brought up a stack of electronic handbooks from under the desk, and held one up. "This is our official student handbook! Pretty cool, huh?"
"Are those our handbooks?" Hifumi asked, trying to get his mind off the bad stuff for a bit.
"Maybe." Chihiro hummed, thinking about it. "It's extremely difficult to recreate those handbooks. You have to be a master in programming to achieve it."
"As you can see, it's fully digital." Monokuma explained. "So naturally, we call'd it….the e-Handbook!"
Silence was met with his statement. "Ahem. Yes, well, moving on," Monokuma said awkwardly. "This handbook is absolutely vital to a healthy school life, so don't lose it!
As he spoke, he started passing the handbooks to the students. "When you start it up, it will display your name. Always make sure you have the right one! Now, this is not your everyday notebook. It has so many more uses than that!"
"Also, it's completely waterproof." Monokuma continued, after finishing passing out the handbooks. "Splash it, wash it, drown it, it'll keep on ticking! And thanks to its space-age design, it can withstand an impact force of up to ten tons. Very resistant!"
"Yeah, those things don't crack easy that's for sure." Mondo agreed, though he sounds quiet. "Makes me wonder what the hell kind of stuff it's made of."
"It contains all of our school regulations, so make sure you review them thoroughly!" Monokuma told them. "You'll hear me say this a lot, but any violation of school regulations will not be tolerated. Rules restrict, yes, but they also protect. Society, for example, would be utter chaos without laws. The same thing applies here! Which is why it's crucial we have strict punishments in place for violators!"
"Is it seriously comparing society to this sick game he's playing?" Leon questioned, holding his head. "Is it seriously doing that?"
"Yes, it is Leon." Makoto confirmed, just as confused and disturbed.
"Okay, well…..that brings our entrance ceremony to a close!" Monokuma stated loudly. "Please enjoy your abundantly dreary school life! And….see ya!" With that, he disappeared, leaving the group of Ultimates into a state of shock.
At first, everyone was silent. Then, Taka spoke. "So guys," He began hesitantly. "How would you define what we just experienced?"
"How….? Why….?" Leon slowly spoke up. "I don't understand any of this…."
"Here's a few words." Junko stated. She started listing them off her finger. "Dreadful, hopeless, shocking, depressing-"
"Thank you Junko, we get it." Makoto interrupted, not wanting to hear more. He can tell that the rest of his friends were just as shocked and horrified as he was at what they've seen.
"We have to l-live here forever….? Or….k-kill?" Toko questioned, quickly panicking. "Wh-What….? What just happened?!"
"Everyone, we need to calm down." Kyoko stated calmly, but firmly. "First, let's just take a second to summarize everything we have just heard."
Makoto shook his head. "I don't know how you do it, but your ability to stay calm in situation like these is amazing." Makoto complimented.
Despite the situation they're watching, Kyoko felt herself blush again and turned away. "My family had always taught me to stay calm in any situation, so it's no big deal."
"Based on what Monokuma said, we essentially have two choices." She started. "Choice number one is that we stay here, living a 'communal life' together until the day we die. And the other choice is…."
Celeste then spoke up and continued for Kyoko. "If we want to get out of here alive, we have to kill someone. Right?"
"But….killing someone," Chihiro struggled to get out, close to tears. "That's…."
"Horrible." The present Chihiro finished, close to tears as well.
"We were abducted out of nowhere and stuffed into this place meant to look like a school." Hifumi stated fearfully. "And now we're supposed to start killing each other? This is," He then began to freak out. "This is….this is just….! What is this?!"
"A lie, is what it is." Taka said in denial. "All these ridiculous things we've heard, this has to be all fake!"
"The stuff we're hearing definitely sounds like something from a game or anime." Makoto muttered in agreement.
"But unfortunately, this is a possible future reality." Sakura said gravely.
"But it doesn't matter if it's real or not to our future selves." Byakuya stated. Before anyone could ask what he meant, he spoke once again. "Don't ask. I'm sure my other will say it."
Byakuya then spoke up. "Right now it doesn't really matter if it's real or fake. What matter is," He says this next question to everyone. "Is there anyone here who's seriously considering all this?"
To that, nobody had a response. Keeping quieting himself, Makoto turned to look at the others. Everyone was looking at one another, trying to gauge each other's reaction. The suspicion and hostility was clear.
"And that's when it hit me." The narrator Makoto spoke while the scene played out. "I realized the true terror hidden within the rules Monokuma had laid out. 'You must kill someone if you want to leave.' Those words had planted vicious thoughts deep within each of us. Each of us became suspicious of everyone else. We were forced to wonder," The scene then expanded to show everyone gathered looking at each other. "'Is somebody going to betray us?'"
"Wait, we're actually suspicious of each other?" Hina said in disbelief. "But we shouldn't be!"
"It's a natural response." Byakuya responded back calmly. "Keep in mind that our time with each other, our time at Hope's Peak, were wiped away. Because of that, we see each other as nothing but strangers."
"And because we don't know each other, we can't help but wonder if someone's going to betray us." Makoto said with a grimace.
"That must be one of the reasons, if not the only one, as to why the mastermind took away our memories." Kyoko mused. "So that the trust we had built with each other will be gone, and the chances of us killing increases."
Hina paled. "So….there's a chance that one of us might kill?"
"If the desire to get out doesn't inspire us to, the suspicion and hostility surrounding the area will cause one of us to do it." Mukuro said quietly. And if that doesn't work, Junko will probably use ways to motivate them, with her disguised future self making sure everything is going according to plan.
Makoto started shaking a little at the thought. He cared for each and every one of his friends. The thought of them killing each other is….
Makoto shook his head. He shouldn't doubt his friends. Despite their future selves' memory losses, he knew what kind of people they were. While he won't be blind to the suspicion and hostility, as well as the possibility of it happening, he won't lose faith in his friends.
The scene then went black. "And that was how my school life began." The narrator continued. "The school, that had come out of nowhere to raise my hopes high, is not a school of hope. It's…."
"...a school of despair."
That shook several of the students hard, scared of whatever possibilities the future had for them. They felt shocked at the possibility of this happening, anger at the mastermind behind all of this, and finally, fear at the possibility of one of them killing and/or one of them dying.
Junko was watching all of this, taking pleasure in their despair. She can taste it all, their horror and fear, about this. This is like ambrosia for her!
"Hey. Spirit," Hina spoke up weakly, turning to the host of the whole thing. "None of us are going be killed here, right? None of us are going to kill, right?" Spirit didn't answer the girl, scaring Hina further. "Right?!"
Instead, he pointed at the screen. "Just keep watching. You can find out the answer with this."
The TV suddenly started playing music, and a few seconds later, another scene started playing….
And that's the end. I hope all of you enjoyed this very long chapter. This is probably my longest one yet. The next chapter, I'm gonna try putting the opening in words. If I can't, I'll just have it implicated that the class watched it. If you have any advice for that, I'll be glad to hear it.
Also, in the next chapter, I most likely have the class have a small break so they can process and talk to each other about what they've seen. If you have any ideas for that, I'll listen to those as wells. Review, favorite, and follow and I will see you later.
P.S. If you're wondering when Junko going to realize that watching this would severely cripple, if not destroy, her entire plan, it would be on the next chapter. She's currently taking too much pleasure in her classmate's despair.