Danganronpa has consumed my soul. I have finished the anime, the first two games, and UDG, and I am now on the first trial of the third game (no spoilers in comments for people who haven't played it). It's SO GOOD

My fav characters rn are: Junko (best girl, I'm going to watch the Hope's Peak anime soon and she says yass queen in that so I'm very excited), Byakuya (incredible va, a true mvp) and Toko/Jack (or Jill? Syo? No idea man), Nagito (duh), and a tie between Ibuki and Monaca.

Monaca is so hateable but idk, I think she's a pretty great character because of that, since other villains of the series are so widely loved by the fandom (myself included)

I'm also really liking Koichi (is that how you spell his name? idk I'm too lazy to look it up) and Kaede so far! Super cool protagonist.

Anyways, enough danganronpa ranting, thought you guys should DEFINITELY check it out, especially if you like Yandere sim or DDLC! First game is Trigger Happy Havoc, I got mixed up and started with the third game so don't make my mistake!

Reviews!

mixsii: have to agree with you there bestie :joy:

MoonTheMagical: Actually that's probably the best use of a time machine tbh. Don't want to go making your parents never meeting each other and then you would never exist…but then how would you exist to go back in time? Now my brain hurts. And maybe they are somewhere like that? Idk this book has magic remnant animal robots serving pizza, so an ocean in Utah probably isn't the most unrealistic thing haha

Saul Goodman+others: Omg Saul? Real? I have you as my pfp on discord! So honored.

Lydia-From-Limmet: Ngl Tulisa was probably too invested in her book to care LOL. Also that is actually a very good use of a time machine, adding Adam and Steve into there would solve a lot of problems. Though I guess you should never mess with this past if TV has taught me anything.

SomeRandomRobo: Okay I looked it up and I am totally putting 'hedge-born lumpish barnacle' somewhere in this story. Shakespeare is an insult legend, would totally destroy all the 'ur mom' boys in schools across the globe.

And if the stupid website has let it load, new cover art by the SUPER COOL mixsii! mwa mwa (/p…unless?)

I keep forgetting about the songs and having to scroll through my playlists for good ones. Song is Runs In The Family by The Hoosiers

Enjoy!

Chapter 89

Runs In The Family

Mike woke up with a start as the loud crashing sound of silver pots and pans tumbled onto the kitchen floor. Groaning, he rubbed his sleep-crusted eyes and kicked off his plain white sheets, flicking his gaze to the red alarm clock beside him. Six-oh-eight. Great, so I got four hours of sleep.

Between that red-haired girl, Ruby, banging on his door at just about midnight and just generally being a nuisance, and waking up cold and sweaty at random intervals during the night from the usual nightmares, Mike tended not to get his beauty sleep.

Standing up and stretching his long arms high above his head, Mike trudged towards the kitchen, expecting to see Jax romping around the counters with a case of the zoomies. But instead, he saw…nothing. Nothing knocked over that he could see, the recently dried dishes were all stacked up neatly and nothing was smashed or broken.

A curious Jax trotted over to him from her cushy velvet bed, and he bent down to grin at her. "Hey, puppy." He picked up a Tigger squeaky toy and shook it, Jax's eyes following the movement. "Daddy's going crazy."

Of course, the hallucinations could be from a lack of sleep, Mike noticed. He used to have pretty frequent hallucinations, auditory or otherwise, back in his teens. He'd gotten over them once he's moved out of Hurricane and started distracting himself with whatever he could find - going clubbing, smoking, or less edgy activities like reading or solving Suduko puzzles. Anything to kick the less than pleasant thoughts from his head.

Opening a sleek black cupboard and pulling out a small bottle, Mike shook out a few melatonin pills and downed them dry, a skill he'd picked up from fourteen years of swallowing. Sleep could be a bitch most nights, so they certainly helped. He only wished sleep didn't come with the nightmares.

"I'm going to sleep now. Sweet dreams, pup." He threw the Tigger toy into her bed, Jax's claws scratching against the tile as she cannonballed into the bed, yawning and flashing sharp canines as she curled into a fluffy ball, resembling a gigantic orange throw pillow.

Mike collapsed into his bed, head pounding. He shifted around, and once he found a comfortable position he let the crashing waves of sleep drown him in rest.

~lll~

The kettle wheezed, the shrill sound slicing through Mike's ears. He quickly averted it from the heat as to protect Jax's sensitive ears and poured the hot water into his tall Santa mug, throwing in a green tea bag into the liquid (apparently it had a bunch of benefits, according to the lady at the market he'd bought it from) and stirred in some honey and a splash of oat milk. Since being able to actually afford to eat what he wanted, he'd stopped drinking milk due to being lactose intolerant.

Of course, he didn't love spending the thousand dollars a month he'd been given instead of earning it himself, but he was sure that dumb purchases like green tea and oat milk would piss off his father, who'd been supplying him in Mike's old bank account which Mike still had the password to.

The nightmare had luckily been one of the tamer ones, where Fredbear gnashed his massive teeth in a pitch black void to the tune of 'Swan Lake'. When he'd first had the dream at fourteen, he'd been sufficiently creeped out, but now he just felt a sense of apathy, and on better nights even found it mildly humorous. That night had been a better night.

Mike sipped his tea as he gazed out the large bay window, spying little kids playing tag on the stretch of grass or balancing on sun-bleached driftwood, a brother chasing his little sister around with a piece of dripping seaweed speared through a stick and a group of dark-haired teenagers examining a washed-up dead fish on the grass. Wait, on the grass? How did a fish get- never mind. Best not to question it.

The thing he would question, however, happened when a very annoying foot began kicking at his door. Urgh, it better not be that ginger brat…Rudy, was it?

Unfortunately, when the door opened he was met with the cheery face of the ginger brat, Ruby. "Heya!"

Mike stared at her, sleepy brain not fully processing what was happening. "Wha…how'r you in my house?"

"I took your keys last night," Ruby said nonchalantly, as if this was a very ordinary thing to do. She wore a white high-necked tank top and beige cargo shorts, her flaming red hair in a messy high ponytail that cascaded down her back, which was covered by a checkered backpack.

"...why?" Mike mumbled, rubbing his eyes and squinting at her as she plopped onto the floor, cross-legged, and tossed a stuffed centipede to Jax, who caught it joyfully.

"I dunno. Because I thought you'd kick me out if I knocked."

Yeah, I probably would've. And now apparently I need to bar it, too. "...Do you have a dog?"

"Nope. But I have two kittens who are basically dogs." Ruby laughed as Jax twisted and turned on the carpet, throwing the toy into the air and catching it again. She turned back to him, her eyes shining. "So, you want me to continue my story from last night? I've got a whole 'nother year to tell you about."

Mike shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut and then opening them again. "No, no. Wait. Okay, so you said you worked the night shift at that Freddy's place two years ago?"

"Yep!"

"And how long did you last before quitting?"

"The whole year, or at least until it shut down."

"And you did that by…becoming friends with them…?"

Ruby laughed. "I know, right? I like, asked for Chica's phone number as a flippant joke on my first night, and she gave it to me? Apparently they had computers and stuff and bought phones with their earnings off eBay. And then me and Chica and Mangle had a sleepover two nights later, it was so funny."

Mike nodded, still a bit puzzled, but accepted it anyway. "And you guessed that the animatronics are possessed, right?"

"Oh, they told me that a month or two before the battle. Totally crazy. And kind of gruesome."

"That's my old man for ya," Mike replied drily. "How much did he tell you, anyway?"

Ruby winced, shifting her gaze away from him. "Well, that's what I was going to talk to you about. Last year, I mean." And then she summarized everything that had happened in the last act- er, year, ending with the dramatic arson and sneaking out to discover the body buried under the rubble.

"Well?" Ruby prompted as Mike remained silent. Finally, he broke it with a wide grin, silver cavity-induced fillings flashing.

"Cassidy always did have a bit of a…firey spirit." He cackled like a witch as Ruby slapped his leg over the blanket in annoyance.

"Shut up! This is serious!" She complained.

"Well, what do you want me to say? I really couldn't care less whether my father is alive or dead, though I certainly prefer the latter." Michael retorted. "Since he did always seem to end up in…hare-y situations."

"Ugh. I literally just told you story that revolves around child murder, and you're making rabbit puns."

"I can call it my coping mechanism if that makes you feel better," Mike deadpanned. "So, where are the MCI kids now?"

Ruby perked up, clapping her hands rapidly in excitement. "Right! That's what I was going to show you!" She unhooked her backpack from her arms, and dumped out the contents, crystals and candles tumbling onto the floor.

"Sheesh, did you raid a Pagan or something?" Mike muttered, sifting through the contents as Ruby lay candles around them in a circle and scattered crystals in the middle.

"Turn off the lights," a bossy Ruby commanded, and Mike complied just so she wouldn't whine and complain. Seriously, she was like a grown-up Elizabeth.

"Uh, now Ducky said something in Spanish." Ruby said after she'd lit the candles, furrowing her brow and trying to remember the words. "Do you know Spanish? I only know how to say hello, goodbye, and how to count to ten…um…gracias?"

And then that familiar flash of purple light exploded from the center, with a very annoyed-looking Katy appearing. "Ugh, you again? And you brought some musty old dude too?" She shot an accusatory finger at Mike, but his expression was wide-eyed.

"Wait, you're Charlie's mum, right?" He said in a hushed voice. "I've only seen you in pictures. Did you die?" Then he realized that was kind of a stupid question.

"Uh, yeah?" Katy gave him a once-over, then crossed her arms in disdain. "Gotta say, you looked better as a baby."

Gee, thanks. "Ruby, why'd you summon…her, exactly?"

"'Cause I wanted you to meet my friends," came Ruby's quick reply, ignoring Michael's very obvious facial expressions indicating that he did not want to meet her friends. "Can you take me there, Katy?" She made her eyes into big and sparkling puppy-dog ones, ones that typically worked when asking for an extension on a project or begging for the last piece of pie.

Katy let out a very exaggerated groan. "Okay, for like, ten minutes. But you can't keep doing this during the day, it's getting annoying."

And then in a woosh of purple, Ruby and Mike were standing on…nothing.

"Aaah!" Mike yelped as he whirled around in the darkness. Floor, black. Walls, black. Ceiling, black. "Where the hell are we?!"

Ruby tapped a drumroll on her thighs. "Theeeee Shadow Dimension!" Cue jazz hands. "This is where my friends went after the fire. And now you get to meet them!"

"Oh, goody." Mike muttered dismally, trudging behind the bouncy girl. When he'd woken up that morning, visiting rageful dead robot children in a hellish black void was not exactly top of his to-do list.

"Hey, guys!" Ruby chirped as she ran towards the colourful blob of people ahead, sticking out ridiculously well against the monochrome darkness.

"Ruby!" A little girl wearing a blue-and-pink striped tee under patched, frayed overalls barreled into her and latched herself to Ruby's waist with startling force. Then she cast a suspicious glare right at Mike. "Who are you."

Mike ran a hand through his hair, avoiding the small girl's death glare. "Uh, I'm-"

"Michael Afton?" Cassidy whispered, her voice a poisonous mixture of quiet fury and terror. Golden sparks flashed in her almond-shaped eyes as she took careful steps forward, Mike avoiding her gaze with guilt weighing down on his shoulders like Atlas holding up the sky.

"It is you." Her tone was unreadable.

Mike's hand raked through his hair with such force he nearly ripped out a chunk, sweat dripping down the nape of his neck. "Cassidy, hey. Listen, can we go talk somewhere else-?"

"The other kids in my class said you'd died." Cassidy murmured, her eyes fixed on his face. Mike couldn't move. Cassidy knew what he'd gone and done, and she'd tell Ruby and Ruby would get that terrified glassy look in her eyes and she'd tell her friends and her friends would tell the camp managers and they'd tell his boss and his boss would tell the papers and then he'd make headlines just like fourteen years ago and it would all be over.

"I was so depressed when I heard that news," Cassidy continued blankly. Mike studied the small girl in front of him, watching carefully for the slightest change in emotion. The twitch of a smile, the crease of an eyebrow. He noticed, with a slight pang of sadness, that despite being mentally and physically fourteen as Ruby had described, she hardly looked different from the young girl Mike had known.

Mike chose his next words very evenly and carefully. "...Well, I didn't die. I just moved. Why were you so depressed? We didn't exactly get along." He made sure to add a humorous lilt in his tone, letting Ruby and the other ghosts who had gathered around curiously that he and Cassidy knew each other, but that they had a sort of mock sibling rivalry. Nothing to worry about, just move on…

"I was so sad because," and then Cassidy's eyes darkened, "I wanted to kill you myself."

And then she launched a red notebook she'd hidden behind her back at his face, the rings cutting against his cheek and Christ that hurt but he deserved it. And he still deserved it when Cassidy shoved him with adrenaline-fueled force onto the ground, knocking the wind out of him and scratching white lines down his arms.

"Cassidy, what the heck?! Stop it!" The yellow girl shrieked, tugging vehemently at Cassidy's arm.

Cassidy whirled around, sinking sharp teeth into her hand. "Get away from me!"

"Get off him!" Ruby yelled, stalking over to assist the yellow girl, who despite the bite, was still tugging relentlessly. The two tugged a snarling Cassidy off Mike and dropped her onto the ground.

Cassidy sat back up, spittle flecking the sides of her mouth as she snapped at him like a rabid animal. "I'm going to rip your fucking throat out! I'm going to kill you like I should have killed your father, you worthless mur-"

Mike slapped a hand against her mouth, lifting her up with the experience of many years silencing and carrying noisy small girls. He fixed a wide grin on his face and carried the furiously wrestling girl away from the group. "Okay everyone, me and Cassidy are going to have a little chat! Carry on…!"

After enduring multiple sharp scratches and bites and pinches on his skin that he should surely douse in alcohol afterwards, he dumped her as gently as he could onto the ground once he was sure they were out of earshot.

Cassidy quickly tied up one of the pigtails that had fallen out, smirking with sharp canines. "You know, that's how your daddy dragged me out of the backroom to kill me. Covered my mouth and held me so I couldn't fight back. Guess that's another thing you two have in common besides looks, voice, and…oh yeah, murderous tendencies!"

Mike flinched, and Cassidy caught it with cold delight. "Oops, touched a nerve, did I? Poor thing, killing his little brother. I feel so damn bad for you right now!"

Mike's face shadowed, and he grit his teeth. "It was an accident."

"Of course, of course! 'I bullied my brother 24/7, including his birthday, picked him up and- whoops, my finger slipped and now he's being crushed to death in an animatronic bear's mouth, clumsy me." Cassidy hissed, venomous malice dripping from her lips.

This little…Mike ground his teeth, clenching his shaking fists so tight that his short nails dug violet crescents in his palms. How dare she dig up his trauma? How dare she accuse him of being a…a murdere…

Blood dripping from the robotic maw spilling crimson running red rivers through the cracks in the stage pooling under his sneakers drip drip dripping from Evan's skull screams from the audience a music box cover of Swan Lake playing on a loudspeaker his brother's body falling

his brother's body falling

Evan's body

f

all

in

g

Bile rose up in his throat, acidic and poisonous. His hands uncontrollably tore through his hair, and this time he really did take out a few strands. And Cassidy was just standing there with a big wide fucking smile splitting her face and Michael wanted to kill her…

But then he saw the tears, the salty tears racing streams down the curve of her star-stickered cheeks, and he saw her collapse on her knees, shoulders shaking and hands digging into her knees, scraped and covered in deep scars with Band-Aids pitifully trying to heal the cuts, and Mike remembered that this girl wasn't trying to hurt him out of some sadistic intentions, she was a kid who'd lost her best friend to him, lost her life to his doppelganger, who was trying to hurt him to ease the hurt inside of her.

"I know you won't forgive me," Mike said, and his voice was rough and raspy. And it was meant to be a starter to a longer speech, but it fell as a sentence.

Cassidy looked back up at him, and her dark eyes were filled with so much pain that Michael had to look away. "Evan was my only real friend, and then he was gone. And I wanted to be gone too, because I knew he was all alone and I wanted to join him." She laughed, a wry, choked sound. "I guess I got my wish."

Michael was silent. How do I even respond to that?

"Listen," he began. "and, I know you don't have any reason to do this. But do you think you could…not tell Ruby about this?"

"You're right, I don't have any reason to do that." Cassidy said icily.

"...Right." Mike sighed. "Okay. It's…it's fine."

But it wasn't fine. If Cassidy told Ruby what he'd done, a whole snowball of effects would happen and then he'd have to change his name and flee the city like he'd already done twice. And from what he knew about Cassidy from when she was younger, she knew she was tenacious and wouldn't give up easily.

So…

So maybe he'd have to William it.

"I just…" He began, then turned around. "Never mind."

"What?" Cassidy asked evenly, though there was a hint of curiosity in her tone.

"If Ruby tells her friends - and you've known her for a while, you know she will - then word will get out on the campsite and I'll lose my house." He wouldn't lose his house. The cabin was simply a vacation, he had a nice flat in an apartment complex nearby. "I ran away from my father, so I don't have much money." That…wasn't true either. A friend of his had taken him in, and he'd been supplied with money from his father for a while now.

He made his face very sad. "But it's fine." He turned away from her dejectedly, beginning his walk away. Three…two…

"Wait."

There we go. "Yes?"

Cassidy turned to the side, sniffling. "I…won't tell Ruby."

Mike fought down the guilt, instead pasting a small smile of gratitude on his face. "Really? Thank you."

Then her eyes blazed with the inferno of fury. "But if you hurt her like how you hurt him, I swear to God I'll make you wish you'd joined him."

Michael nodded. "Fair."

"This doesn't change anything. You're still a murderer and a monster." Cassidy muttered quietly. "And I still hate you."

Michael smirked. "Well, I see we have something in common."

~lll~

"So, Mike Schmidt, is it?" The yellow one, Mike had already forgotten her name, asked him, glaring at him with suspicious squinty eyes.

"Yeah, that's my name." Mike sighed, putting two fingers to his forehead. He had a pressing headache, partly because of the drilling questions the whiny yellow girl had been asking him.

"That's funny," the blue one with the rabbit ears commented. "You look an awful lot like someone I know."

Mike deflated, grumbling in disappointment. Here we go…

"A past night guard. Mike Samuels." The blue one continued smoothly, as if the other lookalike had never crossed his mind. "Interesting, huh? You guys even have similar names."

"Yeah, weird." Mike mumbled, fishing around in his pocket. He could really use some watermelon gum at that moment.

The red one…Foxy! Mike remembered because, well, obvious reasons. Anyways. Foxy threw up his hands in disbelief. "Are ye not going to acknowledge the whale in the room? As in, he's William's kid?"

Freddy shook his head, clucking his tongue in a tsk tsk sort of way. "C'mon, Foxy, you know better than to judge him for who his father is. He can't help it." Freddy turned to Mike, fixing him with a kind smile Mike definitely didn't deserve. "I'm sure you're a lovely person, Michael. Or do you prefer Mike?"

"I hate Mike, actually," He laughed. "But I use it so that…I don't know, in case my father finds me. I know you said he's dead, but old habits die hard, I guess."

Freddy smiled. "Then it's good to meet you, Michael."

"Nice to meet you too…uh…"

"Oh! Silly me, I forgot to introduce everyone." Freddy laughed. "I'm Freddy, and these are Bonnie, Chica, Foxy, Mangle, and it seems you already met Cassidy."

Michael nodded to each of them in turn. "The original MCI, cool. Sorry about my dad." He worded the last bit as if he was a teenager embarrassed by his father using outdated slang. He truly envied people with father problems like that.

"That's okay. And over there are the kids, Jojo and Malcolm." The little girl in the striped shirt from earlier waved vigorously, and a boy with light brown curls ignored him and instead focused on his two toy cars.

"And then over there is-"

"Charlie?!" Michael gasped, standing straight up as the brown-pigtailed girl in a gray T-shirt hoodie over a striped shirt and jean shorts looked up from a harp to meet his gaze. "Jesus, I- I didn't know you'd be here, too."

Charlie's doe-like brown eyes filled with tears and before he knew it Michael was being enveloped in a hug. "Oh my gosh, Michael, I missed you so much. I thought y-you died, after your siblings did…I'm so happy to see you!"

Michael swallowed thickly, slowly backing up until Charlie sat up off him. "Charlie, what did Henry tell you about how Elizabeth and…and my brother died?"

Charlie blinked, sitting down on her knees and wiping her eyes with the heel of her palm. "N-not much, really. He said that they were gone and wouldn't come back, and asked me if I knew what death was. 'Cause I was pretty little when it all happened."

"Like, any details?" Michael pressed.

"No? Like I said, I was really little. I heard from Cassidy that Elizabeth went missing at that Circus Baby place and Evan died in some bite, but that's it."

Swan Lake playing on a loudspeaker…Michael shook the thoughts from his head. "Okay. It's good Henry didn't tell you too much. He's a good father."

Charlie looked away, eyes brimming with fresh tears. "Yes, he was."

Right. "God, my father is such a bitch. I'm so sorr-"

Charlie cut him off. "You don't have to apologize. He's an awful human being, but you're a different person. Just because he's your father doesn't mean you inherited anything bad."

I'd beg to differ. "Yeah, right."

"So, what was it like being William's son?" The white-and-pink one - Mangle - butted in, yellow eye shining with curiosity.

"Wow, really empathetic, Maggie." Bonnie quipped. Mangle's huge fox ears flattened, flushing in embarrassment as she glanced away quickly.

"No, it's fine." Michael yawned, stretching out. "Uh, let's see. I dunno. Shitty? When my mom was around, they'd just fight a lot, and then when they divorced, he was always at work. I'd have to do the laundry, cooking, cleaning, and sometimes grocery shopping. One time, he left us alone for three days straight and my siblings burned down one of the rooms. I guess he was kind of emotionally abusive too, always putting us down and stuff. And my sister was completely obsessed with his approval, so it destroyed her the most, I think. She'd act out in school and at home just so he'd even acknowledge her. I'm not sure why she was so crazy over him when he was hardly ever around.

"He wouldn't hit us, at least. I mean, he would sometimes throw things at me, but that was only when I really deserved it. And, um, Elizabeth was being kind of annoying one night and went into his private office, so I think he might have hurt her. And I think he hurt my mum, thought it was always at night and back then I could sleep through an EAS alarm…yeah. The child murderer isn't a great father, who'd've thought?"

"God." Ruby shook her head. "That's awful. You were pretty much a second parent to your siblings, right? And you were what, eleven? Twelve? Dude, when I was twelve, I was dying my hair with wet chalk and eating cake icing with my fingers."

"I can imagine," Michael replied drily.

And then in a puff of lavender smoke, the silver-streaked blonde Katy appeared with a flourish. "Ding ding ding! Your time is up, Ruby and Clone #2!"

Michael furrowed his brow. "Who's Clone #1?"

Katy flushed sheepishly. "Er, never mind that. Anyways, you two hafta go now before I get fiiii-red! Byeeeee!"

And just like that, they were back to sitting on the dingy gray carpet in Michael's pitch-black living room, amber candles completely snuffed out with not even a drop of wax to show that they'd been lit.

"Well?" Ruby prompted as she flicked on the lights. "What do you think?"

"Um." What do I think? Jesus, that was a whole rollercoaster of emotions, and now I have to summarize it? How am I possibly going to do that?!

"...your friends are weird."

A/N

Touché, Michael, touché.

Sorry for the angst LMAO, every character in this story seems to have trauma with a capital T and I thought I'd give some insight to Michael and how he's doing atm.

Fun fact: my jeans have safety pins in them for the #aesthetic and when I was taking them off, one stabbed me in the foot and I started bleeding like Evan after the bite…too soon for that joke?

Question/Challenge: any theories on that new DLC? I've thought that it was a young Vanessa, but I've changed my mind to thinking that it's Elizabeth tbh, it would be more fun to think that and if she really does end up FINALLY killing off ol' Willy, it was would a nice ending to his saga of Literally The Entire Franchise.

And if it isn't the complete end of the Afton chapter, I think it'd be cool for Lizzy to become the main antagonist, maybe team up with Vanny or something - that is if they aren't the same person. God, there's so many blonde girls with green eyes in this series…

Have an amazing day/night!

~Ghost