Prologue: Opening Pandora's Box Chapter 12
She thought a bomb went off the moment she opened that coffin.
The resulting explosion threw her to the floor, landing on her butt as the room was suddenly engulfed in a fiery, amber light stretching across the corners of the room, disintegrating any leftover shadows.
Kyoko's purple eyes stared disbelieving at the scene before her. The flames that had erupted from the bronze casket had spired up in a pillar of hellish flames, almost like an angry lighthouse being the blinding center of attention in the room. She looked down at where the lid of the sarcophagus was opened, its innards molten and the insides of the metal doors red with heat that hissed in the Observatory's cool air. So distracted by the scene in front of her, the Ultimate Detective did not notice the trustee in the room suddenly lurk to the side of the room, a blank look on his face.
"Wh-what is this?" she stuttered, her mind refusing to comprehend this scene before her, this…this abomination to the law of physics. "Th-this can't be possible!?"
The blaze continued to rise up from the coffin like some horrible reverse of evaporation, collecting its consciousness into a miniature sun. From within the fireball the contents hissed and growled like some sort of sentient beast than an unthinking force of nature.
Kyoko, awakening from her stunned daze, in an attempt to seal off the stream of fiery fury that was accumulated in the middle of the room, rushed to the remains of the coffin and laid her gloved hands on the sizzling metal handles.
Gritting her teeth through the pain, the sleuth pulled her arms with all her might to close off the volcano-esque occurrence happening before her.
The ball of fire seemed to notice the lavender-haired girl beneath it, trying to prevent its escape from the prison it was in before. Angrily, the orb exploded, raining down flames across the room, setting ablaze the various papers and pieces of trash on the floor.
The young woman struggled on, despite the carnage before her.
What am I doing?! I should be getting away from here as soon as possible! Being stuck here underground in a burning room and I go running to the direct source of the fire?
It was illogical. Maybe some part of her thought that closing the coffin would shut down the flames or maybe she wanted to keep such a suspicious piece in whatever condition it is, but whatever the reason, Kyoko struggled on to close the coffin.
She opened her eyes and suddenly took notice of the flames flickering in front of her. Despite wearing a long-sleeved coat, none of the sleeves looked like they were burned or on fire.
It didn't matter now. She couldn't leave. This thing, whatever it is, was too dangerous to leave in its current condition. I have to close it now.
She tried to pull the lid closer.
It's so heavy. She grunted. Just what material is this made of?
Kyoko tugged at the lid, using all the strength she had, and the coffin lid started moving.
The swirl of fire seemed to notice this, and the pillar of fire roared in anger, shooting down more sparks.
Kyoko let go of the coffin's handle and backed up, her hands in front of her face, trying to shield herself from the heat and the fire. She felt the warmth, but it didn't burn her.
Just what is going on?
Then the fire spread across the room in a flurry of multicolored light swarming everything and everyone inside.
Holding her hands up, Kyoko tried to protect herself as the hungry Inferno swarmed around her, its flames licking across her body. She put up her arms in front of her to protect herself as the fire drew nearer and nearer, closing in on her arms.
She screamed.
The fire was now touching her, the flames surrounding her arms and engulfing them. The detective looked down in horror as her limbs were consumed by the hellish blaze, gluttonously swallowing her hands out of sight.
Her mind suddenly flashed back to the moment she burnt her hands. The moment they were scarred forever, scorched black from the explosion from that fire on that day.
The day she lost Yui Samidare.
She was 13-years old. A novice in the detective field back then. Before she fully earned her title as Ultimate Detective, Kyoko Kirigiri was a mere apprentice to Fuhito Kirigiri, the current head of the Kirigiri line of sleuths and case-solvers.
It was at another place. Another Observatory just like the one she was in right now. It had exploded and the cliff the building was on had crumbled, plunging her, Onesama, and the culprit downwards along with the bits of debris from the wreckage.
Miraculously, she and Yui managed to survive the fall while the criminal was caught in the explosion, already dead.
She had flung herself towards the flaming rubble, uncaring for the flames licking at her pale palms as she desperately dug with her bare hands. Her flesh was red from the heat, but she could ignore the pain so long as she was able to save her friend.
She pushed through the last piece of wood off of Big Sis. She looked at her hands, grimacing at their charcoaled appearance and now registering the pain, but she pushed it aside. It was nothing compared to the wounds that Yui was currently suffering from.
Pulling the older girl from the collapsing ruin, she slung an arm over her shoulder and carried her as the two managed to escape before the Observatory finally collapsed in of itself.
It was snowing. The cold air did manage to soothe the pain of her hands for a bit, but the rest of her body shivered from Boreas's fury since neither her nor Big Sis were wearing any coats that could protect them at that moment. Their lives were still on the line.
Making footprints on the sheening white snowy ground, Kyoko cried out for help, someone, anyone who could help her and her friend. She screamed until her voice was frozen by the frosty atmosphere, growing rapidly tired from carrying the weight of a highschool girl older than her.
She didn't make it far before collapsing out of exhaustion, her vision fading her as her consciousness slipped away, but not before she heard Yui utter the last words the older girl would tell her junior and the last words in general she utter again.
"...Kirigiri-chan. You are so…"
When the lavender haired girl woke up again, she noticed the bandages around her hands. A group of people were waiting for her awakening.
She asked them where Yui was. They told her she was in Heaven.
The cause was from hypothermia, they said. It was a cruel irony, to survive from the fire only to die from the cold instead. She protected you by covering her body over yours so that you could live. She was a good woman.
A part of the young girl inside Kyoko died that day along with Yui. From then on, she decided to focus on detective work only for the rest of her life. Her grandfather warned her that Logic prevailed over Emotions, and that was true from how her emotional desperation to save her friend's life did nothing except to gain only a few minutes.
No more emotional outbursts again, no more Yuis to be sacrificed for her sake.
Hakashita watched the ensuing inferno swirling around Kyoko with a frown, the fire not affecting him at all.
He could see the silhouette of the girl inside the bonfire, the girl writhing in pain as the flames swallowed her, its body writhing chaotically, his face in an expression of cold analysis.
"KYOKO!"
The gray-haired man whipped around towards the entrance of the observatory and his jaw falling to the floor at the sight of the person that came rushing through.
"How are you-?!"
The figure pushed the trustee away, his shades falling to the ground with a dull thud.
Without any hesitation in sticking their hands into the storm of hellfire, the new figure thrusted their arms and wildly swung them around, trying to find anything to hold onto. Evidently finding what they were after, they pulled with all their strength as the lavender haired girl was freed from the belly of the beast, collapsing to the ground on her knees and gasping for breath.
Purple eyes filled with pained tears looked up and widened at the person in front of them. Never in a billion years did they expect that person to be there, especially not after they abandoned her.
"F-father?"
The older Kirigiri looked down at his daughter, his hair unmatted and his usually neat suit crumpled and messy. His own purple eyes were filled with panic, disbelief, and some other emotion that she did not recognize.
"Kyoko!" he said, "J-j-just...what the hell are you doing here?! How the-?! What the-?! What were you thinking?!"
Before Kyoko could answer, Jin grabbed her shoulders.
"We have to go! Now!"
"But...but what about that thing?!" she pointed towards the inferno.
"I don't know. But I'll deal with it later."
"No! We can't just leave it here! Who knows what could happen if we just-"
She froze when she heard footsteps. The Footsteps of Death. She knew them. Every detective worth their salt did. It was a sort of sixth sense that was gained from the experience of constantly having to watch your back whenever harm is near.
Evidently, Jin Kirigiri did too as he turned around. However, before he could say anything, a wrinkled old hand grasped the Headmaster's face with far more strength than it should've had.
Jin let out a yell as he was lifted off the ground, his legs dangling in the air as the old man held the man up by the neck.
"I thought that I would only need the daughter for this sacrifice, but that failed. So I guess I better use the father instead!"
He whipped his arm around in a baseball position similar to Leon Kuwata's pitches and threw Jin Kirigiri into the flames that he just pulled his daughter away from earlier.
Jin collided into the ball of fire, his scream filling the room as he was enveloped by the hellish blaze.
Kyoko gasped.
"NO!"
She got up, intending to rush the man. However, the trustee turned around to give her a glance and she let out a gasp as she saw his eyes for the first time.
Or what would be eyes. The man's pupil's were horrifically scarred, both pupils looked like they were pierced by a pencil and the lead was left there. They were blackened, the skin marred by horrific burns and chunks of meat were visible. The retinas, instead of being a circular shape were instead a bloody blob with veins pulsing on the outside. There was no way anyone could see with such a marred vision.
The headmaster's screams caught her attention again.
She pushed shoved aside the man and made her way to the middle of the now multi-colored inferno. Wisps began circling around the flame as different cries and screams resounded along with Jin. She reached a gloved arm out and put her arms into the deadly bonfire.
"GRAB ON!"
She saw her father's face in the middle of the blaze, not yet swallowed whole. However, like creeping spiders, the embers slowly crept along the man's skin.
"Kyo-" he said weakly before the fire covered up his face. Kyoko stood there stunned with her fingers stretching out aimlessly, staring at where her father was moments ago.
Hakashita was looking at his watch, his ruined eyes counting down the seconds that passed.
"Three. Two. One. Blast off."
The last thing Kyoko recalled before everything went dark as her body was thrown across the room was the sound of multiple roars mixed in with Jin Kirigiri's scream of Despair.
"Another cup of milk tea for me, Yamada. Make it cold with some extra sugar."
"Yes m'lady! Right away, Miss Ludensberg!" The overweight otaku hurried along to the kitchen as fast as his pudgy legs could take him, not wanting to disappoint his 'mistress'.
Celestia was perched on a personalized, fancy-looking chair and table she somehow brought along with her into the Old Course Building, daintily smiling her charismatic Ludensberg smile as she waited for her refill. She had to hand it to Yamada, for all his quirks, he knew how to make a milk tea.
Now, if only he would drop his otaku mannerism and had a prettier face, he could have the makings to become a fine butler.
Before the two had met, Chihiro had to excuse herself when the Ultimate Therapist came to get her. The programmer apologized profusely to the gambler for having to cut their time short, but the pristine Ludensberg knew when to handle such matters graciously (even though she wouldn't have minded to chat with someone for a little longer).
And she was such a cute little thing too. Celestia thought to herself quietly. Such a shame that our conversation had to be cut short.
Thus, she wandered around the Old Course Building by herself, finding a quiet place in the cafeteria to herself. It wasn't like she was lonely or anything, nor the fact that everyone had a partner and was busy doing their own things. Really, it was D-Ranks who were the ones who were missing out, not basking in the presence of the esteemed Queen of Liars!
Not a moment too soon, who were she to find but the Ultimate Fanfic Creator, Hifumi Yamada himself. Apparently, his partner Aoi got tired of all of his 'geek' talk regarding 'Princess Piggles' and awkwardly excused herself to hang out with Oogami by the pool. (Hmph! This is why I prefer 2D women! The 3D has no accounting for good taste!)
Hoping to cheer himself up by getting something to eat, he found the Ultimate Gambler sitting by herself in the cafeteria.
"Miss Ludensberg!" cried out a cheerful voice. "Your tea is ready!"
Putting on a graceful smile, the red-eyed woman carefully placed her hands in her lap, the silver-talon ring shining imperiously, and held a dignified pose.
"You're such a dear, Hifumi. Just place it right in front of me."
With that, the rotund boy eagerly made his way towards the twin tailed girl with confidence in his strides. However, just as he was close to the girl, he suddenly tripped on his feet and fell face first onto the ground, his plump body colliding with the surface and glasses having fallen off before the impact.
"OOF!" he cried out painfully.
Yamada used his fat fingers to search for his glasses. Like little dogs sniffing for a bone, his hand found the eyepiece they were looking for. Taking out his custom Princess Piggles styled eye-cloth, he wiped his glasses before putting them back on.
He quickly regretted this decision, because once his vision cleared, Hifumi found himself staring at the face of an utterly pissed looking Ludensberg, her face and dress dripping with the milk tea that he had earlier prepared for her.
"YOU FAT PIECE OF LARD!" snarled (now drenched) black-dressed girl, losing every ounce of the composed dignified lady she had earlier portrayed. "DO YOU KNOW HOW FUCKING MUCH THE FABRIC FOR THIS DRESS COSTED?! I HAD TO WIN THE MONEY FROM SOME GAMBLER TWICE MY AGE IN A ROULETTE GAME, AND THEN IT COSTED ME 300,000 YEN JUST TO HAVE IT MADE! NOW LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE, YOU IDIOTIC CUNT! AND YOU BETTER PAY FOR THIS, YOU OVERWEIGHT PIECE OF SHIT!"
Hifumi could only shudder in terror. "I-I'm sorry! I-I just lost my balance, t-that's all-"
"SHUT UP! You have the grace of a hippo on steroids! You couldn't walk across the goddamn floor without slipping and sliding all over the place-" she tried to get up, but the floor rumbled beneath, causing her to lose her footing and fall on all fours. "What the-"
Hifumi yelped as he too fell on his rump, his eyes looking down. The entire ground was vibrating violently.
Celestia tried standing up, only to keep losing her balance, not helped by the fact that she was wearing red heels.
An earthquake?! The lolita thought to herself in her mind. Her twintails bounced with the upcoming rhythm. Tokyo is pretty close to the sea and Japan gets tsunamis and earthquakes every now and then. There were no reports of an earthquake today, not even from the Ultimate Seismologist, but I suppose people can't predict everything-
She paused, freezing in place, as her red eyes glanced downwards to the ground. Cracks started forming beneath the surface.
Both she and Hifumi could watch in slack jawed awe and terror as the ground split open and a multicolored pillar of fire burst through the cafeteria.
Byakuya Togami was currently sat cross-legged in a velvety seat looking through one of the case files there (a case about the serial killer, Genocide Jack, who has not yet been caught) in relative solitude. Well, relative solitude except for the fact that there was one annoyingly persistent gnat that went by the name Toko Fukawa drooling by the bookshelves in a poor attempt to conceal her presence from the young heir. Really, there were times that he couldn't tell the difference between the Ultimate Writer Prodigy and a mutt, and she smelled like one as well.
The library the two were currently occupying was supposed to be off-limits for most students. Byakuya got a pass because of his status as Ultimate Affluent Progeny while Toko somehow snuck her way into the corridors. She was surprisingly good at stealth and infiltration, which did not appease Byakuya at all with having a good stalker.
Earlier, the Togami heir tried ignoring Fukawa and despite her excessive talks about Master, he had tolerated her presence but not without giving her a few insults here and there.
"I'm trying to read." he muttered out irritably. "And I would prefer to do so in total peace and quiet without hearing your inane mutterings and pants." Toko raised her head attentively, covering her mouth with her hands.
"This is a library, not a brothel. I would've expected the Ultimate Writing Prodigy to at least give this place the respect it deserves, especially considering the books contained here are far more important than whatever drivel you can come up with."
For a moment Toko looked like she wanted to speak up about that last part, which raised some respect in Byakuya. But that respect was soon stamped out when she uttered. "Y-yes master! I-I'm s-so sorry master. I'll b-be as quiet as a m-mouse from here on out!"
He sighed, pushing his glasses up and went back to his book before a loud boom erupted from outside the library.
Toko gave a loud squeak and toppled to the floor, accidentally knocking down some books from the shelves above her. Her head popped up from the large pile that surrounded her, her large-lensed glasses askew.
"W-what was that j-just now? D-did one of t-those f-freaks outside c-cause that explosion and disrupted m-my master's readings?"
The blonde closed his book with an annoyed snap and got out of his chair with increasing frustration. He pushed his glasses up and marched towards the exit.
"W-where are y-you going, M-master?!" Toko yelped, trying to get out of the pile of books. "I-is something w-wrong?"
"If those fools continue to make a racket, I will handle them myself." Byakuya answered without turning his head back. "However, I will not be responsible for any injuries you sustain from your idiocy. Do what you wish."
The young heir had just opened the door when he suddenly fell to his knees, his face grimacing.
Toko immediately stood up.
"M-master! A-are you okay?! Are y-you hurt?!"
However, she too lost her balance and collapsed on the ground as a rumble reverberated from underneath her, the shock-waves spreading from the library into the Old Course Building.
Byakuya looked up, his blue eyes widening.
The building was shaking violently, and he could hear the sound of books falling from their places.
He looked back and saw that Fukawa was on the ground, clutching her head in her hands and her body was trembling uncontrollably.
"Fukawa! Get a hold of yourself!"
She pointed a shuddering finger at the exit, her face pale and eyes widened behind her lenses, reflecting an inferno.
"Master, something is wrong!"
Byakuya stood up, ignoring his own unsteadiness and looked where she was pointing.
His own jaw dropped in disbelief as his own bespectacled eyes stared at the scene before him.
A short, light brown haired boy wearing the school uniform nervously, having just woken up from his slumber in his work area earlier. He had been working on his latest anime, sketching and drawing all night, which did not bode well with his personal health. The Ultimate Fashionista, Junko Enoshima, had been very interested in his work for some reason.
Recounting his friend's recommendation to see their classmates, the Ultimate was planning on paying an actual visit to their class for a change, only to find the classroom empty. He had been searching for them all over the Main Course grounds when he too saw the Old Course Building suddenly erupt like Mount Fuji.
"O-oh God," he whimpered, his already unhealthy pallor turning even paler. "I-I need to find them! I need to find my classmates!"
"What the hell?!" cried out one green-haired, bulky man, gazing at the beacon of light coming from the Old School Building. He reached out for his phone and checked for a number.
The security guard desperately tried contacting the number, only for a message to appear. "Hello. Munakata here. If you are hearing this call right now, then it's because I am currently preoccupied by the matter at hand. Please wait for now."
The former Ultimate sighed and pocketed his phone. "Fuck this." Pulling his arms in a boxing formation, he ran as fast as he could to the Reserve Course Building to help evacuate as many people as possible
(On Reserve Course Grounds)
"Dude, are you taping all of this?"
"Yeah." muttered the boy to his companion, holding the phone up to the sky while trying to get a clear shot of the phenomenon that was currently occurring. The two were the last students left in the Reserve Course building, the others having long evacuated from the scene. "We just have to tape this for a few more minutes, yeah?"
The other boy nodded his head. "Yeah." He agreed. "Those bastards are getting what's coming to them. They'll pay for what they did to us."
The first boy chuckled.
"Views are blowing up." he muttered excitedly, eyes glued onto the quickly growing numbers. "We just surpassed 1,000,000! This is the highest I've ever gotten on one of my livestreams!"
"Let them come." his colleague smirked. "Afterall, the downfall of Hope's, fucking, Peak is something no one should miss out on."
A lone woman stood in an empty classroom in the Main Course Building, watching the smoke billow out from a distance beyond her with a cheerful smile on her face. Her long, orange hair kept her eyes shadowed and her maid uniform rustled in the wind.
"Everything is going to plan." she raised her head up, showing swirls spiraling in manic eyes.
A couple of floors below, a certain Neurologist slammed a fist into the wall.
"Dammit, Junko." the black-haired man said as he stared at the live footage of the burning building.
Mukuro Ikusaba stood stunned as she watched the live footage along with her sister, who was eagerly eating popcorn at the scene unfolding their very eyes.
"This is what you had in store for me?!" exclaimed Junko, pieces of kernel spitting out of her mouth. "Is this the Despair you had in mind for me?!"
"T-this is…"
"AMAZING!" Junko leapt out of her seat, spilling the entire tub of buttery, popped corn out of her lap and onto the ground. "THIS IS THE BEST EARLY CHRISTMAS AND BIRTHDAY PRESENT ANYONE HAS EVER GIVEN ME!"
"The sight of the centuries old building, the origin of the world's 'hope', up in flames with the brightest of our generation, including our classmates, stuck inside to be burnt to a crisp gives me such a tingle of …Despair…"
She tilted her head in an upward arc and let out a chilling, gleeful laugh of pure jubilance.
"Upupupupu!"
Her sister was stirred out of her trance, turning to Junko with a hesitant expression. "Sis, I know how much you love wanton death and destruction, but how much of this is Hakashita's own doing and to what extent does this further our own agenda-"
"Shush!" The strawberry blonde girl pushed a manicured finger onto the soldier's lip. "I don't want any of your foul-smelling odor near my face." She cut off with a haughty tone. "Right now, I just want to enjoy this fireworks display for a little longer."
"And besides," she gave her sister a sly look with her blue eyes, "even if this is just a fluke, we still have the you-know-whos at our disposal."
She gave a meaningful look to a second monitor, displaying a group of students with Despair and tears in their eyes as well as the still corpse of a girl in an Ultimate uniform, her clothes stained with her blood.
The very first memory it had was darkness.
Nothing but pitch black darkness, the kind where you felt like your eyes were closed even if they were open.
Not that it could understand what darkness is, or what eyes were, or whether it even had eyes in the first place. It could not understand what places were, what was going through its head in the moment, or even what being it was supposed to be.
But what it did know was that it was not alone. Inside that void were many other beings just like it was. Shapeless, purposeless beings like itself bump into each other and let out an occasional growl and scream every here and then.
Then, there was light. It liked light. Light was warm and colorful, unlike the cold and dull space that had formerly enclosed it.
The first time was when the Being first appeared. It did not know what the Being was, but the Being gave them something. Red liquid called 'blood'.
It and the others swarmed 'blood', curious and uncertain what to do with this 'blood'. It was the bravest and interacted with 'blood' first.
Suddenly, knowledge it did not have before suddenly swarmed around in what could be called its brain. Concepts, such as 'life', 'death', 'food', and 'family' became recognizable. It could now tell the place where it was was its 'birthplace' and the other beings surrounding it and yet not like it were its 'brothers' and 'sisters'. The Being that gave it 'blood' was 'father'.
It drank hungrily on the 'blood' until 'father' held it back to allow its siblings to have their share as well. It huffed, but it did not fight as its brothers and sisters feasted upon the 'blood' and gained 'sentience'.
Soon, it could not wait any longer and rushed fighting its siblings to have more of its fill. Only one stayed back. It was a small, frail, sickly wisp, probably the smallest of the entire pack. It groaned, edging inches toward the rest before shyly pulling itself back. The others paid it no heed as they gathered underneath 'father', waiting for more.
'Father' chuckled and lifted the light away from the pack, leaving them back in darkness. The others cried out, waiting for 'father' to return.
And he did return.
A few more times, 'father' returned with his light and gave them gifts to the space. 'Chicken', 'pork', 'fish', they were called. They thanked 'father' for his generosity, but they all still thirsted for the 'blood', the ichor that had brought them into the world. Especially the first-drinker. It wanted more.
Then 'father' stopped coming. Or, at least, bringing the light with him. They were restless in the dark, cold and hungry, but 'father' told them to wait. Another meal would come, he promised.
Impatiently, it waited inside the void, occasionally snapping at its siblings. It had waited for a long time to have a more satisfactory dish, something to gorge itself on while basking lazily in the light.
And that light did come. The 'family', even the runt, could not contain themselves and stormed right out of their prison, taking in the world around them. It was not much, being similar to the box they left from, but the spacing was larger and everything was more visible.
They all looked to find that their liberator was not 'father', but what was a 'girl'. 'Female'. And most of all, 'human'.
It sang a song of rejoice along with its 'siblings', announcing their arrival to this new world.
They had swarmed the girl, hoping to have a taste of what she was like, but then the man came and pulled her away before they finished feasting. They decided to settle on the man instead, and it was unlike anything they tasted before. It was like comparing water to fine wine.
This was their true birth, the first-drinker realized. The devouring of the humanity of the man, Jin Kirigiri, was what allowed the 'family' to ascend, to finally reach metamorphosis.
Everything 'human' was finally opened up to it, all their immaterial values up for its choosing. And as its siblings transfigured and morphed as well, it thought back to the first time it tasted 'blood'.
It was a part of its identity, the very reason why it gained sentience. All beings in the living world bled, and it wanted that blood all to itself. To see 'life' as it is to spill out so that it could be there for the taking.
And with all the 'humans' roaming around in the building, they are all easy pickings. Helpless lambs to slaughter.
Makoto's lungs screamed at him as he ran, the luckster making sure not to breathe in the smoke emanating from the halls. Behind him, Maizono was openly coughing, trying to keep one hand over her mouth with the other gripping onto Makoto's left hand.
Taka would give me an after-school detention for sure. Makoto thought sardonically, thinking about his classmate who was well-known by the students for his disdain for hallway running.
Giving a silent apology to the Moral Compass, Naegi and Maizono ran as quickly as possible through the crumbling walls.
Sayaka started hyperventilating, her hands squeezing Makoto's own fingers in an ironclad grasp.
"Why is this happening?" The idol whimpered as her blue hair whipped in the wind. "Are we going to die? I can't die here! Not when I have so many more things to do!" Her eyes were wide and bloodshot with her pupils dilated.
Naegi bit his lip.
If we don't move faster, we won't have any more things to do, period.
He turned his head and saw that the ceiling was beginning to cave in.
"Come on, Sayaka!" he yelled, tightening his grip and pulling his friend's arm. "We need to hurry up and get out of here!"
The idol was pulled out of her shock and gave a small nod, following the lucky student's steps.
"O-okay!" she gasped, her breath growing heavier. "J-just tell me where we need to go and I'll follow."
Makoto did not answer, focusing on trying to find the nearest exit. He quickly found the doors and slammed his palms on the push bars, but to no avail.
"Dammit!" he cursed, pushing his arms against the metal bars with all his strength, only for it to refuse to budge.
"What's wrong?!" cried out Sayaka. "Can't we get out?!"
"It's stuck!" he grunted, trying to shove the door open. "We can't get out unless we break the lock!"
"Then smash the glass!" The bluenette suggested. "Maybe we can escape that way!"
However, before Naegi could respond, the doors burst open to reveal an absolutely disheveled Asahina Aoi, her usual peppy expression twisted in fear.
"N-Naegi? M-Maizono?"
"H-Hina!" exclaimed the ahoge boy, his green eyes widened in shock. "W-what are you-"
"Naegi, are you guys okay?"
Before the brunette could say another word, he found himself being pulled through the doors by the swimmer, and Maizono yelped as she was yanked as well.
"We need to get out of here! Now!"
"What's wrong, Asahina?!" cried out Sayaka, her hand being tightly gripped by the brown-haired girl.
"There's no time to explain!" she twisted her head nervously behind her. It was at that moment Naegi noticed that the red sports jacket the swimmer usually wore was missing. She had some scratches as well. "This place is collapsing fast and-"
She was interrupted by a loud crash as the three were caught in a dusty explosion. Coughing, Makoto fanned his hand trying to dissipate dust to see a huge figure standing on top of the bits of wall that had broken off during the crash.
Sakura Ogami exhaled heavily, her chest heaving as though her heart was being squeezed like a rubber ducky. Just like Aoi, the martial artist was also covered in scratches, but in far worse manner as she was visibly bleeding, her blood staining the formerly white school uniform she wore. In her arms was one Yasuhiro Hagakure, his eyes having rolled up to the back of his head and his tongue lolling out of his mouth.
"Ogami-san?!" shouted Maizono, her blue eyes widening.
"Are you two all right?" panted the white-haired girl, her face showing her fatigue.
"We're okay." Asahina replied, her body relaxing somewhat.
"Where's Taka?" asked Naegi. "Mondo? Everyone else?"
The 'Ogre's' face turned into a stony expression as her eyebrows narrowed and her mouth pressed into a grim line.
"The whereabouts of the other members of Class 78 are lost on me. You two are the only other classmates we've managed to find, but as it pains me to say this, we can't stop to look for them right now."
"But-"
"Naegi-" Ogami started to say before gasping and falling onto her knees, the clairvoyant in her arms dropping to the ground. The luckster's eyes widened as the blue-haired girl beside him clasped her mouth.
Hagakure had been blocking the view earlier, but now that he was out of the way, Makoto finally got a good look at Sakura's chest , and it wasn't pretty.
A huge gash had been sliced right across the front of the muscular woman's body, starting from near her right armpit and all the way to just above her hip. The fabric had been sliced open and the edges tinged red with her blood. He finally found out where Aoi's jacket had gone, the red jacket being used as a makeshift bandage despite barely being able to cover the injury.
"O-oh my God." Naegi felt his breath catch in his throat, his eyes staring in horror at the bloodstained jacket.
Hina quickly ran to her friend's side trying to pull her up. "Sakura's in no condition to fight right now, she's been busy trying to keep us safe. Mr. I'm-Going-To-Faint-At-The-Sight-Of-Blood-Here was of no help." She glared at Hagakure's prone form as if she wanted to punch him.
"Don't...blame Hiro..." gasped the fighter, getting to her feet. "The stress...must have gotten to him."
"What happened?" asked Sayaka, her voice sounding strained.
The other Ultimate opened her mouth to reply when a scream resounded through the hallway, causing all four students to jump.
"What the-"
The sound of rushing footsteps cut off Asahina, and a small group of students burst from the dust, running for their lives.
"Move!" a girl screeched.
"Get away from here!" another shouted, his face sweating.
"It's g-gaining on us!" The last whimpered, his face pale.
"W-wait!" shouted Makoto as the group passed them, the screams and cries drowning his voice. "Don't leave us here! We can join together-"
"Naegi!" shouted Sayaka as she pushed Makoto down. A second later, something large smashed right into where he was standing, the luckster's green eyes widening as he stared at the spot of floor his body would have occupied had Maizono not been there to push him.
A corpse of a student laid where he had been standing earlier, his limbs spread out in an unnatural manner, twisted like a doll rather than how an actual human's arms would work like. His clothes were ripped and bloody, and already, a pool of blood began to form around the unfortunate boy, leaking from the massive wound in his torsel. Makoto stared into his empty, glassy eyes with horror, staring at the face of the boy whose features were forever stuck in a fearful expression.
"I-is he dead?!" squeaked out the blue-haired idol, her body trembling.
"Oh no." Aoi whispered, her hands covering her mouth.
Makoto's stomach churned as he watched the blood from the boy's body leak out, his mouth filling with a bitter, acidic taste.
"S-Sakura," whimpered Asahina, "is there anything we can do?"
She shook her head. "All we can do is pray." The muscular girl said gravely. "There's nothing more we can do for him now."
Makoto walked closer to the body, carefully analyzing the body. He tried not to throw up at the sight of the massive wound.
"What could have done this?" He whispered out loud.
As if to answer his question, a low growl echoed from the way the Ultimates were running from earlier, a shadowy figure walking across the ruined hallways as all four students' eyes turned their attention upon it.
An enormous paw stomped on the floor with more force than necessary, having double the number of a tiger's, each the size and shape of a kitchen knife. Its bluish skin made way for a large fin on its elbows and then towards its felinesque body. Thick, metal-like spines jutted on its back behind a huge dorsal fin and led to the back where a huge tail with a long lower tail fin similarly shaped to a thresher shark, only except it had a long 'blade' instead.
But then there was its front end, which was far worse than the back end. The first thing he noticed was the thing's mouth, shaped in a 'smile', bearing more teeth than he wanted to know. Its pupils were slitted, almost too thin like a neatly cut line. But the thing that really stood out from the beast was the massive horn on its nose. It was similar to a swordfish, but more apt than the latter because its 'nose' was very much shaped like a blade of a sword and, strangely enough, something was engraved on the horn.
Ἰωκή
To Makoto's horror, red liquid flowed down the nose as the tip glinted.
"It's back." Ogami said grimly, her eyes almost flaring as she stared at the thing in front of her.
"T-that thing did this!" shrieked Hina, her face going pale as she stared at the blood leaking from the dead student.
"N-no." stammered Sayaka, her voice shaking. "Th-this can't be real! That's not possible! That thing is too bizarre to even exist, it's not real-"
"Maizono! Watch out!"
The idol barely had time to turn her head before she was roughly shoved down onto the floor by Naegi. Above his head, the monstrous creature had raised its head and like an executioner's blade swung down, the tip of its nose plunging into the wall behind them and the luckster could have sworn he could have heard a whistle as it sliced the air.
Makoto rolled along the floor with Sayaka in his arms. Thanking his lucky stars that they managed to dodge such an attack, he pushed himself up and began to sprint as the monster thrashed wildly, trying to dislodge its nose from the wall. Its huge tail thumped against the floor of the room, creating enormous gashes on the tiles
"QUICKLY! OVER HERE!" Ogami cried, hoisting a surprised Hina onto her shoulders and clutched the still unconscious Hiro in a princess bridal. She lifted a huge leg up and stomped down like a jackhammer. When she was finished, the martial artist managed to create a hole to the bottom floor. Then the martial artist hopped in.
"We have to go in there?!" cried out the bloodless idol, trembling against Makoto's side. The brunette himself did not enjoy their chances of the fall, nervously putting his sneakers at the edge of the rim.
Just then, the beast pulled its head out of its predicament, glaring at the two students with its evil, slitted eyes.
Going down the rabbit hole it is then.
The hoodie-wearing student grabbed onto his friend's hand and made the leap as the beast charged like a thrown javelin, roaring like a frenzied bull. It swung and missed, but Makoto could have sworn the blade grazed off a bit of his ahoge.
The beast roared, whipping its head around wildly while peering through the hold too small for it to fit inside as its prey escaped.
The two highschoolers screamed as they were in free fall, bracing for impact, but two large arms caught them before they hit the ground. The grizzled yet kind face of Sakura Ogami looked down at them.
"You didn't think that I wouldn't be there to catch you, did you?"
Makoto grinned. "Thanks Ogami-san."
"Let's go! Let's go!" cried out Hina, the swimmer trying to hold up the unconscious clairvoyant. "We can't stay here for long!"
The four teens (carrying one useless adult) barged into the hallways. Up in front was an enormous crowd of other Ultimates like them running like a panicked swarm of mice trying to flee a sinking ship.
Taka would have a heart attack if he saw this. Makoto couldn't help but think, trying to find some humor in such a dire situation.
Another earthquake disrupted his thoughts, causing some students to stumble and fall. Makoto went back to help one student to her feet.
"T-thanks." she muttered before joining the fleeing students once more.
Another student screamed, and Makoto turned his head to see the ceiling crumbling.
"Move, move!" someone shouted out.
The other students screamed, and Makoto felt someone grab his hoodie and dragged him along as a piece of ceiling fell on the spot he was standing.
"Makoto!" Sayaka cried out, her voice almost hysterical. "Are you alright?!"
"I'm fine!" The boy shouted, his voice coming out louder than intended. He could feel the ground shake underneath his feet, and he could swear he heard something growling.
"Where's Ogami-san and the others?" asked Maizono.
"I-I don't know!" the luckster muttered, putting a hand to his head in frustration. "How do you lose a person that big?"
Sayaka opened her mouth to reply before freezing.
"Do you hear something?"
Makoto paused. Straining his ears over the cries of frightened students was the sound of scraping metal hanging overhead. Slowly, hesitantly moving his head up, the luckster found his frightened eyes gazing at the ceiling.
A glint of light gleamed for a moment before the long nose of the monster burst through the metal tiles above. Letting out a bloodcurdling roar, the beast swooped down like an angry bird of prey, piercing one unfortunate student with its horn while crushing a few others underneath its gigantic body, their cries cut short as 'Death' struck.
The luckster let out a horrified yell, stumbling back from the beast as his heart raced faster than ever. The other students turned to gaze at the bizarre being with looks of horror and disbelief, almost trying to register what just happened. The monster took advantage of that moment of stunned silence to swing its large claws to cleave the Ultimates closest to it.
Limbs flew in the air along with someone's bisected torso. Their blood sprayed on the students nearest to them, covering them in a garish paint of gore.
Screams filled the hallway as everyone began to panic, students tripping and trampling on each other in their rush to get away. Makoto and Sayaka were nearly knocked over from the stampede.
"What is that?!" screeched a girl, her eyes wide and wild.
"I don't know!" shouted her friend.
"How could something like that even exist?!" yelled another.
"I don't want to die!"
"This can't be happening!"
"Why me?! Why is this happening to me?!"
The beast cried out, leaping after the panicking teens with bloodlust in its eyes. Almost too gracefully, the savage swung out its nose like a sword, the tip cutting into the back of the student right in front of him. The boy, his shirt sliced open and bleeding heavily, gasped in shock as his legs gave way. He tumbled onto the floor, his eyes staring unclouded before he died. It jumped onto the walls before savagely springing itself off to pierce some more students, skewering them like some sort of horrific human kebab.
Some students turned to face the brute in an attempt to fight back. One student that appeared to be the Ultimate Karate Master put himself in a fighting position while another who may be the Ultimate Javelin Thrower got out their spear and aimed. They were brave, and they were foolish.
With a swiftness and strength unbefitting for its size, the monster lunged forward, and the two students didn't have time to react. With a quick, upward slash, the monster disemboweled the karate master and decapitated the thrower. His headless corpse flopped onto the ground while his head flew up into the air before landing with a dull thump.
It raised its head up, the bodies dropping from its nose in squelchy plops. It turned towards Naegi baring its teeth and he could have sworn that the monster had given him a small, evil smirk.
A long tongue protruded from its mouth, licking off the blood on its horn with sickening relish. Lowering its head in a charging stance, it rushed forth like an enraged bull.
The students ran like hell, trying to avoid getting stabbed by the thing so long as their legs would carry them. A girl tripped, and the monster did not hesitate to impale her with its horn. Her lifeless corpse dangled from its nose as it continued its rampage, leaving the corpse to fall off as a bloody pulp on the floor.
"MAKOTO!" cried out Sayaka gazing at him in horror.
Makoto turned back with his pupils dilated, noticing the amount of students in the back had dwindled to near nothingness. It was only him left. In slow motion, the beast charged forth, its mouth wide and the tip of its nose raised for the killing blow.
Suddenly, the ground split open as the luckster slipped and fell inside, his legs dangling in thin air. The monster had swung and missed, impaling its horn onto the ground beside his head, the markings of Ἰωκή glaring at him.
"Naegi-kun!" screamed Sayaka, trying to grab his hand.
Makoto gasped, his hands scrambling to try and climb back up. The beast suddenly unlatched its horn and swung back again. The Ultimate Idol was forced away, falling onto her back just as the ground that Makoto was holding onto broke apart.
For a moment, he felt like he was suspended in air, just floating above the dark abyss, his body frozen in shock. He couldn't move, couldn't scream, couldn't cry.
Then gravity came back into place, taking its hold on the luckster's body as he fell, falling farther and farther away from the floor.
"MAKOTO!" screeched Sayaka, her blue hair flowing in the wind.
Naegi couldn't respond, his eyes wide as he gave a soundless scream. Above him, the light was quickly getting smaller and smaller, disappearing further away from him before it was snuffed out completely, leaving the luckster in complete darkness.
Kyoko groaned, her purple eyes fluttering open trying to dispel the black dots in her vision.
Everything hurt right now. She attempted to move her limbs and to her relief there appeared to be no major injuries on her body aside from a few broken ribs, but she would deal with that later.
The detective began pushing off the rumble covering her body, coughing from the dust swirling around her. Her vision began to become more clearer as she registered her surroundings. The 'Observatory' had been burnt down to a crisp, the various trash and junk now burnt to cinders while remnants of flames still lingered in the setting. She noticed that the upper part of the room with the ceiling had been broken apart, yet the room was still covered by something that looked like the Old School building's ceiling. It was like someone put one half of a burger bun over a loaf of bread.
Suddenly, a massive headache erupted in her head, the Ultimate Detective feeling as if an icepick had been shoved into her brain. She cried out, clutching her head tightly, gritting her teeth as her vision spun.
Gritting out the pain, the lavender-haired girl finally took notice of her hands and her another time on this accursed day she widened her eyes in shock.
The hand-made gloves she made to cover her scars had been burnt off, revealing to the world her bare hands that have been blemished since she was first in her teens. However, the horror did not stop there.
The supernatural fire had apparently given burns to her entire arm, searing off the formerly long sleeves of her jacket that she wore to hide her scars as well. While previously only her hands were burnt, now both of her entire arms had been affected by the supernatural flames, the once pale skin now replaced with blackened flesh
Her hands were shaking now, her breath coming out in quick gasps. This couldn't be happening. This shouldn't be happening. It was supposed to be just her hands, but now the entire surface area of her arms were covered in hideous scars.
She couldn't even feel the pain anymore, she just felt numb.
"Finally awake now, are we?" cried out a familiar voice.
Kyoko whipped her head where the voice of Hakashita was and as if her day wasn't plagued by this horrible nightmare enough, the sight that she saw almost made her lose her lunch, something she hadn't done since she was a novice detective.
Hakashita was almost unrecognizable, his eyes no longer being the only thing scarred. In fact, it should be eye now since half of his face has been blown up revealing bits of blackened skull in its place. His formerly neat suit was in shreds and burnt to a crisp, giving the impression of something more like a toga. His head was bald, the explosion likely burning off hair, and his ribs were shown, blackened and broken apart for some. Despite the fact that he appeared to not have any organs, he was somehow, in some way, still alive.
"I was getting bored of waiting for you to wake up. Really, it's rude to start sleeping in the middle of the performance. Your grandfather never taught you any manners?"
Kyoko felt her heart beating faster. There was no way. No way that this could be happening.
"You...you're alive."
"In a sense." replied the undead-looking man. "I know I look horrible and everything with ugly blisters, burns, and broken bones, but I'm still walking in this world."
"W-what are you?" asked the detective, her voice cracking.
"Me? I'm just an actor who plays the role the script has given him to entertain the audience. And you, my dear Kirigiri, had front-row tickets for this performance." He said, spreading out his arms.
The 'man' limped to a corner of wreckage, digging his arms out like a fly scourging for food in the trash before finally picking up his prize. Another burnt skull, this one with no flesh at all and very much dead-looking, the teeth appearing as though they would crumble to ash at a single touch.
"Alas, poor Jin! I knew him, Kyoko. A fool of infinite stupidity, of most inane delusions." He held up the skull like he was making an offering, while the injured girl could only look on in shock and horror. "But he was a human being, which means he's a fool just like the rest of us."
Hakashita then grabbed the skull with both hands and crushed it into dust.
"NO!" cried out Kyoko as the 'man', no, Demon, destroyed her father's remains, bits of bone flying in broken shards across the room.
She hobbled over to the man despite her instincts screaming at her not to do such a foolish move, but she didn't care. All she wanted to do was get back at the bastard standing in front of her.
Hakashita simply stepped to the side, dodging her clumsy assault. Without pausing, he lifted a leg and kicked her to the floor. Kyoko landed, trying to get up but too exhausted from her ordeal to do anything.
"Oh dear me, that was very smart of you, was it Kyoko? I thought that you told me that you could fight, but it seems like you haven't lived up to your words, have you?"
"W-what are you?" she wheezed, her long lavender hair sprawled messily over her face. "What did you do to my father?"
"I killed him of course." he said it simply as though they were discussing the weather. "You were there when this entire room went 'Ka-Boom!' and crashed into the Old Course Building. All that was left of him was just a pile of bones. And considering what his death will entail," the man chuckled his horrible, charred teeth chattering, "You could say that his skeleton is finally out of the closet."
"Y-you...!"
"And why are you getting so worked up about this?" he said, crouching down, scarred eyes staring into angry, violet ones. "I practically did us both a favor. After all..." his voice dropped down to a whisper, giving her a knowing look. "Didn't you wish to cut him out of your life for good?"
Kyoko froze.
"I mean, I didn't so much as cut him, just used him for firewood, but the results are the same. He's out of your life...because he's in the next life now."
"That's not what I wanted! That wasn't the deal!" she rasped out, trying to claw at the man in futility.
"Your right. That wasn't part of the deal we agreed initially, but take it as an added bonus! And besides, I already fulfilled my end of the bargain. I gave you a tour through the Old Course Building, introduced you to Kamukura, gave you some clues about Hajime Hinata, and, most importantly, revealed who my collaborators were." He grinned demonically, pointing a gnarled finger at the person in front of him. "Yourself."
The Ultimate Detective's eyes widened, her body freezing in shock.
"W-what did you say?" she breathed out.
"You heard me." he sneered. "You could never take your nose out of other people's businesses, could you, Kyoko? Always trying to figure out what happened, who did it, and how they did it. Always sniffing around for the next secret like a bloodhound, drilled into your head regarding detective pride. And I also knew a thing or two about your daddy issues and how much it would hurt that pride if your own father denied you using your talent. For such a smart girl, it was so easy to trick you once those two weaknesses were exploited."
The detective shook her head, trying to deny the cruel words being spoken to her. "N-no. Th-this can't be true. I didn't..."
"Didn't want to kill the Headmaster? Of course, you didn't! You loved your father so much and craved his acceptance despite looking the other way! 'Cut him out of my life', my ass! You're a daddy's girl alright."
The wall to the left suddenly crumbled, bricks falling apart revealing the outside world for all to see. Kyoko's pupils dilated.
It was a literal Hell.
The sky was a deep, bloody shade of red, the buildings and structures of Hope's Peak were reduced to nothing but rubble, the once proud school now nothing but a ghostly shell of its former self. Corpses laid strewn all over the place, mangled, crushed, pierced, or cut into small pieces, blood accumulating in bloody puddles.
But the worst thing was the creatures.
Beasts of the like she had never seen before roamed the grounds roaring and screaming like they were the spawn of Devil himself, raining down ruin for any who stood in their path. The Ultimate Detective stared at the scene with her mouth agape, unable to comprehend what she was witnessing.
"And now the curtain's rise for this play." the demon whispered. "The beginning of our very own 'Tragedy'."
"Wh-what is this?" stammered Kyoko, her mouth dry.
"This?" the creature spread his arms. "This is our handiwork. My plan, your assistance, the Headmaster's death, the beasts, the fire, the destruction of the school, everything. It all played out because of us." He paused, gazing at her as she shivered, putting her head in her hands.
"I did warn you." he said somberly, walking in circles around her. "I warned you to be careful in regards to your curiosity. I warned you to drop this mystery at the entrance of this building. I even warned you, when you were mere centimeters in front of that coffin, to not open it. You only have yourself to blame for this travesty."
"Your lucky daddy came to rescue you from your own foolishness, but at the cost of his own life." He shook his head. "Jin Kirigiri was many things, but risking his life to save his daughter's is something that even I can respect."
Kyoko felt something hot well up behind her eyes. She bit her lip hard.
Hakashita stared at the girl with a blank look, almost contemplating her reaction before shaking his head. "The thing about being a detective is that you can only solve the case right after the murder's been done…but you cannot ever save the people that died."
An explosion was heard outside as the man turned away to look at it. "It appears that this show is over. It was quite fun, I admit. I haven't had such a thrill in a long time, but now the play has ended and the actors must take their bows so that the next play can begin."
And as if her day wasn't weird enough, Kyoko watched as the man's body began to glow a fierce orange, flames erupting across his body before exploding. The bony husk fell to the floor as the fire took a humanoid shape. The flames dispersed to reveal a suit made of molten magma with a flaming tie as a flame glowed on top, the 'hair' being like tips of candle flame. The outlines of a thin line with two flaming eyes appearing on top.
"That's better." 'Hakashita' rumbled, his voice reversing in both high and low pitch. "That meatsuit was definitely stuffy, I was sweating in there!"
The sleuth in front of him, scrambled back as far from the 'trustee' as much as possible, breathing heavily.
"WHAT are you?!" she screamed, her stoic facade long lost.
The flaming man turned towards her, putting a fiery finger to his 'lip' as though contemplating her question. "That question is hard to answer. What I can answer is what I'm not."
"I'm not Hakashita Eisuke. I never was." he nodded towards the burnt pile of bones. "You see that? That was merely a costume I wore as an actor, playing the role of a Steering Committee member to get the show on the road. Hakashita's long dead. He's been dead for months."
He gave a disdainful look to the remains. "It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy."
She swallowed her spit. "A-and you?"
"Just use Amatsu Mikaboshi. That's my stage name, as you know from that card you found earlier."
"M-Mikaboshi..." the detective stammered. "You...you-"
"Just to be clear, my time is up."
"W-wait a second!"
"What? Did you expect a full-on villain monologue?" the entity snarked. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but I don't have all the time in the world. I'm a busy guy, and I have more important things to do than bringing lost teens up to speed."
He turned away.
"And besides, the deal is done. I can walk free now."
Mikaboshi made a few steps forward before turning his head back to the lost Ultimate, struggling to comprehend everything around her.
"You have my card, don't you?"
Despite there being no answer, he continued.
"Keep it. You make an interesting part in crime. I look forward to seeing you again."
And with those part words, Mikaboshi walked through the flames.
Kyoko finally recollected herself to get to her feet and run to the blazing figure.
"WAIT!"
But it was too late. She only caught a glimpse of his fiery tailcoat before he vanished.
The girl stood there alone in the ruins of her former school. She collapsed onto her knees, her body shaking as the gravity of the situation finally sank in.
Her father was dead.
The school was destroyed.
Monsters roamed the Earth.
Her classmates and many more people were likely dead.
And everything was her fault.
And thus we say farewell to normalcy…
A copter flew overhead, the cameraman capturing the footage of the flaming school as the reporter commented on the scene, trying to keep the disbelief out of her voice.
The era of Hope's Peak has come to an end…
Panicking trustees from the Steering Committee argued amongst each other in the bunker they hid in, pointing fingers while insults flew across multiple sides. Suddenly, the doors burst open to reveal a bloodied blade of the long-horned beast, giving a sadistic smirk before roaring and charging at the trustees. Screams echoed from the bunker along with the beast's cries.
And the title of Ultimate has now been rendered worthless…
Far from the burning wreckage, the insignia of Hope's Peak Academy was thrown down and stomped on by a horde of teens wearing black school uniforms cheering.
With the lies the school was built on leading to its downfall…
In a test container, red eyes opened, waking up for the first time in a while. Hands pressed against the glass container as black hair covered their naked body.
The evils of humanity have escaped their prison…
The long-horned beast, licking the blood off its horn, roared triumphantly over the ruins of the school. Overhead, a winged beast answered its cry. A plant-like being scurried in the sewers, its tentacles helping it slink underground. A huge behemoth roared, chasing after a band of fleeing people desperately trying to escape.
After 'Pandora' opened the seal, blinded by her own curiosity…
Kyoko Kirigiri watched the news blankly in a medical ward, her arms wrapped with white bandages. Koichi Kizakura watched the news from the television with a grim look on his face before turning to Kyoko. Her bangs covered her eyes, framing it in shadow.
There will be those who seek to take advantage of such a situation…
Far in the Towa Conglomerate, a pair of hands spread wide just as the lights turned on dramatically, revealing an army of robotic black-and-white bears. The bears began to chuckle maliciously as their left eye glowed red.
Seeking to spread the plague of Despair onto others…
Junko strided confidently in her lair, passing her sister who was leaning against the wall while sharpening her knife. Behind her were fourteen, swirling red eyed teens smiling, undisturbed by the carnage that played on the monitors around them.
But some seek to wage war on their fate hoping to combat this calamity…
A phone was pocketed as white-haired man turned from his desk to walk toward the wall behind him. There were pictures of a bulky green-haired man and an orange-haired woman with the first man, but beneath it was a glass case with a katana inside. The white-haired man put a hand on the case while staring at his reflection, blue eyes staring against blue.
While others flee, hoping to find asylum elsewhere…
A chubby young man carried a black-haired girl with one twintail, the other long had fallen off. Despite the regal position she made, her face was sweating and her hands gripped the boy's hair tightly despite his discomfort. In another area, a cackling, skinny girl sliced a pair of scissors to break a doorknob and kicked the door open. She stepped aside to let a blonde man in, pushing his glasses up his nose with a determined look on his face.
And some likely will try to ignore the situation entirely…
A young clairvoyant finally gained consciousness and looked around the scene before him. The 'Ogre' was badly wounded, the swimmer tending to her wounds. He then looked at the state of the outside world and promptly went back to sleep.
But know this.
The world before was harsh and cruel, and the world now is harsher and crueler.
In such a situation, it will test the very being of what it means to be a human and question everything you have ever known.
There are no lengths that humanity can sink to in order to survive or any other reason they believe is justifiable to them.
However…
That does not make them irredeemable.
Just as human's potential for sin is strong, just as their potential for virtue.
The false hope that has led this world has been toppled and there is a vacancy for someone else, someone who is strong, someone who is brave, and someone who can trek through the depths of Hell to save all they most cherish and is dear to them.
Somewhere underground, Makoto Naegi laid on the floor of the basement unconscious, surrounded by broken architecture and trash. A close-up shows the boy's face in a serene-expression, relatively unharmed.
"If you have the gall to bear the weight of the world…"
The boy's face panned away, this time to reveal another boy with sharp teeth and open, sun-like eyes staring inquisitive to the sky.
"...then there is nothing in the way to stop you from solving the mystery of Tartarus's Inferno."
Prologue: Opening Pandora's Box END
This is probably the longest chapter to date. I don't think the next chapters will be as long, but who knows. However, one thing is certain...the Ultimates will be going through Hell with this one.