Just so people are clear, when Mukuro and Junko show up, I am not using the Danganronpa 3: Despair Side interpretation of Mukuro Ikusaba (I finally spelled it right) because that has way too much incestuous undertones. Also after further consideration, I also removed the tags revolving around a relationship between the two characters, even if it was onesided on Mukuro's part. It wouldn't have fit the plot I was going for and it would've been entirely unnecessary. Even if it is, unfortunately, canon to Mukuro's character.
Also, this chapter is a set-up chapter for the next one, so this one's gonna be a lot shorter than the others. I actually think this is the second shortest chapter so far. Also, this chapter pays off a lot of the last few bits of plot build-up, and some people may or may not like what happens in it with a certain character. I had to change so many tags on Ao3 because they would be misleading if I kept them in. Sorry to those people who were here for those tags, my bad guys.
With that being said, stay tuned for my response to Reviews/Comments, and let's get into:
[-Chapter 8: Revelations-]
[Opening Song: Dance In The Game – By: ZAQ]
"During my travels, I came across many who would be my friends and even more who would see me dead. I never understood those people. Why make an enemy out of me, when you could be my ally? I even posed this question to one of them, and their answer disappointed me. So they fell to my blade, and thus I became a legend. Oh, how I wish to go back to the simpler times. But those times are long behind me forever and always. Even if I miss those days—the days when the hardest thing I had to do was to get up in the morning—they will no longer return to me. But I have faith. One day, in the near future, I will have a purpose once again. I know I will." – Diary Entry 0871, Lines 6 through 12, Page 378.
The whimpering of a puppy reverberated through the halls of a dusty old home, abandoned and neglected by time, as the body of the small creature hit the nearest wall, struggling to stand after colliding with it. Its whine, designed to beg for mercy, filled the ears of its assaulter, but they didn't care. Not much was left for them to care about, and so the days went on, boring as always, so they had to find something to do.
They decided that kicking a puppy would be one of those things.
And yet, now they found themselves bored of it. The puppy—a border collie, they were told—was far too injured to stand. To try and fight back. Now it meant nothing, wholly and truly. A sad sigh escaped the lips of the individual as they frowned.
The person in question was a teenager, with dyed strawberry blonde hair. Their eyes, original colour long ago lost and replaced by something else, were covered by blue contacts. Pale skin—paler than even the light of the moon—covered her body from head to toe. She was dressed in a dark brown fluffy coat, with zebra-strip leggings and black high-heels.
Her hair was done up into a pair of large sideways ponytails, held in place by two white and black bear pins respectively, the white on the left and the black on the right. Despite her age, her chest was rather developed. There were rumours that she had used plastic surgery to make her breasts bigger, but she didn't. It was natural, though those rumours persisted regardless.
If one were to strip away the layers of clothing, one would find that her body was covered in three, long, stretched-out burns that glowed with an ominous yellow hue. Where they came from, only the individual knew, but it was because of those burns that she could fully dedicate herself 100% of the time to her plan.
A plan that would shake the world for the rest of time.
A plan that, should it work out, would have her seated at the top, and from there, she would lay waste to it all. Do as she was told by a being higher than her, and bring about an Age of Chaos so vast and so wide-reaching that it would be just like her fantasies!
Now, as for what kicking a puppy had to do with that plan, the answer was simple. It didn't. She simply wanted to kick the puppy to eke out as much despair as she could from the thing before she ultimately killed it.
But now, she was bored. But then again, she got bored rather easily, so it was not at all surprising for that to be the case.
She hated being bored.
Being bored was like, the worst sin imaginable. Or, something along those lines.
Whatever, it didn't matter. She didn't really care.
After all, it was hard to care about something if you didn't have the capacity to care in general. Hence the reason why she cared little for the puppy's whining cries. It was also why when she picked the puppy up by the scruff of its neck, a malignant smile dressed her face.
"Aw~! Now isn't that just so despairing~?" The teen's voice purred, making the puppy wince and whine even harder. Its eyes, teary and filled with fear as the teen stared down the puppy, her smile widening. "What do you think, Muki?" The teen asked as a comparatively bland teenager stood behind the overly dressed teen, arms crossed and leaning against the wall.
Unlike the other's strawberry blond hair, the other teen had short black hair, freckles, and black eyes befitting her soulless stare. She was dressed in a white button-down shirt with a black combat skirt stopping just above the knees, fitted with black stockings made of bullet-proof mesh, the shirt sharing the same interior lining.
Another thing that made the two teens separate was that, compared to the other, she did not have nearly as large breasts. In fact, the inverse was true. If it wasn't for the fact that she had a bra on that stuck out more, then it would've been far to say that she was a cross-dresser.
"I think you should put the damn thing out of its misery already. It's whining is annoying," the other teen said, looking away as the strawberry blond frowned.
"Bah, you're a buzzkill, you know that!" The strawberry blond said, sticking out her tongue as the black-haired teen brushed her off. "C'mon Muki~! At least do something! You're making me do everything?"
"This is excessive, and you know it. Also, stop calling me Muki. It's Mukuro, Junko. We're sisters for fucksake, act like it and use my name for once," Mukuro growled, making Junko's smile disappear, returning to a neutral expression. She glanced at the puppy for a second, then back at Mukuro, then back to the puppy before her shoulders sagged.
"Fine…" Junko drawled, as in the blink of an eye, an orange-ish yellow spiralling flame burst from her hand with the puppy within her grasp. The puppy howled, but Junko ignored it, just like she had ignored its pained whimpers and its ear-grating whines. After a minute of continuously burning the puppy, which had now stopped howling and had gone dead silent, Junko dropped it to the ground.
When it fell, instead of being a pile of ash, the puppy was covered in burns, and its eyes now had a haunting, sinister glow to them, almost like a yellow flame pouring out of its eyes. It struggled to stand, pacing forward, before falling down, and getting back up again. Drool and foam fell from its mouth as it howled. But, unlike a regular dog howl, it sounded… distorted.
Junko smiled, as streaks of yellow liquid fell down her cheeks from her eyes. A side effect of using Frenzy Flame. She remembered first coming across this power. When she was young, and alone. When Mukuro joined Fenrir, abandoning her.
Oh, all the things she had to do to survive. It was… well, it was a list. So much adultery and far too much debauchery. Both her sister and her mother's "parents" left them at a young age, not wanting anything to do with them—an accidental birth created from incest, or so she was told by those who knew of her family.
It set her up for failure, and it was probably what gave her the myriad of undiagnosed mental illnesses she had including but not limited to: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and narcolepsy.
There were probably more, but those were the ones she was able to figure out on her own. She was a real basket case, and she refused to medicate any of it! After all, why suppress her crazy self when she could be who she wanted to be—free of restriction and division because of some stuck-up old man who told her to?
That was boring.
A lot of things were boring, actually.
Far too many things were boring. The world was boring. Society was boring.
That… and it was horrible. Life was horrible. Society was horrible. It was wrong, and she hated it. She hated how people suffered, but equally loved their suffering. She hated how people starved every day, but equally loved their despair.
She was a real twisted individual. This was ironic, given how when she was taken in by a cult called The Cure, who wished to fix the world and right the wrongs of the elite. At least, that was what she gathered from the beginning. Later, she found out the truth, and when she did, she instantly found herself skyrocketing to becoming its leader after deposing the old guy, killing him in his sleep and taking it over by charm and wit alone!
It also didn't help that she was naturally mad. Not in the "grrr I'm angry!" kind of mad but the "I can smell shapes and see sounds" kind of mad. Mad to the point where she could see everything and nothing all at once. A quality not even the old leader had.
She was praised for her actions rather than admonished, and because of that, she was granted an audience with their Cult's true leader. Once again, something that the old leader never once had due to "not being worthy" or somesuch.
For a little bit of context, the Cult was located in an old, abandoned tunnel network that existed since the Second World War, and culminated underneath Hopes Peak Academy, though The Audience Chamber predated Hopes Peak by a whole millennium, as did the cult.
She remembered when she first arrived at the audience chamber. How the door was burned and looked like rubble cobbled together haphazardly. How it gave off the lingering feeling of infinite madness and fire. It beckoned her, but not before those who had escorted her told her to divest herself of her possessions, including all forms of clothing.
Of course, she did so without hesitation. Besides, it wasn't as if she would've gone against whatever putrid ritual there was going to do for some kind of initiation. The more despair she felt, the stronger she believed herself to be. She'd gladly do whatever it took to become the leader of this Cult.
The more followers she had, the easier it would be to plunge the world into despair. The easier it would be to make the world succumb to her will, and so that chaos could take over the world. Just as it should've been.
So, when she thrust wide the doors to the Audience Chamber, she had expected to see an old man—or a young man, it didn't matter.
What she saw was something else entirely.
Something… alien. Something disturbing yet awe-worthy. Something…. Absolutely maddening.
It was a massive hand. A massive hand with three fingers. She remembered it towering over her, its fingers wriggling as if to inspect her for something—a quality that it seemingly found. She figured that had been the case when It glowed a deep, foreboding yellowish orange, and it frantically clawed at the ground in some kind of greeting. Strangely enough, she understood it. It told her to step closer. To be embraced by it. To accept its gift.
She didn't hesitate. She took that step forward, and it eagerly embraced her. She felt its large, gnarly, gangly fingers wrap around her body. She felt the searing pain that it imbued in her. She felt her skin burn, she felt knowledge of the past and the present and what The Three Fingers planned for the future of the world.
She felt it all in the instant that she was embraced.
She felt its warmth.
She felt the line of drool cascade down the side of her mouth.
She felt intense pleasure in that moment. Moreso than any she had ever felt before.
She felt every kind of emotion imaginable—pain, ecstasy, joy, sadness, anger, love, envy, dread, hope, despair. She felt everything, and in that moment, she screamed out in an array of emotions. By the time it was all said and done, the Three Fingers disappeared, and her eyes had changed. White sclera changed to black and blue irises were replaced by an eerie yellow glow.
The Cult hadn't expected it.
Junko hadn't expected it.
The Three Fingers chose her, out of everyone, to become its vassal. Now, she could commune with The Outer God of Frenzy all by herself, and figure out what it was it wanted.
And it wanted something alright.
It gave her one mission. A mission she had been going after already, but this one was far more widespread than she had once thought.
She was to plunge the world into Chaos. To burn away everything that divided and distinguished. To amass an army of individuals who would see the world come to an end. Then, once it was all said and done, burn the world down. Destroy everything. Melt it all away in the Yellow Chaos flame.
When she relayed that information to the rest of the cult, they hailed her as a leader and began to prepare for her plan. For how long it may take, Junko didn't know. But what she did know was that there had been a group of people who would do well to bow down to her.
A group that took her sister away from her.
It didn't take Junko long to find and relocate her beloved sister, who had been thoroughly brainwashed into being a full-fledged member of Fenrir.
It didn't take long for her to beat some sense into Mukuro. She was so confused when she realized that she wasn't as untouchable as she thought—though, she supposed becoming a demigod didn't exactly make her mortal, now did it?
Either way, that didn't matter. What mattered was that after knocking Mukuro around for a little bit, she rekindled her relationship with her and gave her the gift of the Frenzied Flame.
Then, she found the rest of Fenrir, bent them over her knee and turned them into her personal army. All it took was a little bit of Frenzy and they were head over heels for her and her sister. They would do anything—even take their own lives if it would suit their needs.
This whole "becoming a Lord" thing was pretty easy, all things considered.
Who knew that being clasped by an Outer God, or at least the messenger for said Outer God, would give her immense power to bend people to their knees? The power of the Frenzied Flame had changed everything.
Never once in her life had she imagined that things would be this easy.
It was almost… boring.
No. It wasn't almost boring. It just was. There was no struggle. No pushback. No fight against good versus evil.
So far, it had been a fucking cakewalk.
Junko hated boring things. She hated things being easy. Even her lifelong goal. It shouldn't be easy, it should be a challenge!
So, the world then presented her with one.
Hopes Peak Academy.
That was her next goal, seeing as it was essentially the birthplace of the Three Fingers. From what The Outer God of Frenzy told her, it was the founder, Izuru Kamakura, who summoned The Three Fingers for their power and knowledge, before banishing them deep, deep underground, and building his school over top of them.
He had become a Lord of Frenzied Flame but took his own life when he realized what it was it wanted him to do. He took his life before the Flame Of Frenzy would take root in his soul.
He wasted its gift.
For that, Hopes Peak would be the first place to fall.
She had always wanted to drive the world into Despair. So, to make her first take Hopes Peak Academy—the place that churned out more Hope than a factory made for it—was almost ironic in a cosmic sense. Which, it probably was, all things considered. But hey! That just made things even better for Junko.
She was going to do it anyway, i.e. invade Hopes Peak Academy. That was always on the docket. But now she had the power to do it—not that she didn't before, but it would be considerably easier to get away with what she wanted to do.
Originally, she planned to go to Hope's Peak Academy and use her womanly charms and her ability to analyze people to manipulate others and force them to work for her through brainwashing the most divisive class in Hope's Peak history—Class 77.
She had this whole elaborate, extensive plan that would span out months and months. Preparations and complex stuff. It was a real Heffer of a plan! Really big, really long, really fun.
Now? She could waltz in and use the Flame Of Frenzy to do it. No need for some complex, multifaceted plan when all she had to do was stare at people really hard with her eyes uncovered by the contacts.
As the Lord of Frenzied Flame, she could just inflict them with Madness and they'd have no choice but to listen to her. The only issue is that she needed to become a student first, and she needed to get them all in one room, alone, with her, which was way easier said than done.
So, in a way, she still needed to get close to them before she could fully kick-off that plan. Not to mention, she had a feeling that one of the students who Mukuro had been stalking—some girl named Chiaki Nanami—would put a massive dent in her plan. She was a real protective bitch that one. One that would probably get in the way more than anything.
Ergo said bitch needed to die.
Or, the funnier option, corrupted.
Either or, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that she needed to either get in line or get wasted.
Not to mention that, even with her new powers, getting passed the security was going to be a lot trickier than she had first thought. Even if, at the moment, everything was lax, that didn't mean that there wasn't backup security. There was also the chance that the military could get involved. Even if, as of right now, she was probably the strongest living being on the planet that didn't stop the military from outnumbering her and using whatever tech they've cooked up to subdue her.
She also needed to go there to find Monoca Towa. The girl who would be vital for bringing the world down to its knees. She had an idea in mind, but it would only work with Monoca went along with the deal.
She had this neat little idea for a cute little mascot. A mascot that would be put inside every home, and from there, would be instrumental in making sure chaos and despair were spread across the world. Towa City would be the testing ground for the operation, but of course, that could only happen if she could find Monoca Towa.
Granted, Monoca was at Hopes Peak Elementary School. All Junko needed to do was go there once she was a student in The Main Course and BOOM! She would be closer to getting to Monoca, and from there, all she needed to do was convert her to becoming something like a disciple should everything go to shit, and then everything would work out in the end.
So, she guessed, there was still some need for a complex, wide-spanning plan that would inevitably take months to complete. Things just worked around and fixed themselves, she supposed.
Though, again, it was going to be easier.
After all, she was a demigod.
A demigod. She wasn't human anymore. She was a demigod. A being so powerful that it was only spoken about in religions and myths.
She was a motherfucking demigod.
To think, it all happened based on a whim and an accident. Or, maybe it was fate. The Outer God of Frenzy didn't know nor care, so neither should she.
Although speaking of things that she needed to care about, much to her chagrin, Junko looked over her shoulder and spoke.
"Yo, Muki, do me a favour and check in on that old guy. I forgot his name or whatever, but ask him if we know when the next class of Hopes Peak is going to show up. We didn't pay him to get all buddy with the school for gits and shiggles," Junko said, wiping at her eyes as a trail of orange goo continued to spill from them.
She hated having to wear these contacts. They messed with her powers. But, the Outer God of Frenzy had made it clear to her that she needed to act with caution. Some people knew of it and were its enemies. Furthermore, they would seek to destroy her should they find her, and so for that, she needed to remain at least somewhat normal and hide her powers.
"Oh well. No biggie! Once the world is turned to Chaos, then I can finally be rid of these awful things~!" Junko thought as she looked down at the now rabid, burned, and marred puppy. It was slamming its head into the ground. Junko couldn't help but chuckle, before stomping down on the mutts head, crushing it underfoot. Its head exploded in an array of viscera, skull fragments, and brain matter.
Junko sneered.
She hated dogs. One less in the world was for the best.
Turning to look over her shoulder, she smiled. Mukuro was already gone, presumably to do as she wished. With that enhanced power of hers granted to her by whatever pact she made with whatever deity would help their cause.
And should that fail…
Well, she could always make things a little bit more interesting, to say the least. Being The Lord of Frenzied Flame, even in an incomplete state as she was, gave her quite a bit of power over others who were under her control; be they knew it or not.
Junko slipped a hand over her mouth, snickering to herself at the prospect. Oh, this was perfect. Everything was going to work out just fine. She knew it would—after all, there was no one who could rival her.
Sure, there were a few people who she was concerned with, but they would all fall. Fall to her sister. Then, when all of her competition is swept under the rug and done away with, the world would fall.
So as The Three Fingers willed it.
[XXXX]
Jolyne was pissed. More than that, she was furious. She'd say it was hard to get her angry, but that wasn't true. She was liable to get mad at someone for even the smallest slight to her or her friends. But this? This took the cake.
Natsumi Kuzuryu was shaping up to be a real pain in her ass, and it was something that needed to be dealt with, and dealt with now.
Threatening her was fine. After all, she was the type of person to get into trouble and come out just fine. She also had this funny little thing called Regeneration due to her being a System User. She could take a beating and dish one out.
But threatening Hajime to get at her was a new low.
"If you don't meet me in the gym, I'll get a couple of people from the clan to rough up that boyfriend of yours. You wouldn't want that, would you?"
Those were the words that Natsumi said to Jolyne.
Those would be the last words that Natsumi would speak to Jolyne. Consequences be damned, Natsumi was going to understand that there were just some people you didn't fuck with. Her name and prestige meant nothing to Jolyne, and if it drew her into conflict with the Kuzuryu Clan, then so be it.
When she looked over at Hajime in the classroom, she was pretty sure she accidentally glared at him. That… was going to be something that she was going to have to apologize for, but that would be after she dealt with that harpy. She didn't want Hajime to think that she was mad at him. She was mad for him, not at him.
"Trying to drag him into this….motherfucker…!" Jolyne thought, rage washing over her mind as she continued forward down the hallway, eyes narrowed as she walked.
As she made her way to the gym where Natsumi "requested" her to meet up with her, she noticed that the other people in the hallway steered clear of her. Her reputation as the person who beat the snot out of the Yakuza Princess had finally started sinking in.
Good. It meant that there would be fewer people she'd have to deal with should someone try and start something. Something that Natsumi seemed to like to do.
She didn't understand it. What did she do to Natsumi before all of this that made her want to pick a fight with her? Having previously beaten her up made sense. That she understood. But to go out of her way to threaten Hajime—a third party who had nothing to do with this—didn't sit right with her.
It was as if she was being erratic. As if something happened that made her lose all sense of reason and control. There had to have been something else going on here, but what it was, she didn't know.
Something was bugging her, though. Supposedly, her brother spoke to her about something. What that something was clearly had some sort of effect on her. What that effect was, she didn't know. But whatever it was, It made her think that targeting her was the smart choice.
Which, again, was something that made no sense to Jolyne. If the first time targeting her didn't work, why on earth would the second time have a different effect? Unless she had something up her sleeve this time.
But what? What could she have that could turn the tides against her in a fight—because it had become obvious that this was what Natsumi wanted. She wanted a rematch of some sort, but the reason as to why was illuding Jolyne.
"Well, whatever the case is, I'm going to straighten this dumb whore out one way or another, and if it means killing her, then so be it…" Jolyne thought, her eyes narrowing as she made it to the gym, thrusting the doors wide open, and staring down Natsumi as the doors swung closed behind her on their own.
Natsumi had a dumb, stupid grin on her face. As if she was happy with herself. However, there was something else that Jolyne noticed upon looking at Natsumi's vapid, easily punchable face.
Her eyes. It was easy to miss, but if one squinted or stared long enough, one could make out a faint yellowish-orange glow behind the back of her pupils. As if she was in some kind of trance. Not to mention she looked a little… crazed. Was that the right word?
"Doesn't matter. I'll figure this out later," Jolyne thought as she spoke. "I'm here, you nappy-headed hoebag. What the fuck do you want?" Jolyne growled, glaring at Natsumi who tilted her head with a frown, her eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms.
"What else do you think I want, cunt? You ruined my reputation, made me look like an idiot in front of my brother, and almost got me exiled from my clan. The fuck else do you think I want," Natsumi spat, indignation and anger in her tone of voice as Jolyne blinked, taken aback.
Was this seriously what this was about? Her reputation. Did she seriously threaten Hajime to get to her all because of her fucking reputation? Jolyne felt her hand unconsciously clench into a fist, her lips curling back into a snarl as her pupils dilated like a predator glaring down its prey.
"I beg your fucking pardon?" Jolyne hissed through clenched teeth. "I ruined your reputation? I embarrassed you in front of your brother? I almost made you lose your spot in your clan?" Jolyne spat, taking a step for each time she rattled off the lame excuses that Natsumi had thrown at her, her blood boiling more and more with each of them that she rattled out.
"I didn't ruin shit! You ruined it all for yourself. It's not my fault you're an idiot who doesn't know when to stop there ahead," Jolyne continued, glaring daggers at Natsumi, who looked more than a little shaken.
She could see Natsumi starting to lose that bravado she had with each passing step that she took, and she even faltered for a second before speaking up. "The fuck do you mean?! Of fucking course it's your fault! You fucked up the moment you showed up here! You came here, came to my city, thinking that you could just be accepted for being who you are. Fuck that! This is Japan, you bitch. You should've never come here! If you hadn't, then things would've been a hell of a lot better."
Jolyne stopped walking, and only stared, glaring at Natsumi as she continued. "Of course, I had to put you in your place. I had to make sure you understood that you were lesser. So why the fuck didn't you just take the fucking hint?! How the fuck was I supposed to know you'd attempt to kill yourself?!" As Natsumi said that, a rye little chuckle escaped her lips as she shook her head, the faint orange-ish yellow-ish glow expanding ever-so-slightly.
"But fuck if that wouldn't have made my life easier if you had just died! Then it would've been my word against Hajime's, and my reputation wouldn't have been stained like it is now. All because of you, I'm known as a suicide baiter! Not the Yakuza Princess that I should be! I shouldn't be known as someone who baited someone to commit suicide! All of my friends abandoned me because of that! You should've just died! You ruined me!"
As Natsumi continued her rant, Jolyne stood there, frozen from shock as it took up her features. There was no way that was the actual reason for Natsumi's incessant hatred aimed toward her, right? That "she" didn't die when "she" committed suicide, right?
Technically, "she" had died. The old Jolyne was gone. Lost to time. "She" died, and Jolyne simply took the old Jolyne's place. They were two very different people, but same in other ways as she had come to notice.
But even still, the fact that was the reason why Natsumi hated her left her shocked and appalled.
She was so shocked that she didn't notice the gun that Natsumi pulled out from underneath her arm. It was a standard handgun, probably one of the many that were smuggled from outside of the country by the Kuzuryu Clan. It was only when she heard the safety get taken off of the gun that Jolyne realized what Natsumi was going to do. Or, at the very least, threatening to do.
"You should've just fucking died, Brooks. So now, I'm going to correct that mistake. My father basically owns this school, so he can just wipe everything away if this ever came to a police decision. My brother might not like it, but I'm the favourite of the two of us. Dad always has, and always will favour me over him. I can do whatever the fuck I want, and killing you? Yeah, I want that more than anything."
Just before Natsumi pulled the trigger, the doors to the gym swung open, and when they did, Hajime stood there, his mouth opening to say something. Everything seemed to slow down at that moment as Hajime's eyes widened.
He saw the gun.
He saw Natsumi.
He saw Jolyne.
He saw the gun aimed at Jolyne.
"What the—"
Before Hajime could say anything, Natsumi fired the gun, and before Jolyne could do anything, the bullet shot through her head. Blood splattered out the back of her head as it painted the floor and sprayed over Hajime's shirt.
Jolyne fell to the ground with a lifeless thud. Hajime went pale as a ghost, eyes wide and pupils shrunk, Natsumi was shocked that Hajime had shown up, and Jolyne was on the ground, surrounded by a pool of her own blood. The entry wound of the bullet had trails of thick, viscous red liquid trailing down the bridge of her nose as her eyes were stuck open wide.
Hajime scrambled over to Jolyne checking for a pulse. Several things ran through his mind as his breathing became erratic. "No… no, no, no, no, no, no!" Hajime mumbled, his eyes frantically searching for where to touch to find a pulse. He knew next to nothing about medical stuff, only having second-hand knowledge from Tsumiki-san.
Tears began to rain down from his eyes as they hit Jolyne's body. "No! I can't lose you again! I can't lose you!" Hajime whispered, his body shaking. "I love you… Please… Don't leave me again…"
Silence.
A dreadful, eerie, painful silence took over the room.
Hajime's heart dropped into his stomach.
He should've known.
He should've done something, anything.
It was his fault. He should've been the one to deal with Natsumi, not front that to Jolyne. How could've he known that this would've been the result? He closed his eyes, slumping over as Natsumi just stared.
She hadn't planned for someone to walk in on this. She had planned to kill Brooks and then shove her body in a locker somewhere for her to dispose of later. But now that Hajime was here… "Well, I can't have anyone witness this, so…" Natsumi thought, raising the gun to level at Hajime. "No witnesses."
Just before she pulled the trigger for a second time, something… uncanny happened. Something out of left field that neither Natsumi nor Hajime expected.
Jolyne began to sit up.
Hajime stumbled back, and Natsumi took a step backward. As Jolyne came to her feet, the bullet wound in her head began to fill in with fresh, clean skin and muscle, stitching back together as if it hadn't even been damaged. The blood on her face and hair disappeared entirely, and an annoyed expression took up her visage.
"Gotta say, that's a strange way to weasel out a love confession from someone, but hey, I'll take it…" Jolyne muttered, cracking her neck from side to side, before turning her attention to Natsumi, who stared at her as if she had seen a ghost. "You know how annoying that was? 'Cause I'll tell you, it was really fucking annoying."
"What the fuck…" Natsumi gaped, eyes wide and mouth hung open. "You… I… what the fuck?!"
"Oh? What's so shocking? The fact that you didn't kill me? Is it because I'm standing that you're shocked? I bet you are! Because let me tell you—" Just as Jolyne said that, she suddenly disappeared from where she had been standing and was now mere inches away from where Natsumi was, arm cocked back in a punch aimed at her stomach.
Before Natsumi could react, Jolyne drove her fist into Natsumi's stomach, but it didn't stop after making contact. It continued through her, with Jolyne's fist and arm punching through Natsumi like a hole puncher through paper. Blood spewed out of Natsumi's mouth as she gagged, falling forward on Jolyne's shoulder.
Jolyne leaned in toward Natsumi's ear and spoke. "That fucking hurt," Jolyne bit out as Natsumi's eyes dilated, and became milky and foggy, indicating that she was dead. Jolyne threw Natsumi's body to the floor, glaring down at it as blood stained the floor. She looked over her shoulder to Hajime, who was staring at her with wide, shocked eyes.
"J-Jolyne… You're… you… wha—"
"I'll explain later, but you can't say a word of this to anybody, got it?" Jolyne interrupted as Hajime slowly began to stand up, staring at Jolyne the entire time.
"You… you just killed her…" Hajime muttered as Jolyne shrugged.
"Yeah, and if I wasn't what I am, she would've killed me. Is that a problem?" Jolyne asked as Hajime shook his head. "Good. Now, we should probably—" Before Jolyne could continue, the wall behind Jolyne burst open as several with a loud bang, sending her flying forward and tumbling to the ground. Several large armoured vehicles burst through the opening made by whatever had blown up the wall, and as Jolyne got up and turned to face the vehicles, she noticed something.
Or rather, someone.
The "someone" in question was a small, red-haired teenager who looked more in line as a pre-pubescent child. She was dressed in an undone white straitjacket, matching pants and black shoes. Standing next to her was a large wooden staff that seemed to have been carved out of a large, thick branch. Her eyes were a dull grey, and she looked perpetually bored.
"Hmm…" the girl hummed, looking down at the floor and seeing Natsumi's corpse, frowning. "Drat. There goes part A of the plan, which was to capture her. Seems like someone beat us to the punch…" the girl muttered, her voice dull and lifeless. She turned her attention to Jolyne and Hajime, both of whom were taken aback by the girl's sudden appearance.
"Well, Koko did say to capture anyone on sight. So, I guess that means I have to capture you. Should be easy," as the girl said that, the side doors to the armoured vehicles opened as armed men dressed similarly to the girl stepped out, though their faces were covered by clown masks of varying shapes and sizes. "Capture them!" The girl demanded, pointing in their direction.
"Shit!" Jolyne thought as a quest appeared before her eyes.
[Story Quest: Rolling the DICE]
[Description: DICE has attacked. They are aligned, even if only slightly, with it. Kill them, and show them no mercy. Their deeds will go unpunished no longer.]
[Objective: Eliminate DICE]
[Progress: 0/150 DICE members killed]
[Progress: 0/2 DICE leaders killed]
[Rewards: +2 levels, 10,000 Yen, 2 Gacha Tokens (Epic)]
"It?" Jolyne thought, frowning. "Doesn't matter," Jolyne narrowed her eyes, outstretched her right arm, and brought forth her sword. The action caught the girl's attention, her eyes widening. Jolyne noticed it, but paid it no mind, before looking back at Hajime, who was still shell-shocked by what had just happened.
"Hajime! Run! Get out of here!" Jolyne called out, which seemed to snap Hajime out of his trance. He didn't say anything, he just booked it. God, she was going to have so much to explain once this was all said and done, and that conversation wasn't going to be an easy one. She wasn't going to tell him everything, just what she needed to.
But for right now, she needed to deal with whoever or whatever DICE was.
And just as the quest instructed her to, she'd show them no mercy.
[-To Be Continued-]
[Outro Song: Outsider – By: Eve]
So, like I said, that was a really short chapter, wasn't it? Like, really short. Don't worry, in return, the next chapter will come out sooner rather than later. Although, that being said, what a chapter, hey? Can't wait to see those reactions.
Also, before the obvious, before I forget DISCORD SERVER LINK: Pva9PNxAzh Go there if you want to get information on when new chapters come out and hang out with other like-minded individuals who enjoy this story! Also OC submissions for later parts of the series.
Anyway, now onto some reviews/comments!
[My Response to reviews/comments!]
(FF) AidenJacksonSmithDSBB: Yes and no. They're part of a secret organization (The Dark Triad) so if anything whatever their effect is is minimal at best. But! You'll see that effect in later parts of the story and the DR world as a whole.
(FF) Reader 451: Ey! Haven't seen you around here in a while. Also yeah, totally, zero misunderstandings! None at all! Hehehe…
(Qoutev) Sunky Addict: Well, I guess you probably didn't see this coming, now did you? Chinatsu is finally here but she doesn't make an appearance in this chapter, though she'll make plenty of appearances after this arc is finished for very obvious reasons. The Dark Triad is a system thing, and yes, Chinatsu is a walking JJK reference.
(Ao3) fluffycuddlebug: I spelt it right this time, ah-ha! Also yeah, Chinatsu not looking like a toddler (an over-exaggeration but pretty much) was another thing I really hated about the original. Again, I don't know what I was thinking when back then with her, but whatever. Also, she's a Lesbian here, so that may or may not come into play at some point. And yeah, she's also kinda dumb, but that's the point. She's more focused on getting revenge and making sure Kokichi doesn't do something stupid. Which, well, a little bit too late for that.
(Ao3) Kolt: Just gonna say this here, just as it was said in this chapter, but the old Jolyne is gone. She won't be coming back. What happened in the last chapter was a memory from the old Jolyne's life. As for the whole Komaeda thing, he started hating the Reserve Course Students in the second half of the DR3 Anime: Despair side, and this takes place during that period. Once we get past this arc, we'll get to see more of Class 77, and in turn Nagito, in the second arc.
That's all I'm gonna say because, again, if I say anything more, I'll spoil stuff, and I don't wanna do that. Have a great day, Kolt!
(Ao3) WilburDrake: I really didn't want to give Takimura any more screen time. I hated writing him so off-screening him was the only option for him. Besides, I outlined how he died and I needed to expand on what happened in the time skip so, yeah. Also, why, when Jolyne and Chinatsu come to blows, it will not be fair. OG Jolyne would've been dog walking her because of how I wrote her, but this time? This version of Jolyne is less infallible and much weaker here than she was in the original.
Anyway, that's all I'm gonna say for the same reasons as with Kolt's review. Have a great day, Wilbur!
And that's that! See you all in the next one! Peace out!