After a short walk, the small group of TK, Sakura, Junko, Sayaka, Kirigiri, Mondo, Taka, and Hifumi found a door labeled Gym. When they walked through that door they noticed they entered a trophy room. There were shelves and cases full of the school's previous achievements and a door that most likely led to the actual gymnasium.

"God, I had no idea this Hope's Peak Academy place was gonna be such a pain in my balls," Mondo groaned. "It really ain't that much different from the time I spent in juvie. Hell, this place is even worse!"

"And why isn't there anyone here? Walking through the halls, I didn't see a single person…" Sayaka mentioned. After thinking about it, TK didn't remember seeing a single person near the school when he first arrived.

"Now that they mentioned it, I haven't seen any sign of there being any teachers, students, or faculty members," Joe pointed out.

"What do you think happened to them?" Mimi asked

"I don't know, but hopefully it wasn't bad," Cody answered.

"Isn't that like, seriously not good?" Junko asked, blue in the face.

"Th-They're just trying to spook us! They'll take those metal plates down later, I'm sure of it…" TK didn't know if Taka was trying to reason their situation to the group or to himself. All he knew was that Taka was looking pale and was sweating a little.

"All we can do now is hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Nothing ventured, nothing gained," Sakura said stoically.

"Well hell, it ain't like I'm scared or nothin'. Let's just get this over with!" Mondo marched right through the Gym doors. "Hey! Where's whoever called us here!?"

"Mondo, stop! No running!" Taka chased after the biker gang leader.

"He needs to stop worrying so much about the school rules and start worrying about being trapped in a school," Davis said.

"Maybe he thinks this is the normal precaution that Hope's Peak does for its incoming class," Ken theorized.

"Well, let's hope he stops soon. It's starting to get annoying," Yolie grumbled.

"I too shall go," Sakura said calmly as she walked into the gym.

"H-Hey, wait! Don't leave me here all alone!" Hifumi shrieked as he ran after the muscular woman.

TK was left alone in the room with three girls. Kirigiri was silent and seemed to be the only one to remain calm in their situation, while Junk mumbled about having a bad vibe about what's happening, and Sayaka was confused as to where the other students are.

Seeing that he didn't have any other options, TK took a deep breath and walked into the gym.

Everyone was on the edge of their seat anticipating what nightmare awaited them.

He saw everyone standing before a stage with the Hope's Peak Academy logo hanging over it. Chairs were set up in front of the stage, though it appeared that no one wanted to sit down. It looked like a normal entrance ceremony that any normal school would have.

"Oh, it's actually normal," Sora said in disbelief.

"Yeah, I was fully expecting some type of torture dungeon or something," Tai said in agreement.

"See? Told ya! It's totally normal entrance ceremony stuff," Yasuhiro said when he noticed everyone arrived.

'Hiro's right. This looks like the setup of my old high school's entrance ceremony before I was accepted into Hope's Peak,' TK thought to himself.

"Hey there, howdy, hello! Is everyone here? Good! Then let's get things rolling!" Everyone jumped. It was the same voice as the one from the speakers. Everyone quickly turned their attention towards the stage, where the voice came from.

A few seconds passed by as the tension in the room started to build up, as they waited for something to happen.

Then, all of a sudden, a small black and white bear popped up behind the podium and landed on it. Its entire right side was white, while its left side was black. It also had a white belly and a black beady eye on its right, while on its left side had a red slash for an eye and a devilish grin.

Everyone was confused by what they were looking at.

"Hey, Izzy, is that a Digimon?" Matt asked the computer genius.

"None that I'm familiar with," Izzy answered. "It could just be a remote-controlled stuffed animal."

"So, you're saying that TK and the other students were trapped by a teddy bear?" Yolie queried, causing Davis to snicker.

"It wouldn't be the first time that happened," TK admitted.

"Right, I forgot about Monzaemon!" Tai exclaimed. "But he was a Digimon and this is a child's toy."

"Huh? A… teddy bear?" Chihiro was the first one to find their words from what they were seeing.

"I'm not a teddy bear!" it said, taking offense to the programmer's comment. "I… am… Monokuma! And I am this school's headmaster!"

The students were quiet, not really believing what Monokuma told them.

Everyone laughed when Monkuma said he was the headmaster.

"I'm starting to believe that this really is a prank," Matt said after he calmed down.

'It's sad that this isn't the strangest thing I've ever seen. Maybe not even in the top 10,' TK thought to himself as he remembered his adventures as a kid and his best friend's mom's cooking. 'I don't even know how she comes up with half the stuff she makes?'

"I don't know what's sadder, the fact that he considers our mom's cooking to be one of the weirdest things he's ever seen or the fact that I agree with him," Tai said with his hands on his face.

"Don't worry, we all think your mom's cooking is weird," Matt admitted with everyone, but Izzy nodded their heads.

"There is a reason why we don't hang out at your house when your mom is home, Tai," Sora comforted the first leader.

"I don't know, it's not that bad," Izzy spoke up and everyone gave him a look of disgust.

"Izzy, you're braver than me if you think that," Tai told him.

"You can have my leftovers if you want," Kari added.

"Nice to meet you all!" Monokuma greeted them. Monokuma's bright voice and carefree attitude scared some of the students.

"Wh-? Waaaaaah! That teddy bear can talk!" Hifumi exclaimed the obvious.

"Calm down! I'm sure there's just a speaker inside it," Taka said, not fully believing that a teddy bear could talk without a speaker.

"I told you already, I'm not a teddy bear…" Monokuma was getting more and more irritated that everyone was calling him a teddy bear. "I'm Monokuma! And I'm your headmaster!"

"Waaaaah! It moved!" Hifumi screamed from the slight movement Monokuma made.

"Does he have to be so loud every time he opens his mouth?" Mimi whined as she covered her ears. "I think my ears might be bleeding."

"Seriously man, calm down! It's prolly just a remote control toy or somethin'," Mondo said, getting slightly annoyed by the overweight fanfic creator's constant shrieking.

"How dare you compare me to a child's plaything! You've cut me deep. Deeper than the Mariana Trench…" Monokuma placed his hands over where his heart should be as he appeared hurt by Mondo's comment. Then Monokuma appeared fine as if he didn't care for what the biker said.

"My remote control system is so complex, even the folks at NASA can't recreate or comprehend it!" the bear bragged. "Ah, but don't make me say stuff that might destroy NASA's dreams. I just couldn't BEAR that."

Some groaned at the pun.

"Oh, don't tell me he'll be making bear puns every time he's on screen!" Yolie groaned.

"Yeah, that would just be unBEARable," Davis joked before he suddenly vanished from the room.

"Thank you, disembodied voice," Yolie said to the sky.

"It was more for his safety, (Plus I couldn't send you back to the time-out room in back-to-back chapters)."

"I don't care, as long as I don't have to listen to him making puns," Yolie relaxed into her seat.

"'Bear' that? Really? You are… unfortunate," Celeste said.

"Now then, moving on! We really must hurry and get started…" Monokuma brushed off Celeste's comment and moved on to a different topic.

"Giving up already? No other stupid bear puns?" Junko asked.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Yolie whined.

"Quiet down now, quiet down. Ah, okay, so…!" Monokuma hushed the students, even though no one was talking, and tried to move on to a different topic.

"He has abandoned the gag…" Sakura said though it appeared that Monkuma didn't hear her, or he chose to ignore her.

"Don't tempt him!" Yolie growled.

"Yolie, you need to calm down," Kari told her DNA partner. "You don't want to be sent to where Davis is and have him bombard you with puns."

"You're right!" Yolie quickly said before taking a couple of deep breaths. "Thank you."

"Everyone, stand at attention and bow! And… good morning!" Only Taka listened to the bear's request as he was the only one to bow.

"Good morning!"

"Y-You don't have to s-say it back…" Toko mumbled to herself.

"Now then, let us commence with a most noteworthy and memorable entrance ceremony!" Monokuma stood proudly on the podium. "First, let's talk a bit about what your school life here will be like."

A few students perked up, while a few still thought they were being pranked by the faculty. TK didn't believe a teddy bear will be their headmaster but if this is how Hope's Peak Academy handles their entrance ceremonies, then he'll be willing to listen to the bear.

"Don't listen to the bear! Why are you believing what it's telling you in the first place!?" Matt exclaimed.

"They might believe this is a prank. Wouldn't you?" Sora countered.

"Yeah, I would have a hard time taking anything seriously after seeing that," TK said while pointing at Monokuma.

"Now, ah, make no mistake- you few students, so full of potential, represent the hope of the world. And to protect such hope, you will all live a communal life together solely within the confines of this school. Everyone will live in harmony together, and adhere to the rules and regulations of the school," Monokuma said.

'I remember reading that on the form they sent out. They asked us to send them some of our belongings that we wanted to have during our time here, so they could store them in our rooms and have them ready for when we arrive,' TK scratched his head as he mulled over what Monokuma said.

"Alright, nothing out of the ordinary. Outside of the talking bear, plated windows, turrets, lack of teachers and students…" Ken then realized that the whole situation was completely strange. "So it's not entirely normal, but there being school rules and the school having dorms isn't too strange."

"Ah, now then… regarding the end date for this communal life… There isn't one! In other words, you'll all be here until the day you die! Such is the school life you've been assigned," Monokuma revealed. Some of the students believed him, while others thought this was part of the prank.

"I'm sorry… WHAT!?" Mimi exclaimed. "Until they die!?

"Th-This has got to be a j-joke," Joe stammered.

"It has to be. There is no way that he's serious," TK said to calm the two down.

"Wh-What did he just say? Until the day we d-die…?" Toko was shaking a lot and TK thought she was going to pass out from all the stress she's under.

"Oh, but fear not! We have quite an abundant budget, so you won't lack for all the common conveniences," Monokuma said, acting like that was the cause of their concern.

"They're not worried about that you idiot!" Matt screamed at the screen.

"Yeah, but if they're gonna be trapped for a while it's good to know that they won't starve is a good thing," Sora said, trying to find a silver lining in the whole situation.

"That's the least of our worries right now!" Sayaka exclaimed, and some of the students agreed with her.

"Yeah, what the hell? You're saying I have to live here forever? You're screwing with us, right?" Junko asked. She didn't fully believe what the bear told her, but a part of her started to believe that this wasn't a prank.

"I am not screwing with you! I am no liar, of that you can be 100% sure," Monokuma started to get defensive, acting like they were targeting his character. "Ah, and just for your information… you're completely cut off from the outside world. So you don't have to worry about that dirty dirty land beyond these walls ever again!"

"Cut off…? So all the metal plates all over the school are there to keep us trapped in here?" TK started to believe that this wasn't a prank. With his phone, Digivice, and D-Terminal being missing, the windows and doors sealed up, and this bear telling him that they have no connection to the outside world made him worry that they're actually trapped inside the school. He still had hope that this whole thing was a prank, but it was dwindling fast.

"Don't worry, TK, if this does happen we'll break you and the others out," Tai promised the young blond.

"Thanks, Tai, but I would rather not end up trapped in the first place," TK told his first leader.

"Well, with the help of this future vision we'll make sure you never get trapped in there," Matt told his younger brother.

"That's exactly what they're there for. No matter how much you may yell and scream for help… help will not come. So with all of that in mind, feel free to live out your life here with reckless abandon!" Monokuma said, as more and more students started to believe that they're actually trapped in the school. Though some still believe that this whole thing is a joke, either by lying to themselves or just plain ignorance.

"Come on, what the hell is this? I don't care if the school or whoever else is behind it all, this is just a really bad joke," Leon said.

"Yeah! Cut this shit out! It isn't funny anymore!" Mondo was getting frustrated and appeared to be ready to harm anyone or anything.

"You keep saying this is a lie or a joke. A bunch of skeptics, all of you," Monokuma started to chuckle. "But I guess you can't help it, huh? You all grew up in an age where you're all taught to doubt your neighbor. Well, you'll have plenty of time to find out whether or not I say is true. And when that time comes, you'll see with your own eyeballs that I speak the undeniable truth."

"Having to live here would be… quite the problem," Celeste said as if it was a minor inconvenience.

"She says that like she's stuck in the back of the checkout line in the shoe store," Mimi said.

"Or when the waiter asks if you want a similar-tasting drink to the one you ordered because they don't have it," Yolie added.

"Come, now. What's the matter with all of you?" Monokuma asked, acting like he didn't tell the 15 students that they'll be trapped in a school for the rest of their lives. "You decided on your own free will to attend Hope's Peak Academy, didn't you? And now, before the entrance ceremony is even finished, you've already decided you want to leave?"

Monokuma brought his paws up to cover his devilish smile.

"I guess I did forget to mention one thing. There is one way for you to leave the school…"

"R-Really…?" Toko managed to speak up.

"As headmaster, I've crafted a special clause for those of you who would like to leave! I call it… the Graduation Clause!" The students started to feel hope that they wouldn't be trapped in a prison, disguised as a school for the rest of their lives. "Now, let me tell you about this fun little rule. As I mentioned, in order to maintain an environment of harmony here, we rely on a communal lifestyle. And if someone were to disrupt that harmony, they and they alone would be allowed to leave the school. That, my students, is the Graduation Clause!"

'Seems simple enough. What do I need to do, annoy everyone, get into a few fights?' TK thought about potential ways for him to "disrupt the harmony of the school."

"There is no way it's that simple. There has to be a catch," Matt said.

"Well, it can't be that bad," Tai optimistically said.

"What do you mean by 'disrupt the harmony,?" Byakuya asked.

Even though TK did think of a few ways to "disrupt the harmony," he didn't know what the bear actually meant by it.

"Puhuhu… Well, you know…" Monokuma gleefully laughed, causing some of the students to feel dread. "If one person were to murder another."

"WHAT!"