My eyes widened as I looked at the massive trophy case, filled with different weapons. Knives, daggers, axes, hammers, a couple baseball bats, hatchets, and even a large scythe. What was the most bizarre thing that stood out though was a strange metal spinning top, sitting beside what looked like some sort of launcher.

"What kind of weapon is that? No, more importantly, why are any of these weapons here?!" I thought, placing my hands close to my chest.

"Holy shit," Ulric said, stepping closer to examine the weapons through the case, "so this bear really is serious about wanting us to kill each other."

"So this is what that rule meant...." Kanato murmured, taking out his tablet and turning it on. I looked over at him, puzzled. "What did you say?" I said.

"I was reviewing some of the rules as we were on our way here. One of the rules mentioned this specific place." Kanato stated. Holding his teddy in one hand, he held up the tablet with the other hand for us to see. "This is apparently the Monokuma Prize Booth. All these weapons are not to be used unless you insert the correct amount of Monokuma chips." he replied.

"Monokuma chips?" Ulric said. Kanato pointed to the left side of the trophy case.

"Notice the insert machine over there." he said. Ulric and I turned to look, and no doubt there was a small red coin insert slot, with a Monokuma head on top of it. Lilac waved at me, then pointed at the inside of the case. I peered through the glass where she pointed, and took notice of the different price labels on each weapon.

"I see. If someone wanted one of these weapons, they would have to pay with those Monokuma chips to get them." I said. "Okay, but the heck are Monokuma chips? And if someone wanted these weapons, how would we get them?" Ulric asked.

"Glad you asked, bucko!" we all jumped from the voice, and looked to the left side of the room, seeing Monokuma standing nearby.

"What the- where did you come from?!" Ulric demanded.

"You see, there isn't any way to exactly earn the Monokuma chips," Monokuma explained, totally ignoring Ulric, "but rather, I'm just gonna give a whole bag of them to one of you randomly tomorrow. That simple." 

"That's it? You're just gonna hand them over? You're not gonna make us do some ridiculous thing?" Kanato asked.

"Eh, don't really wanna. I'm feeling too lazy to put something like that together. Gathering all sixteen of ya was exhausting already. Then I had to build this academy, make a whole new uni- whoop! Almost gave something away already! Oh well, guess you'll see who has those chips tomorrow. See ya!" Monokuma said. With that he disappeared through a trap door below him.

"W-What the hell was that?! I can't be the only one that felt like that was a half ass explanation!" Ulric replied. I let out a sigh.

"Unfortunately, I feel like that should be something we need to get used to." I said. Ulric let out a sigh.

"Guess so. Just annoying as hell is all." he muttered. Kanato snickered. "For once, I agree with you." he replied.

*    *    *    *

In about a couple of hours we had regrouped in the gym, as we had planned. When coming back, my group were the first to give our reports, since we had vital information that should be shared with the others.

"A whole trophy case full of them?! J-Just waiting to be taken?!" Mello said. "Not necessarily. You can only obtain them if you pay the correct amount of Monokuma chips, which Monokuma plans to give to a one of us randomly tomorrow." Kanato replied. 

"Who's to stop someone from breaking through the glass and just taking what they want? I mean I imagine any of us can do that much." Amaimon said. 

"Nuh uh, I really suggest that no one breaks any rules in this place." Junko stated. Everyone looked at her surprised. "Oh? Then enlighten us, what is to happen if someone violates the regulations of this academy?" Near asked, twirling a strand of his hair between his fingers.

"Oh its quick and simple. Anyone who steps out of line is killed then and there." Junko stated deadpanned. Everyone gasped in shock. 

"K-K-Kill us? Right there?" Rena stuttered, placing her hands close to her chest. 

"Yep. That's all there is to it." Junko replied. She didn't seem necessarily concerned with that statement however. It was strange to me how some of the others here were eerily calm about our situation. Magane, Amaimon, Near,  Kokichi, and Junko were strangely handling this well. Why were they so calm? Is that just a part of who they are?

"Anyway, shall we continue with the other reports of the building?" Near said. Rin sighed, scratching the back of his neck.

"Well Rena, Crona, Amaimon and I looked around some. There are definitely dorms for everyone here. Sixteen rooms to be exact. Nothing out of the ordinary except for the security cameras and the iron plates covering our windows." he explained. 

"We also found a stairway that seems to lead to a second floor, but it was cut off by a large iron caged shutter." Rena replied. "I would've opened it with ease, but it said in the regulations that we were not allowed to break into areas that were cut off, and Rena was insistent that I followed those rules." Amaimon explained. 

"So this building has a second floor?" Nagito, the boy with the green coat, said. 

"Why assume it only has a second floor? Nyow, its entirely possible that this place has even more floors. They are merely out of our reach." Johannes replied. Mello placed a hand on his chin, his gaze slowly looking down.

"That is true." he said. "Magane, did your group manage to find anything of importance?" Near asked. Magane smirked and opened her mouth but Kokichi spoke first.

"What? Don't wanna ask me? I was in her group, I could explain too ya know!" Kokichi whined. Zack snickered. "Yeah, and who's to say that you won't lie. You even said you were a lying bastard." he stated.

"No, I said I was a liar, not a bastard. I'm actually a pretty nice guy. But that's a lie, I can annoy people pretty easily." Kokichi replied. 

"Yeah, I'm getting a headache just hearing ya talk," Ulric stated, "Magane, please hurry up." Magane giggled, placing her hands to try and cover it up, but then she sighed. "Actually, I suppose if you want me to be honest, I'm not exactly one to tell the truth either. I do tend to slip a lie here and there~" she said. 

"You want me to talk, cause I was in there group too ya know." Junko stated. "No. I'd rather have Zack give the report. From what I understand so far, he has been the most honest and forward out of everyone here. Would you mind, Zack?" Near said, gesturing for the man to speak. Zack looked at him surprised, but nodded.

"Fine, I guess. We looked around at a lot of the empty classrooms that were in the hallways, but didn't find anyway out of here. Everything is boarded up pretty tightly. The only room that really stood out was the game room. It only had a few arcade games, a large TV, a sofa, and strangely enough, a bar in the corner of the room." he explained.

"Huh? A game room? That's odd. And you said it has a bar?" Nagito said. "Yeah, but all the drinks were non alcoholic though. It was mostly just juice." Kokichi said. "It's true, I even had that brat over there try one to make sure it wasn't poison." Zack said, gesturing to Magane. Rin looked at him surprised.

"Huh?! You used her for a guinea pig?!" he said. Zack looked over at him with an irritated expression. "What? She's fine, isn't she?" he said. Johannes rolled his eyes.

"Nyeah, nyeah, can we move on please?" he muttered. Near nodded.

"Right. Mello, Johannes, Nagito and I searched the south west section of the academy. We also found quite a few empty classrooms, but nothing contained even a clue as to how to leave. Otherwise there was nothing of use except for the warehouse." he replied. I perked up.

"Warehouse?" I said.

"Yeah, there was a large warehouse that connected to the far end of the building," Nagito said, "it had all sorts of equipment we could use. From industrial stuff to arts and crafts supplies. It was probably the size of this gym, but was rather crammed with all the boxes and shelves inside it." 

"I remember seeing a rule about that warehouse on our tablets. It said that no one is supposed to enter that part of the building from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m." Rena explained. 

"That's kinda funky. What's the point of keeping us out there during the morning?" Kokichi said. "Oh, one more thing. We did see a staircase that led to the second floor, but it was blocked off with a shutter, just like the one Rena found." Johannes added. 

"So that's all the information we could gather from this place?! Damn, I was hoping we'd come up with something more then just this." Mello said. 

"What do you mean? We'll have weapons available to us as of tomorrow and we have a whole warehouse full of equipment up for grabs. I'd say that's a helluva start to escaping this hellhole." Rin stated. 

"I would not get your hopes up so easily," Near said, making Rin look at him puzzled, "Do you believe that Monokuma would let us escape with such ease? If you hadn't noticed, the whole area is boarded up with iron plates. Monokuma wouldn't leave behind anything that would allow us to easily destroy those iron plates, so none of it is of complete use." 

"Demo, we could use those tools to get break through an area that doesn't have iron plates. Make our own escape by smashing through a wall!" Zack stated.

"That would not be a good idea. There is a strict 'no vandalism to the school building' rule in the regulations. So to make a door of our own would only result in punishment." Kanato said. "What about the vents? I saw quite a few earlier. They are bound to lead out of here, aren't they?" I said.

"Can't do that either. There is also a rule stating that no one is aloud to enter those vents under any circumstances." Nagito stated. My eyes widened.

"You're kidding me..." I murmured. Ulric growled and scratched at his head with both hands. "Dammit! What next?! A rule about no eating?! No sleeping?!" he snapped. Magane giggled, placing a hand on her cheek.

"Gahahahaha! Yabai, yabai! (This is bad, this is bad!) We're in a pretty tight situation aren't we? Could it be, could it be? That we'll really be stuck here forever?" she said. However her words were covered in joy and eagerness, as if she was in pure happiness. She wasn't wrong though. I felt like I was tied up, and unable to move.

We're we really stuck here....forever?

"This....this can't be...." everyone turned to the source of the weak, trembling voice. It was Crona, who was silent most of this time. However now he was shaking violently, rubbing his arms and his eyes wide with fear.

"W-We're....we're really s-stuck down h-here.....t-there's no way out...." he stuttered. His hands slowly moved to his head as he fell onto his knees. 

"Crona." Rena said, looking at him in concern. 

"I-I can't deal with this....I-I don't know h-how....w-why is this happening to us? W-Why are we forced into doing this? I-I don't wanna be here.....I-I wanna go home...." he said weakly. I watched him as the boy remained a trembling, crumpled mess on his knees. It began to fill my own heart with more fear and dread. 

Why are we forced into this? Why us? It isn't fair. We....don't deserve this. I could feel my skin grow more pale, and my legs felt close to giving in. I was just about to collapse onto my knees like Crona did, when suddenly....

"What the hell are you saying?!" Crona perked up, and we all looked to Rin in surprise. I inhaled sharply at the fierce look on his face....the look of determination.

"You're giving up already? We haven't even been here for a whole day, and you're already throwing in the towel?! Screw that! I don't wanna hear that bullcrap!" he stated. Crona blinked, sitting up slightly to look at the boy better. Rin put on a bright smile.

"You wanna get home? Then you gotta keep moving! You have to keep trying to get outta here with all of us! Not just for yourself, but for your friends and family at home! They'd be pretty sad if they didn't see you again, right? So you gotta try no matter what!" Rin stated. Rena smiled, kneeling beside Crona.

"Tsodaiyo! (That's right!) And you won't be alone! We'll all get out of here together! I'm sure we'll all get home safe and sound!" she stated. Crona looked to her in surprise.

"Rena....Rin...." he murmured. Nagito put on a wide smile.

"They are right, you know. We must have hope. Hope that we can leave this horrible place together!" he stated. He turned to face the rest of the group. "I am positive that if we work together, we can all leave this place, despite our backgrounds! Yes, we need only to hold onto hope, grasp it tightly, and never let it go. If we do so, and work together, then we shall return to our lives. That is where I shall place my hope and faith." Nagito declared. 

"Now that's what I like to hear!" Rin stated. He looked around to everyone else. "Come on! Who else is in?!" he said. The room was silent, everyone looking away either in hesitation or suspicion. However, one hand was immediately raised, making everyone look at her surprised, even myself.....Lilac.

She proudly held her hand up with a wide, bright smile, eyes shining with hope.

"Lilac...." I said. Lilac walked over to Crona and held her hand out, gesturing for him to take it. Crona looked at her surprised, but smiled and took her hand, and she happily pulled him to his feet. Rena smiled and stood up as well. 

"Anyone else?" Rin asked. I put on a small smile, and to my surprise....I felt hope. Hope that we could get out of here. I didn't feel afraid anymore. I didn't feel alone.

"I suppose I'll believe as well." I replied. Ulric and Zack looked to each other, then sighed. "Well, it won't do us any good to just stand around and do nothing. We'll just have to find someway out, right?" Ulric said. Zack nodded. "One thing is for sure, I am not dying in here!" he stated. 

Amaimon placed a finger to his chin, as if thinking. Then he nodded. "Well, I don't want to be cooped up in here forever. That'll get boring real quick. So I guess I'll help out." he replied. Kokichi, Junko, and Magane looked at each other, exchanged mischievous grins, then looked to us.

"Yeah, guess we're in too. I'm kinda excited to see where this'll go, so we'll play along~" Kokichi replied. Magane and Junko nodded, giggling quietly. I had a feeling that we should keep a close eye on those three. Out of everyone here, they seemed like the biggest antagonizers. 

"Well, I don't see any other way out of here than to work together. As I said before, that is our only chance of survival. So naturally I'll do what I can do help. But don't mistaken this as hope, but rather a necessity to leave this place." Near replied. Mello crossed his arms before nodding.

"Fine, I'll help I guess...." Johannes nodded. "I suppose working as a group would be the better option, nyow." he said. 

"I do not need any of you." everyone looked at Kanato in surprise. He looked down at his teddy bear, eyes narrowing.

"Teddy is the only one I need," he looked up at everyone else, "Otherwise I can find my own way out of this place. I do not require the assistance of those inferior to me. You'll only get in my way, and this situation is bothersome as it is." he stated. 

"Demo, Kanato...." Rena said. Lilac looked at him, her expression seeming disappointed. Kanato turned away and began to walk away to the exit without another word. Lilac's eyes widened, and she reached a hand out to him. However he didn't even turn to acknowledge her, and left through the doors. Lilac's eyes drooped, and she slowly lowered her hand. 

"Tch, damn brat...." Zack growled. Those were the only words spoken after the vampire boy left, leaving only a thick silence in the large gym.