My body shuttered as the announcement bell now rang throughout the entirety of the gymnasium. Each toll slowly made me feel heavy as if each ring weighed me down more and more. The very sound of it just seemed unsettling.

[Ding, Dong, Bing, Bong]

It was then the structure of the gymnasium came to my attention. On each side, broken bleachers stood, providing little place to sit, but they were the least important things in the room right now. Behind the small stage Jackson had stood on, a small, slightly cracked television screen was planted onto the wall. Right next to that, a there was an old fashioned security camera. When the bell rang, however, both immediately came to life.

The glitching screen flickered a few times on distorted static until a small blurry image appeared in it's center. It seemed to be an odd head shape. The very sight of it did not help my already disturbed nerves. Then the voice began to speak.

It was lighthearted, yet had a darkness to it. One could say it was the type of voice who would go to amusement parks just to see the rides fail and crash. Each word said by it just brought with it such...despair. In any case, it didn't help our current situation.

"Hello? Hello...? Testing, one, two...Is this thing on? Can anyone hear me? Well then!"

There was then a slight pause, as if whoever it was was trying to gather their thoughts on what to say first.

"To all incoming students to the newly reopened Hope's Peak Academy, the entrance ceremony will begin any moment now! Please find a place in front of the stage to stand, and we can get this show on the road! Hurry, now...you wouldn't want this to last longer than it has too..."

God...that voice sounded so grating. It was like a teenager and a kid at the same time, trying to hit puberty. Just who is this guy? Is he the one responsible for us being here?

"Ugh, I feel sorry for whoever has that voice," I say under my breath.

Jackson, being more level headed than me, focused more on the meaning behind the announcement.

"I think you're missing the purpose. Whoever that was clearly knows what is going on....Everyone! It might be wise to get in place for this...'Entrance ceremony'..."

The questions running through my mind would soon be answered. Each of us slowly made our way over to the foot of the stage. It was then the voice returned.

"Good to see everyone's ready! Let's get things rolling!"

Without any warning, a trap door now opened, sending a monochrome bear flying out from it. It spun in the air, flipped backwards, and finally landed on the podium where a microphone was waiting for it...

The others did not respond to this well...

"What the fuck?! It's some sort of children's plaything! What the hell is going on!?"

"Is that...a teddy bear...?"

Suddenly, the plushy machine began to speak.

"Phuhuhuhu! I...am far more than some....'teddy bear'. I...am Monokuma! And I am the headmaster of this fine establishment!"

Everyone was silent, except for Kaiya, who was oddly laughing to this sight.

"Oh! That must be a robot designed to welcome in the new students! How funny and clever!"

Kaiya giggled at the design of this 'Monokuma' guy. His fur was half white, half black. The white side looked normal, while his black side was creepy...the red eye and devious grin said it all. Whoever designed this had a silly sense of humor...

It was then the mystery girl from before now spoke up...

"What is it that you want?"

Monokuma's head tilted sideways. It was as if her words caught his attention.

"Want? What on earth do you mean.......?"

The bear acted nonchalant, as if he was trying to toy with the strange girl.

"I mean that you are the one who brought us all here...so what do you want with us...?

Monokuma simply found that hilarious, as he immediately began to laugh.

"...Bring you here? I did no such thing, Scout's honor! No...I'm afraid you all came here on your own accord....did you not?"

I wasn't so sure if he was telling the truth or not. Sure, we did go on our own accord, but we didn't ask to be knocked out, kidnapped, and trapped in wherever this place was...

"From my understanding, each of you wanted to come to Hope's Peak Academy? Did you not? Well then....Welcome! Today we start a brand new year here, as our glorious institution reopens it doors!"

What's with all this 'reopen' stuff. I thought the academy had been open for a few years before I arrived....Whatever this bear was saying, it was hard to tell what was relevant. Ryan was the one to ask my questions for me this time...

"'Reopen'? What the hell are you talking about? When we came through those doors, it was open, so what do you even mean by that?"

Monokuma now looked downwards as if a little embarrassed.

"Well...as you can see the place isn't all nice as it once was. Heck! There is dust in every nook and cranny. That being said, don't worry your thick little noggins. The academy is about to go through a nice little period of renovation! New paint, some repairs, maybe a little fine dusting....it will rival the very palaces of the world!"

A few people now devolved to chatter, until Will raised a new interjection.

"Prey tell...could you perhaps stop focusing on the trivial matters and move along to the primary reason we have all been gathered here? If this indeed a school...what pray tell..are we to be doing?"

"Phuhuhu! Man, you have a even more confusing way of talking than I do! Then again, you make a decent point! Listen up everyone, it's time to talk about your new lives here at our lovely establishment.

While you are all here within the confines of this academy, you shall all live peacefully with one another in a nice communal sense. This will carry on for.....forever! Meaning that you shall stay here for the rest of your 'natural' lives"

Wait...WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!? The rest of our...lives...?

"Q-Quit fucking around! W-What do you mean forever!?" Daniel squealed with an intense anger.

"Forever...as in 'neverending' or as in 'ongoing'. How did you even get into this school not knowing a simple word like 'forever'...? Something tells me vocabulary isn't your strong suit..."

That damn bear was still messing with us...

Kaiya now quickly spoke, "W-What about our families...?"

"And our games!?" Takuma added...

Really?!...Games are not the issue right now! Monokuma chuckled more at these responses.

"I wouldn't worry about them....Besides, I'd think worrying is a waste of time in general. Why do we care in things so much that it cases us to make us feel so uncomfortable? That's besides the point though. What I'm getting at is, maybe you all should think about what exactly is going to happen now!"

"But...how do we get out of here?" I asked.

"Oh! That's easy! You can't! This facility is locked down at possible entrances. Don't tell me you didn't see the lovely new metal plates covering our windows...."

"...Oh."

So THAT's what they're for...to prevent us from escaping this place. I grew silent again as Ryan questioned the bear once more.

"Well, what about our phones? Were you the one who stole them?"

Monokuma now held one that looked awfully familiar. Hey-! T-That's mine!

"Man...Kids are so different nowadays...can't even bother to look away from their phones for two seconds....Hasn't anyone told you these things kill brain cells? No? Well they do! That's why I've taken the liberty of removing them from each of your persons...Enjoy your newly fledged freedom from your technological overlords!"

Everyone who was unaware of this now checked their pockets fanatically. Only an uproar of surprise and shock occurred. Everyone was unhappy, except for an oddly confident Rebecca.

"It's OK, everyone! As long as I've got my-"

Rebecca checked her backpack for something, but after looking for about 10 seconds, she had a shocked look on her face.

"W-W...WHERE'S MY MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE!?"

Really? A message in a bottle? How is THAT gonna help, if all communication from the outside world is cut off? Monokuma now gazed over us intrigued...

"Geez, you kids are taking this horribly. Most people would be glad to come to a fancy school which is about to go through major improvements. I guess people today are just spoiled...I work so hard to build a place for you all and immediately you all want to leave!"

The ultimate singer now ran out of the group and stood before the podium.

"P-Please, Mr Bear! We're begging ya!"

Dakota gets down on her knees.

"We'll do anything to go home! Please! Anything!"

She then started tearing up, desperate to get home under any circumstance. He now became over come with depression again.

"Man...I can't stand when people beg......Fine! You just reminded me of the most important announcement. There actually is one way for you all to leave!"

"Thank god for that...so, what is it?"

"As I said, we are going through a lot of new changes here, so for now we'd like to keep things nice and orderly...But! If someone was to disrupt everything.....then they would have to leave..."

The bears stalling did not improve Daniel's mood...

"Make damn sense already! What the fuck do I have to do?!"

"Well....there isn't a lot you can do....but if you were to...I don't know....murder another student....then I might have to let you go...."

As Monokuma gave us the shocking revelation to, it wasn't what we expected. We were all mortified as he finished the reveal. Murder another person...? This can't be real...right?

"M-Murder...? HAHAHAHAHA! Oh, good one, Mr Bear!"

Kaiya was now laughing hysterically at Monokuma. Is she taking this as a joke? 'Cause WE'RE not!

"Are you...serious?" Ryan seemed stunned out of fear...

"Y-Yeah, are you fucking serious!? MURDER!?" More Daniel rage...

"W...What a dastardly, insane way to leave...! This cannot be right!" And William symbolizing the drama of the situation...

Luckily, Ash tried to calm everyone down...

"Now, calm down, everyone. I'm sure the bear was only bluffing to scare us. Maybe there's another way to-"

Another interruption now came from our captor.

"Nope! No other way to leave! Murder someone, get away with it, and you can walk out of here scott free! That is all. Shouldn't be too difficult for you, right?"

"But...what if we don't want to...?" Paige asked slightly worried, yet without much emotion...

"Then just accept the fact that you'll live here for the rest of your lives, and don't even bother trying to communicate with the outside world! Kill or don't, your choice! But...you better entertain me with all the time you have here! Phuhuhuhu!"

I was getting angry at this fucked up little bear. He's gotta be so fucked up for telling us to murder people! That can't be fucking right!

"Welp! I'll just leave you all to reflect on this most important entrance ceremony. So long...farewell...goodbye...."

"Hold on just a FUCKING MINUTE!"

All of a sudden, Daniel rushed to the stage, and jumped in front of Monokuma.

"Did you really think that we would just accept the fact of living here, or even murder someone to leave this shithole of a school!? Fuck that! I'm not gonna tolerate you OR your fucking rules, you piece of shit!"

Damn! He's giving that bear smack talk! Hmm...I like him, but that's not important right now. At the heat of the moment, Daniel grabbed Monokuma by the throat and lifted him up.

"You better let us leave, or I'll fucking kill YOU myself!!!"

Monokuma was struggling to get out of the hands of the Mad Scientist.

"Hey there! Violence against the principal is against the school regulations!"

"FUCK...YOUR...REGULATIONS! LET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"

The bear now seemed to stop moving and simply smiled at the boy.*

"Fine then...If you won't cooperate, then it's time for a demonstration. Hall Mono-ters! Help!"

Wait, demonstration? What does he mean by-aaaaaaand a group of giant mecha robots appeared on the stage and almost caused an earthquake when they landed. I gotta stop talking sometimes, 'cause sometimes, what you say would come true at some certain points...

"The Fuck!?"

Daniel now dropped the bear and backed away...his face had gone pale... Monokuma's left eye now glew a bright red, revealing the electronics through the glass...

"Consider this a warning....Any rule violators will not be tolerated. Stand up against them and the Hall Mono-ters will quickly respond to enforce the the rules...No violations will be met will just a little speech about your behavior...Nope. Gatling guns! Hydraulic crushers! So many little toys cover these little babies, so I'm sure that whatever they use, it won't be pretty..."

D-Damn! He's getting REALLY intense with the rules...! Remind me NEVER to break a rule here...ever. I raise a hand to get Monokuma's attention. I barely made out another question...

"Uh...w-who's controlling these...mechas?"

"That doesn't matter! Make up an answer...! Magic?! Artificial intelligences?! Mini-Kumas with tons of practice?! The world may never know..."

Why do I have a feeling that the third option might be true...?

"I would love to stay a little longer, but I've run out of things to talk about. Now if you excuse me, I have a school to rebuild! So! Everyone enjoy this new school semester of killing! The Killing school life has returned!"

As Monokuma leaves the stage through the trap door, we were all left with mortified faces...even Kaiya, who's not even laughing anymore; She's taking it pretty serious now...

"What...the...fuck...?"

"S-So...it's NOT a joke...? Oh my god...!" Kaiya was paler than normal....despite the makeup...

Daniel cursed under his breath.

"That...piece of shit! I swear...I'm gonna...k-kill him...! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

At another heat of the moment, Daniel starts screaming as he turns more pale and got on his knees. We could even see tiny tears dripping from his eyes. It was then the strange girl spoke up again...

"Stop your whining....All your doing is making yourself look weak....Don't you understand what is going on? Right now, anyone could be planning your demise....best not to paint a target on your back..."

Jackson was annoyed by this girl's heartless response...

"You! How could you say that to someone who is apparently in pain?! All you're going to do is make him worse. Secondly, you have some nerve speaking up. You haven't even spoken a word to any of us and now you're already trying to sass us?! Who do you think you are...?!"

"Wait, actually...who are you?" I asked looking at two...

The girl sighed before responding to both questions.

"If I am to be locked in here with you, I suppose giving you all a name would be beneficial. I am Lora Blodren, and, for who I think I am, I am nothing more than the Ultimate Historian..."

[LORA BLODREN: ULTIMATE HISTORIAN]

The Student President still wasn't taking her sour attitude well...

"Historian? You talk big for one....what gives you the right to be all high and mighty?"

"And who gave it to you...?"

Hmm...Jackson kinda has a point. She does speak big for a historian. Still I tried to quite their bickering.

"Hey, you two. Stop...fighting. Please. If we're gonna plan to get out of here, we need to stay sane, and trust one another."

A voice now spoke up from somewhere else...

"Quit all this commotion! You all are failing to realize something..."

The last student now walked forward, rubbing his shaved head awkwardly...

"If the bear is speaking the truth, then we are all in danger. We are imprisoned, we are being monitored, large metal monstrosities roam these ruin halls, but, most of all, now we must fear each other. Working together has always been considered a good thing, but in this situation is it? How can one cooperate with someone else if they might stab them in the back at any opportunity. What we need to do is to be skeptical...to trust only in the most safe situations...if not...people will die..."

Kaiya nervously tried to protest.

"B-But...we don't want to kill each other! It's just...wrong! So wrong..."

"How do you know that the others don't intend to attack? If they are trapped...they have incentive. Someone here might be willing to kill if it meant freedom..."

It was then that Kaiya was almost on the verge of tears. I couldn't stand to see a cute girl like her cry... I got really angry, stood in front of the busty clown girl, and got up in the mysterious guy's face.

"You can't talk to her like that! Just...who do you think you are, you dick!?"

And with that, the boy's demeanor changed. He continued to check the back of his head as if it was the answer to a problem he needed to solve. He went from serious to concerned in moments...

"I am afraid to say I haven't any idea..."

Jeez...split personality, much?

"Wait...why can't you?"

The boy's hand now found the scar on his scalp once more...

"For whatever reason...something isn't right....my mind is fuzzy and I don't know what is going on....I don't know where I am....Who you all are...and Who I am....."

"In other words...you have amnesia?" Ryan asked a bit concerned.

"I don't think so....but I believe that is the only explanation..."

As he now moved his hands to rub his aching head, the medical bracelet on his wrist now became visible...

"Wait..."

As I notice the scar on his shaved head, I was shocked as I came up with another possible theory for his amnesia.

"L-L...Lobotomized...?"

Daniel sprung up at the sound of that...

"Lobotomy? You're telling me someone removed a chink of this boy's brain for whatever reason?! Bullshit!"

"Well, it's gotta be the only theory that involves his...scar."

I pointed out the scar for everyone to see. Everyone now conversed about this until someone spoke out again...

"Odd how one observes one detail far more than another....especially one which holds much more value...."

The Philosopher made the room go quiet...Based on Jane's comment, I now also noticed the tag attached to the boy's arm. It should have some more information about him right? As I got closer to look, all I could see was a blank bracelet...blank except for some cryptic numbers......13?

What on earth does that mean...? Hmm...this guy could be interesting...

[13: ULTIMATE AMNESIAC]

Silence now filled the gymnasium, as no one was sure of what to do next. Much to our alarm, something quickly broke that silence.

*THUD!*

As we turned our heads to the source of the sound, we saw a box now resting on the podium where Monokuma had sat. Why was it there?

"I-I'll check it out."

I headed over to the stage, picked up the box, and began to open it up. What could be inside? It was...a bunch of electronic devices.

"Tablets?"

My eyes even noticed one tablet with my name on it. Quickly, I took the tablet from the box, and headed over to the group.

"I found a box of tablets!"

Ryan was quick to reply.

"Dude! I think we can use those to contact for help! If there is a wifi connection....

"'Dude', these tablets can't be phones. Monokuma wouldn't be THAT stupid to give us wifi or even smartphones to contact help. He's like...a villain in a spy movie...probably the ones in swivel chairs, petting cats..."

I looked at the device for a second, finding a logo on the back. 'Monopad'. Great the bear is now releasing mobile devices....As I clicked on the screen with my finger, it lit up, revealing the Hope's Peak logo and my name. After that, the school regulations appeared on screen...

Regulation 1: Students may only stay within the confines of the academy. Any damage to any locks, window coverings, or monitoring equipment will be met with disciplinary measures...

Regulation 2: "Nighttime" will take place form 10 pm to 7 am. At this time, some areas will be closed and all water sources will be turned off...

Regulation 3: Sleeping outside of your room is a violation of the rules, and will not be tolerated.

Regulation 4: With no limits, feel free to explore the academy at your discretion...

Regulation 5: Violence towards the headmaster of the Hall Mono-ters will result in immediate termination...

Regulation 6: Any student who kills another student, becoming 'blackened', and gets away with it, will be permitted to leave the premises...

Regulation 7: More regulations may be added as time moves on...

As we finished reading the regulations on our pads, we began to wonder 'What's going to happen? Will we get out of here? Why is this happening?', maybe in time, we'll get our answer. But right now...the killing game...has begun...

And only despair is waiting for us now...

[Prologue: Hopelessness and New Beginnings End]

[16 students remain...]

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