Private/Closed Cold Steel

[Riverrunner]

Hope's Peak Academy: a private school dedicated to developing talented high schoolers into students capable of upholding the world's hope. Just by attending, a student is said to be set for life.

Of course, such a prestigious school wouldn't accept applications. In order to attend, students have to be specifically scouted.

You are one of those students.

Regardless of what your talent was or what you did to get their attention, you had managed to earn yourself a full scholarship.

You stood at the forefront of the building, head held high as you reached out to push open the pearly gates…

…

……

………

…

And then the world went black.

You slowly begin to regain consciousness, immediately hyper-aware of the environment. The metal floor presses against your face uncomfortably. Around you, the air is filled with a biting chill that seems to claw at your insides. As you regain your footing, one thing becomes blatantly clear:

You're not alone.

Along with you are twelve others, some fast asleep and others with their eyes just beginning to open.

On the far wall is a large digital screen, displaying a bright red message in between bursts of static.

WELCOME, STUDENTS, TO THE STRONGHOLD. PLEASE REMAIN CALM AND AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS. YOUR HEADMASTER WILL ARRIVE MOMENTARILY.
​

[Student Handbook]

 

[The Kitsune]

Hoshi was one of the first to wake, likely due to the mechanical voice droning on from her inner ear piece. She blinked statically, listening to the male monotone voice explain ancient Greek dialects as the dusty floor beneath her came into sharper focus.

…vowel shift differentiating the Ionic and Attic dialects from the rest was the shift of ᾱ to η. In Ionic, the change occurs in all positions, but in
Attic, it occurs almost everywhere except after ε, ι, ρ. Homeric Greek shows the Ionic rather than the Attic version of the….​

Seizing on the familiarity of the voice like a lifeline, Hoshi pushed herself groggily up into a sitting position, giving her head a gentle shake as she did so. Her right hand fumbled to press pause on her phone and the voice faded into silence. But her hand had touched something in the process, something hard and warm. She turned to find a boy laying next to her, just inches away, and he wasn’t the only one. She paused to count, disorientated as she was it took a couple tries. …10, 11, 12.… Twelve other people were scattered around her in varying states of wakefulness. As Hoshi starred, the flickering light in the room drew her eyes to the large screen behind her. The message upon it sent an ominous chill down her spine despite its apparently benign meaning. Something felt off...

"Where are we...?" She'd meant to speak only loud enough for herself to hear, but even her whisper seemed to echo and magnify in the confined space.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Percy blinked awake, looking left and right. The floor felt cold on on his face, which he instinctively jumped back at. Rising from the floor shakily, he took note of his surroundings. The floor was checkard, which he as an artist found visually appealing. However the writing in front of him gave him the opposite impression.

WELCOME, STUDENTS, TO THE STRONGHOLD. PLEASE REMAIN CALM AND AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS. YOUR HEADMASTER WILL ARRIVE MOMENTARILY.

Headmaster? Does that mean we are in hope’s peak? If that’s the case, why does it give such a creepy vibe? Red lettering...

“Eh? Ngh!” He said, scattering up from the floor, his legs still sitting on it. “W-where are we? Did someone spike the tea?!”


.....

Hm....

Ralphie whipped his eyes open quickly. He had been caught off guard, something that happens rarely. He quickly checked his back for arrows, thankfully finding them. He drew and arrow into bow, which was concealed in his sleeve. He aimed it in front of him, Before he read a screen that lie there.

Stronghold...? The word caught him by surprise. A stronghold a fortified location meant to defend against incoming attack. Was he captured? If so, by who? What attackers were targeting them? Tactically, he needed to know these things. While he cared little else for the words, all this seemed to point to was that there was a threat, and that’s all he needed to know.

“Is everyone okay? No injuries?” He said, pulling the arrow back. “There’s a threat, be ready to defend yourself and treat the wounded.”

 

[Retro Master]

“Ok-okay... five more minutes.” Joseph mumbled, trying to shift his body into a more comfortable position. As he did, his hands tried to reach for a pillow only to be met with the feeling of cold steel. It sent chills down his spine, causing him to slowly open his eyes. “Dude, I swear I can afford more than- what the...?!” Not only was Joseph laying on a metal floor, but there were also nearly a dozen other bodies scattered around. ‘Weird, but maybe...’

Joseph sat up and yawned as he stretched his arms, taking in the scene. This ominous feeling and the environment in general just felt off. “Yeah, this has the making of a horror slash mystery movie.” He ran his hand through his rather messy hair. Hopefully the producers would provide him with a brush or something to get his hairstyle right because this wouldn’t do. Looking up at the ones that were awake, two guys and a girl, Joseph listened to their thoughts and worries before he spoke up.

“I’m pretty sure this is just an elaborate ploy by the ‘Headmaster’ too get us to feel out the setting before we start filming. Just wait until we get the script and then things will probably make sense.” Joseph spoke in a calm but reassuring matter as he was almost certain this was just another scene in some project he was filming for.

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon rubbed his eyes as he began to stir. "Ughh... This is the last time I pull a quadruple all-nighter..." As Paeon looked around, he noticed 3 guys and one girl were awake. "Uhh... Hi?"

Paeon tired to gather his bearings until he heard one guy said something about the situation a film. "Uh, no way Jose. This ain't a film. I should know as I produce, direct and edit films for a living. Firstly, none of us know where we are and how we got here. Secondly, if this was a film, I'd be behind the scenes rather then be an actor. I can't act for sh*t..."

Paeon turned to the other three. "Obviously it seems Robin Hood has the right idea as we have no clue what's going on... but crap..." Suddenly Paeon laid down on the floor. "That quadruple all-nighter is really messing with me."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Ralphie shot paeon a blank look, not seeming annoyed by the comment, though rather it catching his attention.

“‘Robin Hood’ at least has a weapon for this attack. Something the rest of you desperately need. This is an attack, I’m sure if it.”

“H-hey hey now!” Percy put his two index fingers together nervously. “No need to get so worked up! I-I mean...this is probably some intiation of some kind...hehehaha...”

Trying to make light of the situation, Percy thought on the bright side, running a hand though his elequent, puffed up hair. I mean. It’s not like it was anything TOO dangerous right?

 

[Fire Mana]

Parker sat against the wall. The room was dark, and cold, and the metal floor and walls bit at his back.

Click. Clack. Click. Clack.

He spun his butterfly knife in his hand, flipping it open and closed, twirling it between his fingers in intricate patterns before finally letting it sit open. He examined the blade and ran his fingers across the words engraved into the hilt.

"Malum, Odium, Dolor."

Click.

He slid the knife back under his sleeve and shifted into a more comfortable position, at least, as comfortable as you could be in a metal stronghold. His bones ached and his muscles were sore, not to mention the hangover from last night... even with his alchohol tolerance it was clear that was too much for any human to handle.

"I hate to break it to you guys," He stated firmly yet groggily to the others awake in the room. "but we probably aren't getting out of here anytime soon."

 

[Retro Master]

‘Produce, edit, and direct films?’ Joseph listened to the response Paeon had, slightly interested in the boy’s career. Considering his own acting career, perhaps... “Uh, do we know each other?” The answer he expected was fairly obvious considering he had nearly no recollection of ever meeting Paeon prior to this exchange. In fact, just scanning the room, Joseph had no memory of meeting any of these people.

“Well, maybe the ‘Headmaster’ wants you to experience the filming up close?” Joseph shrugged as he tried to come with some explanation. However, one explanation he did not want to hear came from some guy tossing a knife, sitting against a wall. No, Joseph did not want to believe that for one second. This had to be some movie studio or something, there was no other explanation to have a dozen human beings trapped in some deserted metal stronghold with no means of escape.

Though he was a bit unsteady at first, Joseph managed to stand up. He looked at ‘Robin Hood’, then at the guy sitting by the wall. One of them had a bow and the other, a knife. “Alright, let’s not jump to any conclusions just yet. Clearly we’re all a bit out of it and thinking we’re trapped in some unknown stronghold, without any connection to the outside word, along with a bunch of strangers...” Joseph slowed down as he neared the end of his statement, beginning to doubt himself. He ran his hand through his hair as he stood silent for a moment, thinking what to say next. “I guess that does sound a bit weird, doesn’t it?”

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Alright, let’s not jump to any conclusions just yet. Clearly we’re all a bit out of it and thinking we’re trapped in some unknown stronghold, without any connection to the outside word, along with a bunch of strangers...” Joseph slowed down as he neared the end of his statement, beginning to doubt himself. He ran his hand through his hair as he stood silent for a moment, thinking what to say next. “I guess that does sound a bit weird, doesn’t it?”

“Y-yeah, that’s it!” Percy jumped at, calming his nerves a bit. “It’s all just seems worse than it is. I mean, there’s another person coming, the headmaster! He’ll know what’s going on! We just gotta stay patient...”

Inwardly, Percy had been looking for every excuse not to panic. And joesph has given him the perfect opportunity for him to do just that. He put his index fingers together again and flexed them together, obviously troubled by this scenario.

Parker had made his appearance, the ultimate gambler groggily speaking of the not getting out anytime soon. Ralphie aimed an arrow, striking a few inches from his foot. He seemed comellty blank faced about it, apparently only doing this to get his attention.

“Yo. Why do you say that? You seem awfully sure for someone who has just woken up. Have you already assessed the area so efficiently?”

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

As Paeon laid on the floor, a thought entered his mind. "Oh, sh*t! My bag!" He reached into his bag, as he pulled out his video camera and laptop while his tripod and microphone were still in the bag.

Paeon booted up his laptop as he checked his camera before he realized a weird coincidence. Turning his head to his laptop, the same coincidence occurred. "...What the f*ck? ...My camera's missing all its footage... and my laptop's all locked up..."

Paeon stopped and then turned to the guy who thought this was a film. "Do I know you? Maybe? I pretty much forget everyone I worked with. So sorry Starboy, but I don't remember. Now everyone... Calm down! Currently, we have Twitchy, Starboy, Robin Hood, Mr. Whiskey with a knife, yeah I can smell the alcohol... and Quiet Girl in the back. We have to wait for the sleeping beauties to wake up. So no need to rob from drunk Robin."

After his small speech, Paeon packed his equipment and laid back down. "Now, I'm still recovering from 96 hours without sleep... which seems to wasted time for all I know... and I don't want to be bothered. Besides... who knows how long we were here? Were we all brought on the same day?"

 

[_obsequious]

She would never admit it, but this was not Ophelia Morales’ first time waking up on a cold, unfamiliar floor.
Awaking herself with a loud, unpleasant snore, the girl scrambled up to her hands and knees, jumping to her feet almost immediately. Her every movement shot an aching pain throughout her whole body, and it felt like she’d been drugged.
In fact, that idea wasn’t too far fetched. Being a gang leader made her quite the valuable being, and it wouldn’t have been surprising to find that she’d been kidnapped for some crazy ransom.
However, if that had been the case, that wouldn’t explain the twelve others occupying the room with her, some of which were still unconscious. She plucked her small switchblade from her heeled boot, eyes darting around to make sense of the situation. All these kids looked as dumbfounded as she felt, although some looked a bit more sure of themselves. Particularly, another student who also held a blade similar to her own; Ophi’s knife subtly angled itself towards him, her gaze suspicious. She took note of another boy, this one armed with a quiver of arrows, and kept her eye on him. Her gaze settled on a screen with cherry-red, robotic font displayed on it, the harsh glow making her squint and scrunch up her face.
What the..
Everyone else in the room seemed rather harmless, spare the two boys she’d noted moments earlier. The redhead cleared her throat, giving one final glance around the room before speaking. Her voice was somewhat hoarse, a little lower than usual.

“I really hope at least one of you gangly freaks knows what the hell is going on.”

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon sighed as he rubbed his eyes. "I don't have time for this." He turned his head to the new person, he was confused. "Huh... guess dad was right how the cute ones are the most dangerous."

As Paeon laid his head back down, he sighed. "Look Buttercup, we don't know. We all woke up here and are confused. Some like Twitchy and Starboy say this is all fake while some like Robin Hood and Mr. Whiskey are armed for whoever the hell brought us here. As for Quiet Girl... I don't know. But right now I'm tired as hell. I'm normally happy but I'm 96 hours short... but I'm pretty sure I can't sleep at a time like this..."

 

[Fire Mana]

Parker yawned and plucked the arrow that had stuck into the floor inches from his foot. He spun it around in his hand, looking closely at the tip before stabbing it back into the hole it had been shot into.

"I don't know what you film guys are thinking, but just take a look around. It's obvious this ain't some movie set, we're trapped here."

He pulled out six, pitch black casino dice from a pouch hidden under his jacket. Each had white dots on the sides indicating numbers. He shook them in his hand for a second before letting them roll in front of him. They bounced off the metal ground before each coming to a stop inches in front of Parker... six six's.

 

[Crimson Sun]

Nathan was one of the remaining ones to be awake. He woke up to the commotion around him. It took him a while, but after his eyes adjusted, he found himself in an unknown area with unknown people. The male counted approximately 12 other people in the room, not including himself. He got to his feet immediately and held his fists out. "I don't know what you're going to do to me," Nathan glared at the ones awake, still not aware of the situation at hand. "But I'm not going to back down without a fight." His bare foot silently tapped the ground, as he jumped back and forth lightly with his fists up, in preparation for any incoming attacks that may hit him.
--------
Jane woke up to the loud ruckus around her, immediately reminding herself of the battlefields she's been through. On her feet first thing as she pushed herself up, Jane scanned the area. Her eyes examined the people around her, both the awakens and the asleep. Seeing as there's no threat or malice coming off from the strangers, Jane let her guard down a bit around the people. But she's still keeping most of her guard up because she was in unknown territory. Her left hand subconsciously went to her first aid pouch, ensuring she had her syringes there for any sort of emergency, whether it be a health emergency or a menace attacking her.

 

[Retro Master]

“Starboy?... Yo, I like the way you think.” Whoever this guy was, he did come up with some good nicknames. Joseph was also glad that his words had impacted atleast someone positively. Twitchy had realized that staying calm and waiting was probably the best they could do. The guy with the nicknames also seemed pretty laid back as well.

Just as Joseph was finally starting to calm his nerves, he nearly jumped when he heard an unknown and rather low voice speak. It seemed that the gang girl had awoken and hadn’t hesitated to pull a knife out of her fricking shoe. What was with these people and their weapons? Not only that, but it seemed things were inching closer to violence every passing second. Robin Hood also thought it was a smart idea to mess with Mr. Whiskey. ‘Gosh, these names are going to stick for awhile, aren’t they?’ Joseph took a sigh and decided to stick with the belief the weapons were just props. However, he had to admit that Mr. Whiskey had a fair point about them being trapped.

Just when things couldn’t get any worse, some other guy got up, seemingly ready for a brawl. Joseph decided it was best if he took a few steps back, wanting to stand clear of any potential crossfire. “Guys, uh, I don’t think fighting each other is going to solve anything...” Joseph spoke up, though not with much confidence.

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon turned his head towards the new two people who awoke. "Oi, Punchymcgee, knock it off and listen to Starboy. We're all confused here. And helloooooo Nurse. Nice to see someone who can help me out. Do you have anything for lack of sleep? Like... four days worth of lost sleep? Cause I am tired."

Paeon then turned his head towards the man rolling dice. "Hey Mr. Whiskey, I know we're trapped. I may usually be a happy go lucky optimist, but even I know when sh*t gets crazy. Now enough with this fighting crap, I am not really capable of dealing with it right now."

 

[Fire Mana]

Parker scooped up his dice and swiftly put them back into the pouch they had come from. He crossed his arms and returned to his original position laying against the wall. A few others had woken up as well, some girl who thought she was tough, a boy who had seemed ready to fight, and another girl with what appeared to be medial supplies.

"I'm glad some of you have common sense in tact..." He sighed as he shuffled, trying to get his sore back as comfortable on the wall as possible.

 

[Generation Sect]

Jason Vellance slooooowly picked himself up, rubbing the back of his head groggily as he looked around, adjusting his glasses with another hand, quietly assessing the situation.
“W-what the heck... usually it’s the crazy people getting drugged, not me...”
He looked around, hurriedly kneeling down to snatch up a notepad and pen from the floor where he had been, and staring at the lettering that had been so eerily present here.
“... Stronghold. That’s good. You don’t really get any negative connotations with the word ‘Stronghold’ unless you’re the one on the outside. Being on the inside of such a thing... if that is really where we are, we should be safer than anywhere right? The most we would have to worry about is something from outside getting in...”
He looked down at his notepad as he scribbled, constantly glancing up and down to the display as he copied the wording down, before quietly adding
“And I don’t really see any entrances here... or exits, for that matter”

 

[_obsequious]

Ophi stiffened, caught off-guard by this kid’s... probably unintentional flattery, her brow furrowing as she bit the inside of her cheek, the faintest of reddish hues taking her face. She cleared her throat, shooting Paeon a glare of daggers.
Cute? Buttercup? Who does this kid think he is..!
She huffed quietly, clenching her fist in a way that faintly dug her nails into her palm.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” She drawled slowly, voice dripping with sarcasm. “If you have a better solution, kid, I’m all ears.”
She sighed briefly, still with the knife in her hand, running her thumb along the blade, an air of boredom flickering in her brown gaze. She didn’t know what solution these kids were waiting on, but Ophelia Morales was not the type to wait on miracles.

She looked up as another kid sprang to his feet, fists in the air, and she actually almost laughed. She angled her knife at him, not threateningly, but rather to address him.
“Kid, slow down. Nobody wants to waste their time and energy to beat you up. Besides, the majority of these kids are harmless by the looks of it. Some of us not so much, but..”
She glanced to Whiskey. To Arrowhead, to the blade in her own hand before looking up at him, a rather coy look in her eyes.
“There really isn’t a point in starting a fight.. but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to watch one,” she offered with a smirk to him, directing her attention back to the group, the small grin falling off her face almost instantly.

 

[The Kitsune]

Hoshi offered nothing as conversation grew steadily more diverse as the others awoke around her, each taking stock of their environment with their own unique theories. One thing alone was clear; no one seemed to know why they were here, or where here was.

She seemed to be on the outskirts of the group already, which suited her just fine. With so many armed individuals among the group and nerves frayed by their captivity, violence seemed eminent and she wanted to be as far from as possible should a fight break out. Hoshi scooted herself back surreptitiously to lean against the nearest wall, sliding the lone earbud back into her pocket. She didn't particularly enjoy having her back to the television screen but at least this position gave her a full and unencumbered view of everyone else.

Glaring briefly at the 'nicknamer' for her gifted title of 'quiet girl', she let it go unanswered and allowed her eyes wander to the darkest corners of their steel box. But for all her searching, the room appeared decidedly bare. No windows, no visible doors or vents, and no cameras or glass walls... Given their situation, she would have expected to be under surveillance at the very least.

 

[Generation Sect]

Jason continued to quietly survey the room, taking notes of its inhabitants. He had copied down the message on his notepad, and kept glancing down to read it over again, only to glance back up and observe everyone in the room, like keeping guard.
“Students... headmaster...”
He gave a slight cough before speaking up
“Am I correct in making the assumption all of us here are on the same level of knowledge- or, in this case, lack thereof?”

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“...fight? I don’t know what you speak of.” Ralphie spoke, unaware what the consequences for shooting an arrow close to someone would do. “But let’s ignore the platitudes and the panicing. By the looking of things, all, or at least some of us are Ultimates from hope’s peak. In order to maximize our efficiency, I need to know every one of your ultimate talents. This is a life or death situation, we don’t know when our attackers could come in.”

Percy didn’t seem to like keeping the idea of there was a threat, nor his nickname that paeon had so graciously gave him. Percy went over to the ultimate movie maker himself, whipping his hair back and scoffing.

“I’m not ‘twitchy’. My name is...” he then struck a pose, his left hand in the air and right hand in front of him, the palm open to Paeon. “Percy Van Pertrigue! Ulitmate Drawer!”

Ralphie took note of the rather...loud Percy’s declaration. He now knew of three talents, he needed to know the rests’s and stat.

 

[Riverrunner]

Honoka had been awake for a while.

She'd been one of the first to pick up her head and look around, however, she'd quickly slumped back down after noticing that she was one of the first to stir. Quite honestly, she didn't want to deal with this until she absolutely had to.

However, seeing now that the room had become a whirlwind of conversation, she figured that now she'd have to do something, lest she risk being stabbed by one of the multiple knives that had been mentioned.

She slowly dragged herself up into a standing position, blinking groggily in an attempt to get the scope of what the hell was going on.

Percy's announcement, however, was quick to snap her out of her haze… kind of.

"Yeah, yeah, okay. No need to make an announcement about your talent. No one cares," she stopped herself for a moment, listening to Ralphie. "Alright, fine. I can't speak on behalf of everyone. I don't care. How's that."

Being the incredibly cheery creature that she was, Honoka began to nonchalantly re-braid her red hair. "Introductions are great and all, but more importantly, does anyone have any memories that give some indication of where we are, or what happened to us beforehand?" She finished her braid in record speed, tying it off with a single rubber band.

"Also, completely unrelated, but..." she added, pointing to a boy asleep on a nearby couch. "How come that asshole gets plopped on a cushion when the rest of us were thrown on the floor? Seriously, who does that?"

————
Ryuu on the other hand, had not.

He still lay fast asleep, draped carelessly (or mercifully, compared to having been placed on the floor) over one of the many red couches strewn across the room, head drooping off the arm. From the looks of it, it didn't seem he'd be stirring anytime soon.

 

[RhythmThief]

"...Ultimate Drawer!"

These were the words that woke Arata up from his slumber. He blinked and blinked, trying to fully open his eyes, fighting his desire to return back to sleep, before his eyes were finally hatched open. The first thing he felt was discomfort. A cold, metal feel spread throughout his back, causing him to sit up. He scratched his head, still quite groggy, and looking around at his surroundings. He was greeted to multiple others around his age engaging in conversation, and other activities, as if they had been up and around for a while. However, he noticed that some were still asleep, like he was just a moment ago. How long had he been out? Why was he here? As all these questions raced through his mind, his eyes were drawn to a large, digital screen, with periodic bursts of static, displaying a message in bright red color :

'WELCOME, STUDENTS, TO THE STRONGHOLD. PLEASE REMAIN CALM AND AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS. YOUR HEADMASTER WILL ARRIVE MOMENTARILY.'

"Students....Stronghold...Headmaster?" He mumbled, reading the message over and over in his head, trying to understand it.
He tried to get up and get a closer look at it, but he stumbled while trying to rise, and dropped back onto the floor, flat.
"Why, I think I'm better off just staying asleep!" He chuckled, now lying still on the cold, hard floor.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Honoka’s roudy attitude didn’t seem to be appreciated by the likes of Ralph. He seemed to want to deviate from his tactical plan, or meeting for sorts. Discontent was apparent in her, and a hint of snark. His eyes locked with hers, deadly serious.

“It is absolutely imperative that we know of each of our talents. This is a crisis situation, so we need to pool our heads, stick together, and share our specialities so we can allocate ourselves to the best of our ability. This is a tactical emergency.”

Percy, upon hearing Honoka’s rather non caring attitude about his talent, winced, twitching before falling over from his stance. He quickly recovered himself, raising his leg up, keeping his hand in front of himself, ignoring his stumble. He was affected more than one would have thought about her opinion, still dwelling on it. he waited with baited breath for other opinions, preferabley the person, Paeon, he announced toward

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon sighed as he looked around again. "Great... now we got Ice Queen, Mumbles and Slowpoke. And I don't care what you say Twitchy, I don't remember names for shit."

He turned his head back to the tough girl as he gave her a tired glare. "Listen Buttercup, just because your cute and tough doesn't mean I give a damn. Like I said we have no idea what's going on. And we'll probably never know until we all wake up. Now for the love of god someone wake up the damn Orange Crayon! He's the last one asleep."

 

[Fire Mana]

"You guys want him awake?"

Parker stood up slowly, slipping a small metal item out of his sleeve. He approached the boy sleeping on the couch with a smug grin on his face. The boy looked rather peaceful sleeping there on the red cushions... It would be a shame if had to be awoken by chaos. Not like he wouldn't find chaos after he woke up anyway.

"I can wake him up, I guess~"

He dragged his index finger over six white dots carved into the black metal before opening the object with a flick of his wrist. A small flame danced from the center of the lighter, the light now illuminating his face in a grim, shadowy expression. He tipped the flame onto the boys shirt, letting the cloth catch fire before taking a few steps back to watch everything unfold.

 

[Riverrunner]

"That's a really bad i- okay he's going for it. No, don't, no!"

Not being able to stop Parker from lighting someone on fire, Honoka sprang into action the best she could, wrapping her leather apron around her hand and pressing it to Ryuu's smouldering shirt in an attempt to suffocate the flame. Thankfully, it was successful—whatever he was wearing didn't seem to burn very well. Regardless, this didn't seem to go over well with Honoka, who turned to Parker with a glare.

"We're in an enclosed room, dumbass! As in: there's no ventilation. If he'd gone up like a torch then—surprise—we'd all be suffocating in the resultant smoke."

She turned away, re-adjusting her apron and taking a look at the boy. "Alright, I'm calling bullshit on this. There's absolutely no way that this kid…"

Sure enough, Ryuu barely showed any signs of life despite the sizeable scorch hole near the bottom of his shirt.

Honoka nudged his shoulder (although she realised that probably wasn't going to do anything after having his shirt set aflame had no affect) "Wake your ass up before someone else has the brilliant idea of mauling you."

No response.

"Y'know what, this isn't my problem. Whoever this headmaster guy is, it's their problem if they want scorch mark over here to be ready. As a side note, I'm changing my answer from earlier. I definitely want to know if someone in here is the super high school level pyromaniac," she shot one more glare at Parker before once again turning to the crowd. "I'm Honoka Kurosawa, Ultimate taxidermist," she frowned for a moment. "That most likely makes me sound like more of a threat, but at the very least I would put it beyond me to set another student on fire."

 

[Crimson Sun]

Seeing as there was no one posing a threat to her, Jane relax. Upon request of the stranger, the stranger asks for medication dealing with their sleep. Jane dug into her satchel and pulled out a brown-wrapper candy. "Not a pill, but a candy," Jane said monotonously, her medic side coming out as her soldier persona eased. "It's a candy for caffeine, should keep you up, unless you want a shot instead." The combat medic throw the candy towards the male in an arc to allow him to catch it easier. Seeing as they were stuck here, Jane decided to investigate a bit. "Who are you guys and where are we?" Jane asked bluntly, tightening the strap on her black finger-less gloves. Jane started walking around examining the walls or anything to let them out.

As for Nathaniel, he took offense to what the girl with the knife said. "I have a name you know," Nathan whined. "It's Nathan, woman with the knife." But he still put his fists down, calming down, but still feeling the tension in the air. "But what she said, where exactly are we. I got a flight to the Himalayan Mountains soon, so I don't really have time for chit chat."

 

[Generation Sect]

Jason simply continued to stand in his corner of residence, either glancing upwards to an ongoing event or scribbling on his notepad.
His eye was caught by the girl who seemed to be now attempting to take charge of the situation, despite showing disdain at first.
“Taxidermist? Well I suppose that is no stranger than my talent. But from what you’re all saying, and from the message, you’re fellow students too... which is strange, as I have no recollection of any of you.”
He lowered his notepad, sliding it inbetween his left arm.
“Jason Vellance. Ultimate Therapist.”

 

[Retro Master]

So much for no violence, Joseph could only watch as Mr. Whiskey had the bright idea of lighting Orange Crayon on fire to wake him up. All doubts of the fire being fake went out the window when the shirt actually started to burn. These people were all crazy as far as Joseph was concerned. Well most of them. Twitch, or rather Percy, had come up with a decent idea. If they were going to be trapped together, then they might as well introduce themselves.

Joseph reached into his pockets, pulled out his signature sunglasses and put them on before he spoke up. “Well I’m Joseph Mayne, Ultimate Actor. Other than that fire and those weapons, I’m pretty sure everything else is part of the set. Like it’s been a few minutes and this ‘Headmaster’ hasn’t even arrived. If this was really serious, I think he would be here by now. Like who would let their hostages try to fight each other?!”

 

[The Kitsune]

"Scheisse! die Hölle machst du?!" Close enough to smell the burning fabric, Hoshi couldn't hold back the swear words or the immediate instinct to react when Parker set the boy ablaze. She was on her feet, all thoughts of remaining inconspicuous forgotten as she lunged forward. But before she could reach the boy, another girl got to him first.

Resolved to watch as the girl put out the flames, Hoshi hovered beside the couch, where her urgent steps had carried her. Her eyed lingered on the boy who had set the flame, torn between shock and fear at his malicious actions. Her eyes widened in further bafflement as the rescuer announced herself to be a Taxidermist, and she found herself taking an unconscious step back. Who the hell were these people? This was supposed to be a school, wasn't it?

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon sighed in relief as he caught the candy. "Thank you Nurse." As he ate the candy, Paeon felt his body wake up. "Ho boy! That's just what I needed!"

Standing up, Paeon turned towards the lady who gave him the candy. "Well Nurse, I'm Paeon Kanetsu. The Ultimate Film Editor. Well... Film Editor/Producer/Director/Any aspect of film minus acting. Over there is Starboy, we got Twitchy right there, Ice Queen is the Taxidermist, Punchymcgee seems to have missed his flight, Buttercup is over there being cute and tough, Mr. Whisky was the one who lit the Orange Crayon on fire, Quiet Girl is in the corner who spoke a language I don't know, Slowpoke seems to be waking up, Mumbles is the therapist and Robin Hood has the bow and arrow."

Stopping, Paeon turned to the others. "By the way, those are your names now for me. Anyways..." As he turned towards the therapist Paeon shrugged. "I'm pretty sure none of us know each other. The only people that could maybe be me and Starboy over there. Now..."

Paeon then started walking over to the sleeping crayon before... *slap* *slap* ...repeatedly slapping him. "Wake up!"

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Ralph blinked, watching as his fellow student was lit ablaze by the woman with a knife, the same one that seemed intuative on the situation at hand. He didn’t have any expression on his face, simply blinking at the scene before him.

“This...isn’t how we prepare for battle.” He said simply, a woman with an apron thankfully putting out the fire. “So, currently we have the Ultimate therapist, ultimate actor, ultimate Movie editor, and ultimate taxidermist. And context clues would suggest that the one speaking in different languages has some ability with language.”

Ralph looked at one woman in particular, Jane. He actually showed interest, which was the first expression he has shown yet. His eyes went into focus as he walked over to her.

“You are Jane Park, I am sure of it. The same one that had shown medical prowess on the battlefield in the Middle East. You are famously good. I am glad you are with our survival party, I am Ralph Yuno, Ultimate archer. I feel honored to know you.”


Percy turned grey all over, including his clothes in a shocked, anime like fashion. He had been completely shrugged off! His mouth was agape for several seconds, long enough to hear paeon’s talent. His color gained back as well as his composure. His fists balled up as he scoffed back to the movie editor

“I have you know! Several of my drawing and sketches have premiered in many of movies! Have you seen any crime movies lately? Heist movies? Whenever they show a sketch of the criminals, 9/10’s of the time, that’s me! Don’t just shrug me off like some nobody!”

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon stopped slapping the still asleep crayon before he turned towards the drawer. "Listen Twitchy, I haven't heard of you before. I focus on getting the perfect shots for my films. As for pictures, I know I've never hired you."

Paeon then turned his head towards the Archer. "And you... it the Ultimate FILM Editor. Not Movie Editor. A Movie focuses only features of large length. Film is a broader spectrum of feature-length films or even short films. So I take my talent with pride thank you very much."

...And with that, Paeon returned to slapping the crayon awake.

 

[Riverrunner]

"Alright, calm down folks! Is everyone up and acquainted? You'd better be!"

An almost cartoonishly high pitched voice screeched through the outdated intercoms, echoing around the steel room. "This is the moment you've aaaallllllll been waiting for. Introducing: your Headmaster…"

A puff of mist obscured the far wall of the room with a quiet hiss, soon followed by the cheery ding of… an elevator? That was definitely an elevator, but where was it?

As the mist began to clear, the screen that had previously been displaying the message cut off abruptly, before splitting in two. The halves slid back into the metallic walls, revealing what appeared to be a teddy bear standing inside. Sort of a teddy bear, at least. Its left side (at least from your perspective) was a pristine white, with a face that is about what you'd expect to see from a stuffed animal. It could almost be described as 'friendly,' if not for the bear's other half. Its right side was pitch black, with a wickedly glowing red eye and a devious sharp-toothed grin.

The bear slid out of the elevator, skidding to a halt in front of the students in a perfect side split, arms raised dramatically towards the ceiling.

"Monokuma!"

Almost immediately, 'Monokuma' dropped his act, standing to his feet and shivering in an overly-exaggerated manner. "Hey! Which one of you rugrats got the bright idea to shut off the heater in here! I'm paying for that stuff by the month, you know!" He grumbled something incomprehensible under his breath, before shrugging off the issue as if it were nothing. "Ah, whatever. Not a problem for me. Not until the bills come, at least." He reached behind his back, pulling out a bear-sized parka and slipping it on. Where did it come from? A back panel? A strategically placed hidden coat hanger? Hammerspace? Who knows. Honestly, that probably wasn't the best question to be asking.

"Everyone's up then?" His eyes immediately darted to Ryuu, who was still snoring softly despite the commotion. "Eh... guess not. Hey, wait, which one of you's put him on the couch?" Monokuma gently nudged Paeon out of the way before grabbing Ryuu by the shirt sleeve, forcibly pulling him to the floor. "There we go, fair's fair. Builds atmosphere, y'know?"

He waved a paw at Ryuu, who was only barely beginning to stir despite having been set on fire, slapped, and unceremoniously slammed to the ground. "Oh well, that's what I get for double dosing the kid. There's no way I'm doing this dramatic entrance again. Seriously, do you know how hard it is to get these machines to run in here? Everything just keeps freezing over! Someone else is just gonna have to bring sleepyhead up to speed."

"Anyway, as you've all probably figured out by now, you're all locked in here! No exits, no entrances, no windows, nothin'! There's a few rooms beyond the common room on this floor, but that's about it. You guys can't access the elevator either, so don't get any ideas."

Monokuma shifted his position, gazing at the students menacingly with his glowing red eye. "Now I know what you kids are thinkin' and I'll get it out of the way before you say it," he put his hands to his face as if he were about to cry, mockingly speaking in a childish tone. "B-but mister Monokuma, d-do we have to s-s-spend our entire lives here with these weirdos?" His voice abruptly returned to normal, as did his demeanour. "Well I'm glad you asked! There's only one way you get out of these walls, and that's good old fashioned murder!" He pulled a remote out of his parka pocket, pressing a button that caused the screen/doors behind him to briefly flicker before bursting into static. "Dumb... piece of junk…" he grumbled, jabbing at more buttons before the screen settled onto a display with sixteen blank lines. "There we–nope, that's not it!" He fiddled with the device for a few seconds longer before the student roster glowed proudly on the monitor:

1. Percy Van Pertrigue
2. ‘Ralphie’ Yuno
3. Nathaniel Bonanno
4. Jane Park
5. Jason Vellance
6. Parker Bell
7. Paeon Kanetsu
8. Ophelia Morales
9. Hoshi Takeda
10. Arata Ichirou
11. Joseph Mayne
12. Ryuu Tachibana
13. Honoka Kurosawa

"Ah, that's what happens when you get these things secondhand. Stupid canonical student counts plaguing my technology's default settings." He muttered under his breath.

"Anyhow, get away with homicide twice and you're free to go! You've got twelve targets to choose from, and the methods of doing so are practically limitless!"

He paused, awaiting any student reactions.

"Any questions?"

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Ralph blinked twice, seeing monokuma enter. ...was he serious? First off, a talking teddy bear was odd enough as it was, but he had seen weirder tactics used against him before. As Monokuma announced his ‘killing game’, committing homicide twice and getting away with it, he gave Monokuma his natural blank expression, shooting an arrow almost instinctively at the head of the bear

“...then let’s start with you.”


What. The. Flying. Frick?!?. Percy couldn’t register what he was seeing. He HAD to be drunk. Locked in a room with strangers, a walking talking teddy bear, killing people because a bear told him too? This was all too much to comprehend! Nope! Not possible! He was shockingly quiet, not even finding the words to express himself

 

[_obsequious]

Now, she admitted that it wasn’t very nice of her to laugh as Whiskey literally set an unconscious boy into flames, but hey. She couldn’t help it. This brief moment of amusement was, however, cut short by the boy with the nicknames. Cringing audibly at Paeon, Ophi turned to him, arms crossed, her brow furrowed and her lips pursed, an evident shade of pink on her face.
“Can you stop with that?” She snapped, her gaze hardening.
Turning her attention to the group as they introduced herself, she huffed quietly.
“Nicole Anderson. Ultimate Detective.”

Admittedly a lie, but how would these kids know? The name of her skank mother and a random Ultimate, they shouldn’t care anyways. It wasn’t wise to go around giving her information to anyone who asked, regardless of how dire this situation seemed. A ding of an elevator seemed to snap her out of her thoughts, and her head snapped up to find the source of the sound, only for an appalled look to cross her face as a life-sized teddy bear stepped into the room to join them. She tuned in with a silent look of distaste as the bear, dubbed as Monokuma, explained that they weren’t allowed to leave.
Or, in fact, they could.

Her brow raised suspiciously as the teddy bear mentioned straight up murder, a disbelieving scoff forcing its way out of her mouth. She watched as the screen changed to a list of their names, finding herself at eight and swearing softly.
“Busted. Thanks for blowing my cover...”

Feeling panicked although too stubborn to ever admit it, Ophi looked around with her muscles tense to study the people around her. Accepting her fate (if this wasn’t a joke as she presumed), she slowly began picking out targets, making mental notes of who to stay away from, easy targets.. the basics.

She blinked as Arrowhead shot at Teddy, taken aback by the suddenness of everything. She didn’t find it particularly wise to attack the being who supposedly had control around here, but.. it really wasn’t up to her, now was it?

 

[Fire Mana]

"Listen, I'm not gonna tell you what my talent it.... but it's definitely not that." Parker said as the woman who introduced herself as Honoka gave him a sharp, commanding glare.

He slipped his lighter back into his sleeve and cracked his knuckles, however the sound of his knuckles was masked by the ding of an elevator and the hiss of smoke. An intercom was heard announcing the arrival of the headmaster in a voice that could only have come from a cheesy Saturday morning comedy anime. Parker watched on with a blank face as Monokuma introduced himself.

"There's something you don't see everyday... maybe I'm still drunk..." He whispered to himself.

The, uh, bear? said something about the heating in the room before slipping on a bear-sized parka and slamming the kid he had lit on fire into the ground.

"Woah! I like the bear already!" Parker said with a slight chuckle as Ryuu impacted the ground, he was a believer in equal treatment after all.

He listened even more intently when Monokuma began to talk about how to get out of this "Stronghold". He was a little shocked when it turned out the key to escaping was murder, but hey, what're you gonna do about it? It's not like he hadn't hurt and killed others before, wouldn't be any different now that he was trapped with them.

 

[Retro Master]

This had to be for some movie. A talking teddy bear placing them in a killing game would’ve sounded ridiculous if it was real. In fact, perhaps Joseph himself was the one going off script. Even Robin Hood seemed to be following along after he shot an arrow at Monokuma’s head. ‘He’s a main character, obviously their not going to kill the bear off this early.’

Hesitantly, Joseph raised his right hand in the air, hoping Monokuma would answer him after he dealt with the arrow. “Uh, I have two questions. First, are you actually the Headmaster? No offense, but I find it hard to believe a teddy bear is calling the shots around here. Second, can you clarify a bit more. Like do we just murder someone without being caught or is there more too it?” Believing this was all an act, murder was a common trait in horror films. Being an actor in a horror show, Joseph expected that he would have to get his hands dirty. As an actor, it was his job to play the role perfectly.