Private/Closed Cold Steel

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon stared at Buttercup before he gave a blunt. "No. I speak the truth about you being cute and tough and that's it." However, it didn't last long before a black and white bear named Monokuma appeared.

Paeon looked confused as Monokuma nudged him out of the way. "What the fuck?"

Looking at the list of names, he counted in his head.

1. Percy Van Pertrigue =Twitchy
2. ‘Ralphie’ Yuno = Robin Hood
3. Nathaniel Bonanno = Punchymcgee
4. Jane Park = Nurse
5. Jason Vellance = Mumbles
6. Parker Bell = Mr. Whiskey
7. Paeon Kanetsu = Your's truly
8. Ophelia Morales = Buttercup
9. Hoshi Takeda = Quiet Girl
10. Arata Ichirou = Slowpoke
11. Joseph Mayne = Starboy
12. Ryuu Tachibana = Orange Crayon
13. Honoka Kurosawa = Ice Queen
14. Monokuma = Yogi

When Paeon listened to the teddy bear go on about a killing game, he was confused. "Why does this seem like a plot to a murder mystery movie?" But, after Robin Hood shot his arrow at the bear, he cringed. "Hey, Robin Hood... I don't think shooting Yogi may be the best option."

 

[Generation Sect]

“... I know the bear is promising a lot, and this situation is strange, but may I suggest we all hold taking any action until we’re all calm and operating logically?”
Jason took a step from his corner towards the group, holding his notepad up over his chest.

 

[The Kitsune]

And with the sound of hissing machinery and the ding of an elevator, the world stopped making sense...

Between the life-sized monochrome teddy bear slamming students aroung, 'Robin Hood' shooting a arrow without hesitation at their new 'headmaster's' head, and the subject of murder tossed around as casually as a beach ball, she needed to sit down. Watching the bizarre scene unfold around her, Hoshi sank onto the newly vacated couch in utter disbelief. And what her alarmed her most was that no one else seemed shaken by this turn of events. On the contrary, some were already casting malicious eyes around at their fellow students as if picking out their victims. Hoshi intentionally looked away as her eyes briefly met the girl's who had declared herself a detective.

Only the glowing list of names on the screen with her own name right there among the rest brought any measure of calm to her racing heart. 13 names. 12 potential killers, and unarmed and unassuming as she was, she would surely be high on some peoples list; Miss Detective's cruel stare confirmed that much. So what was she supposed to do? She had no weapons with which to kil- NO, No, no. Get off that train of thought. I didn't come here to kill anyone! But if she wasn't going to kill, and she didn't want to be killed, what options did that leave her? Hoshi dropped her head into her hands, overwhelmed with her thoughts.

... ... ... Her eyes drifted slowly to the screen and the hidden elevator still behind it. Escape. He had said it was impossible, but they'd said the same thing about tampering with the school main frame. If the bear had brought them in here, that meant there must be a way out. Her mind was suddenly focused, consumed with purpose as she considered the tech potentially standing in her way. She could see no buttons or controls on the wall by the doors, which left only the device still in Monokuma's paw. If it controlled the TV screen, there was a good chance it controlled the elevator too.

 

[Crimson Sun]

Jane and Nathan both watched in awe, both the black and white teddy bear and the big screen above. Thirteen names, twelve possible murderers, only one leaves. The info shocked both people, more so Nathan than Jane. Nathan was quivering. He was too scared to do anything right now. It wouldn't be surprising that the kid would burst out crying right now. he had much to live for. His family, friends, more of the world to traverse. Nathan looked around at the rest of the 'victims' to see for any potential murderers, or if he's desperate, victims. Not that he would go there, would he? He's definitely will fight to survive in this area if he had to.

Jane, on the other hand, looked calm. The most emotion she showed was the widening of her eyes in surprise. But in war, it had taught her to expect the unexpected. She went through much worse in war, this bloodbath in the area doesn't faze her much. She had friends and family die in front her eyes. These people are just mere strangers. Not that she would kill them though, as that would go against her military code. Her role as Combat Medic is to kill only if necessary. Jane isn't fazed about her potential death either. Death is nothing to her. Whether she be the victim or the murderer, good luck to whoever against this soldier

 

[Riverrunner]

Monokuma sidestepped the arrow in the nick of time, the arrowhead cutting through his parka hood and bouncing off the screen with a resounding tink. "Hey! I asked for questions, not arrows to the head! Good thing I haven't handed you lot your handbooks yet, or you'd be dead meat!" He crossed his arms in a pout, although it was tough to tell whether he was angry or not with the smile stretching across the right side of his face. "Just for that, I'm keeping you guys in here a while longer! The doors to the rest of the floor won't open for another hour!"

“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 to it?”

"See, this is what I'm looking for! At least one of you'se has the right idea." Monokuma yanked the arrow out from his parka hood, several scraps of fabric falling to the ground in the process. "First off, none taken, only because you asked so politely," between the cartoony voice and the hand gestures, it was difficult to tell whether he was being genuine or not. "Of course I'm the Headmaster; and I'm no teddy bear, I'm Monokuma! I'm in charge of you kids, fluffy exterior or not." He tossed the arrow across the floor, muttering something about confiscation of weapons before turning back to Joseph. "As for your next question, of course there's more to it! As much as I'd love to see you youngsters running around committing murder willy-nilly, there's got to be some sort of system to it," he put the remote back into his pocket, pulling out a small stack of notecards. "After each murder, the investigation will commence! You guys will have some time to poke around before everyone is called to a class trial. Use any evidence you can to try and spot the culprit. Once the debate is over, we'll take a class vote: whoever receives the most votes is punished!" He flipped to the next card. "If you can manage to deflect the blame away from yourself twice, then you're free to go!"

———
Meanwhile, Honoka was still reeling from the information given to her.

She took a deep breath, trying her best to remain calm. Was this real? Probably not. Unfortunately, there was always the chance that someone else might think it was genuine. She shoved her hands in her apron pocket, taking a moment to mull it over before speaking.

"Let's be honest, this is probably just a prank. However, we need to treat it like it isn't so no one gets stabbed in the chest."

———
Finally, Ryuu had begun to stir. His eyes blinked slowly open, and immediately he let out a barely audible groan. His entire body ached—his ribcage especially—and his face stung like mad. Not to mention the sore spot on his stomach, which he immediately recognised as a burn wound. What had happened while he was out? Why was he in so much pain? Quite frankly, he didn't have the energy to ask any of those questions. He barely had the energy to keep his eyes open.

Colourful blurs moved in and out of his vision. Purple, red, black, green; he counted mentally, attempting to dispel the fog from his brain. Where was he? Moments ago, he had been walking into Hope's Peak, but this… wasn't? What? What was happening? Why did everything hurt? Why was it so warm?

Ryuu continued lying prone on the floor, attempting to scrabble his way back to consciousness.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“...it has seemed that I missed. But I don’t think I won’t do so again.”

He drew one arrow after another, firing several at the bear, his expertise as the ultimate archer allowing him extreme accuracy with his shots. He wasn’t going to let his affirmed imprisoner here just let to do their deeds. No matter their size or cartoonish exterior. He was going to get them out of there. His team, and his comrades at arms.


Percy was baffled at Monokuma, walking, talking and declaring himself their headmaster? What in blazes was going on? A murder game? All of this was overwhelming.

"Let's be honest, this is probably just a prank. However, we need to treat it like it isn't so no one gets stabbed in the chest." Honoka spoke.

“R-right...that. Let’s not get too carried away here! I mean, a teddy bear being the headmaster? Come on, that’s like a super cheesy manga level stuff. You can’t be so fooled, right? JESUS CHRIST ARE YOU FIRING MORE ARROWS?!?”

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon sighed as he walked over to Robin Hood and... *SMACK* ...smacked the back of his head. "For god sakes Robin, calm down! Look, this is a crappy situation... I mean, we're suddenly enemies or something? That's not the main problem."

Paeon turned towards Monokuma as he gave him an uncharacteristic glare. "Listen here Yogi, I have only two questions. I've worked on enough murder mystery films to know what could happen. So here they are..."

"Question 1, Why did you bring here for this game? And Question 2... What do you have that'll push us towards murder? Because you obviously didn't expect us to kill without a motive... right?"

 

[Retro Master]

Joseph ran his hand through his hair, still finding everything a bit difficult too process. This was definitely horror mixed with a type of murder mystery. ‘So basically we gather up the evidence and go to court. We’re the the judge and jury while he’s the executioner.’ The actor shrugged, believing it was an interesting idea too get viewers hooked. But if this movie, show, or whatever it was wanted to succeed, it depended on if the cast played their parts correctly. Joseph didn’t know about everyone else but being the Ultimate Actor, he would play his part the best he could.

Understanding his role now, Joseph stood back too give the others a chance too speak. He chuckled lightly as he watched ‘Robin Hood’ fire off continuous arrows at the little bear. Joseph couldn’t help but have a little doubt that the bear was the actual ‘Headmaster’. Then again, it was probably a mystery that would be saved for later on. Giving away such a surprise this early would ruin the suspense and that would just ruin everything. As for now, considering there was no script, Joseph would have to do some improvising to keep up his act.

“You know ‘Robin Hood’, you may want to save some of those arrows for later... if you get what I’m saying.” Though a part of Joseph was worried to see what would happen if one of the arrows actually struck Monokuma, it would also be interesting to see if the ‘Headmaster’ would punish anyone trying to defy his orders. Unsurprisingly, the only other person who, from Joseph’s perspective, seemed to understand the situation was the Ultimate Film Editor. Like Joseph, Paeon had seemingly worked on enough films to catch the drift and ask the right questions. The actor looked back at the bear, also wanting to know the answers. Though they were the actors, without an actual script, they would have to solve this mystery somehow.

 

[Riverrunner]

Monokuma turned to face Paeon. "Location, well y'see–"

He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before the first arrow stuck him square in the chest. "Alright, which one of you chumps-"
The second shattered his normal eye, piercing straight though his head, metal wiring and stuffing sticking out of the wound.

Monokuma slumped lifelessly to the ground.

Despite the fact that he was down for the count, the arrows kept coming. One through the leg. One through the stomach. One through the elbow. One through the snout. Arrow upon arrow was fired into the bear's limp form with deadly accuracy until he resembled an enlarged pincushion. Normally, this would've been a bloodbath, but luckily, Monokuma was simply plush and metal as opposed to flesh and blood.

Finally, the arrows stopped coming.

Silence.

"RULE NUMBER FOUR VIOLATED."

"TRANSGRESSOR: RALPH YUNO."

Monokuma's red eye, somehow unharmed by the barrage, began to glow like a signal beacon. The voice that came from his lifeless, stuffed-animal corpse contained no traces of its former cartoonish tone, nor did it seem to contain any emotion at all. It was far more…mechanical, almost as if the voice originated from a completely different source. Whatever it was, this was no longer Monokuma speaking as he was before.

"FIRST OVERALL TRANSGRESSION = YES."

"INITIATING 'VERBAL WARNING' PROTOCOL."

The red light from his eye abruptly cut off.

Silence.

The metallic floor panels around Ralphie began to shudder and shift with a ear-grating screech. Between the cracks shot several steel cables, one of which aimed to slap the bow out of Ralphie's hands, the rest coiling around his limbs like a nest of anacondas. At last, a single polished blade rocketed out from between the panels, directed straight towards the archer's leg.

Regardless of whether his trap had worked or not, Monokuma's body seemed to have—somewhat ironically—outlived it's usage. It immediately collapsed into a pile of scrap and stuffing, the multitudinous arrows having shattered several of his steel joints and torn him apart at the seams.

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon stared as the arrows hit the Monokuma. "Really Robin Hood? Really!? Now we won't get any answe-"

"RULE NUMBER FOUR VIOLATED."

"TRANSGRESSOR: RALPH YUNO."

"...Oh shit... I think you f*cked up Robin Hood..."

"FIRST OVERALL TRANSGRESSION = YES."

"INITIATING 'VERBAL WARNING' PROTOCOL."

Paeon watched in horror as cables wrapped themselves around the archer. However, Paeon gained a real startle as the blade rocketed out towards the archer. "HOLY SH*T!!"

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Ralph felt a tinge if satisfaction as the bear collapsed into scrap metal. It had seemed that they were a step closer from leaving this place...until....

"RULE NUMBER FOUR VIOLATED."

"TRANSGRESSOR: RALPH YUNO."

The floor below him began to give way, cables erupting from it, flailing out toward him like a den is snakes. One of them batted his bow away, another coiling around his wrist and hand. His eyes widened, before going back to his neutral expression, trying to affirm his resolve. With his hand and wrist coiled around, he used this leverage to jump up, maneuvering in a roatation, like the coils were bars in gymnastics to avoid the other coils. Despite him moving quite agile like from his original position, a blade was shot out from the ground, missing most of him, but slashing a thin scrape against his cheek before pinning itself on the ceiling.

A few beads of blood tricked down his cheek, his left hand immobilized by the coils. He had not expected the ground to be trapped this way. It had seemed their keepers had rigged this place in more ways than one. Grabbing an sorrow from his pouch with his right hand, he dug it into the coils containing him, forcefully ripping them from him. He fell to his feet, whipping his head up to see the bears shattered remains.

“Hmph...you may ridicule me. But I show results. Now, with this bear dead let’s see if we can rig this elevator. Judging by the list however none of us are the ultimate engineer. This may prove difficult...”


It had seemed Ralph was already onto the next part of his plan, without skipping a beat. Percy let out a yell when the coils had erupted from the ground, and even more so when a blade did as well. Could...ANY of the floors be just as rigged? Could he be standing on a forest of coils too?!?

Percy’s eyes speratically searvhed the ground for any signs of blades, which seemed impossible seeing how flush they were to the ground. Percy’s worries however slightly calmed as he saw the bear cave in on itself, shattered into pieces.

“Is...is it over? Did we win?”

 

[RhythmThief]

Arata sat, his mouth agape, and his mind racing with all kinds of different thoughts. A lot had happened in the last 5 minutes or so. Monochrome, mechanical, talking teddy bears, bows and arrows, coils and blades... At this point, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Filled with a mixture of denial. adrenaline, and shock, he came to the one conclusion that most people would, in a situation like this.

"...I must still be asleep! Yes, that's it! This is all a bad dream!! A night-terror! Just a mischievous pixie playing a prank on me!!" He exclaimed, now cackling like a mad-man, rising from the sitting position he was in while everything took place. He raised one hand toward his right cheek, and pinched it hard.

....

"Why aren't you all going away? Fading like a distant memory of a different life? Sinking into the ground like a lost soul in the River Styx? Why...." He said, this time in a much more sorrowful tone, slowly sinking back onto the floor.

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon sighed as he turned to the archer. "You idiot... didn't you guys here the announcement... That was the rule number 4 violated. Not to mention your first transgression." Paeon then got into a thinking pose as he thought aloud. "So currently, that means there are rules we need to follow that haven't been shown to us yet and if we keep breaking them, bad stuff's going to happen. Which means that we probably need to WAIT & LISTEN and NOT KILL god damn Yogi! I know I can't do sh*t to the bear so I wanted information..."

Paeon then decided to be the bearer of bad news. "Think about it... It's a stuffed bear... Do you really think there'd be only one?"

 

[The Kitsune]

As the rain of arrows finally ceased and their supposed headmaster lay by all appearances dead on the ground, Hoshi thought her chance had come. Sliding off the couch into a clumsy-looking crouch, she crept forward, arm extended toward the device pinned beneath Monokuna's tattered arm. She'd made it only a few steps when the mechanical voice shattered the silence and she recoiled her hand in alarm.

"RULE NUMBER FOUR VIOLATED."

"TRANSGRESSOR: RALPH YUNO."

Hoshi's eyes darted to the archer, 'Ralph', as he ground beneath him split and chaos ensued. She had no instinct telling her to intervene this time, not against mechanical coils and spinning blades, so she could only watch in horror as the room itself tried to cull one of their numbers. With an impressive reaction speed and sheer luck, Ralph freed himself unharmed...or mostly so as blood dripped from a thin gash across this cheek. As the recovered archer voiced her own thoughts about the elevator, the impulse to move stirred her forward again, albeit more cautiously this time.

With unsteady hands she coaxed the device our from under the bear, touching the stuffed headmaster as little as possible. Taking a precautionary step back, she held the device gingerly. There were only a few buttons and no symbols to indicate what each might do, and considering how dangerous the very floor had proven itself to be she wasn't eager to begin experimenting blindly. She looked skeptically at the people closest to her. "Did anyone see which button the bear pushed on this?" She asked, looking pointedly between the remote and the screen still displaying their names and numbers.

 

[Riverrunner]

The cables slithered back beneath the metal panelling, the now-bloodied blade sheathing back into the floor with a metallic shing. With a few swift clicks, the panels seamlessly slid back into their proper place. If not for the blood dripping down Ralphie's cheek and the bow on the floor, it could almost be brushed off as not having happened at all.

Monokuma didn't seem to look as if he was going to start moving anytime soon, but then again, neither did the screen obscuring the elevator doors. Judging by the barrage of arrows shot mercilessly into the headmaster, it was by sheer luck that the remote was (probably) completely intact, and whatever technology had been keeping the cables hidden under the floor was also evidentially keeping the two halves of the monitor sealed together. It might still be worth a shot, however. Quite frankly, there was no real way of knowing how this place ran.

———
"What. Just. Happened."

Despite not being one to typically lose her composure, a look of distress was clearly visible on Honoka's face. One moment arrows had been soaring across the room, and in the next, the archer had been detained and slashed across the cheek by machines that had been signalled by a disembodied voice. The Headmaster was dead, or at least in some kind of inactive state, and they had already managed to break some kind of rule that hadn't yet been provided to them.

Wait…
The remote. No one is guarding it.

Honoka started over to grab it, but evidentially another student had the same idea. Much to her dismay, none of the buttons were labelled on the half black, half white device. For all she knew, any of them could activate those machines once more. "No, I didn't see what he pushed. In fact, I wouldn't touch anything. It's possible that the remote just controls what's on the display, but it's also possible that the remote controls all aspects of the facility—including the weapons beneath the floor." She gestured to Ralphie. "Whatever aimed for him was a near miss, not to mention that it said something about that just being a verbal warning. Chances are that we won't be so lucky next time."

——
The mechanical voice was enough to snap Ryuu back to consciousness. A hazy consciousness, yes, but anything was better than continuing to remain asleep. He groggily shuffled to his feet, leaning one arm on the couch. Almost immediately, he was overcome with nauseousness, a headache throbbing in his skull.

"I… hello?" Ryuu croaked out, having no knowledge of the fact that there were much more important things happening around him than comparatively trivial introductions.

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon turned to the now awake crayon and sighed. "Well good morning Orange Crayon, name's Paeon." Paeon then pointed to each individual person. "The others are Starboy, Robin Hood, Twitchy, Slowpoke, Nurse, Punchymcgee, Ice Queen, Buttercup, Mumbles, Quiet Girl, Mr. Whiskey and the dead psycho bear is Yogi. As for why we're here, we have no idea but apparently, we're in a killing game. But Robin Hood nearly got punished for killing Yogi and now we have a remote that we have no idea how to use."

Paeon then sighed as he slapped the boy on the back. "So Crayon, welcome to the gong show because I'm pretty sure we're still screwed."

 

[The Kitsune]

"I agree..." Hoshi conceded as Honoka voiced her thoughts. Cautiously turning the device on its side, she ran a finger over the tiny crease seperating the remotes back and front panel. "But if the chatterbox is right," she inclined her head toward Paeon without taking her eyes off the device. "We don't have the luxury of time. If another bear appears, we'll have missed our chance."

Biting her bottom lip in concentration, she slid a finger nail into the gap and gently pried the device apart. Though it took significant effort , the seal relented and the halves split apart. She cradled them in either palm, fragile wires stretched precariously between either side as she examined the interior with exceptional care. The circuit board inside looked average enough but there were miniscule devices connected here and there that she didn't recognize. ...Coding was one thing, but these physical components were not her forte.

 

[Riverrunner]

Luckily, the remote did nothing upon being opened. Apparently either Monokuma hadn't counted on it being stolen, and thus hadn't added any security measures, it was a decoy, or simply wasn't connected to anything deadly.

The remote's interior was fairly standard; similar to what one would see had they decided to open up their own television remote and prod around the circuitry. However, it appears that a bunch of the wires connecting the buttons to the circuit board had been forcibly ripped out, only tiny shreds of copper wiring remaining. In fact, only two buttons seem to be connected to anything at all. At least that makes knowing which buttons can pushed a bit easier.

The only real oddity was a tiny, crumpled up piece of paper within the remote. Admittedly, it didn't look too important, but at this point any lead is probably a good lead.

Honoka reached out for the piece of paper, gently unfolding it in her hands. "I can't understand this at all." She flipped the note upside-down. Nothing. Frowning, she placed it back amongst the frayed wiring. "You spoke a foreign language earlier, correct? You may be able to read this, I have absolutely no idea what it says."

———
"Orange… crayon? Me? What?" Ryuu looked directly at Paeon with a distant, confused expression. "They have… weird names. Are we using… uhh… special agent aliases or something? Psycho bear? Is that another code for something?" He paused for a moment, blinking slowly. "Am I asking too many questions? I feel like I just got run over by a bus or something… A bus that also set me on fire, I think."

Ryuu shifted his stance, placing his hand on his cheek. "Ugh… my face really stings. Do you know what happened? I think I've been out for a while…"

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Ralph exhaled, hearing no other such activity from Monokuma or other such kill machines that he may have had planned. He quickly gathered his bow and holstered it on his back, darting to the control center where Monokuma had seemingly activated the trap that could have gutted him.

“Do we have a tech specialist here? We need to figure out how they activated those weapons. More importantly...someone pry open that panel! We can make tools out of those materials down there. If we are lucky we could find a conduit out.”

Trying to gather his ‘troops’ together, Ralphie collected his fired arrows, using one of them to try and pry open to previously open panels. Percy eyed the entire situation, putting his index finger together again, giving off a murmur or two.

“Uhhh should we really be playing with Fire here? This looks like it could lead to something bad...REALLY bad...”

 

[Fire Mana]

Parker sighed as Ralph fired numerous arrows at Monokuma. He could already tell that messing with the bear couldn't lead to anything good. Parker's instincts appeared to be correct as steel cables shot out from the floor and coiled themselves around the boy's limbs. Ralph was able to free himself though and immediately began barking orders to the rest of them.

"Listen bud," Parker started after Ralph began to collect his arrows. "I don't take orders... And normally I wouldn't care what you do, but playing with fire is going to get someone burned and I don't want that someone to be me."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Ralph managed to pry open the panel, however slightly. Revealing some coiled away mechanical ropes that had tried to snatch him up before. He gave a deep breath, looking over to Parker, who had began to question his orders and tactics.

“I have shown more results here than anyone in the room as of yet, including finding us tools as well as destroying or delaying our attackers. If you haven’t noticed, they want us dead, as evidence by the fact they want us to kill one another. Now instead of complaining you can pitch it and try to benefit the whole.”

 

[Fire Mana]

"If almost having a blade shot into you counts as results, then sure, I guess you have."

Parker leaned against the metal walls once again, flipping out his butterfly knife and twirling it around his hand and between his fingers. He pointed the blade at Ralph as, once again, barker orders at him.

"I don't know if you heard Mr. Monokuma, but the only way out of here is killing each other. Not only has the whole never done anything to help me, but helping you guys means helping the people who need to kill me and who I need to kill. I'm not too big of a fan of that idea."

 

[Retro Master]

‘Damn, Robin Hood actually killed the bear!’ It was quite a surprise to see the supposed main villain being taken out so early. However, it only took a little observation too reveal the bear was some type of machine. This further added too Joseph’s theory that there was someone else behind the scenes.

Continuing on, Joseph was a slight bit concerned that the one barking out orders was the same person who had nearly gotten himself killed. Sure ‘Robin Hood’ deserved credit for killing Monokuma, but like Mr. Whiskey and Twitchy said, playing with fire was going to get someone burned. Joseph would rather not be that person.

“Uh, I think Mr. Whiskey and Ice Queen have good points. I know everyone is probably scared for their lives but if we keep digging around, who’s too say there aren’t other traps lying around. Also, considering that thing was a machine, I think it’s safe to say the real ‘Headmaster’ is still out there. If this is anything like a murder mystery movie, as soon as someone starts understanding things they shouldn’t...” Joseph paused for a moment, a certain horror flick coming to mind. “Yeah, everyone will feel the ramifications and it won’t be pretty.”

After finishing his little warning, Joseph stretched and yawned as if everything was normal. “Then again, sitting around isn’t going to get the story moving. Just be careful with that remote. I don’t want someone to ‘accidentally’ click a button and kill me.” That was another level paranoia which concerned Joseph quite a bit. The person holding the remote could theoretically attempt to murder someone whether or not they knew what the buttons did...

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon smiled as he heard the Starboy talked about films. "As Starboy, Mr. Whiskey and Ice Queen stated, we're trapped in a difficult situation. In most murder mystery films, there are three things to remember. The first one is the game itself. Yogi stated that we're trapped... I don't know where because SOMEONE killed the bear too quickly. But the main point is that this is apparently a game. Meaning there are rules that will most likely bite us in the ass. What happens if we break a rule? We already saw that with Robin Hood, but what rule will we break next? Will we know if we break a rule? Nope... so we'd be screwed."

Paeon then walked over to the couch and sat down as he continued. "Secondly is the mastermind. Whoever the mastermind is, there must be a reason he picked us. He or she must have a connection to all of us. But, then again... Why us? Why thirteen random strangers? Is it because of our talents? Then why us and not the other Ultimates?"

Paeon then looked around with a depressed glare. "Finally... the one I'm afraid about... motives. You have something you care about right? Family? Friends? Maybe Co-workers or pets? Hell, it could be a secret, it could be money or it could be a spy. All that matters is this... If we were kidnapped to be part of a killing game... what does the bear have to push us towards it? Who's to say that those we care about will be safe once we get out."

Paeon shifted his body to have himself laid across the couch. "I don't know about you guys... but I ain't risking it. All of you are stronger than me and could most likely kill me with ease... So I ain't doing anything. Working in the film industry helps you understand these situations."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“What happens if we break a rule? We already saw that with Robin Hood, but what rule will we break next? Will we know if we break a rule? Nope... so we’d be screwed."

These words caught the automatic attention of Ralphie. He stared directly at paeon, with a cold hard look, despite his expression not changing whatsoever.

“Breaking the rules? Is that what you guys are worried about? The rules of terrorist must be broken at all cost. I survived the ramifications myself and I will continue to break as many rules as neccisary to free is from this hell hole. Compared to the alternative: killing each other, I’d say I have the best idea. You can either kill, be killed, or try to escape. What you do is your business, but I will still fight for you regardless of your wishes.”

 

[The Kitsune]

The bickering that permeated the room was little more than a distant storm to Hoshi's ears as she obsessed over the morsel of paper Honoka provided. It wasn't another language, much to her disappointment, but the handwriting was so horrendous it might as well have been. It took a couple minutes of starring at the juvenile characters before she could discern its meaning. As she finished, Hoshi looked up in thought and was surprised to see Honoka staring expectantly at her. She'd been so absorbed Hoshi had actually forgotten she was there and it took an awkward moment for her to recover.

"Oh, uh...It reads, 'Version 1.0, model one out of five, monitor display control. Authorised personnelle only. Property of Hope's Peak Academy. Please do not disable tracking protocol.'" She paused to glance over the screen and as she continued, her sentences disolved into ramblings as her thoughts began to outpace her words. "So... It controls the screen. And the bear didn-...when the floor opened...it was already...so the only thing this..."

She returned to studying the device in silence, Honoka and her environment all but forgotten again. Wires severed, here and here. Her fingers brushed the disconnected cords and lingered on the two that remained whole. So...only these two... She let the device fall back together and examine the two topmost buttons. ...are connected...

"So it's a 50 / 50 shot..." she finished with conviction, looking up at Honoka and obviously under the absurd impression that she had followed all her unspoken thoughts to the same conclusion.

 

[Riverrunner]

"It seems so…" Honoka responded, still too shaken by the current circumstances to have paid much attention to the remote at all. "It looks like whoever got their hands on this thing first didn't pay attention to the last part of the message, but…"

Honoka didn't get a chance to finish her sentence as a familiar voice barked through the intercom.

"Attention, attention! Mic check, one two three!" The statement was followed by an impressively bad shrill of feedback.

"Eh, good enough. I guess we're live here. Anyway, I know what you're all gonna say: 'Mister Monokuma, you're still alive? How are you talking if you're right there next to the elevator? Why is knock-off Legolas such an asshole?' Yadda yadda yadda. Basically, yep, I'm still alive and kicking! That being said, I'm waiting in here a little bit longer—I'd like to keep it that way for a while, otherwise I won't be able to get a word in edgewise to you kids." A few mechanical clicks echoed throughout the sealed chamber, followed by a quiet whirr as some sort of circular shelf emerged from the centre of the room. On the shelf positioned at even intervals were thirteen… tablets?

"Those are your Student Handbooks, or as I like to call them, Monopads!" He paused for a moment, as if he too highly doubted that name would ever stick. "Names aside, those contain everything you're going to need to know about this place. Floor layouts, investigation info, all the juicy information I could compile about your fellow classmates from their files at Hope's Peak. That kinda stuff. Actually, the map isn't up yet… it will be, once I let you guys have free reign of the place. But most importantly: in there are the rules you'll need if you want to make it outta here in one piece. In fact, y'know what, I'm adding a new one now!" The rapid clicking of keyboard keys sounded through the PA system, before fading into the background in leiu of Monokuma's speech. "There ya go, done! Rule number nine is officially in place; just for you, buddy."

There was a moment of silence before the bear spoke once more. "Anyhow, there's one for each of you. I'd hand them out myself, but there's no way I'm heading down there with hotshot ready to impale me like a bear-shaped pincushion. So I'd get to it!"

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon stared at the shelf as he reached for his own... Monopad and entered the rules section. And with an almost robotic yet human voice, he read the rules out loud.

1. Students may not leave the Stronghold, bar for the event that they manage to meet the requirements to leave (see regulation five)
2. Nighttime occurs between 07:00 hours and 22:00 hours. During this time, certain rooms may will locked, so it’s highly recommended you keep an eye on the time.
3. You are free to explore the Stronghold at your own discretion, under the assumption that all of the other rules outlined in the handbook are followed.
4. Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destroying integral systems such as the intercom, monitors, and locked doors.
5. If you wish to leave the school, you must murder two of your classmates without being discovered.
6. In the event of a murder, an investigation will begin immediately after the body discovery announcement is played.
7. At the end of every class trial, the student with the most votes will receive punishment, regardless of their innocence.
8. Regulations may be added as deemed necessary.
9. Floor panels—as well as the machinery located beneath—are considered one of the Stronghold’s integral systems, and as such, tampering with them will be punishable under the domain of rule four. (I’m looking at you, hotshot).

Any transgressions can and will be met with punishment as deemed necessary by Headmaster Monokuma.

Paeon sighed as he finished the rules. "There we go, Robin Hood. We now know what we can't do without dying. And I recommend following them since I personally don't want any of you idiots to die. You all seem pretty cool."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

In order to peruse more information about his enemy as well as the prison he was confined in, Ralphie got up from the floorboards as snatched a monopad quickly, flicking to the rules with little hesitation. Rule number nine caught his attention.

9: Floor panels—as well as the machinery located beneath—are considered one of the Stronghold’s integral systems, and as such, tampering with them will be punishable under the domain of rule four. (I’m looking at you, hotshot).

So that means he couldn’t keep tampering with it with the mono bear still around. If he were to break the rules he would have to do so without Monokuma figuring it out, as to avoid any potentially fatal death traps from springing up. He gritted his teeth and withdrew his arrow back into his pack.

“We will how to your wishes for now, Monokuma. But make no mistake. On the first chance I get, i will end you, your maker, and wickedness that befalls your design in a heartbeat.”


Percy quickly went over to the monopad, as well as the corpse of the first Monokuma. He was shocked to see yet another Monokuma still around on the monitor, meaning there had to be more of them stashed away somewhere. The thought was sickening. He peaked into the body of the first Monokuma, finding something rather odd...and spherical inside.

“Hm...that could be used as a good drawing tool, hard to find spheres in a place like this. Albeit from such a weird location...oh well, better not look a gift horse in the mouth.”

He snatched up the sphere and pocketed it in his bag, looking toward the monopad, studying the layout as well as the rules, both may mean the difference between life or death in the future

 

[Fire Mana]

"I don't know why you're all ready for revenge buddy." Parker addressed Ralph with a smug tone to his voice. "The bear's pretty cool, at least I think so anyway."

He flipped his butterfly knife closed and pushed himself off the wall with his foot. Walking up to the shelf that had appeared in the middle of the room. He grabbed the one marked for him, number six, and returned to the wall to read over the rules.

"Looks like some of these are directed at you hotshot." Another smug poke at Ralph. "Guess you better start following Mr. Monokuma's rules."

 

[Retro Master]

If Paeon was right about anything, it was that the film industry prepared you for these types of situations. Acting a part could almost be considered as practice for a real life scenario. In this case, Joseph had been able to cope with this madness a little better than others. That was mainly because a good part of him still believed this was all an act. Paeon’s comments about family and friends being in danger also served too add doubt to his belief. Would the person in charge actually go as far as too harm someone they cared about for the sake of the show? Joseph simply placed it as Paeon being paranoid, just as he was with the remote. Then again, those girls did seem to be getting closer too understanding its capabilities.

Before Joseph could further dwell on that topic, something completely unexpected happened. Through some loudspeaker Monokuma spoke once more, confirming the little devil was alive. It seemed ‘Robin Hood’ has done nothing but piss him off if rule number nine was anything go by. Following the man now would definitely get someone killed. Joseph nonchalantly walked up to the shelf and grabbed a handbook too check the rules out himself.

Skimming directly too rule number nine to see it for himself, Joseph lightly chuckled at the fact that it even referred to ‘Robin Hood’ specifically. ‘The bear does have a good sense of humor. I’ll give him that much.’ Scanning the rules from the bottom up, the next rule that caught his attention was number seven. “Wait, so technically if we all just vote for someone we don’t like, they’ll be punished even if they were innocent?” Joseph accidentally stated that question out loud, looking up as he realized his mistake. “Uh, good thing I’m cool with all of you, right?” He scratched the back of head and laughed nervously, worried someone must’ve taken his original question the wrong way.

 

[The Kitsune]

Hoshi jumped violently, the device nearly leaping out of her grasp, as the crackle of intercomm carried a hauntingly familiar disembodied voice. Her heart in her throat, she looked expectantly at the remains of Monokuma close at hand, half expecting him to spring back to life. With all that had happened thus far, it was hardly out of the realm of possibility... and the sudden whirr of machinery from the same area seemed to confirm her fears. But the fluffy and gears remained motionless as a circular table emerged instead. She let out a long, shaky breath as the cartoonish voice crooned on through the speakers, sounding far too cheery and alive for a dead bear.

Hoshi held her hands to her chest in an attempt to slow her racing heart, the device still in her grasp. Whether her tightened fingers had closed on the buttons in the process was unclear and she wasn't in the frame of mind to know or care.

 

[Generation Sect]

Jason had quickly picked up the “Monopad” provided by their new mechanical Headmaster and had obsessively studied it, not taking his eyes off it as he took in as much information as he could about his fellow “Students”, if that was even what they actually were.

Finally finished, his eyes darted around the room, noticing the panicking... Linguist, was it? He turned to face her direction, trying his best to remain in his usual Therapist mode, speaking as if to everyone but clearly directed at her specifically.
“Okay, let’s all try to remain calm here and assess the situation. We’re not in any direct danger, for now at the very least, as nobody could get away with murder in such a crowded room without being found out and our...”
He stopped for a second as his purple eyes panned down to the floor, only to head back up and look directly at the table, playing along with the bears game.
“Headmaster does not seem to want to harm us directly unless needed. However...”
He turned again, his eyes settling on the archer who had been very quickly dubbed “Robin Hood” after his daring attacks on the Mechanical bear.
“If we don’t play along with his game for now, even if just faking, it seems very possible that you’ll only put yourself and those around you in danger. We have too little knowledge of our situation to attempt to resist, and at the end of the day this ‘Monokuma’ is the one making the rules, and we’ve seen he can change them as he sees fit. So please, everyone... do try to stay under the radar for now, okay?”
He said those last words looking directly at Ralph, clearly a direct address, despite the tone of his words seemingly applying to everyone.

 

[_obsequious]

Interests piqued, the Hellfire leader watched on with notable curiosity as flexible steel cords shot out and grabbed the archer, but with impressive reactions and lithe mobility, it seemed he’d been able to escape otherwise unscathed, which admittedly rendered her impressed- not many would be able to maneuver like that so quickly to free themselves.

She watched on with an expressionless, blank stare as her fellow trapped students puzzled over the remote for a good moment, with them all crowded around it like moths to a flame.

Speaking of flame.. it seemed Whiskey had piped up, snapping something to Archer along the lines of “playing with fire is going to get someone burned”.
She snickered at that, barking a harsh laugh that faded into condescending giggles as she looked at him with an amused look.
“Are.. are you seriously gonna scold us about fire?” She breathed, recovering from her laugh, “Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t it you who almost made Crayon here into a candle?~”

She jerked her thumb over at Ryuu with a smirk tugging at the corner of her lip, a taunting look dancing in her eyes.

She stayed quiet from that point on, perking up as the round table made its appearance in the center of the room, displaying thirteen tablets, presumably one for each of them. She quickly crossed over from her spot on the wall to snatch her own, immediately looking through the Classmates folder.

First she selected her own, scanning over what they knew about her. It seemed minimal, to her relief, although it was made evident that she’d been lying when she mentioned being a Detective, as in bold letters it read “Gang Leader”. Shit.

Next her attention drifted to Whiskey, the gambler, and then to Ralph, the archer. Naturally she was looking through the biggest threats first, her fingers gliding across the screen with ease as she read over their names and Ultimates.

She’d have to keep an eye on that Jane Park, she noted.. she was a combat medic, so she knew the basics.. also she’d have to watch Ralphie Yuno, while he did seem like a control-freak, he knew what he was doing with a bow and proved quite agile... lastly she made a note to not let Parker Bell out of her sight; that smug little bastard had a knife, and a lighter, with him at all times, it seemed.

However, that didn’t mean the rest of the group went unwatched under the girl’s wary eye; Ophelia knew a thing or two about appearances being misleading, and she wasn’t about to slip up and give these kids a chance to harm her.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Ralphie simply rolled his eyes at the comment paeon through his way, deeming him as useless. He needed to gather intel. More importantly allies that he would be able to trust in a tight knit circle. He stopped scanning through the monopad when he came across the ulitmate medic. Her. She was a must have. Between her prowesss, and admittedly some respect for her work, he had to give a try.

That and this ryuu Tachibana. With use of pyrotechnics it seemed that he was the closest they had to an engineer, a skill which would prove incredibly useful. Holstering his arrows, he made his way toward the pair. Addressing the medic first.

“Ahem. As I was saying. I am a fan of your work. I know I can put my life in your hands, and I hope you can say the same. I want us to stay tight and share everything, as it is the key to survival.”

Meanwhile Percy simply plopped down on the ground cross legged. He took out his drawing pad and began to sketch the scene before him. Between the broken Monokuma, a rather amused Ophelia, a serious Ralphie, a sleepy ryuu, and a rather stand off-ish Paeon.

 

[Generation Sect]

Jason scratched his chin.
People were grouping up huh...
He should probably have done the same, but he figured mental abilities would be more useful than physical abilities to survive this.
That Gang Leader girl seemed to not be the most savoury character, but he had constantly been trying to take control of the situation, and not doing so well. Maybe if he could make her work as the leader of the “students”, or even just a small group, he could increase their chances of surviving here...
And, although he didn’t want to admit it, even if he felt he could take that role himself... fear prevented him from wanting to tape that target on his own back. On the inside, he was beginning to feel a little ashamed...
What even were the chances of this plan succeeding? And anyway, the Linguist girl seemed to actually need the help and support, and no doubt she’d be easier to work with.
However, it was too late as his feet had already started moving, a pit of regret already beginning to form in his stomach.
He approached the Gang Leader.
“... Lying to others you are trapped with in a high intensity situation? Quite a gutsy move to start off with, if not a bad first impression.”

 

[Riverrunner]

Luckily, Hoshi's knee-jerk reaction to Monokuma hadn't pressed any (active) buttons on the remote. Unfortunately, that meant that they were no closer to finding the device's actual function.

With Monokuma's recent announcement on her mind, Honoka momentarily abandoned the pursuit of identifying the remote's function in lieu of grabbing her own Monopad off the shelf. She grabbed the one labelled as number thirteen—presumably the tablet numbers corresponded to their numbers on the roster—before hurrying back over to Hoshi to study the device.

Honoka swiped across the tablet a few times, perusing through the rules the bear had set up. She looked directly at the screen before lowering her voice to a whisper. "It doesn't look like there's anything here about messing with the remote. You're still in the clear. If you're going to take the risk and press one, I'd recommend doing it soon. The archer's threat can't hold him back forever, especially with the rule about not attacking him being officially lain out."

——
Ryuu had, at last, come to his senses.

Granted, not one of his questions had been answered, he still felt as if he'd been in some sort of freak accident involving a runaway train, and the unfamiliar voice over the loudspeakers was… unsettling (to say the least), but at least it was a step above desperately grasping at consciousness.

Despite his current state, he found the energy to grab his own handbook off the shelf (presumably his, anyway, if the numbers next to the names on the screen meant anything), before ambling back to the couch where he'd been leaning moments prior.

Upon his return, he found that two others had also congregated there. A guy with a quiver of arrows strapped to his back and someone being addressed as… Ryuu couldn't really tell, only that she was clearly highly regarded by the boy with the bow and arrow. He switched on his tablet—the bear had mentioned something about classmate profiles, after all—and with little searching found the two students in question: Ralphie Yuno and Jane Park. Or at least she was probably Jane Park; a combat medic would be someone an archer would look up to, right? Seeing as the two seemed to be engaged in conversation, he didn't bother them, instead continuing to pour over the Monopad's contents.

 

[Fire Mana]

Parker walked over to Ophelia, who was starting to get damn annoying. He flipped out his knife with a quick flick of his wrist.

"Yeah, I set him one fire... what about it? You guys wanted him awake, and as far as I could tell he definitely would have ended up awake."

He took his empty hand and patted the girl on the head, it was pretty easy to do considering she was a good half foot shorter than him.

"At least I haven't already lied to everybody, miss detective~"

He smiled at the redhead with his typical smug grin. He knew how to get in his opponent's head, and it was fairly easy to tell what this girl was thinking.

"How about a truce between us for now." The boy said as he gave her a last rub on the head. "The adorably short girl could use some protection, correct? I mean, we already know that you'll lie to us. If you're with me you at least have a witness to tell everyone you didn't do anything when there's a murder."

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon, who was quiet for quite some time, turned his head to the side of the couch as he faced the others. "Okay, Mr. Whiskey lay off Buttercup. Unlike everyone else, I see why she hid her talent. Imagine our first reaction to the cute tough girl being a Gang Leader. That just amplifies the tough aspect... and I'm pretty sure harming her is not a gamble anyone wants to take."

Paeon adjusted himself upright before he was lost in thought. Paeon worked on multiple film crews, which lead to knowledge of teamwork. However, he never dealt with a situation like this before, but he knew he had to try. "Listen up, how about we work together firstly instead of being at each other's throats? Who cares about our talents and who cares about our names? All that matters is figuring out where we are. I consider all of us a crew made from an awful situation and with multiple film crews I've dealt with, my biggest priority was always safety. So I don't want to lose you guys."

Paeon stood up and smiled at the remaining twelve. "So let's start working together! Ice Queen and Quiet Girl are on the right track with the remote, but we'd probably want someone who can work on tech to help them out. Our best bet would be me, Mumbles and Buttercup. I've worked on Film Equipment, Mumbles most likely has used equipment for his therapy sessions and Buttercup must have worked on motorcycle engines. So us three, Ice Queen and Quiet Girl should figure it out. Meanwhile, that leaves eight people to explore the area for any clues as to where we are or how to get out... while following the rules."

Paeon pondered until he reached his conclusion. "That means we can have two groups of four to maximize our search. So, I think Robin Hood, Twitchy, Orange Crayon, and Nurse should be in one group while Mr. Whiskey, Punchymcgee, Starboy, and Slowpoke should be in the other. Since Robin Hood and Mr. Whiskey seem to be at the worst connection, it'd be better to separate them."

Paeon sighed as he looked at the others. "Is everyone okay with that? If not we can figure else something out... But we really need to work as a team and not as individuals."

 

[Fire Mana]

"Yeah, I'm not a big fan of others deciding who I do or don't work with."

Parker turned his attention to Paeon who had begun to bark orders just as Ralph had. Parker, who still wasn't a fan of taking orders, brushed off his words.

"You like being in charge too, huh? Well I'd rather work by myself. I don't like relying on others."

Parker rolled his knife over his thumb, spinning it around his hand before catching it and flicking it shut.

"And I know you probably don't know who I am, but taking gambles that I'm not 100% sure about is kinda my thing."