Part 6: Prologue, Part 6

Still filled with uneasy dread, I did what the announcement said and went to the gym. And I saw what was waiting for us there...



: Oh. It really does look like an entrance ceremony...



: See? Told ya! It's totally normal entrance ceremony stuff.

Hiro was right. But in a way, that just emphasized how completely *not* normal all of us were.

♪ Music cuts out. ♪



???: Hey there, howdy, hello! Is everyone here? Good! Then let's get things rolling!


Click the image or here to watch a video!



(BG Music)

(Conversation)

: Huh? A teddy bear?
: I'm not a teddy bear! I...am...Monokuma! And I am this school's headmaster!

It was the strangest thing I'd ever seen. Right before my eyes, it was... What I was seeing was... It was...utterly incomprehensible.



: Voice Actor: Brian Beacock
: Nice to meet you all!

Such a bright voice and carefree attitude was completely out of place. And all that anxiety I'd been carrying with me suddenly transformed into outright fear.



: Wh--? Waaaaaah! That teddy bear can talk!



: Calm down! I'm sure there's just a speaker inside it.



: I told you already, I'm not a teddy bear...



: I'm Monokuma! And I'm your headmaster!
: Waaaaah! It moved!



: Seriously man, calm down! It's prolly just a remote control toy or somethin'.



: How dare you compare me to a child's plaything! You've cut me deep. Deeper than the Mariana Trench...



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



: "Bear" that? Really? You are...unfortunate.
: Now then, moving on! We really must hurry and get started...



: Giving up already? No other stupid bear puns?
: Quiet down now, quiet down. Ah, okay, so...!



: He has abandoned the gag...
: Everyone stand at attention and bow! And...good morning!



: Good morning!!!



: Y-You don't have to s-say it back...



: Now then, let us commence with a most noteworthy and memorable entrance ceremony! First, let's talk a bit about what your school life here will be like. Now, ah, make no mistake--you few students, so full of potential, represent the hope of the world. And to protect such splendid hope...



: ...you will all live a communal life together solely within the confines of this school. Everyone will live in harmony together, and adhere to the rules and regulations of the school.

Huh...?



: Ah, now then...regarding the end date for this communal life...
: There isn't one! In other words, you'll all be here until the day you die! Such is the school life you've been assigned.



: Wh-What did he just say? Until the day we d-die...?



: Oh, but fear not! We have quite an abundant budget, so you won't lack for all the common conveniences.



: That's the least of our worries right now!



: Yeah, what the hell? You're saying I have to live here forever? You're screwing with us, right?



: I am not screwing with you! I am no liar, of that you can be 100% sure.
: Ah, and just for your information...you're completely cut off from the outside world. So you don't have to worry about that dirty dirty land beyond these walls ever again!
: Cut off...? So all those metal plates all over the school...



: They're there to keep us trapped in here?



: That's exactly what they're there for. No matter how much you may yell and scream for help...help will not come. So with all of that in mind, feel free to live out your life here with reckless abandon!



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



: Yeah! Cut this shit out! It isn't funny anymore!



: You keep saying this is a lie, or a joke. A bunch of skeptics, all of you.



: But I guess you can't help it, huh? You all grew up in an age where you're taught to doubt your neighbor... Well you'll have plenty of time to find out whether or not what I say is true. And when that time comes, you'll see with your own eyeballs that I speak the undeniable truth.



: Having to live here forever would be...quite the problem.



: Come, now. What's the matter with all of you? You decided of your own free will to attend Hope's Peak Academy, didn't you? And now, before the entrance ceremony is even finished, you've already decided you want to leave?
: Oh but you know... I guess I did forget to mention one thing. There *is* one way for you to leave the school...
: R-Really...?



: As headmaster, I've crafted a special clause for those of you who would like to leave! I call it...the Graduation Clause!
: Now, let me tell you about this fun little rule. As I mentioned, in order to maintain an environment of harmony here, we rely on a communal lifestyle. And if someone were to disrupt that harmony, they and they alone would be allowed to leave the school. That, my students, is the Graduation Clause!



: What do you mean by "disrupt the harmony"?





: Puhuhu... Well, you know... If one person were to murder another.
: M-Murder!?
: Stabbing, strangling, bludgeoning, crushing, hacking, drowning, igniting, how you do it doesn't matter. You must kill someone if you want to leave. It's as simple as that.



: The rest is up to you. Give it your all to achieve the best outcome in the worst way possible.

A chill shot down my spine... "You must kill someone if you want to leave." As soon as I heard those words, my blood went cold.

: Puhuhu. I bet *that* got your brain juices flowing! Beats the heck out of a human catching a salmon, huh? Like I said before, you guys are the hope of the world. But you know... Taking that hope and seeing it get murdered creates a darkened shadow of despair.



: And I just find that so...darn...exciting!



: What the hell are you talking about!? To kill each other is...It's!



: To kill each other is to kill each other. I'm sure there's a dictionary here somewhere if you need it.



: We know what it means, that's not the problem! Why do we have to kill each other!?



: Yeah! Stop blabbering on with all this nonsense! Just let us go home already!
: ...Blabbering?



: Blabbering, blabbering, what do you mean blabbering!? Stop blabbering on about blabbering on! You guys just don't get it do you? "Let us go, let us go!" You keep on saying the same thing over and over and over and over...! Listen. From this moment on, this school is your home, your life, your world. Got it?



: And you can kill as much as you wanna kill! So go ahead, go on a kill-kill-killing spree!



: Alright, come on... How long are you gonna keep this up?
: Eh?
: You got us, okay? You scared the hell out of us. So you can go ahead and reveal the trick now.
: Reveal the trick...?
: Yeah, cuz I mean... Y'know, this is all some kinda trick and all, right? So uh, like...



: Dude, shut the hell up and get outta my way.

Shoving Hiro aside, Mondo placed himself in front of Monokuma, his voice rumbling like thunder.



: Listen up, asshole! This shit's gone way too far! What the hell kinda joke IS this!?



: Joke? What, you mean like your hair?



: FFFUUUUUUUUUUUU--!

Mondo roared out, and then there was a sudden BOOM! It was the sound of the floorboards as he kicked off and launched himself into the air. He flew at Monokuma, fast and straight as a bullet. He'd locked on to his target...

*Crash*







(Conversation)

: Gotcha, you little piece of shit! I dunno if you're a toy or a stuffed animal or whatever the hell! Either way, I'm gonna rip you to fuckin' shreds!

: Waah! Violence against the headmaster is in violation of school regulations!

: Shut the fuck up! Let me outta here, or I swear to Christ...



♪ Music cuts out, a beeping is heard instead. ♪

: ...



: What, no smartass comeback this time!?
: ...

♪ Beeping is getting faster. ♪



: Stop that goddamn beeping and SAY SOMETHING!



: Watch out! Get rid of it!



♪ Beeping gets even faster. ♪

: Huh...?
: Hurry up and throw it!

I dunno if her ferocity stunned him into silence or what, but without a word he did what he was told. He...threw Monokuma. And as soon as he did...!





*KABOOM!*





: The hell!? Th-That sure as shit wasn't a joke. It blew the hell up...

There was a painful ringing in my ears, and I could smell gunpowder. Explosions might happen all the time in movies or whatever, but when it's in real life... I'd never seen anything like it.



: But you know... This means that the teddy bear's been destroyed, right?



: I told you, I'm not a teddy bear! I'm Monokuma!



: Uwah! There's another one...?



: You son of a bitch! You seriously tried to kill me just now!



: Well, yes. I was serious about trying to kill you. You did violate one of the school regulations, after all. I'll let you off with a warning this time, but you'd better be careful from now on. Any naughty boy or girl who violates my rules won't get off with just a little swat on the butt.



: H-Hey... So does this mean there's like, a bunch more of you around here somewhere?
: Monokumas have been placed all throughout the school, yes. Plus, don't forget the surveillance cameras installed everywhere. And if you're caught breaking any rules, well... you all just saw what happened, right?
: Puhuhu... And I won't be so forgiving with my punishment next time. So don't let it happen again!



: Th-That's not even punishment. That's just...wrong...
: Now then, lastly... To commemorate your joyous entry into our school, I have a little something for you...



: This is our official student handbook! Pretty cool, huh? As you can see, it's fully digital. So naturally, we call it... The e-Handbook!



: Ahem. Yes, well, moving on... This handbook is absolutely vital to a healthy school life, so don't lose it! When you start it up, it will display your name. Always make sure you have the right one!
: Now, this is not your everyday notebook. It has so many more uses than that!
: Also, it's completely waterproof. Splash it, wash it, drown it, it'll keep on ticking! And thanks to its space-age design, it can withstand an impact force of up to ten tons. Very resistant! It contains all of our school regulations, so make sure you review them thoroughly!



: You'll hear me say this a lot, but any violation of school regulations will not be tolerated.
: Rules restrict, yes, but they also protect. Society, for example, would be utter chaos without laws.



: The same thing applies here! Which is why it's crucial we have strict punishments in place for violators. Okay, well...that brings our entrance ceremony to a close! Please enjoy your abundantly dreary school life! And...see ya!



And with that, he was gone, leaving us all in a state of shock.



: So, guys... How would you define what we just experienced?
: How...? Why...? I don't understand any of this...
: We have to l-live here forever...? Or...k-kill?



: Wh-What...? What just happened!?



: Everyone, we need to just calm down. First, let's just take a second to summarize everything we just heard. Based on what Monokuma said, we essentially have two choice. Choice number one is that we each stay here, living a "communal life" together until the day we die. And the other choice is...



: If we want to get out of here alive, we have to kill someone. Right?



: But...killing someone... That's...



: We were abducted out of nowhere and stuffed into this place meant to look like a school. And now we're supposed to start killing each other? This is...
: This is...this is just...! What IS this!?



: A lie, is what it is. All these ridiculous things we've heard... This all has to be fake!



: Right now it doesn't really matter if it's real or fake. What matters is...



: Is there anyone here who's seriously considering all this...?

♪ Music fades out. ♪

To that, nobody had a response... Keeping quiet myself, I looked around at the others.





They all stared at one another, trying to gauge each other's thoughts. I could almost taste the hostility. And that's when it hit me. I realized the true terror hidden within the rules Monokuma had laid out. "You must kill someone if you want to leave." Those words had planted vicious thoughts deep within each of us. Each of us became suspicious of everyone else. We were forced to wonder, "Is somebody going to betray us?"

And that was how my new school life began... This school, which had come out of nowhere to raise my hopes so high... It's *not* a school of hope.

It's...a school of despair.






Click here or the image to watch the game's real Intro!



: And we get a Present for completing the Prologue. I will explain presents at a later time.