Forum Thread

MAgnus clapped slowly.

"Wow. So we were basically chosen... to play real-life mafia."

Airi piped up.

"Or Among Us. You could also call it Among u-"

"Shut up."

Airi fizzled out at Magnus' words, deflating like a popped balloon.

"...What do we get if we win?"

Aretmis spoke quietly.

---

Horatia Arborea

---

Oh, amazing. Now she was stuck in a killing game too. For some reason this all felt oddly familiar, as if she had already experienced it multiple times. Not that it mattered anyway. She was fine with dying as long as she had fun.

Killing fellow students, escaping if the killer got away, gloriously executed if they didn't. It all felt too familiar to Horatia. But she did not at all intend to traverse the burning radioactive trainwreck that were her distorted memories. She had much more important things to do now, like making at least one friend for example.

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Eden Aconitum

---

Well, they got it right. Kill, investigate, execute. Eden would just have to make sure he never got killed, it couldn't be that hard anyway. He'd escaped plenty of those. Even nature itself.

They would contemplate murder later, of course. Much, much later. It simply wouldn't be worth the effort this early. For now, he was more focused on a particular thing. A person, actually. With white hair and a short stature like himself. Eden let themselves stare to their heart's content, as if the white-haired boy was a sparkling piece of white moonstone.

Maybe we could find something in common. Or something. Their mind wandered off to create fantasies for themselves to indulge in once more.

---

---

Eris Everlast

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Eris blinked a little, putting a hand to her mouth to hold back a small gasp. She glanced around quickly, gauging everyone's reaction to the news. She raised an eyebrow at the reactions to the second announcement, explaining details of the Game...

---

Emika Tenshi

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Emika grimaced as Hotaru continued chatting. She almost snickered at the comment about 'Nanami' being prettier than herself. "Such a pathetic attempt to cause drama..." she thought to herself. She wasn't able to retort as the odd half white half black robo teddy bear announced what they were here for. A Killing Game? What in stars' name?! Kill to escape? Man, that sounded familiar...

---

Nightrekra Shacordis

---

Nightrekra froze in place. A...a Killing Game?!? Her mind raced. She suddenly remembered something from a couple days ago, before the first day of classes. Ever since she was taken in by the Hope's Peak community, she was secretly listening in at any meetings she could. It helped her stay in touch with any goings-on at the Academy. One in particular had been about protecting the students against one of their own, due to unspecified circumstances. Did...did the fear and worry they had result in a self-fulfilling prophecy?!

"I'm sure he would just jump at the chance to have another dead body in his possession." Ezekiel commented about Kuraim, glaring at him. The mortician kept his eyes closed. He wasn't bothered when Ichika jolted awake, looking around.

"Hello? Where am I?" There was that heavy country accent of hers. She stood up and stared at the others. "Oh... Sorry."

---

“Woaahhhhh, that sounds super duper fun! A game of Cluedo! Wait, you’re a bear right? How come you’re multi coloured? Oh my oh my, there’s a lot of people! Wait no…murder? That’s not very fun. Why? Couldn’t we do something less fatal instead? Like hide and seek? Less murder more games! Wait wait wait, why would you let a murder get away with it? How many times have you done this before? All of us specialise, in one talent, yeah? So how did you pick us?” Wei En asked, now sucking on a lollipop that had come from heaven-knows-where.

Rei Lin frowned. “Eh. So we’re going to die. How gruesome. Is there a practice room somewhere where we get to use our talents? Seems a waste to, you know, die without using what we were born to do.” The bear- Monokuma, was it? was speaking in Ds. Hmm. D…for death. Fitting, she noted, but otherwise not important. Hopefully she would get out alive.

Nanami laughed at the Ultimate Saleswoman. She was amusing and honest, despite the fact that she was rather unconventional. She felt a pang of indignation on her behalf, furious with the system for exploiting a young Hotaru.

"I know I'm pretty, darling, but beauty is incomparable. No one is specifically 'prettier,' because not everyone has the smae set of standards and beauty conventions."

Now let's see, there had been something about... murders?

Kei had definitely heard the part about the murders, and she was terrified. She looked back at Jirou, his dismayed expression a slightly less extreme version of hers.

There was a priest yelling at some other guy, and Jirou's eyes were drawn to the pair. He motioned for Kei to join him, and the two waled over to them.

"Is there... a problem here?" Jirou asked, laying a restraining hand on the priest's shoulder. Kei smiled at the victim of his ire, fear still evident in her eyes.

---

Amelia Rivera's POV

Oh. So, what was this place called? Hope's Peak Academy. Yes, that was correct. Amelia pondered the origin of such a title. Maybe it was named Hope's Peak because the school was dubbed a place where hope was at its utmost, where fairy tales of some kind came to life in an educational system?

Amelia got a bit of a chill as she stood on the grounds. It fascinated her. Somehow, there was something slightly ominous about this place. Something... Off. She was curious as to exactly what that was. Or perhaps, Hope's Peak was some kind of mountain. Her mind had retreated to her previous thought.

But, ah, yes, she still had yet to approach the gates now. It wouldn't do her any good to arrive late. Certainly not on her first day either. Although... If anyone cared to bother her, they wouldn't stand in her way. No, she didn't believe in turning the other cheek and waiting for hell to rain down upon someone who wronged her, or anything of that sort.

Amelia Rivera believed that if you wanted to take vengeance upon someone, you did it carefully. From behind the scenes. And that was when she realized it, if she gave the whole ordeal another thought, she was going to be late. She must focus on the task at hand. Although, when her mind went rambling off on a tangent, it was difficult to redirect it.

Slowly, carefully, she rifled through her bag. Her wrists made the most delicate of movements. But she was not a messy, disorganized person, and soon enough, she found her keycard.

Amelia Rivera. Ultimate Voodoo Practitioner. ID#066.

As she had thought previously, there had been something off about the whole thing. Honestly, maybe there even had been in regards to her being given her talent. Who would want someone like that around? It could be potentially dangero-

She couldn't dwell on her many thoughts another moment, as she blacked out.

---

...

---

Amelia Rivera awoke to some particularly strange chatter from some voices. Voices she didn't recognize. Honestly, happened more often than you'd think, she wasn't all too surprised. What intrigued her though is she thought she heard the strange... Teddy bear, if that was what it was, rambling about... A Killing Game.

The idea intrigued her. She murmured something incomprehensible, hard to interpret whether it was a word of any sort in any language. Perhaps even she didn't know.

She didn't find herself studying her companions, in, what she assumed to be Hope's Peak Academy. Although considering that all of them had presumably been knocked unconscious, for some purpose or other, ah, yes, the Killing Game. But someone had to have done this.

Amelia stared intently at the bear, tilting her head to the side, again murmuring something incomprehensible. It was black-and-white, presumably in the colors of Yin and Yang. The place was called Hope's Peak, so... Was it to be assumed he represented both hope and despair? Under a circumstance such as a Killing Game?

Everyone seemed to be offering their own thoughts on the matter. Some were intrigued, like she was. Others were horrified. What was the purpose of this Killing Game, exactly, was the biggest thing on her mind? And what was this bear?

A robot? A stuffed toy? Or, perhaps, yes, maybe it was possessed by a spirit. Controlled by another force of nature. She was curious of its origin.

Amelia pondered to herself whether she should approach any of the people in the building, and, decided against it. She would observe a bit more. Certainly, plenty of them might turn out to be dangerous, or malicious in some form or other. She would have to be careful, learn as much as she possibly could, and maybe then, she could act.

Maybe she'd kill someone. Maybe she'd try to survive through it all. Or something else... who knows?

She sat there, cross-legged on the floor, merely pondering the predicament, eerily still and barely blinking.

---

---

---

Hotaru Tsutsumi

---

"You're simply the prettiest," Hotaru heard herself say, but her mind was whirling. A killing game? What was the teddy bear talking about? Could he possibly mean...?'

She brightened.

"What an excellent time to be in the illegal weapons-smuggling industry!" Hotaru chirped. "If anyone would like to buy an AK-47, come see me in my dorm! I had them shipped in advance, in preparation of an event like this."

Monokuma giggled, reaching over to pat Wei on the head. "So many questions~ Unfortunately, my 'any questions' expired after I advanced the plot, so you're on your own. Have fun with the murder, kiddins~ Toodles!"

And he popped out of sight. Hotaru vowed to learn how he did that.

Hotaru took in a deep breath. "I am currently offering a deal on knives! Buy one, get a shovel free! Any takers?"

"No," the person from before whispered. Hotaru felt vaguely offended. Shizuka's eyes squeezed shut. "No... no no! This can't be happening. Why now of all times?"

"It seems obvious to me. It's a terrorist attack on the world. Trying to bring down the Ultimate Academy. A system of schooling that brings talents of all nations together. By murdering us it would cause tension and suspicion- and the survivor would be ultimately blamed, leading to a world war on their home nation." Amaya scowled, crossing his arms. "How... diabolical. Unfortunately for them, I have no plans on allowing such a thing to happen."

"I've got more crazy juice for you when you need it," Hotaru offered him.

He glared back. "At least I'm not drinking your Koolaid. You just believe everything that bear says and you don't even think to question his motives. Deep down in his heart, he longs to create hope and despair. His whole life has been that way. This is just another aspect of his deeply murderous plots."

"Wow, you just created a whole backstory for the talking stuffie," Hotaru marvelled. "Good job!"

Amaya sneered, turning away. "Nobody goes off alone," he ordered everyone. "We stick together. So long as no one dies, we can await rescue. After a few weeks, the lack of communications going out of the school will have raised public suspicion, and we'll be out before you know it. Everyone with me?"

"Killing Game..." Shizuka mumbled. "Murder... death..."

Amaya's eyebrow twitched. "Anyone with me?"

---

Airi popped up next to hotaru, smiling widely.

"Hi! You have knives? Can I have one?"

The girl laughed loudly, her hands on her hips.

"I'm Airi! Nice to meet you!"

Magnus went back to playing asleep. Artemis was trying to be as still as possible in the darkest corner, trying to act as if he didn't exist.

---

---

Eris Everlast

---

Eris frowned a little as a boy declared what they should do in the meantime of this game. Sweet summer child... She turned her disinterested frown into a look of determination. "Yeah, we just need to hold out for a while. We can be safe in this!"

---

Emika Tenshi

---

Emika smirked a bit. "Who's to say that isn't exactly what Monokuma is hoping for?~" she cooed. "Even if we stay together, there might be a couple people desperate enough to try something. All it takes is a strong act to lure a victim in~."

---

Nightrekra Shacordis

---

Nightrekra was honestly terrified. This was bad... REALLY bad! She suddenly noticed two students still lying down. She hopped over to them. "Hello~? You can't STILL be asleep, right? With everything going on, you must be awake by now! Up and at 'em!"

"Shut the f- up, you !#@#@#, @!$## #@$$#!."

Magnus let out a string of curses.

"I was trying to act as if I were asleep because I did not want to be bothered in the slightest. Do you have no sense of tact or nuance, you #@#$$#!@?"

Okay, so this guy had a foul temper, it seemed. And a dirty mouth.

Artemis sighed.

"Do you kiss your mother with that mouth, you vulgar neandethral?

the blue-haired teen got up, dusting himself off.

Magnus snarled quietly.

"My mother's dead, you dipsh-."

Artemis rolled his eyes, sighing.

"Do you wish for an apology?"

---

---

---

Hotaru Tsutsumi

---

"You want one?" Hotaru eyed the girl with growing interest. "Why, how could I say no to such a pretty face! Just for that, it'll only cost you whatever my organs are worth on the stonks! How about you check the stocks and get back to me?"

She smiled charmingly. It was an excellent business strategy, putting the price in the hands of the buyer. That way you could hmm and haw and raise it. For of course knives were in limited demand! In the few moments since she'd put the offer in, she'd gotten thousands of requests for her beautiful knives and who could say otherwise? And besides, such masterfully handcarved weapons were worth a few everything!

"We should dorm together!" Hotaru realised. Maximum business potential! Why didn't I think of this before? Cohabitation is an opportunity for exploitation!

---

---

Amaya Ono

---

Amaya turned his glare on the girl with twin-drills. "Then we'll catch the murderer, should he be foolish enough to try something. No matter which way you look at it, staying together maximises our chances of survival."

He glanced at the girl who'd agreed with him, vaguely curious. There was something emptier in her face. Something that resonated with him.

"We can be safe," he agreed. "If we play this smart. Any objections?" He turned his glare back on Pigtails.

---

---

Shizuka Matsubara

---

Some people were being very loud. Their headache worsened.

"Could you stop?" they asked the guy who was swearing very annoyingly.

---

"No, I don't think I will, jacka-."

Magnus retorted sharply towards Shizuoka.

Artemis was starting to walk away, massaging his temples.

Magnus snarled.

"Hey! Get the f- back here, you piece of sh-!"

Airi clapped excitedly.

"Do you take musical instruments as pay?"

---

---

Eris Everlast

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Eris smiled, clapping her hands a little. Excellent!

---

Emika Tenshi

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Emika smirked. "Whatever makes you feel safer, sweetie."

---

Nightrekra Shacordis

---

Nightrekra giggled. "You're funny!" She said, seemingly unphased by the crude words. "On one hand, I can try to find some soap for your dirty mouth, as those sound like words only adults can use, and even then they can get in trouble for them. On the other, it would probably just make you even crankier. So, no soap today!" She said with one breath. She paused when she remembered another thing the boy had said. About his mother. She huffed quietly. "At least you had a mother..." She turned to the guy that was asking the arguing/swearing to stop. "Oopsie! Sorry about them!" She looked at him carefully. "Are you alright?"

Amelia Rivera's POV

Don't do anything rash. Don't let yourself be noticed, until it is safe.

She studied her companions from afar, and made mental notes on each of them, that might assist her in her potential future interactions with them. The mysterious bear, or whatever it was, had curiously vanished. How it had done so was a fascinating question to Amelia. Had there been a trapdoor, a secret passageway, or was this some sort of act of magic?

The bear had probably not been a hallucination, considering that most, if not all of her now companions, seemed to have seen it. They were also Ultimates, which meant that unless some bizarre trick was being played upon them, then this was probably indeed Hope's Peak Academy.

This was far more intriguing a conundrum than Amelia ever thought she would be placed within. She had come in here expecting, if she had been incorrect about the slightly off aura that this school held, that it was just an ordinary school, for the most unordinary of people. For the exceptional, her fellow Ultimates.

The first order of business would probably be not to make any enemies, if she was to survive here. So perhaps alliances would be in order.

But there was one thing she must keep in mind, to not get attached. To not let herself open up too much. To only let slip the slightest of details about herself, the most irrelevant, to make themselves clear. Carefully, she analyzed the people around her, turning her head only slightly, her ears picking up all she could.

One of the people there seemed obsessed with sales. Given that, she was probably a manipulative person, with much to hide, who probably put on a more pleasant personality on the surface. Probably acted like an open book, when she was merely a pack of lies with a mountain of insecurity. Perhaps the object of not ticking her off would be acting interested in her sales pitches.

Another person seemed to be making various theories about their situation. This got Amelia's attention. Someone in here was thinking about this situation in a similar way to her, unless, they were keeping their true thoughts hidden. He seemed rather tense, and frustrated. Someone else seemed to be rather fearful about the whole thing.

Something that the person who, in a way, resonated with her, stated piqued Amelia's interest. It seemed logical that they all could await rescue when the lack of communications aroused suspicion.

She decided to speak up, not seeing any danger in doing so at the time.

"I have a question. If no one knows where we are right now, what then?" she questioned.

Someone seemed interested in the knives. Amelia took note of this, Perhaps Airi wanted something for self-defense, or... something more... murderous. Or perhaps she was suicidal. Or... who knows?

Someone agreed that they should all stick together. But... Amelia wasn't so sure. They were all a bunch of strangers, someone was bound to turn to killing. It might even be Amelia Rivera herself, if she determined that it was safe, and the most beneficial to do so. On the other hand, she wanted to stay here for a while. This could be interesting...

That other person (Emika), was correct. They had to face facts here, some people might be driven to murder.

One thing was for sure, Amelia didn't trust the business girl. Not that she trusted any of the people here. Every human being had their hidden vices, no matter how hard they tried to hide them.

However...

What Amaya was saying made sense. She nodded agreement in his direction, very slowly.

She didn't share all her thoughts on the situation, of course.

Nothing of how she wouldn't be surprised if someone wound up dead right away. Nothing more of how they weren't completely clear on the situation.

Rescue... could that really be expected to arrive?

What was the bear? Who was in control of it?

Who had started this strange business regarding Killing Games? Was this the first time that such a thing had been held? This was getting more and more interesting...

---

Reilin notices Shizuka’s discomfort. Likely a migraine, headache or overstimulation. She quietly walks over, taps Shizuka gently on the shoulder and passes her a set of noise-canceling headphones. “Thought you might need this.” She murmurs softly.

Wei En giggles at Monokuma patting her, before finding Bubbles and squealing in delight, throwing herself around the metal sphere eagerly. [Bubbles] flickers to life, moving away from Wei En to float above her head, scanning everyone around her to give her a detailed description of everyone. Wei En gives Amaya an affirmative salute. “Yessir, Captain Sir! Or Madam. Whatever your pronouns are. Heh”

"I could go for a knife." Nami said, raising her eyebrow. A weapon could be extremely useful in a killing game. Hotaru was either trying to flirt with her, or use advanced nefarious saleswoman tactics on her. Nami could definitely play it cool until she figured out the girl's motives.

Kei watched their conversation from across the room, wishing she was that effortlessly social.

Yet she followed Jirou over to the clustered group, noting as he positioned him as far from Namo as possible. She found herself next to some girl named Amelia, and offered her a reassuring smile. The other girl maybe fit the bill of best friend material that she had been looking for. It was worth a shot.

"Look, lady, no one is getting any knives. And no one is going to kill anyone here, okay?" Jirou was seriously weirded out. What the heck had his father signed him up for? He wouldn't kill anyone, ever, and he was not about about to be killed either. Heck, losing 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 to Djokavich would be better than this.

He shouldered his racket, glancing back and forth between the faces.

Kei nodded. She didn't fancy either of the alternatives: kill or be killed. But she had read Lord of the Flies, she understood human nature. Jirou's plea was futile, despite its good intentions.

Nami watched Jirou snidely. He was... seriously stupid. And Hokaru was seriously intriguing. And this game was seriously twisted. She glanced down at the foul-mouthed kid who had been pretending to sleep. He was also smart. Perhaps that was someone worth getting to know.

---

Artemis ignored Magnus, adjusting his jacket. He walked over to some dark corner, pulling out a small book. He started reading quietly, as if this wasn't a murder game.

Magnus seemed infuriated by this.

"Oi! You f-ing piece of s-! Who the f- do you think you are, huh?"

---

Nami turned, miffed by the outburst.

"He's someone smart enough not to rise to your bait. I, on the other hand, made no such intelligent claim. What's your problem? Like, seriously? There's some things you just don't do, mate." She sighed.

Kei watched the exchange silently. Jirou stood next to her, his last statement hanging in the air.

---

"Ey, I don't think I asked you, b-."

Magnus shot back at nami.

"Shut the f- up, you !#@@#!."

Artemis sighed.

"Keep it down, please. You make it difficult to read, which is an impossibility, really."

---