A Game of Despair: Danganronpa

Well if there is nothing of interest in here it's time to check out the locker room

OK, good it'll be easier to act like we know what we are doing if we stick with someone who actually does so Spy is top of the friend list for now I'm not too sure what to do from here... hallways?

You leave the girls' locker room and wait for Spy on the other side. After waiting a while, you notice he isn't coming. Perhaps he got caught up in a conversation with the others. Either way, you decide you can't sit around here and wait. Best not to waste investigation time. You notice Ashley isn't in the gym anymore. She must have wandered off.

As you enter the hall, you notice that the path splits to the left and right. The hall seems to wrap around the gym in a square shape. Hm. So if you followed this, you'd find the entrance to the gym that's on the left. Good to know. You head straight down the hall instead of taking any turns. You notice it splits again with a way to go off to the right and a way straight on forward. The way to the right is marked with a large exit sign. Huh? But Claus said there was no exit. Is the way out of here really through those double doors...?

You turn your attention down the hallway and find that there's two staircases there. One up and one down. You notice there's also a door with a sign sitting next to it. The school store, huh? Other than that, all you see are two bathrooms. One for guys and one for girls.

A. Investigate something closer (Specify)
B. Explore another part of the school (Specify)

You head over to the exit and place both hands on the doors, pulling on them.

...It doesn't even budge.

Just as you thought. The doors outside are locked too. How frustrating. It seems Claus wasn't lying...

As you consider what to do next, you hear an announcement.

BING BONG DING DONG

What an obnoxious sound.

Nekoshi's voice then begins to sound throughout the area. "Ahem...Attention, please! This is Headmaster Nekoshi! I have an important announcement to make! Everyone should head to the dining hall immediately! I've got a very special surprise for you all! And don't even think about skipping out..."

Great...That can't be good. But...you don't want to see what happens when you defy Nekoshi.

You head over to the dining hall, not stopping along the way. Luckily, there were others in the hall and it was easy to follow them here instead of having to blindly find your way. As you enter, you notice the dining hall is actually a large courtyard in a glass dome. There are a few trees in here that go up to the top, where you can see steel beams holding the dome together. There are various picnic tables around to eat at and flowers are arranged along the pathway through the courtyard to liven things up with some color. There's also a fountain here. It makes the scene feel a bit more peaceful despite the circumstances. Finally, there's the kitchen, which appears to be a separate room. You can see the door into the kitchen and a service hatch in the wall next to the door. There's also a clock hanging on that wall. The only wall not made of glass. It's 6:30 right now.

As everyone stands around, Nekoshi jumps up from seemingly nowhere and stands on top of one of the picnic tables nearby.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIn1bhBEbng

"Hello everyone~! I'm sure you're all very excited to see what I have for y-"

"Just tell us what you want, you stupid furball." Ashley glares at Nekoshi.

Nekoshi appears to be angry. Can he even feel feelings? "HEY! That's no way to treat your wonderful headmaster! Especially not when I'm about to give you such a wonderful gift!"

"I don't want anything that comes from your grungy paws. I think it would be far better if we just beat the shit out of you here." She takes out a folding fan and opens it in front of her face, looking to the side. Huh. Is she nervous? "...I just was waiting to let the others start first."

"HA! Yeah, right! You're probably just too scared to fight me!"

"...No..." Her face certainly betrays her lies.

"Hmm...You know, since I'm such a merciful and wonderful headmaster, I think I'll give you my gift anyway. You can all bow down and thank me now!"

"Oh. Thanks!"

Amelia sighs. "Do not actually zank 'im, Axel..."

"Now then...without further ado...!" Nekoshi pulls out a small remote with a button on it. He smacks the button with his other paw and you feel the school rumble a bit.

And then...the unthinkable happened.

The doors outside just opened right up. The courtyard's glass doors outside are just...open. Not even locked anymore. Does this mean...?

"Yep! You're all free to go now! You can thank me later! Anyway, have fun explorinnnnggggg!" With that, Nekoshi disappeared again.

Does this mean...is it really safe to go outside now? You can just leave? Even after a display like that?

"...Something doesn't add up." Claus crosses his arms and looks at the exit. "..." He stares at it with intensity.

...It seems you're free to go wherever you like now. The others all start to make their way toward the exit.

A. Investigate something closer (Specify)
B. Explore another part of the school (Specify)
C. Speak with someone in the room (Specify)

You stand back with Claus and watch as the others move toward the exit first.

Sam appears to be frustrated. And by that, I mean he's yelling at Nekoshi. "Wait just one damn second! Get back here, you mechafurball! Was there an official change to the rules, or is this some kind of trick? How stupid do you think we are?" He reaches over to a nearby table, grabbing an apple that had been left there from someone's feast, and chucks it at the doorway.

You notice...nothing happens to the apple. It's completely fine.

"I see." Claus says this as if he's figured something out.

Everyone is silent for a moment before Dennis speaks up. "So it was just orientation after all. I'm almost disappointed." He hefts up a shovel he got from...somewhere over his shoulder and heads out the door without pause or hesitation.

Everyone waits and watches for a moment, but nothing seems to happen to him.

"Okay then...it must be safe, right? Let's go!" Axel charges out the door.

"..." Claus is silent, closing his eyes to think a moment before walking out.

One by one, everyone begins to follow, seeing as nothing seems to happen to the others.

Outside...You see something you never expected.

Clear, blue skies. Clean air. Growing plants. Running water.

...And a cage.

Everyone stares in shock as they take in their surroundings. This entire school is built...on top of a floating island. And that floating island...is inside of a massive cage.

"...What?" Ashley looks surprised. "...That cat lied to us. We aren't free at all!" She crushes her hand around her folding fan so much it snaps in half.

"Of course not!" Popping up nearby, Nekoshi seems far too entertained by your reactions. "What kind of killing game ends that easily? A booooooring oneeeeeee!"

"You said you would let us go!"

"Ah, no. I said I would let you outside the school. I never said anything about leaving the giant cage outside the school. Or the floating island the school is on! Nyahahaha!"

Ashley looks like she's about to punt Nekoshi. Vivian heads over to her and places her hands on Ashley's shoulders. "Hey. Calm down. We don't know what might happen if you attack Nekoshi. I promise we'll make it out together if you can calm down and think this through, okay?" She gives her a bright smile.

Ashley's rage subsides a bit as Nekoshi continues. "As long as you're trapped inside this cage, you'll never be able to leave! Even if you did miraculously survive the dive off the floating island into the water below, you'd have to climb all the way up that wall over there. So you might as well give up now!"

"Give up?" Vivian turns to face Nekoshi. "We'll never give up! We're gonna get out of here together! After all, we've got Ultimates here! What can't we do?"

Nekoshi laughs at her. "Oh, I see, I see! So by using this as your cover, you plan on escaping after you kill one of your friends and pin the blame on someone else!"

"That's not true!"

"Or isssss iiiiiiittt? Oooooooo~?"

"Gr...There's no point in talking to you." Vivian glares at Nekoshi.

"How cruel! Glaring at me for providing you all with such a wonderful warning? You must all remember...You can't trust anyone! You're all your worst enemy! Nyahahaha!" With that, Nekoshi makes his exit.

There's a short moment of silence as all your hope of escape is shattered.

"...So that's how it is, is it?" Claus stands there, looking toward where Nekoshi disappeared. "He seems intent on having us all participate in this killing game of his."

"...Well we won't." Vivian looks at Claus with determination in her eyes. "I say for now, we should search every inch of this new area for clues or a way out. Then we can all meet back up at the Dining Hall and share what we found! We'll find a way out of here if we work together!"

Amelia nods. "It is far too early to give up now, is it not? Zen I shall give zis search my all!"

Claus still seems to be looking where Nekoshi was. "Hm...I'll help, if that is the command you give me. But this does not mean I trust any of you."

Feeling somewhat renewed with a united sense of hope, the group starts to split up and search around. You notice that Dennis immediately starts to dig for some...unknown reason.

You take a look around outside. The path from the dining hall seems to be a side path that leads back over toward the front of the school. In front of the school, the path heads down a bit more and splits off to the left at what appears to be a dormitory. You can tell because of the giant sign on the front of the round building that says "DORMITORY". Splitting off to the left of the same path appears to be a large garden of some kind. Finally, at the end of the path, leading right to the edge of the island, is some kind of dock. There's a severe lack of water and boats. Well...it seems exploration is in your hands.

A. Investigate something closer (Specify)
B. Explore another part of the school (Specify)
C. Speak with someone in the room (Specify)

Mmm. Leanne and I will wait until either you pick one or X votes. In the meantime...

Leanne stands there, deep in thought for a moment. Where should she go first...?

Should she investigate Dennis or should she investigate that dock?

While she thinks on this, she watches the others head off.

Dennis, Spy, Tucker, and James all head off in the direction of the dormitories.

Vicky and Amelia make their way over toward the docks together.

Vivian and Sato head off toward the garden.

Claus seems to be looking around the edges of the island for some reason.

Sam, Sylvia, Ashley, Axel, and Erika all head back inside the building.

The only ones left out here are you and Aki. She seems to be watching the others, taking note of where they're going.

A. Decide to investigate Dennis
B. Decide to investigate the docks
C. Investigate something closer (Specify)
D. Explore another part of the school (Specify)
E. Speak with someone in the room (Specify)

You decide to watch Claus for a bit. As you do so, you notice Aki walking over to you.

"Leanne, are you alright?"

"Hm...? Oh, yes. I was just watching Claus. What do you think he's doing?"

She thinks for a moment. "I'd say he's likely trying to figure out how the island is suspended in air, or perhaps how high we are. With information like that, it's possible we could, er, jump down. If we're above running water and can get around the cage somehow."

She takes a breath, composing herself. "Would you like to investigate the grounds with me?"

A. "Sure, I wouldn't mind a partner. Let's go search ___." (Specify)
B. "Sure, I wouldn't mind a partner. Where should we search?"
C. "No thank you. I prefer to work alone."
D. "Very well. Our first mission together is to stalk Claus."

"Sure, I wouldn't mind a partner. Let's go search the docks." You motion for Aki to follow you as you head over to the docks.

You notice that aside from the actual wooden docks that hang over the edge of the island, there's a small shack. It looks like somewhere you would rent boats at. You head over and check the door inside, but it's locked. Hm. There's a sliding service window here as well, but that's shut too. You decide to turn your attention over to Vicky and Amelia. The two of them seem to be in the middle of a conversation. They look concerned about something. Well, I guess that's to be expected.

A. Try to cheer up Vicky and Amelia
B. Tell Vicky and Amelia to suck it up
C. Investigate something closer (Specify)
D. Explore another part of the school (Specify)
E. Speak with someone in the room (Specify)

Call out for kittykuma, and ask about accomplices, double murders, hiding the body indefinitely, and tricking someone else into dealing a killing blow.