Danganronpa: Puppets String

Just like that several days passed by.

*Ding dong, bing bong*

Malachi - Gh... Another night of restless sleep. Day after day, I can feel the fatigue piling up. As soon as the thought had crossed my mind...

*Ding dong*

The sound of the doorbell forced its way into my room. Filled with great annoyance I made my way to the door.

Kiyotaka - A fantastic morning, isn't it!?

Malachi - Taka...?

Kiyotaka - Now then, if you'll pardon the interruption...!

 Without waiting for a reply, Taka barged into my room.

Malachi - ...What's up, Taka?

Kiyotaka - No matter how intensely the stormy seas may batter me, I will not fall as long as my feet are firmly planted! You agree, right?

Malachi - Uh, I'm not sure I understand...

Kiyotaka - And if you can't do it alone, just find someone to support you, and you can support them back! That's how you can overcome any storm!

Malachi - ...

Kiyotaka - I was thinking about it last night, and... I decided we all need to really come together. And that was when I realised every morning from now on, after the morning announcement, everyone should have breakfast together! And now is the beginning of that fateful day! Please head to the dining hall at your earliest convenience! That's all for now! I have to go let everyone else know the good news! 

Taka didn't even wait for a reply. He turned and left, before I could say a thing.

Malachi - Well... I guess I'd better head to the dining hall.

[Dining Room]

Toko - What's the point of t-talking to me...? Taka's the o-one who got everyone t-together. Go talk to him if you have qu-questions or whatever...

{Byakuya}

Byakuya - ...

 He let out a heavy, annoyed sigh. I'd rather be ignored completely than suffer that kind of insult.

Sayaka - Good morning to you, Malachi.

 She can make even a basic greeting feel eloquent somehow. That's the power of a celebrity, I guess.

Sayaka - Is everything okay?

Malachi - Oh, yeah! Good morning, Sayaka.

Sakura - Good morning.

Malachi - Good morning...

Sakura - To bring everyone together for a breakfast meeting is a very... Taka-esque suggestion.

Mondo - Yo.

Malachi - Good Morning...

Mondo - Let's just hurry up and get this over with. Taka's getting antsy.

Yasuhiro - Mornin'. Man, waking up to the sound of Taka's squawking is... not a fun way to start the day.

Kyoko - Taka looks pretty impatient. We'd better get this started already...

Hifumi - Good morning...

Malachi - Hifumi...? You don't seem too energetic...

Hifumi - How can I be? I got woke up by that annoying, obnoxious, nightmarish guy. This is why I hate 3D so much.

Aoi - Good-mor-ning-Ma-la-chi!

Malachi - Morning...

Aoi - Breakfast time! Breakfast time! Gotta eat a big breakfast at breakfast time!

Chihiro - Good morning...

Malachi - Good morning, Chihiro.

Chihiro - It's nice to get to eat with everyone... With so many people, it's actually kind of fun.

Leon - What are you looking at me for? Mr. Goody Two Shoes is running the show for now.

Celeste - A breakfast meeting, eh? Perhaps it will keep me entertained and make life with everyone here a bit more bearable.

Junko - Okay, okay, if I absolutely MUST talk to you, let's just hurry up and start the stupid meeting! Taka's gonna throw a fit if we don't.

Kiyotaka - Okay, looks like everyone's here. So then, let's begin our very first "breakfast meeting"! Everyone, thank you for making time in your busy schedules to come together.

Leon - I didn't make time for shit. You dragged me here...

Kiyotaka - I know I already mentioned this earlier, but in order to get out of here, it is essential that we all cooperate with each other. And the first step is this breakfast meeting, to allow us to become friends and build trust! So from now on, let's all meet here in the dining hall every morning after the morning announcement! Now then, let's eat!

Toko - You w-want me to eat breakfast with other p-people? I've never done that b-before. I'm not s-sure...

Leon - Yeah, it's been a while for me, too.

Junko - Well anyway... did anyone happen to come up with any clues?

 Silence echoed throughout the dining hall.

Junko - Seriously? Nothing at all? Anything, it can be about how to get out, or who's doing this, nobody has anything!?

Malachi - ...You are going to die.

Junko - Huh...?

Malachi - If you can't stop yourself from showing weakness in front of others you will die.

Junko - Wh-What the hell? Don't even freaking joke about that!

Malachi - I am not joking. Adaptability is survivability. Did I not say so? So you'd better hurry up and adapt to your new life here.

Junko - Have you gone completely insane? Adapt to my new life here? Do you have any idea what you're saying?

Mondo - Yeah, sounds like the little shit wants to live here. And hell, more power to em. But shit no way in hell am I living here! I'm gettin' outta here, I don't give a shit!

Celeste - Hmhm. Sure, feel free.

Leon - Okay, so... nobody has any clues?

Aoi - One thing I can tell you is who's behind all this. Someone who's totally weird and messed up. Why else would we be trapped in here in the first place?

Leon - Well, sure, it could be something like that. But for right now, actual clues are...

Chihiro - U-Umm...

Leon - Huh? What's up?

Chihiro - If you think in terms of people who are really abnormal or bizarre do you think maybe the person responsible for all this could be a certain murderous fiend...?

 Malachi - A murderous fiend... Chihiro, do you have some idea who might be behind all this?

 Chihiro - well... maybe. I mean, I can't really be certain, but...

 Kiyotaka - Certainty is not a concern right now! I'll allow whatever remarks you may have!

 Chihiro - O-Okay, well have you guys heard of Genocide Jack?

 Malachi - You mean that serial killer that's been in the news and all over the Internet?

 Byakuya - The monstrous villain who's murdered scores of victims in brutally bizarre fashion. The word "bloodlust" was left at each murder scene, written in the victim's own blood. Whoever it is, he's like a ghost. He strikes without warning, and disappears without a trace. And on the Internet, they started calling him... Genocide Jack. That about covers it, I think.

 Yasuhiro - They say he's claimed over a thousand victims...

 Junko - That's just an urban legend though, right? I mean even like, ten people would be totally insane.

 Toko - ...

 Chihiro - Anyway, whoever Genocide Jack really is, he's obviously some kind of super crazy killer.

 Mondo - And if he really is this "ultimate" psycho, I wouldn't be surprised if he put together something like this.

 Chihiro - But like I said, I can't be certain. I don't have any evidence or anything. It's just a thought...

 Leon - But if they're the killer, isn't that like a killer of a problem for us!?

 Aoi - It's okay! Everything's absolutely, positively, one hundred percent without a doubt gonna be okay! Cuz help's gonna be here soon, I'm sure of it!

 Toko - Huh...? H-Help?

 Aoi - We've been stuck in here a few days already, right? Nobody's been able to contact us, so I'm sure they're getting worried. I bet they called the police already!

??? - AHHH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Monokuma - The police? You're putting your faith in the police!?

Sakura - What are you doing here!?

Monokuma - You guys, seriously... Do you understand what role the police exist to fill? All they're good for is being a foil, playing against a villain or anti-hero or evil organisation. The bad guys come along and destroy them, and that shows just how badass they really are. Are you sure you wanna rely on such an unreliable group of losers? I mean come on! If you really, REALLY wanna get out of here, all you gotta do is kill!

Yasuhiro - Hahahaha!

Leon - Why the hell are you laughing?

Yasuhiro - I'm just impressed at the total commitment to this whole act.

Junko - ...You're still going on about that?

Mondo - So, mister serial killer psycho freak bastard... what the hell do you want!?

Monokuma - Mr Serialkillerpsychofreakbastard, huh? That's a pretty long name! German, maybe?

Mondo - We know who you really are!

Monokuma - Maybe if I ignore him, he'll just go away..

Mondo - Hey! Don't ignore me, asshole!

Monokuma - Okay, okay, let's get back to business. Your life here has already begun and a couple of days have gone by, and nobody's killing anybody! I thought all you kids were lazy and selfish, and here you are working together. But I'm totally bored!

Malachi - There's nothing you can say that'll make us start killing each other...

Monokuma - Wait, I think - yes! Ding ding ding! I figured it out! All the mystery ingredients are here - right people, right place. So why hasn't anyone killed anyone yet? That's what I couldn't understand. But I just realised there was one very important piece missing!

Malachi - What are you...?

Monokuma - If you wanna know, I'll tell ya! It's motive! Puhuhu! It's so simple! I just have to give everyone a motive!

Mondo - Motive? What the fuck are you talking about!?

Monokuma - Oh, by the way! There's something I wanna show you guys!

Mondo - Stop changing the goddamn subject!

Monokuma - I have a little video I'd like you all to see. Oh, but don't worry. It's not some pervy "adult" video or anything. Seriously, it's nothing like that! It's a special video for each of you showing what's going on outside the school.

Malachi - Outside the school...? What are you talking about?

Monokuma - Hehe-heh! Ooh, Master's so impatient today! Why don't you just watch it and find out?Here in the school, there's a specific place you can go that has everything you need to watch the video.

Kyoko - Good, then we can go watch the video right now. But before we do that, I'd like to know what are you? Why would you do something like this? What do you want from us?

Monokuma - What do I want from you...? Well, if you must know...

Monokuma - Despair. That's all. If you want to know more than that, you'll have to figure it out for yourselves. Do whatever you need to to uncover the mystery hidden within this school. I won't try and stop you. Cuz to be honest, it's entertaining as heck watching you guys search so desperately for answers! So I guess I want amusement from you, too. Just like that he left.

Sayaka - He's gone... And once again, he left before we could find out anything useful.

Kyoko - really? I think we learned something *very* useful. He has no intention of standing in the way of our pursuit of the truth. Interesting...

Sakura - perhaps, but what about the video he mentioned? I'm very curious to see what's on it.

Mondo - Same here! Okay, so...!

 Mondo started glancing around the dining hall...

...but when his gaze landed on me, he stopped,

Mondo - Hey Malachi! Check this out for us, would ya?

Malachi - Huh? Why me!?

Mondo - Cuz you're closest to the door! That's the rule, right?

Malachi - R-Rule...?

Mondo - Hey, hey...

Mondo - Hey hey hey hey hey!

Mondo - HEEEEEY!!!

Mondo - You see how passionately I'm begging you!? What's the big deal? Just check it out real quick!

Malachi - ...

Malachi - O-Okay... I guess I'll get going, then.

Mondo - Awesome, thanks! I owe ya one!

Sayaka - ...If Malachi's going, I'm going with him. It's not safe to walk around this place alone.

Mondo - Yeah, sure thing. Then we're countin' on the both of ya! If anything happens, just yell and I'll come runnin'!