Chapter Text
I’ve heard all the tales and seen the story closehand, so naturally I would have a great understanding of the truth. It’s still hard to believe actually, one day you’re living your normal routine life and the next the world completely crumbles around you. Broken down bit by bit until it’s all completely destroyed. Well, that was the “Tragedy” after all. The world was in total chaos on that, terrorism acts across the globe, a genocide on every corner, and multiple scandals destroying the political construct. The world turned into a blaze, a fire so strong, so outgoing and so wicked that nothing could ever put it out, and the one was who lit the match was a simple high school girl. Junko Enoshima.
No one could’ve predicted that underneath her innocent smiles and good looks was a malice most wicked. Her actions caused entire class council group to kill each other and brainwashed her upperclassmen to become her followers, the Remnants of Despair. They began to destroy the world, one terrorist attack at a time. In seemingly no time at all, the world began to morph into a literal hell. A group called Future Foundation came into existence to counter the despairs, but even they weren’t enough. It seemed like this global war of hope and despair would become the new life.
Until, one day, a miracle happened. Makoto Naegi, a seemingly normal individual, deemed the Ultimate Lucky Student, did something that sparked a light of hope. He killed Junko Enoshima. Him and his fellow survivors of Hope’s Peak rose up to the mastermind and ended the game. This single act changed the world again in almost instant. Cities were repaired, food was being provided, killings decreased, reality was becoming normal again. The Future Foundation leaders also participated in a killing game, but Makoto and his friends survived once more. The Remnants are still on the loose, but their acts seemed to stop, no one has heard from them in a long time.
And that’s the story in its entirety, a hero who stood up against despair in the name of hope…..but is that all there is to it? I often wonder the sanctity of the story, it seems a little too convenient and happy. The survivors were praised as heroes for not partaking in a killing game, despite some of them lying, tampering with crime scenes and one being a murderer of all things. The Future Foundation killing game, why did none of the branch leaders survive? One did but he’s gone, disappeared without a trace. I find it odd the Remnants would be the ones who controlled the game. Too many alignments were prepared for this type of game, it would make sense if someone from the inside was controlling it.
“Hey”
And what about the Remnants anyway? Why did they quiet down from their actions anyway? It’s said that Makoto Naegi took them to try and “heal them”, but that would contradict the message they gave at the end. One of them is lying.
“Hey!”
And what about Makoto Naegi anyway? Who is he really?
“What are you doing?”
A cliché is what he is. A “regular boy” who showed up to Hope’s Peak by “luck”. He didn’t murder anyone because he’s so “nice” and “innocent”. That sounds like fairytale. A pretty messed up one to be sure.
“HEY!”
This story holds too many mysteries. I’ve heard it all, yet I don’t quite believe in it. This story sucks! I could create a better story if I tried. Yeah, I know I can. Better than Junko did, better than Makoto ever experienced, a better one the world had ever seen! And that’s precisely why I’m-
“Ptoo”
!!!
“Ack! Ah, bleck! Ugh!” I scream and spazz my arms frantically. My mouth tasted like spit! Someone else’s spit! I tried to get it off my tongue wiping as fast as I could, and that’s when a voice speaks.
“Ah, finally! I figured that get you up” I turn to the voice’s owner and see a girl. A tall girl with hot pink hair and blue eyes. She’s wearing a blue sweater with pockets near her stomach area, a purple skirt, pink rubber boots, and a light blue beanie which had a big hole on the top that showed a sharp ahoge from the girl’s hair. “Sorry about that, you were just knocked out for so long I started to worry” she says rubbing the back of her head.
“I-I was...unconscious?” I asked slowly.
“Yuppers. But, then again we all were so, don’t feel too bad” She said, scratching the back of her head.
“The others?” I repeated
“Yeah, you and me make 20 in all. And all of gathered here like this already reeks of a certain ‘event’” She answers.
“Event?” I repeat to her
“You know, the big one revolving around the Ultimates together in one place?” She says getting a bit huffy, but I still don’t know what she means.
“The...Ultimates?” I ask her.
Instead of responding to me she just looks at me, bending down on her knees and leaning forward to match my eyes. She tilts her a head some and then finally speaks, “Were either of your parents part-parakeet or something?”
“Parakeet?!” I yelp out
“You wanna cracker? Boy wanna a cracker” She pinches me cheek and speaks in a soft, cutesy voice. “I’m just messing with you man. But that big thing has to be familiar to you”
I rubbed my cheek and don’t say anything to her. We stand in silence for a few moments before she speaks up again.
“You...you really don’t remember?” She asks and I shake my head. “Uh oh, this is bad. Uh...can you remember your name at least” she talks as sweats drips from her head. My name? My name...my name...my...name...
“Dendo Heikin”
“Huh?”
“That’s my name. It’s Dendo Heikin” I repeat to her
“Oh that’s good. Phew, thought you had bad amnesia for a second there” She said as she quickly wiped her forehead. “So, what’s your talent?”
“Talent?” I repeat to her
“Yeah, you know your Ultimate Talent. The one that got you selected. What is it?” She keeps asking and I once again search my head for the answer.
“.......”
“O-oh, you don’t have one do you?” She lets out a small sigh “Sorry that’s my bad, it’s okay then-“
“Mangaka”
“What?”
“When I thought of it, that’s what came to mind. The Ultimate Mangaka”
Dendo Heikin, Ultimate Mangaka
“Oh sweet. Wait...Heikin, Heikin, Heikin, Heikin…” She ponders for a moment, tapping her foot in the process before speaking again “Oh I know you now! You wrote and drew the popular series ‘Monmade Manster’ and I you were also on several other manga as well. That’s you?”
“Yep, it’s me” It all starts to pour back into me now. My work, my drawings, my creations, my past, my family, it all came back to me instantly.
“Oh man, I’m meeting a total celebrity!” She takes off her hat and gestures it to me “Can you sign my hat” A minute ago you didn’t even know who I was. But I don’t refuse.
“Okay, making it out to…” I hang on to those words as I just realized I’ve been calling her ‘pink-haired girl’ till now.
“Oh right. It’s my turn now” She puts back on her hat and dose a pose pointing her arm out. “You’re looking at the Ultimate Defense Attorney, Micho Auruka!”
Micho Auruka, Ultimate Defense Attorney
“Attorney...you?” I ask as I re-look at her clothes
“Yeah. People say the same thing, I don’t dress like one or whatever but I don’t really care. I want to defend people and that’s what I’m gonna do. Besides, I have my badge to be one, see?” She directs my attention to her beanie again, and in front is a small yellow circle pin that shines and has the Scales of Justice in front of it. That looks to be like a real attorney badge, then again, I’ve never seen one in person so who knows what I think. “Still it’d be nice if we could find a way out of this crazy place”
“Huh?” It is only now that I take in my surroundings. Yellow brick buildings and structures are all across of me. A dirt ground instead of any concrete. Behind me was a 50 foot yellow brick wall, and when I turned my head around again, I could swear I saw a castle in the distance. “Wh-Where are we?!”
“I know right? That’s pretty much the same thing we all said” Micho, now that I finally learn her name, replies.
“You, you said there were others here right?”
“Yuppers”
“Do they know anything about this?! How to get out of here or where we came from?!” I frantically approach her with every word.
She grabs my shoulders and shakes me back and forth. “Woah woah woah there. Just calm down” She spoke “The others are out exploring too and know just as much as you do. So just take a deep breath and relax” I do as she says, inhaled through my nose and exhaled out my mouth “Better?”
“Y-Yeah, thanks”
“No problem Dendo, as long as we stick together. We’ll be just fine” She said reassuringly, kind of like a big sister would. “Now seeing as your up and able, let’s do some searching of our own, ok?”
I nodded confidently “Yeah, ok” I’m not sure why or how we arrived here, but Micho’s surprisingly calm nature makes it a little better. I still have questions regarding the “Ultimates” or the “event she was talking about, but I believe I’ll get those answers by talking with everyone here.
“Hmm? Oh, he’s up. Ken, Kenshiro come here!” A girl called out as she suddenly appeared around the corner.
“Huh? What is it?” A boy who followed her asked.
As they got closer, I got a better look at them. The girl had brown hair tied in a ponytail, and green eyes. She wore a peach long sleeved shirt with a brown vest over it, what appeared to be some kind of silver pin on it, brown pants and black shoes.
The boy had black spiky, rough hair. Red eyes, I think there were bags underneath them, a black shirt with a red slash marks on it, a red leather jacket that was open, gray pants and gray shoes. There were also rings around each side of his pants, one held knives around it, the others were sais I believe.
“Ah, you’re finally awake I see” The girl said “It was really considerate of Micho here to look after you”
“What can I say, I’m real nice like that” Micho shrugged, and me just standing there. “Oh right. Dendo, these two of the 20 who were also taken here”
“Ah right” I do recall her saying that, we were 20 in all.
“Oh then let me introduce myself” the girl began speaking as she held her hands together and bowed her head. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m Riko Otonashi. The Ultimate Class President. I hope we can get along together”
Riko Otonashi, Ultimate Class President
“Ultimate? So you have a talent too?” I ask her
“Yes, everyone here is a student from Hope’s Peak Academy” She says. So 20 students, all from the same school, just dropped at one location. What does this mean? Who would do such a thing? “I know it’s hard now seeing as we all woke up in a strange place, but rest assured if we all work together there’s nothing we can’t do!” She spoke with much determination and authority, as a smile grew on her face. I can see why her talent is what it is.
“Riko was the Class President of her previous high school, and was even the one in charge of her old middle school class. Her helpful and kind attitude is what made a lot of people look up to her and she even got some classes to pass their tests. The highest set of scores so far in Japan” Micho explained to me, and Riko just blushed at this
“Oh no, you’re giving me too much credit. I just help when I see people in need, nothing more to it than that” She talked while leaning her head down and her body swayed back and forth. “Uh, Ken I do believe it’s your turn to introduce yourself now”
“Yeah yeah, I know” The boy spoke in a dull tone “I’m Kenshiro Usoku, they call me the New Ultimate Blacksmith”
Kenshiro Usoku, “New” Ultimate Blacksmith
“Oh wow, a blacksmith sounds really interest….wait, ‘new’? What happened to the old one?” I ask him.
“What do you think happened to him?” Kenshiro said blatantly while not even looking at me. Thanks for the non-answer.
“Ah let me explain Dendo” Micho chimed in again “To make the long story short, the old Ultimate Blacksmith isn’t around anymore, so to commemorate him, they gave Kenshiro and any other old Ultimates the ‘new’ title” That seems...degrading.
“Everyone knows about the event that happened a few years ago. So it should be obvious” Kenshiro talks down to me again. And I just didn’t respond. There was that ‘event’ Micho said earlier.
“You do know it, right?” Riko asked me
“...........”
“Oh, oh dear. Do you have amnesia?”
“No!....Uh, yes? Kinda. It’s weird. I remember my name and talent, but...just not that….” I say slowly rubbing my head as I search for the answers. They, seem to be gone. Or missing rather, like an empty page or a blank line on a description sheet. Why...why isn’t there?
“Hmm...well, I hope you remember soon” She said “Ken. Apologize to him”
“Sorry you can’t remember much, man” Kenshiro said in a dull voice. Thanks….I think? “Anyway, as for how I got my talent. My parents have a shop and I just did it as a hobby, and here we are” Very blunt and to the point.
“Hehe, don’t worry. Kenshy may seem like a big grumpy-grump, but he’s really sweet on the inside” Riko said as she let out a light giggle and blushed.
Kenshiro followed suit as his face became the same color as his jacket. “I told you not to call me that in front of people...it’s embarrassing…” His hands gripping his neck collar while he spoke.
I let out a small laugh at this gesture, it seemed Riko was right about him. “Well I’m Dendo Heikin, Ultimate Mangaka. It’s nice to meet you both Riko and ‘Kenshy’”
Kenshiro immediately turned heel as his face no longer red, turned dark and he twirled one of his knives in his left hand “Call me that again and I’ll mince you to bits”
“Ah!” I yelp and take a step back in response. I’ll admit I did overstep my boundaries there, even if it was a joke.
“Hehehe, apologies Dendo, only I’m allowed to call him that you see” Riko giggled lightly. Thanks for the warning, by the way. “Well in any case, I recommend you go and meet the others. We planned to investigate and all share what we learned in half an hour. Maybe some time with them will help you remember”
“And I’ll accompany you. Can’t leave my good buddy all alone now” Micho said as she placed her arm on my right shoulder and brought my body closer to hers. Even though you spit in mouth, we’re good buddies...okay...
“Y-yeah, thanks for the advice. Riko, Ken it was nice meeting you and-”
“Add the ‘shiro’!” Kenshiro declared again
“Shiro! Kenshiro! Y-yeah I’ll see you guys around, ahahaha” I yelp out again as me and Micho slowly back away and walk towards a building “These Ultimates are a bunch of characters” I say to Micho while we turned away from them. She gives me a smirk in response.
“Oh, you have no idea”