Chapter Text
Getting that letter was supposed to be one of the best things that had ever happened to Damon, something that he could make his parents proud with. But after the pandemonium of everyone passing out on the train, he couldn’t help but think about those warnings his father gave him about Ultimates. He never had to think about it before, being that they seemed like those cautionary tales that parents would tell their kids so that they learn a lesson or something, albeit rather graphic and detailed tales. Still, with all that happened. . .he couldn’t help but start to see the overlap between now and those stories. The number of students, how they were taken, and even the host of this game seemed similar to what his father had described. It was unsettling. But after everyone had turned on him back in the trial room, his thoughts drifted to the despair he was told about; the murders, the punishments, the total darkness that overcame his father, all of it flooded to his head as he heard the elevator go back up to the tree with everyone else inside it. He almost felt numb from this realization; he was not sad or upset, just numb. It was virtually worrying how he didn’t think to make this connection sooner during Tozu’s speech, but in all honesty, it was just a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of eyes that were on him, those eyes. He doesn’t know why, but something about their eyes made his stomach churn with disgust for himself. Sure, he was used to the glare and occasional scowl from his debate opponents, them being the usual looks he’d get when he’d win in an argument, but these felt different. For the first time, he had felt this overwhelming despair that his parents had talked about, and it made him sick. So sick that when he got back to his dorm room, he had thrown up. He doesn’t even remember when he got back to his room, only remembering the burning sensation in his throat from the bile he had vomited out of his system into the toilet. It made his ribcage hurt from how hard he was heaving and coughing, his body convulsing like a cat about to cough up a hairball. His body was slumped over the toilet for a while after that, the emptiness of his stomach becoming more and more apparent to him than the smell and sting of bile on his throat and tongue. He didn’t even notice when he was getting up, sluggishly shuffling to the sink and spitting a few times before, smartly, deciding to brush his teeth clean of this feeling. It was a thoughtless task, just mindlessly going through the motions before spitting the toothpaste out and rinsing his mouth with water, but all the while, his mind was running with thoughts about this whole despair and hope thing. Who started it? What’s the Ultimate Hope? Who was the Ultimate Despair before she became the monster she’s described to be? Why did she want despair so badly? None of these questions would be answered, only serving to make him sigh and shake his head as he trudged to bed and changed his clothes, tired from all this and far too empty to function. And as he lay there in bed, the more he thought about it all, the more he felt himself become smaller and smaller in the grand scheme of things. It was all so much bigger than he had given thought to, only now registering how large this web of tragedy spread. All of it served to bring his thoughts back to his parents, victims of the game. He didn’t ask them too much about the game, seeing how their expressions shifted when they talked, the pain in their eyes, and the tensing of their hands when they brought up Junko Enoshima telling him more than they needed to say. They were hurt and broken down by her, by the game, by the despair, and Damon didn’t want to dig at old wounds, but now, as he lies here staring at the ceiling, he wishes he had pushed a little harder in his questions. Sure it was selfish to think, but all he wanted was answers, just some clarity on the matter. But there’s nothing he can do about it now, and he has to deal with it. How lucky is he to get stuck in a killing game like his own parents, huh?
* . °•★|•°∵ ∵°•|☆•° . *
Somehow, no one had moved to start this killing game up— no murders, no fights, no nothing. Everyone was just getting along as if they couldn’t still feel the game's tension hanging over their necks like a guillotine, the silent threat of being killed by a fellow Ultimate weighing heavily on their minds and making them check behind themselves more often. At least, Damon would assume they’re doing so, they’d be stupid not to. Even after their little speech about not succumbing to such temptation, it seemed like wishful thinking to assume that everyone else would agree not to kill each other. Just think, it wouldn’t be long until someone cracked under the pressure, the idea of staying here until they succumbed to old age sounded like hell to anyone with a brain. No way they all were going to keep their hands clean forever. His mind grew cloudier and cloudier with those thoughts the more the days dragged on, hitting the one week mark with the lingering fear of being the first to go. Damon was honestly impressed with how long they were sticking out on this. It almost gave him hope in humanity with how much the others seemed to be getting along despite Tozu’s pestering and occasional vague comment about death. But, on the seventh day, something strange happened. Damon had just woken up, his eyes slowly opening as he lifted his head from his pillow. He grimaced a bit, feeling dried drool on the corner of his lip and a dampness on his cheek as he shifted to sit up. He wiped his mouth with his pajama sleeve, lifting the covers off himself as he got out of bed and moved to the closet, but just as he was about to start getting ready, the speakers crackled to life.
”Would all students please make their way to the trial room, I have a little surprise for you all! Don’t dilly-dally now! Or else. . .”
A sinister chuckle was the last thing heard before the speakers crackled off, leaving Damon with a feeling of unease. Tozu’s words made him on edge, wondering if he had more of the blackmail material they had received before. And remembering the blackmail just made him even more tense than before, reminding him that someone amongst them had dirt on him that could be about almost anything. It made his skin crawl with thoughts of what they could know, and who could know, even when everyone “promised” not to share any of the secrets written in those letters. He didn’t believe them in the slightest. It was only natural for people to want to gossip and speculate on others, and it was only a matter of time before someone spilled about what their letter said. . . minus Jett already spilling about Toshiko’s blackmail. Extremely underwhelming in Damon’s opinion, almost disappointing in a way. That isn’t to say he’s disappointed by the fact that the blackmail wasn’t anything terrible, he just expected a lot more if it was supposed to be blackmail. Then again, it seemed like Toshiko cared about that being revealed so he supposes that it was serious enough if it mattered that much to her. As he thought about this, he was getting dressed to go see what this whole ‘surprise’ was, his thoughts becoming increasingly clouded by the blackmail and many ‘what if?’’s that could come from this killing game. Even once he was stepping out of his door he could feel the tension in the air despite not seeing any of the others.
’They’re probably all at the tree already.’
He thought as he made his way down the hall, his footsteps being slightly muffled by the carpet. The walk to the tree was a bit faster than he thought, his thoughts seeming slower than anything else around him to the point he didn’t even register that he was already at the doors of the central room. His eyes trailed down to the door handles before a hesitant hand came to rest on one of them, a shaky breath escaping him as he steeled himself to keep calm.
He squeezed the handle before pushing the door open, immediately being met with chatter about the ‘surprise’ that Tozu was planning. He didn’t pay much mind to it at first, hearing the occasional hopeful comment about how they could be getting set free (idiots) or the remarks about how this could be escalating (probable). They all just felt like background noise to him, mindless chatter to fill the empty void and to calm the nerves of the others who get all jittery at the drop of a hat. He stood off to the side and out of the way quietly, listening to the others without interest until he heard the speakers crackle to life again.
”Now that all are present, I would like to begin this by stating that all blackmail that has not been revealed will be carried over to this new event.”
Tozu started cheerily, making everyone tense at the reminder of the blackmail.
”Another thing about the blackmail given is that there will be new ones handed out! But with a twist; all of these will be about one person I have selected to be the star of this new show!”
The words settled on them like a thick fog, everyone glancing around at each other nervously. Damon froze, tensing further as his eyes darted over the confused and nervous faces of the others.
“One person? Doesn’t that seem unfair?”
Diana asked, clutching the strap of her cosmetic bag tightly as a few others murmured in agreement.
“I would agree but since when has this game seemed fair?”
Wenona pointed out, crossing her arms and huffing as she continued.
“Besides, who knows if all of it will be true or even worthwhile, we already heard what one of these blackmails could sound like, who’s to say they’re all serious?”
While this did make a few relax, it didn’t make the tension lessen in the slightest.
“Yeah but still, this stuff could be like, super private, and what if it’s about other family members? No one wants to hear that stuff!”
Kai protested, getting a few to reluctantly nod.
“But who’s it gonna be? Like, who has the most dirt on them?”
Cassidy suddenly asked, tilting her head and looking around at the others as if someone would just raise their hand and step forward to admit they're probably the one with the most blackmail material. Jean hummed in thought, putting a hand to his chin.
“I’m not quite sure who it could be, but whoever it is must have something dark about them that’s enough to warrant being singled out.”
He thought aloud, his brow furrowing in thought while others eyed each other suspiciously. Wolfgang noticed and cleared his throat, getting everyone to look at him.
“I still think it would be wise to remain calm about this, even if the blackmail is something delicate. No matter who it’s about, we shouldn’t see this person any differently just because Tozu dug up their past.”
He said calmly as he took a step forward, adjusting his tie while he, once again, tried playing the peace keeper. It kinda ticked Damon off how calm he pretended to be after that mock trial, but all he could do was roll his eyes and cross his arms as he watched him get others to agree and commend him for his maturity like a mindless flock of sheep. A loud clearing of the throat is heard from the speakers.
”Moving on. . .”
Tozu starts again, making them go quiet.
“Another part of this surprise is that we shall be moving location! To a little place called Jabberwock Island!”
Damon’s stomach dropped, his heart leaping into his throat as he watched the others' faces grow confused and look at each other to see if anyone knew what Tozu was talking about. His mind turned to static and his ears started ringing, unable to focus on what was being said as the memories of what his parents told him flooded back to his head. He had never found that place on any maps or in any books, and his parents never explained why he couldn’t find it. It led him to think that this island was just a made-up place or some sorta code name for another island, he didn’t think it was real. But as he was stewing in this realization, the others got even more confused.
“We’re going where?”
Kai tilted his head in confusion, crossing his arms as the name of the place was completely lost on him, unfamiliar and even a bit strange in his opinion.
“Isn’t that the name of the beast in that Alice in Wonderland book?”
Jett pointed out, scratching his helmet as if he were scratching his head. A few nodded and muttered about how weird it was as Grace scoffed, putting her hands on her hips.
“So what? We’re gonna be chasing rabbits now? Tch, talk about a downgrade.”
She rolled her eyes at the thought of a kids book being the new bases for their fucked up game. Tozu laughed at the idea, the speakers crackling a bit.
”Ha! While the idea would be interesting, that is not why I shall be changing locations.”
He corrected, clearing his throat a bit before continuing to explain.
”You see, whilst I was digging around for something to get at you all and I stumbled upon a rather interesting bit of information, so I dug even deeper. And now with this new knowledge, I shall be changing the premise of my game!”
His proclamation of changing the game made several raise their brows in both shock and slight skepticism, not fully believing that the killing game is going to change just like that.
“But why? Why change your game so suddenly when nothing has happened?”
Eva asked, adjusting her glasses as she shifted on her feet, crossing her arms while seemingly staring at the speaker as if it had a face to judge.
”You see, my dear, with this new information that I just happened to stumble upon, I found out more information about a previous game, a game much like the one you’re in,”
Tozu started, sounding as if he was explaining this while pacing around in a slow, painstaking manner to draw out the words in some way. Damon hated how easy it was to visualize that.
”And in my little deep dive of this game, I got inspired! So now, instead of killing each other, I thought that you all could learn a little history. This game will now be taking a safer approach, unfortunately, and much like the mock trial, you will be solving past murders that happened within the game.”
“Wait wait wait, there was a previous killing game?!”
Kai exclaimed, clutching his arms tightly as his eyes widened in shock, almost scared at the idea. Toshiko was in a similar mood, holding her fan tightly as she tried wrapping her head around the fact that there were other students stuck in their exact situation.
“There were more victims?”
She muttered softly, her voice trembling a bit as if she were about to cry. Damon would’ve felt bad if it weren’t for the annoyance he felt at the whole group’s stupidity. He almost wanted to yell at them, shouting ’ Of course there were previous games! You think this just happened randomly? Of course this has happened before, you morons!’, but, alas, the logical side of him reasoned that he would probably get more than everyone turned against him again, and it’ll most likely be coming from Grace if it gets physical. While the others were talking amongst themselves and calming each other down, he simply scoffed, shaking his head as he looked at the speaker, narrowing his eyes.
“And how are you getting us to this island? You can’t quietly transport a whole class of students to a random location without being detected.”
He questioned bluntly, folding his arms at his chest while a few turned to look at him, surprised he even spoke. A sinister chuckle echoed through the speaker, making Damon’s eyes narrow further.
”Oh, my dear, you have no idea how easy it is. . .and don’t worry about packing a bag, everything will be waiting for you on the island.”
The soft click of the doors was heard, supposedly locking. But before anyone could test that theory, a gas started to come out from the tree, making those who were closest start coughing.
”I’ll see you all very soon~! Have a safe trip!”
Tozu’s cheery voice then cut off, the speakers going dead while the gas kept seeping into the room.
“What the hell is he doing?”
Desmond asked between coughs, his eyes getting watery as he tried covering his mouth with his elbow.
“I think it’s the same thing he did on the train-”
Wenona choked out, covering her mouth and nose with her hand as she tried fanning away the gas. And just as she said that, both Jett and Mark fell to the floor, knocked out by the gas. All Damon could do was stand there, coughing from time to time as he watched others slowly fall to the floor one by one. He could already feel his eyes water and his head grow foggy, his chest having this pressing weight on it as the gas kept filling the room. Eventually, he was knocked down to his hands and knees, struggling to stay awake as the last few of the other students were passing out. Trying to keep his eyes open, blinking away tears as he wheezed a few breaths, none of it helped, all it did was prolong the inevitable.
And finally, everything went black. The coldness of the floor was the last thing he felt before his consciousness slipped away from him, his head hitting the tile with a dull thud.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Starting New Game. . .Location: Jabberwock Island, Participants: 16, Monokuma: Activated
Welcome to HopesPeak!