//------------------------------// // A Guide in the Darkness - Daily Life 2 // Story: Danganronpa vG: Goodbye Magic // by witegrlninja //------------------------------// "RRRRUUUUUHHHHHH!" *thump* I woke up to a strange noise. There was only a pale wash of light coming in through the window, leading me to conclude that it was the crack of dawn. "RRRRUUUUUHHHHHH!" *thump* "...Muh?" Sunset groggily mumbled as she lifted her head from the couch. "Whuh time'zzt..." I glanced over to the small alarm clock on the windowsill, the thin red lights too bright to see comfortably at this hour. "Agh... 7:40..." "RRRRUUUUUHHHHHH!" *thump* "Oi! Shut the fuck up out there!" I heard Indigo's muffled voice scream. My ears finally pinpointed where the noise was coming from - behind my cottage. I turned over in bed to look out the back window to see Kotenage in the distance, throwing himself repeatedly at a big, thick pine tree. His sandals and robe were on the ground nearby, revealing a matching pair of gym shorts on his body and nothing else. Despite this and the surely-freezing temperatures, he was dripping with sweat. "RRRRUUUUUHHHHHH!" *thump* He tackled the tree as hard as he could, as if trying to push it along the ground. The tree shook violently with each impact; twigs snapped off and the odd pinecone fell from above, but he hardly seemed to notice. It seemed as though he would not be satisfied until he actually broke the tree in half. I watched for a few minutes until my eyes felt heavy again... *ding dong, bing bong* Oh Celestia-damn it... The chime rang from the TV below me, jolting Sunset awake. "Rise and Shine, Ursine!" Monokuma and his Kubs were sitting on the couch once again, this time all holding different kinds of coffee drinks. "This is an official announcement from the Head Camp Counselor of the Ultimate Campgrounds!" Monokuma began loudly and cheerfully before whispering in a lower voice. "Alright, ya little bastards, go on..." "It's 8am, bitches! Time to wake up and face the blood-drenched day!" Monokid roared, waving his tiny cup of espresso wildly in the air and making a mess. "I wonder who's dead this morning?" Monosuke remarked with a grin. "Stooop! If I suddenly see a dead body, I'll puke..." Monophanie whined. "Now, since the kitchen's been closed to you guys all night long, we've taken the liberty of fixin' up breakfast for ya!" said Monotaro. "Go ahead and eat to your heart's content... Monosuke's actually quite the talented chef!" "Well... that was better than I expected of you cubs," Monokuma muttered under his breath. "Alright! Enjoy your killing camping trip!" With that less-than-friendly sign off, the monitor died with a buzz and faded back to black. "How much you wanna bet the food's been poisoned...?" Sunset chuckled dryly. "I hope it isn't... I'm starving," I replied, putting a hand to my gurgling belly. "Yea... Welp, see you at breakfast, I'll be there in a few minutes," Sunset yawned as she got up and slipped her boots on, then walked out the door. I yawned as well and stretched - true, I was locked within a nightmarish situation, but I'll be damned if that wasn't one of the best night's sleep I'd ever had. Bracing myself for the cold, I wriggled out of my pajamas and put my clothes back on, thankful that I had arrived wearing warm clothing on the trip to the human world. The grey holey pants and black boots were the same as was usually manifested onto my body on trips here, but the top was a blessedly-thick sea green sweatshirt with a long-sleeved pink shirt underneath, and my pink hat had grown ear flaps to keep them warm. The black backpack I'd brought with me sat on the floor by the dresser, although sadly empty of everything else I had brought with me. Still, having the storage space might come in handy. I looped my arms through the straps and set off for the main cabin, locking the door behind me. ~ My breath clouded my vision, puffs of steam at a time. Rime laced the grass and logs around the fire pit, reflecting the cold sunlight. As I walked I saw Mountain and Ocean ahead of me, Ocean courteously holding the door to the main cabin open as I entered. I was pleasantly surprised to find a full breakfast buffet spread out on the long shelf along the back wall. There was everything one could ever ask for... pancakes and waffles with butter, jams and real maple syrup; cereals, granolas and oatmeal; sausages, bacon, hash browns, eggs done three different ways, coffee, tea, milk, fruit juices, yogurt, fresh fruit, donuts... and even tidily-arranged plates of rice, grilled fish, pickled vegetables and a thin soup, of which Kotenage scooped up three along with one serving of everything. "HMM... NOT CHANKONABE, BUT IT'LL HAVE TO DO," he commented. Meanwhile, I grabbed myself some food and sat down at the end of the long table by myself. Sunset joined me a few moments later, and we ate in silence... up until I noticed that Flash, Indigo, Juniper, Sonata and Sugarcoat were walking in a group right towards us. "You," Sugarcoat grunted, pointing a finger squarely at Sunset. "We need to talk. Now." "Uh... okay?" Sunset recoiled slightly, glancing at me in confusion. "Now that I've had a night to sleep on it and calm down... what the hell do you think you're doing?!" she snarled. "Wha-" "You're magic, aren't you?" barked Indigo. If no one else had been listening to our conversation before, the mention of magic got everyone else's heads to whip around in our direction. "And more specifically, you do memory and mind-reading magic!" added Juniper. "Oh, here we go..." Sunset grumbled, slapping a hand to her forehead. "Wait... that's what you guys were on about?!" Flash reeled back. "What makes you think Sunset's behind all this?!" "I can't exactly say I blame them," Sunset sighed. "I was thinking about it last night, too... but my magic's gone." "Oh, suuuuure it is," Juniper sneered. "Yea? Let me touch you, then. See if I can read your mind." "N-No!" Juniper screeched as she flung her hand away from Sunset's. "God knows what you'll do to me next!" "Then... how do you expect her to prove her magic's gone?" asked Sonata. "Seriously? She's obviously lying," growled Sugarcoat. "All she has to say is 'oh, shoot, I don't know what you're thinking about'," she continued in a mocking voice. "Hey, if she says it's gone, then it probably is," Flash glared. "Besides, what reason would she have to bring us all here? And I refuse to believe that she's behind this killing game... even at her worst, she would never do something like that!" Her worst...? I thought back to the beginning of our friendship, and what Princess Twilight had told me about her. ...Oh, yea... she was apparently a massive bully in high school, up until Twilight rallied the human versions of her friends together and Friendship'd the bully out of her... "Ugh... yea, that too," Sunset grimaced, grabbing at her arms. "The old me would rather you all be alive... even if only to torment you guys further. Even back then, I knew killing would've been taking it way too far." "But it totally makes sense! She does memory magic, and none of us can remember how we got here!" Indigo gestured wildly. "I don't remember how I got here!" Sunset retorted. "And if I did, what the hell makes you think I'd willingly be a part of this killing game?! I could wind up dead, too! Not to mention why would I include Flash and Starlight, two people I care a ton about!" "He did break up with you, remember?" glared Sugarcoat. "That was in high school!" Flash groaned. "And totally justified! I can admit I was a megabitch, 'cause I was!" Sunset added. "Hold on... you have magic?!" Silver suddenly spoke up, her eyes wide. "Er, well-" "-I mean, you had magic?" Silver corrected herself. "Yea, I do... did... ugh, I dunno," Sunset cradled her head in her hands. "I have yet to meet someone blessed with the random mutation of magic!" Sunburst tilted his head. "How fascinating! There's so many things I wish to ask you!" "Bah... that don't exist," Ocean grumbled, not looking up from his meal. "Magic's just a myth." "Just because we've never met anyone with magic..." Mountain began to chide, "...doesn't mean it's not a thing." "Yea. Quite a few people from high school wound up with magic, actually," said Soarin'. "You can't do it, though? Did Monokuma take it away from you? ...Oh god, is that bear magic, too?! Is he anti-magic?!" Memento grimaced as her eyes bugged out. "It's the most likely explanation," I spoke. "Sunset's magic dealt with memories," Sugarcoat cut me off. "Who better to be a traitor than the person who can manipulate memories?!" "I am not a traitor!" Sunset growled, standing up abruptly. A small cough got everyone's attention, and we all turned to stare at Button. "Like I said... there's always a 'traitor', per se, but that traitor never actually does anything treacherous," he reminded. "Besides... we have to trust each other, so no one falls for Monokuma's traps, remember?" "THE LITTLE ONE IS RIGHT," said Kotenage. "WE MUST NOT TURN ON EACH OTHER SO EASILY." "Yea... I bet Sunset's lack of magic is just a way of getting us to hate each other," Memento agreed. "If she really has memory magic, then it only makes sense to suppress it so she and we don't remember how we got here." "But you're assuming she's telling the truth," Juniper scowled. "What if she's just faking it?!" "Why would she fake it? There's no good reason for her to fake it!" I argued. "Oh? And how do you know that?" Sugarcoat sneered, jabbing her finger in my direction. "Because we're friends!" "Well, that just means either she'll make sure you don't get killed... or you're not as good of friends as you think you are," she replied coolly, crossing her arms and shifting her body away from me, eyes closed and nose in the air. Geez... no wonder Sunset seemed surprised to learn she's apparently a therapist... "Alright, that's enough," Mountain scolded in a low voice. "Are you trying to get us to kill Sunset? Because I'm not killing anybody, even if it means I can leave." "Seriously, remember what's at stake here... either we all escape from here, or one of us kills someone, then lies through their teeth until they get the others killed too so they can escape," added Dr. Hooves. "Ask yourselves: can you really live with that, for the rest of your life?" His words froze our hearts and silenced us, forcing us to consider them. Looking around the room I could see a maelstrom of emotions swish and swirl through everyone's eyes... as much as I hoped that humans were as generally peaceful, friendly and agreeable as ponies back home, my research on human conflict told me that the opposite was usually the norm. Don't get me wrong... ponies can and will fight if they disagree on something enough. But it was rare that their fights led to outright premeditated violence; murder was nearly unheard of in Equestria. Unfortunately for me, however... this was not Equestria, not even the human version of it. Murder was unsettlingly common in this world. "...Damn it. I've worked so hard all my life, I'm about to have a shot at being the greatest driver in the world! ...And then this happens to me," Silver exhaled sharply, glaring at the floor. "SOU SOU, ME TOO. THAT'S WHY WE'VE ALL GOT TO WORK TOGETHER," Kotenage patted Silver's back gently in sympathy. "Fiiiiine... I'm watching you, though," Juniper narrowed her eyes at Sunset. "The second you do anything suspicious..." "You do you," Sunset sighed and replied in annoyed resignation. "Meanwhile, I'm going to try to find a way out of here with everyone else, because one: I don't want anyone to die, and two: you're barking up the wrong tree if you think any of this was my idea." Juniper huffed and walked away, Indigo and Sugarcoat right behind her. Sonata shrugged and wandered off to do her own thing, while Flash took a seat next to Sunset and I. "The nerve of her!" Sunset growled under her breath. "We were friends until she left for Manehattan, she knows I wouldn't do anything like this..." "I believe you," Flash nodded sympathetically. "Whoever's doing this probably knew this would happen." "I doubt magic's gonna get us out of here, anyway," I frowned. "We need an actual plan. Those Monokubs wander around in the woods, and they're fast, too. If we even find some cave or something we can escape through, they'll mow us down before we can all get there." "If I could find the right components for a bow and arrows, and somehow learn where their weak spot is, I could be of help there," Mountain suddenly scooted behind me and sat down on my other side. "Whoa! You were listening?" Flash asked, surprised. "Gotta have good ears if you're going to hunt," Mountain pointed with a smirk. "Besides, every creature has a weakness... even robotic ones. Once I find it... one shot there, and one less Monokub to worry about." "Oh, are we coming up with a plan?" Ocean asked as he sat down by us. Behind him I could see Button, Dr. Hooves, Kotenage, Silver and Sunburst moving over to join us as well. "We can try... I've done quite a bit of walking around, however. I have yet to find any path through the forest that doesn't lead straight into a cliff," said Dr. Hooves. "Climbing the cliffs is possible, but not very probable without equipment and a good deal of preparation." "And we'd be sitting ducks for the Monokubs," Sunburst added. "So that's probably no good." "Maybe there's a way out hidden under the floor somewhere? A secret passage," suggested Button. "Maybe... I haven't found any segment of flooring that sounds hollow when stepped on, but then again, I suppose I haven't tread on every square inch of floor..." replied Dr. Hooves. "Then we'll just have to look around until we find something," said Silver. "Not much else to do, otherwise." "IT IS PART OF MY TRAINING TO NAP AFTER EVERY MEAL, BUT AFTERWARDS, I'D BE HAPPY TO HELP SEARCH," said Kotenage. "I'VE ALREADY FINISHED MY EXERCISES FOR THE DAY." "It is?" asked Ocean. "SOU SOU, YES. MOST PEOPLE ARE TOLD NOT TO SLEEP AFTER EATING BECAUSE IT LEADS TO WEIGHT GAIN. FOR RIKISHI, HOWEVER, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WE WANT." "Ah... makes sense," Silver nodded. "About those exercises," Dr. Hooves cut in, "...You think you could maybe pick a tree to practice with on the opposite side of the camp? I believe it woke some of us a bit too early..." "You mean Indy's raging?" said Button. "She was louder than he was." "I SEE... I THOUGHT I WAS FAR AWAY ENOUGH. MY APOLOGIES," Kotenage bowed. "I WILL FIND A SUITABLE TREE BEHIND THIS MAIN CABIN TOMORROW MORNING." ~ After we'd finished eating, we split up and set out to search the camp top to bottom. For a while I didn't have much luck, only finding more Monocoins to throw into my backpack. It wasn't until an hour or so later that I ran into one of the others searching the Gym. "Oh, hello Dr. Hooves," I greeted respectfully. "Ah, hello... Starlight, wasn't it?" he replied, to which I nodded. "How is your search going?" "Nothing yet... you?" "Nothing, either... say, would you care to search this area together? I could quite use the company." "Sure," I answered, pursing my lips. He was a good deal older than me... would we even have anything in common to talk about? ~~~ Dr. Hooves and I made small talk while we searched over every square inch of the gym. ~~~ "So... you said you find yourself solving mysteries pretty often," I spoke up during a lull in the conversation. "What kind of mysteries?" "Ach! If I told you I hardly think you'd believe me," Dr. Hooves shook his head. "True, there are the more conventional mysteries I've come across that are perfectly within the realm of possibility - murders, conspiracies, the occasional coup in a foreign land - but I've seen even more strange things than that!" "Such as?" "Well... like I said, I doubt you would believe me." "Try me," I raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "I've seen some strange things myself before." "Is that so? Hmm..." Dr. Hooves considered for a moment. "...Alright. Lifeforms from other planets, for one." "Oh?" If my ears could still flick, they would've. "Yes... aliens. Extraterrestrials. Most of them are benign and mind their own business, simply needing help with a problem so they can return home or defeat a warlord, but some of them are nasty. Why, if they knew where our good planet Earth was, they'd make their way here posthaste and destroy us all!" "They... would?" "Oh, yes... why, I've had a few run-ins with one such alien race a couple times. Er... how should I describe them...? ...Like giant thimbles on wheels with blinking lights and a camera for a face, from which they can emit lasers powerful enough to melt steel! They dislike organic life... humans such as myself most of all. Especially myself..." he shivered. "Is... that so?" I frowned. That doesn't sound very dangerous... "I've thwarted their plans more than a few times... they basically yell 'obliterate! Obliterate!' the second I'm spotted." "Oh." ...Do I believe this story...? "I know what you must be thinking... completely ridiculous, right?" Dr. Hooves waved a hand dismissively. "What kind of drugs must that man be smoking in his spare time? Well, I tell you, it's all true! All of my exploits are true! Aliens, time travel, parallel universes..." "...Wait, parallel universes...?" I perked up. "Yes... in fact, the last thing I remember before coming here was-" he began, but cut himself off. "...Well, unlike all the other times, nobody has yet accompanied me to witness this new world I've seen, so it's much less believable if I'm the only one who's experienced it..." My body deflated. It looks like he's not going to talk about it now... "Ah... tell you what. Give me some time to collect my thoughts, and I'll tell you all about it at a later time. Okay?" "Alright," I nodded hopefully. "Very well, then! Now then, we should return our attention to finding that elusive hidden passage out of this terrible camp. Allons-y!" With a cheerful nod he turned his back to me, knocking on every individual board in the wall. ...Parallel universes? Could he possibly be talking about Equestria...? I'm not sure if I believe his story about thimble aliens, but I would like to hear about his time travel experiences... ~ We finished searching the gym, not finding anything. We split up again and decided to search other places. I spent a while searching by myself until I entered the Laundry Room, where I found Sunburst applying spot remover to his jacket sleeve. "D'oh... this is my favorite coat," he muttered to himself. Hearing me enter the room he turned around. "...Oh, hello Starlight." "Sunburst," I nodded. "Are you searching this room?" "I was, until I'd noticed I got a bit of dirt on my sleeve," he replied. "Thankfully I found some detergent pens among the supplies... this room is well-stocked." "Oh... mind if I help you?" "No, not at all," he smiled. ~~~ Sunburst and I talked while we searched the Laundry Room together. ~~~ "So, you're the Ultimate Scholar, huh?" I asked. "Yes, I suppose so... skipped many grades all throughout grade, middle and high school, started college very early," he mused. "Uh..." I hope it's not too weird to ask him this... "...What about, like, preschool?" "Hmm..." Sunburst thought for a few moments. "...Actually, yes, I think that may be where it all began..." "Where what began?" "Well, I was very little... three or four, perhaps? I don't remember much from then, so I only have my mother's word to go on... I was enrolled in an ordinary daycare, playing quietly with the other children or reading with one of the caregivers. One day, however, a caregiver had brought a novel with her to work for whatever reason. I had already read through all of the daycare's books multiple times, so I grabbed the novel when no one was looking and read through it... at least until I was caught." "Aww..." I cooed. I think the Sunburst back home did something similar when we were little... "When I went home later that day, I started to speak words from that book. Not little words, either, like 'luncheon' or 'remote', but big words like 'investigation' and 'equestrian'." ...Equestrian? "Pronounced them perfectly, so I'm told. My mom asked the caregiver to let me finish the book, and I read through the whole thing. I was able to give a brief summary on what it was about... and, well... I was declared a genius." "I see... that's impressive!" I nodded. A lot like what happened to the Sunburst I know back home... "So my mom immediately enrolled me in a Montessori school... and I suppose the rest is history," he shrugged. "No wonder you're the Ultimate Scholar... starting when you were just a toddler!" I smirked, nudging him with my elbow. "Yes, well..." he stuttered, blushing furiously. He looked exactly like the Sunburst back home in this moment, bashfully pleased with himself after solving a problem or finishing a stack of paperwork. It was really quite cute... ...But then our eyes met. He was staring at me with a stern look of confusion, as if he was trying to remember something. "...What?" "I'm... not sure," he looked away. "Thinking about that daycare again, I suddenly felt like I'd forgotten something, though I'm not sure what." "Oh..." Maybe... I mean, this is a parallel universe... maybe he might've remembered...? ~ We spent the rest of our search talking about other things. The sky was dark by the time we finished. We headed for the dining hall, hoping that someone had already made dinner, and lots of it. Kotenage was back in the kitchen, whistling a tune while stirring a massive pot of thick soup. Soarin' was also in the kitchen, staring into an oven. I could smell a wonderful medley of fruit, vegetables, herbs and spices, along with a particular note I couldn't recognize. There was already an industrial-sized rice cooker on the long central dining table full of steamed white rice, and Juniper was busy tossing together a salad in a large wooden bowl. The others were all sitting in various places and chatting idly as they waited for the main course to be finished. I walked over to Sunset and Flash and sat down with them. "Find anything?" I asked hopefully. "Nothing," Flash sighed. "Not yet, anyway," Sunset added more positively. "But I'm not giving up hope." "Too bad the sun sets so early right now... some extra daylight would let us search for longer," said Flash. "Plus it's so damn cold out... gotta keep moving. Staying still while looking around sucks the warmth right out of ya." "I know it's getting close to winter, but yea, it's freezing out," Sunset nodded, pulling her leather jacket tight around her frame. "We must be pretty far up north." "DINNER IS SERVED!" Kotenage called out, picking up the massive pot with ease. "GET IT WHILE IT'S HOT!" Everyone grabbed plates, bowls, utensils and their drinks from the shelf along the wall and then sat down at the central table. Kotenage set the pot down on a trivet with a heavy thud and smiled wide as he ladled soup into everyone's bowls. I peered into my bowl, smelling a heavenly harmony of carrots, potatoes, green beans, cabbage, mushrooms, onions, garlic... and something that kind of looked like pale shreds of tree bark. I made sure a big piece of it was in my spoon as I took a bite... it was savory and soft, falling apart in my mouth with a satisfyingly stringy texture. The broth was rich and flavorful, having absorbed the essence of all the other ingredients, and warmed my whole body from the inside out. "Ah, that hits the spot..." Sunburst sighed happily. "Mmm... this is really good, Kotenage!" complimented Silver. "Oh man, this is amazing!" Ocean exclaimed as he shoveled the soup into his mouth feverishly. "What is it?!" "CHANKONABE," replied Kotenage. "WE EAT THIS EVERYDAY IN THE STABLE, SO WE HAVE TO BE EXPERTS AT MAKING IT!" "What's Chankonabe?" asked Sunset. Glancing over to her bowl, I saw that she was carefully avoiding the tree bark shreds. "A HEARTY SOUP MADE FROM DASHI, CHICKEN, AND WHATEVER VEGETABLES AND SEASONINGS YOU FEEL LIKE," Kotenage beamed. "COMBINED WITH RICE IT'S THE PERFECT MEAL!" ...Wait... chickens are those little feathered animals that cluck and lay eggs... right...? "Uh..." I mumbled, half of a piece of now-suspicious tree bark shred sticking out of my mouth. Sunset heard and turned to me. "Oh... yea, that's meat," she pursed her lips and looked away guiltily. "Sorry." The piece of chicken fell out of my mouth. "Are you a vegetarian, Starlight?" Sonata asked, tilting her head. "What kind of vegetarian doesn't know what chicken is...?" Sugarcoat muttered, raising an eyebrow. "I, just... uh... I'm not sure what to think of it," I remarked. I mean, it wasn't bad... "Lots of people here eat meat," Sunset said as she picked out a piece of chicken from her bowl and put it into her mouth. "Lots of vegetarians too, though, so it's cool if you want to eat meat or not." "O-Oh?" I thought back to when we'd ordered Chineighse food at Sunset's apartment... she'd ordered rice, noodle and vegetable dishes, with not a scrap of meat to be seen. "...You're not vegetarian...?" "Oh no, meat's fine," Sunset chewed. "I just don't really prefer chicken." "I see..." I looked back down at the chicken on the table. I picked it up and examined it, considering how it had tasted. ...I mean... it's not like anypony back home'll ever find out... and ponies are opportunistic carnivores, after all... After a few moments of thought, I shrugged and popped it back into my mouth. Chicken was tasty. "So... has anyone found a possible way out of here yet?" Sunburst asked hopefully. "No... though I'll admit, I didn't look very hard," said Soarin'. "Gotta keep my skills sharp, so I played soccer with Silver, Indy and Ocean most of the day." "I... slept a lot," Memento added sheepishly. "...My job has me working all kinds of weird hours, so I sleep whenever I can get it." "Button managed to get all of the possible games out of the MonoMono Machine, so I've been playing with him all day," said Sonata. "...He won't let me win..." she glared while looking away, pouting. "Ugh, why are you guys treating this like daycamp?!" Sugarcoat shouted. "There's five insane robot bears out there that want us to kill each other! ...Saying it out loud makes me sound insane..." she sighed as she slapped a hand to her forehead. "I mean... as long as we don't kill each other, we seem to have it pretty good right now," said Ocean. "We've got food, shelter, entertainment... we'll find a way out eventually, but until then, why waste a good buzz?" *boing!* Suddenly, Monokuma dropped down from the ceiling, nearly landing in the pot of soup. "Aaaaand that's my cue to appear!" he grinned as he posed whimsically. "HOH SHIT!" Memento screamed, falling out of her chair. "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-!" Indigo scooted backwards in her chair until she hit another table. "You! What are you doing here?!" Sugarcoat snarled, pointing at the black and white bear. But before he could answer... *Rise and Shine, Ursine!* The Monokubs dropped down from the ceiling as well, Monokid actually landing in the pot of soup with a miniature tidal wave of vegetables and chicken. "Mmm! I smell delicious!" he howled. "MY CHANKONABE!" Kotenage cried. "Why the hell are you guys here?!" Juniper wailed, shielding her face with her plate. "Geez, it's loud in here... what's all the ruckus about?" asked Monotaro. "You did just scare the crap outta us just now!" Button growled. "Ugh... I know why you're here, just get it over with, already..." "Huh?" Sonata put a finger to her chin as she tilted her head. "You know, what Button told us about the killing game," Mountain narrowed her eyes. "This is probably where he gives us our first motive." "Well, I ain't gonna!" Indigo yelled, shaking her fist. "Say whatever the fuck you want, you stupid bear, I won't do what you tell me!" "...Man, you guys are buzzkills. I was all set for adventure before you started yelling at me!" Monokuma slumped after a few moments. "I bet the motive's gonna be about the supposed 'traitor', huh?" Button glowered. "Or maybe it'll be a video showing us all the horrible things you've done to our friends and families? It's not hard to assume when you're copying off of a game series." "Is that so? Then did you also assume this next exciting development?" Monokuma perked up, his red eye glowing ominously. "How about this for a motive? The first person to kill another and get away with it... need not worry about getting the others killed, too. That's right! For one time only, the blackened who successfully pulls the wool over their fellow campers' eyes gets to leave, and the others get to continue living, too!" What...?! But... that's not that much of a motive... "...That's our motive?" Sunset tilted her head. "Whoa! You're so generous, Pops!" Monosuke gasped. "What... kind of motive is that?" Button recoiled, more confusion than revulsion on his face. "Yea, that's still terrible!" agreed Memento. "I mean, you only gotta kill one and you're done, but that's still terrible!" "Oh, I think you'll find that motive to be quite... motivating," Monokuma smirked. "Just think... the killer will be free to leave and continue on with his or her life like nothing ever happened, while the rest of you saps stay here... camping forever!" "F-Forever...?!" Silver shivered, a look of horror on her face. "BUT... B-BUT MY MAKUNOUCHI DEBUT...!" Kotenage stuttered. "No...! My acting! My limelight...!" Juniper began to sob. "You might say it's a fate even worse than death," Monotaro grinned. "The rest of yous unable to leave until the day yous die, never again participating in your Ultimate talents, never again seeing yer family and friends... Sure, you can still leave if you kill someone else and get away with it, but since you didn't do it first, then everyone else'll get whacked," Monosuke taunted. Their words slithered through my ears and attached to my brain like parasitic leeches. My vision blurred as I considered the ramifications... not only could I, or Sunset, or anyone else wind up dead, but I could also just be stuck here... magic-less... forever. As far as we currently knew, there was no escape from the valley, and nobody would ever be able to find us... And if someone else killed and escaped first, then... then...! I blinked a few times and glanced at the others. Though Sunset's resolve remained strong, the others weren't so sure. Again their eyes darted back and forth amongst themselves and each other, doubt, uncertainty, fear and suspicion swirling like a miasma all around. "Why are you doing this?!" yelled Flash. "What did we ever do to you?!" "Does it really matter?" Monokuma grinned. "It does to me! Why the fuck do you want us dead so bad?!" Sugarcoat scowled as she approached Monokuma. "I can understand the famous athletes and those with large fanbases, but why the rest of us?! Why me?!" "Hey! I'm famous, too!" Juniper frowned. "Whatever. Point is-" "Silence!" Monokuma suddenly shouted. At his command the Monokubs suddenly whipped out their guns, though instead of immediately opening fire they just stood there menacingly. It was more than enough to shut us all up. "I'll ask you ingrates again... does it really matter? The answer... is no! You are not leaving until one of you murders another, so unless you wanna end up as pink smears, you might wanna take this game seriously!" "I... b-but..." Silver hiccuped, tears streaking down her cheeks. "But... the killing game is gory, huh? I'm starting to feel a little queasy..." Monophanie took a deep breath. "Don't you realize that working together is pointless? So just knock it off, already," said Monotaro. "Don't you wanna get back to livin' your life?" "You're not surrounded by allies or friends. No need to worry about them," grinned Monosuke. "Ya know what'chu gotta do, dont'cha?!" Monokid shouted. We stared in terrified silence, not daring to move a muscle. After a few moments, the Kubs seemed satisfied and stowed away their weapons. "Awwuh! You guys are so stinkin' cute!" Monokuma wiggled. "When I see you guys, I just get so excited until I can't take it anymore! You guys are so cute! Gosh, I just wanna see what your parents look like! ...Wait, I'm your parents!" "That's... not how that works..." Mountain grimaced. "In their case, it just might be," reasoned Dr. Hooves. "Well... what you guys decide next is all up to you. Do whatever you want. You can all spend the rest of your busy, obligation-filled lives here, or you can leave alone. It's your call," the black and white bear shrugged indifferently at us. "Let's knock back some honey so we're good and loose when the first killing happens!" Monokid roared. "Pouuuuur some honey on meeeee! In the name of killing!" He continued to sing horribly as Monokuma scuttled out of sight through the doors to the dining hall, the Monokubs not far behind. *So long, bear well!* Nobody spoke a word for a long while. Only eyes shifted back and forth, everyone now casting suspicion on everyone else. Though the motive was still pretty bad, I had to admit it carried much less gravity than had there been no motive at all... the question was whether someone here would be fine with committing one murder as opposed to fifteen of them. I was no stranger to knowing that everyone had their own unique set of values and morals... the thought of being forced to remain here for the rest of my life, away from my friends, family and full magical capabilities was nearly intolerable. What exactly were the values of my new friends here? Some of them definitely had goals they wanted to reach, goals they'd spent their entire life striving for, and now those goals were being threatened right in front of them. Was it enough to make any of them break? ...Was it enough for me to break...? *ding* "Oh! Pie's done," Soarin' grinned slightly as he shuffled towards the kitchen. It seemed to calm the tension in the room, as once he got up, there was a collective slight sigh of relief. "Heh... that wasn't much of a motive at all," Button chuckled. "I was expecting something like 'kill someone here by tomorrow, or I'll kill you all myself' for a motive," Memento slumped in her seat. "Something that'd actually make someone want to do it, you know?" "The killer would still have to live with the fact they've killed somebody," said Sugarcoat. "Maybe not as horrible as being responsible for fifteen lives, but still pretty horrible." "Soooo... nothing's changed?" asked Flash. "We're all gonna keep on looking for a way out, right?" "I don't see why not," said Sunburst. "Here we are!" Soarin' returned to the dining hall carrying a pair of pies on a tray. "We've got apple, and we've got blueberry. Dig in!" Everyone's suspicions and worries seemed to evaporate as we cut ourselves some slices. My own thoughts drifted into the wind like the fragrant steam rising into the air. ~ There was little else to do after dinner; it was far too dark outside to search any longer. I looked up at the starry sky, silently amazed at how bright and full it appeared out here. Though I didn't recognize any of them, I did get the sense that we were many miles from civilization. Still, all things considered, it wasn't too bad. We had food, warmth, shelter and things to do, albeit provided by murderous robot bears that wanted us to kill each other. But that wasn't going to happen, no matter what motive they dangled in front of us. It was just... such an unimaginably cruel thing to demand, nobody in their right mind would give in to it. Especially not me... and especially not Sunset. As long as we had each other's backs, we were going to escape. Then we would make our way back to the closest town, tell the authorities what was going on, and then it'd be all over. We could all go back home, safe and sound. For the time being, I grabbed a swimsuit from the Camp Store and spent time with the others at the Indoor Pool. I enjoyed the relaxing swim in bathtub-warm water up until Nighttime was almost upon us. I was in the shower when I heard the Nighttime Announcement play faintly in my cottage, not really caring what those bears had to say. Afterwards I put on my pajamas and crawled into bed, reading one of the dumb books I'd won from the MonoMono Machine until I quickly fell asleep.