Danganronpa: Despair Malfunction (Version 0.5, ARCHIVED)

Prologue: Episode 4

"What the hell are you?" A voice called out. I looked over, and saw a blue haired girl standing, pointing at the podium. "Are you like, a teddy bear or something?" A second girl stood next to her, and pulled her sleeve, trying to get her to sit down. "Knock it off, Camille! I want to know what that teddy bear is!"

The bear pounded his fist on the podium. "Hey, circus girls! Shut up, ya hear? I'm trying to do my job, if ya'd shut yer yaps!" The two girls quickly sat down, and the bear shook his head. "Any more interruptions?"

Silence. "Now then, let's actually get this under way. I am the principal of the Automated Academy of the Sky! I am Kurokuma. You may know me already, I'm a pretty big deal. There's a copy of my mixtape under each of your seats, you're welcome."

I looked under my seat, and sure enough, found a copy of his shitty mixtape. He continued, and I looked back to see him striking a pose on the podium. "Yeah, there it is! Hope you kids enjoy that. Anyway, here's the deal. This will be a very different semester than any you have experienced before. In fact, today will be the last day of all but one of you's lives!"

He began cackling as a murmur rose from the crowd. "What do you mean by that!?" an angry looking girl shouted. Kurokuma looked over at her, and laughed.

"You are all going to fight to the death!"

The back doors swung open, and a second, friendlier looking bear came rushing in. "Wait, stop!" he yelled, climbing up onto the podium, gently shoving Kurokuma out of the way.

He sighed, and gestured to the friendlier bear. "This killjoy 'ere is Shirokuma. The Vice Principal of the Automated Academy of the Sky."

"That's right, I am Shirokuma. And as Vice President, I demand that they do not fight to the death right here and now!" The room erupted into a cheer for the new bear. "Could we maybe negotiate it down to a killing game?" The cheering quickly stopped.

"Who's side are you on, Vice Principal!?" Hammer called out. 

Shirokuma frowned. "I'm on your side, of course. But Kurokuma is not one to be reasoned with. This is all I can do..." he scratched his little head, and bowed. "I'm sorry."

"A killing game, eh?" Kurokuma asked. "Could be redundant, but ey, who knows? Maybe it'll be entertaining. Yeah, let's do that instead!"

"And what would that entail, Principal?" Makoto asked, glaring at the bear.

Kurokuma took his hat off, and scratched his head. "What do you mean?"

Shirokuma nodded. "I thought you would know what it meant, Makoto Naegi."

Before she could respond, Kurokuma put his hat on, and struck a dynamic pose. "I'll tell ya! So basically, you guys aren't getting out of here. Consider this place a floating freakin' prison. Unless, kiddos, you get away with murder."

The crowd of students gasped as Kurokuma got more and more excited. "So we're going with Shirokuma's plan, guys. That means that you guys live here, and you kill to earn your freedom. Easy. Now, here's the hard part. You have to make it through a trial. And if your buddies figure out that you did it, you're gone. Boom! Dead! Let's do something else." He chuckled.

"Uhm, and, you know, if you want the full rules, your handbooks are under your seats. They aren't cheap, so please take good care of them." Shirokuma added. Curious, I reached under my seat, and found a new object. I pulled it out, and turned the handbook on. The screen lit up, and displayed a set of rules.

1. Students will not leave the campus under any circumstances.

2. Once a murder takes place, all students must participate in a class trial.