Frenzy (REBOOT) (Pokémon Danganronpa)

Chapter 16: Backrooms

LEON'S POV

I was unsurprised to find a brand new upstairs area in this mansion. After all, we have not even seen the full capacity of the building yet—even after looking from the outside.

Hydra being a new addition to the staff seemed interesting. I didn't bother reading into his emotions, as doing so would probably get me questioned by him. He doesn't appear to have any inhibitors preventing his aura, so at this point, he could read my mind if he wanted to.

The rest of the group had settled into a weird spot with themselves mentally. We haven't talked about a genuine escape after the trouble Zantai and Vince got into. It's incredibly lucky that they're still standing.

What seemed to be more important right now, however, was Sam's absence. She would usually chime in with an unwanted announcement about whatever was occurring at the facility...but today seemed to be different. Our calls aren't being answered, and Sammy isn't here to answer any questions. The closest we have to a staff member is Hydra, but everyone is too afraid to even approach him.

Loki was the closest we've reached to properly contacting the other Lucario. She seemed quite happy with the encounter, but both Zantai and Vince seem to suggest otherwise about his personality. It looks as if they've managed to convince a good portion of us that he's a monster; a machine only made to contain and hurt us. While I could see that being the case...he didn't say anything about that—not that he would, anyway.

Our only chance to figure out what was going on was through Loki.

"You all need to figure it out for yourselves." The Zoroark was quick to reply. Laker was the first to approach Loki about asking Hydra what was going on, but even after her positive interaction with the other jackal, she still refused to do it herself. "I can't be doing everything for you, ya'know?"

"Right, but I don't exactly want to be eaten by a monster." The Weavile picked at his fangs with a claw.

"Arceus's sake, he's not a monster, Laker." The black fox scoffed and crossed her arms at the other dark type. "If any of you would just simply talk to him you'd figure that out."

"You can't blame us for thinking that after what happened with Vince and Zantai." Vanta paced up to sit on his haunches and groom the back of his paw. "Not only that, he works with Sam."

"I get it, but he's here to help us. We both know how strict Sam is on her own rules." The Zoroark shook her head in denial of the Umbreon's statement.

Digging further into this conversation would only lead to an argument, so I stepped forward and cleared my throat.

"Either way, we should be thankful we have more to explore. Have we searched the new location to its full extent?" I questioned with a de-escalating tone.

"Not anything past the gym." Loki answered, her expression returning back to a neutral one.

"I see...would it not be beneficial to further investigate?" I offered, earning a small nod from the fox.

"Alright, then you both can explore that. I'm going to speak with Hydra." Vanta ordered with a small exhale.

"Thank you." Loki heaved a sigh of relief.

It didn't take very long for Loki and me to be on our way into the gymnasium. The room itself was too big to even try and put it into measurements, so I didn't bother trying. Narrowing my eyes to look further, I noticed a large door in the center of the court.

"Hey...has Inu opened that room yet?" I motioned toward the entrance in question. The Zoroark seemed to shrug in response, her eyes also locking onto the door as if it was also her first time seeing it.