Danganronpa: Digital Daze

Chapter 9: Tense Meetings

A boy was standing near the popcorn stand, with some sort of drink sitting on a counter near him. He had light brown hair, with a small part of it sticking up at an angle towards the back of his head. I could see what looked like a red gas mask encircled on his dull green hood, and he had on black jeans and a black jacket.

Finally, he turned around, and I realized it was Makoto Naegi, the...Ultimate Lucky Student, I think he said? He walked over and sat in the front row, in one of the two middle seats.

"So, what's this? Looks like a cartoon movie, but I don't know this one," Makoto asked.

I shrugged, having no idea either, and ate a handful of my caramel popcorn. I had decided to sit on the left edge of the front row, so there was one seat between me and Makoto.

The Movie Room lights began to dim, and the movie started.

The cartoon movie started off with some kind of brown animorphic...mouse-wolf like thing with blue jeans and red shoes on, relaxing on a beach. Suddenly, a floating mask named Aku appears, telling Abe (the mouse-wolf thing) that Dr. N has captured Karmen, Abe's love interest, and has hypnotized her into loving Dr. N instead. The only way to break Karmen's hypnosis is to play a long-forgotten song, using a banjo and a kazoo, within earshot of Karmen.

Abe then sets off on a wacky mission, jumping on evil minions (called Bandicoots), or spinning really fast to break objects in his way. He almost never speaks, but gestures a lot, and Aku accompanies him along the way, giving Abe advice on where to go or what to watch for.

Eventually, Abe finds the kazoo and the banjo, but Aku gets captured by Dr. N when he arrives at Dr. N's castle. Dr. N hypnotizes Aku, and threatens to break his Hypno-Timer, leaving Aku and Karmen hypnotized forever.

However, When Dr. N goes to destroy the Hypno-Timer, he finds it missing. To everyone's surprise, one of the guards disrobes their armor, revealing a pink animorphic dragon. Revealing her name to be Ember, she then reveals the Hypno-Timer in her hands, then flies up into the air, away from the guards and Dr. N.

Taking this opportunity, Abe plays the song with the banjo and kazoo, breaking the hypnosis on Aku and Karmen. Ember, seeing the two acting normal again, then incinerates the Hypno-Timer with a blaze of fiery breath, melting it into a metallic goo, while Dr. N rages at Abe, Ember, and his own Bamdicoots. Ember helps Abe, Aku, and Karmen escape the castle, and the last scene is of the three of them running/floating chaotically off into the distance.

As the lights came back on, Makoto looked over at me.

"Well, that was interesting, I guess," Makoto commented, staring at the blank screen.

"Yeah...that was...something." I scratched the back of my head, still processing what I had just watched.

Makoto changed the subject. "Well, I think I'll take some popcorn and soda with me on the way out. I don't see any rules against doing that, after all."

I didn't, either, so I took some caramel popcorn and refilled my root beer, then followed Makoto out to the Courtyard to talk some more.

We sat at one of the square tables, which seated four (one on each side), and I chose to let Makoto talk about whatever was on his mind, while munching on popcorn and drinking soda.

"I just can't believe...that all of us are trapped in here like this. I mean, I know the rest of you got invites based on your talents, but me? I was just randomly chosen in a lottery. I don't have any special talents like the rest of you. I'm just...normal. Ordinary. Plain as plain can be."

"Well, maybe, Makoto, but you were also labeled the Ultimate Lucky Student! That must count for something, right?" I asked Makoto, hoping to make him feel somewhat better.