Chapter 3- Monokuma

"What the hell?!" I said this rather loud as I gazed confused and stared at the teddy bear sitting on the podium at the front of the school.

What kind of sick prank was this? I wasn't enjoying what this school found funny with this weird robotic bear that gave me the chills just looking at it.

I looked for any sign of a person that may have been controlling this bear or speaking through a microphone, but nothing showed itself in the gym.

What became even creepier was when the bear stood up on the podium. I felt myself take a step back in shock at this creepy robot. What was this?!

"I know what you're all thinking, and no, I am not a high-tech Build-A-Bear reject," The bear said in a scratchy voice, I couldn't tell who was speaking through this bear or making it move it's arms, but it creeped me out way too much. Was this some sort of dream. "I am the principle of this illustrious institution. Monokuma! Pleased to meet you!"

I then heard Hifumi's screams echo pass the gym walls as he yelled, "I had a nightmare like this once."

Hifumi had to be right. This had to be some bad dream and I would wake up in my bed soon realizing I never went to Hope's Peak Academy yet. That had to be it... Right? There was no such thing as high-tech Build-A-Bears!

"Young man, some respect if you please! Monokuma. Your principle. Yes, yes. Like nothing you've ever seen before. Uncanny. Unsettling even. Yadda-yadda... Moving right along," The bear apparently named Monokuma said. I couldn't help but pinch my arm as I tried to come to the conclusion that this was a dream. But the pinch hurt against my skin as I pinched again and again... Nothing happened though... "Now, all of you stand at attention. Give your principle your snappiest, 'Good morning!'"

I looked at everyone. Nobody could be that dumb to actually bow in front of this teddy bear. Except someone was...

"Good morning, principle, sir!" Taka's booming voice could be heard as he bows low in front of the "principle." Perhaps it was actually the principle and is controlling this stupid bear, but why not show himself?

"Please! Don't encourage it!" Toko said in a panicked voice as she looked down at Taka bowing low as if he were crazy. And I had to agree with Toko, it was crazy to bow in front of a bear that claims he's our principle. I just hoped that the principle or a faculty member would reveal themselves soon so I can feel relieved it was just a prank, but no one revealed themselves.

"Eh. That'll have to do, I suppose. Any way, welcome, bright young things to your new living quarters! Now, before you get all uppity, rest assured it's for your own good. Mustn't let the outside world dull that dazzling inner spark; we gotta keep that freshness sealed in!" Monokuma announced this to everyone in a cheery voice, I didn't know if it was making the situation better or worse.

"Hold on we-" Makoto started in a worried voice as he seemed confused about the talking teddy as much as myself.

"I don't think you expect us to cooperate," I interrupted with an angered voice as I crossed my arms.

"Oh, I think you'll cooperate quite well, sweety-cakes. I like the sass, you should keep that handy for later, missy," Monokuma said with his still cheery voice, or perhaps it was just how he sounded, either way, I didn't like it. I didn't comment or anything, but kept my arms crossed as I glared at this ridiculous bear. "So now you're probably wondering how long you'll be guests of our program. Approximately... the rest of your lives!"

I gasped in shock. Many others gasped as well. I didn't want to believe it. This was a prank. It had to be. Why would somebody lock us in here for the rest of our lives?! But, it did explain the iron plates boarding the windows, along with the passing out and everyone being confused about what was happening. Wasn't this Hope's Peak though? Why would they be locking us in when they invited us to attend? This bear better not expect us to cooperate with this one little bit. I hated the idea and I hoped this was a dream and I would wake up any minute now.

"Oh, yeah! By new living quarters, I mean, permanent living quarters," Monokuma said all cheery. He was crazy... This thing was crazy. Whoever was controlling clearly had a grudge against high school students. I hated it... I hated it all...

"You can't be serious!" Leon said in shock as his eyes seemed to be wider than my own.

"We'll be here... forever?" Chihiro whimpered as I saw tears enter her eyelids. Poor girl... She was emotional. True, if I didn't know how to hide my emotions well, I would probably be crying along with Chihiro.

"Aw, don't fret. We have an astronomical budget. Your needs will be satisfied in perpetuity," Monokuma said.

Was that supposed to be a positive side to this?! Nothing seemed positive with the situation we were just put in! I wanted to think this was a joke... or some dream! Anything would've been fine to avoid thinking that this bear actually trapped us inside this school. Who would be crazy enough to do that?!

"That's the issue! What if we have families?!" Sayaka said in a worried voice. My eyes widened as I remembered my family back home. My parents... how would they react to this? Not seeing their daughter come home ever again, it was like a nightmare! And my two sisters... How would they react? Sure, they sort of didn't like me all that much, but, we were still family and I wanted to see them again!

"Oh! Don't worry about those people you call parents! I swear, they probably don't care if you're trapped in a school for your entire life!" Monokuma answered while waving his arms dramatically around him.

"Y-you're heartless!" I said in a worried voice as I couldn't keep my composure any longer. I shouldn't have accepted that Hope's Peak invitation... I should've just stayed home with my family and lived a normal life with them!

"Excuse me. So the iron plates in our rooms... Those are to shut us in?" Makoto asked beside me. Oh no, why did he have to bring that up?! Now it felt like an actual prison.

"Bingo, you're here for keepsies! Kick and scream all you want. No one outside can hear ya'" Monokuma explained, and I swore I heard his voice turn into a dark growl.

So, if I tried to scream for help and bang on those giant iron plates, no one would come to help me or anybody else...

"Forgive me if I suggest this to be less ideal. But to spend the rest of our natural lives confined in a place like this?" Celeste asked while putting her hand onto her chin, probably thinking up a possible escape.

"Of course! You can't keep us here for the rest of our lives. It would be impossible to have that much food or supplies to keep sixteen students alive!" I yelled up at Monokuma in a daring voice. It seemed foolish to act so brave in front of a robotic bear who threatened to keep us here for the rest of our lives, but I wanted to prove a point.

"Impossible!" Monokuma chuckled at my words as I crossed my arms again. "That's rich! It was thought out throughly, darling! But if you're worried about all that, and for the rest who wish to leave, there is a loophole."

"Enlighten us," Byakuya said while giving the bear a stern and serious look, or was that just his resting face...

"Good ol' fashioned murder!" Monokuma announced as I felt all the color drain from my face at these words. He then flipped from off the stage and landed on the ground in front of us. Who was controlling this thing to make it flip like that?!

"M-murder..." I heard the words escape my mouth in a small whimper as I felt my hands shaking slowly. "Y-you can't be serious..."

"I'm as serious as blondie boy over there!" Monokuma said as he pointed to Byakuya with his nubs that were clearly passed as fingers and hands. Byakuya's face seemed to heat up at these words as he stood completely still... He seemed pretty serious... "I'm serious! The students who kills a classmate and gets away with it will be permitted to walk out of here scot-free! Pummel! Shiv! Bludgeon! Mutilate! Immolate! Extirpate! Asphyxiate! Know magic? Conjurate!"

I felt my palms go numb for a second. We had to kill each other to get out here?! What kind of sick game was this?! I never would kill somebody, much less look at an actual dead body! I almost vomit looking at a fake dead body on tv... How could this bear expect us to kill each other?

All I heard was Monokuma chuckle like a maniac as he then pulled out a salmon as if from thin air... Where'd that come from?!

"Know what you and this salmon have in common? Neither of you has the faintest notion how tingly the thought of watching you all slaughter each other makes me!" Monokuma said and then threw the salmon onto the ground to leave it flopping without water to breath... That would be us soon... "The best of the best, the creme de la creme, forced into a gore-soaked free-for-all! Is there anything hotter?"

"You're crazy!" Leon said to Monokuma. Yeah, no shit Sherlock! The bear was completely crazy!

"But why? What could possibly be the point in making us kill?" Sayaka asked.

"Yeah, what they said! If you think we're on board with this bull-crap, you're out of your mind!" Hifumi said with a look that seemed to be intimidating, but he looked harmless as a fly.

"Bull crap?! Where do you get off talking like that to your principle? Love it or hate it, sweetie pies, from here on out this school is your entire world! Dems the breaks!" Monokuma said moving passed us while talking.

Entire world... Those two words rang through my ears. I'm never going to see the light of day again and suck it up and get used to this prison they call a school?!

"Look on the bright side! I'm letting you get away with murder... for reals! So stop whining and start plotting!" Monokuma continued as everyone stayed quiet.

No, no, no... I would never kill someone! Even though I was pretty stubborn and had a short temper. I wouldn't be crazy enough to stab a knife through someone's heart... Just the thought of seeing that happen made my breakfast rise up my throat a little...

"You want murder, Teddy-Two-Tone?!" I shook my head from my thoughts to see Mondo move in front of Monokuma's way and had a rather pissed off look. He then kneeled down to Monokuma's height to look at him straight in the eye while talking. "Take this shit any further and you'll be victim number one!"

"Is that a threat? You gonna impale me on that pompadour?" Monokuma asked sarcastically. If I was put into that situation, I would've been scared to death facing Mondo. Just looking at him made me scared to face him. But, it was a robotic bear, what could it possibly know between fear and bravery?

"Bitch!" Mondo said, clearly offended by Monokuma's comment on his funky hairstyle as he lifted the bear into the air with his hand and face the bear an intimidating look. "What I'm gonna do is tear you apart 'til there's nothing left but whatever's making you jabber!"

I stayed back. I had a feeling this wasn't going to end well. One way or another, somebody was going to end up hurt...

"School rules expressly states, no harm must come to the principle under any circumstances!" Monokuma said in a panicked voice as he waved his arms around dramatically again to break free from Mondo's grasp.

But, his talking stopped when a sudden beeping sounds rang through the gym. I looked over at Monokuma's robotic body in Mondo's grasp and saw that a blinking red light started to show itself out of the red light on Monokuma. The siren started to speed up as I looked confused and worried about what would happen next.

"Uh guys... what's that noise?" Mondo asked the rest of us as he looked confused at the bear still in his hand.

"Oh no! Toss him!" I heard Kyoko's panicked voice say this as I soon realized what that bear was about to do.

"Huh?!" Mondo said, looking at Kyoko with the bear still in his hand.

"Listen to her and throw it!" I said when I realized what would happen any second now.

Mondo finally realized the situation as he then threw the bear into the air. The bear's siren started to beep louder and louder until finally, it exploded. The bear left behind a trail of smoke left behind in the gym's air as Monokuma was completely blown up to ashes. What the hell?!

"It could've blown my face off..." Mondo said, still traumatized by the robotic bear about to blow him up. Thank goodness Kyoko and me were quick enough to realize what it really was.

"So, the teddy bear's kuput?" Chihiro asked in a small voice as she looked up at the smoke the bomb left behind. What do we do now? Is the bear actually gone? And what were we supposed to do if it was gone?

"Not a teddy bear!" I heard the sudden cheery voice and I turned back towards the stage to see yet another black and white bear jump from behind the podium and on top of it to overlook everyone. I exhaled deeply to avoid accidentally let out a small scream as I looked at the brand new Monokuma robot. "Tada!"

"You-You son of a-!" Mondo started, looking shocked at the bear suddenly coming back from the "dead".

"There's more of them?" I said with a mix of terror and worry filling my voice while speaking.

"Consider that a verbal warning, young man. Get smart with me again, any of you. And let's just say 'round here we forego written warnings in favor of corporal punishment," Monkuma said in a threatening voice as he showed along silver claws out of his right hand and held it up to show how serious he was.

"S-so, you mean attempted death as punishment?!" I asked while trying to keep a gasp from escaping my lips.

"Ding! Ding! Ding! The bomb seemed to make that crystal clear, missy! Good job for catching on!" Monokuma answered as he put the silencer claw in his hand away and I found a shiver go down my spine. I couldn't break the rules or a bomb might blow up in my face... A terrible way to die, actually. "This now concludes the introductory portion of your orientation, boys and girls. Here's to you all enjoying a fun, fulfilling, if not exactly long, life of scholastic enrichment here at Hope's Peak High!"

And with that, the bear then disappeared behind the podium to never be seen by any of us for a little while. I found myself shaking slightly as I tried to keep myself from breaking apart. Death... Killing... Murder... These words all explained perfectly why I couldn't kill... I wasn't strong or cunning enough to put a knife through someones's heart! So, I would have to stay here for the rest of my life then... This had to be some bad dream. It had to be. I didn't want to believe that people would kill each other just so they could see the sun shine again... I couldn't take that reality!

"So, if I understand this correctly... To make it out of this place, we're to kill?" Celeste asked calmly while playing with another strand of her hair.

"Please don't say that so calmly! It's completely insane to think that someone would kill another!" I said while showing how worried and nervous I was about all this. I didn't want anyone to get killed or kill. Even though I showed how stubborn and impatient I was, it did t mean I wanted to see anybody get hurt!

"Heh. It may be insane to think that. But it doesn't alleviate my concern as to whether one of you takes it at face value," Byakuya said while eyeing everyone.

Everyone fell silent after that sentence. I looked worried at everyone while crossing my arms tightly as people have nervous glances to one another. I didn't want to think that somebody would kill just to get out of here. But, we barely knew each other... Who's to say that they wanted to murder someone in this room.

This wasn't a dream... I faved that fact now. I wasn't hallucinating or anything like that...

This was harsh reality...