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Despair's Last Resort: Part Forty Eight

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Chapter 6: So Long, Hotel Paradise - Deadly Life (Investigation) I

SLAM

Takara woke up not from the sound of Monokuma's announcement, but from the sound of a door shutting. She sat up in her bed, seeing Kumiko standing against the door connecting their rooms and breathing heavily. "Karins! You have to help me!" The comic artist shouted.

Takara jumped out of bed and walked over to the door. "Kumiko, what's going on?" she asked. She still felt tired after waking up from her strange dream last night.

"My room! There's something strange and freaky in my room!" Kumiko cried. "You've gotta help me!"

"What, you mean Monokuma?" Takara asked.

Kumiko shook her head. "Nuh-uh! I'd prefer Teddie to what's in there!" she said.

Takara sighed, she was too tired for this. "Kumiko, what could possibly be in there to freak you out so much?" she asked.

"A ghost! There's a ghost in my room!" Kumiko said.

Perhaps she wasn't the only one going crazy. "Look, maybe the stress from this killing game is starting to get to you." Takara said, trying to comfort the comic artist. "I'll go in there and prove to you that there's no ghosts, okay?"

"But there is a ghost! I saw and heard it super clearly!" Kumiko insisted.

"Kumiko, you need to calm down." Takara said, turning the doorknob. The door on Kumiko's side was still open, most likely ignored in her frantic hope of escaping. The journalist stepped inside. "If you just listen to me, I'll show you that there's no such thing...as...ghosts..."

She couldn't believe her eyes, she didn't even want to. What she saw in front of her went against everything she knew to be true. And yet it was just as Kumiko had said. Standing in the middle of the hotel room was Chiyo Ueda, or something that had an uncanny resemblance to the deceased medium. Except she was completely spotless. Her necklace was all in one piece, there were no tears in her dress, and there was no indent left from the noose. "Chiyo" looked over at the two girls standing by the doorway and smiled. "Good morning Ms. Tsukuda." she said, mimicking her voice perfectly. "How are you doing on this pleasant morning?"

Takara stumbled back and nearly tripped. "What the fuck?" she asked. "This can't be possible!"

"You see! I told you!" Kumiko said.

Something seemed off about the Chiyo standing in the room. It was like she was there, but not. "Perhaps you can help me with something." she said. "I am not sure why, but it seems that Kumiko is frightened of me. Would you be so kind as to tell her that she has nothing to fear?"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Takara asked. "You...you're supposed to be dead! We held a trial for you! I was next to your corpse! How the hell are you here?!"

"I do not understand what you are talking about." Chiyo said. "I am standing right here, am I not? Surely that is proof enough. But I can prove it to you that I am not a corpse." She began to walk closer to the girls.

"No thanks!" Takara said. She ran back into her room and headed for the exit, Kumiko following behind her. She quickly grabbed her room key before heading out into the hallway and shutting the door. "What the hell was that?!" she asked.

"I dunno! I just woke up and saw Chi-Chi standing there like nothing happened!" Kumiko said.

"Maybe we should wake up the others, and try to figure things out from there." Takara said, trying to regain her composure. If she wasn't awake before, she certainly was now. Kumiko nodded her head in agreement. Just as they were about to go towards the first door, they heard the slamming of a door near the end of the hall. Turning their heads, they saw Ryouta on his knees and shaking. They walked over to him, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Ryose, are you okay?" Kumiko asked.

"Does it look like I'm okay?!" Ryouta shouted.

"Dude, calm down." Takara said. "What happened?"

"I saw him... That stupid track runner! He was standing there in my room acting all cheery!" Ryouta said.

Takara and Kumiko froze. It couldn't be... "He didn't have a scratch or drop of blood on him, right?" The journalist asked.

"...How did you know that?" Ryouta asked.

Before either could answer, a shout came from behind them. "STAY DA FUCK AWAY FROM ME!" Everyone looked and saw Kazumi standing in the hall and shouting into her room. "I dunno wat'cha want wit' me, but I ain't havin' it!" She kicked the door close, somehow managing not to break it.

Masaru and Satoshi were soon scrambling out of their rooms as well, frightened and sweaty. "You're not going to believe what I say, but you have to listen!" Masaru said.

"One of our dead classmates just showed up in your room, right?" Takara asked. "And they were spotless and free of any damage sustained when they died."

Kazumi, Masaru, and Satoshi stood there in silence. "Kara-chan, how did you know that?" Satoshi asked.

"Ya mean it happened ta ya too?!" Kazumi asked.

"Aside from me, it seems like everyone woke up to ghosts in their rooms." Takara said. "Who was it?"

"Kitagawa an' Naomi." Kazumi said. "Dey were actin' friendly an' shit, dey didn't even act like da assholes dey usually are!"

"I saw Minoru." Masaru answered. "It seemed like he didn't even know he died."

"Miyako." Satoshi stated. "She was smiling at me and saying good morning."

There was a pattern. Everyone who showed up in their rooms were the victims, the ones they had to discover who murdered them. But why? Why did they come back? And where were the other four, the culprits? This didn't feel right.

The doors to their rooms all opened, startling the group. All the victims came out of the respective rooms, spotless and looking the way they did before they died. Takara and the others huddled together, fearing what their classmates would do.

"Jeez, dude. You didn't have to run away." Hikaru said. "I ain't gonna hurt you."

"What's made you all so startled?" Shigeru asked, a hint of concern in his voice which felt creepy and unnatural.

"You're acting as if you've all seen a ghost." Naomi said, pushing her glasses up.

"No shit we are!" Kazumi shouted. "All of ya are fuckin' dead as dicks!"

"What? We're dead?" Minoru asked with a slight chuckle. "Come on, Kazumi. Quit joking around."

"But she's not! You're all supposed to be dead!" Takara shouted. "You were all murdered! Chiyo was strangled by Kaito! Hikaru had his throat slit by Ayame! Shigeru and Naomi had their heads bashed in by Shizuka! Minoru was poisoned by Arata! And Miyako committed suicide! You're all dead, we saw it with out own eyes!"

"I think your eyes must be broken then." Kaito said, stepping out of the journalist's room. "I mean really, why would I wanna kill Chiyo?"

"I thought you said there was no one in your room!" Masaru whispered.

"There wasn't..." Takara whispered back.

"You're telling me that I killed Hikaru?" Ayame came out of the same room, her arms crossed. "Earth to Takara, I think you're losing it!"

"I thought you'd know by now that I couldn't kill anyone if I tried." Shizuka came next. "Your accusation hurts me, I thought we were friends."

"If they were dead, why would they be standing here?" Arata. "Come now, Tsukuda. These claims are ridiculous."

"Come on, why would I kill myself?" Miyako asked.

"SHUT UP! ALL OF YA!" Kazumi shouted and walked away from the huddled group. "How DARE ya impersonate our classmates! Dere ain't no way yer ghosts, and dere ain't no way yer real!"

"But Kazumi, we're right here alive and well!" Shizuka said with a smile. "Surely you can trust me, can't you? We're best friends after all!"

"Don'chu speak ta me like dat, ya fake!" Kazumi shouted, her hand balled up into a fist and shaking. "Shizuka is dead! I saw it with my own fuckin' eyes! She got shot in da head an' heart! Ya don' survive from dat! An' yer mockin' her by pretendin' ta be her!"

"Shot in the head and heart? Don't be silly, Kazumi." Shizuka said. "If I were shot, wouldn't I have the wounds to match?" As if on cue, two bullet wounds appeared on her body in the exact places. The one on her head was obscured by her bangs, but the trail of blood that streamed down was real.

"...Da fuck is goin' on here?!" Kazumi shouted.

"Yeah guys, quit playing around!" Ayame said. "What's next, you're gonna say I was pelted to death by footballs or something?" Bruises began to cover her body, and some teeth went missing from her grin.

"Or perhaps that I was impaled?" Arata asked. The wound from the needle appeared.

"Besides, wouldn't all these wounds appear on the people we supposedly killed?" Kaito asked. The group turned to look at all the victims. The wounds began to show up on all of them, and the state their bodies were in when they died became their appearance. Hikaru's neck had a long cut, and his clothes were stained with blood. Naomi and Shigeru's heads were covered in blood, their clothes ripped and disheveled. Chiyo's dress had a blood stain in her chest and the mark from the jacket noose was on her neck.

"I'm dreaming right?" Kumiko asked. "This is all just a bad dream I'm having caused by Nightmarens isn't it?!"

"What do you want from us?!" Ryouta shouted.

"Don't keep doing this to yourselves." Shizuka said. "You can't win this twisted game. Monokuma will win no matter what. You should just stay here with us, that way you'll all be safe."

"But we've been trying to leave this whole time, and we've gotten so far!" Masaru said. "We can't just give up now, not after all you've sacrificed for us!"

"Do you really think the truth is worth it though?" Ayame asked. "That going back to the real world outside of this resort will do you any good?"

"This place has everything we could ever want." Chiyo said. "So why not stay here and spend your lives in peace? What reason could you think of to leave here?"

"Just don't accept Monokuma's final test. He'll let you stay here for as long as you want." Minoru said. "That way you can stay here with us forever."

"Doesn't that sound better then returning to a broken world with no hope?" Naomi asked.

"This vacation can be eternal, and you don't have to worry about the pain and stress you had before all this." Miyako said.

"So don't take the final test. Stay here with us." Shigeru said. "We can all be friends if you do."

"STOP IT!" Takara shouted. "You're all lying! It's just too good to be true! You can't come back, you're dead! And staying here isn't living, it's like being in hell! You're not our classmates, they would never tell us to stay here after all we've been through! They'd tell us to fight! I don't care what's out in the real world, I'd rather deal with that than stay here for one more day!"

"Yer all full of shit!" Kazumi said, standing by Takara. "I ain't listenin' ta one more word of yer crap!"

"You mean you'd rather trust her over your best friend?" Shizuka asked.

"My best friend is dead, no matter how much I wish she wasn'!" Kazumi shouted, walking over to the false painter. "An' I ain't lettin' ya soil her good name any fuckin' longer!" She punched Shizuka in the face, expecting her to fly back to the end of the hall. But she had no idea of what would really happen.

Shizuka and all the others became covered in static, freezing in place. Some of them seemed to turn transparent for a moment. Then they all shattered, knocking Kazumi back into the survivors. The sound of screams echoed through their ears, combining into a horrific symphony. It felt like it would never end.

"You're all going to die!"

Suddenly, the world went black and the screaming stopped.

...

Takara woke up in the hallway, the other students sprawled out on the floor with her. Everyone began to sit up, rubbing their heads and groaning. "Someone tell me that was just a dream..." Satoshi said.

"Unless we all had the same dream, I doubt it." Ryouta said.

"What was that?" Kumiko asked.

"I don't know, but it certainly raises way too many questions." Takara said.

The sound of the monitors in their rooms grabbed their attention. They all stood up and reluctantly went back into their rooms. Monokuma's smug face was on the screen. "Good morning everyone! I hoped you enjoyed the little wake-up call I prepared for you! I thought the announcement system was too boring for such an important day! Anyhow, it's time to begin the final test! Please report to the front desk for further instruction. And let the fun begin. Ahahahahahaha!" The monitors shut off.

"A wake-up call?!" Kazumi shouted from her room. "Dat was a fuckin' wake-up call?! How messed up is dis fuckin' bear?!"

Takara sighed. This was it. It was now or never. This was their only chance to leave the resort for good. She walked out into the hall, meeting the others there. They all walked to the lobby in silence. They gathered at the front desk, only waiting a moment before the bear sprung out and landed on the desk. "Hey, you guys don't look so good." he said. "You look like you've seen a ghost!"

"What the hell was that 'wake-up call' of yours?!" Ryouta shouted, saying what was on everyone's mind.

"Oh, that? It was just my way of having a bit of fun with you guys!" Monokuma answered. "Plus I'm tired of using the usual morning announcement, it's just too stale!"

"How did you do that though? There's no way to bring back the dead." Masaru said.

"That's for me to know, and you to not bother with!" Monokuma said. "Anyway, your fluffy headmaster spent all night finalizing the details for the Final Test! And so, I've gathered you here to explain what you have to do. To pass my test and leave this resort, the six of you have to solve all the mysteries surrounding this place. Where you are, how you got here, who brought you here, and so on and so forth! Because Iike to play fair, I am giving you an extended period of investigation and have opened up all areas of the resort for you to examine! But just because you have more time than usual doesn't mean you have the chance to goof off, so spend it wisely."

"Um, are we gonna have time to change into our clothes and eat?" Satoshi asked, raising his hand.

"I said I'm a fair bear, didn't I?" Monokuma said. "We can't have you investigating in your pajamas after all! And you're gonna need the energy to explore too! So because I'm so generous, you got half an hour to eat and get dressed before the investigation begins! I've already prepared a fresh home-cooked meal too, I need you kids to work at full capacity you know!"

"What'll happen once da investigation is over?" Kazumi asked.

"I'll call you over to the class trial like I always do!" Monokuma answered.

"What mysteries do we need to solve exactly?" Takara asked.

"Don't you worry, I'll be uploading those to your e-Handbooks while you're getting ready!" Monokuma said.

"And what happens if we fail and get a game over?" Kumiko asked.

"Now now, I want to keep some surprises hidden!" Monokuma said. "Now then, are there any other questions?" No one spoke up or raised their hand. "Good! Now go get ready and prepare yourselves! I'll let you know when your time is up and the investigation can start. Until then!" He bounced behind the desk.

"We should go eat first, then get dressed." Takara said. "Once the half hour is up, we'll meet back here in the lobby. Does that sound like a plan?" Everyone nodded in agreement. They all headed to the restaurant, finding six plates of toast, eggs, and bacon waiting for them. The food was soon devoured, and they all returned to their rooms. They changed into fresh sets of clothes and did whatever else they could fit in to the span of time. Takara was putting her files and items into her bag when she heard the monitor turn on.

"To be, or not to be. That is the question." Monokuma said. "Though if you ask me, it's a pretty lousy question. The real question is who will triumph in this final test? Will you pass with flying colors? There's only one way to find out! The investigation time starts now!"

Takara glanced at her clock. 9 a.m precisely. Everything they worked so hard for was about to pay off. She exited the room and waited in the lobby as her classmates joined her. Before she had the chance to speak, someone else spoke up. "Before we start running around all over the place in a haze, there's something I gotta show you guys." Kumiko said.

"Hm? What kinda thing?" Kazumi asked.

"There's someone I managed to talk to, and I think that person can be a super omega help." Kumiko answered. "We have to go to the lounge, right now."

6 STUDENTS REMAIN
:iconcommentplz:
I was gonna have the actual investigation start here, but things were getting too long so I just ended things there.

Enjoy the mind screw!

Dangan Ronpa (c) Spike Chunsoft
Despair's Last Resort belongs to :iconparadoxprophet:
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