Chapter Text
Dear Nikki Ann-Marie.
We at Hope’s Peak University have been observing you and your talent for an extremely long time. We have compared you to others within your field, and consider you worthy of joining Class 80 as the Ultimate Gamer.
You may discard this letter as you wish, or use it to join the new generation of Ultimates cultivating hope across the nation, and the world. The Semester starts a week from you receiving this letter.
From: Hope’s Peak University: North American Division
That’s the letter I received the week before all this started, pretty surprising considering I only won one single gaming tournament… apparently that makes me good enough to join the most prestigious school in the country. At least, that’s what it said when I looked it up.
Then I started looking through forums about Hope’s Peak, apparently there’s people who revolve their entire life around theorising who goes here… god that’s weird. Then again, I’m one of those people right now. Apparently some big names were coming to Hope’s Peak this year including: Polly Bendleson, some beauty tuber I’ve heard of tangentially, Audrey Belrose, owner of Belrose Beauty™, I forget to wear makeup most of the time, but I swear I do have some of her products lying around my apartment, maybe one of her miracle product whatevers will get this dumb fucking strand of hair to stop sticking up. Even the Pornstar known as “Misty Katz” was going there, though, I’m pretty confused as to how this school has facilities to train a Pornstar and some Gamer at the same time… I mean I guess there’s only one way to find out…
And that’s what brought me here, standing outside this absolutely fucking gargantuan academy… like seriously this thing has to have a thousand rooms… that’s probably how it caters to people with the most different careers possible I guess.
Before long, I made my way to the front door, awkwardly sliding my way through a small crowd of people also desperate to enter the Academy, before long I was at the front door, and before long I…
I can’t remember, I don’t even know if I walked into the school building at any point, I don’t even know if I conked out after reaching it or if I just forgot what happened.
And when I woke up, I was about as far away from Hope’s Peak as I could get…
---
I awoke on hard concrete. My eyes full of sleep, and my head full of a massive fucking migraine, I slowly opened my eyes to see-
“Hey, hey!” A blonde girl with two long pigtails, who was closer in appearance to a pencil than a normal person wearing a school uniform shouting at me in a tone of voice so kind that it made me feel bad for insulting her in my head five seconds ago. Goddammit Nikki.
“Oh thank god, you’re awake,” The blondie sighed as I stared up at her, still laying on the ground probably getting rocks and general street filth in my box dye blue hair. “Are you alright? You look pretty out of it is all,”
“I… am out of it…” I groaned.
“That’s fair, I think we’re all kinda zoinked out right now,” Tiffany sighed as she looked around the city I had found myself in… well, more like a mock city there weren’t that many buildings.
“We? Are there more people here?”
“Well, yeah, a lot more,” The woman said as she helped me to my feet with a surprising amount of strength for someone who looked like she would die if a gentle breeze hit her… okay seriously, I need to stop insulting people randomly.
“All Ultimates too…” The schoolgirl suddenly gasped and covered her hands with her mouth. “Oh jeez! I forgot to introduce myself, I’m so sorry!”
“It’s really fine,” I mumble. “I’m Nikki Ann-Marie, Ultimate Gamer,”
“Nice to meet you!” The woman smiles. “I’m Tiffany Maye, the Ultimate Nurse!”
God, she’s so much more impressive than I am. “That’s neat, I guess,” I shrug.
“It’s more than neat! I practically squealed when I got my invitation to Hope’s Peak!” Tiffany well… squealed.
“You are squealing, and it’s kinda hurting my ears,” Goddammit, now I’m saying it out loud.
“Oh, sorry!” Tiffany chuckled uncomfortably.
“It’s really alright I guess…” I trail off, scanning the city around me, I’m caught between four different buildings: A Motel, a cozy looking Restaurant, A small Clinic, and a probably average sized (I don’t really go to libraries), library. “I should probably explore this place a little,”
“Oh, if you wanna explore I could one hundred percent help you!” Tiffany beamed.
“That’d be fine I guess, where too first, Tiffany?”
“Ummm…” The Nurse put a finger on her chin. “Well, I know it sounds kinda cliché considering my talent, but let’s go to the Clinic!”
“Sure,” I say as she leads me into a near blank white room with tiled floors and a large medicine cabinet on the wall… maybe there’s something for this splitting headache I have in here.
“M-Ms. Yumi, is your headache getting better?” A somehow thinner than Tiffany girl with dark skin, pretty, long black hair with a pretty flower in it wearing a purple sarong with a funky pattern on it asked to who was presumably Ms. Yumi, an older looking, Asian woman wearing a white crop top with matching short shorts, a black necktie and a green jacket, she also had glasses to complete the slutty teacher look… and also because she probably needs them to see.
“Kinda… how much did I have to drink last night?” Yumi groaned as she clutched her head.
“Hey, another woman with a headache here,” I joke terribly and horribly, making the two asian woman stare at me.
“Yeah, I’ve had this migraine since I got here,” The teacher mumbled. “You want some Aspirin for it?”
“Um, Nikki, should you really be taking aspirin from a stranger-”
I interrupted Tiffany’s concerned look and talking by swallowing the aspirin straight from the bottle the teacher handed me, no water… a terrible idea caused by my migraine infected brain.
“Eugh… fuck, terrible horrible and bad ugh,”
“There’s a sink right here, you know?” She chuckled.
“Oh shit there is…” I facepalm.
“Welp, that was funny… we should probably introduce ourselves,” The teacher shrugged.
“R-Right, I’ll start!” The Hawaiian looking girl yelped. “I’m Lailani Kealoha, the Ultimate Masseuse. I hope we can all be good friends here!”
The Teacher chuckled again. “Alright, my turn. I’m Aiko Yumi, I know how Japanese can a name get? Anyways I’m the Ultimate Professor,”
“W-Wait!” Tiffany’s eyes lit up like stars as she put her hands on her cheeks. “Y-You’re Aiko Yumi!”
“That’s uh… what I said, what about it?”
“What about it!? You’re the youngest ever college professor in America!” Tiffany fangirled with an inhumanly loud squeal. “You’re one of my biggest inspirations! It’s so nice to meet you!”
“Nice to meetcha too… trust me though, I’m nothing impressive,” Aiko waved her hands to calm the Nurse down. “Lailani here though, she does a lot: shoulders, back, other areas, heh,”
The Masseuse blushed profusely, putting her hands over her mouth.
“Ms. Yumi!” Tiffany pouted. “Don’t be like that!”
“Chill, chill she’s fine with it,”
“I uh… yeah…” Lailani mumbled.
“Well that’s a confident yes,” I say sarcastically. “We should probably get going, Tiffany,”
“Oh yeah right! I gotta show you around!” Tiffany smiled as I led her out of the Clinic, she then led me to the restaurant to the left of the front of the clinic… it was a pretty snazzy place on the inside. Nice red tiled floors, posters showing people eating or food on the walls, and a door that probably led to a kitchen.
The only other person in the dining hall was a taller woman with red dyed hair, glasses, a bunch of black rings on her fingers, a black shirt with “STAY BLACK” inscribed into it, and short, black shorts…
“Oi, you two,” The woman called out with a cool smirk on her face. “Been waiting for other people to get here, how’s it going?”
“Oh, I’m doing really well!” Tiffany beamed.
“I’m fine I guess,” I shrug. “What do you want?”
“Jeez, no need to be all pissy, we’re stuck here together, aren’t we?”
Stuck here… I never really thought about that before. How do I get out of here?
“Well that makes me feel great,” I roll my eyes.
“Oh, don’t be so negative, Nikki,” Tiffany chastised with a smile that would’ve been reassuring if I wasn’t now really focused on the lack of exits from this city.
“Yeah, there hasn’t been any bad news. We don’t have a reason to be worryin’,” The woman winked.
“You are way too calm,” I glare at the alt looking girl. “Who are you, anyway?”
“Ashley Rosemarry, Ultimate Guitarist,” Ashley smiled. “But not in the child groomer-ey way, y’know?”
“Thought that was more of a vocalist thing,” I scoff. “Kinda weird for you to bring it up,”
“Oh, hey I think I know you!” Tiffany smiled as she pointed at the Guitarist, who gave her another smile in return. “I have a friend that loves your music! Like absolutely positively loves, like-”
“I think she gets it, Tiff,” I snicker.
“Ah c’mon, I’ll never pass down a chance to get sucked off verbally… or physically, heh,”
Tiffany blushed, I gave the Guitarist a bored glare.
“Jeez,” She raised her hands in surrender. “Was it that bad of a joke?”
“Pretty much…” I shrug, Tiffany waves her goodbye with her usual smile and leads me to the next area on our journey. A large Gym to the right of the Restaurant… we enter and… it’s a pretty standard gym. Not like I would know, I don’t work out much.
There were two women, both had tanned skin: one had long black hair she was wearing a blue striped tanktop, and was happily completely, utterly destroying a poor, innocent punching bag with a wide smile on her face. The other was a woman with brown hair tied into a bun and wore a blue flannel jacket, opened wide enough to reveal a white bra, her arms were crossed and she was staring off into the distance. She looked like she was guarding the other woman… even though judging by how fit both looked she one hundred percent did not need it.
I trailed behind Tiffany as she waved at the two, walking towards them. “Hey you-”
“Aye, what do you want?” Flannel Jacket asks with a voice so hostile it nearly convinced me that I’d actually done something wrong. Tiffany thought so too, considering her reaction was to stutter and stumble in an attempt to come up with any kind of response.
“Oh c’mon Cous, don’t be mean,” Tanktop girl chastises as she stops wrecking the shit out of that punching bag to look at us. “They just walked in, least we can do is introduce ourselves,”
“Y-Yeah! It’d be good to meet everyone here!” Tiffany smiled.
I shrug. “I can take it or leave it,” Tiffany pouts at me for a moment in response.
Jacket Girl sighs. “Fine, my name is Nora Delrio, The Ultimate Drug Dealer,”
“Wh-Wha!?” Tiffany mumbles.
How… why does Hope’s Peak even scout for that?
“This is why I didn’t wanna introduce myself, Cous,” Nora rolled her eyes. “Aye, World’s Best Rock Slinger doesn’t look good on a resume, you know?”
Tank top girl patted Nora on the back. “Prima, Prima; they’re not scared, they’re confused,”
“Blondie looks scared,” Nora sighed.
“Well, my Cous is nothing to be scared of!” The woman energetically smiled at Tiffany. “She’s really a nice girl… in spite of the whole drug dealer thing,” Nora rolled her eyes.
How convincing…
“I-I guess if you’re her cousin I’ll believe you,” Tiffany smiled.
“Great!” The woman smiled. “Now, I should probably introduce myself too: I’m Kyanna Delrio, the Ultimate Personal Trainer!”
“I could tell it was something exercise related… that punching bag looks like it came out of a liveleak video,” I said, pointing to the absolutely demolished punching bag.
“Oh, right, I just get really into working out!” Kyanna cheered. “It helps me maintain this Perfecta Figure, even after my pregnancy!”
“Oh, you have a child?” Tiffany smiled. “How old?”
“Three years, I would like to get back to him ASAP…” Kyanna trailed. “We haven’t managed to find a way out of here yet, but I’m sure we will soon!”
“Yeah!” Tiffany reassured. “We probably just have to ask whoever put us here to leave!”
“If they wanted to hurt us by now, they would’ve done it,” Nora scoffed.
I look at the Drug Dealer. “I feel like you of all people would know how terrible people can be for no reason,”
“The fuck is that supposed to mean!?”
“Ah uh… we should leave,” I yelp, Tiffany follows me as I awkwardly shift out of the Gym.
“Well that went… better than it could’ve?” Tiffany patted me on the back in an attempt to reassure me.
“Still went bad,” I sigh. “Where to next?”
“Well… there’s a power plant nearby,” Tiffany said as she pointed to the large, grey building. “That’d be neat to explore,”
“Sure…” I mumble as we enter the dimly lit, gloomy looking building.
I hear, and then see someone sighing in a dark corner of the building next to a switchboard. She had black hair tied into pigtails, a black crop top and somehow shorter short shorts than everyone else here. A real mall goth aesthetic.
“Like, I thought if I went here people would leave me the fuck alone… Like, apparently not,” The mall goth scrunched her face at us as she shrugged in clear annoyance… what a bitch!
“What’s got you so grumpy?” Tiffany asked.
“We like, woke up in this weird ass fucking place, why aren’t you pissy?” The goth raised an eyebrow. “Plus my phone is like, totally busted,”
“Of course that’s what you’re more worried about,” I roll my eyes.
“Well like, fuck you too!”
“Hey, hey,” Tiffany dashed to get between us, waving her hands in a calming manner. “I think we got off on the wrong foot, why don’t you introduce yourself to us?”
The woman scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Like, whatever. It’s Lillian Aurawell, Ultimate ‘Who the fuck cares, I can’t remember’”
“You forgot your talent?” Tiffany asked, concern in her voice. “That’s terrible…”
“She probably doesn’t even have one,” I scoff with a smirk as Lillian’s face scrunches up again.
“Like, what’s your talent then? Ultimate Virgin Loser Bitch?”
I sigh. “I’d be more offended if that was at all creative, you know?”
“Like, why are you even in here?” Lillian turned her head bitchily like a bitch. “I wanna be alone in here, asshole,”
“Maybe we’ll leave then, asshole!” I grab Tiffany by the wrist and leave the power plant with her.
“Buh bye biiiiitch!”
“God I already hate her,” I grumbled, Tiffany pats me on the back.
“I can uh… I can tell,” Tiffany chuckles uncomfortably. “Let’s uh… let’s just go somewhere else,”
I nod and led Tiffany lead me to a white coloured beachhouse at the coast of the… wait.
“Hang on, this city has a coastline?” I ask, causing Tiffany to stop in place.
“Huh, it does… I never really thought about that,” The Nurse mumbled. “I guess it explains how we got here,”
“I guess, but… where’s the thing that took us here?” I ask as I start wandering around the docks next to the beachhouse.
“Maybe it went back home?” Tiffany shrugs. “I really can’t think of anything,”
“Oh great, that’s great,” I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose between two fingers. “Let’s just keep exploring then, I guess,”
“Yeah!” Tiffany leads me into a beachhouse, the inside was pretty good… nice white wooden flooring, an outside area with some lawn chairs, and a door leading to a singular, women’s changing room to the side. Inside of the actual beachhouse was a singular woman. She wore a purple hijab, and was trying and failing to open the clearly locked changing room doors… Tiffany walked up behind her and gave her a small tap to the shoulder.
“O-Ough!” She groaned, before jumping up in fear and turning around as Tiffany backed away. “O-Oh god, I am so sorry!”
“It’s really fine,” Tiffany sighed.
“What are you doing?” I ask as the woman’s legs shake.
“I was uh… exploring! Yeah! Exploring!” She chuckled uncomfortably. “I was just uh… doing that to maybe find a way to go home?”
“Well that’s convincing,” I roll my eyes.
“Don’t be mean, Nikki, I think we startled her,” Tiffany pouts at me.
“I think you did a bit more than that!”
“N-No, it wasn’t like that at all!” The woman waved her hands around in a panic. “Th-That’s just the noise I make when I get surprised,”
“Sure, what’s your name, by the way?”
“A-Ah well, I’m Labia- I MEAN ABIA!” She let out a small, shaky sigh as she composed herself, I couldn’t stop myself from letting out a small snicker that made Tiffany glare at me a little. “My name is Abia Nawazi, The Ultimate Preacher,”
“It’s nice to meet you!” Tiffany smiled as she shook the Preacher’s hand.
“Y-Yes you too!” Abia smiled. “I am very excited to meet new f-friends here!”
“Sure… just so you know I’m not interested in joining your religion,” I said, Tiffany gave me another glare.
“O-Oh, I won’t try to convert anyone, don’t worry!” Abia waved her hands around in reassurance. “I uh… don’t really agree with c-certain aspects of the Islamic faith!”
“So, the Ultimate Preacher is the Ultimate Grift- OW!” Tiffany interrupts me by elbowing me in the stomach… I’m kinda mad, but I was also kinda being a bitch, so I guess a deserved it.
“What she means, is that she’s very happy that you won’t make any attempts to enforce your beliefs onto us!” Tiffany smiles and nods. “Right, Nikki?”
I groan. “Y-Yeahh…”
“Th-That’s good!” Abia smiles at us, blushing a little. “I’m gonna… I-I’m feeling a little ill, so I’m gonna lay down for awhile,”
“Aww, that sucks,” Tiffany pouts before going back to her usual smile. “See you around, Abia!”
“Guhhh…
“B-Bye!” Abia smiles as me and Tiffany leave the beachhouse.
“Okay, that one went bad,” Tiffany pouted at me.
“You didn’t have to hit me in the stomach over it!” I grumble back. “Let’s just go to…” My eyes scan around the city for something interesting, eventually falling onto a purple tent covered in arcane symbols standing across from the power plant. “There,”
“I guess…” Tiffany mumbles, and we walk into the dark tent…
“Ah, I did not expect anyone else to be here,” A voice mumbled from the end of the tent, Tiffany let out a small yelp, and I scanned the room for the person.
A girl with dark skin, bright, blue hair with a bunch of weird mechanical bits in it, with two different coloured eyes and an outfit with colours that made my eyes bleed… this girl was trying way too hard to be unique, huh?
“Are they here for my services, perhaps?” The woman asked to herself. “Do they converse with the butterfly people forcing us upon this island?”
“Hey uh… what the fuck are you talking about?” I ask, more concerned for her mental health than upset.
“How curious, her reaction to my musings is hostility,” The woman acknowledged.
“Because you’re talking weird,” I sigh.
“Nikki, c’mon she’s just a little unique,” Tiffany reassured. “It’s not like she’s trying to attack us or something,”
“But I could…” She smirked.
Tiffany steps back a little, I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Just tell us who you are so we can leave you to… whatever you’re doing here,”
“Affirmative, introducing myself now: Zoey, The Ultimate Tarot Card Reader…”
Who the fuck says ‘affirmative?’
“Isn’t that spiritual stuff a bunch of hokey, though?” Tiffany asked.
“Well, even if she is weird, I wouldn’t entirely discount it,” I shrug.
Zoey smiled at me all creepy like. “Good to see a like minded human here… the others are too afraid of my… predictions to want to believe them,”
I think they just find you creepy.
“That kinda sucks I guess?” I shrug. “We should head out now,”
“Yeah, I wanna show Nikki everywhere before it becomes the afternoon!”
“Well, goodbye you two humans,” Zoey said as we left the tent.
“Everyone here’s so weird,” I complain as Tiffany leads me to the Library.
“Well, being a little weird isn’t that bad,” The Nurse reassures. “Trust me, I’ve seen weirder people,”
I shrug. “You are a nurse, I’ll take your word on it,”
We soon enter the Library, it feels slightly smaller on the inside than it should be. The wall at the end has a large bookshelf, single piece bookshelf, while the other walls have a spot with a singular painting… weird.
There was a woman wearing… basically nothing in the library reading a book intended for children. Her clothes were the absolute smallest pink and white striped miniskirt I had ever seen and a matching bra.
Tiffany walked up to her with a smile and tapped her on the shoulder.
“Yayyyy, Tiffy’s back!” The woman cheered at the nurse, then hugged her, she then looked over to my direction. “And Sleepin’ Gal is here too!”
“‘Sleepin’ Gal’? did everyone here do literally nothing while I was knocked out?” I said.
“I-I watched over you!” Tiffany hastily defended. “I also dragged you to the shade,”
I pinch my belly a little. “I needed to be dragged? Am I that heavy?”
“Ya look like it!” Miniskirt girl smiles as she runs up to me. “Whut’s ya name? Ah’ve been wantin’ ta meet’cha since ah got here!”
“Nikki, who are you?” I said. “You’re not very bright, are you?”
“Nikki!”
“Ah’m Candace Crush! Ah’m the Ultimate Stripper n’ stuff!” Candace takes a minute to think about my… pretty blatant insult. “An’ I ain’t no firefly er somethin’, wah would ah be glowin’?”
“That’s… nevermind,” I feel bad now, fuck. “It’s nice to meet you, Candace,”
“It’s Candy to ya, all mah friends call me Candy, n’ now that we’ve met were gon’ be friends!”
“I can barely understand you, but you do seem pretty nice,” I chuckle. “It’s nice to meet you, Candy,”
“It’s good ta meet’cha too!” Candy smiles at me widely as she completely crushed my ribs in a big hug, thankfully I’m let go before I hear anything snap.
“Well, at least you and Candy get along!” Tiffany smiles as she walks between us. “Then again, pretty much anyone can get along with her,”
“Ye! It’s good fer business an’ fer lahf to be a friend to errybody!” Candy said. “So if ya e’r need someone to talk t’, lemme know!”
“I… might,” I shrug. “I’m gonna get going now, see you around, Candy,”
“Bye Candy!”
“Bah bah!”
Tiffany and I leave the Library, and move towards the western part of the city. This part had about five places to go to: a relatively large general store/grocery store, a somewhat dingy looking hardware store, a colourful looking beauty salon, and a large, cozy looking motel at the end… right in front of a giant wall keeping us all here, I point to it and comment.
“That is… very concerning Jesus,”
“Yeah, we’ve been walled in here… it’s pretty spooky to think about,” Tiffany said.
We talked while we walked to the hardware store first for whatever reason… “Why do you think they’re keeping us here?”
“Well, we all got accepted into Hope’s Peak, right?”
“Yeah?”
“Well,” Tiffany smiled. “I think this is some kinda study trip thingy, I mean this place everything we’d need to live here comfortably,”
“Do you kidnap people for a study trip?” I raise my eyebrow.
“I-I guess that’s kind of a hole in the study trip theory,” Tiffany chuckled.
“Yeah,” I said as we entered the hardware store… it was similarly dingy on the inside as it was on the outside. Various tools and machine parts were stacked onto shelves around the room.
A dark skinned woman with brown afro curls wearing a pretty standard light blue flight attendant outfit turned around to look at us two, she greeted us with a smile and a wave. “Hey, I didn’t expect to see anybody else in here, how are you?”
“Pretty good, I’ve just been showing Nikki around this place,” Tiffany says as she grabs onto my arm.
“Now nice of you, I suppose in that case I should introduce myself,” The black woman cleared her throat. “My name is Lola Rembrite, The Ultimate Stewardess,”
“So, you’re really good at handing out aeroplane peanuts?” I snicker, Lola lets out a small chuckle in response.
“It isn’t a very interesting talent, I’ll be honest,” Lola nodded. “I actually want to become a fashion designer one of these days; I was making damn good progress on my own website too ‘till I ended up… here…”
“Oh well, there’ll be plenty of time to pursue your dreams once we get outta here!” Tiffany smiled.
Lola smiled back. “Yeah, I doubt whoever’s taken us here will let us leave easy, but… I think if we work together we’d be able to escape,”
“Yeah!” Tiffany agreed with an excited nod.
“Probably, I guess,” I shrugged. “I haven’t met everyone here, so I can’t really say for sure,”
Nora shook her head. “Oh, c’mon… no one here can be that bad,”
“You’re a Flight Attendant, you should know how shitty and annoying people can be,”
Nora chuckled. “You’re right, you’re right… though, I’ve always been good at calming them down,”
“Pretty impressive, I’m only considered an Ultimate cause I won like… one gaming competition,”
“That’s still impressive!” Tiffany reassured.
“Yeah, everyone’s got their own thing that they’re good at,” Lola reassured too. “You just so happen to be good at playing video games,”
“I guess…” I scratch my arm nervously as I look around the room, eventually looking at a rusted, steel door. “The hell is that?”
“That leads to a workshop,” Lola confirmed. “Could be helpful, could be useless. I don’t really know,”
“We should check that out later!” Tiffany nodded. “Buuuut, I still got like three other places to show Nikki, so we’re gonna go for now,”
“Goodbye,” Lola waved as Tiffany and I left the hardware store, I let out a cough as a small bit of dust had been caught in my throat.
Tiffany led me to the general store opposite of the hardware store, it was once again pretty standard. Though the shelves seemed to have basically everything: food, clothes, drinks, even stuff no one in their right mind would need…
“Does this one do it for you?” A tanned, blonde, older looking woman wearing a cheetah print top asked to a clearly blushing and embarrassed, more tanned woman wearing a silk sari. The former was showing the latter an… incredibly revealing purple bikini with a smirk on her face.
“Are you even holding anything?” The other woman yelped.
“Well, duh…” The blonde who had a suspiciously similar facial structure to Tiffany chuckled as she put the bikini back in its place. “I’ll take that as a no,”
Tiffany grabbed onto my arm. “We should probably just-”
“Oh my God, Tiff!?” The blonde smiled as she walked over to Tiffany, who sighed in response. “It’s been forever since I’ve seen you, who’s your friend?”
“Hi Mom… this is Nikki, I’m showing her around the place,”
“That’s very nice of you,” The tanned girl said as she walked up to us too, twiddling her fingers like a child during a school presentation.
“This is your Mom?” I raised my eyebrow. “That’s such a… weird ass coincidence how is she here?”
Tiffany sighed again, her Mom smiled. “I know, right? It’s been forever since I’ve seen you in person,”
“I know, Mom,” Tiffany said.
“Oh, I forgot to introduce myself to you,” The woman said as she looked at me. “It’s Jessie Maye, AKA Mitsy Katz, AKA The Ultimate Pornstar,” Jessie smiled confidently, Jessie blushed and glared at her.
“Um… I think using your “stage name” is upsetting your daughter…” The Indian woman mumbled.
“You must’ve gotten so bullied at school,” I whisper in Tiffany’s ear, she starts glaring at me instead now.
“Oh yeah… sorry Tiff!” Jessie scratches the back of her head awkwardly.
“It’s… fine,” Tiffany sighs. “Who’s your new friend, Mom?”
“I think it’s best if she introduces herself,” Jessie gave the dark skinned woman a smile, she whispered to herself for a bit before letting out a deep sigh.
“I’m… not great at this. I-It’s Beli Lapran, the Ultimate Yoga Instructor,”
“Don’t say that, that was pretty good, honest!” Tiffany smiled as she patted her on the back.
“Trust us, we’ve seen way worse,” I said.
“That’s… reassuring?” Beli turned her head, uncertainty clear in her voice. “I still didn’t do great…”
“Ah, c’mon Beli,” Jessie wrapped an arm around the now blushing Indian. “You did fine, they know who you are and watch’ya do. That’s more than enough!”
“I-I suppose that is true…”
“Welp, I’d love to stick around, but I have two more places to show Nikki,” Tiffany said as she grabbed me by the wrist and led me out of the general store. “Bye…”
“See ya Tiff!”
“B-Bye!”
“You don’t like your Mom, huh?” I say as I follow Tiffany towards the colourful Beauty Salon.
“I… don’t agree with her lifestyle,” Tiffany explained. “Let’s leave it at that, okay?”
“Fine, fine jeez,” I raise my hands in surrender. We soon enter the eyebleedingly colourful beauty salon. Two women are conversing while sitting on two bright pink chairs. One short with red hair with white streaks wearing a red, plaid Lolita type outfit. The other was a blonde girl dressed like she was in an 80s workout instruction video. Lolita looked bored, 80s girl looked like she couldn’t get enough of what they were talking about.
“I-I’ve tested out so many of your products, all of ‘em were high quality I-”
“I know?” The red haired one interrupted with a smirk. “My brand’s pretty tight, that’s the whole point, dumbass. It’s why I’m the best looking motherfucker in this whole city,”
“Okay, that’s a lie,” 80s girl chuckles. “Box dye isn’t exactly high fashion,”
“This isn’t box dye, dickhead,” The redhead grumbled as she looked around the room, eventually pointing at me. “That’s box dye, you can tell by how shitty and thin her hair is,”
“Okay, fuck off,” I complain. “I just walked in,”
“And? That was long enough for me to notice how shit your hair is,” The jailbait dressed bitch smirked like a bitch.
“Don’t be rude,” Tiffany pouted. “I’m trying to introduce her to everyone,”
“Will you leave when I introduce myself then?” The woman turned her head.
“Fucken’ probably, I don’t wanna see you either, bitch,” I said.
“You two, calm down,” 80s girl said, waving her hands slowly for emphasis. “Let’s just get this over with, and you can go back to complaining and being annoying, Audrey,”
“Asshole, you begin then,” Audrey crossed her arms as did I.
“Gladly,” The 80s chick smiled as she looked at me. “It’s Polly Bendleson, Ultimate Beauty Vlogger,”
“Really? You’re more cosplayer-ey to me,” I said, surprised.
“I do get that sometimes,” Polly chuckles. “I dress like this, because it’s the life I wish to lead… ah, if only I’d have been born in the 50s,”
But you’re wearing an 80s… nevermind, I should let a girl dream.
“Yeah, that’d work out for you,” Audrey muttered under her breath as she looked at the lower half of Polly’s body. “I should say who I am too so you’ll piss off. I was in the middle of something here,”
“Do it then,” I roll my eyes.
She clears her throat. “Audrey Belrose, owner of Belrose Beauty™ and Ultimate Cosmetologist,”
“I didn’t expect you to be this much of a bitch,” I say exasperated. “I mean, the beauty community is kinda like that, but I didn’t think you’d be this shitty,”
“Nikki, don’t be rude,” Tiffany chastised.
“It’s how we are, dunno what to tell you,” Audrey shrugs.
“It’s an unfortunate stereotype, I promise we aren’t all that bad,” Polly put her hands up.
“The Audrey kinda outweighs the everyone else,” I shrug, Polly scoffs at me.
“Fuck you,” The redhead grumbles. “Didn’t you say you were gonna piss off once I introduced myself?”
“I-” I let out a deep sigh, deciding that arguing with Audrey is not worth the energy it’ll take, and leave. Tiffany trails behind me as we leave the Salon… fucken’ bitch ass Audrey.
“Well, we only have one more place to explore,” Tiffany said as we walked towards the Motel at the end close to the wall.
“Motel would be nice, my legs kinda hurt…” I groan as we enter the building.
We entered into a living room/commons area/whatever I’m supposed to call it: It had a bunch of couches between a table, but no TV, or anything of the sort… weird.
We walked down a hallway which held a bunch of doors with the names and faces of everyone who was here on it… including our own.
“Are we supposed to live here…?” I mumble to myself.
“That… must be whoever took us here wants,” Tiffany replies. “But… I’m not really sure why,”
My stomach churned. “I got a terrible feeling about this, like, the fucking worst feeling I’ve ever gotten,”
“Me too, I’m trying to stay optimistic though,” Tiffany smiled. “I still think this could be a study trip, or a prank or something…”
“That doesn’t explain the cameras,” I say as I point to the security camera on the wall. “Why are they watching us then?”
“Maybe so we don’t do anything wrong? They are kinda freaky,” Tiffany mumbles with her fingers on her chin, deep in thought.
“It makes me uneasy,”
DING DONG BING BONG
The bell suddenly rang, and the monitors that I had failed to notice before in every room lit up revealing nothing but static and garbage noise. We looked up at them, and a high pitched, somewhat cutesy voice came from the Monitors, the voice stuttered and glitched from the low quality microphone it was using, but we understood what it was saying:
“H-Hello Students, I, your totally awesome headmistress am demanding that you move your asses right down to the beach this instant for a very special announcement!”
And then it shut off with a click.
“Headmistress?” Tiffany questioned then smiled. “Maybe this is all just a study trip?”
“Still sketchy as hell,” I remind the Nurse as we moved towards the beach, right next to the hardware store. It was a sandy area on the coast with some beach towels, chairs and umbrellas set up on it, everyone had gotten their before us…
“I hope this shit is over quick,” Audrey scoffed as she crossed her arms. “I got shit to do back at home,”
“I-I thought our first day at Hope’s Peak would be… y’know at the actual Academy?” Lailani said.
“Is… that how you got here too?” Aiko questioned. “Did everyone else here walk up to the front door of Hope’s Peak and just… wake up here?”
Everyone nodded, or made various noises of agreement.
“This is sketchy as fuck,” Lillian said.
“I ain’t too worried, if they wanted to do anything they would’ve done it by now,” Ashley shrugged, looking chill as ever.
“So, we’re all Ultimates of some kind?” Jessie asked to the entire beach. “Maybe this is all part of schooling? Like a vacation, or an entry exam or something?”
“I have been saying that,” Tiffany nodded.
Candace pouted. “But ah nevah did well in exams!”
“We can tell…” Audrey sneered at the Stripper.
“B-But why would they kidnap us for that?” Beli mumbled.
“K-Kidnapped?” Abia mumbled, not looking entirely unhappy about the idea of that… weird.
“That’s the fishiest part about all this,” Kyanna nodded. “If whoever’s taken us here tries shit we gotta fight back!”
“Like that’ll work,” Lillian rolled her eyes.
“Now, don’t be a downer,” Polly smiled. “I’m sure if we work together we’ll be able to get out of here in no time!”
“I agree,” Lola smiled back. “If we keep our hopes up we’ll escape in no time,”
It’s good to be hopeful I guess, but… I still have a terrible feeling about this.
“That’s cool n’ all, but when the fuck is this announcement gonna happen?” Audrey scoffed. “If they got us out here for nothing I’m gonna slit throats!”
“I wouldn’t say that if I were you,” Zoey suddenly piped up, chuckling. “If this is what I think it is, then that threat might be taken a bit to seriously…”
“What you think it is?” Aiko raised an eyebrow.
“The fuck does that mean!?” Lillian shouted.
“Nothing… nothing…” Zoey shook her head. “Let’s just hope this whole ordeal isn’t a waste of time…”
“Rest assured hotties, it’s not!” A voice, the same one from the monitor called out from within the sea, causing all of us to look at it with confusion.
“Great, you’re all paying attention, now for my great reveal!” The girl from within the sea cheered as the blue, crashing water began to bubble and churn, and soon something popped out of the water…
A strange, yet terrifying fight: a scantily clad, pink haired fairy creature with half of her body and face grey and rotting, including her face which was rotted into a permanent twisted smile… she fell to the sandy ground in front of us with a bow and a smile.
“WAHH!” Beli screeched.
“The fuck is that thing?” I yelped, everyone else had a similarly scared or outraged reaction.
“Wh-Wha?” Ashley raised her eyebrow.
“Eugh, it’s so gross…” Jessie mumbled.
“I-I don’t think that’s the concerning part!” Lailani yelped.
Aiko looked at it inquisitively. “How did you not drown?”
“Okay, you guys could’ve been nicer about me appearing, jackasses,” The fairy pouted on the non rotting side of her body. “I am the Legendary Despair Fairy, Monokyu! And I will not let you fuckers disrespect me!”
“Despair Fairy?” Zoey turned her head.
“Did you not hear me!?” Monokyu pouted. “Did I kidnap a bunch of vegetables!?”
“You’re the one who kidnapped us, huh?” Nora raised an eyebrow, squinting at the self proclaimed fairy.
“Yeah, yeah, I bet you’re all really mad at me… and I bet it’s gonna get a whole lot worse once I tell you why, tehehehehe~” Kyu giggled behind her hands.
“Tell us then, asshole,” Jessie put her hand on her hip.
“I’m gonna!” Kyu scoffed, then cleared her throat with a smile. “I’ll keep it short… you’re all here to participate in a very special, one of a kind City Killing Game!”
Everyone went silent at the announcement, looking at the fairy in fear, confusion and anger… just what was this bitch playing at?
“You’re joking right?” Jessie said.
“Sh-She has to be…” Tiffany mumbled.
“Even if she’s serious there’s no way you can force us to do that,” Polly put her hands on her hips.
“Well, you all wanna leave, go back home and do whatever it is you do, right?” Kyu smiled as she walked around the beach. “Well… Killing a fellow student is the one and only way to leave this city!”
“Y-You have to be joking, asshole!” Kyanna yelled. “I’ll-”
“God, can you stop fucking interrupting me!?” Kyu shouted. “You’re breaking rules I haven’t even told you about!”
Beli mumbled. “R-Rules?”
“Yeah, this is a game, games have rules,” Kyu shrugged as she pulled a bunch of pink, phonelike devices out of her pocket. She threw the phones and us, we all caught one.
“These are your Student E-Handbooks, you can use ‘em to do phone shit like texting, buying shit, or even reading over the rules. Ignorance isn’t an excuse, so I’d recommend reading them,”
We all scrolled through the phones we had been given, and carefully read the rules in case this strange thing’s threats were true…
RULE 1: All students must live within Despair City for the foreseeable future.
RULE 2: The only way to escape Despair City is to kill a fellow classmate, and get away with it.
RULE 3: Once three people discover the body of a deceased student: the body discovery announcement will play, and everyone will be tasked with investigating the murder.
RULE 4: After the investigation ends all remaining students will participate in a class trial, where they will discuss evidence and finally vote for who the murder is. Non-participation is a breach of the rules unless you are physically unable to participate.
RULE 5: If you vote for the correct person during the class trial, only they will be punished. Everyone else will continue their life within Despair City.
RULE 6: If you vote for the incorrect person, everyone else besides the murderer will be punished, and they will be allowed to leave.
RULE 7: Violence towards Monokyu, Headmistress and Overseer of the City Killing Game is strictly prohibited.
RULE 8: Under no circumstances should your Student Handbooks be purposefully damaged.
RULE 9: You may explore Despair City as you wish with minimal restrictions.
RULE 10: 10:00 PM to 8:00 AM is considered “Nighttime”, anywhere that serves food besides the general store is unable to be entered during this time.
RULE 11: New rules can be created at any time at the convenience of the Headmistress.
“P-Punishment?” I mumble. “The fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“Oh well, to put it simply… it’s an execution,” A sick smile grew on Kyu’s already disgusting face. “Kill someone and can’t hide it, or get enough of a pity party for people to let you leave, and you become the next victim of the City Killing Game!”
“Aye, I’m getting sick of this,” Nora grumbled as she walked towards the fairy smirking at her.
“Cous don’t!” Kyanna yelled out.
“Ooooo, we got a tough girl over here~” Monokyu chuckled. “Tomboys are always so sexy-”
The fairy’s catcalling was cut short as Nora grabbed her by the neck, raising the short girl in the air.
“You let us go right fuckin’ now, capiche?”
“Th-This is s-such a fucking rulebreak,” Monokyu was still smiling, even as her words were breathy and choked out. “H-However, y-you look like y-you’ll b-be entertaining, so I’ll l-let y-you off with a warning…”
“A warn-”
It all happened in an instant, the same instant where Nora dropped Monokyu to the floor where she landed on her feet, in that same instant… a metal spear stabbed itself directly into Nora’s abdomen, the woman winced and wheezed as the spear then exited from her body recoiling back into the sand. Blood leaked from the wound as Nora fell to her knees with a wheeze.
“Nora!?” Kyanna yelled.
“WHAT THE FUCK!?” Lillian screeched.
“O-Oh God…” Beli said, covering her mouth to avoid vomiting.
“Oh… she’s serious,” Aiko mumbled.
“Sh-She can’t be, right?” Polly looked around for reassurance, but received none.
Ashley twiddled her fingers. “I-I don’t think she is, fuck, fuck, fuck,”
“How… interesting…” Zoey said to herself.
Lola glared at her. “That’s not the kinda reaction you have to this!”
“Th-That was a warning!?” Lailani said, her voice weak and shaky with fear.
Fear, the only thing I could feel seeing someone so tough taken down so quickly.
“That son of a-” Jessie winced as she looked down at the fairy.
“Sh-She’s been p-penetrated!” Abia said in an uncomfortable manner, but one we were all too terrified to acknowledge.
“Wh-What’s goin’ on!?” Candace yelped. “Wh-Whah didja do that!?”
“Cause Nora can’t follow basic fucking rules. Be warned, I don’t miss the heart twice~” Monokyu winked. “I am your headmistress, any violence against me is strictly against the rules!”
“Nora! Stay awake!” Kyanna yelled again as she came to her Cousins aid, covering the wound with a part of her shirt.
Nora let out another groan as Tiffany ran towards her too.
“Th-There’ll be medical supplies in the Clinic!” Tiffany declared as she grabbed onto Nora. “We just gotta take her there,”
“On it!” Kyanna said determined as she and Tiffany quickly took the groaning Nora to the Clinic… the rest of us stared at Monokyu in shock, horror and anger.
“Well, while they’re doing that, I’ll let you guys do whatever…”
The whole world began to fall apart around me… everything went dark, and eventually, I fell unconscious as the words left the fairy’s lips. My head hitting the sand with a soft thud… My last thought was hoping that wouldn’t be the first victim of this Killing Game…
PROLOGUE COMPLETE
YOU GAINED THE HPU STUDENT ID