Prologue, Part 4: His name is Monokuma!

                                    

                                          
DAYTIME, 8:45 AM
                          
*Ding dong, bing bong*
                          
And then at that moment, we heard something turn on and we all turned to the monitor in the back corner of the entrance hall. It had suddenly powered itself on. "Um, please tell me one of you guys did that?" Nate asked, sounding scared out of his mind. Everyone else remained silent. Except Mukuro, she barely whispered something. But I couldn't make out what. We all crowded around the monitor as the channel it was on showed nothing but static and snow, and then we saw a shadow. It took a few moments for the shadow to come into full view but afterwards the shadow took on the form of an odd silhouette.
                          
And then we heard a voice. "Mic check...mic check. Testing...1...2...3." The voice sounded light-hearted and whimsical but I could feel a deep pit of malice behind it. It set me more off center than Mukuro did. "Ahem...attention students, this is your headmaster speaking. It appears that you've all met up and started introductions. Unfortunately I couldn't be there for it, sorry for being late. I was just getting the finishing touches done on the big project I have in store for you guys. But anyways, now it's time for me to introduce myself to you guys. It should be despairingly fun! So get your asses to the gymnasium on the double! And no dallying, we've already wasted enough time! Get a move on now or else!" Then the monitor shut itself off, leaving us all in a state of confusion.
                          
"So this is just part of the test?" Micho asked.
                          
"Hahaha," Nodaka giggled, "I told you dumb insects so. You all were being paranoid for nothing."
                          
"He-Headmaster?" Jose stuttered out. "B-But that di-didn't sound lik-like Hea-Headmaster Ki-Kirigiri at all."
                          
"Don't be ridiculous, you scrawny toad," Nodaka replied. "You heard the announcement, you're just going to make all the other dimwits here feel more on edge. There's nothing to worry about, you hear me? Nothing. Nothing at all. Nothing...at...all." But I think the way Nodaka said that was the thing that put me on edge. She tried to hide behind her strong words and personality but I could tell just by looking at her closely enough, she was just as confused and worried as the rest of us.
                          
"Well whoever it was said to go to the gym, right?" Soshun asked, still trying to be somewhat nonchalant but with an added sense of fear in his voice now.
                          
"Don't be an idiot So...of course that's what he said. Come to the gym now or...else." Jonathan's little paper mask may have shielded him from his hypochondria but it did not shield him from the overwhelming sense of fear and despair that was filling the room. I could see that he was trembling slightly and sweating even more bullets than when he was scared Sawa was going to kiss him.
                          
Speaking of Sawa, her feet feeling uncomfortable inside her sandals seemed to be the least of her worries right now. She started nervously fidgeting. "Should we...really go?" she asked, not worrying about hiding the fear in her voice.
                          
Nate tried to smile and remain calm but you could easily tell that he was afraid from the numerous bullets he was sweating. "It's all good dudes, nothing to worry about. Forget all the cameras, and the end of the world motif, and just keep in mind it's all the school's doing. They wouldn't seriously put us in harm's way, right? Please someone agree with me."
                          
"I've got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, should we listen and go?" Shiro asked, unsure of what to do next.
                          
"Ugh, Azami-tan's conflicted hebi. Bad feelings hebi!" Azami exclaimed as her pupils constricted and she grabbed onto her cat ears and pulled hard at them.
                          
Even cheerful Aya seemed to be scared. "No need to worry, things will be alright. Just got to stay calm and collective, like a shark hunting's it prey. Or in this case are we the prey and are the unknowns the sharks? Or are neither of us the sharks and there's an even bigger predator at work here? In that case what do they eat?! I'm at a total loss! Big fish eat little fish and I'm the smallest fish of all!"