Ikoroshia - Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
Even without any Phantom Thief skills of her own, navigating the island using her Gamer knowledge alone made the experience pretty handy for Chiaki. Though she lacked any incredible stealth skills that the Phantom Thieves possessed, much less their unique superpowers to fight, it was apparent she didn't need them.
With Makoto's group having cleared the way for her, she found it pretty easy to explore the first island. She even considered stopping by and getting an ice drink at the beach house, before she realized that that would be a waste of time, and she wasn't even sure if it was safe to drink.
Unfortunately, though she looked inside the old building where the first scroll should have been, she found that the chest had already been emptied. She assumed that Naegi-kun and his friends had already been through here and taken it, which was unfortunate. She thought that maybe getting a feel for the game, even if she didn't have the ability to partake in it, would give her some clues.
One thing that WASN'T especially nice was how long it took to actually get to and from the islands, especially without an Usamobile of her own. In the original video game the Palace was based on, the bridges didn't count as spaces, which meant you could cross them in a single turn. But in this world, not only were the bridges huge, but so were the islands. And with the sun beating down on her, this was proving to be an above-and-beyond effort for the introverted Ultimate Gamer.
But it didn't change the fact that this was an important mission for her, so she gritted her teeth and bared it as she finally set foot on the second island, taking a second to catch her breath.
Shortly after her arrival, Chiaki began to explore all the same places that she recognized from the game. The library, the diner, and the beach house.
But that gamer memory definitely did not recognize the large outlier almost dead center in the middle of the island.
"What the heck is this...?" Chiaki whispered under her breath as she approached the tower that loomed over her, casting a heavy shadow down on her, "such a gigantic building...!"
Yet despite its size, its color was faded and it was covered in dirt and moss. It looked like your textbook definition of an ancient ruin.
And yet despite that fact, she most certainly recognized the structure. The ruins bore a striking resemblance to Hope's Peak Academy's Main Building.
I mean, it made sense. This place was supposed to be based on Hope's Peak Academy, and this wasn't the only reference that she had seen while exploring the island. However...all of those previous instances had been some very minor things, like a symbol on a drinks cup that she happened to recognize, or some location names that she had heard before.
But as she looked up at the towering building above her, Chiaki kept thinking about how no matter what, it just didn't belong. She kept thinking about it, and the more she did, something about the structure just felt unnatural.
Comparing it to anything, it was as if a comic book about baseball was adapted into a side-scrolling action game. THAT kind of unnatural.
Feeling weirdly drawn to the ruins, Chiaki approached the out-of-place metal door on the front that she noticed from a distance. It was hard to make out from the rest of the wall with all the dust, but she had a keen pair of eyes.
When she approached, she brushed off some of the dust and cleared away the roots surrounding the door. When she did, the situation became all the more unnatural. The door to the ruin was incredibly hi-tech and didn't feel like it belonged there at all. Like it was a door from a sci-fi movie.
Next to the door was a liquid crystal display, which must have had some relation. In situations like this, it was where you would typically enter the password to get it to open. And it was when she dwelled on this that something clicked.
The memory of the game suddenly came flowing back to Chiaki. In the original game, there had been a secret location on the second island where you could unlock a neat weapon that helped you clear the game a lot easier. Though it hadn't taken a form like this, to unlock it, you had to reach the middle of the second island and input a cheat code into the game's main menu.
So maybe the weapon was inside this building? Maybe opening the door unlocked it?
Chiaki, however, realized that it might not be as simple as that after giving it some thought. A building that looks like an ancient ruined version of her school with a super sci-fi-esc door was far too unnatural. This place had to be important in some way.
Chiaki was about to examine the touch-pad but then hesitated. She figured it was best to check something first.
"Hey! Kamukura-kun!" she turned around and called out, "can you come here!? I need to ask you something!"
Chiaki wasn't certain it merely calling his name was going to work, but thankfully, it did. She felt something move behind her, and when she turned, she saw the long-haired figure from before rise out of the shadows.
"So...can you really move through shadows so easily?" Chiaki asked, "that must be annoying with how much sun there is here."
"Is that really all you summoned me to ask about?" Izuru inquired.
"What? Uh, no!" she exclaimed, "I need to ask. What's the deal with these ruins?"
"This place is supposed to serve as an "Easter Egg" of sorts for the game," Izuru told her, "beyond that, I'm not at liberty to say."
"Of course you're not," Chiaki puffed out her cheeks in a huff, "ok, second question. How do I get inside?"
"You enter the password on the pad," Izuru pointed to the touchpad.
"Right, I guessed as much," Chiaki nodded, "and how do I find out the password?"
"By completing the game," Izuru replied, "defeating the final island guardian will give you access to the final scroll. When you put the final scroll with all the monster scrolls, it spells out the passcode to enter the ancient ruins."
Well, that was no good. Chiaki couldn't fight the monsters on this island, which means she couldn't play the game. There was no way she was going to get the scrolls by herself.
And it wasn't going to bode well to wait for Naegi-kun and his team to get to the end, or else she might miss her chance to find things out for herself. She'd already resolved not to let him know what she was doing so that he didn't try to stop her.
"Is there...any other way you can get these scrolls?" she inquired, not holding her breath on this.
"Once a scroll has been obtained, copies of it can be found at every beach house," Izuru informed, "the scrolls cost in-game currency to buy."
THAT was no good either! The only way to get that sort of currency was by, again, playing the game and fighting the monsters! Even if Chiaki could take the smaller chumps somehow, Naegi-kun hadn't defeated two of the 5 yet, so she could only get half of the scrolls at most! She rolled her eyes.
"Alright, forget it, I'm just gonna guess..." she sighed, but then suddenly hesitated as she reached for the pad, "what happens if I get it wrong?"
"A gun will come out of the wall and try and shoot you," Izuru stated with the most deadpan face imaginable, prompting Chiaki to whip around and stare at him in incredulity. She then looked back at the keypad.
"Alright then!" she pumped her chest with her fist, "let's do this."
"You're still going to do it?" Izuru frowned, "even with the threat of death?"
"I don't really have much of a choice, do I?" Chiaki asked, "If there's no option that doesn't involve the risk of death, then I've gotta pick the one that's least risky."
Chiaki only half believed this. WAS this the least risky? The probability of her being able to take down any of the island bosses by herself without powers was, at best 1%, but the probability of her taking a wild guess and getting it right the first time felt like it was even lower.
"You could just give up?" Kamukura suggested, "You're not cut out for this game. Your talents won't help you here."
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure..." she shook her head, "it doesn't matter what you say; if this place is important, then one way or another, I'm getting inside."
If this place was locked with a code, then that had to mean there were secrets inside. Secrets that might help her answer the mystery she had been looking into.
But what was she to do? She'd memorized all the cheat codes for Ultimate Summer Camp, but none of them particularly came to mind when she scanned the numbers on the pad. She listed all of them off in her head, and to her credit, remembered them all perfectly. And yet...there were quite a few...and none of them unlocked any in-game bonuses that Hajime would have been associated with.
But then she suddenly remembered it. The key aspect of this strange other world. She was inside Hajime Hinata's mind, and everything around her was a subtle representation of his outlook on reality...At least that's what she thought.
By extension, that would mean the code wouldn't necessarily be a cheat code, but a sequence of numbers associated with Hajime. Plus, she remembered by this point that Hajime didn't actually know any of the cheat codes off by heart, and she'd never told them to him, so the code being one of them didn't make much sense.
Still, it had to be related to the game, and thinking about any other sort of code or sequence of numbers, there was only one thing it could be.
Well, two things, but 50/50 were way better odds than...whatever they were before.
Somehow, confident and mostly unafraid (though she did make an audible gulp as she reached over) Chiaki types a sequence of 5 numbers into the pad...
[1-1-0-3-7]
...and pressed enter.
She braced herself for the bullets...Fortunately, she was only greeted with a mechanical hiss and the clunking of gears and beamed as the large cylinder steel door to the ruins slowly clunked open.
Izuru's expression didn't change, but inside, he was rather shocked. Well, as shocked as he could have possibly been, which wasn't that much to be fair. After running many calculations in his head at once, factoring Chiaki Nanami's connection to Hajime Hinata, exactly how many days they had spent together as friends before his indoctrination into the project, what games were trending at the time, and what they may have played as well as many hypothetical sequences in his head as possible, he calculated that Chiaki's odds of opening the door and not getting riddled with bullets was a measly 7%.
And yet she had done it.
"How did you know the code?" he asked, "surely that wasn't just a complete guess?"
"Easy," Chiaki winked, "I used Jaime's character code."
"Jaime?" Izuru parroted. Chiaki nodded.
"The original Ultimate Summer Camp had a multiplayer mode where you and your friends could navigate the board together as a party of up to four people. You can make over 50 customizable characters in the game. We played it a few times back when we first met. My character was Anna Kaimichi, and Hajime's character he made for the game was called Jaime Haithan" Chiaki explained, "but once you make a character, you can bring their stats and their equipment over if you ever do any more runs of the game. All you have to do is under their character code into the menu."
"So you and Hinata played the game that this world is based upon," Izuru recounted, "and that's how you were able to figure out the code preemptively?"
"Yeah, basically," Chiaki said, "it has been a while since I last picked it up though. And you know...it is strange..."
"What is?" Kamukura inquired.
"I've played a lot of video games, but Ultimate Summer Camp is different," she explained, "because it's one of the few video games that I've sworn off playing."
"You've...sworn off it?" the Ultimate Hope parroted.
"Yeah, and the weirdest thing is...I can't remember why...I've played it several times on different runs, but on the last one, I stopped halfway through," she elaborated.
"Perhaps you encountered an enemy that was too strong?" he suggested, "or perhaps a different game was released afterward and you shifted to it?"
"Hm...I don't think so..." she tried to remember, "You know what? It doesn't matter. I'm clear to go in now, right?"
"Yes. You entered the code, which means you can go in," Izuru affirmed, "but I have to ask. What makes you think this will be worth it in the end?"
"I'm sorry?" Chiaki tilted her head.
"If you go in there, you may find whatever it is you're looking for," he told her, "but what if it's something you don't like? Are you capable of stomaching the truth?"
"We'll know soon enough. But if the fact that I just risked getting shot to heck and back wasn't enough to convince you how serious I was about this..." Chiaki turned and shuffled through the door, "then I don't know what to tell you."
Izuru silently watched as Chiaki disappeared behind the door into the ancient ruins, and with some food for thought for once in his short life, he slowly sunk into the shadows and vanished.
X
But unbeknownst to either of them, something on the central island stirred.
It sensed that someone had opened the door to the ancient ruins. And more importantly, it knew who that someone was...
And it knew...it had to stop them.
Despair Syndrome 02 - Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Chiaki was silent as she explored the halls of the ancient ruins. They were familiar, but eerily so.
The hallways of the ancient ruins looked just as much like Hope's Peak Academy as the building did on the outside, but beyond being just a bit worn down. There was physical static electricity in the air, like she was in some kind of bugged video game, not to mention glowing black and red ooze like the kinds that the Shadows were made of leaking from the corners.
Best stay away from that where possible.
She poked her head into a few rooms that looked like classrooms as she explored, but the place was so remarkably different that it didn't feel like a school at all anymore. It was such a creepy place, and the fact that this was what it looked like inside Hinata-kun's mind didn't sit right with Chiaki.
Especially considering how much he had looked up to the school and how much he had wanted to be a part of it. He'd idolized the academy, so why did it look so...distorted?
For that matter, why was this building even here? Hinata's whole Palace was supposed to be Hope's Peak Academy, so why did a perfect replication of the building exist within it, and why such a startling one?
Chiaki couldn't quite put her finger on it, but the only way she could describe this building was that it felt extraordinarily out of place compared to the rest of the realm.
The higher Chiaki climbed, walking past the hallways and the classrooms, the more distorted and weird it got, but then, as she pondered on it all, Chiaki spotted something out of the corner of her eye. One doorway, in particular, looked different than the rest of them like something was leaking out of it.
And what was more surprising was the doorway was the one that, ordinarily, was her classroom.
Despite the sense of foreboding emanating from her once classroom, Chiaki felt drawn towards the door, like the secrets she was looking for were behind it. With a mesh of nerves and curiosity pulsating through her, she cautiously moved closer.
Her gut instinct turned out to be right as once she opened the door, she didn't open up into a classroom. Instead, a spiral staircase leading upwards was hidden behind the sliding door, its old stone steps covered in what appeared to be black moss. Chiaki paused, her eyes wide with nerves, but ultimately chose to ignore the nagging doubts in the back of her mind. With a beating heart, she climbed the stairs, her every step resonating with a gentle, mellow hum. Fortunately, a soft glow lit the way and a gentle warmth enveloped her as she ascended higher, giving her hope.
By the time she got to the top, Chiaki's feelings were...mixed. And not in the sense that she was disappointed by what she came across.
The sense that she was now filled with equal amounts of eagerness as she was paranoia.
She found herself entering a dome-shaped tower, like the bell tower of a church. Surrounding her were 5 pedestals, and above them, 5 different stained glass windows.
The pedestals were empty, but Chiaki could guess their purpose based on the way they were shaped. They sort of looked like lecterns, and from what she had deduced thus far, she surmised that they were where the scrolls to defeat the monsters were kept when they weren't in use.
But the pedestals weren't what Chiaki was interested in, at least not right now. She instead looked at the stained glass windows, only briefly taking in the shapes that appeared on them. The one that drew her attention the most was the one northwest of where she was standing.
The image of a boy with short, somewhat spiky brown hair and an ahoge, dressed in a black reserve course student uniform similar to what Izuru Kamukura had been wearing, stood at the base of the mural. Reaching out her hand, Chiaki approached it.
"Hinata-kun..." she whispered, quietly reaching over and placing her hand on the figure's chest...
...BIG mistake...!
"He has no talent."
"It's pointless!"
"His parents are stupid too!"
"You can't just PAY your way in!"
"That moron wants to succeed THAT much?"
"Must be nice having some money in your pocket..."
"GAH!?"
A Dead End to the Ocean's Aroma - Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
Chiaki yelped as she jumped away from the window, images and voices suddenly flashing through her mind like the shock from a flashbang!
She rapidly shook her head and stared back at the picture in the glass, now taking in the rest of its contents. Above Hinata's figure was a depiction of silhouetted people all with creepy, red smiles, looking like they were looming down at Hinata-kun himself...
...Taunting him...
It now became clear what Chiaki was looking at. The scrolls and the windows represented Hinata-kun's important memories that led to the creation of this place.
She was both filled with joy that she had finally found what she needed, but also suspense. None of these memories looked especially pretty.
But there was no time to lose, and her excitement made her move quickly. She stepped back and tried to figure out the chronological order of the events, hurrying over to another stained glass window. This one depicted him sitting at a desk with a green-tinted classroom in the background, and several anonymous figures surrounding him. Hoping it would work the same as before, she reached out and touched it.
"...Did you hear? Isn't it amazing? Apparently, he's been accepted into Hope's Peak Academy..."
"But was he THAT exceptional?"
"Huh? You don't know?"
"...Heh? Know what?"
"Apparently you don't have to be exceptional to get into Hope's Peak Academy..."
"But...it's an academy that recruits only exceptional students from around the world, right?"
I want to cover my ears...
I want to run...
To the place I deserve to be...To a place where I can be more confident...
Not here.
"Wow! I never knew that way was possible! So he's the same too?"
"Obviously. I mean he doesn't have any special talents that Hope's Peak would be interested in..."
"Yeah, he's...just a normal guy who can be found anywhere..."
"Well, admiring the academy is free, but it must be tough for the parents who have to write the check.
...
Leave me alone...
I just...
I just want to become someone who's confident in myself...
Chiaki stepped away again and felt her breath get caught in her throat. She heard Hinata-kun's voice mixed in with some of the others in the background.
This must have been where he first started to realize the difference between himself and the Ultimates, and how obsolete he felt next to them. She still thought that was very stupid, but she didn't know what it was like from his perspective.
*More...I need to see more...!* she thought, hurrying over to the next window. She skipped one because she had just seen its contents, and instead approached one that looked like a man and a woman in deep discussion while Hinata-kun rested at their feet again.
"He'll never get anywhere in life as he is."
"That doesn't mean we can just force him to be something he's not!"
"And what is he then? If he's not successful in his life, what is he? He's NOTHING!"
"How can you say that!? He's our son!"
"I'm saying this BECAUSE he's our son! What do you want me to say to him!? That he's worthless!? That his dreams won't amount to anything!? Is that what you'd prefer!?"
"I..."
"We need to fix this...Hajime's entering High School. What if he stays like this until he's a grown adult!? We're almost always working and never at home! What if something happens to us!? How is he going to survive when that time comes with nothing to fall back on!"
"It's our fault...We've been too demanding of him. He's like this because we've been too strict with him."
"No, we haven't been strict enough. He's like this because we spoiled him far too much. And now we live in a society that won't accept him...Because if he's not special...he's nothing..."
Chiaki clenched her fist as she stepped away. Dammit! Even his parents had bought into that bullcrap about talent and worth? No wonder Hinata-kun turned out the way he did with all the people like this around him!
Chiaki turned her attention to the fourth window, desperate to see more, and this time was surprised to see two figures in it besides Hinata-kun whom she recognized. One of them was Councilman Kazuo Tengan. The other...was herself.
"..."
"Those kids are as lively as ever. Their teacher certainly fits in well with them."
"Huh? Oh, Tengan-sensei!"
"Apologies for interrupting your people-watching. May I sit here?"
"Of course. I...think I already know what it is you want to talk about."
"Good. That saves me a lot of trouble. The Steering Committee wish to inform you that the deadline for their request is coming up. Do you know your answer yet?"
"...No...sir...Not yet..."
"I see. Well, as an adviser and councilman of the school, I shouldn't really be saying this, but I'm not particularly in favor of that project."
"Right..."
"Hope comes from people acting like people. If you don't want it, you can decline."
"I know...And I appreciate the advise...But this is something that I've always wanted, and even then, my family doesn't have the money for the school fees. What other options do I have?"
"You could always return to your old high-school? From what I hear, you're not especially enjoying your time in the Reserve Department anyway. It would be good to get out of that environment if it makes you uncomfortable."
"That isn't-!"
"Hinata-kun. You don't have to live as a beacon of Hope that people idolize. You can live on as yourself. Do not fear normalcy..."
"..."
"That's all I wished to say. I will excuse myself for now. I ask you to remember what I told you, but the choice is yours regardless..."
"...Thank you sir..."
...I could go back to my old life if I wanted to...
But...now more than ever...I don't want to...
Because...
"Hinata-kun!"
"Huh?"
"Hey! I'm glad you're here! A new fighting game came out. Want to go to the game center together?"
"Huh? I-I'm no good at fighting games though."
"That's fine!"
"Wha-!? H-Hey! Nanami-san, let go of my hand!"
"Listen. When you're with everyone, games are fun! Come on!"
"H-Hey! Seriously! Ok, ok, jeez, I'm coming!"
"Hinata-kun! Look, a new game came out! Let's play it together."
"..."
"Hinata-kun?"
"Mm...Sorry...I have something I need to do today...There's somewhere I need to go."
"Oh...I see..."
"..."
"...Bye then..."
"Y-Yeah..."
"..."
"..."
"Hinata-kun!"
"Yeah, what is it?"
"I..."
"Hm?"
"I'm...sorry...It's nothing. I don't know why I..."
"Hehe...It's ok..."
"..."
"Nanami...Tell me. Are you making memories at Hope's Peak?"
"Uh...I think so? Why?"
"I want you to make a bunch of 'em for me. There's way more to you than just the Ultimate Gamer. Your character stats are off the charts."
"Uh...Ehehe..."
"Well...Be seeing you."
"Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow!"
Nanami...
I wanted to be able to say to you, my friend, with pride...
"I have a talent! I can do this incredible thing!"
But in the end...I couldn't...I can't...do anything...
But because of my emptiness, there are things that I can do.
Chiaki clutched her head as she drew away from this notably longer tale, and she felt like something was reaching inside her and squeezing her heart tightly. She felt her eyes start to water.
So that was what he had truly been thinking at that time. He truly believed that he couldn't face her any longer because he never could see himself as her equal. Tengan was right; he could have easily gone back to his ordinary life and gotten away from all of this garbage, but he stayed because he cared too much for her and the time they shared.
She'd gone for three years without seeing him, and the whole time she had known him, she had just let him suffer in silence like this? The pain was almost too much to bear.
But bear it she did, because even with the overwhelming dread and sorrow that started to rest on her, there was something else on her mind, as she slowly turned to the final window...This one contained a rather threatening image.
At the top of the frame were the silhouetted figures of four men in business suits. Underneath them was hard to make out, but it looked like some sort of...testing lab, with signed documents drifting down above it. And underneath all of that, keeping his legs crossed was the figure of Chiaki's new acquaintance; Izuru Kamukura.
"Hinata-kun..." she said under her breath, "what...the heck...did you DO...?"
Chiaki had been wondering what Izuru Kamukura was...and now she was about to find out, as she reached out and touched the glass one last time...
"Good news gentlemen. The subject has decided to participate in the project."
"Oh thank goodness. I was beginning to worry he'd pass on it."
"Does it matter? Had he not accepted, we could just pick somebody else from that talentless rabble."
"I'm only saying it due to a conversation I had earlier with Kizakura and Tengan. They were nattering on about how they didn't like the idea of artificial talent or a "symbol of hope." They even got Kirigiri in on it."
"Once Izuru Kamukura has been born and perfected, they won't be needed anymore. Grit your teeth and bare it and we'll do rid of them when the time comes."
"The subject is here and wishes to meet with us. Shall I let him in?"
"Of course, of course. Now watch your words, men. Don't want to deter him after he's come so far."
"...Um...Good day, sir."
"Hope's Peak Academy Reserve Department class 1-C, Hinata, Age 15...That is you, correct?"
"Yes sir."
"Well, it's nice to meet you. My name is Akihiko Ashikawa, head of the Hope's Peak Steering Committee. Nice to meet you young man."
"It's a pleasure, Ashikawa-san."
"Hmhm...At last...You're here because you've finally come to a decision, yes?"
"Yes sir. I will become..."
"...𖤢ꚴ𖤢𖦪ꚲ𖣠ꛘ𖤢'ꕷ ꛅ𖣠ꛤ𖤢..."
Tropical Despair - Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
"BUAAAGGGH!!"
Chiaki shrieked as the vision ended. Right at the end, she was faced with a pair of bright red, flashing eyes, followed by a sequence of absolutely horrific imagery!
Men in white coats with surgical equipment, surrounding a boy with a shaven head, opening up his skull and prodding sharp utensils into his brains! Figures warping as they disappeared from their reality into a world beyond! Test tubes, broken glass, research papers, and at the end of it all...a dark figure with piercing red pupils and long, dark hair, looming over her menacingly.
Chiaki's heart was beating so fast as she collapsed she felt it might beat out of her chest. But once she composed herself enough to look up, she realized that the exact long-haired figure, except with golden eyes, had grabbed her and caught her before she could fall to the ground. Now he was carrying her like a princess, and once he noticed she was calm again, he slowly set her down, supporting her until her legs stopped shaking.
"I warned you..." Kamukura reminded her. Chiaki nodded as if to say "yeah, yeaahh!"
"I...I have no idea...what I just watched..." she grasped her forehead, "but that...that was horrible! It's like something straight out of BioHazard! What WAS that!? That was you, right? Why were you-!? I mean...What ARE you!? WHO are you!? And why are you here? I thought you..."
"I'm not so certain about that latter question honestly. I just felt like keeping an eye on you was necessary. As for your former questions, it's a complex tale," Izuru told her as if she hadn't figured that out already, "but if you're still so certain to learn the truth, even after all of this...Then I suppose I can elaborate on your findings..."
"I thought you said you weren't at liberty to tell me?" Chiaki asked.
"That was before you unlocked the door," Izuru told her, "once you opened it, the situation changed. Like I said before, ordinarily you get the special code after you reach the Treasure in the game that lets you unlock the ruins. But since you happened to guess it, that works as well."
"Oh, goodie," Chiaki raised her eyebrows, saying this with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, "but this place didn't exist in the original game. Where...What...IS this place? And why is it here?"
"There's a rather simple answer to both of those questions," Izuru explained, "these ruins are here for the same reason that I am. In a manner of speaking, we are part of a set."
"And...what reason is there for this "set?"" Chiaki asked.
Despair Syndrome 01 - Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
"I mean it in terms that both of us were put here," Izuru explained, "by the ringleaders of the project that Hajime Hinata underwent."
"Project? Ringleaders?" Chiaki felt her stomach sink, "who are you...talking about?"
"I refer to the Steering Committee of Hope's Peak Academy," Izuru clarified, "they created me, which led to both myself and this building spawning here."
He strode forward and looked up towards the tapestries.
"The truth is that this building wasn't simply created to house Hajime Hinata's memories," he said, "this place was made to make sure they stayed locked up here for good. So that no one, not even Hinata himself, would ever find them. That is the true secret."
"He was locked away from his own memories? The Steering Committee did this to him!?" Chiaki exclaimed, "What are you-!?"
She stopped. She took a second and forced herself to stay calm and composed. She was starting to suspect the worst, but she had come here to get answers. Now she was getting them. So whatever pain she suffered through next was her own fault.
"Kamukura-kun...Please, tell me what happened. Even though you claim that you aren't Hinata-kun, I'm still not quite sure how..." she asked, gesturing towards him awkwardly, "how YOU happened, or what the Steering Committee have to do with it."
"I can. But are you sure you are ready to hear that truth?" Kamukura asked, "It wouldn't bode well to hear the true extent of the situation. It would only be painful for you."
Though things had been frustratingly nebulous thus far, Chiaki had gradually started to get a better idea of how things were, even without him having to say anything. To be honest, there was no way she would be ready for the truth of whatever happened to her best friend, and the truth of Kamukura-kun's relationship to Hinata-kun. However, she had to ask directly and bite the bullet if she wanted to succeed in this mission.
One way or another, she was going to save Hinata-kun.
"You're right," Chiaki nodded, "but I want to hear it anyway. I NEED to know what happened."
Izuru didn't try to protest and simply granted her wish.
"Normally, admission to the Reserve Course requires payment of an outrageous sum of money. But despite his admission, Hajime Hinata never felt comfortable in the Reserve Course," he began to explain in full detail, "every day he would just mope about how he would never amount to anything and that the students in the building next door had it all together already. Furthermore, Hinata's parents eventually found it difficult to pay for the tuition."
Pausing, Izuru gestured toward the fourth and fifth murals.
"Rather, they were granted a unique scholarship from the Steering Committee and their collaborators themselves. When the board was ready, he would have to comply with a certain, secret project to be allowed to attend."
Chiaki didn't like the direction this was going in already. Video game secret projects, like Project Shadow or the Mewtwo Project, never turned out well. A proverbial hole started to form in her stomach, and she shifted in her place as fear and doubt shot through her. Nevertheless, she forced herself to remain focused.
"What kind of project?" she nodded, letting him know that she was still paying attention.
"The project for which Hope's Peak Academy was first founded. The school's founders had a dream of developing student talent to produce a flawless genius who would be considered humanity's best hope," Izuru explained, "the Academy studied the skills of the Ultimate Students who came to the school for many years. Recently, the project's experimental phase was finally reached by the researchers, and from there, they focused on using the Reserve Course dropouts as lab rats in their scheme to produce test subjects with no talent at all who are artificially required to be tested."
"Artificially tested!? You mean they were GIVEN Ultimate Talents even though they didn't have any before!?" Chiaki gasped, "Is something like that even possible!?"
"Of course it is," Izuru deadpanned, "you're looking at the result."
Chiaki felt her legs start to tremble as everything was made clear.
"Don't tell me..." she said with shaking breath, "H-Hinata-kun...?"
"It eventually became necessary for him to either pay his tuition or withdraw from the Reserve Course completely. And he went with the former, as you may have already surmised," Izuru affirmed, "thus, the Izuru Kamukura Project, also known as the Hope Cultivation Plan, got underway. Using the Metaverse and by changing his cognition, as well as many other experimental processes outside of that, all evidence of Hinata's identity, including his personality, memories, feelings, thoughts, and interests, were methodically removed over the course of the following six months. This was done in order for the scientists to create me by putting all of their talent into his empty vessel, and by allowing my artificially created Shadow to rule this Palace."
Chiaki didn't, or rather COULDN'T speak, so Izuru continued.
"Following my birth...Though I think the term "creation" is more appropriate...I was put to a number of tests to see how good I was. The outcome met their expectations. They had created a brilliant and flawlessly gifted genius. For someone like I, who represents talent itself, the title "Ultimate Hope" and the name of the Academy's founder, Izuru Kamukura, were bestowed upon me."
Izuru relaxed his posture, signaling that he had finished his explanation.
Chiaki, on the other hand, was feeling very ill. It was crystal clear to her what he was talking about. Lobotomy and human experimentation. It resembled something from a horror game, only it wasn't. It was REAL! She was shocked to learn that her school, which was highly regarded by LITERALLY EVERYONE, had participated in such actions!
However, as Izuru had stated, there was tangible evidence standing directly in front of her. She put her hand to her mouth, feeling as though she might throw up in addition to being shocked.
What made everything worse with this explanation was that looking back, SO many things were finally starting to make sense. That day at the fountain; the last time she had ever seen Hinata-kun before he disappeared. Was it possible that he went to the board meeting on that day to begin the project?
How could she not have realized how much of a goddamn death flag his final farewell to her was at the time!? Why hadn't she noticed that he was about to say goodbye and take a stupid and rash action like that!?
Why had he never opened up to her about this...? No...He shouldn't have had to...She should have known, as his best friend.
If she could even call herself that anymore...
X
"Was that a satisfactory answer to your question?" Izuru asked.
Chiaki cut her melancholy thoughts short for a moment and turned her attention back to what she now recognized as the walking husk of her old friend.
"I just...I...I don't know...what to say..." she admitted, "but...Thank you for telling me all of this. I got what I came here for."
"So you mean to say that you really only came here to look for your friend?" Izuru asked.
"It's been three years," Chiaki asserted, "and not a day goes by where I don't think about him. I've been waiting for him to come back for three years and now...Now I know why he went in the first place...After all this time, I finally have clarity...Even though it's a cold comfort..."
"Why did you bother?" Izuru asked.
Chiaki stopped and lifted her head, her eyebrows furrowing slightly.
Desire for Execution - Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
"Sorry, did you somehow miss the several parts where I implied that he's my best friend in the whole world?"
"He wasn't especially powerful, intelligent, or wealthy," Izuru stated dismissively, "he was just a regular boy; nothing special. He was far beneath you in the hierarchy of talent, so what made you care about him so much?"
"Oh TO HECK with your STUPID HIERARCHY!" Chiaki spat, her blood starting to boil, "Even though Hinata-kun lacked an Ultimate Talent, that didn't make him less worthy than me! Don't you go implying that to my face!"
"I'm not implying anything. I'm stating the facts as they are," though he retained his stoic and robotic expression, Chiaki's outburst had clearly been unexpected, "Hope's Peak is a reflection of the true state of the world; built on a system where the talentless mass of the Reserve Course exists only to support the elite Main Course. Even the money paid for tuition went toward supporting my birth. What more could the untalented possibly offer, considering that only those gifted achieve and write history? What could Hajime Hinata have ever given you?"
"I'll tell you what he gave me," Chiaki growled, stepping forward and squaring up to Shadow Kamukura, "he gave me the happiest memories of my life! He gave me friendship! He gave me HOPE!"
Chiaki was feeling a tad out of breath but didn't relent. This was the angriest she had ever felt in her whole life. But who could blame her when Shadow Izuru spoke so dismissively and nonchalantly about the human experimentation committed on her best friend—the boy he used to be?
Chiaki forced her shaking hands to stay still, and she took some deep breaths before she continued speaking to him, now in a much calmer manner, yet her anger didn't completely subside.
"Did Hinata-kun have an Ultimate Talent? No. Did he have any specific set of skills? No. Was he worthy of being called an Ultimate? Probably not!" she purported, "But there were still so many good things about him! He worked hard, he was honest, and he was kind. I had never met anyone before who didn't think I was weird for being so into my games. He didn't find me strange like everyone else always has, and even when he lost, he still enjoyed playing with me! It's because he approached me and became my friend that I was even able to bond with my own class! HE'S the reason I became Class 77's rep! He gave me hope that I might not have to live alone in the future!"
She crossed her arms.
"You still think he's useless because he's got no lame title now?"
"Did you tell him that?"
Chiaki's heart stopped with this one sudden question that Izuru tossed at her. Her assertive and powerful disposition crumbled apart INSTANTLY the moment his words entered her ears and into her mind.
If she HAD conveyed this to him, she clearly hadn't done so enough. Would he have followed through with it even if she had just told him how much he meant to her? How truly important he was? Was there anything she could have done to stop this?
The thought alone was sickening. And it filled her with shame and sorrow. But this quickly transitioned back into frustration when Kamukura started talking again.
"Even so, it still doesn't explain your reasoning for coming here," he said, "you haven't seen Hajime Hinata for three years. Why have you remained in this association for so long, especially since you've already made friends with your classmates? Is he still needed in any way?"
"For someone who's supposedly all-powerful and all-knowing, you sure don't know much about how friendship works," Chiaki huffed, "sure, friends come and go, but you don't have to leave old friends behind when you make new ones. You don't just walk out on someone you care about the moment you meet someone "better." Everybody can bring some kind of happiness to your life. No one friend is like another."
Izuru went quiet. But this was a different kind of quiet than what he had fallen into so far. This sort of quiet was almost awkward. Like for the first time ever, the cat had got his tongue.
It became unfortunately clear to Chiaki that he indeed did not understand what she was talking about, and she felt both sad to come to this understanding, and ashamed that she had blown up on him so suddenly while he remained calm. He obviously didn't understand. They jammed all that talent into his head and left no room for anything else; assuming what he said was true.
"Hey...you mentioned that Hinata-kun was somewhere in here, right? The real Hinata-kun? Or at least...his own Shadow? One that isn't you?"
"I doubt he would want to see you," Izuru told her, "a big reason why Hajime Hinata signed up for the project in the first place was because he was ashamed of his lack of talent when standing next to you," Izuru said, and cut her off as she tried to retort, "I understand you never meant this, and I am not trying to imply that you had anything to do with it, but regardless, he let his insecurity get the better of him. His Shadow form is talentless, and given how long it's been since you last saw each other, he's probably ashamed to show his face."
"Well...If that's the case, then I really do need to talk to him, even if it's just his Shadow," Chiaki pleaded, "where can I find him? Please tell me."
X
However, before Izuru could open his mouth and retort, both the Ultimate Hope and the Ultimate Gamer shuddered as the ground beneath them started to shake. Chiaki's stomach churned even more as the rumbling was quickly followed by a ferocious roar.
She raised her arm to shield her eyes as the wall to the catacombs suddenly came crashing down, and she yelped out as she looked up to see a terrifying sight above her. From the hole in the wall, a ferocious beast stamped into view. It was humanoid and shaped with two giant hits and a single piercing red light as an eye, with a presence and aura befitting its size, its massive form moved, causing earthquakes with every powerful step. At first, Chiaki was immobile as she looked in horror at the creature, its metallic body reflecting the light that descended from above!
Justice for our Prime Suspect! - Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
Had it not been for Kamukura dashing in, picking her up, and carrying her within the space of a literal second, the monster's gigantic fist would have crushed her flat!
Chiaki's mind finally caught up with her body and she shrieked, her fingers digging tightly into Kamukura as she held on for dear life! Once they stepped away, Kamukura set her down on shaking legs.
"Wh-What's going on!?" Chiaki cried, "is that-!?"
"The Gorilla Mechabeast," Izuru affirmed, "one of the guardians of the island."
"The last one you fight in the original game...But what happened to it? Why does it look so mechanical!? And why did you bring it here!?"
"I didn't."
"What?"
"I didn't bring it here. It shouldn't be here," Izuru clarified, and Chiaki was surprised to see a drop of sweat roll down his cheek from where she stood, "and I most certainly didn't command it to attack you-"
"LOOK OUT!"
With Chiaki's shout, Izuru once again scooped Chiaki up and dived out of the way as the Mechabeast tried to hammer them both again. He slid to a halt, this time keeping hold of her.
"This is new..." he stated, remaining as calm as always, but Chiaki could sense the genuine confusion from him.
"Wait, hold on! Don't you command these big monsters!? Are you seriously telling me you've lost control!?" Chiaki exclaimed.
"It's not just you they're trying to hurt. It's attacking me as well," Izuru frowned, "they've never done that before."
"Do you think it's because we unlocked the ancient ruins?" Chiaki asked, "Maybe it's trying to stop us because we saw the truth of what happened. Wait, no, that doesn't make any sense! If the scrolls contained the same info, then-"
"That's possible," Izuru said, which surprised her, "in fact, it's probable. Whatever is going on, something or someone doesn't want you or me seeing this. The Mechabeast must be attacking us because we've seen too much."
Chiaki panicked. This was WAY more than she bargained for! And the worst part is that this time, Naegi-kun and Monomi-sensei weren't here to save her! Fortunately, as Kamukura stepped forward, she felt a slight wave of relief as he placed himself between her and the monster.
"I have no other option," he seemed to tut, "a lot is on the line here, including both our lives. I will have to subdue this monster myself."
"Not that I don't think you can do it, but are you sure? Won't you get in trouble if you try to destroy your own minions?" Chiaki asked, skeptical. Frankly, the uncertainty of the situation was just as terrifying as the monster.
"Would you rather I let it crush you?" Izuru asked. Chiaki pursed her lips.
"Carry on..." she said with an awkward little wave of her hand.
To her surprise, Izuru's mouth curled a millimeter into a scoff as the Gorilla Mechabeast came rampaging towards him. Even if he had smirked slightly, his expression quickly went back to flat and emotionless as the monster fired a burning red laser beam from its singular eye.
Izuru's golden eyes suddenly started to glow red, and strange shapes, like a literal glitch, started to pop up around him. As he effortlessly dodged the laser, he turned back to the beast and pointed at it with two of his fingers, making his hand into the shape of a gun.
Chiaki didn't know whether she should be surprised or not when Izuru cocked his "gun" and it ACTUALLY FIRED! At least she thought it did. He made a motion to shoot, and the "bullet" hit the Mechabeast, knocking it back a little bit, but nothing really came out of his hand.
Izuru continued to fire invisible bullets with his hand at the Mechabeast, which fended it off for a while, but things took yet another turn for the worst shortly after. Once it was pressed up against the wall, its body suddenly started to fade into the background until it disappeared entirely.
"Did it just...cloak itself!?" Chiaki exclaimed, looking around for any sign of the creature.
"Good observation," Izuru nodded as he quickly dashed back, kicking up some dust on the ground until he once again stood next to Chiaki, "be careful. It could be anywhere, and I'm not sure where it might come from."
"Let me guess," Chiaki frowned, "you didn't know it could do that?"
"I estimated that, as the final boss, the Gorilla had many special abilities. This was within my calculations. But before the Phantom Thieves showed up, only Hinata himself and the Steering Committee soldiers had ever played the island game. Neither party was ever able to reach this final fight, meaning I've never once seen the Gorilla at its full power," Izuru elaborated, "it seems cutting edge as well. It's making no noise and leaving no tracks to follow. It's like it vanished into thin air."
"Well if you can't see it, then how am I supposed to!?" Chiaki exclaimed.
Before Izuru had a chance to answer this question, Chiaki yelped the wall above her exploded into rubble, and a rain of debris came falling down on her. Surmising that the Gorilla had punched it, once again, Izuru picked her up like a princess and dashed away, this time heading for the door.
"As much as I appreciate you saving my life, I'm gonna have to ask you to stop carrying me like this!" she flustered as they dropped down the stairs, "it's pretty embarrassing!"
"Carrying you this way is the most simple and effective method. Unless you'd prefer me to drop you?" Izuru asked.
"That's not very funny..." Chiaki pouted, but her sour expression quickly turned into a terrified one, "Kamukura-kun! Watch out!"
Izuru's head snapped around as the hand of the Mechabeast somehow followed him through the hallway, and almost swatted him like a bug.
"Change of plans..." he uttered.
An Unknown Despair - Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy
"Huh? Wait, where are you GOOOOIIIIIIIINGGG!?" Chiaki hollered as Izuru quickly changed directions while the extended hand of the monster continued to chase him. She wanted to shriek at the top of her lungs, but by this point, her throat was hoarse, so she couldn't let out much of a sound even following what happened next.
Izuru sprinted at a ridiculous speed straight towards the window of the ruined academy building, then dived at it feet-first, kicking it open and soaring through the air like a bird breaking free from its cage! Chiaki clung to his body with every ounce of strength within her but relaxed as she felt them start to drift down far more slowly than she thought he would like something was letting them down gently.
What was he, Mary Poppins? Did that make her his umbrella?
Izuru carefully landed on his feet, but Chiaki was thankful that the adrenaline remained, as almost immediately after, the full mass of the Mechabeast crashed straight through the wall and came falling down upon them again!
This time, however, Izuru didn't dodge the attack. He let down Chiaki and held her in one arm, aiming his finger gun straight upwards and firing. The blast hit the Mechabeast in the stomach, and instead of crashing down on them, it instead collapsed onto the floor.
"Nanami," he said, somewhat sternly, as he let her back down, "you need to go. I don't know what's going on with the Mechabeasts, but it's too dangerous for you to stay here now."
"You're the Palace ruler AND a person with the power to do anything he wants!" Chiaki exclaimed, "And you really have zero clue what's going on!? For some reason, I don't believe you!"
"I...have theories..." Izuru admitted.
"And what might those entail?" Chiaki frowned.
Izuru didn't reply, and his silence implied he wasn't going to. Before Chiaki could talk again, she suddenly noticed the body of the Mechabeast stir and quickly dashed to safety so that Izuru didn't have to carry her again. She went to hide behind a tree while Izuru turned around to see a cannon pop out of the Gorilla's shoulder, shooting a blast that knocked him back. Using this as an opening, the monster kicked the Ultimate Hope and slashed at him with a blade that protruded from its wrist.
Izuru handily avoided the attacks, even as the shoulder cannon continued to fire at him while he fought back.
Izuru's eyes flashed red once more, and his long hair shot out like tendrils as he slowly rose into the air, resembling some kind of eldritch creature as he did, while countering the projectiles with his finger guns.
A few more gunfire exchanges later, he snapped his fingers, rupturing the sky around him and unleashing massive showers of what could only be called antimatter that struck the titan, only to have it sidestep and launch itself high into the air in his direction. The Ultimate Hope fell and crashed into the tree as it swung its massive metallic fist and smacked straight into him.
"KAMUKURA-KUN!" Chiaki cried. However, he rather nonchalantly stood back up again and dusted himself off.
"I told you to leave," he snapped, "this doesn't concern you. And if you die here, any progress you could make would be fruitless. Don't you understand that this Palace itself is trying to keep you out?"
Before Chiaki could even respond, Izuru swiftly leaped right back into the fight. As soon as he tried to throw a punch, the Mechabeast vanished again. This time, it smacked the Ultimate Hope while it was still invisible, and though Izuru's face didn't show it, he'd evidently gotten him good.
X
"But...it DOES concern me...It's...all to do with me..." Chiaki spoke, softly and aimlessly.
She wanted to help him. More than anything, she wanted to do something, ANYTHING about it.
Izuru was right, and she knew it. If she really valued her mission, then she'd run away while he held the Mechabeast off. It wouldn't do anyone, especially not Hajime, any good if she was to die here.
But the overwhelming feeling of hopelessness started to crush her. With everything that had come to light, she realized that she should have been helping him. Hajime. All this time, he'd been tackling his own insecurities, something that she was AWARE of, and yet her words had failed to reach him.
Even now, this random alter-ego of that same boy was fighting for her sake, trying to protect her. And not just him. The Phantom Thieves too. They were fighting these monsters on a regular basis, all to try and save the best friend that she had as good as condemned.
All she had to do was show a little bit of initiative! Just have the courage to pry into Hinata's personal affairs a little bit more! Actually talk about how he felt and tell him straight up how special he really was!
And maybe...all of this could have been avoided...
But no. No, she could never do it. She wasn't STRONG enough! She thought she was helping people all this time, bringing her classmates together, representing them, playing games, and setting a good example for the Ultimate Students. But she had forgone what was most important to her.
And what had it all been for? To make a bunch of self-serving psychopaths who had lobotomized and changed the cognition of her best friend look good!? Chiaki wished she could see the monster again. To see the physical embodiment of the Steering Committee's tampering. The manipulators who had taken her best friend away from her had been so close this whole time
How could she ever possibly call herself Hajime Hinata's friend? How could she call herself anyone's friend? All she had ever done was let everybody around her down...
...
...
...
"Are your bonds truly so fragile, devochka?"
Let Us Sing of a Hollow Victory - Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
Chiaki winced as a sudden jolt of pain shot through her head, and she began to sweat coldly as she heard a sudden echoing, weirdly European voice inside her head. She looked around to see where it had come from, to see if someone else had arrived to speak to her, and yet she already knew that there wasn't anybody there.
"Wh-What's going on now!?" she exclaimed, "who are you!?"
"Chiaki Nanami! Remember!" the voice continued, "the day that you parted from that friend that you hold so dear...What was the last thing he ever said to you before he disappeared?"
Chiaki didn't need to try to recall the words. She remembered them perfectly. The problem was recalling them through the vicious head pain she was starting to suffer.
"Nanami...Tell me. Are you making memories at Hope's Peak?"
"Uh...I think so? Why?"
"I want you to make a bunch of 'em for me. There's way more to you than just the Ultimate Gamer. Your character stats are off the charts."
"He...He told me..." Chiaki responded to the voice, weirdly trusting it despite its unknown origin, "he told me that he wanted me to make memories...Many happy memories...for the both of us...!"
"And do you really think he would have bothered to say that if he didn't truly see you as a friend?" the voice queried, "you doubt him so much that you believe his insecurities prevented him from ever believing he could be your friend!? That your companionship was false!"
"No! I-I never said that!" Chiaki snapped.
"Stupid girl! Tell me then why it is you think Hajime Hinata would have ever agreed to the project if he thought he would never see you again!?"
Chiaki's eyes widened as she clutched her head, the realization sinking in.
"You understand now...The Steering Committee cared about talent above all else to the point that they erased a young man completely from existence to leave just Kamukura and his talents remaining," the voice continued, "you think them above lying and manipulating children to get what they want? That they would ever think twice about tearing him away from everybody who ever loved him!? You think the Hajime Hinata you loved would leave you behind like that!? I KNOW you don't!"
"Never...He would never...!" Chiaki rested a hand on the tree, "he got annoyed whenever he couldn't match me in video games, but he never resented me! He was kind and caring all the way to the end! He was a good man! A REAL friend!"
"And what are the Steering Committee!? What are those who rule Hope's Peak Academy really!?" the voice boomed.
"Cheats, murderers and LIARS!" she scratched at the bark with her fingernails.
"He was used and manipulated! You both were! You ALL were! And even now they continue to do so like it's not a problem!" the voice roared, "those monsters took everything that made that boy, ripped it to shreds and threw it away! Powerless or not in the face of adversity, what are you going to do? Just give up? Throw away any opportunities to make sure this chaos does not continue!?"
"I don't care what it costs...I don't care anymore...!" Chiaki snapped, now on the verge of suffering a full-blown aneurysm, and yet she remained standing, "those old crones have prayed on us...used us as cattle...for too long! I won't let them lead the world astray any longer! The monsters that prowl the island aren't happy game characters; they're creatures that are made in their twisted image! And I want them GONE!"
Awakening - Persona 5
"In that case, we have a deal..." the voice affirmed, "I am Thou...Thou art I...Call for me who resides in your heart and soul, and those you deem precious will be brought to safety and salvation!"
Chiaki yelped and suddenly opened her eyes to find that something was covering her eyes. Feeling it up, it felt like some kind of digital headset, or visor. She tried to take it off but found that it was stuck to her face.
She wasn't alarmed though. For some reason, she knew exactly what it was she needed to do. She looked towards Kamukura, getting up from the ground after being thrashed about, then hurried towards him, standing in front of him as if she intended to defend him from the monster.
"What are you doing...?" Izuru lifted his head. At the same time, the Mechabeast reappeared above Chiaki, its gigantic figure silhouetted in the sunlight like a movie monster, and it roared in her face before trying to bring its fist down on both her and the Ultimate Hope!
"You took all of it from him, you selfish losers! This is his life! His mind! And now I'm taking it back!" she snapped, reaching for the visor on her face, "and it starts by putting this dang dirty ape down...!"
Chiaki didn't pay any attention to the pain of ripping the visor off her face, nor the blood. She didn't even scream. But the Mechabeast certainly did as she erupted into burning blue flames, and even Shadow Kamukura slid back to avoid getting blasted away by her transformation!
Chiaki's school uniform was destroyed and replaced with an armored bodysuit in the colors white and red as her rebellious spirit burst forth around her. Her metallic-soled pink boots were still incredibly comfortable on the inside. On her hands were pink gloves, and over her body dangled a cybernetic-pattered garment that resembled a hybrid of a cloak and jacket—it even had a hood that hung over Chiaki's head. She pulled the hood off and gave the gorilla Mechabeast a fierce look.
The structure that floated behind her was...a unique apparition. Levitating and comfortable, the seat featured an 8-bit pattern embroidered on it. Numerous keypads and gadgets, including holographic projectors that displayed digital monitors, protruded from the seat. But this was just the framework's central component. It was surrounded by the familiar cubby shapes from the Tetris game, which looked like an angel straight out of the Bible.
Chiaki naturally hopped back onto the seat and started to levitate in the air, holding tightly onto the chair's controls as the Mechabeast roared again—the moment before her stretched in the Ultimate Gamer's mind. The figure of her foe informed her of what was coming. But she felt the burning desire to strike back inside her heart...and it had a name...!
"ALEXEY!"
Money Grubber - Persona 5: The Animation
Izuru's eyebrows raised a millimeter as he looked up in the sky to see the gamer girl hovering on her spectral apparatus. This had also fallen within his calculations, but again, the likelihood of it happening was slim. Though he was as unfeeling as always when faced with the display, he could have sworn he had a distinct twang of pride while looking at her up there.
The Mechabeast on the other hand did not take kindly to it at all, and swiftly leaped high into the air, brandishing its fist and intending to pummel her flat. But unfortunately for the monster, as it swung its fist at her, its attack merely bounced off the air in front of her as the floating blocks formed something of a barrier around her person.
The Mechabeast landed back on its feet and instead reached up and threw a whole barrage of rapid-fire punches at Chiaki, like a punching ghost from an anime. Those attacks were simply blocked by this barricade around her as well. It then resorted to trying other things, such as launching repulsor blasts from its cannons, and even firing missiles and powerful blasts of fire magic, but all of it was for naught. Chiaki simply sat in her seat and observed, not a single scratch on her.
Unfortunately, the reverse was sort of true as well. Even from the outset, Chiaki could tell that her power was different from the kind that Naegi-kun had displayed, even if it was the same principle. The way the power worked came naturally to her as soon as she awakened, but she didn't seem to have any concrete way of hurting the monster, at least not directly. The Mechabeast couldn't hurt her, and she couldn't hurt the Mechabeast, leaving their clash at a complete stalemate.
The good news was that Chiaki knew what she COULD do, and was lucky enough to have help here and now. Trying to recuperate and back off until it formed a plan to get around its setback, the Mechabeast faded away again and went invisible. But this time, things had changed.
"Kamukura-kun! I can see through its cloaking with my power!" she called down to Shadow Izuru, "and not just that, but I can see everything else too! The monster's weak points and attack patterns!"
"Hmph...I figured as much," Izuru nodded, "this type of power is befitting of someone like you."
"This thing's gotta go down!" she called down to him, "so...want some help?"
"I would not be opposed..." he nodded a second time.
"In that case...There! Attack there!"
As Chiaki pointed to where the Mechabeast was hiding from above, a physical marker made of some hologrammatic light popped into Izuru's vision like she was putting down a pin in an FPS game, that seemed to move as the Mechabeast went to the side. Within a flash, he rushed towards it and threw a punch, nailing the monster dead in its stomach.
"Now attack right!"
He hit it again.
"It's behind you now!"
And again.
"Watch out, it's in front of you now!"
And once again.
The Mechabeast eventually dropped out of its cloaking mode, realizing that that strategy was no longer going to work. Instead, it roared and decided it had no choice but to go on a full offensive, protruding its wrist blade and going in swinging at Izuru.
Unfortunately for the Gorilla, Chiaki had a counter to this as well.
"Ok! Here come the buffs!" she exclaimed, drawing her finger over one of the pop-up screens and holding her finger down on a button. As she did, Izuru suddenly felt his body becoming sturdier and more fortuitous.
Shadow Kamukura blocked the Mechabeast's leaping slash with his arm as they engaged in close quarters. This would have still hurt him normally, but Chiaki's buffs greatly mitigated the damage.
The Gorilla persisted in its attack, repeatedly slashing at the Palace Ruler as he was pushed further back. Chiaki began to sweat. It wouldn't last forever, even if the defense buff was saving him from these unrelenting attacks.
"Your defenses are gonna crack pretty soon!" she cried down to her Shadow compatriot, "get ready to go on the offensive!"
"Understood...!" Izuru affirmed with a nod. He dashed backward to avoid one last slash from the monster, and Chiaki switched gears. Izuru felt her induce a buff on him that boosted his physical strength, and knowing that like before, it was going to be temporary, intended to make the most of it.
The Mechabeast lunged at Izuru once more, but this time, with the strength buff on top of his already superhuman strength, he parried the attack with a backhand and then instantly launched a devastating barrage of curse damage. As soon as the Gorilla attempted to block the projectile, it exploded in its face, knocking it backward.
It swiftly stood back up and swung its blade at Shadow Izuru once more. This time, Izuru darted to the side and, rather casually, pulled a whole palm tree up out of the ground to use as his own weapon. The two fought back and forth until Kamukura delivered a powerful blow that exposed the Mechabeast to a tree thrust that got stuck in the monster's shoulder.
"Good!" Chiaki called out from above, "Keep that up!"
With a swift retaliation, the Mechabeast hit the Ultimate Hope in the head, forcing the tree out of its massive armored frame. Izuru and Chiaki staggered backward, witnessing as the creature raised its fists and struck Izuru with two balls of raging hot fire. With a wave of curse magic, he deflected one, and he quickly avoided the other as it flew into the forest behind him.
However, Chiaki's Persona's built-in scanner allowed her to identify the issue right away. Unbeknownst to Shadow Kamukura, the fireball had somehow bounced back through the trees and was aiming directly at him once more!
"NO!"
Chiaki moved like a flash, typing keys and moving sticks, and just as Izuru turned around to confront the returning fireball, the blocks of Chiaki's Persona crashed down and formed a dome-shaped shield around him, blocking him from taking the lethal blast of flame!
The Mechabeast pounded its chest, gradually getting more and more irate as it became more and more outmatched!
"I could have handled that," he assured her.
"Sure you could..." she rolled her eyes and smirked, "but this is seriously amazing...! I didn't know I had this kind of power...!
"Right," Izuru responded in that sort of "I don't care" kind of way before turning back to his opponent, his hair rising as he swelled with power, "but this battle isn't over yet...!"
Izuru's power was so immense that the world around him started to distort and shift as if it was trying to make room for his overwhelming presence, and Chiaki wondered if she was even needed at this point.
The Ultimate Hope tapped his foot on the ground, and his shadow seemed to be a fissure in the earth as it loomed behind the Mechabeast, stretching along the ground. A dark, monster-like face emerged from the crack that faced the Mechabeast and punched it. The Gorilla dealt with his summons quickly, but not before taking some serious blows to the body. One of them tore the monster's face plate off in its entirety, exposing its internal circuitry.
"Ew..." Chiaki whispered under her breath at the not-very-nice sight of the Mechabeats' endoskeleton. She then used her control panel to scan Izuru and check his status. Seeing that he was running a bit low on stamina, which to be fair, was still fairly high, and decided to heal what had been lost. Izuru felt a green healing light wash over his body and perk him back up, strengthening the power of his distortion.
The Mechabeast roared again, but Izuru's tentacle lash stopped it in its tracks, causing it to retreat for a moment before they briefly engaged in a high-speed fistfight! At last, the Gorilla delivered a powerful blow that caused Kamukura to fall to the ground.
As it was about to deliver the final blow, the Mechabeast lifted its fist and boomed, but just in time, Chiaki created another barrier, allowing Izuru to get away. It was quickly knocked off balance and unable to find its bearings as Izuru shot its exposed face at point-blank range. Seeking the Ultimate Hope, it cast a confused glance around, but Shadow Kamukura moved too quickly for it to catch him.
The monster's situation was made worse as Izuru's darkness slowly enveloped the whole area, limiting its vision even further, and causing it to become despaired and confused. It finally noticed its enemy, as Kamukura suspended himself above it, flattening his hand and summoning energy from it, shaping his hand into a blade of shadow.
The Mechabeast tried to block the ensuing slash with its arm but was too slow to act as the saber cut straight through it, amputating the arm and knocking the enemy to the ground. Izuru then fell down and landed on the other arm and pinned the Gorilla to the ground.
"This is the end...!" Izuru growled.
"Let's finish this!" Chiaki hollered.
As the finishing move, she called a device to her hand, which she quickly unfolded and snapped into the shape of a controller. Her eyes darted back and forth across the buttons as she rapidly pressed them, and above her head formed the 8-bit pixel shape of a giant bomb. Raising her arms above her head like the spirit bomb, Chiaki let out a cry as she tossed the digital weapon down at the Mechabeast!
Izuru jumped out of the way to avoid the blast, and she recalled her Persona and landed safely on the ground, striking a pose as the bomb boomed into a pixelated stock explosion that enveloped the titanic Gorilla.
"I've leveled up!"
X
As the pieces of the Mechabeast collapsed and landed in the area around her, Chiaki held her chest to catch her breath. It wasn't normal for her to be physically active, especially not to this degree. But even still, despite her exhaustion, she felt incredibly satisfied.
That was like a video game boss fight in real life. And she'd beaten it! Or at least she'd helped beat it.
As she tried to stand on wobbling legs, Shadow Kamukura walked over to her, taking her by the hand and supporting her to her feet.
"Good work," he said.
"Haha...Hey?" Chiaki grinned, "is that a smile I see."
Chiaki's visor-like mask had reappeared on her face, except this time, it had a pair of pixilated eyes that moved in tandem with her own, reshaping and changing color depending on her emotions. Kamukura looked off to the side in response to her teasing.
"You just caught me by surprise is all. I did not expect such a successful outcome. The hope within you exceeded my expectations," he admitted, "you might just survive this..."
Chiaki smiled, but her prideful gleam became something a tad more solemn. She turned and walked over to the remains of the Gorilla Mechabeast.
"It's funny..." she said, "I don't know how it really worked this way but...while we were fighting...I suddenly remembered why it was that I stopped playing Ultimate Summer Camp..."
"Why?" Kamukura asked, "Was it because of a difficult boss after all?"
"No...Not quite. It is related to the fight, sure, but not because of how tough it was," Chiaki confessed, "in Ultimate Summer Camp, there are event squares that, when you step on them, initiate a random event after rolling an encounter 1000 times. Literally, anything could happen if your characters land on one. Your character could be transformed into a being made entirely out of jelly. You could enter another dimension made entirely of eggs that you have to escape. Or you could just get a cake. Who knows?"
"I'm familiar with the rules," Kamukura told her, "where are you going with this...?"
Chiaki sighed and her expression looked defeated, the eyes in her visor turning blue and looking sad.
"In the last playthrough I did of Ultimate Summer Camp, right before the final fight against the Gorilla, our party landed on an event space," she said, "it triggered an event where an evil otherworldly council of ancient evil appeared in our reality, fearing the power of the brave heroes light. So they captured Jaime and converted him to the bad side..."
"I see..." Izuru finally understood, "Jaime was Hinata's character if I recall."
"Yeah...And what was worse was that there was no way to undo the spell. The only way to save Jaime was to...kill him..." Chiaki added, starting to feel herself cry under the mask, "a rare boss encounter against your own party member, and after he was defeated, Jaime left the party forever..."
"The timing of that event must have coincided with Hajime Hinata going missing following his acceptance into the program," Shadow Kamukura theorized.
"I didn't want to say goodbye anymore...The game made me feel like Hinata-kun really wasn't coming back," Chiaki sighed, "but...it's different now. It's like I actually found Jaime, and had to beat the final boss in order to bring him back to me! And I did it!"
"Hmhm...You did it..." Izuru chuckled.
"You know, you claim that none of Hinata-kun is left inside you, but I don't think that's true," Chiaki smirked, "you seem pretty attached to me, just like he was."
"Maybe there's some truth to that," Izuru admitted, "and for now I can say this with certainty. You really do wish for nothing more than to save your friend, do you?"
"No, I don't," Chiaki asserted, "now that I know there's still hope to save him, I can't just give up, I've gotta-UGH!"
She stamped her foot on the ground in determination but then collapsed under her own weight. Kamukura swiftly caught her.
"In that case, I won't try to stop you anymore," he told her, "but I do still suggest you return to your own world and rest. Awakening to your Persona and fighting with it like that drained you of most of your energy. If you end up in another fight like that, you won't survive."
"Ah...So...save and continue later, huh?" Chiaki wheezed, letting Izuru support her, "Alright then. I waited three years to see my friend again, I can wait a little longer. Besides, we still need to get to the bottom of why your own minions attacked you like that."
"Well..." Izuru looked down at the Mechabeasts' remains, "I do believe I already know the reason why."
"Wait, really!? Yeah, you said you had some theories," Chiaki's digital eyes widened, "what's going on? Tell me, please."
"I don't believe you will like it," Izuru warned her.
"Whatever it is can't be worse than the harsh reality I saw back in the ancient ruins," Chiaki gestured, "whatever information you can give me is super important. Izuru-kun, please?"
"Hm...Very well..." Izuru agreed, "but remember. You were warned in advance..."