Terror Infinity Side B
Chapter 18, Dangan Ronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls
After defeating Jataro of the Warriors of Hope and the brainwashed Shuai, Shin left to regroup with his comrades. Komaru, Drake, and Sachi did not have to wait too long for him to return as the battle only lasted for a few minutes, yet when they saw Shin return they were shocked by his appearance. It looked as if he had just returned from war zone and had been battered by a storm. His clothes were tattered and he was wounded all over. Even his magic armor Lesser Fenrir Coat was barely hanging onto him torn apart (It has self repair, so it will be back to normal soon), yet he didn't make a big deal out of it and urged the group to quickly climb Towa Tower before any more trouble came their way.
So Shin, Komaru, Drake, and Sachi started to make their way towards Towa Tower and passing the mayhem that resulted from Shin's battle with the Warriors of Hope and his brainwashed comrade. The remains for the robot Monokuma and the Priest Robot of Jataro were scattered all across the streets in front of the tower. There were also large craters and earth spikes all over the place. Shin's comrades all looked at him who came out with so few injuries like he had and thought him a monster, but Shin pretended not to notice and looked the other way.
The group carefully walked through the scrapyard of defeated robots and entered Towa Tower. The inside of the tower was still filled with smoke and fire, but Sachi swiftly turned the sprinkler system back on to extinguish the flames and electronically opened up all the windows to the tower to clear out the smoke. Ten minutes later there was still a burning smell within the tower, but now it was safe to travel through. Next Sachi went to work on starting up the elevator so they could ascend the tower, but Shin found that idea to slow so he decided to go another route. Shin summoned his Kagune and wrapped the blood red tentacles around his comrades and then jumped up the tower with Void Movement.
Along the way as Shin climbed the tower holding on to everyone with his Kagune he saw something that he wished that he hadn't. It was one among many corpses lying about within Towa Tower, yet he recognized the corpse of this adult male. It was the mangled body of Taichi Fujisaki.Taichi Fujisaki is a character featured in Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls. He is a Target for the Warriors of Hope's Demon Hunting.
Taichi is the father of Chihiro Fujisaki and the closest person to him, which is why he became a Captive for Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc's first motive. Taichi raised Chihiro to be a great computer expert like himself, and after Chihiro was sent off to Hope's Peak Academy, Taichi continued his normal life. Taichi was captured by the Ultimate Despair and became a Captive for Monokuma's first motive in the Mutual Killing incident of Class 78. He was apparently enclosed in an apartment just like the other Captives. He was later freed, only to become one of the people targeted by the Warriors of Hope. After becoming a Target, he went into hiding as the Monokuma Kids and Monokumas were after him.
Taichi is found by Komaru and Toko in the fourth floor of Towa Tower while he was busy with his laptop (which he picked up at the city's electronics store), in an attempt to find a way to remove his wristband. He accidentally surprised Toko, making her fall from the stairs. When the situation calmed down, Taichi confessed that he was hiding from the kids. After finding out that Komaru is a Target as well, he felt sorry and apologized to her because he couldn't program something to remove the wristband sooner and they can't be saved as long as they had their wristbands. Komaru denied his apology because they would contact the Future Foundation for help. Komaru explained her goal to Taichi, and he understood and knew that the elevator wouldn't move. When Komaru said it needed a specific card, he couldn't really talk freely about it. He wanted to offer his help to move the elevator since he was an architect of security system programs in the place, but he was reluctant because there's no way Komaru and Toko would want help from a stranger. After Komaru insisted and continued to ask for his help him, he finally agreed to help them.
After reaching the elevator, Taichi found out that the elevator had the newest security system. When he just barely started to hack the system, Junk Monokumas appeared, forcing Komaru and Toko to cover the man until he finished his task. After the Monokumas were defeated, Taichi successfully activated the elevator. He was really thankful to Komaru and Toko because he finally started to see a ray of hope - if the connection ended up being good, the Future Foundation would come to aid them for sure. Unfortunately, when the elevator finally opened, a Beast Monokuma emerged, attacking the girls and fatally injuring Taichi's chest. After the defeat of the Monokumas, a dying Taichi apologized to Komaru and Toko for not being able to accompany them until they reach the top, but he was sure that the girls would be fine. He proceeded to tell them that he has a child around their age, but they got separated from the time being and his last regret is that he couldn't see his child nor do anything for his sake. Taichi died shortly after saying these words and Komaru and Toko were left speechless.
Komaru then found a handbook near Taichi's body. Inside the handbook, Komaru saw a photo of him and his child. Toko then realized that Taichi was the father of Chihiro Fujisaki, a classmate and one of the participants of the Killing Game of 78th Class that didn't survive the game. Komaru mourned the man who sacrificed himself for them, but quickly decided to keep moving forward, and Toko agreed.
Shin knew that Taichi would be in hiding within Towa Tower as he had the same idea to call for help and prove that he could be useful, but he died uneventfully. Shin could imagine that during the chaos caused by his group setting the inside of the tower on fire and filling it with on smoke He was crushed to death by Monokuma robots as they stampeded outside. Shin didn't feel too bad that he caused Taichi's death due to his actions as he was originally destined to die, yet he didn't dare mention this fact to Komaru. Komaru helped with the preparations to start the fire, so she was responsible for his death just as much as Drake, Sachi and himself. She couldn't knowingly sacrificing another person for her own survival, and so-
Shin: (...Some things are better left unsaid. This isn't even her sin to carry after all.)
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Using the combination of Void Movement and Kagune, Shin carried Komaru, Drake, and Sachi all the way to the top floor of Towa Tower. The top floor of the tower was the observation deck which should be high enough to be outside the range of Towa Hill's jamming signal. They could now finally use the wireless device acquired from Shirokuma to call Future Foundation. Komaru was the most enthusiastic about contacting Future Foundation for help and hurried the others along to make the call... but of course she herself didn't know how to make the call and so she turned back to the others.
Shin took out the transmission device that was being kept safe within one of the two Na Rings and laid it out on a open desk within the observation deck. Between the three false members of Future Foundation Drake (A exiled priest who spent most of his life in intense training to develop his abilities) and Sachi (Had no interest in helping), so Shin was selected to set up the device. Shin was no expert with computers and especially high tech communication tools like the one in front of him, yet using a few things he picked up from his internationally wanted hacker girlfriend he eventually found his way around with some mild difficulty after a few minutes.
Komaru: "Shin how's it going? Do you need help?"
Shin: "Ah... I'm fine. As a member of Future Foundation I can obviously get this thing set up to make the call. Besides that, Komaru do you remember what I told you?"
Komaru: "Yes. Your mission to infiltrate Towa City to investigate was originally a secret, so I'm not to mention Drake, Sachi, or you by name or address you while I make the call. If anyone asked who is helping you just say it's one of the agents who came along with Byakuya Togami, is that right?"
Shin: "Yes. Most members of Future Foundation knew that something was going on in Towa City, but not exactly what. It's best not to complicate things when your asking for help. Is that understood?"
Komaru: "Yes."
Shin was happy Komaru bought his lie and although he felt a little bad about it, it was necessary. Sometimes during missions assigned to teams by God they would have assigned identities to fit within the plot. For Shin such a instance only occurred during his last mission within Hunter X Hunter when he was made a special player of Greed Island, and within the current mission of Dangan Ronpa Another Episode there was no such identity to fall back on.
Shin, Drake, and Sachi introduced themselves as members of Future Foundation similarly to Toko Fukawa (Only a intern) from the original plot, but unlike her it was a complete lie, yet a lie that couldn't be disproven by anyone within Towa City with the exception of the captured Byakuya Togami. He was not here, so the only other way for Shin and the others to be exposed would be during the call to Future Foundation at this time, and so they told Komaru a excuse as to why their names and faces wouldn't come up.
Shin finally finished setting up the transmission device and along with Sachi and Drake stepped to the side so when the video transmission goes through the person to the other end won't see them.
Shin: "...Alright, here you go. It's all set up, so we can only now wait for someone to pick up the transmission. For now just keep calling out for help."
Komaru: "Okay. Hello! Can you here me? Someone, please respond! Can you here me. Hey, answer! Can anyone hear me!? I beg you... Please, answer me!"
Shin: "Komaru, don't worry. Let's give it another few minutes before we start to-"
???: "He...lllo... Hello... This is... Foundation... This is Future Foundation..."
Komaru: "Hello! Can you hear me!?
???: "We can hear... you... Loud... and clear... This is Future Foundation... Branch... Number... Branch Number 14... Makoto... Naegi..."
Komaru: "Makoto!"
Makoto: "..Huh? K-Komaru!?"
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From there it was a moving scene between a younger sister and her older brother. Once Komaru confirmed that the person on the other end was truly her brother Makoto Naegi who she was separated from she shed tears of joy. Komaru deep down had believed that Makoto had died and was happy to see him. Komaru then asked about their parents, but neither of them knew where they currently were. Komaru hearing Makoto's reply fell into depression and began to assume they were dead, but the optimistic Ultimate Hope Makoto Naegi reassured her that it was too soon to give up Hope which lifted her spirits.
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Shin: (So this the Ultimate Lucky Student/Hope Makoto Naegi. He doesn't sound like the confident type and is just as sad as Komaru, yet I can feel it. He's a man who won't fall into despair no matter what due to the Hope within him that allowed him to overcome True Ultimate Despair Junko Enoshima.)
Standing behind the transmission device along with Drake and Sachi I recalled what I knew about Makoto Naegi. Makoto Naegi is the main protagonist and sole playable character of Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc. Makoto has the title of Ultimate Lucky Student, though he appears to have both bad and good luck. Later, his title became Ultimate Hope, due to his unusual optimism and ability to spread hope.
Makoto has a rather short and thin build. He has spiky, desaturated brown hair with a prominent ahoge, and washed-out hazel eyes. He wears a zipped-up dull green hoodie with a red stripe along the zipper, an open black jacket with gold buttons over the hoodie, black jeans, and red sneakers with white toes. Makoto's hoodie has a logo of a red gas mask in a circle printed on the back of the hood, and the zipper goes all the way up to the top of the hood. He wears a pin shaped like a four-pointed star overlaid on a crescent moon; this is pinned to the lapel of his jacket. After joining the Future Foundation, Makoto is seen wearing a black suit.
According to himself, Makoto is a very ordinary person, to the point that he feels a bit insecure about it. His most distinguishing feature is his unusual optimism. Makoto is very supportive and forgiving, though sometimes slightly naive. He is friendly, polite and a lot more down-to-earth than the other students. This is possibly the reason why he is capable of approaching and befriending them in Free Time sequences, even the most antisocial such as Byakuya Togami and Toko Fukawa.
Junko Enoshima refers to Makoto as a "herbivore man", which means that he is likely to be the passive one in a relationship; this is reinforced in his conversation with others. However, despite the fact that he is sometimes a bit of a pushover, he is also capable of being a very determined and charismatic speaker.
Makoto is a firm believer in Hope, having a positive attitude about the future, no matter the bad situation in the present, which has helped him and his friends survive the School Life of Mutual Killing. Similarly he dislikes Despair, believing it to be a corrupting and negative emotion which cannot benefit the world. However, as shown in Danganronpa 2, he is forgiving towards those who fell into despair, such as the Remnants of Despair, believing them to be victims of Junko Enoshima. However, he dislikes Junko Enoshima, believing her to be the True Ultimate Despair.
During the events of Dangan Ronpa 1, Makoto Naegi was a part of the 78th Class of Hope's Peak Academy and was a part of Junko's Mutual Killing School Game. With each death of a classmate their was a class trial that decided everyone's fate and he aa the main character solved the mysteries of each trial (First three didn't actually need him though). After five class trials had passed and reached the final sixth chapter of the game Makoto along with his remaining classmates confronted the mastermind of the School of Mutual Killing Junko Enoshima and ultimately defeated her and escapes Hope's Peak Academy with the other survivors.
Shin: (As for Another Episode Makoto wasn't all that important, yet AI Junko's purpose for these events might have just been a reminder for Makoto not to remain a bystander. Ultimately, Makoto never came to Komaru's rescue in Towa City as he was worried about the captured Byakuya, and in the end this came at a steep cost. Komaru came incredibly close to dying countless times and falling into Despair from Monaca Towa's plot. Also, there was a very high chance that his parents were alive till just recently, but were then executed by Monaca. Makoto came too close to losing everything, so he promised himself to never stand back again just because of danger... yet this ultimately lead to AI Junko and the original Izuru Kamukura being able to trap and force him to join the School Trip of Mutual Killing at the end of Dangan Ronpa 2.)
Shin finished recalling what he knew about Komaru's older brother Makoto Naegi and returned his attention towards the call to Future Foundation. Komaru and Makoto talked about a few things like The Tragedy, his time during the School of Mutual Killing, defeating the mastermind Junk and then escaping Hope's Peak Academy alongside his friends, and from there how the outside world is and eventually join Future Foundation and are fighting against the Remnants of Despair who are still trying to spread Despair across the world. How the they are trying to recover from the damages caused by Junko. Komaru hearing all of this was moved by the stories Makoto told and thought he was amazing since he confronted the object of his Despair while she originally gave up and would have even stopped trying to escape without Shin, Sachi, and Drake protecting her by her side.
From there Komaru informed Makoto of the massacre game, Demons Hunting, played by the Warriors of Hope. She told him how she was being chased by some weird kids and had the Monokuma Bracelet that was a bomb placed around her neck. Makoto was startled hearing that Komaru was taking part in a death game like he had once been a part of and asked for more details and form bits and pieces of information he figured out that along with Komaru the main targets of the Demon Hunting game were the first "Motives" from the events of Dangan Ronpa 1.
Komaru: "Things are just so... messed up here. Makoto! Please hurry up and get over here! Because of this wristband, I can't get out of Towa City. If I even somehow manage to escape without permission, it'll blow up! Future Foundation can remove it, can't they? So please, come and save me!" the
Makoto: "Komaru... Sorry I can't. "
Komaru: "...Huh?"
From there Makoto told Komaru the reason why he and even Future Foundation couldn't come to her rescue. The Warriors of Hope had taken members of Future Foundation as hostages, so Future Foundation couldn't come to her aid without risking their lives. Shin noticed that in the original plot it was Toko who explained this to Komaru and so Makoto had to do so, yet he heard a interesting fact that was not within the original game. The Warriors of Hope had sent a list of hostages from Future Foundation and listed were the names Byakuya Togami and Toko Fukawa. Shin hearing this realized this was the change in plot that Team Japan to take the supporting role of helping Komaru Naegi through Towa City that was originally Toko's job.
Komaru: "Makoto, please! Can't you-"
Makoto: "Sorry Komaru, but I can't. As long as Byakuya and Toko are...*SIZZLE*!"
Komaru: "M-Makoto!"
Makoto: "Ko.. maru..."
And like that the video transmission came to a end. Komaru in a panic kept calling out to her brother Makoto, yet no matter how much she yelled her voice couldn't reach him. Like in the original plot Sage Nagisa Shingetsu of the Warriors of Hope must have noticed that someone was making a call to contact for help outside the City, and so he put a stop to it by scrambling the signal. Then it happened. As Komaru was beginning to Despair over the disconnected transmission a change occurred within the observational floor of Towa Tower. Steel shutters came down to block the windows and the room immediately went dark as the lights were shut off.
Shin: "Tch, what a cheap trick! Like shutting off the lights would hinder me."
Sachi: "I agree. For an assassin, it's a natural thing to be able to move about within the darkness."
Drake: "Well sorry for being normal, but I can't deal as well with the dark like you two."
Komaru: "Shin! Everyone! What about my call with Makoto?"
Shin: "Sorry Komaru, but we won't be able to contact them again. We were found out contacting the outside, so they made a move to stop us and are now trapping us within this darkness."
Drake: "What should we do leader? Travel back down Towa Tower like this?"
Shin: "Huh? What nonsense are you talking about? Moving around in this darkness and going back down the tower is too dangerous. I'll rather just run down the outside of the tower while carrying all of you."
As Shin said this he channeled Ki towards the pupils of his eyes which enabled him to see somewhat through the darkness of the observational floor of the tower. Shin could see a few Monokuma and Monokuma Kids around getting ready to set the maze for Komaru to follow like in the game, yet he gave them no mind as he set his eyes on the far wall. Knowing that there were no major event to occur within Towa Tower after making the call to Makoto Naegi, Shin didn't feel that there was any reason to follow the plot and make their way down the tower the way the Monokuma Kids intended.
Shin walked towards one of the wall of the observational floor and hearing his footsteps moving away Komaru, Drake, and Sachi followed closely behind him. Once they reached the wall Shin placed his hand bare against it. The wall was made of reinforced steel and the surrounding windows were covered by steal shutters, but Shin could only laugh at such a obstacle that obstructed his path. Shin raised his left hand and tightening it into a fist and activating Silver Dragon Scales, he threw out a punch towards the wall with another Ki technique. Soul Crushing Strike detonated on contact with the wall with a sonic boom and blowing a large hole through the wall which let in fresh air and the light of the sun from outside the sealed Towa Tower. Walking through the hole Shin created, his group discovered that there was a walkway outside leading to a emergency staircase leading down Towa Tower. From there they safely traveled down as far as they could, and then relying on Shin to carry them down back to the ground below.
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Authors Note:
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Proofread by Azarza and Deltoren.