The thing about Despair is that it hits when you least expect it. The most silent person is usually the one struggling, and that is a cue for worry.

That's why Hope is necessary when there is nothing left to protect you.

You may have people to keep you company and also the equipment to sustain your hunger and thirst, but in the end the menacing possibility always comes down to one thing.

The mental struggle of the situation you find yourself in.

"They're back!" Lexi said in excitement as the dormitory doors opened to reveal Lisa in her wheelchair and Adam wheeling her inside.

"We made it, but give her some space, her leg still needs to heal" Adam said.

Everyone gave their own different type of confirmation as Adam let Lisa's wheelchair rest to the side of his own table where Lexi and Abby had seemed to wait at.

"You look like you're dying" Samuel said at Lisa's pale face, but his head was slapped by Joy.

"Gosh, insensitive much?"

"I was just saying! She can't see her own face so maybe she didn't know" Samuel said.

Lisa sighed and looked upwards in silence.

"So, want to do anything?" Abby said to Adam.

Caught off guard randomly, Adam focused on Abby, "Well, if there is something you'd like to do I wouldn't mind" he said.

"Oi, I'm joining too!" Lexi said, making sure she could be heard.

Adam sighed and looked over to Jacob who just held back a laugh while Abby walked over to Benedict with hesitation, Benedict noticing and sitting up properly in his chair as everyone stared.

"Oh, a lovely gir-" Benedict started to stay but his hair was immediately clenched onto by Stacey's hand as his head slammed into the tables

"Ah!" Benedict screamed, and kept his mouth shut as Abby spoke.

"Can I borrow your deck of cards?"

Benedict looked up at Abby in slight confusion but looked over at Adam as he realised what was going on, his teeth biting his lip gently while his hand slipped into his pocket, "that lucky bastard."

He handed over his deck of cards carefully as Abby carefully took them and ran back to Adam, pulling his arm.

"Let's go, and since Lexi wants to join she better hurry" Abby said, her voice turning cold when mentioning Lexi.

Adam stood up as he tried avoiding everyone's eyes, some trying to contain their laughter while Lexi puffed her cheeks a little and followed outside quickly.

"Hey, Lisa" Rachel said as she moved closer to Lisa, sitting on a chair in front of her wheelchair.

Lisa looked over at Rachel with slight confusion as she moved her hands onto her lap, "Um, yes? What was your name again?"

"It's Rachel, I don't mean to treat you different because of the wheelchair but I was curious if you wanted to go outside instead of just staying in here, I know it's hard to move when in a wheelchair is all."

Lisa let out a slight smile as she nodded, "I don't have anything else to do really, so if you really want to then I won't complain."

Rachel gave a large smile and walked behind Lisa's wheelchair, taking a hold of the handles as she looked over to the remaining Jacob, Frankie, Marco and Samuel in the room, everyone else seemed to be separating to their rooms.

"Alright then, have fun" Jacob said as he took a close look at Lisa and Rachel, then turned away as Rachel wheeled Lisa out of the building.

"So what did I miss while in the infirmary?" Lisa said.

Rachel brought Lisa around the edges of the dome as they went around the back of the school building at a slow pace, "Marcus stabbed Adam, and was chained in his own room as a punishment. But besides that nothing really happened besides Adam and Jacob giving a rather special speech."

"A speech about what exactly?"

"They noticed how everyone's giving into the despair around us, and tried their hardest to give us all hope to carry on basically."

"Oh, that's nice of them."

"It is, the world could use people who can help others."

The two girls stayed quiet for a while as they came to the tennis court and stopped on Lisa's request.

"This place reminds me of my old school" Lisa said, "I used to play on the courts with my friends but was always too shy to do it with the boys around."

"Oh, did you like them?" Rachel said with a slight smile.

Lisa blushed slightly but shook her head, "N-No, but they kept complimenting me on how I am online."

"You don't like the attention then?"

Lisa nodded softly as she held her hands on her knees, "I'm not that great around others sadly."

"That's never a problem" Rachel said with a smile as she moved in front of Lisa, "No one is expecting you to always get along with everyone, or even try, it's up to you completely. If you think you can't do something just say that and I'm sure everyone will understand."

"I guess, I've never been good with explaining my own feelings" Lisa said with her head looking to her right.

"And is that bad? I don't see it as something bad, I see it as you just have a lot of ways to go til you can trust others. Besides, trusting others shouldn't be simple anyway, Adam and Jacob were stupid for thinking it would be easy."

"That's true, I've always seen it as stupid when people become friends or even lovers within a second of meeting. Love at first sight my ass" Lisa said.

Rachel let out a slight giggle, "Exactly."

She stood to her feet and walked behind the wheelchair again, "Either way, you don't have to trust anyone here, but that doesn't mean we can't talk right? I'll be here if you need someone, after all I'm one hell of a listener" and with that Rachel used her right hand to flick her hair out behind her before moving the wheelchair around the building again while Lisa sat there in thought.

"I might take the offer, t-thank you" she said, "I appreciate it. You and Adam, and Joy a little for taking me to the infirmary, have been nice."

Rachel let out a small smile, "Always happy to help."

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"So before all this happened, what were you like?"

Abby took a card from the 4 cards in her hand and placed it down on the already existing pile of messy cards, the card she placed down revealed to be an eight of hearts.

"Me or Lexi?" Adam said as he took a five of clubs from his hand of five cards and placed it down.

"I think she means you" Lexi said, placing down a nine of diamonds from her hand of four cards.

"Yeah, you are the luckster so your title doesn't say much about you" Abby said, making the cards in her hand go down to a remainder of two by putting down a three of hearts.

"Like you are the Aqua Marine, and must be great friends to the ocean-life, right?" Adam said, placing a six of hearts down making the remaining cards in his hand three.

Lexi placed down a five of spades, leaving three cards in her hands "and as the cook I've made a lot of different dishes, even original kinds I've had to name."

"So what kind of stuff do you like to do?" Abby said, placing down a seven of hearts.

"Eh, I guess play video games and draw some fan art for different characters I like those games. When I'm not doing that I like to solve puzzle books" Adam said, placing down a one of diamonds.

"You draw?" Lexi said in curiosity as she placed down her second last card, a one of clubs.

"And puzzle solving, you must be smart" Abby said with a smile, placing down her fourth card, a nine of hearts.

"N-Not really, I just keep an eye on a lot of my surroundings, more than most people. The problem is usually piecing it together" Adam said, placing down a four of spades.

Lexi went to put another card down but stopped as she looked down at the card game.

"Um, are we playing the game right? I feel like we weren't playing by the rules and just putting cards down randomly."

Abby shrugged and picked the cards up, placing them back together properly and placing them on the table before leaning towards Adam with her hands on her cheeks and her elbows on the table.

"So what kind of puzzles are your favourite?"

Adam blushed a little as he leant back a bit, "U-Um, Sudoku I suppose, why?"

Lexi let a soft giggle out as she turned to Abby, "Instead of asking him everything, why not talk about yourself?" she said.

Abby leant back with a slow look towards Lexi, "Like what exactly?"

Adam leant his head forward in curiosity, "Actually, I was hoping to know what your favourite animal is. You work with a lot of them right?"

"Yeah, that'd be awesome to know! It's a cliché question but being so close to them you must have a specific favourite right?"Lexi said.

Abby shrugged gently as she bent back and smiled at Adam, "Well, I do adore the dolphin, they sure play with the balls a lot, but at the same time seals are adorable with their warm cuddles."

Lexi titled her head, having expected a single choice, "It's an equal decision then?"

Instead of a response though she turned to Adam who was blushing.

"Um, is something wrong here?"

Adam shook his head, "Oh definitely not, t-those seals must really love those balls. But anyway I think we're done here don't you think?"

Adam stood up quickly with Abby giggling and Lexi quickly following them out of the room with a slight blush growing on her cheeks after the realization hit her.

"Come on now, you can't say it wasn't a funny joke" Abby said loudly to the running Adam who was entering the Entrance Hall.

"Y-yeah yeah, it was funny" Adam said, "But nice animal choices, though I'm assuming you only mentioned the dolphins for that one joke so seals must be your favourite correct?"

Abby let out a large smile as she tried to secretly lick her lips, "Cute and smart, a very good mix" she said.

Adam sighed and rushed out the entrance of the building to head to the dormitory as Abby chased after him with Lexi following as quickly as she could.

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"So how is Marcus going?" Jacob said to Frankie as he rested his feet on the table he had to himself.

"Hard to say, he can't get up to much with his hands chained right?" Frankie said.

Jacob rubbed his neck a little with his right index finger, "He is the ultimate Examiner, I wouldn't put it out of his ability to do something like-"

It was at those words that Jacob jumped out of his seat which was immediately sliced into by a knife, the knife not making a dent on the chair,

Jacob turned on his feet as he saw Marcus in front of him holding the knife with shock over his face.

"And that, Frankie, is why you need to learn to tie knots" Jacob said.

Frankie let out a sigh and took out his PAL as Marcus went to throw the knife directly at him but a whistle came from Jacob who, when Marcus looked back, was holding his PAL up in the air and the screen showed Marcus' picture and a chat box.

"N-No!" Marcus said quickly but he fell to his knees in pain, Jacobs fingers not moving but Frankie had already activated the surge of electricity in the PAL.

"Fuck! It hurts!" Marcus said even louder as Jacob kicked the man's chest so he was laying on his back.

"You really did know he was going to escape" Frankie said as he walked up to Jacob in surprise.

"Naturally, I noticed the chain moving closer to the wall from the Closet's cloth hangers. It would only do that if the chains were coming off the victims hands little by little, meaning you didn't tie them properly!" Jacob said in a serious tone, Frankie averting his eyes.

"Yeah, that's my fault."

Jacob grabbed Marcus' arm and pulled him up but Marcus resisted and punched Jacob's cheek before kicking Frankie's legs, both boys falling to the ground before they could use their PAL's which Marcus quickly stepped on and kicked away.

"You are not doing that again!" he said loudly which go the attention of some doors opening, which led to Carlos, Simon, Joseph, Benedict, Samuel, Stacey, and Joy walking out of their rooms to see the commotion.

Marcus growled and picked up Frankie by his neck, holding him with his back against Marcus' chest.

"Don't come closer, I warned you alright, friendship just doesn't work out!"

Carlos was the first to try and run forward but Samuel grabbed his shirt and did a slight point of his head towards the kitchen where Carlos noticed a shadow moving inside.

"Marcus, let him go!" Stacey said, "You need eat something, chained up for so long has your appetite making you go crazy."

"This is not my appetite speaking, idiot, you all are following stupid friendship ways of life but that's just avoiding our dilemma!"

"A dilemma is a choice for a reason" Jacob explained as he circled the tables, trying to go for the bath house door but his position was tracked by Marcus who turned to follow his movement.

"The choices are already in front of us! Die here or kill to get out!"

"You seem so sure about that, but honestly you saying we'll die here is just an assumption. You can't know for sure if no one will rescue us, that's why believing is the best thing for us."

"Well it's bullcrap!" Marcus said in anger, "Now shut up and move back to the other group!"

He pointed his eyes towards the group of the other seven students but in his vision was the muscular Marco right in front of him who, with a punch to Marcus' face, knocked Marcus unconscious and took Frankie from his grip.

With phew deep breaths and shakes of his arms, Frankie sat back down and held his knees, "Goddamn that was annoying. I'm just glad he had no weapon or I would really be scared."

"It wouldn't have ended badly, don't worry about that" Jacob said as he patted Frankie's shoulder, "I had it under control."

"No," Marco said, "you didn't, you simply wanted to test Marcus didn't you? That's why you had me wait in the kitchen til I heard some unnatural sounds."

Jacob rolled his eyes with a sigh, "Yes, you got me, I wanted to test Marcus, is that so wrong?"

"Frankie could've died thought! Simon said angrily.

"How exactly? Marcus was dumb enough to forget his knife when grabbing Frankie, and I doubt hitting him on the wall would kill Frankie either. If he did that I'd have plenty of time to stop him."

"Sheesh man, you really cut it close though" Samuel said as he wiped his forehead of sweat, "You can't deny that Frankie was in a dangerous position."

"Well, I guess you're right. I'm sorry Frankie" Jacob said with a soft sigh, but Frankie simply responded with soft nod.

"It's all good, just a little too close for me" he said.

The doors to the dormitories opened wide and through them came Rachel wheeling Lisa in her wheelchair as the two girls looked at the crowd spread through the room and stopped.

"Did, something happen?" Rachel said, and then her eyes pinpointed Marcus on the ground as she gasped.

"Wait, why is he on the ground?!" Lisa said.

Stacey sighed gently, "Don't stress yourself, he escaped and put Frankie in danger. He had it coming" she said.

Jacob grabbed Marcus and dragging him around the tables towards his bedroom again, "Frankie, when you are ready help me, we're going to tie him up a little more efficiently this time."

"A-alright" Frankie said.

He walked over to the PAL's on the ground and to his surprise not a single bit of damage had been made even though Marcus had stepped on them so he picked them up and walked towards Marcus' room, watching Rachel show Lisa her own room before closing Marcus' door.

"We're back finally" Adam said loudly as he charged through the dorm doors.

There were seven students standing in the hall hesitantly, and Frankie was walking into Marcus' room by himself along with Rachel wheeling Lisa into what Adam remembered to be Lisa's own room but out of those Adam was curious on Marcus' room so he ran inside. Marcus was laid out on his own bed, he seemed to be breathing but there was no sign he would be waking soon.

"What happened to him?" Adam said.

Jacob grabbed the chain that was hanging from the rail inside the closet and untied its end so he could move it to Marcus, wrapping it around Marcus' legs which Frankie lifted up, "he escaped our first bind and caused a bit of trouble in the dining area, but it's sorted out now.

"He almost killed me, it wasn't a bit!" Frankie said angrily.

"You weren't going to die, gosh" Jacob said as he finished wrapping the chain around Marcus' legs, "Lift his stomach and get his arms under him."

Frankie followed his orders with a sigh and Jacob began restraining Marcus' arms behind himself.

"Isn't there a better way to keep him away rather than tying his body. He still has to eat remember" Adam said.

Jacob gave a sigh and tied the end of the chain onto itself til it was tight enough that it couldn't be broken when pulled on, "This is good for now, it's better than him trying to obey Monokuma right?

Adam had no idea what would've happened if he hadn't mentioned that name, but when he did there was a sound of laughter from the speakers, the same nightmarish laughter they had almost forgotten.

"Upupu" the voice went, "you all seem so lovely going by your own ways. Have you had fun while I've been away?"

Adam looked up to the TV in Marcus' room where Jacob and Frankie were also watching.

"He's decided to show up it seems" Jacob said.

The TV flickered on and in the same white room as before sat Monokuma, his right side of his mouth seeming to be smiling even greater than before.

"I've had fun watching you go around preaching the way you do, but honestly it's getting boring! Can you all just join me in the Entrance hall place, it's time I whipped you all up into shape!"

The TV turned off with Monokuma's right eye flashing red, leaving everyone in a slight thought of confusion as they looked at each other.

"Um, should we go?" Frankie said.

Jacob was already heading for the door, "If he shot an arrow for touching him, I expect him to do something similar for skipping his lectures, let's just hurry up."

He opened the door and with little hesitation was followed by Adam and Frankie into the hall where everyone else besides the restraint Marcus were already.

Without a word, but a lot of eye contact among everyone, Jacob led the group out of the dormitories and towards the large school building.

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The students spread themselves out inside the entrance hall, leaving a considerable distance of flooring between each of them except for Jacob and Adam who were standing in the centre almost a metre apart. The room hadn't changed, but once Adam was going to go ahead and speak up after two minutes of waiting the lights in the room grew dim and from the balcony above the stage, which was hidden behind the top of the curtains, fell Monokuma.

He hit the stage with his two small legs, a soft sound signalling his landing, and he simply walked forward onto the edge.

"Thank god, you are all here now!" he said with his smile slightly growing, "Now let's get this underway!"

"Why did you call us?" Adam said.

Monokuma seemed like he was going to reply but instead he looked around, "Where's the other guy?" he said, "The troublemaker who