"Are we there yet?" Gaberieru pondered aloud. The metal clanking of his prosthetic leg echoed around each alternative step he took.

The trio had been walking for a decent half an hour by now—perhaps twenty minutes? Half an hour? There was just no telling the time in a place without windows or clocks—and took countless twists and turns but the corridor just never ended. It was a complete labyrinth and it made the girl wonder; just where on Earth are we?

The other companion in their little impromptu group was quick to answer, letting out a quick and displeased; "No."

Satoshi was also losing his patience, perhaps for a different reason entirely. He held his leather jacket using his right arm as he walked, fanning himself with his other, more dominant hand. For his slim and feminine figure, the utatite was rather unfit. The girl could already notice the sweat forming on his forehead, sticking his bleached hair to his forehead, as he breathed shaky puffs of air.

"...how about now?"

"No."

Reina couldn't really blame the guy though. She, herself, felt peeved at the current rollercoaster of events. Waking up at an unknown location and seeing two dubious faces when her most recent memory was her being curled up in bed at home was rather disturbing after all.

"NO."

"I didn't even say anything," The metalsmith sulked.

"Don't give me that crap. You were going to!" Snapped Satoshi, swivelling his head to the older man as anger flickered in the utaite's eyes.

"...Well, that is true,"

"You son of a—"

Forced laughter from the sole female as she joined the conversation, "Now, now! Let's just settle down, yeah?"

"Ughh! Does this hallway ever end? I'm gonna go crazy if I'm stuck with this idiot any longer!" The utaite groaned as he stomped ahead, thin fingers combing messy white locks.

Gaberieru simply chuckled, not phased in the slightest by the insult. He was about to comment on something when he almost bumped into the younger boy who had stopped dead in his tracks without warning.

"You okay, Satoshi...? Huh? Gaberieru?" A couple of moments after, Reina, lost in her own little world became aware of the sudden pause. She flickered her attention from one male to another in confusion before staring up ahead.

A door. A freaking mother-effing door.

Cue the three sweaty, tired Ultimates scampering across the hallway as Satoshi bolted like it was the last stretch of a marathon and was followed by Gaberieru shortly after. Reina briskly caught on and began sprinting, fatigue quickly forgotten.

Prologue:

IT'S JUST A WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL, WORLD

Part II

The red path led to a spacious area with high, plain walls and a large wide ceiling that seem to stretch endlessly in a spiral of nothingness. Reina had to squint against the luminescent lights above her to make out the odd cables and metal boxes of sorts that were fixed to the upper inter surface. Instead of being a normal rectangular shape, the hall had seven white walls, each with a door of a different colour. They had just emerged out of the red door but the one next to it was orange, yellow, green, then blue, violet before finally and oddly enough, checked black and white. It was a strange place, indeed. And apparently, they weren't the only ones there either.

Across the room were three other individuals, two females and a male, standing by the yellow door. They were posed casually but Reina could tell they were tense from the curious glances they sent their way and the hush whispers that were shared.

I should probably initiate conversation… since it doesn't look like anyone else will.

"Be careful," Satoshi advised before she could speak, his eyes never leaving the strangers, "We don't know who they are. Or what they know."

Reina could only incline her head in a wordless agreement. She faced the small assembly, closed her eyes as she inhaled deeply and...

"Uhh… hello!" The black haired woman howled, cupping her mouth to get her message across as she waved her other arm, "You wouldn't happen to know where we are, would you?"

They shared glances before a woman clad in a chic black blazer and skirt replied with the same volume, "No, unfortunately, we do not. We were hoping you might have some answers!"

"I guess they don't a clue either," The textile technician mumbled, half talking to herself and half speaking to the other two boys beside her. She then continued in a loud tone, "My name is Reina Kimura! Is it okay if I come over? It looks like we're all in the same boat here,"

Some hesitance, then the woman nodded after sharing a few words with her companions. Leisurely taking steps, Reina approached the trio while Satoshi and Gaberieru watched warily from a distance.

She eyed the woman in front of her, who seemed much more petite close up when Reina got a better grasp of their heights; she looked like a lady of high status with her crisp cashmere blazer, an ironed long-sleeved dress shirt and sleek navy pencil skirt that went down to her knees. She wore plain charcoal stockings underneath that outlined her lean legs and had a pair of simple but elegant, leather, heeled boots. Reina noticed that she also wore a silver watch, diamond studs and had on a pair of thinly framed glasses.

"My name is Rin Kawahara, the Ultimate Secretary," Rin offered her hand as she introduced herself, flashing a small and practised smile showing her teeth, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Reina. I hope we get along,"

— Rin Kawahara: Ultimate Secretary —

Rin had narrow, flint grey coloured eyes in contrast to her thin, pale lips that were drawn into a small smile and reddish-brown hair, neatly combed into a pixie cut. She had a somewhat round, childish face and petite figure with a fair complexion but on closer inspection, Reina found that the secretary's limbs were well toned. Overall, the women appeared to be very professional looking and business-like as well as having a straight powerful posture. She carried herself proudly with an air of self-confidence and charisma; fitting for Rin's talent as the Ultimate Secretary.

"Y-yes. Let's get along," Reina awkwardly greeted back, "Oh, I'm also the Ultimate Textile Technician,"

"Ultimate Textile Technician?" Rin repeated. Her face looked thoughtful as she pondered over the title and furrowed her arched eyebrows in the process, "Can't say I've heard of it before but it seems intriguing. Do your friends also have talents?"

The long-haired brunette nodded, after turning back for a moment to glance at her companions, "Yep! Oh, that's to your right, Satoshi and to your left, Gaberieru. I'll leave them to introduce their talents to you."

"Fair enough," The secretary said as she observed the two men waiting impatiently at the back, "Miss Reina, from your former statement, would I be correct to assume you woke up in an usual room and had to solve a puzzle in order to exit?"

"That's right. It was a simplistic office-like room with a red colour theme. We had to find four pieces of paper, three of which were on our person, to crack the code," Reina answered, "You had the same?"

"That's right. However, the place we were at had yellow walls. And we weren't in a study but a large laboratory," Rin informed as she recounted her actions, "We had to decode and follow a formula to separate a mixture which combined Compounds A and B using the apparatus found throughout the lab. After that, we had to pour the solution into a NERCAST Chemical Property Scanning Device or CPSD for short, in order to exit the room,"

What. Reina blinked. Once. Twice.

She blinked three times in a row, continuously staring blankly at the reddish-brown haired secretary. Questions marks could literally be seen floating around the textile technician's head as she tilted her head to the side. The words went into one ear and straight out the other. She didn't think she'd even heard of half of the phrases Rin had said during that last sentence, let alone comprehended just what on Earth she said.

Sheesh, science was definitely not her forte.

Rin managed a light chuckle as she took notice of the other girl's face as her eyes crinkled with faint amusement. It was the first genuine reaction Reina she had seen of her, "To be honest, I don't understand much of the specifics. It was lucky we had her on our side; as eccentric as she may be, she proved to be quite the asset in our group."

Her? There was only one other female in the room. The textile technician took notice of the tall pale women that was interacting with a man, leaning lazily on the wall with her hands in her pockets and more specifically, the bold lab coat rested only a couple of inches above the ground.

"I should get going now. I still have to introduce myself to the other two."

Reina looked up, snapping out of her thoughts, "Oh, of course."

"Take care," With nothing else to say, the conversation came to a halt and Rin left, her heeled boots making sharp tapping sounds as she headed off to meet the two boys on the other side.

Reina stared at her retreating back as Gaberieru initiated a conversation with the women with a broad grin on his face. No problems there. Then, she focused her attention to Satoshi who had his arms crossed in a vexed manner, still keeping his distance from the newcomer. Upon receiving eye contact, she gave a cheery thumbs-up before trotting over to the other two people in the warehouse.

Once the lady took notice to the approaching girl, she called out with an enthusiastic wave, "Hm? Greetings, fine specimen!"

F-fine specimen? That's a first—I've been called a lot of things before but 'specimen' is a first. I guess Rin wasn't exaggerating when she said 'eccentric'.

"Nice to meet you too," The textile technician chose to say instead, "My name is—"

"Ah-hah! I already possess that knowledge, Reina Kimura!" The quirky woman boldly cut in as she smiled broadly with cracked lips, showing uneven stained teeth, "You must be asking, who am I? Well, feast your eyes on this; I am the extraordinaire, the one and only magnificent Ultimate Mad Scientist, Dr Frankie, most brilliant creator of the most ingenious inventions and head researcher of Frankie Corporation!"

— Dr Frankie: Ultimate Mad Scientist —

Dr Frankie had short brunette hair which outlandishly stuck out at some points, to the point where it looked almost unnatural. There were grey highlights in her frazzled hair that made the woman seem much older than she should've been. She had hooded eyes that were a common brown shade and portly face; her skin was a low-key olive hue with a yellow undertone. There was a distinctive mole on her left cheek, just a few centimetres underneath the eye. Reina remarked at the older woman's figure; tall and leaning towards chubby but not overweight either.

The doctor wore a plain, white lab coat, the few last buttons were undone just enough to see the dark pants and the rim of a white, collared t-shirt. There were a pair of simplistic beige dress shoes on her feet as well as the oddly coloured socks—one a stripy bright rainbow, another with red spotted pattern—peaking out. With the flashy doctor's coat and that mysterious black suitcase which she held onto, the 'mad-scientist' really did look like someone who studied science despite the unruly and unkempt appearance she had.

"Really, Karuta? You still trying to delude people with that nonsense? And talking about some corporation that doesn't exist, too," The man beside her heaved a heavy, dramatic sigh. He turned to Reina, "Don't let her fool ya'."

"Eh?"

"Her name's Karuta Tagishi, the Ultimate 'Self Proclaimed' Mad Scientist," He said, placing emphasis the phrase with fake, air quotation marks. Though, he seemed rather used to his fellow ultimate's unusual antics and his expression was only slightly exasperated if anything, "Honestly, she's pretty much just your normal scientist."

— Karuta Tagishi: Ultimate (Self Proclaimed) Mad Scientist —

Reina could only let out a small: "Oh."

"Spoilsport," Karuta muttered vividly under her breath. She crossed her arms tightly and sent a childish glare towards the man, "Always ruining my fun."

"And I'm the Ultimate Paralympian, Iwao Fuchida! What's up?" His mood quickly brightened once introducing himself, raising his right hand for a high-five. Reina quickly brought her own hand up in order to meet his and winced when a loud, dull 'clap' was made. Damn, that hurt.

– Iwao Fuchida: Ultimate Paralympian –

The athlete was dressed in a salmon spandex pink tank top along with a white long-sleeved Olympic Jacket that both had multiple logos (for sponsorship, Reina assumed, though she didn't recognise most of them) embedded into the clothing as well as the notable script on the back reading his name in bold, capital letters. He also donned short, washed-out grey chinos made out of polyester, expensive-looking runners and classy golden-rimmed sunglasses could be found in the lapel of his vest, poking out of the pocket.

Iwao possessed brilliant emerald pupils, a sharp nose and average-sized lips. His ruffled hair was a dark auburn shade with short but nonetheless visible sideburns which moulded his round, lightly tanned face. He had a rather thin build that was by no means scrawny but it certainly didn't give the impression of a sportsman.

True to his title, the Ultimate Paralympian had a disability. As far as Reina could tell, his left leg and right hand had been replaced with a prosthetic. It was easy to tell that the bottom limb was a fake with the outline showing on his leg though she had to admit that the synthetic silicon skin was impressively realistic. His artificial arm was even more outstanding; she hadn't even realized it was a prosthetic until the two of them shared a hand-clap and she felt for herself the unrealistic hardness of the limb, cold to touch.

"Paralympian? Wow, that's an incredible talent! You must be an amazing athlete in order have such a title," Reina remarked wildly, "What kind of sports do you play?"

"Haha, thanks! To answer your question, I'm a sprinter. Though I normally compete in short-distance track, I occasionally do stuff like ten kilometer marathons every now and again for charity." Iwao stated with bubbly laughter.

"That's really admirable of you,"

"It's all part of the gig. No biggie," Iwao was quick to dismiss the compliment as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

The black-haired woman frowned, "No, really! I think that—"

"What hogwash," Karuta cut in, practically throwing herself into the conversation, "You think that's something worth any praise? That isn't even as half as impressive as the achievements I've made; of course, you ant-minded people wouldn't know the worth of science even if it hit you straight in the face!"

H-hogwash? Who even says that nowadays?!

The Paralympian rolled his eyes, shifting his posture on the spot to a more comfortable pose whilst rolling his neck as if preparing for a long speech, "Here we go again."

"What do you mean by—"

Karuta haughtily laughed a sound that came straight out of a cliché Mean Girl's movie, "Ohohoho! Very well then!"

Reina was abruptly halted in the middle of her sentence yet again. She was beginning to get the feeling that it wouldn't be the last time either.

"Since you seemed to be oh so interested in my work, I'll let you in on some riveting science gossip! It's supposed to be 'top secret' or something along those lines but blah, whatever!" The mad scientist had an old gleam in her eyes as she spoke.

Just a trick of the light, Reina reckoned.

"The government has been rumoured to embezzle thousands of dollars from taxes for an illegal experiment? Apparently, these funds have been gathered to research some rather... interesting topics. Genetic mutation, artificial organ farms, cloning, you name it! Some say that they've found the key to immortality, even."

"Where did you even about that?" Iwao frowned, "There's no way that's actually true. I don't anything 'bout science and such but even I know that's impossible!"

"Oh, but you don't know that. Science can produce incredible findings. But, also the most unethical..." Karuta drawled out, pausing to add weight to her words. The tension in the air became heavy as silence took its place. However, just as Reina was debating whether or not to relieve some of the tension, the odd woman did the deed herself, "That's all just frivolous hearsay though! Pfft, did I actually get you with that? What a bunch of gullible dummies! Hhahaha!"

Reina was at a loss for words and that was putting it lightly. Iwao, as if noticing her astonishment, used his artificial hand to address her while keeping the still-manically-laughing scientist from hearing, "Don't worry. You'll get used to it. She's actually a really decent person once you get to know her."

"I don't doubt it," The other woman replied, "Though, it'll—"

"Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep,"

Out of the blue, sirens were brought to life as an absolutely maddening sound pierced the assemble of Ultimates' ears. The hall lights flickered erratically, turning dangerously dim. Reina brought her hands to her ears in a poor attempt to block out the noise and out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the utaite nearly toppled over.

"Satoshi!"

Then, darkness enveloped the entire hall. Chaos ensued.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH—" Was that Iwao? She couldn't tell.

"What's going on?!" Gaberieru?

"E-everybody, stay calm!" Reina shouted, yet it was lost in the engulfing sound.

"Shit! What the hell is happening?!" Satoshi?

"Damn it, again?"

"Be quiet, I can't think!"

Then, the lights were switched back on. The brightest strained her eyes but Reina was caught up trying to scan the room through her wildly beating heart and incoming sledgehammer of a headache. Everyone was on edge, standing on guard and ears still covered save for Satoshi who knelt at the ground, groaning.

What just happened?

Reina's line of sight drifted towards the green section, right next to the yellow area that she had been previously close to before the slight blackout. Immediately, she spotted the difference: three figures were hunched over just outside the lime coloured door, huffing in exhaustion.

The staggering shrine-maiden outfit caught the textile technician's attention the most, worn by a slender female. Her navy hair, long and wavy, reached all the way down to her hips and past the waist of her authentic red skirt. To the Miko's right was a tall man embellished in formal wear. And the most casually dressed male was decked out in worn trousers and worker boots.

Don't tell me... another lot of Ultimates? Are there Ultimates behind every set of doors?

"Oi! Stay where you are! Who the fuck are you guys?!" Satoshi squawked, taking a step forward beside the textile technician, waving a pointy finger. When he had gotten there in the first place, Reina didn't know.

Gaberieru chastised softly, "Satoshi, maybe it would be a good idea to… tone it down a little? I think we're all in the same boat here."

"Nobody asked for your opinion!" The utatite snapped, his headphones rustling as he faced the metalsmith.

"True," Karuta piped in from the sidelines, "Though, I have to agree with the simpleton. Your voice is giving me a headache."

"What did you say?!" Satoshi exclaimed.

"S-simpleton...?" Gaberieru stuttered at the same time, completely taken back.

Rin breathed heavily as if to calm herself down, re-position her reading glasses with one hand as she stressed out the name of her teammate, "Karuta, please don't provoke the others."

"Yes, ma'am!" The scientist energetically mock-saluted. In the background, Iwao outwardly chucked before shutting himself up when the Paralympian realized that he was the only one laughing. He cleared his throat in embarrassment, coughing awkwardly as he raised his prosthetic hand to contain the noise.

What a lively bunch...

One of the men raised his hands in surrender, calling out, "We do not mean any harm. I believe that we are all in a similar situation, after all. May we approach and have some much-needed discussions?"

"Sure!" Reina replied back instantaneously.

Information was sacred in the vague circumstances they were in—and besides, safety in numbers. Though, as the unfamiliar trio came over, the main group grew silent. Even the more carefree Ultimates like Gaberieru and Iwao were rather quiet. It was hard to tell who was friend and who was foe from a distance, even as short as one between the yellow and green zones.

"Greetings. I am the Ultimate Funeral Planner, Ketsuki Hitsugi," The pale man spoke in a collected, passive tone once he had been close enough to initiate a decent conversation, "It is a pleasure to meet you all."

— Ketsuki Hitsugi: Ultimate Funeral Planner —

"Damn, that's depressing," Satoshi whistled. He almost sounded impressed if it weren't for the mocking undertone of his voice. Yet, Ketsuki didn't even bat an eyelash at the insult.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Reina Kimura. I'm also the Ultimate Textile Technician." Reina introduced herself with a smile, coming closer for a handshake. She took the moment to view the man more closely.

Ketsuki stood tall and upright—basically, a bean pole personified and combined with his ghastly complexion, he almost looked like a vampire. He had black hair, short and combed back neatly with the exception of a single stray lock that was perched on his forehead. His light heart-shaped face held a pair of sparkling blue eyes and downturned, pale lips. Reina spotted a mole at the lower side of his left cheek.

The funeral planer wore a prim tuxedo, blazer and all. At a glance, the textile technician could tell that all the material was all made from the highest of quality spools. He had a wine dress shirt beneath and an ebony black-tie neatly done around the collar. Formal suit pants and dark mahogany leather shoes completed the outfit, giving the impression of formality and higher class. Additionally, Ketsuki had a braided bracelet dangling on his wrist which had particular charms attached—though Reina couldn't quite figure out what they were supposed to symbolize from her perspective—and a necklace with a hint of silver wrapped around his neck before disappearing underneath the shirt.

Reina supposed his mannerism and outfit corresponded with his talent, the Ultimate Funeral Planner, as to respect those had who passed away. It was admirable in itself to have such a talent yet the textile technician thought that it was rather sad.

"Oh, we're doin' intros?" The other male member of the green group said, scratching the back of his completely naked head, "I guess I'm next—the name's Kouya Tsuruta the Ultimate Stone Mason!"

— Kouya Tsuruta: Ultimate Stone Mason —

All hair was shaved off the stone mason's head to the point where impossible smoothness had been achieved. Kouya was a tan, brawny man with broad shoulders and well-developed muscles. He easily towered everyone with his imposing figure yet held a wide smile on his face. The man had a defined jaw-line though a slightly crooked, pointed nose with the tip just noticeable tilted and chapped lips; all these features gave the impression of the literal origin of a masculine man.

Kouya wore the same clothes you would expect on a handyman. He had a plain, miraculously white tank top which exposed both his arms—as well as an array of faded scar tissue. The stonemason also wore a pair of dark green, army patterned cargo shorts lined up with pockets which led to tough, working boots. They were a worn brown shade with protective steel plates around the toe area. Around his waist was an everyday tool belt that was essentially bare, save for one slotted screwdriver and pair of work gloves that had been tucked at the side.

"Your toolbelt's quite empty," Reina noted.

"Oh yeah. It was like this when I woke up back in the shrine thingy. Managed to pick up this nifty guy up though," He pointed to the screwdriver: a brand new flat head with a plastic handle. "But it's a fucking shame that my old toolset didn't come with me. Otherwise, that shitty puzzle would've been a piece of cake!"

He swears quite a bit… compared to Ketsuki, they're like polar opposites!

Going with the flow, the woman stepped forward, bowing politely, "My name is Mitsuko Yakushimaru. I am the Ultimate Shrine Maiden. It's an honour to meet you."

— Mitsuko Yakushimaru: Ultimate Shrine Maiden —

On closer inspection, Mitsuko had a distinct navy blue shade of hair and not the original black which Reina had though. It was long and a bit wavy, brushing just around her waist as it shone in the artificial light. She had similar coloured eyes, though they were a tad lighter and curiously round in shape. Mitsuko's ears were angled oddly though Reina couldn't help but find them cute.

She wore clothes alike to a traditional shrine maiden which showcased her enviable slender figure. The attire was separated into two components. Firstly, a white kosode which was essentially a shortened kimono robe. It also had extended sleeves made from a blended fabric that Reina couldn't quite wrap her head around. The kosode was tucked into a crimson hakama, a type of lengthy, slightly pleated pair of trousers that were wrapped around her waist with a ribbon. She had on classic wooden sandals which further reinforced the sacred atmosphere she displayed.

"Your attire is simply gorgeous! Everything from the modest v-neckline to the design of the sleeve to achieve a conventional yet comfortable movement is amazing!" Reina gushed, brain already circulating with new designs for more traditional outfits. She had never seen a shrine maiden's garments in person before; not to mention, there was a huge difference between old pictures and seeing the real deal, "Not to mention, you're so cute too! I wish I could squish your cheeks, oh my gosh!"

"U-um... thank you?" Her confusion was not unmerited for—there were faces of confusion plastered on everyone and Reina thought she heard a loud, exhausted sigh from Satoshi. But nothing could bring her down from the sudden wave of inspiration brought to the textile technician.

Now that the three new faces had been introduced, it was time to go around the other side of the makeshift circle; at least, that was what a certain eccentric lady thought, "And I am the most magnificent, most glorious—"

"That's Karuta, the Ultimate Scientist. And I'm the Ultimate Paralympian, Iwao Fuchida. Good to meet y'all."

"Tch." She clicked her tongue in clear distaste, "That's the Ultimate Mad Scientist, Dr. Frankie, to you uncultured swines."

"Self-proclaimed." The Paralympian added.

Kouya was taken back, "Uhhhh…"

"Don't mind her. She's just kinda like that; lil' coo coo in the head if ya' get what I mean?" Iwao advised quietly, trying to sound somewhat discreet. He was miserably failing though according to the death glares he was receiving.

"I am Rin Kawahara and my title is the Ultimate Secretary. It's a pleasure."

"... It's really not a pleasure to meet you. For all we know, you—ow!" Satoshi yelped, attention snapping to the source of his misery; Gaberieru, who had 'lightly' knocked the other boy in the head. With a resigned sigh, he gave up, "Satoshi, the Ultimate Utaite."

Mitsuko barely opened her mouth before he tagged on, "I won't repeat it again. I'm a singer."

"Ohh…"

"Well, I guess I'm last. I'm Gaberieru Yasunishi and I'm the Ultimate Metalsmith. Nice to meet you all!"

"Metalsmith?!" Kouya cried out-loud, "Dude, that's like the same thing I do! But with stone! Man, that's fucking awesome!"

"Great. Just great," Satoshi muttered underneath his breath, "Now, we have two idiot knuckleheads with two useless talents. What's next? The Ultimate Woodworker? Or perhaps the Ultimate Clown?"

"You're gonna jinx it!" Karuta said as she played shoved her hands into her lab coat's pockets, "Though, the likelihood of a clown appearing in a situation like this is surprisingly high; a whopping total of twenty-five percent. That's eight percent more likely than killer robots showing up."

"I was wondering," Rin said, in an attempt to grab everyone's attention, "Could you tell us about the room you were in? I heard something about a shrine?"

Kouya nodded, "Ah, that's 'bout right! The whole flipping room came straight out of a picture. There was one of those lil' prayer things—"

"A Kamidana," Interrupted the shrine maiden, cringing at the vulgar description of a sacred altar.

"—and we had to bust the motherfucker open! 'Course, my awesome skills came in handy when we needed to break apart the cube toy we found inside. I wacked it with a 'bam' then we got the key and ran out like crazy!"

"That recount is missing more than just a few major details," Ketsuki sighed, "There was another puzzle involving the layout of the tatami mats. We discovered a hidden safe underneath one of the loose mats and through further investigation, we figured out the password."

"What was the password? To the safe, I mean," Reina piped up, curious.

"The word 'ore', like iron ore? Fuckin' weird if you ask me," Kouya was the one who answered, lifting his arms up in an exaggerated shrug.

Just... Ore... It looks like they're just random words...

"Great. We're stuck to square one, aren't we?" Satoshi's dry tone dripped with evident sarcasm, "We literally have no answers. We still have no idea how we got here. Just who brought us here or their motives.

"And the biggest question of them all...

"...why were we brought here in the first place?"

CHARACTERS INTRODUCED SO FAR:

Red:

Reina Kiruma — Ultimate Textile Technician

Gaberieru Yasunishi — Ultimate Metalsmith

Satoshi Mineru — Ultimate Utaite

Yellow: (New!)

Rin Kawahara — Ultimate Secretary

Karuta Tagishi — Ultimate (Self Proclaimed) Mad Scientist

Iwao Fuchida — Ultimate Paralympian

Green: (New!)

Kouya Tsuruta — Ultimate Stonemason

Ketsueki Hitsugi — Ultimate Funeral Planer

Mitsuko Yakushimaru — Ultimate Shrine Maiden

...9 Ultimates Left

A/N: Sheesh! Now, finalllllllllly, what you've all (not) been waiting for... the next part of the prologue! Yipee! Now, I know it's been a lonnnnnnnnnnnng time since I last updated; heck, it's been a year and we've still on the prologue! But I'm determined to see this through to the end to this fanfiction and I hope you'll be there with me for the very long, emotional and bumpy ride!

If anything good came out of that pause, it would be the fact that I've done a lot of thinking about the plot and world—what type of class trials I want and the specifics, all leading up to a basically completed plan for the entirety of the fanfiction. So, I'll actually know what I'm writing and lots of references, everywhere! Let me know your theories! I'm curious to know what you think.

Nine Ultimates Down, Nine More to Go! We're halfway there with two more parts of the prologue to go! Who's your favourite character so far?

.

.

.

RESPONSES TO REVIEWS:

Scissor-Sniper: Although this would've been a while ago, thanks for reviewing! You're spot on with the Zero Escape theme; I absolutely adored those games and had to incorporate some of the key traits, hehe!

Poison Banana: Oh wow, another person who linked the previous chapter back to Zero Escape! Gaberieru is one of my favourites too; though, I have to admit that it took me a while to spell his name properly... Thanks for reviewing!

Lupus Overkill: Indeed, the situation is mysterious... and it's only about to become more so! With this part of the prologue, hopefully, you've got more of a grasp on the vibe. I've introduced your character in this chapter, I do hope she was what you imagined. Thanks for reviewing, Lupus!

PitchouliGroovemore: Haha, that's okay! With my update rate, it wouldn't be surprising if I forgot about this fanfiction! But I haven't and I'm determined to somehow complete it... one chapter... at a time...

TheRoseShadow21: Thank you, Rose! And to you too! :D

FairyBookworm: A Satoshi fan, huh? Maybe you'll find a new favourite with the other six characters I've introduced! Who knows? Anyway, thanks Fairy!

Crimson Spider Lily: I have to agree with you on that—Gaberieru's name has been making my fingers all jumbled up, haha! And yes, more Escape Room feels. I'm glad as that's what I was going for! Thank you for reading!

.

.

.

That's pretty much all from me; I also want to say a huge thank you for those who waited this long for the update! No promises for the next update but with the amount of inspiration I have right now, maybe next month! (ahem, again NO PROMISES, ugh) Until next time, dear readers ~