Class 78's Face-Off Hope Romp

Prologue
A Rather Clichéd Opening

(Uploaded on September 14, 2018)

Summary: Welcome to the beginning of Class 78's Face-Off Hope Romp™! I hope you've settled in well—because once the train's left the station, there's no going back!

Faster than you can say 'Trigger Happy Havoc'… let's give this everything we've got! It's showtime!

Notes: This fic is set in an alternate timeline to Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy – Side: Despair. Class 78 has been enrolled in Hope's Peak Academy for quite some time already, and none of the major Tragedy-inducing events have happened at all.

Hope's Peak Academy.

One of the most prestigious, government-run high schools in existence, founded with the goal to create hope for the future of the world. It takes in only students that are showcase exceptional skills in various talents – hereby dubbed the Ultimates. It is said that any student that graduates from this academy will find success anywhere in life.

In another future, this academy would be host to an apocalypse—The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History—where despair would reign over the world, where students would be forced to kill each other for the sake of said despair… where there was no longer any hope for the future.

But this is not that story.

In this future, Hope's Peak Academy would instead have its fate tied in tandem with that of another dimension altogether:

Miitopia.

A colorful realm full of Miis from far and wide—even taking the form of familiar characters—living together in peace and harmony. There was even a place for adventurers, who would trek across the landscape, find treasure, and help out any friends in need. It was a comfortable place to live, peaceful as a certain famed World of Miracles.

But it was not to be.

Miitopia is now host to its own crisis—featuring a nefarious Dark Lord—where a similar despair triumphs over the hopes of the inhabitants, where monsters torment many poor villagers across the countryside… where few hopeful souls would dare rise up to defeat the villainy that no plagues this world.

But perhaps a different hope is needed for this situation.

If the students of Hope's Peak Academy can create hope for their world… who's to say they can create it for a world desperately in need of hope, too? Who's to say that maybe, just maybe… this alignment of the stars can't further the spread of their own hope, either?

And this, my dear readers… is where our tale officially begins.

A tale of how hope overcame despair, a tale of how bonds of friendship grew deeper than ever before…

…and a tale of how ten Ultimate students became ten Ultimate Adventurers.

(…existing Ultimate Adventurers notwithstanding, of course.)

Hope's Peak Academy
First Floor – Hallway

When it comes to Hope's Peak Academy, there are no shortage of groups that one might declare a 'ragtag bunch of misfits'—and by proxy, situations that could've only come out of the most eccentric anime. In fact, Hope's Peak attracts a wide variety of them, being a school made to house the best of the best—and we all know how… interesting best-of-the-best people can get in situations like these. (Class 77 happens to have some of the more bombastic types of Ultimates—it's a miracle they're functioning at all.)

Every class to enter Hope's Peak Academy always come out as a tight-knit group, just by the nature of their exceptional talents. But no one has ever truly seen as tight a bond as the one shared between Class 78. While this one class does have its fair share of abrasive personalities and varying levels of both intelligence and common sense, none can deny that the friendships between them aren't anything short of phenomenal…

…not to mention all the wacky circumstances they often ended up in.

(To this day, all of them—even Junko—would swear that the Great Justice Robo Incident never happened. Ever.)

Little did they know that they were about to bear witness to some of the strangest things they would ever see. (But that's for a little later.)

Currently, this rowdy group of sixteen were walking together in the halls of this prestigious school. "…I'm telling you, dudes!" Yasuhiro Hagakure—the Ultimate Clairvoyant—was insisting to his friends. "It was totally aliens that stole my sandwich away from me! How can you not believe that!?"

"Maybe it's because aliens aren't real," Leon Kuwata—the Ultimate Baseball Star—replied with a groan, a hand drawn to behind his head. "Seriously, why do you keep trying to convince us otherwise? You know it's not going to work."

"D-Don't bother t-talking to him," Toko Fukawa—the Ultimate Writing Prodigy—interjected, her face scrunched up with her signature stressed-nervous-'I-hate-all-of-you' expression. "I-It's obvious his i-idiocy knows no bounds."

"That is quite true," Celestia Ludenburg—the Ultimate Gambler—agreed. "If he were to partake in a game of cards, I dare say he would be the first to bust out."

"H-Hey, that's not true!" Yasuhiro protested. "I'm not an idiot, and I definitely wouldn't be the first out!"

"Hmph." Byakuya Togami—the Ultimate Affluent Progeny—crossed his arms. "Trust me, if there was any part of you that was any sort of intelligent, you wouldn't have been held back thrice before coming here. No amount of protests will change that fact."

"Come on guys, don't be mean," said Makoto Naegi—the Ultimate Luckster—in an attempt to placate everyone. "We've got a whole day to ourselves, and there's a lot we can do. We shouldn't fight with each other over something like this."

"Yeah, you heard Makoto!" Aoi Asahina—the Ultimate Swimming Pro—excitedly said. "We can go and eat so many donuts together! Oooooooh, I can't wait!"

"I dunno, I'm not exactly looking forward to eating more donuts," Mondo Owada—the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader—stated. "Didn't we just go to that donut shop last week? I'm just saying, it might be a bit too much…"

"You can never have too many donuts!" Aoi confidently declared, pumping her fists together. "That's like saying that you can never have too many pools, or too much exercise! It's just impossible!"

"That last part is something I can certainly agree with," Sakura Ogami—the Ultimate Martial Artist—nodded. "It is best to keep up with exercise every day if you can."

"Yes! I agree as well!" Kiyotaka Ishimaru—the Ultimate Moral Compass—loudly proclaimed. "Only then can you truly live the best life you can! In fact, we should go and do just that! It is a perfect sunny day for at least ten jogs around the school!"

"T-Ten jogs around the school!?" Hifumi Yamada—the Ultimate Fanfic Creator—shouted. "Some of us can't do that at all! Our Endurance stats aren't high enough!"

"Which is why now is a great time to start!" Kiyotaka kept talking. "After all, if you start exercising now and continue into the future, then you will get fit, which has been proven to boost your ability to study and work hard!"

And from there he went on another one of his rants about exercise and education, or something related to that, anyway. Honestly, everyone else had just learned to tune them out by this point.

"And there he goes again," Junko Enoshima—the Ultimate Fashionista—sighed. "Too bad he can't go on any interesting tangents instead. Say, Mukuro," Junko prodded her sister, "what do you make of all of this?" She put her hands on her hips and stood up in a royalty-esque way (complete with a crown on her head!), proclaiming in a faux-deeper voice, "Do you think this will be a hangout worthy for a queen such as we?"

Mukuro Ikusaba—the Ultimate Soldier—simply smiled warmly. "I think it'll be fine," she said. "Days like this always have their own charm to them."

As the Moral Compass continued his little tirade, Chihiro Fujisaki—the Ultimate Programmer—interjected with "Taka, it's alright. We can exercise together another time. For now, I think we should enjoy the day. We don't have to do work all the time."

"Yeah, come on, bro!" Mondo put a hand on his best friend's shoulder. "It's alright to take days off for what they are! Like Makoto said, there's a whole lot we can do today!"

"…you do have a point, bro," Kiyotaka relented. "Very well! Let us focus our efforts into making today the best social gathering it can be!"

A little away from the trio of friends, Sayaka Maizono—the Ultimate Pop Sensation—looked on at all the verbal shenanigans going about. "I love it when we all get together like this," she remarked, Makoto and Kyoko right beside her. "Say, what do you want to do today, Makoto?"

"I… don't really know," Makoto admitted. "I was just going to go with the flow. I mean, I don't want to make anyone mad just choosing someplace they won't like."

"I'm sure that won't happen," Kyoko Kirigiri—the Ultimate Detective—assured her friend. "No one's ever been unhappy about where you choose to take us. Wherever we go, we'll face it with pride. You have my word on that."

"You guys really think so?" Makoto asked, wearing a nervous, but happy-looking smile on his face.

"Of course!" Sayaka said. "We wouldn't have nominated you Class Representative if we didn't think that!"

Yes, these sixteen students truly shared a group bond almost unmatched amongst several other ragtag bunches out there in the cosmos. There were just so many personalities, able to bounce off one another so seamlessly, that it would make Kirby—who would most likely have the talent of 'Ultimate Friend Maker'—would squeal in joy at the sight.

But alas, this fabled day off was not to begin—or end, for that matter—the way they'd like it to. For just outside the academy hallways, a bright light, accompanied by some warping sound, emanated from the courtyard.

Startled, the whole of Class 78 briefly stared at the door where the light had briefly shone through. "Wh-Wh-What was that!?" Makoto stammered.

"Yeah," Mondo agreed, "what he said. What the hell was that?"

Kyoko replied, "I don't know, but my instincts are telling me we should hurry and find out."

"You heard Kyoko!" Sayaka said, her face and voice determined. "Let's go!"

Courtyard

The sixteen students of Class 78 rushed as fast as they could outside. Their minds thought furiously about what could be awaiting them. But right then and there, they discovered something that no one—not even the most science-geared Ultimate—could have ever predicted. (Well, maybe they could've, but let's just say they missed a couple spot checks this one time.)

A large blue vortex sat blatantly in the courtyard of Hope's Peak Academy, swirling and taunting everyone with the utter impossibility of its presence. It seemed like a paradox to what was otherwise a perfectly normal day. Several reactions occurred.

Sayaka and Kyoko clutched both of Makoto's hands tightly, while the Luckster himself had both his eyes sides at the sight.

Some of the students—Aoi, Kiyotaka, and Mondo, for example—were staring slackjawed at the portal. Others—including Toko, Leon, and Yasuhiro—were rubbing their hands through their hair in disbelief. (Chihiro, meanwhile, was cowering behind Mondo – not that the gang leader could blame her.)

Even the stoic three—Celeste, Byakuya, and Kyoko—couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"…well, this is new," Kyoko blankly vocalized, her normally composed face betraying a little bit of surprise.

"Is that… Is that a wormhole!?" Leon gaped, pointing at the vortex with a shaking finger.

"I've never seen anything like this before…" Sakura stated, similarly in a state of shock.

Hifumi, being well-knowledge in clichéd plots in fiction, reacted appropriately. "Oh no! That must mean… we're about to become the protagonists of an Isekai anime!" he dramatically exclaimed. (Well, I suppose he wouldn't be too far off the mark this time. Just minus the anime part.) "Run away! We can't let it catch us! I didn't sign up for thissssss!"

As the otaku began to blunder about in circles, Celeste facepalming at her self-made subordinate's antics, Yasuhiro declared to the others, "Th-This is totally what I foresaw last night, dudes! A portal to another world would appear right here! Y-You see, guys? I told you aliens were real!"

"I'm pretty sure this isn't the work of aliens, Hiro," Leon deadpanned.

"Besides, if it were aliens, we would all have been abducted by now, if these supposed 'aliens' had technology advanced enough to do this," Byakuya sneered, ever the snide voice of reason. "What we should really be asking is, 'How dangerous is this wormhole to us?'"

"I-If that thing d-dares to come close t-to my Master," Toko stammered, "I'll p-protect him w-with my l-l-life!" (For once, Byakuya looked like he appreciated this declaration. Probably because he knew how determined Toko and her other self could be.)

Unseen by the others, Mukuro quickly glanced at her sister, an eyebrow raised as if she were asking 'You didn't have anything to do with this, do you?' She knew her sister well; acting on whims like this was just part of her gadfly-esque character. If this was her doing, too, then she'd at least have an idea about what to expect.

Unfortunately for the Ultimate Soldier, all Junko could do was just shrug her shoulders, her face just as confused as everyone else's. That meant she was clean. And that also meant this vortex was a totally unknown factor.

"Kids!" Jin Kirigiri—the current Headmaster of Hope's Peak (and also Kyoko's dad)—burst in from across the courtyard, looking a little winded from the amount of running he had to do. Class 78 turned their heads to look at him. "Stay back from that wormhole!"

The students quickly acquiesced to his commands, understanding the possible danger that had approached. "Headmaster Kirigiri!" Makoto, at least, looked relieved to see the older man's face. We might be able to get some answers! "Do you know what's up with… with that?"

"Yeah! I've got half a mind to just run up to that fuckin' thing and punch it!" Mondo said, pumping his fists together.

"Unfortunately, no. We just caught wind of this, too, just as you kids did. We've got our top scientists trying to figure out why this wormhole has appeared in our academy. But don't be alarmed! So long as you evacuate back to your classrooms, we'll have this situation sorted out soo—!"

But before the Headmaster could finish his statement, the vortex began to warp and pulsate—and before anybody knew it, it began to start unwillingly drawing in the class! (And no, no amount of backing away would've helped them here.)

"W-W-Wait, what's g-going on!?" Aoi stammered, feeling the floor trying to give out from under her.

"Oh no, it's already starting!" Hifumi was panicking even harder, somehow already airborne despite being the largest one around. "I—I'm not ready to leave this level! I still haven't seen all the 2D I can yeeeeeeeet!"

"Oh shut your mouth, you little porkstein!" Celeste shouted at Hifumi, her patience long gone. "It's not just you that's being affected!"

"What she said, except maybe not so rudely!" Leon agreed. By this point, all of Class 78 was floating in the air, being sucked in by the portal. And only Class 78; Headmaster Kirigiri could only stare in horror. "Kids? Kids!" he called out to them – but sadly, there was nothing he could do to help.

"M-M-Mondo, h-hold me!" Chihiro yelled, trying desperately to hold on to her two friends.

Mondo, to his credit, was clutching the diminutive programmer as tightly as he could. "Don't worry, Chihiro! I'll protect you from this!" he declared. "Th-That's a man's promise!"

Kiyotaka was trying his best to control the situation as well. "Everybody, do not fear! We—We will surely overcome this predicament we are in! All we have to do is stay—!"

"Screw that, Taka, we're all doomed!" Yasuhiro interrupted the Moral Compass, flailing his arms all about. "The aliens have finally got us, man! Ohhhhhh, I want my mommy!"

"S-Stop your wh-whining, a-already!" Toko, despite the given circumstances, looked plenty annoyed at the Clairvoyant's words. "Y-Your words are j-just giving me an even b-bigger headache."

"None of my training in Fenrir ever prepared me for this…!" Mukuro muttered, doing her best to keep upright. "Wh-What is this…!?"

"How could it be drawing only us in?" Sakura similarly muttered. "What sort of sorcery is this…?"

I dunno myself, but I'm certainly not complaining! Junko thought, playfully spinning around in the air. If this is what real unpredictability is like, then give me this any day!

"Kyoko! Sayaka!" Makoto glanced at his two friends, still trying to hold onto their hands. "Wh-What's going on!?"

"I don't know," Kyoko replied. "But we can't let go, or else—!"

She didn't get a chance to finish her statement, however. "Heads up!" Sayaka shouted, as with one final burst of wind, the students were sent spiraling toward the center of the wormhole. As everyone else was screaming and struggling to hold onto one another, Byakuya yelled, "When I find who's behind this, I swear on my name as a Togami that I'll make them payyyyy!"

And so, as Class 78 disappeared entirely from the world which they had known for so long, they had no idea that they were about to embark on a journey – a most bizarre and most incredible journey there could be, with faces that seemed impossible and magic that seemed extraordinary. This was to be, to all of Hope's Peak Academy, and to Class 78, the Ultimate Adventure. And it would be one that was truly unforgettable.

But that was not what was running through Jin Kirigiri's mind at the moment. Right then and there, the one thing running through his mind, as he stated at the place where his students had just been, was:

…this is going to be another one of those days, isn't it?

For maximum hilarity, play to the tune of Mario & Luigi: Dream Team's 'Panic Pit'. You're welcome.

So here's something out of left field – a Miitopia fic, starring the cast from Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc!Miitopia was an amazing experience for me, start to end, and it was fun to imagine various fictional characters taking each role in the game. (And a couple OCs for my brother's amusement.)

I've always wanted to do a Miitopia fic, but I've never really felt confident in it. This is going to be a bit of an experiment on my end, doing this alongside A Goddess's Arena and Are You a Friend, Too?, but I'll try my best to hopefully make things work. I'll even be replaying the game as I go, so wish me luck!

That's all for now. Next time, we get the party really rolling. Stay tuned!