[Fanfic] MKPC Academy Season 1; The Beginning

Hey all! I'm happy to announce MKPC Academy Season 1 is almost complete!!!
I did the character submissions a while back so DO NOT try to submit a character. It will be rejected.

/!\ DISCLAIMER /!\

This fanfic contains violence and thematic elements look at me using that fancy movie term xd Additional warnings will be posted at the beginning of each episode that contains mature content. Brief synopses may be available if you want to follow the story without the dark elements seen in juicy detail (if I have time to complete them, which is unlikely)

The Setting
In MKPC Academy, nine students (Alyssa, Chloe, Dietsoda, Eli, K, Lely, Max, Scorchy, and Shen) join a new school on an island near MKPC City. This amazing new school offers useful knowledge and amazing power to everyone who learns there, but the students soon discover there's more going on at the academy than they thought. As they are forced to compete in a strange test to keep their place, the students begin to wonder if MKPC Academy is truly such a wonderful place after all . . .

Prologue out next Tuesday!
Follow this topic to read the episodes as they come out!

Scorchy and Eli are at Eli’s house. Eli is telling Scorchy about the book he’s writing.

Eli; So, this chapter is hard. I’m stuck. The spy needs to survive this part, and she has to be in the factory when it burns down to get the information the main character needs. But how the heck is she supposed to live through that?!

Scorchy; I don’t know. Maybe . . . no nevermind.

Eli; Wish I was better at writing. This is getting too hard.



That night, Eli is watching YouTube. An ad comes on.

Add narrator; MKPC Academy is nearly here! We’re dedicated to making MKPC City a better place by making its citizens smarter, stronger, and more powerful. Already, young people in several other cities have achieved amazing things through the power of our teaching.

The screen shows young people healing patients with a touch, raising buildings with a gesture, and controlling weather to keep a city safe from a hurricane.

-; They taught me so much! I mean, I’m not, like, magic or anything like some of the others, but it’s just amazing! When I was little I thought I’d never be anything. Now I’m, like, actually good at stuff! I can program computers so easily, some of my friends from here are the best doctors in the world now. It’s just - unbelievable. It’s wonderful.

Eli; Huh. She got one thing right. That’s unbelievable.

Eli turns the TV off and goes to sleep.

.   .   .

Eli’s phone buzzes, waking him.

Eli; Alyssa is calling . . . Hey what’s up?

Alyssa; Hi Eli. Scorchy told me you’re having trouble with your book. You know MKPC Academy will have writing courses. Maybe you can get help there.

Eli; You kidding? Not worth it. You haven’t fallen for that ad have you?

Alyssa; I’m enrolled in an alchemy course already. Seriously, join in. A whole bunch of our friends are already in classes as well.

Eli; Alright . . . I’ll check it out.



At MKPC Academy. Opening day.

Shen; Gosh I’m so nervous right now. Max I’ma just hide behind you for a minute ok?
Max; Get away from me you idiot. You’re fine! *pushes at Shen’s head*
Shen; *collapses*
Lely; Is he unconscious?
Dietsoda; That is ridiculous.
Max; What? . . . I didn’t mean to -
Loudspeaker; Welcome new students. Please gather at the entrance courtyard.
Lely; Has Shen woken up yet?
Shen; Yeah! Yes, let’s go.

The entrance courtyard is a large space surrounded on three sides by buildings, on the fourth by the outer wall and the gate.

Chloe; Wow, pretty neat. Cheer up Eli!
Eli; I still think this will be a waste of time . . .
Alyssa; Come on, this is great. You will learn here. We all will. Quit moping around and enjoy yourself! This is day one!
Lely; Hi guys. You’re going to school here too?
Alyssa; Yep. They’ve got a neat Alchemy course.
Chloe; That’s Alyssa, haha. She can fly, do terrakinesis, and now she wants to know alchemy.
Shen; What’s alchemy?
Dietsoda;

Scorchy; Hey all.
Max; Hey.
Scorchy; K’s with me.
K; Hi.
Alyssa; *looks around at the other students* Sooo, why are we all gathering here?
Loudspeaker; Welcome new students! Today we’ll get to know each other and explore the campus. Refreshments will be provided in the cafe and here at the entrance. Please make some friends, explore, and enjoy yourself. Throughout the day we’ll be showing you your dorms, so when you see yours, go ahead and make yourself comfortable! Staff will be around to answer any questions you may have. Have a nice day.
Chloe; Well, guess we explore the place then. I think I saw a computer lab somewhere. See ya!
Alyssa; I’ll go with.
Eli; Guess I’ll come.

Max; Engineering, mechanics . . . *sees a vehicle assembly area* coool. Hope I get to do that.

Dietsoda is looking at racks of weapons.

Dietsoda; Weapons training. This will be good.
K; Don’t get carried away. But I’d be happy to spar anytime we get a chance.
Dietsoda; Eh maybe.

Academy Employee; And this will be your room, Lely. You’ll be with Max.
Lely; What? Uh, can I be with someone else please?
Employee; He’s your friend right?
Lely; Wrong Max.
Employee; Oh . . . Sorry. I don’t know if we can rearrange the roommates.
Lely; Well, it’s a nice room anyway.


Next morning.

Scorchy; So. Study hall. The headmaster wants to talk to us?
K; Well here she is.
-; Good morning students. Welcome to MKPC Academy. My name is Kaylie. I’m the head instructor here. I’m sure you are all excited to get started on your classes - your schedules have been sent to your phones by now. But I want you to know, this is no ordinary school. Not all of you are marked for greatness, and there’s only one way to become truly powerful here. All new students have been entered into the MKPC Academy contest. Details will be sent to you as well. The days of the contest will be hard, but I’ll be here to help you.
Lely; This had better not be another MKPC Dangonropa.
K; Stop breaking the fourth wall man.
Lely; Sorry. Sorry. Wait did I really -
Kaylie; Only the winners of the competition will be able to continue here.
Eli; This is only getting worse.
Kaylie; And now . . . Everyone please go to your classes. Good luck!

Later, K and Scorchy are in their apartment, looking over the competition rules.

K (reading from his phone); In each competition, there will be a number of amulets hidden in a certain area. The ultimate goal of each competition is for each player to get as many amulets as possible. At the end of three weeks, all players with 5 or more amulets will have proven their worthiness to continue at MKPC Academy and become truly great citizens of MKPC city.
Scorchy; Well that was helpful.
K; Not.
Scorchy; Yeah . . . Hopefully they’ll tell us more later. The stuff on our phones is not much to go on.



So this episode is kinda setting up for the rest of the fic. So it might have been a little slow Hope you enjoyed and please give feedback. I don't care if it's good or bad feedback, its all helpful!

nice job! can’t wait to see how the rest’s gonna look like

DIFFERENT MAX 😭😭😭

@KirbytripleDX_2014 halp this is your character

Yes its my character💀 (yes I took the name too but really its fair game)

Okay i'm gonna nicely ask you to fucking change this name right fucking now

... Fine Ya fucking prick
New Name is Now

Welp, time to edit an explanation into episode 2 and change the name thru the rest

Can i get in for the third part?

I wrote most of this ahead of time. So no. I'll let a few more people in for season 2 tho, so maybe then?

Episode 2
First Hunt

The students gather at the foot of the island’s only mountain.

Lely; Kaylie said this was where our first game was going to be. Sooo . . . Where is she?
Shen; No idea.
Eli; She’s late. Seriously, Alyssa. What the heck have you got me into?
Alyssa; Calm down Eli.
K; Remember what Lely said about MKPC Dangonropa? This is getting creepy.
Eli; Agreed. I’m not ready to calm down now ok?
Lely; That’s different. In Dangonropa we’re specifically supposed to kill each other. This doesn’t sound the same.
Dietsoda; Very comforting.

Kaylie; Hello all. Hope your first couple days here have been great!. Sorry I’m late. There was some trouble at the magic studies building haha. Nothing too bad. Anyway, welcome to the first contest! You’ve read the basic rules by now, but there’s lots more to each contest.

She shows a map. The students gather to look at it.

Kaylie; This is the island we’re on now. The mountain covers about half the island’s surface. Hidden on the mountain are 5 amulets. Your goal is to collect as many as possible for yourself.  No restrictions. It’s a pretty simple game.
K; Alright. So can we get this over with?
Kaylie; Go ahead. Just be back at the campus by nightfall.

Iam; This is seriously dumb.
Dietsoda; Shut up and get to work. We’ve got only six hours before night, and that is one big mountain.
Chloe; Alyssa, Eli. Let’s go up together.
Alyssa; Sounds good.
Scorchy; That looks exhausting. Lely, why don’t you and me explore around the base of the mountain. Maybe there are some of the amulets down here.
Lely; Good idea.
Scorchy; Come on.
Shen; I’m coming too!
Scorchy; Ok whatever . . .

An hour passes. Alyssa, Eli, and Chloe are nearly at the mountain’s peak.

Eli; We’ve been going . . . so long . . . There air’s . . . so . . . thin up . . . here. *breathing hard*
Chloe; Hey look! There’s one on the peak!
Eli; What?
Chloe; An amulet! Dibs!

Chloe runs to the top of the mountain and grabs a silver amulet off a stone table.

Chloe; Nice *she puts it on*
Alyssa; Maybe we should decide who gets it since we’re all together.
Chloe; What? I saw it first, this was my idea, I should have it.
Alyssa; Wellll
Eli; Come on, let’s go find another. You can have that one, Alyssa.

Lely, Scorchy, and Shen search in the forest at the foot of the mountain.

Shen; Nothing here. Nothing here. *checks under a rock* Nothing here.
Lely; You’re not going to find anything under a rock.
Shen; Oh . . .
Scorchy; It’s ok. You’re trying, anyway. I’ve given up.
Lely; Come on guys, we should keep going.
Scorchy; I’m barely two inches tall! All this walking is killing me!
Lely; Oh sorry. Do you want me to carry you?
Scorchy; Yeah that’ll work.

K and Dietsoda enter a small cave together.

K; There’s a chest in the back of this cave.
Dietsoda; It’s made of wood, with iron bands. Dang, it’s locked. How can we get it open?
K; No problem.

K uses his bionic right arm to crush the box and tear it apart. An amulet falls out.

K; . . .
Dietsoda; . . . Alright. Mine.

They stare at each other for a minute.
K; Whatever. But you owe me.

In the forest.

Lely; Yes! There’s an amulet!
Shen; Where?
Scorchy; Is that it floating in the air over that stream?
Shen; Woah. Weird and cool.

Lely puts Scorchy on the ground and jumps onto a rock in the middle of the stream. He grabs the amulet and comes back.

Lely; Wow.
Shen; It’s so shiny. Is it made of gold?
Scorchy; No it’s black silly. Maybe it’s obsidian or something.

Lely puts on the amulet.

Iam; Hey!
Scorchy; What?
Iam; Give me that amulet!
Lely; What? Why? I found this one?
Iam; Give it to me!
Shen; That is so not skibidi.
Iam; SHUT UP!

Iam hits Shen, knocking him unconscious. He then pins Lely on the ground and takes the amulet. Scorchy grabs his leg but is unable to do anything to stop him.

Iam; There. *he puts it on*
Scorchy; Why would you do that you #######?!
Iam; Kaylie said there were no restrictions on this game. So I’m doing whatever I must to win.
Scorchy; That doesn’t mean beating up your opponents and stealing from them!
Iam; Nobody cares what you think. Have a great day!

He walks away.

Scorchy; Lely are you alright?
Lely (holding back tears); Yes. Just some bruises . . . He punched my shoulder really hard.
Scorchy; That #######! We should go back now Lely. Shen hasn’t woken up yet and it’s getting late.
Alyssa; What happened here?!
Scorchy; Iam just came here and beat us up. Then he stole Lely’s amulet!
Chloe: He ca-
Alyssa; Not now Chloe. Lely are you ok?
Lely; (starts crying and embarrassed about it) Yeah. My shoulder hurts.
Eli; I think it’s dislocated. We’ll get you back to the campus.

Eli helps Lely to his feet and supports him. They start toward the campus.

Alyssa; I’m going after Iam. I’ll catch him, take the amulet and give it back to you, Lely.

She flies off.

Lely; Wait. You don’t have to -

.   .   .

K; OK (pun intended). Dietsoda’s gone, so I guess this next amulet is mine.

The bronze amulet is lying in the middle of a circle of brightly colored paving stones. K picks it up and puts it on.

K; Hmmmm . . .



Iam; Alright. Got two amulets, beat up my roommate, good game. I hope he isn’t too mad about that. Ah he’ll get over it. Lely’s the forgiving type.
Alyssa; *lands in front of him* Maybe Lely’s the forgiving type, but I’m not. Give me that amulet!
Iam; Hey, I won this fairly! Kaylie said there were no restrictions. Can you not see how that works?!
Alyssa; To #### with that. Lely’s shoulder is dislocated because of you. I’m going to give that amulet back to him no matter what.
Iam; Try and take it.

Alyssa leaps on Iam, knocking them both over. They struggle and she takes the amulet from Max’s neck.

Alyssa; Ok. Now you can go. I’ll let you keep the other one. Hopefully you got it fairly.
Iam; Gimme that!

Iam leaps at Alyssa, but she uses her powers of terrakinesis to raise an earth screen between them.

Alyssa; Ooooh . . . That took a lot of effort. Tired . . .
Iam; *pounding on the wall* GET BACK HERE!!!

Alyssa flies away. On her way . . .

Alyssa; Wow, there’s something about this one . . . No, it doesn’t matter. I just need to get it back to Lely. Is it . . . talking to me?

Gold Amulet; . . .

Alyssa; Weird. Must have imagined it. What are these little symbols? They’re like runes cut into the metal. Ooooh I wanna study those. They look like they mean something. Maybe they’re important . . . But Lely . . .

She puts on the amulet and turns back toward the school.

Dietsoda; What is she doing?

Evening of the Fifth day at MKPC Academy. The students have completed their classes for the day and several have gathered in the dining hall.

Chloe; So, yesterday’s game. That was weird . . .
K; Yeah, at first it was just dumb. Like, “why are we even doing this?” And then-
Scorchy; And then Iam beats the #### out of Lely and Shen.
K; Uh, yeah . . . Lely did you get the amulet back?
Lely; No, Iam never returned to our apartment last night, and I haven’t seen Alyssa outside of class today. We never got a chance to talk.
Eli; Huh, that’s odd. Alyssa and I were able to chat for a while after magic class.
K; Well you’re the only two of us who are in magic class.
Chloe; I’ll remind her tonight. Maybe she forgot.
Scorchy; Who’d forget something like that? Btw has anyone seen Iam tonight?
Shen; Nah. But then I guess I’m kinda hiding today. Don’t wanna get knocked out again. *he taps his head, stiffens, then gasps with relief* Whew, felt a little dizzy!
K; Please be serious. Anyway, I was thinking we should try to learn more about this contest thing. I didn’t know it was part of the school and I only participated in the first game because it sounded harmless and I didn’t want to make the directors mad. But after what happened to Lely I’m getting Danganronpa vibes again.
Lely; Like I said before, this is not like Dangonronpa!
Kaylie; (over the campus intercom) Alright, students! Time for your next contest. Please go to the south coastline of the island.  
Eli; Oh, for the love of -. Already?
Chloe; Let’s go. I’ll drive.

The students arrive at a sandy beach on the south coast of the island. A narrow path leads down a cleft to the beach, which seems almost to glow in the moonlight. Some distance to the east, a deep creek runs across the sand to the ocean.

Lely; Wow, it’s beautiful here.
Iam; Hey guys. What’s tonight’s game?
K; I’m actually wondering the same thing.
-; Hello students. My name is Lee. I’ll be your instructor tonight.
Scorchy; So what are we doing here?
Lee; Be patient. Dietsoda and Alyssa have not arrived.

Dietsoda; I’m here. This had better be worth interrupting weapons training.

Alyssa; Hi. Sorry I’m late guys.
Lee; Finally. Everyone’s here. Today’s challenge will be a test of your physical strength and agility. You must run a course along this beach. Partly on the water, partly on the sand. You may not run on the beach itself until you have returned from the water. The first person to reach the east end will find an amulet waiting. Claim it, and the game ends. No restrictions. Good luck! *he gestures at the sand*

Columns of stone rise from the water, a line going along the coastline before returning to the beach. Then a series of trenches open in the ground where the columns return to the sand.

Alyssa; Terrakinesis. Cool.
Shen; Wow! I have no idea what to do here!
Alyssa; That’s it?
Dietsoda; Looks pretty simple. You jump from one column to the next before navigating through the trenches to reach the end.
Alyssa; Yeah, except I can fly.
Dietsoda; That’s not fair.
Scorchy; Lee, question. Is there a rule that says we can’t use violence to win the contests?
Lee; No, why would there be?
K; Because that's wrong, that’s why.
Scorchy; So you’re fine with people fighting physically over a stupid game?!
Lee; It’s more than a game. You’ll understand later. When you do, you will see that it is worth bending a few ‘normal’ rules to achieve victory.
Scorchy; (shocked) That is so wrong!
Iam; Let’s get started.

Iam runs into the water and reaches the first column. Eli jumps over his head and starts leaping from column to column. Alyssa takes flight as the others run after Iam and Eli.

Dietsoda; Watch out Eli! Coming up!

Dietsoda passes Eli, jumping lightly from place to place.

Chloe; Blasted elf. He’s so fast!
Scorchy; No way I’m gonna win now. I can’t jump the distance between these things.
Lely; Here, I’ll carry you again. It’s not fair that you do this part alone.
Lee; Now things get a bit harder!

Something flies past Alyssa’s head.

Alyssa; What was that?
Eli; Alyssa watch out!

A ball of earth slams into Alyssa, who falls into the water.

Eli; She’s not coming back up!
Lely; I’m going down after her.
Scorchy; Incoming!

Another ball of earth arcs up from the sand and hits Lely and Scorchy. They both fall into the water. Lely recovers from the shock and grabs Scorchy.

Lely; We’re fine. We’ll get Alyssa!
Eli; I’m coming too! *he dives in after them*
K; I might as well continue the course. These metal bionics make me a terrible swimmer. . . *he turns away and starts jumping columns again*

Iam; *catching Dietsoda’s heel* I’m gonna win this one!
Dietsoda; Get off, mortal. *He kicks off Iam and jumps into the first trench*
Iam; Haha, wait up! *he runs after Dietsoda*
K; Now I feel kinda guilty. Continuing wasn’t the best thing to do, was it? And now I can’t win anyway. ####.
Shen; I heard that.
K; AAAGH! Sorry, sorry. I’m rather stressed right now.
Shen; Let’s just go back. Maybe we can still help Lely and the others.

Chloe was running ahead at the time of Alyssa’s fall, and she, Iam, and Dietsoda are struggling past the trenches on the beach.

Chloe; There’s . . . the amulet.
Dietsoda; I’m going to get this one.

The three of them run toward the amulet. A ball of earth arcs toward them and they dodge. Dietsoda and Iam collide and fall, but Choe simply glitches through them and the ball, and grabs the blue amulet.

Chloe; Yes!
Lee; THE CONTEST IS OVER! EVERYONE GATHER AT THE END OF THE COURSE!

K and Eli arrive, carrying Alyssa between them. Scorchy rides on Lely’s shoulder, helping him dry off with a towel from the student’s kart. Shen trails behind.

Chloe; ####, is she unconscious?
Lely; Yes, we'll take her back to campus. There's an infirmary in the main building.
Dietsoda; What is that stuff wrapped around her. Looks like vines.
Eli; They are. I think they came out of the ball of earth when it hit her. It immobilized her.
Chloe; Well come on, let's get her to the infirmary!

Chloe leads them away, leaving Dietsoda, Max, and Lee alone on the beach.

Lee; Hmmm. I hope the faerie survives. It would reflect badly on the school if a student died so early.
Dietsoda; Wait. If a student died early? What's that supposed to mean?
Lee; Oh, I misspoke. It would be bad if a student died.
Iam; Yeah right. You meant to say that.
Dietsoda; What is this contest really about?
Lee; . . .

if im the first person to die, that is a bit unfair because of my size (my size makes me, and other pikmin, very fragile)

Dw I'm not pikminphobic. Actually I really like writing your parts.

The morning after the beach course contest.

Eli; Finally, a break.
Scorchy; Yeah, this has been an exhausting week. I’m glad we get the weekend off. A couple days to just relax . . .
Shen; I’m so tired. Staying up all night is not my thing.
Eli; You’re ten years old. No surprise there.
Shen; Well yeah.
Chloe; How you lots’ classes going?
Scorchy; Hard. I wanted to learn how to make my own music, but the class is really difficult. Probably should have just asked one of you to help me.
Chloe; Sorry about that Scorchy. I’ll help you if I can.
Scorchy; Thanks. How you doing Eli?
Eli; Well I actually got some good writing advice! I got past that difficult bit in my book. You remember how the spy needed to be in the building at the time it burned down but I couldn’t figure out how she’d survive? I got the idea there could be a basement where scientists have been working on-
Chloe; Oh now you’ve done it, Scorchy. He’s been talking about that non-stop all day.
Shen; Last night too.

Dietsoda and K are sparring in the training yard and chatting while they work.

Dietsoda; So, I’m kinda confused about something.
K; What?
Dietsoda; I heard Iam took Lely’s amulet and Alyssa went to get it back. In the first game.
K: And?
Dietsoda; Well, Alyssa never gave the amulet back to Lely. But I saw her take it from him. I was under some trees and neither of them saw me. So I know Alyssa has the amulet.
K; Huh. She probably just hasn’t had time. And now she’s recovering from getting hit by a giant clod of dirt and half drowned.
Dietsoda; Still, normally I’d expect her to finish her task as soon as she could. There’s something suspicious about this.

In the infirmary, Lely has come to visit Alyssa.

Lely; Alyssa, how are you feeling?
Alyssa; Alright I guess, but almost drowning . . . I’ll never forget that.
Lely; I’m so sorry that happened. This stupid contest is getting real ###### up. You almost died and the instructors didn’t give a ####! It’s disturbing.
Alyssa; Yeah, I’m worried. Seriously.
Lely; Maybe I should do some research on this school.
Alyssa; Yes. From what I’ve heard, this isn’t the first building they’ve put up.
Lely; It said something about “several other cities” in that add Eli saw. I’ll look up the other places and see if I can find anything out about this contest. Oh, and by the way, did you get the amulet from Iam?
Alyssa; What?
Lely; When Iam beat me up you said you’d retrieve the amulet he took. Honestly you didn’t have to, but I’m really grateful.
Alyssa; Oh, that. Well, he got to the school before I could catch him. I didn’t get the amulet. Maybe when I feel better we can go get it back together.
Lely; Aw, thanks. But you don’t have to do that. We can sort it out some other way. Or I can get enough amulets through other games. . . Well, I’d better go. Got some homework to finish. Hope you feel better soon.
Alyssa; Thanks.

After Lely is gone, Alyssa pulls the black amulet out.

Alyssa; What is wrong with me? I wanted to tell Lely, I wanted to give him this. But I just, didn’t. ####. Well, at least I’ve deciphered these runes now.

Alyssa gets up and stands at the window, holding the amulet where she can see it.

Alyssa; The power, of . . . Fear. What?

Sunday evening.

Chloe; Ugh, Kaylie said we have another contest coming up tomorrow.
Scorchy; Wait, really?
Dietsoda; Yes. Some puzzle mind game kind of thing. Don’t really know what though.
Shen; It makes me nervous. We never get to prepare for these games.
Lely; Getting Borderland vibes now.
Chloe; Don’t even speak about Borderland.
Lely; At least we were never a part of it.
Chloe; I SAID-
K; Please. Calm down.
Eli; Don’t argue with my family.
Lely; Alright alright. I was just trying to be conversational.
Chloe; It’s fine. I was just . . . it’s hard to explain.

On the south beach.

Iam; ####, Lely’s been a real ####### lately. In our rooms he just completely ignores me. I’m not that bad!
Alyssa; Well, that depends on who you ask.
Iam; AAAGH! Oh, not you again. That’s the last thing I need . . .
Alyssa; I want your help with a little experiment.
Iam; No. Leave me alone.
Alyssa; I’m not asking.

Alyssa reveals the black amulet necklace she’s wearing. Her eyes turn completely black. Iam starts shivering.

Iam; W-What are you doing?

Alyssa steps toward Iam, and he walks backwards.

Iam; My . . . so weak. What are you doing to me!?

He collapses.

Alyssa; It really works! It works! HAHAHAHA
Iam; AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

As Iam blacks out, Alyssa turns and flies away.

And I thought I was going to be the bad guy here... I guess not

Dietsoda; Lely, we need to talk.
Lely; What is it?
Dietsoda; Alyssa’s been lying to you.
Lely; How so?
Scorchy; She . . . she has your amulet. She managed to take it from Iam but she never gave it to you.
Lely; Oh. Why?
K; We don’t know, but it’s not like her.
Scorchy; So Lely, what do you want us to do? We need to get your amulet back! It’s how you win this contest!
Lely; No, we don’t have to do that. It’s not a big deal.
K; Well, maybe you should at least talk to her.
Lely; ok . . .

Eli, Chloe, and Alyssa are in Alyssa & Chloe’s apartment.

Eli; Dietsoda told us you have Lely’s amulet.
Chloe; Why’d you lie to Lely about this?
Alyssa; Welll, I’m sorry. I meant to tell him. Really I did.
Eli; No you didn’t. You were keeping the stupid necklace thing. Why?
Alyssa; Can you keep a secret?
Chloe; Depends.
Eli; Yes.
Alyssa; Good enough. This’ll take some explaining. When I took the amulet off Max I noticed these strange runes on the edges. I did some searching in the school libraries and found the runes belong to some old magic language, so I translated them. The runes on this amulet *she holds up the black necklace* say “The power of Fear.” That got me thinking. This contest was totally random. Why would they set a bunch of students to finding useless necklaces at the risk of leaving the school? There had to be some reason, right? So I worked out that the amulets must have some kind of power. This one has the power to incapacitate someone through their fear. I don’t know yet if it can do anything else.
Eli; Okaaay, wow. That’s a lot to take in . . .
Chloe; Wait, how do you know this thing actually has some kind of magic power.
Alyssa; Errr, I tested it?
Eli; How? Did you use it on someone?
Alyssa; Yesss . . .
Chloe and Eli: WHO?
Alyssa; Iam.

Shen is heading to the lab building.

Iam; Hey! Shen!
Shen; Whoah, what?
Iam; Wait a moment! I want to talk to you!
Shen; Don’t come near me you psycho.
Iam; Seriously, I’m not gonna hurt you. Something’s wrong. You need to help me.
Shen; What is it?

The two of them stop by the wall and talk. Iam gestures wildly as Shen nods, nervously looking around. Finally they go their separate ways.

Later . . .

Kaylie; Alright, everyone! It’s time for your next contest. This will be different from the ones you’ve done already, as it takes place solely within the campus walls. This contest takes the form of a puzzle. Hidden throughout the campus are 3 locked vaults. Each must be unlocked in a different way. Helpful items and hints are scattered through the campus as well. You may need to use teamwork, but only 3 people can come out of this challenge with a new medal. Begin!
Dietsoda; Alright. I’ll be in the armory if anyone needs me. Definitely searching.
K; Scorchy, do you want to work together?
Scorchy; Yeah why not.
Iam; Lely . . . can we work together on this?
Lely; Absolutely not! I don’t trust you.
Iam; Ok . . .
Shen; I’ll go with you Iam.

The two head for the magic studies building.

Dietsoda; That was weird.
Scorchy; No kidding. Shen’s brain must be messed up since Iam knocked him out. Twice.

Eli, Alyssa, and Chloe also go toward magic studies.

Eli; Iam and Shen are worrying me.
Chloe; Yeah, I think somehow Iam has convinced Shen to work with him and get revenge for your ‘experiment’ Alyssa.
Alyssa; Whatever. With this amulet I can handle them.
Eli; If they try anything violent you won’t need to use it because they’ll be two smears on the wall by the time I’m done with them.
Chloe; I thought you were trying not to act like a psychopath.
Eli; It seems to be a theme these days. I’m trying to fix that.

K, Scorchy, and Lely search the perimeter wall.

Scorchy; There’s something in the bushes here. A big metal box.
K; Must be one of the vaults. Looks like a blinkin’ honey bucket.
Scorchy; What?
K; Some kinda portable bathroom thing construction workers use.
Lely; Ewwww
Scorchy; Uhuuuuh . . . This is definitely a vault. NOT a toilet.
K; Sorry.
Lely; So. How do we open it?
Scorchy; There’s a padlock. There must be a key around here somewhere.
K; Great. We’re supposed to find a little key in all this blasted school.
Lely; Maybe there’s a clue on the vault.
Scorchy; Let’s look around here while Lely studies the vault.

Lely; Nothing. I have no idea where the key is.
K; Well, we should probably go look around the campus. Maybe we’ll find something. Somewhere. A map, maybe?
Scorchy; Alright. Let’s go to magic studies. I saw most of the others go that way.
Lely; Let’s check on Dietsoda’s progress. The armory building is on the way there.

In the armory.

Scorchy; Dietsoda! You in here?
Dietsoda; *emerges from behind a weapons rack* Yes.
Lely; ####, why do they need this big an armory? This is a ####### school!
K; I think it’s awesome.
Lely; Well of course you would. Dietsoda have you found anything yet?
Dietsoda; No. I looked everywhere between here and our apartments and there was nothing. I’ve pretty much given up. How about you all?
Lely; We found one of the vaults along the south wall, but there’s no key.
Dietsoda; Three hours and we’ve barely found anything. This is by far the dumbest contest.
Scorchy; True. Now let’s go check on the others.

They go toward the magic studies building. On the way . . .

K; One sec. My phone’s buzzing.
Lely; Mine too. Oh! It’s a hint.
Dietsoda; The directors must want to speed up the game a bit.
Scorchy; Ok. It’s a map of the campus. There are Xs above the main building, entrance, and one of the apartment buildings.
Dietsoda; We should investigate these. Now.
Lely; What about checking on the other students?
Dietsoda; You do that. I’m getting a head start on this new lead.
Scorchy; Hmmm. Me too.
Lely; Ok . . .
K; I’ll go with you Lely.

They split up. Near the magic building . . .

Lely; Did you here a yell?
K; Yeah, sounded like it came from behind the building.
Lely; Maybe they’re over there.
K; Let’s be careful. That yell sounded angry. I don’t want to get mixed up in more unneeded violence.

They round the corner of the building.

K; What the-
Lely; Guys what is going on here?

Shen seems to be unconscious (again) and Iam, Chloe, and Eli are writhing on the ground. Alyssa’s eyes are completely black. There is a look of horror on her face.

K; It's the amulet! It must have some kind of power!
Lely; Alyssa what are you doing?
Alyssa; I can't. . . control it.
Lely; What?
K; Let’s just . . . aaaaagh

K falls, clutching his head and moaning.

K; Get it away . . .
Lely; What is happening? Alyssa take the necklace off!
Alyssa; Can’t . . .
Lely; I’m coming!

He moves toward Alyssa, but before he can get close, Fear takes hold of him.

Lely; No, no, no, no . . . ugh.

Lely blacks out.

Alyssa; Why can’t I stop the #### thing? *she raises a hand toward it* No!

Dietsoda; What in the name of - Scorchy stay back!
Scorchy; They’re hurt!

Dietsoda pulls a knife from his clothing and throws it, catching the amulet’s chain and breaking it. The black amulet falls to the ground.

Alyssa; Oh ####, ####, ####. Thanks Dietsoda. I don’t know what happened. I couldn’t stop it.
Scorchy; The others are hurt. We need to help them.
Alyssa; No, they’re not hurt. Just . . . scared.
Scorchy; Huh?

K, Lely, and Eli are getting up, followed by Chloe.

Eli; ####. Don’t ever think of using that #### thing again, Alyssa.
K; What were you doing?
Alyssa; And now the secret is out. ####.
Chloe; Alyssa figured out that the black amulet had some kind of fear-inducing power. So when Iam and Shen tried to take it just now she used the power.
Eli; But turns out it affects everyone around her, not just specific targets.
Lely; Alyssa, why? I knew you kept that thing, but I didn’t know this was the reason.
K; That is actually dangerous.
Alyssa; I’m sorry, I didn’t know . . . I thought it was cool, could be useful. Here, Lely you take it.
Lely; No! Let’s just get rid of that thing. It’s not good for us.
Scorchy; Is everyone ok now? Iam, Shen?
Iam; *groans* You all are ########. That thing almost killed me!
Dietsoda; Relax. It can’t be that bad. It’s just some kind of fake emotion.
Iam; Oh, it’s very real. And Alyssa has used on me. Twice!
K; That is a problem.
Chloe; Yeah . . . Honestly I’m not sure we can trust you anymore Alyssa. No one should ever have to go through what you just did. To all of us.
Alyssa; I’m sorry . . .
Dietsoda; That’s not gonna be enough. Anyway, if you all are done here, I’m going back to winning this game.

Dietsoda leaves. Iam and Shen leave together.

Lely; That was brutal . . .
Chloe; He’s kinda right though.
Eli; How can you say that!?
K; Alyssa just used an enchanted object that she couldn’t control to practically drive us mad with fear. She’s gonna have to earn my respect again, and that’s a fact. And now, I’m going too. Leave that amulet where it is. Maybe one of our teachers will pick it up when they see no one wants it.

He walks away. One by one the others make their excuses and leave as well, returning to the task of finding amulets.

Eli; Well . . . We should go back to the apartments. You need to rest.
Alyssa; No, you go back to the game. I’ll go there alone.
Eli; If you want . . .

Half an hour later, Dietsoda returns to the magic building.

Dietsoda; Oh, there’s a vault buried in the dirt here. Must not have noticed it in the commotion earlier. This hole in the door is the same shape as my amulet.

He pushes his amulet into the hole and the vault opens.

Dietsoda; Easy! Hmmm, the black one is still just lying there . . . I’ll take it. Don’t have to use it. It counts for winning the game so why not.

Lely and Scorchy are at the campus entrance.

Lely; Look. There’s a key just hanging of the gate. Must be the key to the vault by the wall.
Scorchy; That seems too obvious.
Lely; You’re right, it seems kinda dumb. But let’s try it anyway.

They go to the vault.

Lely; Wow, it was the right one! Scorchy, do you want this? *he holds up a silver necklace*
Scorchy; No, you deserve it.
Lely; Aw thanks :3

Chloe searches the main building.

Chloe; Hmmm, I’m pretty close to where the X on the map is. There’s a door.

She opens the door labelled “basement access” and heads down a dark stairway.

Chloe; Man it’s creepy down here. Hah! A vault!

The vault has a 3-part combination lock on it.

Chloe; Wow, the numbers are literally scratched into the metal above the lock. How easy is that?

She sets the lock to the 3 numbers and the vault opens.

Chloe; A silver amulet. Nice.

She takes it.

Loudspeaker; ATTENTION STUDENTS. THIS CONTEST IS NOW OVER. RETURN TO THE MAIN HALL.

Back at the main hall.

Kaylie; Well, students, I can see your first three games have been quite interesting!
Eli; That’s an understatement. They’ve been insane. Not in a good way.
Kaylie; Since you’ve completed three games now, it’s time to review everyone’s progress. Currently, Iam, Lely, and K have one amulet each. Dietsoda and Chloe both have 3. You’re halfway there! There are only three more contests to go, so you’ll all need to improve your game if you want to win. Good luck!

Iam; Well, at least I have one point.
Shen; I don’t even wanna win anymore. They just kick you out when you lose right? That’s not much of a loss.
Eli; Ha. The was this is going, probably not.
K; Hey we don’t know that!
Lely; Everything that’s happened makes this look like much more than a dumb game. They’re putting us through this for a reason.

Eli and Lely take an evening walk.

Lely; It’s so beautiful on this island.
Eli; Yeah, the forests, the mountain, the sunsets, it’s all so perfect.

They are silent for a moment, appreciating the beauty of nature.

Eli; You know . . . What you said earlier. About how the school directors must be making us do this contest for a reason . . . What do you think that reason is?
Lely; Tbh I don’t know. I talked to Alyssa about this. She agreed it was weird. So I looked up some of the other places this group has built schools. There’s not a lot of info, really. Most of their students seem to be happy and successful. But there are a few who just kind of . . . disappear.
Eli; What?
Lely; Some of the students. They go to the schools, then they just disappear. It doesn’t look like anything unusual. You know. Some people just aren’t that well known. But it looks wrong to me.
Eli; How? I mean, do they die or just . . . are they just not that memorable or something? *he tugs at his hair, thinking*
Lely; I can’t figure that out. But even if somebody lives a quiet life there should still be some kind of record. It seems like these students are never heard of after the school.
Eli; Dang. This is so confusing.

Next morning.

Chloe; Hey Scorchy, have you seen Alyssa?
Scorchy; No, why?
Chloe; She didn’t come to our rooms last night. I’m kinda freaking out.
Lely; Was she there when Kaylie reviewed everybody’s scores last night?
K; Come to think of it, no.
Chloe; Oh no, no, no, no
Eli; Where do you think she is?
Chloe; I have no idea, she just disappeared.
Lely; Eli . . .
Eli; Last time I saw her was just after the accident with the fear amulet. She was going to come here and rest.
Chloe; Her bed wasn’t touched! Nothing had been moved, no she never came here to rest.
K; Let’s ask our teachers if they know where she is. Maybe Kaylie will know?

Eli; You don’t get it. She was so guilty about what she did -
Chloe; And we all left her! She’s probably gone and -
K; Hey hey hey. She wouldn’t go off herself over that! Heck, I don’t agree with everything she does but she’s not -
Chloe; NO. She’s gone. We, I, drove her away and now she’s . . .
K; STOP! Listen, let’s go and look for her then. You lot seem to think she’s gonna go kill herself or something but it’ll be fine. I promise. Lely, can you keep an eye on Chloe? Eli, Scorchy, start searching. I’ll go ask Kaylie if anyone knows where Alyssa is.
Eli; Alright. Scorchy?
Scorchy; Let’s go.


Good grief! My apologies to DetectiveDoggo and Kirby for the tiny number of lines. It was a long, plot-heavy episode and, well, you’ve got bigger parts in some future episodes . . .