Danganronpa 2: ReCaptured

Home Far Away From Home: Part 18

Following Hiyoko's show, the group took the time to explore the rest of the area. Besides the stage, the carnival also had a few other attractions, which they spent most of the day enjoying.

They all gave the merry-go-round a try, which turned out to be in much better working order than it seemed, but...once you get to a certain age, the magic of a merry-go-round seems to lose a little bit of its charm. It was honestly a little bit boring going round in circles, but since they were the only ones there, they were able to enjoy it at their own pace.

It was also nice to maybe have a bit of a breather and to take in the sights and sounds of the beautiful scenery around them.

Following that, they each tried out some of the carnival's games too. Gundham and Nekomaru competed to see who could do better with the hammer strength test, Akane and Chiaki played Whack-a-Mole together, and the others went through the various ring tosses and water gun games.

Mahiru challenged Hajime again at some coconut throwing, but they both soon discovered that this game especially was rigged beyond belief, and the coconuts were glued in their holsters. Which made sense, but it was still annoying.

Still, the fun they were having was enough for them to momentarily forget their paranoia and enjoy the carnival's simple pleasures. Mahiru became acutely aware of this and was wondering whether it was really okay to allow herself to be distracted, but then as she thought on it, she realized that the alternative was essentially demanding that everyone be chronically stressed out. And from personal experience, she knew that being in such a state was detrimental to one's health.

In the end, she decided to just go along with the others and simply enjoy the time they were spending together.

However, even with all the fun times at the carnival, curiosity soon led the students to venture further into the island, eager to uncover what else had been newly unlocked.

After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at an open clearing where something very new stood tall in front of them.

A massive white tower loomed above them, stretching about 60 feet into the sky. Its surface was sleek and metallic, reflecting the gray overcast clouds above. Besides the sheer height of the tower, something else that caught their attention was the large sign at the base, which Sonia stepped forward to read.

"'High-Gliding Gazoinks?'" she said aloud, looking at the others.

"What the hell does that mean?" Hajime wondered.

"No idea, but the tower's huge," Chiaki observed.

"This place must've been here the entire time, but we just didn't notice," Peko remarked.

"So, do we have a guess as to what this place is used for?" Mahiru asked. "This one's actually got me a little stumped..."

The sign featured a crude drawing of Monokuma with exaggeratedly fluffy angel wings, grinning like a maniac. It was a little hard to tell, but if anyone looked closely, there seemed to be a hint of saliva trickling from his mouth.

"What does it say? What does it say?" Hiyoko jumped up and down excitedly.

"Well, the name of the tower is 'High-Gliding Gazoinks,'" Sonia relayed, "But...as Mahiru noted, there is no indication what it is meant to do."

"There's a picture on the sign too," Hajime pointed out. "Maybe it's some kind of challenge course?"

"What, like a high-wire act?" Nekomaru scoffed. "Where would they even hook it up to?"

"Doesn't matter. If it's got anything to do with free falling or stunts that could get us killed, we're not doing it." Mahiru immediately shut down the idea.