Introduction

I've probably told most of you that I want to write a Battle Royale fanfic about the class. Yup, in light of recent events (chocolate, anyone?), no teachers etc. are going to be included. Sad, right? Haha... Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. It's a lot more fun if you're in 3T, 'cuz all 25 of us are inside. Plus, there's a 96% chance that you're going to be watching yourself die at some point in the fic.

Foreword

First, I want to thank the inspirational Mr. Jared Tong for his awe-inspiring 'Classroom' fic posted on his blog. If you haven't read it by now, you're probably living in a gutter in Somalia (if they have gutters there). Anyway, this fic is based on the violent horror movie series Battle Royale, which was in turn based on a book by Koushun Takami.

Here's the Amazon.com editorial synpopsis.

"Battle Royale, a high-octane thriller about senseless youth violence, is one of Japan's best-selling - and most controversial - novels. As part of a ruthless program by the totalitarian government, ninth-grade students are taken to a small isolated island with a map, food, and various weapons. Forced to wear special collars that explode when they break a rule, they must fight each other for three days until only one "winner" remains. The elimination contest becomes the ultimate in must-see reality television. A Japanese pulp classic available in English for the first time, Battle Royale is a potent allegory of what it means to be young and survive in today's dog-eat-dog world. The first novel by small-town journalist Koushun Takami, it went on to become an even more notorious film by 70-year-old gangster director Kinji Fukusaku."

This story is not meant to offend, nor was it intended as a literary piece. Purely for entertainment. Things will get gory past Chapter 2. Let the games begin. :)

Prologue

Prologue

PROLOGUE

Friday 4 November 0720

A day like any other. Depressing. Gloomy. Grey.

Morning. Fatigue. Boredom.

But it would be the end of it all. All they had to endure was a few more hours, and then they would be free. Or so they thought.

Last day of school, but nothing was much different. Talking, weiqi, stoning.

Ashley looked at his watch and it was already 7:21. He checked it with Fang Jin who was sitting next to him, and his watch wasn’t fast. The bell had failed to ring.

Norman was the first to stride out of the classroom as usual every morning. He tried hard to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. He shook the handle hard, but it seemed locked. “What the fuck?”

Ngiam, sitting right next to the door, heard him. “I can’t open this fucking door. I think it‘s locked.” Ngiam laughed and confidently reached out to open the door, but Norman was right. The door really was locked.

“Huh? I just walked in from the front door just now. Did someone lock it by accident?” Ngiam was puzzled.

Norman walked to the back of the classroom, pushing past the obstructing group of people who were still engrossed in their game of weiqi. He tried the door. Locked too.

“What the fuck? Both doors are fucking locked?” Norman yelled.

“Really?” Quek tried opening it, but to no avail as well. He slammed himself against the back door. Nope.

“It’s locked? I’m sure…” Bernard said.

“It’s true, some fucker locked us in…” Norman said.

Bernard laughed upon hearing his use of that word. “Relax. Then don’t go astroturf lor. We have excuse to pon assembly.”

“Shit,” Gabriel tried to kick the door. “Really cannot!”

Everyone slow began to realise what was going on, even the blurrest of people like Ling Zhang. Pretty soon, everyone in the class wanted to try opening the door, but nothing worked.

Wen Tao said he wanted to use his godly powers to open the door. Like that worked.

Ashley quickly switched on his phone so that he could call for someone to find out what was going on. To his surprise, the side bar showed zero reception.

Woonie and Mervyn tried inserting an unbent paper clip wire to pick the lock in the same way that the classroom console gets picked. The clock struck 8.

Everyone was lost in the commotion. What they didn’t notice was a white gas slowly being emitted from the air con system.

Mark, who was sitting right under the air con suddenly fell to the floor. Then Aaron Chen and Aaron Tan. Followed by Roger.

And they fell one by one, by one, by one.

Until silence reigned.

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

1000

Jared wiped his eyes and tried to awaken himself. Everyone around him was lying, asleep. It really wasn’t much different from History class, other than the fact that now, they were lying on the floor.

One by one, the people around him awoke.

Jeremy looked around him. Where was this place? The ground was smooth concrete, with hard metal walls surrounding him and everyone else in the room.

He struggled to look closer, and he saw his classmates all lying around, some already awake, some still knocked out on the floor. They were all wearing a metal ring around their necks. He quickly touched his own neck, and felt the same cold steel there. He tried to remove it, but it was impossible. It seemed welded around his neck, with no possibility of it being removed.

Benjamin was the first to stand up. The only thing he saw in the room other than the four walls was a metal grille gate and a staircase. Instinctively, he went closer to the staircase first. The steps merely led to a door, which was locked. The metal grille gate was locked as well. He tried desperately to wake everyone up.

“Where are we?” Jeremy asked.

“Concentration camp. Heil, Hitler!” Bernard faked seriousness and did the Hitler salute to Aaron Tan.

“Very funny.” Aaron Tan got up to try to knock at the walls. “This is really hard metal! Where are we? Who brought us here?”

There was a moment of panic. Everyone walked aimlessly around the room. Something definitely wasn’t right. They were suddenly all knocked out in the classroom, and now they had these metal collars around their necks, and they were locked in a metal cell.

Only one thing was normal. It was noisy like hell.

Everyone was trying to break the metal grilles but it was pointless.

Suddenly, everyone heard a door creak open. From up the staircase, four soldiers, heavily armoured, walked out with huge guns and pointed it at the 25 helpless victims. After a few shouts, everything grew quiet, but everyone was trembling greatly.

A familiar sound filled the room. It was the PA system alert. A muffled voice began to speak. “Welcome to the Battle Royale Survival Program.” Upon hearing this, some of the students gasped.

“Do not be afraid. The 25 of you have been chosen to partake in this program as a class. You are the final class in the batch to take this test. First, I will read out your names. When your name is read, step onto the numbered box.”

The students frantically looked around for the box, but they saw nothing. But their questions were answered when the floor suddenly lit up with the number 1, as Aaron Tan’s name was read. He hesitated to step on the square. The soldier yelled at him to hurry up and pointed his gun at him. Aaron was frightened, and he did as he was told. He stepped on the square. A second square lit up next to him with the number 2, and Aaron Chen’s name was read. And it proceeded slowly until Mark stepped on the 25th square, and it was complete.

“Good. Now, I will explain the rules of this program. I will not repeat myself, so you are expected to listen carefully.

You will each be given a weapon randomly and some bread and a bottle in a haversack. The bread can only last you one day. For water, you are expected to refill that at any of the water coolers set around the school.

Only one of you can survive this program. With your given weapons, or however you wish to execute your killings, you are to kill each other until only one person is left standing, and he will be given the chance to live and escape from this place.”

Everyone was stunned. The menacing voice went on.

“The entire school grounds is your playground. However, boundaries have been clearly outlined, dividing the school into many portions. After some time, I will make an announcement marking certain areas as danger zones. This will help to narrow the playing field. You can’t hide forever. If you step into a danger zone or out of the compound, or attempt to destroy any of the public announcement speakers, your collar will detonate and explode. No prizes for guessing what happens to you.”

Bor Ray lost control. “Who the hell are you? What are you doing to us?”

“Quiet. This is the Battle Royale Survival Program. Such idiocy will not be tolerated.”

“Who are you?” Bor Ray firmly asked again.

“I will not reveal my identity. You can refer to me in a generic term. Like Big Brother. Like Charlie. Like The Boss,” said the voice. “A generic, simple name.”

There was a moment of silence.

“You can call me… Bob.”

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

1100

The students were shaking in terror when they heard what the mechanical voice said.

It spoke again. “Weapons.”

The soldiers took out a big brown sack and walked straight to Aaron Tan.

They reached into the bag and gave him his weapon.

“A broom?”

The soldiers didn’t bother to answer. They seemed like robotic drones only under the command of The Voice (no, not RIPB’s The Voice). They moved to Aaron Chen and took out his weapon - a baseball bat.

They proceeded further down the line of students.

Mervyn got an axe, Woon Hian got a crossbow, Benjamin got a metal shield, Jeremy got an oddly-shaped scythe. Ling Zhang got 2 hand grenades, which he was thrilled to receive.

Yi Jing got a kitchen chopper, Bor Ray got a Christina Aguilera CD (author’s note: The US was searching for the WMD’s in the wrong place…), Bernard got a bottle of poison. They weren’t happy, but they couldn’t show it.

Fang Jin got a cool looking sword. Gabriel Ling got a thick glass bottle of water. Wen Tao received a hammer. Ngiam had a huge club. Norman got a boomerang. He had to restrain himself from spouting an endless of expletives.

When the soldiers got to Ashley, they took out something that made everyone gasp - a revolver. Trembling, Ashley took it with both hands and clutched onto it tightly. He looked around at everyone, who was starting at the gun in his hands. “Don’t worry. I’m only going to use it for defence. If you don’t attack me, I won’t attack you.” Or so he said.

Roger got a rope. Qian Chen got a set of small razor blades. Gabriel Quek received a set of 5 jagged throwing stars. He had never thrown one before, but he’d have to try.

Yong Feng was next, and he, too, got a small gun. Some of the others immediately began to grumble about their weapons. Bowen got a pair of katanas.

The soldiers stopped in front of Kah Hou. Kah Hou was delighted to see the soldier take out a long sturdy pole (hey, nothing sick intended). It was a spear. Joshua had a set of 10 throwing darts. Jared received a dagger. Mark got the last thing left in the bag, which was a whip.

One of the soldiers spoke. “You will now leave slowly and quietly in single file. I mean, you will leave slowly and quietly one by ones. Number 1, you firsts.”

Aaron Tan grabbed his bag and weapon and ran as fast as he could through the now-open grille gate. One by one, they left, until it came to Number 9.

“No,” Bor Ray replied defiantly.

“Moves!” the soldier yelled.

“You come and try to make me move. You all are fucking sick. I’m not participating in this shit.”

The soldier pointed a gun at his head.

“You won’t shoot me.”

The soldier pulled the trigger.

People screamed. The bullet pierced into the wall behind him. Bor Ray fell face-down on the floor with a thud, his brains blown out of his skull. Blood was seeping over the square markings on the floor. Everyone was too shocked to shout, speak or cry. Bernard’s shoes were stained with blood, but he didn’t notice. He just stared at Bor Ray’s body and bloody head on the floor, lifelessly.

A moment ago, some of the students didn’t understand the reality of the situation.

They now did.

They all did.

Believe me, they did.

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

1130

Benjamin ran straight to the Junior Block. There were so many classrooms there, what were the chances that he would be found? Maybe he could hide there until everything was over, and maybe he’d be the last one standing that way. He didn’t even know what happened back there in the metal room. He thought he still had to survive 24 others, but now there were only 23 others. But it didn’t make a difference.

Mervyn didn’t really know where to run. He ran to the staff room, then he changed his mind and ran to the maintenance room. He wanted to survive, like everyone else, but he knew that he had to kill. If nobody killed, then all of them would die of starvation if they couldn’t escape. He squeezed himself between the tables in the maintenance office and waited silently.

To Norman, the most dangerous place was the safest place. He headed straight for the 3T classroom, which was now unlocked. He hid himself under the teacher’s table. He suddenly had an idea. He picked up the unbent paper clip next to the back door - the one that they tried to pick the door lock with earlier that morning, and he picked the console lock. He tried his best to dismantle the ledge and the CPU, so that he could hide inside.

Jeremy ran down the stairs, across the empty carpark and to the library. He ran in between the shelves and sat down on the floor, breathless. He took out his water bottle and took a quick sip. He placed his scythe next to him, ready to defend himself. The library ought to be a safe place, considering that there were so many shelves, it was like a maze. What he didn’t know was that there was someone else in his labyrinth.

Roger ran as far as he could down to the PE Store. It was bound to be safe there. He sat there on the volleyball net stand. It wasn’t a bad place to be. He could sit there for ages and nobody would know. He didn’t have to go out, because in the volleyball stands there was a supply of water, even if it was gross. The only problem was that the soldiers stripped off his jacket when he was knocked out. He sat on the red stand, silently waiting, breathing in the musty air of the storeroom. He looked at his shoes, then the ceiling. Time would pass very slowly. He didn’t like the perversity of this game. He couldn’t stand watching someone fall to the floor dead. He couldn’t stay alone in that room anymore. He couldn’t live like this. Not without his jacket.

Woon Hian thought for awhile as he ran away from the metal room. His weapon was a crossbow. It would be smartest to go somewhere where he could aim from. The podium. He sneaked behind the pillar and sat down, concealed by the ledge, like a hunter waiting for his prey.

Gabriel Ling looked at the thick glass bottle. It was clear fluid. Around the bottle was a blue paper label. He ripped it off to study the fluid in the bottle more clearly. He uncapped the bottle and smelt it. It wasn’t water! He lowered the blue paper strip into the fluid. It quickly turned red then it fizzled and dissolved into the fluid. He suddenly realized what the bottle contained, and hell, it was concentrated.

Qian Chen paced up and down the biology labs. He picked the furthest one and entered. He looked around the dark room. He turned around and exited that room, and he went into the next room. He switched on the lights and fan, and he went back to the first room and crouched under the third bench.

Ashley ran to the library. Instead of heading in, he went to its rear and descended down the steps. He ran straight into one of the underground rooms. He turned on the lights and air con and he grabbed a chair and used it to bolt the door. He started moving a few more chairs to block the entrance. He ran back to the center of the room and took out his belongings. He studied his weapon. He thought he was safe. But he wasn’t. There were no bullets in the bloody gun.