This one is a little short, but it has important plot points and the like. Some talks between Albert and his companions. An epic battle. We're nearing the end, but the journey is far from over.

I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 13

Sagely Judgement

At one point during our trek through the factory, we entered a break room and found a yet another novel.

"What was "the incident" all about?" The title asked rhetorically. "Though "The Tragedy" that painted the world with despair showed signs of calming after the death of the ringleader, it has not completely settled. However, in light of current events, shouldn't we look back at what "The Tragedy" can teach us, and prepare for preventive measures? A thorough investigation to the "The Worst, Most Despair Inducing Incident in the History of Mankind."" I grunted and passed the book to Komaru. "You were captured around the time the Tragedy was starting, right? So you can only know what it was like through testimony and anecdotes."

"Well, by the time I was abducted, the world was already pretty messed up." She explained. "The crime rate was high, the war had started... 7 of my classmates had died..."

"I'm sorry to hear that..." I said. I knew what it was like to lose classmates. "Do you know how they were killed?"

"I'm not really sure if they died, but one day, all 7 of them went missing." She clarified. "And a little while after... someone mailed a package to the school... 35 fingers were inside."

"Th-That's so fucked..." I growled.

"They never ended up finding them..." She continued. "There's no way they're still alive. Because I went through that... I'm worried about my parents..."

"We'll find them." I assured her. "If your brother was here, I think he'd say something like: Don't lose hope."

"Hope..." She seemed to consider the word. "Yeah, you're right! It's not like I know for sure Checko or my parents are dead!"

"Checko?" I repeated.

"Oh, my friend who disappeared. Her name was Chieko."

"Ah, it's a nickname. That makes more sense." I said. "Well, I'm sure we'll find her, too. Let's keep going." I made a silent prayer that these people really were alive, that Makoto and Komaru could meet their friends and family again someday.

We walked over to Haiji, who was peeking out the door. "Looks like the security Monokumas are gone. Now's a good time to go."

I nodded. "Let's not give them a reason to chase us around."

We found a small book talking about Towa Group. Naturally, with Haiji there, I decided it would be fun to leaf through.

"It was declared earlier this month that the largest household electric appliance manufacturing company, "Kanto," has been acquired by Towa Group. This bring the number of subsidiaries owned by Towa up to 8,000. Towa Group, and by extension Towa City, has been receiving a lot of attention as of late." I looked up at him. "8,000? Sounds like you guys are trying to take over the world."

"Ha, world domination..." He thought about it. "Sounds swell. If we could completely control all the brats in the world and the adults... That'd be nice."

"I was, uh, I was kidding." I told him.

"So was I... Towa Group isn't some evil corporation straight out of a movie. It's a financial group with a simple policy and reasonable assets. "Normal" to a T. Aside from all the greed driving me to make this company the largest in the world, of course."

"Hm. So you're not evil, just bastards out for everyone's money. Sounds like the symbol of capitalism, to me."

"Well anyway, there's no dangerous ulterior motives behind Towa Group... currently."

"So... you used to be evil?" I guessed.

"Well, we may be nobles now, but that doesn't mean we didn't start at the bottom like everyone else. I'm sure Towa Group was rather ambitious when they were just a startup."

"Ah, I was thinking more about what your dad was up to before all this shit. He was chairman, right? What kinda stuff did he do?"

"...Who knows?" Haiji shrugged. "I wasn't exactly deeply involved with the business side of Towa. I have no idea. But it is true that Towa was working to put the incident in the past."

"That's why they made the air purifiers, right?" Komaru asked.

"We also detoxify sea water and replant forests." He added. "We're honestly pretty good people."

"I think everyone's trying to put the incident in the past." I said. "Also, "good people" don't use Monokumas as guards."

"Jeez, you're a pushy one aren't you? I already told you, you gotta trust me on this one."

I scoffed. "Yeah well, trust is earned, not given, and certainly not bought. Though I wouldn't expect you to know that, blue blood. You want my trust, be trustworthy."

"Al, I know how you feel, but now's not the time for this." Komaru cut in.

"Yeah, I know." I nodded to her. "Just stay by my side, okay? I don't like to think of what he'd do if he was alone with you."

Haiji groaned. "On my honor... I promise I'm not into her!... Specifically."

"What does that even mean?" I asked.

"What I'm tryin' to say is, they younger they are, the better it is for me!" He snapped.

"Seriously, red flag! Are we just letting that slide!?"

"But I mean, the fact that he admits it... It's kind of attractive." Komaru defended.

I smacked her upside the head. "You are awful at picking men. Now, let's hurry. With luck, we could get to where we're going before I change my mind."

"A Thorough Investigation of Genocide Jack"

"With a mastery of killing that can even be called "artistic," Genocide Jack changed the world. The rumors about him that flutter about are innumerous. Online, they talk about him as if he were a mere urban legend... However, he does really exist. In this book, we address the rumors, study the motives, and create the killer's profile.

"...Genocide Jack is alive."

I chuckled darkly at that last line. "If only that were true."

"What do you mean?" Komaru asked.

"Genocide Jack was one of the students in the killing game. She... didn't survive."

"Wait, she? And she was a student at Hope's Peak?"

I shook my head. "No, not officially. Remember when we first met, I mentioned I had a friend with DID once? That was her. When certain things triggered a switch, she'd go from a quiet, anti-social girl to a boy-crazy psychopath. I know she was a serial killer, she even tried to kill one of my friends, but I can't help but feel bad that I couldn't save her. It doesn't help much that when she died... so did her other, innocent half."

"That's horrible..." Komaru said.

I read the synopsis of the book again. "Heh, they claim to be a thorough investigation, but it looks like they couldn't even get her gender right. That's funny. Maybe if we make it out of this, I could write a book about all the things I know about Danganronpa. Of course, in some cases, that'd be an invasion of privacy. I'll be sure to keep it relevant to the Tragedy."

I must've stared at the book a second too long, because Komaru took notice. "Al...?"

I sighed. "Let's go. We can't afford to stare at the past, not when we still have people in the present to protect."

We approached the elevator to the final floor, but there was a problem. There were a bunch of lasers blocking the way. The gaps between them were too small to squeeze through like in the spy movies. If we touched even one, we'd be surrounded by security Monokumas faster than you could say "Oops!"

I turned to Haiji. "What do we do here?"

"Don't worry, if you input the password in the Management Room, the lasers will shut off." He pointed to the other side of the room. "The Management Room is at the back of the conveyor. We should go there first. Just a bit more... If we can get to that elevator, we can get to the deepest area. Once we're there... the trump card is ours."

"Ugh, I'm starting to wish I just left..." I groaned as we headed toward the Management Room.

Inside, we found a security guard's body laying on the floor, in a pool of his own blood.

"A-A body!?" Komaru shrieked.

"...Just like I thought." Haiji growled. "This guy wasn't killed by a kid. He was killed by a Guard Monokuma that went haywire. But this is a problem... He's the only one who knows the password to turn off the lasers."

"Yeah, excellent security management, there." I snarked. Why not leave the password up to just one guy? "So what do we do now?"

"We gotta find that password somehow..." He said. "I'm sure there's a clue or something in here. We can't just give up..."

As the avid mystery game player that I am, I began looking around for evidence. Apparently, the security guard made the password his son's birthday. A very common way to password something. I noticed a picture on his desk of his son's birthday party. It was splattered with blood, but I could make out two numbers, 69 and 8. The bloodstain covered just in front of the eight, so it could have been an 18 or a 28 as well. In a note, the guy mentioned his son's birthday is on the third Saturday of the month, so with a bit of math, it had to be an 18. The 69 was trickier, but I quickly realized that the number 69 could not be part of any birthday unless his son was born in 1969. Ergo, it wasn't a number, but a symbol that looks like a number. You can thank Leon for helping me with that trick. It also helped that, before dying, the security guard had a zodiac image opened in another tab.

"July 18th." I said. Komaru and Haiji watched as I approached the laptop and typed in the 4-digit code, 0718.

"Yes!" Haiji cheered as he saw the lasers shut off on one of the security monitors. "Now we can get to the deepest part! I knew I could trust you guys!" He dashed out of the room.

"No problem." I said, following him.

"Wow, how did you solve it so fast, Al?" Komaru marveled.

I shrugged. "A lucky guess."

We took the elevator down to the bottom of the factory, where we found a massive door.

"Here we are... Our trump card is just behind this door." Haiji said. "Our last hope..."

I stepped forward cautiously. I glanced back to Komaru to make sure she was ready, before pushing the button that opened the door. On the other side, we found something we couldn't have expected. With a smirk, Haiji rose his free hand, pointing up at his "trump card." Komaru and I, meanwhile, we entirely dumbstruck. After all...

...We were staring up at a massive Monokuma robot dressed as a king.

"Th-This is... a Monokuma?" Komaru shouted.

Haiji stepped in front of us, raising his arm as if presenting it. "Yeah... Our trump card, the last hope for us adults..."

"This Monokuma is the last hope...?" Komaru asked.

"It's not just an oversized Monokuma." He said. "It's a secret weapon that was built by Towa Group in case we ever needed to defend the city. If we use Big Bang Monokuma now... We can put up a fight and take back the city."

"What is this...?" I asked. "Why the fuck do you have Guard Monokumas!? And what's with this monstrosity? Why did Towa Group make shit like this? Why are Monokumas being built in Towa's factory?"

He looked away, without responding. I glared at him. "Don't tell me you're the mastermind behind this or something."

Suddenly his attention snapped back to me. "Hey c'mon, if I were behind it all, why would I make Monokuma break my arm?"

"Then you better start talking." Komaru pressed.

He sighed. "The Monokumas that are built here were supposed to be introduced to the world as Maid Robots. They were developed to assist daily life and also to help with dangerous labor tasks. But... those kids ended up taking over..."

"That big fucker was supposed to be a maid? To who? King Kong?" I asked.

"This one's special. Didn't I tell you? This was built to protect the town from danger."

"Okay, fair enough. But why make them look like Monokuma? In my opinion, that's in very poor taste..."

"Don't blame me, I didn't pick the design. The one who developed them chose that on their own."

"That's convenient for you." I groaned. "So now I have someone new to track down. Whoever developed them is probably in kahoots with the kids."

"It is what it is." Haiji said. "At the time these were being made, I wasn't even aware of it."

"Ah, wait... About the one who developed them..." Komaru asked.

She was cut off, however, when the entire room started shaking. "Oh, god, what is it now!?" I yelled.

The ceiling caved in, and another robot flew in. Not a Monokuma, but a humanoid one.

Haiji coughed as the dust cleared. "What happened?"

The giant robot cocked a rifle and swished its cape as a speaker from withing it announced its own entrance.

"Sage Robot Hannibal X"

It set its sights on us, pointing at us with its gun. It was only then I noticed its master. Nagisa stood just next to one of its legs, with a giant controller strapped around him. He stared at the ground, and seemed very out of it.

"That kid... he's the one who wanted to let us go, right?" Komaru realized.

"...Found you... Demons..." He said in a quiet voice. He looked up at Big Bang Monokuma. "I can't believe it... Hiding something like this..."

"Let me guess... did she tell you about this?" Haiji asked. "If she can't control it, she wants you to destroy it?"

I ignored his remark and started slowly approaching Nagisa, hands raised and my weapon sheathed. "Nagisa... I'm not going to hurt you, okay? I'm going to come over there, and I'm not doing anything..."

"Stay back..." He demanded, his broken face lifting from the floor to meet my gaze. "I won't hesitate... to shoot you..."

"I know, I know..." I assured him. "I'm not your enemy here... I want to help you. Nobody has to get hurt anymore. Okay?"

"But I... Monaca... I have to... destroy the adults..."

"Well, I won't let it happen!" Haiji snapped from behind me. "This is the hope we've finally got for ourselves..."

"Haiji, not helping." I told him before turning back to the child in front of me. "Nagisa, I know what it's like to be scared and hurt. But you don't have to be alone. I can help you. Just trust me, okay? I can help you. I can make the pain go away. You don't have to do everything on your own."

"I-I... I..." He stopped for a moment. At this point, I was only a few feet away from him. I was just about ready to leap forward and hit a pressure point or something, but he suddenly shifted the controls. "NO!" Hannibal X turned and shot the ground in front of me. I jumped back on instinct as a laser punched a hole in the platform we were on. Tears were rolling down Nagisa's face. "E-Everyone expects so much of the Warriors of Hope... And of me... To meet these expectations, I have to build Paradise all by myself! So expect more of me! I'll work harder! I'll do it, anything, just please don't abandon me... Father... Mother... Big Sis Junko! Monaca! More, more, more! Expect more from me!"

"Wh-What's wrong with him!?" Haiji asked. "He's batshit crazy!"

"How did he get like this...?" Komaru wondered.

"I can do it... I can really do it... Because out of all the Warriors of Hope... I'm the best at controlling these robots!" As if to accentuate his point, he made the robot shoot more lasers at us. We ran as the platform beneath us was utterly destroyed.

"Shit! This is bad..." Haiji groaned.

"Al, this way!" Komaru steered me around a pillar of some kind, where we took cover.

"Whether they're Demons or not... Anyone who gets in the way of Paradise... I will defeat each and every one of them! So please, give me high expectations! Expect more of me! More! Please expect the best from me!"

"He's lost it..." I said from our hiding spot. I cursed myself. Why couldn't I do anything right? "I think... we should run..."

Komaru turned to me. "But... Haiji said... The big Monokuma is the last hope for everyone back at the base... If we run now, that Monokuma's gonna be destroyed, right? The last hope for the adults will be gone..."

I hesitated for a moment. "Goddamnit... it's too dangerous. But then again... I guess there are times where we have to fight..."

"Huh?"

"What can I say? I'm easily swayed by cheesy speeches. It's why I find your brother so inspiring." I pulled out my baton. "Besides, we've come this far already. Too far to die now."

"Yeah, you're right." She agreed, cocking her gun.

The robot started firing again, but I noticed that is stopped after a few shots. "It has to reload." I realized. "Now's our chance."

Komaru nodded, spinning around and shooting the robot in the eye. Hannibal X toppled over and fell on its ass. I ran around the other side of the pillar and dashed over, hitting it in the face. Before I could shatter its weak spot, though, it got back to its feet and jumped atop one of the pillars, and began sniping us.

We both ducked behind cover again. When the robot ran out of ammo, Komaru tried to shoot it again, but it moved too fast this time. It flew across the arena at high speeds and landed on another pillar. Nagisa wasn't kidding, his control of this thing was quite smooth.

I watched intently. If we wanted to win, we'd have to play dirty. "I got an idea." I told her, as I began to take off my lab coat.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Making an opening." I tossed by coat out of cover. Upon seeing movement, Hannibal X shot a laser at it. The laser hit just above the top, where by head would've been if I was wearing it, and burned the neck of the coat slightly.

That little distraction was just what Komaru needed. She turned back and shot the robot in the eye once more. It toppled over and fell off the pillar.

I cranked up the frequency of my baton, ran over, and jammed it right through Hannibal X's eye.

Electricity started arcing around it. It got up and jumped atop a pillar in the center of the room, and started spilling bombs everywhere. Komaru and I managed to avoid them. Then, the robot started to jerk and shake. One of its legs broke off, and its head followed.

Nagisa stood nearby, desperately pulling the controls, trying to force the machine to follow his command. As all the parts of Hannibal X broke apart, laying in a heap, one of its arms fell over the edge of the pillar, falling toward Nagisa. He looked up at it, paralyzed with fear. The last thing I saw was him get crushed before a giant explosion consumed the area.

When the dust cleared, I stared at the rubble and charred scrap heap that was Nagisa's grave. Why couldn't I save any of them? Masaru, Jataro, Nagisa... Why did everyone I try to help die? Was I not good enough? Why couldn't I be the Ultimate Psychologist? Why couldn't I be born with talent? Why did everything have to be so hard? Why did everyone else have to pay the price for my incompetence?

Haiji made his way over. Oh, yay, he was alive. "Guess you could say... He wasn't "expecting" that."

I shook my head and walked away. "Fuck off, Haiji." I picked up my lab coat and threw it on.

"Yeah, sorry, that wasn't funny." He agreed.

"Now's not the time!" Komaru said. "We gotta save him!"

"Just leave him..." Haiji told her.

"...Huh?"

"If we save this crazy-ass kid, he'll just end up doing the same thing again." He said. "He probably got crushed anyway. We can't save him even if we wanted to."

I nodded. "While he could have put it a bit nicer, he's right. Nobody could've survived that, let alone a child. All we'll find is a charred, mangled, child-sized corpse." I sighed. I know I was all about remembering the dead, but... I think I'd rather remember what Nagisa was before he became crazy... er, crazier. Unintelligible. I mean, he was a monster before, but...

Haiji stepped forward toward Big Bang Monokuma. "More importantly, take a look at this. Hahaha... We've finally got it... Hahahaha... The hope... We've finally got our hope..."

"H-Hope..." Komaru said the word as if she forgot the definition.

"Alright, let's ride this right to the enemy's HQ!" Haiji announced, hyped.

"Ride? On the Monokuma?" Komaru asked.

"Oh, don't worry, Al won't be driving this time." He assured her. "He wouldn't be able to, anyway. The only ones who can control this are me and my old man. So I've gotta move this myself... Now, let's begin the counterattack! Once the others see this, they'll be pumped for sure! Haha... hahahaha!"

I stared up at the colossal mech in front of us. "Yeah. Let's hope this was worth it..."

I like any conversation where Albert remembers one of his classmates, so the one where they read the Genocide Jack book is one I enjoyed writing. Also, I included that dumb password puzzle as a way to show that Albert hasn't gotten rusty with his investigation skills. I don't know when the next time he's going to really need that is (maybe DR3, but DR2 might have some moments), but it's always nice to show that Albert isn't just a guy doing things. Since he's not an Ultimate, he has quite a few skills that aren't necessarily related to each other, and I like drawing attention to them.

In the next chapter, the counterattack will begin.