This was going to the usual end arc part, but because it's too short, I combined this and what would've been an 'intermission' part into one chapter.

Last Second Save

"Well, if the blackened is going to confess, I suppose even the least intelligent person can't mess this up." Monocrow said. "But you are correct once again, the one who killed Mikado Sannoji, was indeed Yuki Maeda!"

That was the final confirmation, Yuki killed Mikado, but now that we knew...what now? Where do we go from here?

"Alright Yuki, explain to us why you did it?" I asked.

"Well, you all saw how I was feeling after Shinji's trial, right?" He responded. "Ever since that day, I've been plagued with thoughts of despair and misery nearly every hour. The only time it doesn't happen, is when I'm asleep. Cause then, my thoughts and dreams are filled with the smiles of my friends. But everytime I wake up, I am reminded of the despair in this virtual reality, and I think, how worse can it be in the real world?"

"A valid question." Kokoro said. "Cause even after what's been explained, we still need to find a way to escape."

"So by the time Higa City was opened to us, I chose to let myself feel what despair is like. How easy it would be to just let it all go and swim through it with no end in sight. it hurt me and at times, I ended up breaking down whenever I felt back to normal. That was why despite acting like I was turning into Utsuro, I was still willing to cooperate with you all. I didn't mind if one of you watched over me."

Setsuka rubbed her head. "So when you sent me that message..."

"Yeah, it was because you volunteered to look out for me, I'm really happy you did. So I wanted to return a favor by letting you help me in putting that sniper rifle together. I was ready to do whatever it took to stop Mikado at all costs, even if is costs me my life. I was prepared to do that the moment I dreamt about Shinji, telling me to not be scared, to be brave and be proud of what I can do to overcome despair. That was how I saw Big Bro at the end, and now, I can definitely say that I accomplished it."

"So what really happened when you were both at the warehouse?" Emma asked.

"Well, after I made my way to the warehouse, Mikado turned up and we began having a conversation before it all went ugly..."

*Flashback*

"Come out, wherever you are! You cannot escape your fate!"

"You think I'm just gonna lie down like a slave? Think again!"

"Hmph! Trying to stand against me will only slow down the inevitability."

"Grrr!"

"Why do you resist despair, Mr. Maeda?"

"Because that's not the way I live, nor the way I wanna live! If I did, what would be the point of Big Bro sacrificing himself to save me?!"

"Mr. Kasai was a fool to begin with. He had the strength, that was undeniable, but his intelligence was lacking, it was why he was the weakest member of Void."

"Yeah, but so what if he wasn't smart! He was actually a little more clever than you think he was!"

"Really now, do you have proof?"

"Yeah, I'm still standing! Better than I ever had!"

"If you think you're looking like a true survivor? Then you're just a little kid!"

"Okay, maybe we can get through this without the wisecracks! The point is that no matter how much despair you put me through, you will never break me!"

"Fine, then I shall have to put you down! With this bipedal robot! Do not worry, I don't plan to kill you. I wish to incapacitate you, it will only hurt for a moment."

"Bring it on, I'm not scared of that robot, or you! I'll take you down first!"

"Then show your worth to me! HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

"Take this!"

*End of flashback*

"I then threw the stun grenade and...well, you already worked out what happened."

"So he was trying to injure you so you wouldn't escape again?" Hibiki asked.

"Yeah, but when I threw that, I realized then that I had a one-time chance of stopping his plans."

"You used your luck to gain the advantage." Emma said. "You really are the ultimate lucky student."

Yuki smiled. "Yeah, I really am and I'm proud of it. It helped me pull off what was incredibly risky, but I did it and I have no regrets."

"Yuki...but of course, doing that meant you would become the blackened." I sighed. "Look, there may not be much time left, but I'm glad you came out of that robot."

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. But I just wanted to hear how you honestly felt about me, from one friend to another, and when I heard enough, I was ready to come out. That's the kind of friendship I really cherish, Big Bro told me that as well."

We all smiled at this words, he performed a feat that no one ever dared to do, and he came out on top, not Mikado.

"But now that Mikado's gone, I suspect something will change soon." Kokoro said.

"Oh yeah, what are we supposed to do now?" Yoruko asked.

"If Kado's now dead, we should be able to find something, right?" Setsuka added.

"It may not be promising, but being able to go to the Void hideout room would be a start." Emma said. "It should be possible to go there, now that we have a possible chance to finally escape."

"Well, if you do, then I wish all six of you the best of luck." Yuki smiled. "Even though the mastermind is gone, I still killed another participant in the eyes of Monocrow. So my time with you is about to come to an end."

"It sure is, Yuki!" Monocrow agreed. "Perhaps with Mikado now gone, I can finally regain my authority over this field trip. Speaking of which, I have prepared a very special punishment for the ultimate lucky student."

"Well then everyone...I guess this is goodbye between us."

"Yeah, it is..." Yoruko sniffed. "...you'll be missed."

"I know, and I feel happy to know that."

We soon got into a group hug with him as we felt emotional, we then stood away from him as he waved at us.

"Bye everyone...it's okay to feel sad, but it's good to feel positive and hopeful. Girls, please look after Owen, he's going to be the last male remaining, so do make sure he's well loved by the five of you. And Owen, please take care of the girls, I can see that they love you so much. Make sure you love them just as much in return, because that's your responsibility as a man."

"I will...thank you." I replied.

"Let's give it everything we've got!" Monocrow said. "IT'S PUNISHMENT TIIIIIIIME!"

Yuki sniffed. "Thank you all...for everything!"

GAME OVER!

YUKI MAEDA HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY!

TIME FOR THE PUNISHMENT!

We watched as Yuki was dragged away and landed on a seat, strapped in tight as the chair he was on, was moving along a conveyor belt.

FINAL DETENTION

Monocrow then appears with a teachers hat and a chalkboard showing a diagram of several bird types. The whole scene continues to move along the convener belt and a giant crusher suddenly appears from behind as Yuki and the scene continues to slowly move backwards, closer and closer to the crusher. The chalkboard then flips over, showing a diagram of a stick figure with a halo on top and Monocrow continues the lecture before flapping away as the scene inches closer to the crusher until...

...everything suddenly paused as glitches started appearing!

*SIMULATION SYSTEM ERROR DETECTED!*

...

*INITIALIZING AUTO LOGOUT!*

...

"Fufufu...not yet!"

...

"It's not over yet!"

...

Then everything went pitch black.

...

Then, a bright light shone in my face.

...

"Hey there, are you alright?" A voice asked before it became clear, and I saw a guy I didn't recognize. "Looks like you got out of there. Welcome back, Owen."

'He knows my name...WHAT THE HELL?!'

*END OF FIFTH ARC*

Students Remaining: 6(?)

Void Members: Mikado(Deceased?), Emma(Removed), Yuri(Deceased), Iroha(Deceased), Shinji(Deceased)

Obtained Item: Clean Silk Tie

What? You didn't think it was over, did you? ;)

Sorry for the break here, let's continue...

I could only blink back and grunted when I started moving my body.

"Hey, don't move around too much." The guy said. "You've been stuck in there for at least two days."

"He's right, you should take it slow." A female voice added.

I slowly sat up and looked at the guy. "Wh-who are you?"

He sighed. "I see, the memory wipe was more effective than we feared."

"Memory wipe?" I repeated.

"This might be too much to take in, but let's see if I can jog your memory. I am the former Peacekeeper, Dylan Richardson. A survivor of the previous killing game that happened at Hope's Peak Academy."

My heart thumped, well I suppose that confirms it. "Oh! You were one of the six survivors."

"Yeah, that's me. Emma was the one who told you about it after all. Need a hand?"

I nodded and I stood up, I could finally see around where I was. I wasn't in the trial room, I was now in some kind of future research lab and behind me was a massive machine with several weird looking pods that were surrounding it.

"That's the virtual reality simulation system that you and the others have been stuck in." Dylan said. "We've been keeping an eye on you ever since we detected the glitch inside the system."

"We?" I asked.

"He's referring to me." A blonde haired girl answered. "Oh, and I'm Kiyoka Maki, the former Sniper, and one of Dylan's girlfriends."

Dylan blushed. "Umm, Kiyoka?"

"Ah! Oh no, my old habit kicked in again." Kiyoka blushed as well. "Even after all this time, I still can't get rid of talking too much."

He shook his head. "Well, putting that aside. How do you feel, Owen?"

"I feel like I went through a comatose state." I replied.

"That's no surprise, given that you and the others were stuck in there for two days."

I blinked. "Wait, two days?"

"That's right, the flow of time in the simulation system was set up to pass much faster than in the real world." Kiyoka said. "So what may have been two weeks for you, was actually two days all along."

I was trying my best to get my head around that. Only two days passed? It felt like much more time passed in the virtual world.

"Take it easy, Owen." Dylan said as he smiled. "The system detected a major glitch and forced an auto logout right when Yuki was about to be executed."

'A major glitch? That would explain why everything suddenly shutdown, like a computer...'

"And that's not all, since the system automatically logged you out, you and the five girls were logged out at the same time." Kiyoka said.

"Wait, the girls?" I gasped. "Where are they?"

"It's okay, Owen." Someone answered. "We're right here."

I then saw five girls enter the room and in front was a brown-haired girl with glasses, she looked older but very familiar.

"Yoruko?!" I shook my head. "Is...that you?"

"So you do recognize me." Yoruko blushed. "Well, o-of course you would recognize me, I am one of your girlfriends."

That talk and that expression...I couldn't believe it, so that's Yoruko in the real world.

"Now I remember..." I sighed as I felt my heart leaping with joy. "...you and I...we've been in love for a long time."

"Yeah, it's strange now, but we were...before this all happened." She then rushed up to me and hugged me. "We made it!"

"Yoruko...yeah, I guess we did." I hugged her back and shared a kiss.

"Heeeey, save some for us too!" A familiar voice intervened.

Yoruko stood aside and I saw four very familiar girls.

"Come on, Owen, don't say you've forgotten the rest of us, right?"

I blinked. "Hibiki?! You look different with your hair down."

"Hehe, caught your attention? I've always had it like this." She replied. "But you look so different now."

"I do?"

A third girl with short blue hair nodded...wait, is that Setsuka? "Biki's right. Your face is really different than it was inside the virtual world."

"Setsuka...if you're here as well, then..."

"Yes, it's like they said, we girls made it out together." Emma answered, she more or less looked the same. "I may have a ponytail, but I'm still the same on the inside."

"Emma...I like it already."

She giggled. "Thanks..."

"What about Kokoro?"

"I'm here as well." She answered, she was in a lab coat and her hair was longer...and she still wore slippers. "I remember everything now."

"You do?"

"Along with the new memories I've made, I now remember why this happened in the first place."

I nodded. "Right...then we need to talk about it. But first...can I be with you girls for a moment?"

They all smiled and we shared a group hug and some kisses for me.

"Awww, what a lucky guy." Kiyoka commented. "That brings back memories for us, doesn't it, Dylan?"

"Yeah...even though many years have passed, we're still the same and very much in love." Dylan replied. "But we'll need to go over the serious stuff first."

"Many years?" I asked.

"Kiyoka, see if you can get the simulation system back up and running."

She nodded. "Sure, I'll get to work."

We all found somewhere to sit, with me and the girls sitting on two odd-looking pods.

"We heard everything that Emma spoke when we were monitoring your situation, and everything she said is true." Dylan said. "Mikado is the one responsible for everything that went wrong inside the simulation system. As for when it all began, I believe Kokoro should explain that, since there's still a big gap of your memories which is slowly coming back."

"He's right, and I hope you don't think of me differently, when you hear what I'm about to say." Kokoro took a deep breath and explained. "It all began two weeks ago, before we were all logged inside the simulation system. I was part of the remnants of despair who was captured and put through a clean slate program which changed my ways, memories of my time as part of the despair was wiped. I was fascinated by how effective the simulation system was in doing that, so I wanted to research on that in more detail. I contacted the Future Foundation and they approved of me to conduct the research. But then one day...'he' showed up."

"Huh? Who showed up?" I asked.

"Mikado Sannoji..."

"What?!" Emma gasped.

"Keep in mind that I didn't know who he was, because of the 'clean slate' from before." She sighed. "On one late night, when I was working alone inside the building and in the middle of creating the virtual reality with the simulation system, Mikado approached me with an idea. To use it as an effective tool to wipe the memories of those who have been cursed with despair. And that if they wish to no longer feel that way, they should use the system to take them away and go through a virtual reality course before logging out of the system. At least...that was supposed to happen. But as we know now, what happened was much different."

"What do you mean?" Hibiki asked.

"Once the virtual reality inside the simulation system was complete, the rest of you showed up saying that you were what's left of the remnants of despair and that soon, we will feel and look brand new. We then got into each of those pods you see and we were automatically logged in by the system. Unfortunately, there was a glitch within the system, a glitch that Mikado used to hack the virtual reality for his own agenda. The creation of Monocrow, announcing himself as the mastermind and the leader of Void and forcing us to kill each other so that he can capture Yuki and use his body to resurrect Utsuro...none of that was part of the agreement."

"Part of the agreement was that we allowed Kokoro to have an assistant if she wanted and Mikado was the only person we didn't have much information on, because we thought we had gotten every member of the remnant of despair, but now it seems that wasn't the case." Dylan said. "By the time we realized something was wrong, we began looking for Mikado. He had been on the run for years and it took us ages before we finally tracked him down. Once you all logged in to the simulation system, it was too late. There are fourteen simulation pods in this room and there were sixteen of you, right?"

"Umm, yeah?" Yoruko nodded. "What does that mean?"

"Mikado logged into the virtual reality, but he didn't use a pod, so we then realized the true horror...the Mikado Sannoji you've all been talking to, is an A.I."

"An A.I...so Kado isn't a real person?" Setsuka asked.

"No, he was a real person." Kokoro answered. "But it seems that before we all arrived, Mikado must've went inside the simulation, found a way to get himself killed and then use his consciousness and convert his data into an A.I. Meaning that the Mikado we've been talking to all this time...was already dead."

We all gasped.

"No...how is that even possible?" Emma asked.

"Once the trap was set, we all logged in and our memories were wiped so that we wouldn't remember any of this. To think the A.I would use the memory wipe on me as well, he must've known that I would've blown the whistle if I worked out something was wrong. That's why I wasn't keen on working with you all at first, I wanted to find out what actually happened and then learn more about Void which Mikado explained to us. I worked alone, cause my body was telling me to keep you all safe.

"Just like how my body reacted." I sighed. "You know, that would explain why my heart kept thumping everytime we found a major clue."

"So your body was able to remember, but not your mind? I suppose that does make sense, since Mikado can't modify every single detail of a person's life."

"Wait, you said there was fourteen of us." Setsuka said. "If Kado was an A.I, then what was Ra-Ra?"

"You mean Sora?" Kiyoka asked. "We were trying to find that out as well, we kept looking back to when she protected Yuki and got stabbed by Syobai. But now that it's gotten this far, we may have an idea on who Sora really was."

"Really, then who was she?" Hibiki asked.

"Even I was surprised when she mentioned it, but it does line up with the glitches that Mikado didn't cause." Dylan said. "Sora...is a reincarnated A.I...of someone that Kiyoka and I once knew. Sora is the A.I form...of Akane Tiara, the Ultimate Maid."

"Akane Tiara!" Emma said. "That's the name of the mastermind from the previous killing game, the one you two were involved in."

"Yes, and speaking of you, Kiyoka and I heard the whole thing." He smiled. "Don't worry, in exchange for sharing all that information, you won't be arrested, cause you were willing to leave Void and side with us."

She sighed with a smile. "That's a relief..."

"Getting back to the main topic." Kokoro said. "If Sora is Akane Tiara, that would also explain why she said she had amnesia and that she couldn't remember anything except that name. I could only imagine how she would react, if she worked out that she was an reincarnated A.I of Akane, she would never believe it."

"But there's something I don't get, why did we look much younger in the simulation system?" Yoruko asked.

"That's because Mikado used the information he hacked and gave you all 'avatars' which were how you used to look five years ago." Kiyoka replied. "Though I have to say, some of you looked so cute with those avatars."

Hibiki looked confused. "Uhh, thanks?"

"Ugh, I did it again..."

"Moving right along...but yes, those were how you used to look five years ago before you were captured." Dylan said.

"So what about Yuki?" I asked. "Was he a remnant of despair as well?"

"No, he was actually part of the Future Foundation. We met someone who said he was Yuki in the previous killing game, but he turned out to be none other than Utsuro himself."

"Wait, you met Utsuro in person?" Yoruko asked.

"Yes, but not as Utsuro himself, his memory of that background got wiped by Akane, and it was during the killing game that he was killed. I was able to find that out because Future Foundation sent a mole to keep an eye on us and report back if a killing game occurred. His name was Yamato Kisaragi, and he was the Ultimate Inventor. Before he was killed, he found a laptop hidden inside the academy and created an A.I called Inventor Ego which was how I was able to find out about the information on the previous killing games that happened fifteen years ago as well as finding out that Akane Tiara was a member of Void."

"Akane as a member of void." Kokoro said. "Perhaps the simulation system glitched and hacked a part of information that Mikado had on Akane which resulted in the creation of Sora. Then it may be possible that her A.I is roaming inside the system, but the location would be impossible to find."

"So if Sora is Akane, is it possible that she caused a glitch just when Yuki was about to be executed?" I asked.

"Well, it would explain why the system was shut down instantly." Dylan answered. "I don't think even Mikado predicted that would happen."

Emma gasped. "Wait, if the system shut down before he was executed, does that mean he's still alive?"

"I can't say for sure, but if we want to find out, there's only one way to do that." Dylan said.

"You mean that we have to go back in and rescue Yuki?" I suggested.

"What? Go back in?!" Hibiki exclaimed. "You can't be serious!"

Kiyoka then switched on the system. "Alright, I've got it working, the monitor's switched on and...huh?"

We saw the monitor and there was a view of the beach, but the colour was sightly pink and there were zeros and ones flashing.

"What is going on?" Setsuka asked. "What's with the numbers?"

"This isn't good, looks like the virtual reality is beginning to glitch out badly." Dylan said. "We may not have much time."

"So we're really going back in there?" Yoruko asked.

"We have to, if we wanna save Yuki." He folded his arms. "And this time, I'll be going in with you."

"Huh? Dylan, are you sure?" Kiyoka gasped.

"Sorry for not running this with you earlier, but the situation's getting worse." He smiled. "Don't forget, we still have the 'admin' simulation pod in the corner. I'll use that one so I can gain access to the admin privileges and have a fail-safe option ready."

"Admin privileges?" Emma repeated.

"Remember when there were fourteen of you? Syobai Hashimoto was given the role as 'Admin' of the simulation. It's the reason why he acted so cold when you all first met him. So unlike the rest of you, some of his memories were wiped, but not all of them."

"Did he also know about Mikado and Sora being A.I?" Emma asked.

"No, I don't think even he was aware of both of them being an A.I , but I suspect that he knew something was up the moment Sora saved Yuki from getting stabbed. He must've worked out that Mikado was running the whole thing behind the scenes and chose to act alone...well, until he was accidentally killed."

I sighed. "So I ended up getting someone on our side killed?"

"No, that was Sora who did it...or rather, Akane who did that because she was stabbed by Syobai."

"However, we also know that it wouldn't have happened if Mikado hadn't sent that message to Syobai." Kokoro said. "We should've kept a closer eye on Syobai, now that we remember all of this."

"Yeah, losing him was a big blow to our goal in capturing Mikado." Dylan added. "But we still have a chance to rescue Yuki, before the whole system glitches out entirely. We can't waste anymore time."

"If we have a chance, then we shouldn't let it go to waste." Setsuka said.

"Yeah, I don't wanna be trapped again." Hibiki added. "But if we're gonna save Yuki, I guess we have to do this."

I stood up with a newfound ambition. "Honestly, I'm having a hard time recapping over all this, but I do know one thing. If Yuki is still alive because the execution was stopped by the glitch, then we have a chance to rescue him. I'm not going to let that pass me by, we're gonna save him!"

"Owen...yeah, you're right! We still have a chance to save him." Yoruko said.

Dylan chuckled. "You remind me of how I was, years ago. I had that same determination when the killing game was reaching its end."

"I guess it's because I was an international transfer student just like you." I replied. "Speaking of which, what happened to Hope's Peak?"

"Hope's Peak has been closed for years." Kiyoka answered. "But the Future Foundation plans to open it up again, once Mikado is defeated for good."

"Then lets find our hope and rescue Yuki, come on, girls."

The girls nodded in agreement.

"Use the pods you got out of, to log yourselves back in." Dylan said. "I'll use the Admin pod to make sure there'll be no memory wipes this time and that you'll be in your normal clothes, not your avatars."

"Aww, but they look more precious when they're younger." Kiyoka whined.

"That can be taken the wrong way, you know."

Kiyoka blushed. "Ugh, I did it yet again...I'll never get rid of this habit."

Dylan chuckled. "It's okay, wish us well, I love you."

"Love you too, Dylan. Please keep everyone safe."

They shared a kiss and Dylan went over to the simulation pod in the corner as the rest of us got back in our pods, ready to go back in to save Yuki.

*LOG-IN SEQUENCE INITIATED!*

...

*NOW ENTERING: UTSUROSHIMA ISLAND*

Hehe, what can I say?

Next time! The group returns to the virtual world where glitches are present.