Makoto wailed in agony as the Despair Video gave a monstrous mindfuck, seeing all of his dead friends reminding him of his failures and being alive in their place REALLY didn't do him and his mental state any favors.
He trashed around in his self imposed binds as he screamed, sadly this ruined the rope he was on with a steel beam and ended up getting him untied...why is it bad you ask? Because now a knife dropped and well...the Despair brainwashing seemingly took his effect.
"Do it Makoto" Said Sayaka's Hallucination.
"Join us," Said the Kyoko's Hallucination.
"It's your only way to pay for your sins" Said the voices of the other dead Class 78 Students.
Makoto crawled to where the Stylish Knife dropped and looked at it, his eyes covered in Shadows.
"Yes Makoto, do it," Said Sayaka.
"Join us Makoto, join us and we'll be together at last" Said Kyoko.
The Hope Luckster was silent for a while, not saying a word and not moving the Knife any closer.
He gripped it with force...then his grip softened.
"...I…"
"...I miss you all so much" He said, dropping tears for one of the first times in his life.
"Then what are you waiting for?" Said two of the girls he missed a lot.
"When you died I felt horrible, knowing I will never see you again. It still hurts that I was never able to save any of you…" The sadness from his tone was evident.
Despite that, the others didn't say anything, already feeling something wasn't going like they expected..
"So I resolved to keep going, keep going for everyone that has fallen...If I die like this...it will all be for nothing" There was an odd mix of resignation and determination in his tone, two conflicting emotions that represented his mindset.
"...So are you still gonna live?" Sayaka spat venomously.
"You don't want to be with us? It's the only thing you can do after you fail us..." Kyoko said coldly.
"Yeah...I already have to live with that day by day, so you can repeat it for all eternity if you wish...it won't change my mind" He said with a dejected tone.
He lifted his head to reveal his still vibrant green eyes.
"Besides...I still have people that need me, friends that need me...Hina, Hiro, Toko, Byakuya...The people from the Future Foundation, people from the whole world need me…"
He looked at the tempting Knife in front of him, but any will to kill himself has been long gone.
"And there's something I need to do no matter what...my sister is out there, she's still alive...she's still waiting for me to return to her and I want to be with her again...I won't die now no matter what! Much less die because of Despair!" He yelled in absolute determination.
And so the effects of the brainwashing video failed, the determination and hope of the Super High School Level Lucky Hope were enough to overpower it.
He gave the hallucinations a melancholic look as they looked in anger...then gave them a solemn wave as they vanished.
He let out a breath as he shook his head, it still hurt a little after that, which was very understandable.
He looked at the Knife that he could have used to take his life...and decided to keep it in case he needed it.
"Who knows what might happen...It's a very cool looking Knife anyways" He muttered.
"It is"
Makoto jumped at the voice of the Former Super High School Level Boxer: Juzo Sakakura, who was missing a hand.
"What happened to your hand?!" He yelled then held his head in pain, shit did it hurt.
"I amputated it to get rid of the poison" Said the green haired man.
The Green Eyed guy just nodded and muttered "That's one way to do it"
"What was that you tried to pull before? Where was the attacker?" Asked the Boxer.
"The Monitors...they brainwash people into killing themselves, it made us think the attacker was one of us when in reality they were forced to take our lives" Explained Makoto, his voice seemingly took a more tired and depressed tone, albeit only because he was still recovering from the brainwash effect.
"So the bastard that set this up turned us against each other while in actually it made us commit suicide...the fucking bastard, when I get my hand on him I…"
"It seems our only option is to destroy all the monitors...or shut down the power" Said Makoto, thinking about finding the power room and shut everything down, it will get rid of the bracelets as well.
"...So, how did you endure it?" Asked the Boxer.
"Huh?"
"How did you survive the brainwash while no one else did?"
"...I'm stubborn, that's one of the only things I'm good for...as tempting as it was, I can't die here and not now or any time soon...I have things to do and people that need me" The Image of the rest of the survivors and mainly his sister flashed in his mind as he looked at the ceiling with a tired look.
"..Heh, as expected of the guy that killed Junko Enoshima"
"I'm really tired of people phrasing it like that"
"How would you phrase it then?"
"I outstubborn her and she choose to kill herself...I didn't even want her to die"
"Fucking Weirdo"
"Well, at least it makes me unique," He muttered.
Juzo started to walk away.
"...You know? I always hated you, with a fiery passion...I wanted to see you dead"
"Why?"
"Because you defeated Junko Enoshima, you did what I couldn't do back then. I knew she was up to something and I let the bitch go...because of a stupid secret...I loathed you for that...maybe I can do something right for once in my life" Were his last words before limping away with a bleeding arm.
Makoto watched him go, he felt Kyosuke needed to know about this before Juzo possibly died.
Armed with Hope and Determination, Makoto marched towards were the others were.
He was gonna end this once and for all.
For everyone that perished along the way.
And for those that were still alive.
He looked at he Knife he just got, remembering what happened a few minutes ago.
"Despite all these fears...I will remain hopeful...I will remain determined...For all their sakes"