"Big Bro Taka," chimed the girl, "should Monaca kill all the adults?"
Monaca Towa smiled, huge green eyes beaming up at the hall monitor aside her, who, for a moment struggled to respond. Until, after a moment of consideration...
"Of course you should."
Kiyotaka had never considered it possible that any part of his master plan could lead to regret. After all, the entire thing had, so far, gone perfectly well. Hope's Peak Academy and the establishment which ran it had seen their reputations destroyed and disorder reign supreme. The entirety of Class 77-B had vanished without a trace after dropping out of school, reportedly suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and frightfully pessimistic views on the world after their… experience last month. With the exception of Kyoko's suspicions and the problem of the Reserve Course's very existence, Kiyotaka was pleased with his plan so far.
That was, of course, until he decided he needed to upgrade the prototype of the psychotic teddy bear stashed in his bedroom. Knowledge and a mountain of books could only take a man so far. Technology was what he needed to take his little creation to the next level. Thankfully, his Father had always bitterly complained about the technology conglomerate that practically dominated the city in which they had once both lived – a certain organisation known as the Towa Group. A certain group which Kiyotaka might not have known about without the help of his Father's rantings over the years. A certain group which he had intended to take full advantage of.
Such was the reason why it had been a busy month for the despairing hall monitor. What had begun with an investigation into the youngest child of the Towa Family, a student at Hope's Peak Elementary, had led to the prevention of a group suicide and, now, frequent meetings with a group of rather concerning young children who proudly called themselves the 'Warriors of Hope'. Little people with giant aspirations. Almost as big as his own.
They saw him as a friend. As the man who had saved their lives. "Big Bro Taka", they affectionately called him.
He saw them as a bitter waste of time. At least, he had to begin with. He had only initially been there to seek the cooperation and technology of the green-haired girl in the wheelchair. However, as the days rolled by and the meetings became more and more frequent, he realised they could be a perfect tool for the mayhem he intended to create. Adult-hating children, desperate to flip the balance of power? The temptation to fill their heads with twisted ideas of hunt and slaughter was far too tempting to resist.
"Big Bro Taka!" Came the whining, bitter voice of the girl in question.
Blinking, the prefect was shaken from his thoughts and turned his head to look at the girl. The dim lights of the abandoned warehouse in which they held their meetings cast her in shadow, only bolstering the malevolent air that cloaked her. She was flailing her arms in protest, fists closed as she repeated the nickname she and her friends had assigned him.
"Big. Bro. Taka! Stop. Ignoring. Monaca!" She cried. "Or. Monaca. Will. Be. Very. Upset!"
He responded with a little shaking of his head. "Sorry," he muttered, "I got lost in my thoughts for a minute. I'm listening now." He extended her the warmest smile he could muster. Genuine smiles had become difficult to paint on his face ever since he had been wooed by the thought of despair, but if smiling at the brattish girl meant a higher chance of success, he wouldn't hesitate to oblige.
The shift in mood on the girl's face was breakneck in its suddenness. "Yay! Monaca is happy again!" She cheered. "Almost as happy as I'll be when I see the corpses of every adult in the city! I wonder how long it'll take them to start smelling bad..." A grin crossed her face.
She was the only thing on the face of the Earth that truly scared Kiyotaka.
"Gross!" Came the voice of another child and, sure enough, its pink-haired owner bounced into the conversation with a look of disgust. "I don't wanna imagine the smell of dead bodies!"
"I do," a distant voice uttered casually from the rear of the building where the other members of Monaca's little gang were currently playing.
"Jataro! Don't be so icky!" Kotoko called back.
"Kotoko, Monaca is trying to talk with Big Bro Taka in private," Monaca said, her head turning to the other girl. She said no more, but the purpose of her words was apparently understood rather quickly, as Kotoko made her apologies and fled over to the others. "She's silly, isn't she?"
"I… suppose so, yes," Kiyotaka replied stiffly.
"So you hate her then?"
"Wait, what?"
Monaca's face was cold. Eyes boring into him. Her gaze risked shattering his soul. "So you want to see her die, is that what you're saying? You want to see her burn and suffer? You want to hear her scream as the life leaves her body?"
"That… That's not what I'm saying at all!" He couldn't hide the horror on his face. Just what had happened in this little girl's life to make her so cruel and twisted? Even by his own recent standards, Kiyotaka couldn't help but pass heavy judgement. She was the most disturbing individual he had ever encountered… and she was only a child.
Monaca giggled suddenly. "Relax! Monaca is only kidding. I know you love and care for us all, just like a Big Bro should!" Her tone was cheerful, green eyes alight with happiness.
Scratching his cheek, the prefect nodded at that. "Well, of course I do. If I didn't, I wouldn't have-"
"But I know you're just using us."
The prefect felt his heart stop. "Huh?"
"I know you've been manipulating us all the entire time you've spent with us, Big Bro Taka!" She said with yet another giggle. "You don't really care about us at all. You're just using us as pawns in some game of yours! The others don't know. They haven't realised. They can't even hear us right now. But Monaca noticed. Monaca knows. Am I wrong?" She seemed amused by the prospect, despite how obviously accusing her words were. It was as if the situation was entertaining her.
How did she know? Kiyotaka thought. Did this mean that the entire month's worth of almost daily effort he had poured into this vital part of his plan had failed? Was this really happening? Had he honestly come this far, only to have the entire thing fail at the whim of a single twisted little girl? How despairing. And not in the way he wanted. His heart began beating faster. He could taste his stomach in his throat. Was this really game over?
"I… You…" However hard he tried to string a coherent sentence together, he failed brutally. Damn it, why couldn't he think? Why couldn't he come up why a decent excuse? Why didn't he-
"Monaca knows what your aim is, Big Bro Taka," said Monaca. "You want to use the Towa Group's factories, don't you? Why? Be honest with Monaca. I want to help you."
He wasn't sure if he believed that for a second. Someone like Monaca Towa didn't exist to help others. Or even herself. She existed only to be an incarnate of darkness itself, dressed up in the visage of a cute young girl. Yet he knew he had no choice but to explain himself. It was the only hope he had left of salvaging this situation. It was the only hope that remained of upholding his dreams of despair.
And so he explained. He told her of his intentions for his school and the world. He told her of his plans for civilization. He told her of his prototype teddy bear, and exactly why he needed her to help complete it. He told her everything.
And she laughed.
She laughed like he had never heard her laugh before. It wasn't loud. Rather, it was quiet. Yet the menace and malice than poured from every chord she struck were painfully evident. Pure, honest evil leaked from her mouth, and her hands gripped the armrests of her wheelchair so tightly that her knuckles turned white. A moment later, she stopped, and nodded her head, speaking in a quieter tone.
"Monaca always knew Big Bro Taka was a little bit bad deep down, but not this bad! Monaca understands. Monaca likes to manipulate people, too. That day you found us on the rooftop… I wasn't going to jump at all. Monaca was going to let the others jump to their deaths for Monaca's own entertainment. It would have been the funniest prank the world has ever seen! They still think Monaca cares. Monaca just likes to laugh at them." She paused. "We're not so different after all, Big Bro."
Those last few words scared him more than anything else. Especially when he realised just how true they were.
"Monaca can help you with your teddy bear," she continued. "Monaca's family has really big factories filled with technology. If you need to upgrade your toy, then I can help you, for sure… but on one condition."
He didn't like the sound of that.
"Yes?"
"You let Monaca mass-manufacture these bears and use some of them as the soldiers of the Warriors of Hope! They would be great at tearing the heads off the adults. They wouldn't be able to stop us! And if Monaca can control them, Towa City will be ours in no time at all and our children's paradise can begin!" She giggled manically. "You can have as many as you like too, of course. Maybe they can teach your classmates a lesson. Killer teddy bears are the best teachers in the world!"
Kiyotaka was inclined to agree with that. Either way, the offer was practically a win-win. If the little girl wanted to use his idea to take over her city, then so be it. It was only another means of causing chaos and despair, all without him having to lift a finger. It was even better than the most optimistic deal he could have hoped for. The girl knew his intentions, and he knew hers, and both of them complimented each other wonderfully.
His Father lived in Towa City, however, and it was a fact he hadn't once forgotten. The pair never spoke much anymore, but he had raised him single-handedly after the early death of his mother. He had never once understood his Father, yet it was impossible to deny that he at least somewhat cared for him. If these children were allowed to slaughter every adult that they could get their hands on within the city, his father would surely fall victim.
Yet he didn't care. He didn't even flinch at the thought of accepting Monaca's deal. His Father was a necessary sacrifice in the name of despair and global catastrophe.
"Did someone say killer teddy bears?" Kotoko made a sudden reappearance, only to make a loud squeeing sound of delight. "That sounds totes adorbs!"
Before she could part her lips to say another word, Monaca turned to her. "Kotoko! Please be quieter. Make your voice a little more… gentle."
The smile on the girl's face shattered. Her happy, bouncing movements ceased in a heartbeat. Cheerful eyes became flooded with remorse and devastation. "G...Gentle?" She whispered, her voice meek and drained. The transformation was unbelievable.
"Yes," said Monaca. "Gentle. Me and Big Bro Taka are talking right now, so go and be nice and gentle somewhere else for now. Monaca loves you, Kotoko!"
The moment she said 'gentle' again, and then again, Kotoko's eyes were furthered flooded by tears, her body shaking, skin pale, breath trembling. She said nothing. She simply shuffled out of sight in silence, back to the rear of the warehouse. The girl had been reduced to a shaking shadow of her former self.
"What was that about?" Kiyotaka asked, genuinely concerned. He had never watched someone be destroyed quite so quickly before. It was like seeing the results of years of torture, all inflicted in a matter of seconds.
"She's silly, remember?" Monaca replied with a smirk. "Silly and gentle."
Kiyotaka didn't bother questioning it further. He knew he wasn't going to get a straight answer, and from just how horrified and simultaneously petrified Kotoko had become, he wasn't sure he wanted one at all.
"So, do we have a deal?" Monaca asked. "Can Monaca use your teddy bears to defend the children of this city?"
Mass-manufactured, technologically-advanced Monokumas in almost infinite supply? Kiyotaka knew he would be an idiot to refuse. And so he leaned forward, shaking the girl's dainty little hand as if this were a serious business deal. In a way, he supposed, it was. Only it was one that defied every established convention of the rational, civilised world.
"You're the best, Big Bro Taka!" Monaca chimed.
She terrified him beyond description, and yet Kiyotaka knew that this alliance would be invaluable. His bears would soon be in production, equipped with the technology needed to give them maximum effect. An entire city would soon fall into chaos at the hands of mere children. The world was one step closer to despair.
All it had taken was a deal with the devil herself.
"Jeez, the world's losing its fucking mind, huh?" Said Junko Enoshima to no-one in particular as the others around her in the school cafeteria discussed current events.
"It's… really scary," replied Chihiro, twiddling her thumbs at the end of the table.
"Apparently that princess chick's lost her mind, too," said Leon. "Wasn't she in 77-B?"
"She was," said Celeste. "And she became the queen, remember. When she returned home, the king died under mysterious circumstances and she immediately rose to power. In her first week, she's already declared war on three separate countries. They're saying it's the start of a new great war in Europe."
"Jeez. I remember her. Sonia, wasn't it? She always seemed pretty chill, too." Mondo added, arms folded.
"That entire class lost their minds," said Fukawa, "s-so I'm really not surprised."
"Can you blame them?" Said Leon. "They watched their Class Rep be beaten to death in front of them. I'm still having trouble sleeping over it. And I didn't even know her."
"Between the protests and the riots and now the Novoselic Kingdom declaring war on every country it borders, you have to wonder how much worse it can get." The Ultimate Gambler muttered, brows knitted in concern, hands clasped neatly in front of her as usual.
Yasuhiro Hagakure shook his head with an amused chuckle. "Hey, come on guys," he said, "lighten up. I predict it'll all turn out alright in the end."
Junko clearly took issue with that. Kiyotaka watched her and the others from his end of the table in relative silence, only chiming in when he felt it necessary. "Your predictions are bullshit!" She cried. "They're always wrong!"
The Ultimate Clairvoyant looked bitterly offended. "H-Hey! My predictions have a thirty-percent accuracy rating!"
"That's… not good," added Mukuro.
"Everyone calm down," Kiyotaka said, patting the air with his hands in an appeal for civility, "if we and the rest of the world stick together, we can overcome anything! That's what a true school mentality is all about!"
Kiyotaka noticed Kirigiri watching him intently. Her eyes hadn't left him once all morning. He knew she was suspicious of him. After all, she was the one who outright told him so. She wasn't even afraid to hide it anymore, it seemed, eyes of violet remaining glued to his every word and movement.
"Oh, here he goes again," Junko said with a roll of her eyes. "Back at it with the goody-two-shoes crap."
"Hey, leave Taka alone, Junko," said Asahina at the end of the table, the doughnuts in front of her completely untouched, to everyone's surprise. "He's just trying to make everyone feel better."
"'Hina's right," said Makoto. "Things are a little crazy right now, but we'll see it through. All we have to do is believe in ourselves. If we believe in ourselves, then-"
The sound of Sayaka's screams lit up the room, and every eye was on her at once. Makoto stopped mid-sentence. Kiyotaka had to resist smiling. If she was reacting to what he thought, then the event had come right on time.
"O-Outside!" She uttered, clambering over her own words, a shaking finger pointing to the windows of the cafeteria. The sky outside was overcast. The trees swayed in an invisible breeze. "S-Someone just fell past the window! I saw them!"
Expressions of worry and shock and confusion and utter disbelief were exchanged between Class 78, and glances turned to Sayaka and the windows in question. It was in that moment that they began to notice the body lying mangled on the ground, having apparently fallen from the roof above. A pool of neon-pink blood was gathering around them, prompting gasps and screams from everyone in the room. The other classes had taken notice, too, with some running to the windows to get a closer look while a couple others ran out to find a teacher.
Another body came crashing down and it, too, hit the ground. More screams. More gasps. More looks of shock and horror. More people began gathering at the windows, Kiyotaka and his classmates included.
Then came another body. And another. And another. Each one prompting the same reactions. Kiyotaka pretended to be just as scared as those around him. Disgusted. Revolted. Horrified. Heavy tears welled up at his eyes, fists clenched, brows furrowed and face a deep red of clashing emotions.
Suddenly, all at once, more bodies fell. Only, instead of another one or perhaps even two, tens fell to their fate, corpses starting to pile on top of each other. Like morbid rain, the students hit the ground. Fukawa fainted. Sayaka continued to scream. Everyone else watched on in silent horror as more bodies fell. As more people jumped.
"What's… what's going on?!" Asahina screamed. "What's happening?!"
"Wait, I know that guy!" Came the voice of a student from another class. "He's one of the Reserve Course students!"
"So's that girl! And that guy, too! Oh my god, I think… I think they're all Reserve Course students!"
The moment Kirigiri had told Kiyotaka of her suspicions surrounding him and the Reserve Coursers last month, he had known they had to be dealt with. They had become a liability that he could no longer associate himself with. Yet still, to the very end, they followed his every order without question or hesitation, so enamoured by his words and ideals that they were prepared to do anything to assist him.
He had given the final order to his followers only that morning, and the order had been perfectly fulfilled. The Reserve Course had been taken care of, as desired. All without a single trace of evidence implicating him.
From the corner of his eye, he watched a certain purple-haired detective turn her gaze from the window and back to him again. She had always watched him with silent scrutiny, face near-blank, eyes scanning him for anything suspect. Her expression now was radically different, to say the least.
His eyes met hers for just a moment, only for him to break the contact and return to staring out the window, still pretending to care. Yet that moment was charged with delight. Sadistic, victorious delight that was designed to shake her.
She knew what he had done, and he knew that she knew. Yet there was no proof of anything. Any hope she may have had of catching him had been destroyed.
Kirigiri had been suspicious of Kiyotaka's association with the Reserve Course.
And now the Reserve Course no longer existed.