"Tsumugi?" Kaede asked the cosplayer.

"Seriously...why are you even here!? It's such a pain in the ass!" Tsumugi raised her voice angrily as she pulled at her hair. "Everything would have gone according to plan if you didn't interfere!"

"Is this… your true self?" Maki asked.

"Oh...well you all figured it out anyway, so I might as well confess." Tsumugi proudly posed and gave us a crazed grin. "Yes! I am the mastermind! You got it all right!" My fist shook as she said those words.

"So I was right. You're the reason why Kirumi is dead. You're the one who's brought us here to kill each other!" I yelled.

"Oh not you. You weren't supposed to be a part of this." Tsumugi said with a sigh. "I don't even know how you got here. If I had known you were going to arrive, I would have made plans. I'm a big fan after all."

"Fan?" Keebo asked.

"Oh yes! Rin is pretty famous! I'd never thought I would meet him in person!" Tsumugi claimed while smiling like a lunatic.

"If Rin is famous, how come we don't remember him?" Shuichi asked.

"Those memories weren't important, so they were among the memories that were taken away." Tsumugi answered. "Still, to meet someone as incredible as Rin. An Ultimate like him... it just...makes me so happy! He's an Ultimate among Ultimates! I'm so glad I got to make him despair in front of me!"

"Wh-What the hell is wrong with you!?" Miu asked.

"Unfortunately, no matter how much I admire Rin, I can't help but be furious with his interference. The story was going so well up to this point." Tsumugi continued.

"Story?" Rantaro asked.

"Yes! You were supposed to die!" Tsumugi said with no hesitation or shame. "Kaede was supposed to kill you and start the killing game! Her execution would have been so tragic, so despair inducing. It would have been the perfect way to start the killing game. But Rin...and that damn maid!" Tsumugi bit her thumb angrily. "She didn't leave me a choice, even though she wasn't supposed to die this early on in the game."

"This...early…?" I asked before exploding in rage. "This isn't a game! You killed someone! How can you be so casual about it!?"

"You would know." Tsumugi replied blankly as she stared at me with a knowing glare. "Too bad you lost your memories. You might have been able to save Kirumi if you still had those memories."

"Shut up!" I gritted my teeth. "This is your fault. It's all your fault!"

"Is it? I'm just doing my job." Tsumugi said with a smile.

"Job?" Ryoma questioned.

"It doesn't matter anymore. Now that I have been found out this early on in the game, I suppose the game is canceled. How disappointing." Tsumugi sighed.

"I-It's over?" Kaede asked.

"Not much point now. Everything is ruined. I bet everyone is upset with this outcome."

"Everyone? Who's everyone?" Kaito asked.

"Puhuhu…" Monokuma interrupted us as he giggled. He then burst into a hysteric fit of maniacal laughter "Bwa-hahahahahahahaha!" Everyone, even Tsumugi, looked at the bear with confusion and slight fear as to why he was laughing. "Excellent! You've figured out who the mastermind is! Before you keep talking, it's voting time!"

"Voting? There's no need for that. The game is over. I bet everyone has stopped caring about this." Tsumugi said.

"But it's still standard procedure. You all should still vote." Monokuma said. At that, a screen on our podiums turned on and showed an image of everyone, Kirumi's image of course had an 'X' over it. "Now then, please select the image of the person who you believe is the blackened. If the majority of you get it correct, only they will be punished, but if you get it wrong, then all of you except the blackened will be punished. And remember to vote, since not voting will result in your immediate death!" Monokuma said.

With that, we began to vote. I looked at my screen and looked at Tsumugi's image. It's her. There's no doubt about it. She deserves it. That thought in mind and a hateful snarl on me, I tapped on her icon. Soon everyone had finished voting, causing Monokuma to giggle more. "Puhuhu… It seems the voting has finished. Now then, let's see the result." The large monitor from before lowered for all of us to see and turned on showing a chart with everyone's names and icons on it. Tsumugi's had 15 votes, while mine had 1. Tsumugi must have voted for me out of spite or something. "Who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one!?" Monokuma cackled. At his words, a giant roulette machine that had all of our faces on the slots and the giant neon word "verdict" on the front appeared and spun around until the highlighted portion land on Tsumugi, causing victory music and Monocoins to pour out of the machine like it hit the jackpot.

CLASS TRIAL END

ALL RISE!

"Well, at this point, there's no doubt about it! You all voted correctly!" Monokuma cheered. "The one who killed Kirumi Tojo, and the one you've deduced as the mastermind, is without a doubt Tsumugi Shirogane, the Ultimate Cosplayer!"

"Yeah yeah, they know. What's the point in all of this?" Tsumugi asked.

"Puhuhu… Seems you don't fully understand the situation. Well, I suppose I can let you think that for a little while longer…" Monokuma laughed while holding his paws up to his mouth. He knows something, but what? The game's over now. We've won...right?

"Geez… I should have had you checked out before this." Tsumugi sighed. "You clearly have a glitch or something."

"Forget that! Tsumugi, what's the meaning of this!" Kaito demanded.

"So you are the mastermind. For what purpose does this game serve then?" Kiyo asked.

"Isn't that obvious?" Tsumugi asked. "It's because it's fun."

"Fun? This is fun to you?" Rantaro asked while his eyes twitched with fury.

"Are we merely just here for your entertainment?" Keebo asked.

"If that's the case, then why were you participating in this game? It would have been better for you to enjoy the game in a safe place instead of playing in it where you could die." Shuichi pointed out.

"Are you just that twisted that you enjoy being a part of something like this?" Ryoma asked as he pulled his hat down to hide his disgust.

"Oh it wasn't for me, though I did enjoy it. I loved the killing games. I love watching them, as well as helping make them. That's why I was so glad to be chosen to be the mastermind of this one!" Tsumugi said as she put on that psychotic smile and her eyes swirled with a despairful blue spiral.

"Chosen? Wait, watching!? There are people watching this!? And they chose you to be the mastermind!?" I asked.

"Could those people have helped Tsumugi kidnap us?" Kaede asked.

"I wonder… I could tell you, but it doesn't really matter anymore. This killing game is ruined, after all. Everyone must be so disappointed. I feel horrible that I failed."

"Gonta no understand. Why kill Kirumi!?" Gonta pleaded with tears falling from his face.

"I said it before. She had to die. She saw me come out of the hidden passage that was in the girl's bathroom. I had no idea she would be waiting for me. She started questioning me about it and was about to detain me, but she didn't expect me to have a knife!" Tsumugi said with a very happy smile. "The look of pain, shock, and despair on her face…! It was GLORIOUS! She must have had so many regrets before dying in that instant!"

"Y-You're sick in the head! You're way worse than any degenerate male!" Tenko cried out while taking a few steps back from Tsumugi.

"How boring. To think the mastermind was someone like this…" Kokichi said with a blank expression that showed no emotion of any kind.

"So was everything up to this point...just a lie?" I asked. "The promises we made to escape, our plans for what we would do after that, the hope that we all would survive and be friends, was it all just an act?"

"I wouldn't call it an 'act'." Tsumugi said as she put her chin in her hand. "However, I suppose for you all it would have been a lie, since I knew that escape would never be allowed. Besides, we are friends. Friends who kill each other in this wonderful killing game!" Tsumugi's expression mixed into one of delusional lust and despairful pleasure. This complete flip from how she was before was just...too much for me to handle so suddenly.

"Well, it doesn't matter. It's over. Tell us how to escape." Maki demanded.

"Oh there will be no need for that." Monokuma said.

"Huh?"

Click. CLANK!

We all were completely frozen by what had just happened. My eyes went wide as I took in the familiar sight. Tsumugi slowly looked down to her neck. A chain had suddenly been attached to her neck. She stared in confusion as she slowly traced the edges of it with her fingers. It was dead quiet...until Tsumugi finally reacted.

"WHAT THE FUCK! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!?" Tsumugi yelled out the desperate words of terror and dread as she turned to the mechanical bear.

"What do you mean?" Monokuma tilted his head in a 'cute' fashion. "You of all people should know that the blackened will be punished when they are discovered."

"P-Punished…?" Kaede hesitantly repeated.

"You mean execution…" Ryoma said.

"That's not right! I'm the mastermind! I'm not supposed to be executed like this! I'm not supposed to die like this!" Tsumugi yelled. "Without me this game can't function!"

"I've done well enough all on my own." Monokuma responded while showing his claws. "Besides, rules are rules. Can't change 'em for anyone, not even the mastermind! I also can't let you spoil anything else for the rest of the students!"

"No...nononononononononono!" Tsumugi ranted as she tried to pull the chain off.

"Now, I've prepared a very special punishment for the Ultimate Cosplayer and the mastermind, Tsumugi Shirogane!"

"What did I do wrong!? I just did what I was told to do! Everyone wanted this! No one asked for anything else but this!" Tsumugi cried out as tears began to fall hopelessly.

"Let's give it everything we've got!" Monokuma bellowed as he raised a gavel high in the air above a red button. "It's… PUNISHMENT TIME!"

"This can't be happening..." Tsumugi said, her tone now empty and accepting what was going to happen to her. "I just...wanted everyone to be happy… So why…?" She never got an answer as Monokuma slammed his gavel into the button. The monitor above us now showed a 8-bit Monokuma dragging Tsumugi away.

GAME OVER

Tsumugi Shirogane has been found guilty!

Time for the punishment! :)

The chain immediately began to pull Tsumugi away. No… this can't be happening… The game is supposed to be over! I don't… I don't want anyone else to die in front of me again! "Tsumugi!" I cried out as I desperately reached my hands towards her. She turned to me and tried to grab a hold of me, but it was too late. The chain dragged her away as she kicked and screamed. The look on her face… it wasn't the crazy smile or psychotic glare anymore. It was Tsumugi. The same look and appearance she would normally have. The same expression she wore when I saw her after meeting her for the first time. A look of an innocent looking girl covered in dread and terror.

I never wanted Tsumugi to be the mastermind. I never wanted any of these people to be the mastermind. Honestly, while I was planning to catch the mastermind, I had truly hoped in my heart that there wasn't a traitor or the mastermind themselves among us 17. I wanted to believe that the mastermind was far away, watching from afar. I would have much rather had that than this. Even when Tsumugi was revealed to be the mastermind, even when she pulled that cosplaying stunt to make me panic about my past memories, even after killing Kirumi… I still realized that I didn't want her to die. Maybe she was never our friend to begin with, but I wanted to believe in her still. This dumb, naive part of me wanted nothing more than to save her despite it all. But it was hopeless. Tsumugi was dragged away behind a door that looked like a vault. The monitors changed to a different scene and showed a title card.

Conviction Convention

Ultimate Cosplay, Tsumugi Shirogane's Execution: Executed

Tsumugi was strapped to a table on a show stage that had various backdrops mixed together in the background. On the stage surrounding Tsumugi were many mannequins, each dressed as a well known anime character like Sailor Moon, Naruto, or Goku. The mannequins then slowly turned by themselves towards Tsumugi, and then they began to slowly walk towards her. Tsumugi struggled to escape her confinements, but it was impossible. Nothing she did could help her escape her bindings. The mannequins slowly made their way to her, until eventually they were towering above her.

One of the mannequins held up a needle with a thread on it. It placed a piece of cloth onto Tsumugi's arm and, without hesitation, it dug the needle deep into Tsumugi's arm. Tsumugi's eyes watered immediately as she cried out in pain. The mannequin paid no mind to her anguish as it began to sew the cloth onto Tsumugi's arm. While that one was working on Tsumugi's arm, the other mannequins got to work as well. One mannequin worked on Tsumugi's other arm, while another started to forcefully meld gemstones and other beautiful things onto her nails and hands, while another began to glue and tap down something akin to a wig. It looked painful, and it most certainly wasn't over quickly, but eventually the mannequins moved away from Tsumugi and raised the table she was on up for us to better view it.

Tsumugi now looked like someone completely different, though the cosplay was a bit messy in some areas. She was now wearing a white gown and a red vest with dark burgundy borderlines and a light pink sash tied around her waist. She also now has short red hair, light purple eyes, and long earrings. On her back was a satchel full of arrows and she was carrying a longbow. Of course, not all was as it seemed. The accessories like the bow were melded to her palm like glue, the earrings forcefully stabbed into her ears, and the clothes still showed the threads that were sewed into the skin. Tsumugi's eyes were watering from the pain, but the mannequins didn't seem to care.

Suddenly, a crowd of Monokumas appeared and started to cheer for the cosplay. The mannequins nodded and surrounded Tsumugi again. They then began to tear the clothes off of Tsumugi, causing her to scream and blood and skin to be torn off with the cloth. The mannequins ignored the pain they were causing the cosplayer and began the process over again, sewing new clothes into the fresh wounds they caused while tearing off the old clothes and accessories, along with any skin and blood that may come with it.

After a few minutes of work, the mannequins backed away for the crowd to examine their work. Tsumugi was now dressed as a boy in a long, beige shirt that was worn with a maroon sash around the waist, brown and tan trousers, and large brown shoes. There was also short brown hair and green eyes, a tannish brown jacket, and a long green cloak. On the back of the jacket and cloak were a symbol of two wings, a blue one and a white one, crossing. There were also two boxes on the side of her legs that seemed to be holding blades and wires. This cosplay however, wasn't as perfect, as blood was slightly visible through the outfit, and Tsumugi's blue hair was sticking out in a few places. The Monokumas still cheered though.

The mannequins turned back to Tsumugi and began to tear the clothes off again, causing even more pain and shedding even more blood. Tsumugi's pain-filled shrieks filled the room and overshadowed the cheers of the Monokumas. The mannequins' pace quickened, as they did the process of tearing, sewing, and cosplaying Tsumugi into different characters. Eventually, Tsumugi's cries died down, and her eyes lost their color, and her skin went pale. When the mannequins showed her off as a girl in a dark purple suit, an orange tie, gloves, and lavender hair, Tsumugi was limp, and the Monokumas started to boo. The mannequins shuttered and wandered off the stage.

At that point, the Monokumas each then threw what appeared to be black orbs in their hands and threw it at the stage. The Monokubs, who were watching from backstage, watched as the orbs, which now looked like bombs, were thrown at Tsumugi. Monodam then kicked Monokid into the fray, much to the other cub's shock. Monokid couldn't do anything to escape his fate, as the bombs landed, causing a massive explosion that caught both the cub and the limp body of Tsumugi in it. After the explosion, the only thing left on stage were multiple metal parts scattered everywhere and a body that was splattered across the room. There is no hope. There are no dreams. There is only one truth. Only one reality. This is all that is here for us forced into this killing game. No one can escape this fate.