Alright, here it is. This is mostly similar to the first half of the trial from canon, though quite a bit of dialogue is changed up to account for the odd survivor cast. Let alone the existence of Maki and Nagito, both of whom know quite a bit, and yet seem quite blind to just as much, of the mysteries surrounding their situation. There's also a segment halfway through showing Albert and his friends making last-minute preparations, so that's cool.
Another thing I noticed when writing this chapter is that having Makoto and Maki in the same conversation can get a little confusing. 42 chapters in, and I'm still finding new reasons why that wasn't such a good naming choice. Ah, well...
In any case, I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 42
Two Sides to Every Story
CLASS TRIAL! ALL RISE!
"I did say I wanted you guys to know the outside world, but this is still a questionable starting topic..." Monokuma started. "Let me ask you this: what is this world's true identity!?"
"Huh? This world's true identity?" Hiyoko repeated. "What kind of question is that?"
Hajime was quiet for a long time before he spoke up. "This world... This "Jabberwock Island" we're on..."
"It's a virtual world that was inspired by the real Jabberwock Island!" Monokuma interrupted.
"H-Hey...!"
"Soooo... this isn't the real world, but if you want you can call it the game world. You get it? It's all just one big game!"
"...A-Are you serious!?" Nekomaru roared. "Did you bring us all here just to tell us bullshit!?"
"If this is a game, are my words being displayed as text right now!?" Hiyoko asked. "That's stupid! There's no way that's possible!"
"I know, I know... The "All In Your Mind" trope makes you feel such cruel despair... But who cares!? I've revived all the suspense and mystery with just one line! Cuz it's a game!"
"Then... we were forced to kill each other..."
"Cuz it's a game!"
"A lot of crazy shit happened..."
"Cuz it's a game!"
"We're the only people here..."
"Cuz it's a game!"
"Monokuma's nonsensical abilities..."
"Cuz it's a game!"
"N-Nothing's real?" Nagito shook his head. "No, that can't be true!"
"I know you guys are pissed but you were having fun too, right? A world where everything goes only exists in games!... Soooo, just force yourself to accept it. This closed space, this game world, was the true stage of this killing school trip!"
"Just stop! There's no way... there's no way I'm gonna believe that!" Nekomaru declared.
"Back in the day, people must've reacted the same way when they first saw the airplane take flight... But like wearing contact lenses, it'll stop feeling strange once you just get used to it."
"Please do not compare reality to contact lenses!" Sonia begged.
"I mean, if this really is a... virtual world... then what does that make... us...?" Hiyoko asked.
"You better not say we're fictional characters!" Nekomaru snapped.
"The Future Foundation created this world using a program called the Neo World Program... It's programmed to place the user in a virtual world by synchronizing directly with the user's brain. Which means... your bodies still exist in the real world. But right now... you're completely submerged in the game world, as if you're dreaming or something. Simply put, you're... um... you know, not "aviators" but..."
"Avatars." Maki answered. "An existence created in the game as a copy of the user's real body."
"But... we're not just regular avatars, right?" Hajime asked.
"Your avatars were constructed by removing a specific thing from your bodies in the real world..."
"Wh-What did you remove?" Nekomaru asked.
"What was removed from us... was our school memories, right?" Hajime guessed.
"Wh-Which means... we're avatars that were created from our memories from before we entered the academy?"
"So that's why we don't have our memories of our lives at Hope's Peak Academy...?" Sonia asked.
"How did we start talking about all this sci-fi garbage!?" Hiyoko snapped. "I'll never believe it!"
"How many times do I have to tell you!?" Monokuma snapped. "It's not sci-fi, it's a game!"
"Well, is there any evidence that this is a game world!?"
"You are the evidence."
"What does that mean?" Sonia asked.
"You're avatars made of memories from before you entered the school... But your actual bodies in the real world are different! Though you have no memories of your time living your school life... Your real bodies actually lived that life."
"I agree with that!" Hajime shouted. "Earlier, in the teacher's lounge... I found this strange newspaper clipping. There was a picture of Hiyoko, but she looked more like an adult than the Hiyoko we know."
"I already told you, that wasn't me!" Hiyoko snapped. "I have no idea who that bitch in the picture is!"
"Since we're avatars right now, we look exactly as we did before we entered the school... But in the real world, we've already lived out our school lives... Which means we've grown that much older... And among us, some aged so much we wouldn't recognize them..."
"And are you saying... that happened to Hiyoko?" Sonia asked.
"It appears Hiyoko had a growth spurt during the school year." Monokuma explained. "If you guys only had memory loss, your bodies still should've grown during that time, right? So you should have felt your bodies go through growth spurts."
Hiyoko looked horrified at this logic. "Our school memories... About how much time was stolen!?"
"As the creators of the Neo World Program, only the Future Foundation would know the details but... Around two or three years worth, I assume."
"Th-That long!?"
"Your refusal to accept your mutual memory loss is why you can't notice all the important parts... You've lost your memories. End of story. You guys are avatars who had their memories taken from them."
Maki, taking note of Hiyoko's horrified expression, gave her a look of sympathy. "Hey, I understand that this is probably a lot to take in. If any of you need to take a minute, it's-"
"Kyahaha!" Hiyoko's burst into excited laughter. "Oh, man! I knew I'd have a growth spurt someday, but even I didn't expect to end up so gorgeous!"
"That was... quite a quick turnaround..." Sonia noted.
"Hold on! It's too early to accept this!" Nekomaru snapped. "I mean... Before, I could hear my heartbeat... and I always took my daily shits... and even after my rebirth, I can still feel my mechanical parts whirring away. What do you call all of these things I'm feeling? Are you saying they're all lies!?"
Monokuma shook his head. "Just because it's a game doesn't mean everything was a lie. Have you heard that when you're hypnotized to believe you've been burned, a burn mark will really appear?"
"So if our brains believe something is real... it's no different than if it actually happened...?" Hajime summarized.
"N-Now that you mention it... I did hear about a phenomenon quite similar to that." Sonia said. "In a distant country, there was a certain experiment carried out on one of their prisoners... The prisoner was blindfolded, strapped to a bed, and had small wounds applied to his toes to drain his blood... That prisoner was left alone in the experiment room, as the sound of dripping blood echoed throughout the room. But in fact, his blood was not being drained. He was just... forced to listen to the sound of dripping water... but he believed he was bleeding to death... However, in spite of that... the prisoner still died."
"Her extensive knowledge of state-sanctioned torture notwithstanding, she's right." Maki confirmed. "It doesn't really matter where the truth ends and the lies begin. A lie can change the world just as well as the truth can. You guys all had your minds hooked up to machinery, had your consciousness uploaded into a computer, so of course you'd believe the game world is real."
"Then... the Jabberwock Island we've been living on..." Nekomaru started.
"Of course, that's also a virtual world..." Hajime reluctantly agreed. "That sea, that beach, the buildings, everything... It's all a virtual world created by the Neo World Program. It's just like this space we're in right now. What we see before us is a virtual environment created by the program... It looks real because our brains think it's real."
With flash before their eyes, the concrete trial room they were standing in was reduced to wireframes. They could see through the walls, the ceiling, and the floor they were standing on. Surrounding them on all sides was a sea of neon-green code. The only thing that remained visible were the podiums they were standing at.
"Wait a minute..." Nekomaru started. "If it was all a lie, then who cares?"
"...Hey, what are you getting at?" Hiyoko asked.
"I mean... if this is really a game world, everything that happened here took place inside the game, right?"
"Ah! Then that must mean...!" Sonia gasped.
"That's right... The killings we were forced to commit were just part of some stupid game. Everyone who was killed should still be alive in the real world!"
"Oh yeah!" Hiyoko realized. "Just cuz they died in the virtual world doesn't mean they died in real life!"
"S-So... you are saying everyone is still alive!?" Sonia asked.
"Yeah, that's it! Isn't that right, Monokuma!?"
"Puhuhuhu..."
"Wh-What's so funny...?"
""A lie can change the world just as well as the truth can"... That's what Maki said earlier."
"D-Don't tell me... you mean...!?"
"The Neo World Program isn't just any game, it's next-gen software containing the ultimate reality. And speaking of that reality, if a player's avatar experiences death... Their brains inside their actual bodies will stop functioning too!"
"What...!?"
"Th-Then... everyone who died..."
"Essentially... if you die in the game, you die for real." Maki said bitterly.
"It's not like their bodies are completely dead, so I can't say it's a true death but... That's why it's actually crueller instead. All that's left of them are empty husks."
"Are you saying... they will never awaken... again?" Sonia asked.
"WHAT THE HELL!?" Nekomaru roared.
"Well, nobody's gonna appreciate a game where you don't die when you're supposed to, right!?"
"What game...!?" Hajime snapped. "That's not what we risked our lives for!"
"Ah, if you want to be mad, please be mad at the Future Foundation. They're forcing you to play this game."
"...Future Foundation?" Hiyoko repeated. "The people from the Future Foundation made us play this sick game!? Everything... was their doing!?"
"Then... Monomi and Chiaki were..." Sonia started.
"They betrayed the Future Foundation to protect us, and then... they were taken out..."
"I see! So our real enemy is the Future Foundation!" Nekomaru declared.
Nagito let out a mocking laugh. "So that's the best you can do, huh? Well, I guess you're not wrong..."
"Of course I'm not! I mean, a group that would make a killing game...!"
"No, that's wrong!" Hajime interrupted. "Originally, in the world created by the Neo World Program, a concept like violence never existed. The virus that invaded this program is forcing us to kill each other."
"C-Could it be... that virus is...?" Sonia turned to Monokuma, who remained silent.
"...You're right." Hiyoko agreed. "Before Monokuma ruined everything, this island was super peaceful."
"Yeah... it didn't get weird until Usami was remodelled as Monomi..." Nekomaru recalled.
"Monomi..." Monokuma muttered wistfully. "...what sort of role did such a lost girl like her have in this world...?"
"Hey, don't change the subject!"
"She was the Observer of the Neo World Program, isn't that right?" Hajime answered.
"That's right! She was an NPC that was assigned the role of Observer!"
"NPC...? What's that?" Nekomaru asked.
"Non-player character." Maki explained. "A character controlled through AI or pre-programmed commands, rather than a player."
"Monomi's existence was created entirely by the program, just to monitor the fifteen of you." Monokuma explained.
"P-Please wait... Did you just say fifteen people?" Sonia asked.
"Have you forgotten how to count?" Hiyoko asked. "We're seventeen people in total!"
"I suppose there's little sense in keeping it a secret any longer." Maki started with a sigh. "Unlike the rest of you, I didn't enter the Neo World Program the usual way. If you want to get technical, you could say I'm just as much of an invader as Monokuma and the mastermind."
"Y-You're a virus!?"
"No, genius, I'm still a person. Just like how you guys had your minds turned into avatars, I did too, just in a way that the Future Foundation didn't account for. They prepared the program for fifteen participants, but I sort of crashed the event, so to speak."
"O-Okay, let's... save that for later. That explains one of them, but Monokuma was two numbers off."
"He was probably excluding the other Observer..." Hajime guessed.
"Huh? Another Observer?" Nekomaru repeated.
"Aside from the fifteen participants, there were two Observers in the Neo World Program. One of them was Monomi, and the other one was..."
"Could it have been Chiaki?" Sonia asked.
"Yeah... you're right..."
"You're saying... Chiaki was an NPC!?" Nekomaru asked.
"She was just a program... and she didn't actually exist in real life?" Hiyoko asked.
"She wasn't... even human...?" Nagito muttered.
"No, that's not it!" Hajime snapped. "Chiaki was really alive...! Even if she was a virtual existence, she was really alive... Did you forget!? She saved our lives, you know!"
"Don't get all mushy towards a game character!" Monokuma teased.
"Sh-Shut up!"
"Plus, she wasn't just a little game character. She was a lackey for the detestable World Ender!"
"Now that you mention it... you referred to the Future Foundation by that name before." Sonia recalled.
"That just means it was all a bluff, right?" Nekomaru asked. "So we'd think the Future Foundation was our enemy..."
"Do not joke about the world ending!"
"No. There's no doubt that the Future Foundation is also World Ender." Monokuma insisted. "At least, for those of us here!"
"Hey, what do you mean, "those of us here"?" Hajime asked. "Why are you lumping us with you!?"
Nagito let out another laugh. "How pathetic..."
"I-It's just a bluff." Nekomaru said.
"...Monokuma... what exactly are you?" Hajime asked. "Why don't you... just show us your true self already?"
Monokuma refused to respond.
"...What, you can't talk?" Hiyoko asked.
"I-It is cowardly of you to j-just ignore us!" Sonia pressed.
"Before I reveal my true identity to you guys... It appears the main cast has finally arrived."
"M-Main cast...?" Hajime repeated.
"Speaking of which... This guy is a member of World Ender!"
A voice rang out from the ether, throughout the sea of code and the wireframe room.
"What... World Ender...?" Suddenly, a few podiums away from Monokuma, a man appeared in the digital space. "It's not the Future Foundation's fault. Rather, the fault lies... with you guys."
Monokuma's smile seemed to grow. "All right, I was waiting for you, Makoto! You've finally arrived!"
The man's gaze moved from Monokuma to the others. "My name is Makoto Naegi. Like you, I'm also a former student of Hope's Peak Academy... And right now, I'm a member of Future Foundation."
"Y-You are from Future Foundation!?" Sonia gasped.
"Why did someone like you suddenly show up...?" Nekomaru asked.
"I know! You came here to save us, right!?" Hiyoko guessed.
Makoto suddenly looked awkward.
"H-Hey... what happened...?"
"Of course, I don't mind rescuing you guys. But before that... You all need to fully accept the situation you're in! Why do you think the Future Foundation decided to put you guys into the Neo World Program?"
"Who cares about that?" Hiyoko asked. "Hurry up and get us out of here!"
"The Neo World Program has another name: The Hope Restoration Program. By now, you should understand your true identities..."
"Huh? Our true identities...?" Nekomaru repeated.
"Aren't we the fifteen survivors of Hope's Peak Academy who were rescued by the Future Foundation?" Hajime asked.
"...Before you arrived here, Monokuma should've shown you guys some clues." Makoto explained. "Put them all together and try thinking about it!"
After a moment, Hajime gasped. "C-Could it be...!? The survivors of Hope's Peak Academy and the Remnants of Ultimate Despair are..."
"Yes, both of those phrases refer to you guys!" Makoto revealed. "That's right... Not only are you guys the survivors of Hope's Peak Academy..."
"You're also survivors of Ultimate Despair!" Monokuma finished.
"We're all... Ultimate Despair...?"
"D-Don't be stupid!" Hiyoko snapped.
"In the beginning, we took in fifteen of you as survivors of Hope's Peak Academy." Makoto explained. "But upon further investigation, we discovered an unbelievable truth... The fifteen people we acquired were actually the horrifying Remnants of Despair."
"Th-That was... us...?" Hajime asked.
"What is this... Ultimate Despair...?" Sonia asked.
"A terrorist group responsible for coup d'etats, wars, and other international incidents." Maki said. "The very worst humanity has to offer."
Makoto's gaze held on her for a while, but he nodded. "Yes... they're responsible for The Tragedy and brought chaos into the world... Despair in human form, but utterly devoid of humanity... That's what you guys really are. The Ultimate Despairs don't care about principles or morals. They just spread despair everywhere they go... They live solely to torment everything... to burn everything... to kill everything..."
"We're... part of a dangerous group like that...?" Nekomaru asked.
"That's gotta be a lie!" Hiyoko decided.
"That's right... There's no way... there's no way we're all Ultimate Despair..." Hajime muttered.
Nagito let out another laugh, this one long and uproarious. His malice rang through every decibel. "Do you see it now? Do you understand the true hopelessness of it all? It was all for nothing! There was never any hope for us... The moment we woke up on this island... in this simulation... we were already damned from the start..."
"N-Nagito...!? What are you talking about!?" Hajime demanded.
"He's the only one who knew this truth before you guys." Monokuma explained. "It was a special prize for clearing the Final Dead Room."
"Was it that file that contained all our student profiles? But inside..."
"You really thought I'd leave such delicate information out in the open?" Nagito asked, shaking his head. "I destroyed the important parts of that file long before any of you had a chance to see them."
"Anyway... it's the absolute truth that the file had profiles about you guys after you entered the school..." Makoto confirmed. "And after Nagito obtained the file and learned the truth, what did he try to do to you guys?"
"He tried... to kill everyone except for the traitor." Hajime realized.
"After learning that everyone here, myself included, were... Ultimate Despairs..." Nagito shivered in disgust. "It was the only proportionate response."
"You tried to kill us... because we were Ultimate Despair...?" Sonia asked.
"Yes, because of his love for hope and his hatred toward despair..." Makoto explained. "I sort of... understand that feeling..."
"Why do we have to be treated like the bad guys!?" Nekomaru asked.
"Th-There must be some kind of mistake!" Hajime insisted. "There's no way we're Ultimate Despair..."
"I-I don't need a twist like that!" Hiyoko snapped.
"It might seem unbelievable because you guys only have memories from before you entered the school... But it all happened at Hope's Peak Academy! You were tainted by Ultimate Despair because at Hope's Peak Academy, you were in contact with her!"
"...Her?"
"The true Ultimate Despair... Junko Enoshima. She strongly influenced you all during your time at the school, and that's why you became Ultimate Despair. In order to remove that influence, you've been placed into the Hope Restoration Program."
"Is that... why you took away our school memories?" Sonia asked.
"The reason you're able to act like your normal selves is because you're within the Neo World Program... But your true bodies in the real world are different! In the real world, you're part of a group that cruelly destroyed your family, friends, and even your own body!"
"Family, friends, our own body... Aren't you exaggerating a bit?" Hiyoko asked.
"Sh-She's right!" Hajime agreed. "There's no way we'd do something like that!"
"Don't turn away from the truth!" Makoto snapped.
Hajime flinched. The sudden shock forced a suppressed memory to resurface. He gripped his head. "...Ugh!"
"...It appears you've remembered a little." Makoto noted. "Now, face what you've done! And from there, you will finally take your first steps on the path to hope!"
"Puhuhuhu..."
"Th-There's obviously some kind of mistake..." Hiyoko insisted. "There's no way we're Ultimate Despair!"
"Because you're all Ultimate Despair... You killed your friends and family... and you even destroyed your own bodies!"
"If that memory I felt was actually a memory from the real world..." Hajime started. "What Nagito did was... H-He cut off his own arm... And... transplanted a woman's arm?"
"I did what...?" Nagito asked.
"Not just any woman's arm..." Makoto added. "It was the late Junko Enoshima's arm."
"Wh-What did you say!?"
"You probably thought that by becoming one with Junko Enoshima, you could make her survive within you."
Nagito gritted his teeth, and looked ready to vomit. "Become one... with Ultimate Despair?"
"I-I don't get this at all!" Nekomaru shouted.
"The Ultimate Despairs defy understanding. They have no problem severing their own limbs..."
Sonia covered her mouth. "I-I am terribly sorry... I do not feel so well... Where is the bathroom?"
Monokuma shrugged. "It's just a game anyway... so why don't you just let it out? I'm pretty sure a select few would demand that."
"It's too soon to feel sick." Makoto said. "That's not even the worst thing the Ultimate Despairs have done... Some wasted away to skin and bones through continuous fasting in order to reach the despair of starvation... Others gave their own families to Junko just to perform killing experiments on them. Not just that... After Junko's death, they slaughtered countless people by forcing them to commit suicide. One person even implanted one of Junko's eyes into their own socket. Perhaps they wanted to see her despair? And not just that, some even tried to have children with Junko's dead body..."
"J-JUST STOOOOOOOOOP!" Hajime roared.
"Th-That's just a bullshit story...!" Nekomaru argued. "It's obviously BULLSHIT!"
"So you feel despair towards yourselves in the real world... I understand that feeling... But there's no need to worry! If you just advance toward the hope I provide, you'll definitely be saved!"
"Save...? You'll save us?"
"Of course... that's my purpose, after all. That's why the Neo World Program was created, too."
"You put us inside this program... so you can save us?" Hiyoko asked.
"Essentially, your cohabitation inside the Neo World Program was just a simulation. If we removed the memories of your time at Hope's Peak Academy, would it also remove your Ultimate Despair...?"
"So you're saying this was like a test...?"
"I guess I can say the test was a success. Even though it deviated greatly from the original plan of graduating after gathering the Hope Fragments... Nevertheless, you guys were able to overcome your unexpected trials and make your way here. That's why... all you need to do is choose "Graduate"."
"I-If we do that... we can get out of here!?" Hiyoko asked.
"However, if you "graduate" from here, your school memories will never return." Monokuma revealed.
Makoto nodded. "If you choose to graduate, and the Observer determines that there are no problems... You will complete the Hope Restoration Program and your avatar will be uploaded into your real body."
"U-Uploaded...?" Sonia repeated.
"H-Hey... what happens to the people whose avatars died?" Nekomaru asked.
"If an avatar that needs to be uploaded has been deleted, there's nothing we can do..."
"So you're saying they'll never wake up...!"
"Ahem!" Monokuma pulled out a sheet of paper. "Please take a look at this flipbook for a quick rundown of your options! If you choose "Graduate," it'll transfer your in-game memories but your school memories will be gone forever. Unfortunately, the people who have already died will not be able to wake up."
"Just a thought... what will happen if we do not choose to graduate?" Sonia suggested.
"...You'll just have to continue living your tropical life." Makoto said.
"Hey... why are you asking something like that?" Nekomaru asked.
"W-Well... even if we wake up in the real world, we are all rather messed up, right? If that is the case... then maybe staying on this island is..."
"Wh-What are you saying!? We worked so hard to get this far just so that we could escape!"
"You don't have to force yourself to return to a painful reality." Monokuma said. "Let's just play this game forever and ever."
"D-Don't be stupid!" Hiyoko snapped. "If I stay in this messed-up world any longer, I'm gonna go crazy!"
"But still... Is it really alright to sacrifice the others just to save ourselves...?" Sonia asked.
"You're asking that now!?"
"We don't deserve to continue living..." Nagito decided. "We're all like rabid mutts. Wild animals that need to be put down..."
Maki averted her eyes from the rest of the group. "Ugh. What a mess..."
"Puhuhuhuhu...!"
Hajime was quiet for a long time before he suddenly spoke up. "Wait... can we have some time to decide...?"
"Did you get scared like Sonia!?" Hiyoko asked.
"No, it's not that... Don't you think this is a little strange?"
"Strange...? You still don't understand?" Makoto snapped. "Normally, Ultimate Despairs like you guys would just be abandoned... But I'm telling you I'm here to help! You should be thankful for how open-minded the Future Foundation is!"
"M-Makoto? What has happened to you...?" Sonia asked.
"Just listen to the Future Foundation! The Future Foundation... is the world's hope, you know!?"
"I knew it..." Hajime muttered. "Just as I thought... there's something wrong with you!"
"I said I'm going to save you guys... Why aren't you listening to me!?"
"L-Let's do what he says and get out of here." Hiyoko decided. "I mean, the Future Foundation's supposed to be the good guys, right?"
"And apparently, we are actually the bad guys..." Sonia pointed out.
"It's fine to trust him, right...?" Nekomaru asked.
"The Future Foundation is the world's hope! No one can defy the Future Foundation..."
"Hold on!" Hajime shouted. "Did you say it's foolish to defy the Future Foundation...? Then how do you explain your actions!?"
Makoto recoiled. "M-My actions...?"
"I saw it... The e-mail that the Future Foundation sent to you... In that e-mail... Makoto Naegi defied the Future Foundation to protect the Remnants of Despair... Which clearly contradicts what this person is saying!"
"...Tch!"
"Hey... is that e-mail right?" Hiyoko asked. "The Future Foundation tried to kill us?"
"Hold on! We can deal with that later!" Nekomaru shouted. "Hey Monokuma... Those clues we found were all real, right?"
"G-Gasp!" Monokuma did not answer.
"Tell me, Makoto Naegi! Who are you!?" Hajime pressed.
"Wh-Who is he...? Simply put, he's Makoto Naegi, who's known for being a cutie-patootie!"
"I-I'm not asking you! I'm asking..."
"You insolent fool! If you're saying he's not Makoto, then show me some proof!"
"Makoto Naegi... if that's who you really are, then tell me this! Why did you make the password to Nezumi Castle "11037"!?"
He recoiled again, then began stammering. "...Um... what was that again...?"
"...You can't answer!?"
"Th-That's weird... Wait, you... where'd you find that out...?"
"Wh-Who cares!? So how about it!? Can you even answer!?"
The figure posing as Makoto sheepishly scratched his head. "Aw man, I've been found out..."
"Found out...? Then you're..." Hiyoko started.
"Puhuhuhu... How disappointing... And I thought I was on the right track..." With that, he faded into the sea of code, scattering into static.
"H-He disappeared...?"
"Th-Then... that was just the work of Monokuma?" Sonia asked.
"Awwwwww... you found out I was faking!" The bear groaned. "Th-This is so embarrassing, I just wanna kill myself!"
"By all means. Just leave us out of it." Maki said.
"Why'd you show us a fake member of the Future Foundation?" Nekomaru asked. "What are you doing...!?"
"That fake was trying to get us out to the "real world"..." Hajime pointed out. "Then that's your plan!? Is that where your trap is!?"
"Man, they saw right through me... I may as well be invisible..."
"A trap...? What kind of trap did you set!?" Sonia asked.
"Hey, you better hurry up and confess if you know what's good for you!" Nekomaru snapped.
"Just kill him right now, so this nightmare can finally end!" Hiyoko pressed.
"Violence is not allowed!" Monokuma warned. "This isn't that kind of game, it's a much smarter game, right!?"
"What game?" Nagito asked. "This game is already over...!"
"This game... is over...? No no no... I'm not gonna let you finish yet... There's no way this can end before I've even transformed."
"...Tr-Transform?" Sonia repeated.
"A transformation is customary in a final boss battle, right? You know, like that one role-playing game. You know what game I'm talking about. Final..."
"D-Don't say it!" Hiyoko interrupted.
"Now then... allow me to show you... I'll skip the second and third forms and go straight to... MY FINAL FORM!"
A rippling aura began glowing out of Monokuma as small chunks of stone began being torn from the podiums around him. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH..."
A wave of despair washed over the present participants. A feeling of dread spreading through their bodies, a searing sensation in the back of their minds...
"Now then! Make sure you burn this ginormous despair you're about to see into your memories! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH... UGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA... I-I'M GONNA D-DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
"It's... It's online!" Chihiro suddenly called out.
"The pods?" I asked.
"Alter Ego must have pulled through!"
I sighed in relief. Things were still going according to canon. But I didn't dare relax for long. "Let's go, people! Time to move it or lose it!"
We all marched down the hall to the Pod Room and started hooking up three backup pods for the squad chosen for the dive.
"Are you sure it'll be fine with the three of us?" Makoto asked.
"I've had a few days of free time to think about it." I reminded him. "While it could go disastrously wrong, so could pretty much any other combination. This way, we all have our assigned roles. It'll work out. I know it will."
"Alright. I trust you." He nodded, before lying down in his pod. "So, I go first, then you two follow once I'm fully jacked-in?"
I helped hook him up to all the little plugs and needles. "Yeah. We don't want to slow it down too much by spreading the bandwidth between the three of us."
I heard Chihiro, helping out at another pod, speak up. "That's not what that... You know what? Close enough."
"Whatever, point is, it'll take too long to go at once. By my estimate, though, you can stall them just long enough for us to arrive at the nick of time."
"Do we ever arrive earlier than that?" He asked, rolling his eyes. "See you on the other side, Al."
"That's the plan." I hit the button on the side of the machine, and the pod closed. I heard mechanical noises as the inside adjusted its pressure for him.
I turned to the third member of our squad. "Alright, let's get ourselves ready. I want to be able to start the dive the second his finishes."
As I made my way over to my own pod, however, I was stopped by an ice-cold hand on my shoulder.
"Albert, a moment?" Toshihide asked.
I looked over my shoulder at him. "I'm, uh, sort of on a timer."
"I promise, it will only take a moment."
I sighed, then turned to face him.
"I just wanted to say... Well, I mentioned before that I believe, if anyone can do this, it's you. I simply wanted to elaborate on that statement." He turned and gestured towards the main computer unit. "Alice Kizuki, her situation is unique. I see something in her that I recognize too much in myself. Desperation. Like a cornered animal, ready to do whatever she can for survival."
"She seems to agree with you, there." I noted. "She's said as much on multiple occasions."
"While typically, Naegi can be expected to save people from falling into Despair... I believe she is too far gone. In her position, Hope is just as scary, if not more so, than Despair. She's used to Despair, she can compartmentalize it, roll with the punches. It won't push her over the edge, not all at once. But Hope... give her Hope, and have her lose it, and that could do it. Do you understand what I'm getting at?"
I shrugged. "It's better to let her stay desperate than to try and get her hopes up?"
"Essentially. But you, Albert... you don't need to give people Hope to save them. Hope isn't your department. Despair is. That's what separates you from Naegi. He will reach a hand out into the darkness, and pull people into the light. But you, you will cross into the darkness to join them, to give them comfort, to give them the courage to step back into the light themselves. That's you. Naegi is Hope, and you are Despair. And together... I believe you two could save anyone you had to."
I stared at him for a long time. Eventually, I just shook my head and chuckled.
"I think that's half your problem, Toshi. You don't get it. You never did."
He quirked an eyebrow. "Don't get what?"
"That's not despair. It's hope. Real hope. It's not easy, it's not dumb, it's not soft. Real hope is hard work, an uphill battle, a fight that never ends. But it's a fight we have to go through, anyway. Because that's the only way you can take control of your future. Real hope isn't standing in the light, smelling the flowers, and being at peace. Real hope is the state of being challenged, and refusing to take it lying down, no matter how dark it gets. Ask him, Makoto would tell you the same thing. So yeah, I'm going in there, and I'm going to save that woman. And even if she's drowning in despair, even if she tries to drag me down with her, I'll keep her head above the water, and I'll save her, because that's what it means to hope."
Toshihide stared into space, as if contemplating what I've said. He didn't ask any follow-up questions, so I assumed he agreed with what I said.
The light on Makoto's pod changed, indicating that he was now safely and fully connected to the Neo World Program.
Toshihide smiled at me. "Well, in that case, what are you waiting for?"
I nodded, turned, and got in my pod. As I started hooking myself up to it, Toshihide hit the button to close it. Despite being cut off from the outside, I heard his voice project into my mind.
"But seriously, Albert. Do not sell yourself short. You might not be the Ultimate Hope, or an Ultimate at all, but you are special. Never let anyone tell you otherwise."
As I drifted into unconsciousness, I projected my response back at him. "I won't."
Monokuma's red eye began glowing brightly as a massive hand tore through the wall of code surrounding the trial room, and crushed him. As the walls fell away, they revealed the image of a massive high-school girl, who approached their trial ground and pulled out a cellphone. She dialed a number, and slammed it down in the spot where Monokuma's podium was, the screen facing the participants. On the screen was a much more appropriately-sized image of the high school girl, as though she was addressing them through video-call.
The participants had, by this point, abandoned their arranged seating plan, and gathered at the podiums on the opposite end of the circle as her.
"Wh-What... what's going on...?" Hajime asked.
"A-Am I hallucinating...?" Sonia asked.
"I-I know it's a virtual world, so anything goes, but... this is just too much...!" Nekomaru shouted.
"I seeee, so that's your reaction to seeing an extra-large high school girl..." The image on the phone purred. "...But are they really that big? Don't you think they're pretty small?"
"Sh-She's huge! She's way too huge!" Hiyoko shouted.
"Huh? But the final boss in a certain action game is much bigger. You know, that game. Knifearella!"
"She said it anyway!" Nekomaru gasped.
"What the fuck is Knifearella?" Maki muttered.
The girl on the phone nodded. "I see, I see... An estimated bust size of fifteen metres, huh. My boobs are hopelessly huge... Hey, hey... want me to squish you in between them? Big boobs feel good, y'know?"
"Even ignoring the fact that the very idea of physical intimacy with you makes me retch, that would definitely kill me."
"If this was a pandering fanservice game full of pretty girls, there'd be a CG close-up of my cleavage but... Too bad! This isn't a fanservice game! Of course, since it's not an action game either... you won't even get to experience the refreshing sensation of battling an enormous final boss! Kyahahaha! Soooooo fuckin' hopeless!"
"Th-This is... Monokuma's true identity...?" Sonia asked.
"We... we have to deal with this thing?" Nekomaru asked.
"I'm shocked you'd call me "this thing!" Oh, you're sooooo mean!"
"Um... is it just me or did her personality change...?" Sonia asked.
"I get easily bored of my personality... Like, I already got bored of my personality who gets easily bored. And that's when Nekomaru would say, "It's too soon to get bored! Show some spirit!" right?"
"...Wait, what!?"
"I have pleeeeenty of data on you guys, so it's sooooo easy for me to know what you're all thinking!"
"Y-You are not bored at all!" Sonia argued.
"I got bored of getting bored... Jeez... even when I'm dead I still get bored... This sucks..."
Hajime gasped. "A-Are you... Junko Enoshima?"
"Did you say Junko Enoshima...!?" Nagito asked. "She's supposed to be dead!"
"It's true... I did end up dying the last time..." She admitted. "I-I'm sorry, okay... I didn't mean to go so fast... I-I couldn't help it, you know... It was my first time... Jeez! Stupid! You're the one who made me go!"
"A-And why is someone who died... here right now?" Sonia asked.
"Do you guys know about an artificial intelligence called Alter Ego? Exuberance! We are now an AI! We have transcended humanity!"
"Wh-What AI...?" Hiyoko asked. "Stop saying all this crazy stuff...!"
"You see, my personality is like this because I'm the type who die easily, right? That's why I made my own AI program while I was still alive... And then, someone uploaded me into this Neo World Program... And that's how Alter Ego Junko hopelessly appeared in front of you guys!" She took a moment to let the truth sink in. "Don't get cautious and think stuff like, "What can we do!?" I mean, we're all Ultimate Despair here! Each and every one of our classmates looked at us like we're a bunch of loogies on the side of the road... So let's all be friends!"
"H-Hell no!" Nekomaru snapped.
"Man, they hate me... And I was thinking of you guys when I tampered with the Graduation Program... but they still hate me..."
"Tampered... with the Graduation Program?" Sonia repeated.
"Remember what that fake Makoto said earlier? About what happens to you when you graduate, right? I feel like you guys weren't getting a big enough reward for graduating... Soooo I decided to modify what happens so it's something exciting and unique, just like a game!"
Her giant self picked up the phone, dialed a few numbers, then placed it back down. Now, the screen showed the same flipbook that Monokuma showed the group earlier.
"Uploading your game memories into your real bodies is fine, but letting your friends stay dead just sucks... That's why I decided to resurrect them!" Junko's image appeared on the screen again. "This is the new Graduation Program I'm offering!"
"R-Resurrect?" Maki repeated. "Are you really able to do that much?"
"It wash like reeeeaaaaal hard, y'know!?" She answered with a heavy accent. "The Graduashun Program ish the core part of thish game, so it wash protected with a lot of encrypted codesh! It took me a long time! I felt sho much deshpair about how ushelessh I am!" She shrugged, going back to normal. "Well, one advantage of being an AI is that I got smarter with computers. Before that, every time my computer froze, I used to put it in the microwave and nuke it... Show of hands, class, how long do you think it took for me to modify it?"
"Who cares about that!?" Nekomaru snapped. "Are you serious when you say that everyone who died will come back to life!?"
"Didja forget? You gotta answer questions to progress the story. That's the rule of this game, right? By the way, I'll give you a clue... You guys were always watching time slip away at a certain place..."
"The countdown at Jabberwock Park..." Hajime recalled. "That's the only place we can think of... That's the only place we consistently watched that has anything to do with time."
"Then that countdown represented the time that was needed to modify the program..." Sonia concluded.
"How brilliant..." Junko said. "...ly wrooooooooooooong! Haha, you're totally wrong about that tricky timer!"
"W-Wrong...!? Then what was it!?"
"How should I put this...? I was just... goofing around? I mean, isn't stuff you don't understand exciting even though you don't get it? It's kinda like superhero cosplayers, or someone else's design of alien life and stuff, right?"
"I-It was... just for show?" Hiyoko asked.
"In the end, it was meaningless. Does that fill you with despair, like getting booted from a game server? You know those murder mysteries where the culprit is really the detective who'se investigating the murder...? Well I'm soooooo over predictable crap like that! Just what did you expect at this stage of the game!?"
"Sh-She's seriously so messed up...!"
"Well, in a way... The countdown implied I was on a mission! Did you ever make up your own silly rules, like "don't step off the white line when you cross the road"? I was testing myself to see if I could get you guys into the graduation program before the timer reached zero..."
"Enough... Please stop..." Sonia muttered.
"Don't be so disappointed. It's totally true, I had a hard time manipulating the program. While you guys were at the beach making wrinkly dog faces, I was working soooo hard on my own, you know."
"Hey, enough!" Nekomaru asked. "Are you seriously going to resurrect everyone who died!?"
"Like I said, it's eaaaaaa-" She broke out into a yawn. "-sy. It's just a game, after all. Yeaaaah... Each and every thing that happened in this world was just an event within the game. There's no way anything that occurred in the game could affect the real world..."
"What you're saying now is completely different from what you said before..." Hajime argued. "You said whether or not it's a lie, the moment you feel something is real, it becomes real..."
"The game where you throw my words back at me is over!" Junko snapped. "So you don't really have to worry about it!"
"...Fine, I won't worry about it." Hiyoko decided.
"H-Hey...!"
"Who cares about logic!? Nothing else here makes sense anyway! As long as everyone comes back to life, that's good enough!"
"But... if we do not understand the principles behind it, then we do not even know if it is really possible..." Sonia argued.
"Anything goes in this world, right? We've seen so many other crazy things!"
"That's true." Nekomaru agreed. "If she says that's how she tampered with the program, how can we argue with that?"
"That's right!" Junko said. "That's why you should finish this game and go back to living a normal life in the real world!"
"If we do go back, what do you get out of it?" Hajime asked.
"...Hm?"
"What benefit do you get by making us return to the real world? As long as we don't know what it is..."
"Maaaaaan, soooo annoying! You're so petty! It's not like you're a housewife living on a tight budget! All I want is to put on this graduation performance in a more dramatic way. Well, if you doubt me, you don't have to go back. Is that what you want? Not to go back?"
"H-Hold on a sec!" Nekomaru shouted. "We're obviously going to get out of here! If it'll bring our dead friends back, it's the only thing we can do!"
"Yeah! We've been working toward that for like, forever!" Hiyoko agreed.
"Escape... it was really the only form of hope that endured this whole mess, wasn't it?" Nagito thought aloud.
"Plus, everyone can go back together! So there's no reason not to!"
"Y-You are right..." Sonia reluctantly admitted. "There is no way we can choose to stay here after all we've been through..."
"Just as expected from the winners of this killing school trip, your will to live is truly "Ultimate"..." Junko observed. "Wonderful! That's just one more reason for you to execute your role as devices! Okay, now let's stop stalling for time with exposition, and hurry up and do it... Now then, why don't you guys just go ahead and answer with the touch panel that's in front of you! I'm gonna do it. I'm seriously gonna do it. If you don't hurry up, I'm seriously really gonna doooo it. You don't hafta say, "Who're you talking to?"! It doesn't concern a chump like you, Hajime!"
"Ch-Chump...?"
"Don't worry about it..." Nekomaru assured him. "Everything will be over once we press this."
"We just press "Graduate," right?" Hiyoko asked. "If we do that, we can go home?"
Everyone began reaching for the panels in front of them to make their votes. Everyone except for Maki, that is, who reached a hand behind her back, under her lab coat.
However, before anything could happen, a familiar voice shot through the room.
"Don't press it! This is... Junko's trap!"
Standing a few podiums counter-clockwise from the group was the same man from before... Makoto Naegi.
"Wh-What the heck!? That guy from earlier is back again!" Hiyoko shouted.
"It's not "again"... This time it's the real one." Junko confirmed.
"...Real?" Hajime repeated.
"I'm Makoto Naegi... Makoto Naegi of the Future Foundation! I'm sorry I'm late... I actually wanted to come rescue you sooner but... Thanks to the virus infecting the Neo World Program, I wasn't able to enter."
"Just when the chumps are in a pinch, he's suddenly able to enter for reasons unknown... And thus, the main character gallantly appears! Kyahahaha, soooo cool! I'm drooooooling so, sooooo much!"
"Did you also... time my arrival? No... it doesn't matter! I'm going to save everyone! And then I'm going to settle this between us once and for all!"
"Ahhhhhhhhh... I'm drooooooooooling! I can't stop my leeeeeaaaaakiiiiiiiing!"
"H-How... were you able to get here, Makoto?" Sonia asked.
"Since I used my tricks to hack into the program, he must've hacked in with his tricks too, right?" Junko guessed. "That's also how you kept your memories, right? Even though you haven't aged a day, just like these guys."
"If I hadn't... then I wouldn't have been able to save everyone."
"...Don't you understand? It doesn't matter how you got here. As long as you're here, you'll be treated as one of my students."
"I can vouch for that." Maki added.
"Which means... you must respect my authority..."
He closed his eyes. "I already know... the risks of being here..."
"Ugh! You always had such reckless hope! I love you sooooo much that you disgust me!"
"Hey, just what do you mean by "trap"?" Hajime asked. "What is Junko's trap?"
"I-It doesn't matter!" Hiyoko snapped. "We can finally get this over with... We can fix everything that's happened... So I'm not letting you get in the way!"
"The fact that you guys are even thinking like that is Junko's trap..." Makoto answered.
"...Huh?"
"She's lying to you about your dead friends coming back to life!"
"Who, little ol' me!?" Junko asked.
"Who are we supposed to trust!?" Nekomaru asked.
"If you knew Junko's true goal, you'd know she's lying..."
"...You know her goal?" Nagito asked.
"Yeah... Junko's goal is to convert the Hope Restoration Program to the Despair Restoration Program."
"The... Despair Restoration Program?" Sonia repeated.
"As part of the Graduation Program, your avatar's memory and consciousness is uploaded into your real body... However, there wasn't a condition in place for what happens when an avatar is deleted. Junko has taken advantage of that opportunity... She intends to use her version of Alter Ego... The AI she stole my friend's skill to create... and upload herself into the bodies of everyone whose avatar was deleted!"
"What...!?" Hajime gasped.
"Th-Then... everyone who died isn't gonna come back...?" Hiyoko asked.
"They're going to be taken over by Junko!?" Nekomaru shouted.
"Like the real world, once an avatar is deleted from this virtual world, it can't be recovered..."
"That doesn't mean I was lying, you know?" Junko argued. "I just didn't make sooooome things clear. And... even if they're overwritten by my Alter Ego, it doesn't mean they'll be a completely different person. The data of everyone who died is stored within me, so I'm sure I can convincingly act out their personalities. Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Operation: Junko-fy All Mankind begins here! After uploading my Alter Ego into everyone who died, I'm gonna take over the Future Foundation's headquarters... And then... eventually, there's gonna be a whole lotta me's all over the world! With this... my despair utopia, where you can despair as you please, Junkoland, will be complete! That's Operation: Junko-fy All Mankind in a nutshell! Aw yeah! Our dreams are expanding-anding-anding!"
"Th-That messed up plan... is your goal?" Hiyoko asked.
"Then... why didn't you just kill all of us?" Hajime asked. "If you did, you could have taken over all of our bodies... Wouldn't that have been more convenient for you?"
"Is that what you want me to do? Is it still too late to do that?"
"No, there's a reason Junko couldn't do that." Makoto said. "That's why she made you guys kill each other."
"I got it..." Hajime realized. "It's because of the school trip's rules."
"E-Even a monster like her has to follow the school trip's rules!?" Hiyoko asked.
"Junko usurped Usami's authority as an Observer and her role as your teacher..." Makoto explained.
"However, according to the rules of the school trip, even Usami had to follow them." Hajime added. "That's why when Junko took over her position, she had no choice but to follow the rules as well."
"So... the rules were protecting us?" Sonia asked.
"Man, I was soooo annoyed... I had the authority to add rules, but no authority to delete rules. Oh well, even if I could've deleted rules, I was still busy with my whole "taking over your bodies" plan. And besides, I did make an exception once, for Maki." Junko flashed a wink at the Criminologist, who simply frowned back. "Even that much had enough blowback to render me powerless to defend myself for a while, but in the end, I'd say it was worth it. I got three bodies out of that deal, after all."
"So you made us kill each other... cuz you couldn't kill us yourself..." Nekomaru summarized.
"Like I said, I personally didn't care about the outcome of the killings."
"How dare you look down on us! What about our lives!?"
"Heh..." All humour disappeared from Junko's disposition as she muttered the next two words: "Chump change."
"Ugh...!"
"So that's your trap..." Hajime muttered. "You tried to make us choose "Graduate" so you can take over everyone's body with the Graduation Program...!"
"H-How?" Sonia asked. "How can you be so cruel?"
"Because Junko Enoshima is... the True Ultimate Despair." Makoto declared. "She doesn't yearn for any kind of future at all... She fills every person she meets with despair!"
"That's my Makoto... You understand me soooooo well. For me, despair is not a goal, or a set of principles, or a lifestyle, or even an instinct... It's what defines me as Junko Enoshima! It's just my characterization! That's why I'm able to pursue despair with such purity!"
"S-So you're saying you only exist... to fill people with despair?" Hajime asked.
"For example... wanna hear about a beautiful memory that even I, who gets bored easily, still remember fondly...? Picture thousands of fools who are madly in love with me dying one by one like insects doused with bug spray... And the best part is... they did it to themselves, you know!? Thousands of humans falling like dominoes... Ahhhh... that memory is soooo beautiful, it made my brain melt..."
"I'm guessing this story doesn't have a happy ending?" Nagito remarked.
"Are you talking about... the Reserve Course's mass suicide?" Hajime guessed.
"Oh yeah, I totally forgot you're a survivor of the Reserve Course. By the way... I'm so sorry for your loss."
"M-Mass suicide...?" Nekomaru repeated. "What is she talking about!?"
"An incident where 2,357 people from the Reserve Course all killed themselves." Hajime explained. "Junko probably made them do it..."
"2,357 people!?" Hiyoko repeated. "That's an insane number!"
"You don't hafta be that surprised." Junko said. "You all look like your parents, friends, and lovers all died at once. Ah, that was so rude of me... There's no way you guys even have meaningful relationships like that anymore... I mean, you're all Ultimate Despair... You guys have already eaten your fill of despair..."
"I-I do not really know what you are trying to say..." Sonia said.
"Junko robs the futures of everyone she interacts with..." Makoto explained. "You Ultimate Despairs are among her many victims..."
"If shomeone like me ish born, that meansh the world ish yearning for deshpair!" Junko argued.
"That's wrong!" Makoto snapped. "The world isn't yearning for despair! That's the reason we can't let you escape!"
"But if you do that... you guys won't be able to return to the real world, right?"
"...Huh?" Hiyoko asked.
"If we choose "Graduate" to get out of here, the Graduation Program will activate, right...?" Hajime explained.
"If that happens... Junko's Alter Ego will be uploaded into the bodies of the dead..." Sonia realized.
"Does that mean we have to stay here in order to stop her from getting out!?" Nekomaru asked.
"Wh-What the heck...!?" Hiyoko shouted. "Why does it have to be like that?"
"It's such a cruel fate for you guys, but it's awfully convenient for the Future Foundation. They'll be able to keep all the Ultimate Despairs, including me, trapped in this game forever."
"W-Wrong! That's not it!" Makoto argued.
"But Ultimate Despair is hated worldwide, and their lives are no doubt targeted by the Future Foundation... Oh well, if you don't want to acknowledge that, I guess it just can't be helped, can't be helped! LOL"
"This is nothing to LOL about!" Sonia shouted.
"But it's so ironic... you came all the way here just to find out that graduating is the wrong choice... Even though you came all this way to win the game. Even though you kept sacrificing your friends to win. The goal you guys squirmed to reach was wrong all along. Isn't that just sooooo fuckin' tragic!?"
"So that's what true despair is..." Nagito observed. "It's not just a series of obstacles blocking the finish line... It's when the finish line itself is just another blockade... That's... the absolute despair that can snuff out any hope..."
Hajime found himself shutting his eyes, trying to block out the world. Was it all a mistake from the start? What it all meaningless? Were they all destined to be locked in here for the rest of their lives? He felt himself nearly black out, but a voice cut through his thoughts.
"...Don't give up yet!" Makoto shouted. "There is a way you guys can get out of here, without letting Junko out!"
Junko shook her head. "No, no, there's no way such a convenient... Huh? There is? Really? That's the first I've heard of it!"
"...Are you talking about the shutdown sequence?" Hajime asked.
"Shutdown sequence...?" Sonia repeated. "What is that?"
"It's a hidden command I set up in the Neo World Program..." Makoto explained.
"H-Hidden command...?" Nekomaru repeated.
"Basically, I knew the Neo World Program wasn't a perfect solution. So I prepared a way to shutdown the program in case of emergencies."
"As I recall, you said it was a command that not even the teacher could stop!" Hajime said.
"Then that means even Junko can't stop it!" Hiyoko realized.
"...Dear me, I have an unfortunate announcement to make, class." Junko interrupted. "You cannot activate the shutdown."
"You... you know about it?" Makoto gasped.
"More importantly, do you know why? Do you know why you can't activate the shutdown?"
"Because... there's not enough people?" Hajime realized.
"Ahem! Pay attention, class! According to my information, in order to initiate the shutdown... Out of fifteen people, more than half of them must press "Graduate" and "Repeat" at the same time... Am I correct?"
"However, out of fifteen people, including Makoto, there are only seven people here." Sonia pointed out.
"Even if you wanna cheat, I won't let ya! The shutdown sequence won't activate unless it knows that different people initiated it... So it's tooootally impossible!"
"Y-You completely saw through that supposedly "hidden" command!?" Nekomaru shouted.
"No need to worry... even I knew we couldn't activate the shutdown..." Makoto assured them.
"You still came here when you knew we had no chance of winning?" Hiyoko asked.
"It's not that we have no chance of winning... The only reason I'm here is because there is a chance."
"Then try explaining it to us!" Junko dared. "What is this "chance of winning" of which you speak!?"
"I believe..."
"Eh, whaaaaat? I can't hear you. You gotta speak up since you're soooooo puny."
"I believe in them! I believe they will definitely come!"
At his words, a new figure appeared in a flash of light. Standing a few podiums away from Makoto was a girl who looked all too familiar, and yet, there was an aspect of her that made her feel different.
Chiaki Nanami looked around, her eyes taking in her classmates. "We're not too late, are we?"
"Chiaki! You're just in time!" Makoto cheered.
The participants, however, stood in stunned silence.
"Ch-Chiaki...? You're alive?" Hajime managed to ask.
Maki shook her head. "The Chiaki we knew was your Alter Ego, wasn't it? You're the original."
The Gamer nodded, a sad expression on her face. "We were all classmates at Hope's Peak Academy. I've been working with the Future Foundation so they could save you. There's so much I want to say, I-"
Her explanation was interrupted by another flash of light. As it faded, it revealed my form standing a few podiums away from Makoto, opposite of Chiaki. I took a moment to reorient myself as I was now back in my 18-year-old form.
I turned to Makoto and smirked. "Sorry to keep you waiting. I had a little hold-up outside."
"Al, I knew you would make it!"
I moved my gaze across the trial grounds, to my opponent. It was Makoto's job to take on Junko, and Chiaki had to worry about her classmates, so that left me with... "Alice Kizuki. It's been a long time."
Despite herself, she managed to smirk back at me. "Yes. I suppose it has, Albert Wright."
I planted my hands on the podium in front of me. The real final battle had just begun.
This is it, the final battle. Makoto, Chiaki, and Albert arrive just in the nick of time, and come face-to-face with all of the remaining Ultimate Despairs. It all comes down to whether or not they can convince everyone to perform the shutdown sequence. If they can't... it's Game Over.
Make no mistake, I'm going to resolve EVERY mystery surrounding Maki in the next chapter. No more "that's for later," no more "just you wait, guys," I'm done with that stuff. We receive our answers next chapter. I'm not holding onto any dangling fruit just for my DR3 stories. Those stories are going back to the all Albert formula.
Some of you may be confused why I decided to straight-up replace Byakuya and Kyoko with Albert and Chiaki, and some of you may be surprised that Chiaki went in at all. Well, for the first point... I needed to stop them from exceeding the shutdown sequence limit too easily. There's no tension if there's definitely more then eight of them in there. If you need an in-universe explanation, I dunno, they only had three extra pods. As for Chiaki, it makes sense to me as the natural next step in her story arc. She's here for her classmates, and if that means risking life and limb for them, so be it. Plus, as Albert states, all three of them now have a role to fulfill.
In the next chapter, the true final class trial will begin.
