AN: Hello again! I should probably be studying for my end of year tests but I felt like I needed to update this. This is a major flashback chapter so bare this in mind!

They stood in their usual formation around the centre of the trial room. Junko had finally appeared after her position as the Mastermind was outed by Makoto. She had stood in silence for a good few minutes now, taking the constant bombardment of questions and insults from the rest of her class. After the short barrage, the questions slowly stopped and quiet filled the room. ''Are you finally done?'' She asked, lifting her head to look out at the rest of them. She received only glares and disgruntled expressions, so she chose to begin her eulogy. ''Though you may beg me to let you leave, I have to tell you something before you choose to leave the despair-ridden halls of this formerly-luxurious academy.'' She pointed up to the large screens on the walls, basking in the artificial light as they flickered on to reveal the outside world. Or what was left of it. ''This is what I did.'' She beamed brightly at the survivors. ''What on Earth did you do to them?'' Celeste said as she glanced at her screen, which featured the bodies of hundreds, scarred and charred. ''Don't you mean: what did the governments of the world do?'' The Gambler raised an eyebrow and turned to face her captor.

''Basically me and my sister, who you already had the pleasure of meeting before I murdered her, snuck into a UN meeting and brainwashed all of them into killing each other and destroying their neighbours and enemies.'' The survivors looked horrified. All but Byakuya seemed to turn a deathly pale, even Celeste seemed to turn an even brighter shade of white. ''You certainly seem proud of your actions. Would you care to enlighten us of the purpose of this atrocity?'' The Heir spoke shakily but with the usual air of authority. ''With the amount of times I've said it so far I'd have thought you'd got it by now. For. The. Despair.'' The glares became scowls. ''So the world is completely destroyed?'' Makoto asked with a voice full of dejection. Junko nodded. ''And there are no guarantees of safety even if we don't die from nuclear radiation?'' Kyoko followed up. Again, Junko nodded.

''We are among the last few thousands of people on Earth. How does it feel knowing that your friends were murdered or murderers to escape into a world they'd likely die in regardless?'' Celeste clenched her fists and flicked her eyes around the room. She made eye contact with Toko for a short time before turning back to the Mastermind. ''You mean that Sayaka killed Leon for nothing? That her bandmates were dead anyway?'' Makoto spoke barely above a whisper. ''And when Taka killed Hifumi to try and pay off his family's debt, that money wouldn't have had any value, would it?'' The Luckster asked again. Junko simply responded by covering her mouth as she giggled. Aoi sighed deeply and clenched the edges of her podium tightly. Sakura had sacrificed herself at the expense of her dojo without the knowledge that it had long since been destroyed. ''If your claim that out memories have been removed holds water, then exactly how long have we been living without precedent?'' Junko put a single digit to her chin in thought. ''About a year. A year and a half maximum. Don't wanna be too precise otherwise you'll put the pieces together.''

''How far into our life in here did the bombs go off?'' Makoto asked. Junko gave him a strange look; one that the group couldn't quite trace back to a clear emotion. ''About a month, roughly.'' The Luckster's head fell into his hands. The majority of the group shared his feelings but expressed them in different ways. ''Doesn't it fill you with despair to know that everyone you knew and loved is likely dead? That all of your dreams and ambitions won't be achieved or realised?'' She took the time to spin her head around the podiums to meet the gazes of each survivor individually.

''Makoto, you'll never see your family again.''

''Byakuya, your conglomerate is gone and all your property has been destroyed.''

Kyoko, I killed your father before you could reconcile.''

Yasuhiro, your mom is dead and and all your occult stuff is useless.''

Aoi, your entire family is dead and Sakura died for nothing.''

Toko… I don't think you had anything or anyone to lose so well done, I guess.''

And Celeste, it looks like your dream of owning a castle has long since-'' THUNK! Junko quickly placed the lifeless husk of the Monokuma robot in front of herself. A pair of razor sharp scissors jutted out of the dual-coloured bear's stomach. Celeste remained stock still in the position she'd thrown them from. How did Junko know that she would attack her? Was it really that predictable? ''Oh, how disappointing. I was hoping that Kyoko would be the one to cast the first stone. Oh well!'' She threw the Monokuma into the centre of the podiums and slammed her hands onto the podium. ''That may have had a chance of making it to me if I didn't have two talents. Maybe then you wouldn't have to go through the trap door!''

Celeste raised a single brow before feeling the floor give out from under her. She fell without screaming and the others didn't know if that made it better or worse. The fall had evidently ended when a loud thud and blood splatter could be heard as the hatch slowly closed back up. ''NO!'' Aoi screamed and fell to her knees. This was the second time she'd lost someone she felt extremely close to. The last few days had seen Celeste attempting to take her mind off of Sakura. The others didn't know what she did but it seemed extremely effective. The others seemed less fazed but still allowed anger and frustration to be present on their faces. Makoto grit his teeth and clenched his podium so tight his knuckles whitened. Kyoko did the same, the wood even splintering and cracking under the intense pressure. Junko then continued to reveal all of her previous escapades with Mukuro.

The Despair Sisters had gone to a meeting of world leaders at a UN summit in Germany. They had projected their brainwashing video onto the screens that provide translations for the delegates. The politicians were instructed to show the video to the rest of their government and spread despair. For some, this meant broadcasting the videos to the police and the army who turned on their own people and began starting riots and firing into crowds of demonstrators. The Japanese Foreign Minister and his team returned to Japan and formulated a plan to attack Asia. War in Europe began almost instantly with the Eastern Europeans getting 'revenge' on Russia. After only a week all of mainland Europe was in freefall. The US invaded Canada and glorified the massacres of children on national television. South American people fled into the rainforests and mountains to escape the chaos of those who had already been affected in the cities. Soon Russia decided on a nuclear deterrent and destroyed the east of Europe. The US took the opportunity to nuke their oldest adversary and the fallout reached a slowly destabilising China. The Chinese used their entire nuclear arsenal on random nations who they associated to be of equal or higher power. Japan had previously fired their weapons of mass destruction after their infantry invasions failed. Japan was hit by three powerful bombs. One made contact north of Tokyo and the other two landed on the most northern coast of the mainland and most eastern coast of Shikoku. The rest of the class sat awestruck, horrified by the events they were being informed of. Eventually Junko's mouth came to rest and she sat on her throne at the back of the room.

''Now that business is complete and you know the score, I'd like to propose something to you all.'' She raised her hand and held up the peace sign. ''You've got two options. Stay here in the Academy where you're safe and give in to the despair… or face the outside world and potentially die in agony. It's your choice. Oh and BTW, I'll kill one of you randomly if you decide to stay. I'm not throwing you a safe life at no consequence. And knowing both his luck and my hatred for him, it'll probably be Makoto.'' The short boy took a moment to look around at the faces of his friends. There was no sign of strength, just deep contemplation a mainstay in their expressions. It remained like this for some time, Junko allowing the silence despite it's lack of excitement. ''Guys, please. We cant allow her to win! We can't despair!'' Makoto broke the silence with an uncharacteristic shout. His friends looked to him expectantly, waiting for the motivational speech. ''This isn't something I can decide for you. I don't control your emotions or your thoughts. I know you're scared and I know you're wondering what it's like to be outside the 'safety' of these walls. I don't know myself… but I'm willing to find out. I'm willing to stop the death of our friends from preventing our progress. Kyoko, your father loved you and so do I.'' The Detective gasped for what seemed like the first time. Her face fell and she grit her teeth. ''He'd be so proud of you. What you've become. What you can and will be. Don't let the potential of a messed up world stop you.'' Kyoko met his gaze and hardened her expression with a huff. ''There's no way I could give in after you told everyone you love me.'' She said with a roll of her eyes. ''You're too important to me for me to just let you die.'' Makoto gave her a bright smile. The rest of their friends seemed to have heard the two converse but chose to stay in their own heads. Junko watched them with a content grin. Was she happy that he'd convinced Kyoko or that the others were still despairing? The Luckster chose to turn his attention to the Ultimate Heir.

''Byakuya, you, of all people, can't give up.'' The Heir stared at the ground and tried to block him out. ''Byakuya, look at me. Look at me!'' The Heir slowly raised his eyes to his level. ''You are the most influential man on Earth. You said that you were destined to lead humanity and right now, humanity needs you more than ever. Don't give her what she wants, fight her!'' He stopped speaking and raised a hand to his throat. All of this voice-raising was doing a number on him. The tall blonde opposite him was mumbling incoherently to himself. He seemed to be composing himself. Byakuya stood bolt upright and pointed at him. ''As if I needed you to tell me that.'' He said with a smirk. ''Rest assured I have no intentions to let any of you die or suffer due to my ineptitude. I have a world to rule and a plan to do it with. And I take it that now that I've made my choice, you'll have made yours, hmm?'' He craned his neck towards Toko who, unlike the Clairvoyant and Swimmer, regarded him with a swift flick of the eyes. Even Byakuya seemed surprised when she turned away from him and crouched down to the floor. The Heir gave Makoto an inquisitive look. He responded in kind by gesturing for his opposite number to try and calm the Author down and get her back to her senses. Byakuya sighed with a drop of the shoulders and begrudgingly wandered over to her. He chose a rather condescending stance, choosing to stand in front of her and speak down.

''You are a very opinionated woman and whilst you annoy me very much, you are valuable to me and everyone here. Do you really want to disappoint me?'' He winced and backtracked. Kyoko made a move to go over to them but Makoto held out a hand. ''He has this. Hopefully.'' The Detective nodded. ''Do you really want to let us all die or be trapped here forever?'' NO!'' She shrieked from the floor, falling back onto her haunches. ''BUT IF SHE… if she g-gets out and kills whoever's left I-'' She met her Master's stone gaze. Tears were flowing freely now and Yasuhiro and Hina finally snapped out of their respective trances. ''I don't know if I'll e-ever be able to get my b-body back out there. If the world is dangerous enough she m-might not let a useless w-w-weakling like me back in…'' Byakuya's face softened and he crouched too. ''You are stronger than this Fukawa. You are both intelligent and mentally fortified. The fact that you are even considering remaining within this place shocks and appals me but I realise that you are scared and unsure. I can't promise you that life outside will be both safe or successful but I can promise you that we'll try. So you best get your act together.'' He stood sharply, handing the bespectacled girl a handkerchief. He returned to his podium and glared at The Mastermind. She chose to ignore his hostility and give him a maniacal grin.

''Is-is she gonna be okay?'' Yasuhiro asked hesitantly. ''The real question is, Hiro, are you going to be okay?'' The lavender-haired girl asked. ''I-I don't know, man… Nuclear war? No people outside to take care of us or at least set us up with somethin'?'' He placed his chin in his hand as he often did when deep in thought. Well, as deep in thought as someone like Hiro could get. ''I'm never gonna see my mom again, dudes. None of you are gonna see your moms or nothin'. We don't have anybody to go to. S'kinda fucked, not gonna lie.'' Makoto opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by his girlfriend.

''Are you really okay with living here for the rest of your life? You wanted to leave here more than even Celeste.'' Hiro's jaw dropped at the almost accusation. ''Of course I don't wanna stay here but what's the better option? Dying outside and becoming a ghost?'' Makoto coughed before he spoke. ''If you think about it logically, Junko said that all the people outside are either dead or hiding. So that means the chance of somebody trying to kill us is super slim and all we have to worry about is food and water, which we can bring with us before we leave. So just relax and think about it clearly, yeah?'' It was practically a lie and Byakuya and Kyoko gave him strange looks. Hopefully Hiro was either ignorant enough or genuinely fooled by Makoto's words. ''Well, when you put it like that I guess that the chances of us dying are kinda low! Thanks bro! That really put the happy train back on the tracks!'' Hiro laughed. Thank god that had worked. It was lucky that he was extremely gullible.

Now the only person left to convince was Hina, who was fully aware of this fact. ''Guess it's just me, huh? Oh, and Toko, I guess.'' The Author raised her hand just above the edge of her podium, ''I'm o-okay, I-I'm just composing m-myself.'' Aoi looked down, dejected. She had clearly been hoping that Toko would still be unsure like her. ''I don't want to be annoying or keep us here forever but- '' She looked up to stare into Makoto's eyes. ''I just don't think that we'll be safe out there. Sakura doing what she did for us would be, like, pointless if we just died outside.'' The rest of the group allowed a moment of remembrance. Junko giggled from her position on Monokuma's throne but made no attempt to break their fragile silence.

''Sakura gave her life to keep us from hurting one another and we did that. She would be proud that we'd gotten this far and that we'd become as close as we have. She was your best friend Hina. She was like a sister to you and vice versa. Would she really want you to stay cooped up in here? When she gave her life for us, she said in her letter that she wanted us to get out. I don't mean to use her to convince you but think about it for a second.'' This was the most hesitant he had been so far. This could severely backfire by: a, making her angry that he used Sakura as fuel for his argument or b, she became so upset that she lost the motivation to join them. She stared blankly at each of them in turn to gauge their expressions. ''Okay! I still don't think that this is a good idea but if all of you are up for it, then who am I to say no.'' She smiled broadly as she finished and Makoto felt his cheeks twinging into one of his own. The group had reached a unanimous decision and stood basking in their achievement. ''Oookaayy!'' Junko screamed as she launched herself down from her perch and back to her podium, the body of the Monokuma at her feet. ''Now it's time for the real deal.''

''Now that you've decided that you want to leave I'm gonna bring my bargain to the table. So you've got two alternatives. All of you leave and take me with you orrr…. You can leave Makoto here with me while you all leave.'' It was less of a shock than being told he would be executed but it was a surprise nonetheless. ''That is a significantly easier decision than the last. We will leave this place with you. I will not allow any of us to suffer, as I said before. Even if that means keeping you around.'' ''Do we really want a crazy lady with us though?'' Hiro seemed almost scared at the thought of having the orchestrator of their misery with them. ''I'm not willing to leave Makoto here.'' Kyoko glared at Hiro for even suggesting abandoning the Luckster. ''Can we tie her up or something?'' Hina suggested. Toko pointed at the tanned girl with a shaky index finger. ''W-Why would she al-allow herself to b-become our h-h-hostage, stupid?'' Hina furrowed her brow and quickly prepared a retort but was cut off by a surprising source. ''That's fine. As long as I'm in the same place as Makoto, I'll gladly undergo whatever you want me to.''

''What is with your obsession with me?'' Makoto asked in confusion. A sharp, hoarse laugh escaped her lips as she grit her teeth and stared, wide eyed, at the short boy. ''You are singlehandedly responsible for the failure of my plans and the reason your friends have stayed so psychologically strong. Why do you think I tried to murder you when you were ill? You caused me such horrific annoyance but…'' Her face drifted into a euphoric state. ''You made me feel a new type of despair I've never felt before. The despair of unpredictability. I want to see if you can make me feel something other than despair and boredom. And I think I've already experienced one. LOVE.'' She blew a kiss to Makoto and made a heart with her hands. Makoto's eyes widened in what could only be described as awe. If it was anyone other than Junko he would be embarrassed, maybe even flattered but this just made him nervous. He was the object of affection for the person who cause the near extinction of the human race. He didn't know if infatuation would make her kinder or crueller. He looked to Kyoko. Then to Byakuya. Then to Junko. ''Still want me to leave with you?'' She offered with an enormous grin. His face contorted into as straight an expression he could manage. ''We leave in one hour.''

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The search for supplies wasn't difficult. They took all the bags they could carried and filled them with as much food and water as possible. Junko had been hovering by the large vault-like doors in the main hall under the instructions of Makoto, who seemed to be the only person she could acknowledge at the current time. Byakuya was the most convenient to carry the larger bags with unalterable straps as his height let him hang the bags without bashing his ankles like they would Hina or Makoto. The Swimmer had been tasked with carrying changes of clothes and medical supplies in a duffel bag and backpack respectively. Toko was given a large travel backpack full of toiletries and cleaning products as well as two tents rolls on each face of the bag. Kyoko chose to bring personal items that they wanted to bring with them. The photos of the class. The picture of her and her father. There was also a selection of random, useful items and tools in her backpack including a screwdriver, bags of screws and bolts and a collection of knives. Hiro and Byakuya were given the food and water which they were clearly less than pleased by due to the weight of them. Makoto took a travel backpack and took whatever he thought seemed useful or anything the others had no room for or didn't have the strength to carry. It was extremely heavy and he was aware that it might cause him to falter but he needed to be the example for the others.

They reconvened at the gate of the Academy and Byakuya tied Junko up, leaving a single end for him to grip onto and drag. Kyoko held a control button with a large red button on it. ''Ready to go?'' She asked with a small sliver of a smile. ''Whenever you are.'' The Detective pressed down and the whirring began. Makoto slipped his right hand into Kyoko's left. It was time to see what awaited them.

It feels like an age since I last updated and it has been. I have no valid excuse. I have plenty of exams to do and no time or motivation to write when I'm constantly bombarded with reasons to study. I will try as hard as I can to update as frequently as I can manage but I can say one thing: by the time summer comes around I will likely be pumping chapters out at a good rate. Thank you so much for reading my chapter (and my pathetic excuses) and thank you for sticking with me.