The surviving students stood at their spots in the circle, ready for the last class trial. Even Junko had run to the sixteenth seat, which had been vacant since the beginning, the moment Sakura released her. Sakura was the only one who did not take her usual place, as she stood on guard behind Junko instead.

Kyoko spoke first. "Are we broadcasting, Junko?" she asked.

Junko smiled and spread her fingers out in an obscene gesture. "Fuck yeah! I started the broadcast here before our little fistfight! You want to tell the viewers what the fuck's been goin' on, or shall I?"

"I will," Kyoko answered calmly.

"What are you talking about?" Hina asked, confused. She wasn't the only one staring at Kyoko questioningly.

"Our experiences inside this school have been broadcast for the outside world to watch," Kyoko answered. "I've long suspected it. There's no benefit to our whole ordeal for anyone if it doesn't have an audience. The room I found Junko in confirmed it. There was a television feed playing, and plenty of broadcast equipment. The security cameras doubled as television cameras."

"Whoa, really?" Hina asked, eyes wide.

"It's true," Byakuya nodded. "I confirmed it myself."

"So, to make sure we're all on the same page," Kyoko continued, "Let me say to the world watching us that I pocketed the headmaster's key from Hiro's body and used it to sneak into the headmaster's room and the data storage room while my classmates distracted Monokuma. Noticing the camera feeds in the data storage room, I realized this was how the Mastermind was keeping track of us. I hid there until the Mastermind showed herself. She wore a dark mask, and walked towards the monitors to check them for my location. I jumped up and attacked her. She slashed me with a knife I didn't notice, but I knocked her unconscious, tore off her mask, and dragged her down to where everyone else was waiting outside the trial room. Now, we're here, my wound has been bandaged, and we're ready for the final class trial."

"So what is it we need to figure out in this trial, exactly?" Makoto asked. "Who killed Hiro?"

"That's question one," Kyoko answered, nodding. "The way I see it, there are five questions we need to answer. What happened to Hiro? How is it that someone looking just like Junko stands before us now? How did we all come to be inside this building? What happened to the outside world?" She paused. "And finally, what should we do going forward?" She stared at Junko. "Would that meet your challenge?"

Junko nodded and spoke in a deep voice. "Yes, 'tis satisfactory to our royal personage!"

"Well, what happened to Hiro is obvious," Celeste spoke up. "Though I'm not sure about the rest."

"It is?" Hina asked.

"Makoto, what do you think happened to Hiro?" said Celeste, smiling sweetly.

Makoto stammered, clearly not expecting to be put on the spot. "Uh… well… I mean…" To his credit, he recovered quickly. "Kyoko said Hiro was panicking, and shot at her, right? So we know he had the gun. Since who had the gun needed to be a secret, that means he was the one to take the items from Monokuma. After taking the items, he apparently holed up in the chem lab on the third floor. After Kyoko's encounter, we found him dead and the room looked as though an explosion had gone off. Either it was a Monokuma bomb or some other explosion, like a chemical one. But I've been thinking and, well, once Kyoko knew Hiro had the gun, the secret was out, right? So by the rules Monokuma had set out, Hiro needed to give the gun and key up to Monokuma again. So it was probably a Monokuma explosion because Monokuma came into the room and Hiro shot at him like he shot at Kyoko."

"Hey, yeah, that could be it!" Hina proclaimed, realization dawning on her. Celeste smiled proudly at Makoto, while Byakuya stared off with a bored expression.

"So if that explosion killed Hiro," Makoto continued, "Then based on the question Celeste asked Monokuma earlier, the killer of Hiro was… Hiro himself, by way of breaking the school regulations and attacking Monokuma. Does that… sound right to everyone else?"

"Yes, that is the conclusion I came to as well," Celeste smiled.

"Of course," Byakuya scoffed. "The idiot gave us the most boring case yet."

"But… why?" Hina asked, her face scrunched up in thought.

"Yes, that is the difficult part," Celeste admitted. "Though the man always did act inscrutably."

"I think I know," Makoto said slowly. "When I went to his room, I found evidence that he had been doing some divination. What if he had a vision? Something that scared him so badly he felt he needed to grab the gun and hide in a distant room to protect himself?"

"That sounds like him," Byakuya commented. "Terrified of his own hallucinations."

"Maybe he saw himself dead?" Hina answered.

"Whatever he saw," Kyoko broke in, "I think it's fair to say we've solved his case. Wouldn't you agree, Junko?"

"Let's put it to a vote!" Junko announced in a cutesy voice. "Will you make the right choice or the dreadfully wrong one? Puhuhu!"

Kyoko looked around the room. "Raise your hand if you think the one who killed Hiro was Hiro himself, by way of causing Monokuma to explode."

Celeste, Byakuya, and Kyoko immediately raised their hands. Makoto and Hina followed suit a second later. Then Sakura raised her hand briefly too, as though she were just acknowledging and going along with the group's decision.

"You got it right!" Junko chirped. "Hiro shot my Monokuma! I was just trying to take the items back after Kyoko found out the secret. But Hiro penetrated Monokuma's core, damaging the bomb's casing and triggering an immediate explosion! Kablooey, Puhuhu!"

"Question one answered," Kyoko announced. "Now… how is Junko here?"

"Seriously!" Hina commented. "We watched her die! I'd worry this is a ghost, except Kyoko and Sakura have been able to physically fight her."

Byakuya scoffed. "With the imbecile dead, I would hope we could rule out supernatural explanations from the start."

"You know," Celeste mused. "She doesn't look quite the same as the Junko I partnered with. Something about the eyes."

Kyoko nodded. "I don't think this can be the original Junko. We watched her die, saw her bleed out and stop breathing. Faking a death like that, in the open where we could all inspect the body, is so unlikely as to not be worth considering, I think."

"Then this is a different person?" Makoto asked. "I wonder… you know, I do remember asking the original Junko early on why she looked different from the magazines. She said it was photoshopped, but this Junko looks more like those magazines."

"I never saw her magazines," Celeste commented, "but if that's true it would mean that this Junko is the real one. So the one I partnered with was an imposter? But why? What could she have hoped to gain?"

"The resemblance is too close to be anything but familial," Byakuya announced boredly. "Perhaps they were sisters in on the plot together from the start."

"But then why would one sister kill the other?" Makoto asked.

"To make a point," Celeste said, twirling a strand of hair in her fingers. "The woman before us is clearly insane. She likely thought nothing of killing a relative."

"You'e wrong," Junko cut in, her earlier manic glee replaced with downcast melancholy. "I loved her… that's why… I had to do it…"

There was a pause. "What does that mean?" Hina asked.

"When I explored the headmaster's office, I found something that I think may help make sense of things," Kyoko said, starting a new strand of conversation. She pulled the crumpled up papers from her skirt pocket and held them up for the others to see. "It's a student registry. It lists our class, but with sixteen members. It adds someone named Mukoro Ikusaba. The headmaster writes that this Mukoro may be someone he called 'the Ultimate Despair.' Monokuma told us early on that his motive was 'despair'. My theory, then, is that one of the two Junko's is actually Mukoro, and they worked together to create despair. Apparently this Junko figured that betraying her partner would make them feel more despair."

"Interesting," Byakuya commented, a surprisingly thoughtful look crossing his face. "So if Makoto is right that this is the original Junko, then the one we met at the start would be this "Mukoro", who Junko betrayed as part of her silly quest for despair. However, they were only able to pass Mukoro off as Junko because they looked alike. Yet they also have different last names. How can this be?"

"Ah, that story's boring," Junko said dismissively, twirling a finger in her hair. "Make up whatever you like. I'll just tell you: you're right. Mukoro was my sister, and together, we were the Ultimate Despair! We knew one of us would have to work behind the scenes, and Mukoro, bless her heart, she just didn't have the knack for it, ya know? But we also didn't want to waste the role of Ultimate Fasionista! So we did the Ultimate Switcheroo, puhuhu!" She paused, then placed tiny plastic mushrooms on her head - where did she even get those? - and looked down forlornly as she continued. "But it quickly became clear to me that my dear sis was a poor substitute for the real thing. And then, that moment in the gym, I felt it. The call of despair. I refused to ignore it."

There was a second of silence. "You are saying that you fetishize despair so much, you would kill your own sister… just to feel the despair of your own action?" Celeste said aghast.

Junko nodded slowly. Suddenly she perked up, pulled her mushrooms off, and placed her hands near her face in a cutesy way. "Wowwee you guys sure are doing great so far! Two for two! But remember, you're not done yet." She smiled creepily.

"Right," said Makoto, a determined expression on his face. "The next question is how we came to be here, right Kyoko?"

Kyoko nodded. "We have enough information to figure that out. Remember what we learned from Alter Ego?"

Makoto nodded back. "We learned that the outside world faced some kind of tragedy and that the current date is about a year later than the date we walked into this school."

"Yes," Kyoko agreed. "Which also prompted us to realize several of us are physically different than in our most recent memories. I grew taller, for example. Combine that with my general amnesia, and the explanation should be clear."

"It is?" asked Hina, tilting her head to the side.

"Clearly Monokuma used some sort of memory altering drug on us," Byakuya said condescendingly. "I recall reading about pharmaceutical companies working on such a thing before all this. They obviously finished it during our missing year, and Junko here used it to remove our year as classmates from our memory."

"Wait, so… we weren't strangers?" Hina asked. "We… we killed people we'd known for a year, but forgot?"

"It would seem that is correct," said Celeste, smiling lightly. "Furthermore, it would seem this school is indeed the real Hope's Peak Academy, and that we are trapped inside it not because of the Mastermind's schemes, but because we chose to hide here after the mysterious tragedy outside."

"Right," said Makoto, looking at Junko. "Are we correct so far?"

Junko smirked. "When I left that laptop for you all, I didn't think you would make so much of the listed date. Maybe I should have figured out how to set it back a year, heh."

"We're on the right track," Kyoko said confidently. "The difficult part is… what was this tragedy? What happened to the outside world that could make us prefer living inside the school?"

"One moment, please," Celeste cut in, regarding Junko curiously. "I have another question first. What did you do with that computer, exactly? When Kyoko and I checked the hidden room, it was missing. Your doing, I presume?"

"Yup," said Junko, popping the 'P'. "It was prying too deeply into the school's network. Had to get rid of it, I'm afraid. Don't worry, I'll show you your precious robot friend again after this trial." She grinned broadly.

"Hmph," said Celeste, narrowing her eyes at Junko. "Then let us finish this. There are only so many things this tragedy could have been."

"Yes," Kyoko agreed. "It had to be something devastating enough to force us to stay in here, but not so devastating that there's no one to watch our broadcast. It also had to be a gradual disaster, as Alter Ego informed us that it took months for the school to be fortified."

"Further, it was the sort of thing that the headmaster was reluctant to discuss directly," Celeste pointed out. "A simple natural disaster would surely be called by its name, not the nebulous 'Tragedy'."

"Calling it a tragedy suggests it was a single event or sparked by a single event," Byakuya mused. "So it is unlikely to be a disease."

"But… what does that leave us with?" Makoto asked. "If it's not earthquakes, meteors, nuclear missiles, a pandemic… I mean, what are we left with?"

"War," Sakura answered simply.

Kyoko nodded. "Something like that. Remember when Monokuma told us that Hiro heard the sounds of combat outside the school door? The school wasn't just fortified by strengthening its walls. Weapons were used too. It seems likely that that machine gun by the locker rooms and the guns outside were originally placed here for our protection."

"But protection from what?" Hina asked. "When we entered the school, Japan was at peace!"

"Presumably from people like her," Byakuya answered, jerking a thumb in Junko's direction. "The enemy wouldn't be foreigners. Not if ground combatants were expected rather than missiles and bombs. It must have been a kind of civil war amongst our own people."

"I agree," Celeste mused. "But sparked by what? A disease of the mind, perhaps? Something akin to vampirism or zombie infection, which steals our wills and turns us into despair-worshipping monsters? How delightfully macabre that would be!"

"There needn't be anything supernatural about it," Byakuya retorted. "A sufficiently terrible event could cause the weak-minded to give in to despair on their own. That seems to be what occurred for many of our classmates over the course of this game."

"People are more resilient than that," Makoto declared. "Our classmates didn't give into despair on their own. They were pushed into it by Monokuma' motives."

"Yes," Kyoko mused. "Perhaps… perhaps Monokuma gave the whole world a motive, one that plunged it into despair and created a kind of civil war. The presentation of that motive might then be… the tragedy."

"But what motive could that possibly have been?" Makoto asked

There was a pause. "Perhaps…" said Celeste hesitatingly. "Perhaps we aren't the first to be put into a killing game."

Eyes turned towards her. "What do you mean?" asked Hina.

"We know these events are being broadcast to the public, yes?" Celeste continued. "Watching Japan's elite kill themselves while being helpless to save them could incite a kind of despair. Citizens would be appalled that the government and the police could not save us, and would likely riot. A series of escalating events could lead to full civil war over something like our situation. Wars have begun for less."

"Hmm," said Kyoko, "But of course the Tragedy was already underway when we locked ourselves in here. So you think we're not the first?"

Celeste nodded. "Further supporting this, whatever the disaster was, it was universal enough that we judged imprisoning ourselves preferable to fleeing the country. Well, either that or international travel was halted. If death games involving the elite of other countries also occurred, that would explain how the despair apparently spread beyond Japan. I mean, can you imagine how America would react if their favorite Hollywood celebrities were put in a situation like this?"

"I'm not sure they'd care," said Byakuya. "They don't exactly shy away from violence over there. Regardless, a theory along these lines seems our best bet. How about it, Junko? Does this discussion satisfy you?"

Junko frowned, then the frown slowly turned into a cocky smile. "Yea, I declare that thou hast achieved a sufficiently close approximation of the truth," she proclaimed. "And to assist with your next decision, I would like to show you something. As I am indisposed, would one of thee kindly obtain the photographs under Monokuma's throne?"

Sakura grunted and walked over to the seat where Monokuma had sat in previous trials. She came back with some large photographs, which she glanced at and then passed to someone else.

The photos were passed around the circle until everyone saw them. Kyoko could scarcely believe they were real. Rioting, destruction, defacing of monuments… and Monokuma's face plastered everywhere.

"Explain," Byakuya ordered Junko.

Junko tittered. "Yours truly set in motion a chain of events that set the world on fire. The first tragedy was a death game I held with Hope's Peak Academy's student council! The despair only spread from there, catching like wildfire in the hearts of people the world over, inviting copycats and followers. Monokuma's facemask is the best selling item of the year! Puhuhuhu!"

"You're insane!" Hina declared.

"Insanely gorgeous, I know dear," said Junko, smiling broadly. "But now that you all have figured out the truth, we can get to the fun part! You all have a choice to make." Junko stood up straight, produced a pair of glasses from her pocket and put them on, and held them tilted down a bit with one hand, with the effect of making her look smug and bookish. "Here is how it is going to work. You will all get one final vote for who to kill. Me… or Kyoko. If you all vote for me, I will finally get to feel the full despair of my own punishments. Once I am dead, a dead man's switch will open the front door and the school's air purifier will break, so you will all be forced to leave this school forever and take your chances in the ruined outside world."

Junko paused a moment. Surprisingly, no one interrupted her, everyone considering her words carefully. "I designed it so that that is the only way the door will open," Junko continued. "So if you want to keep access to the school's endless food, water, and clean air, then you'll have to vote for Kyoko. Even a single vote for Kyoko will tip the scales - if you want to leave, it has to be unanimous! If Kyoko is voted for, then it is she alone who will be punished, and the rest of us will be free to live out our lives here in safety, the killing game finished. At least until such a time as I die another way. But that shouldn't be for a while." Junko grinned toothily.

"Why Kyoko?" Celeste asked sadly.

Junko smiled wider. "Because I hate that bitch for what she did to my killing game. I thought giving her a few extra doses of the amnesia drugs would remove her uncanny ability to stand in my way, but I clearly underestimated "the Ultimate Detective". Or overestimated the drugs. I don't want to share our school space any longer, so one of us has to go! "

"Ultimate… Detective?" Kyoko repeated slowly. The description felt right, somehow.

Junko raised her eyebrows. "Oh? I assumed you had already read that in the headmaster's file. Yes, the ultimate ability you forgot was your detective skills. Not like that matters now. Time for the last trial! What is your decision?"

Everyone paused, looking around at each other.

"I don't think I need to say what I'm voting for," Kyoko said, breaking the silence.

"There's no way I'd vote to kill a friend," Makoto said firmly. "Whatever is out there, we'll make it work. I'm sure of it."

Byakuya shook his head. "You're naive. Still, if I have to choose between struggling for survival in a post-apocalyptic wasteland and being stuck here with only you all for company until our dying days… well, let's just say some things are worth more than safety."

"God, you can't stop being an asshole to us even after learning the world is destroyed!" Hina cried out. "You know what, me too! I want out. Sakura and I can take care of ourselves, right Sakura?"

She turned to look at the muscular girl, who dipped her head and grunted affirmatively. "Whatever ghosts haunt the outside world will be easier to fight than the ghosts that haunt within these walls," Sakura added.

"Are you all sure?" Junko asked, still inexplicably smiling. "Only despair awaits you outside. Your only chance of living a happy life will die with me."

"Make me a better offer," Celeste demanded, causing everyone to turn to her.

"Huh, what do you mean?" asked Hina.

Celeste's determined face softened. "I want safety, but not at Kyoko's expense, I'm afraid," she said, twirling her hair nonchalantly in one hand. "So if you want to live, Junko, you need to change the terms of the deal. Bet something else, or you'll lose the gamble." She regarded Junko coldly.

"Hmm," said Junko, musing. "I see Kyoko has really ingrained herself with you all. Can't believe no one took advantage of that and killed her." Her face twisted into a grimace and she postured herself aggressively. "Fine then, fuck the bitch! You can vote for this little bastard instead!" she pointed at Makoto. "Or that one!" she pointed at Byakuya. "Or any of you bitches! Whichever bitch or bastard gets the most votes will be the punished one, except me, I'll still only die if everyone votes for me. Got it?"

"And if there's a tie?" Celeste prompted, looking thoughtful.

"Celeste, you can't be serious!" cried Makoto.

"So we can vote for anyone?" Hina asked slowly; glancing not so subtly at Byakuya.

Byakuya rolled his eyes. "It's pointless. She can't punish anyone while we have her captured here."

"Oh but I can!" Junko grinned. "The process is automatic once you all cast your vote. If you all pick me, I couldn't stop my execution even if I wanted to! That's what makes the danger so delicious! Puhuhu." She stopped laughing abruptly and turned to Celeste. "Eh, if there's a tie we'll have a revote where you can only vote between the tied individuals. Either way, means I'll continue my pleasant school life here with you all!"

Byakuya scoffed at Junko, and glanced between the rest of the class. "I realize of course that I am not well liked among you, but surely you all realize that trading me for her would not be an upgrade?"

"That… is a good point," Celeste admitted, sighing. She turned back to Junko. "Your new offer is tempting, Junko, but I shall stand with the others. Out there remains a slim hope I can achieve the life I desire. Imprisonment with you and all that occurred within these walls could only lead to despair."

"You're fucking stuck with despair either way," Junko retorted, suddenly glaring angrily at them. "You go out there, you're fucked." She raised a middle finger. "You stay in here, you're fucked." She raised her other middle finger. "But at least you'd survive. And if you keep me around maybe you can come to see the wonders of despair like I do. There's some fucking hope for ya, eh?!"

The others looked around at each other, seeing the determination on everyone's faces.

"I think we're ready to vote," Kyoko announced calmly.