Part 4 of 9
The following day
"Well, time's up everyone, it's time to get the vote started." Said Monokuma.
"Hold on a sec', a time limit? Since when?" Asked Hank.
"Since I got bored, now get voting. I think the black end is pretty obvious.
"...Guys, I didn't do this!" Makoto exclaimed, as the group got ready to vote for the black end of the fifth trial over the mystery body that had been discovered in the garden.
"Somethin's off about this trial, the evidence's shaky at best and even if I'm no detective, even I could see that. So what could be going on here..." Hank wondered, as his eyes fell on Kyoko who stayed as stoic as ever, not even showing much emotion about the fact that the person she had been investigating with could be send to their death "She knows that none of us killed the body we found..."
"Uhm, Hill, you still have to vote." Monokuma said, breaking Hank out of his thoughts.
"I abstain."
"What, but sensei..." Aoi tried to say, only for Monokuma to interrupt her.
"Unacceptable, you better have a good reason for that!"
"I do, this whole trial is a sham. There ain't no concrete evidence that any of us did this, you're tryin' to use this trial to get rid of the people you as the mastermind consider the biggest threat to whatever plan you have. You, Monokuma, killed the body on the fifth floor. Therefore, I refuse to vote." Hank replied, stern in his belief.
"Oh! And what evidence do you have? That's right you have nothing but a baseless accusation, no evidence, no proof, nothing, nada, zilch, nyet. So, I'm going to up the stakes, vote or else everyone I'm killing all seven of you and ending this game early. Your choice!" Exclaimed Monokuma.
Hearing this, Hank stayed silent for a bit to think it over, until a bit later he sighed as he said "Sorry kid, I tried." after which he pressed the button on his podium. After which the screen in the trial room showed a slot machine that after a while stopped to show Makoto's face.
"Good job everyone, you got it right. Well except for you Hill, voting for yourself to at least try and save the kid, pretty ballsy. But ever so useless since you're the only one to do so." Said Monokuma, as the rest of the group looked down in guilt.
"Guys..." Makoto uttered.
"Apologies Naegi-san, there was no other way." Said Sakura.
"Please forgive me." Added Chihiro.
"Y-yeah, sorry." Said Hina, while Byakuya stayed silent.
"Oh well, let's give it everything we've got! It's punishment time!" Monokuma exclaimed, as he slammed down his hammer on the button as the claw shot into the courtroom and clammed itself shut around Makoto's neck.
But right before he was pulled away Kyoko said "I don't expect you to forgive me, this is all my fault." after which he got pulled away out of the courtroom and the screen switched to show Makoto tied to a chair that was set on a conveyor belt as a slamming was heard behind him, as the people in the courtroom could see a giant trash compactor that continued to slam down onto the ground with Makoto being moved closer by the second.
As he was being moved, Monokuma suddenly appeared in front of him, with a teacher's stand and a chalk-board, teaching a lesson on the board. The screen then quickly flashes to the TV on top of the compactor, before sliding down towards the compactor itself. As it got closer and closer, the title of the execution flashed at the next bang.
AFTER SCHOOL LESSON
The camera moved to Makoto's feet before slowly moving upward, showing the stiff and sweating lucky student. For a moment, he was looking down at his lap before looking back up at the board in front of him; his face continuing to lose more color and turn bluer, as the camera switched positions to show Monokuma giving Makoto a very detailed lesson about the birds and the bees.
The screen switched to a close of Makoto's, as he got closer and closer to the compactor. With each second that passed, the luckster's face got bluer and bluer, his body shaking. For a second, Makoto turned his eyes behind him. They instantly went back forward the moment the compactor slammed onto the belt. At the next slam, he closed his camera then switched back to the TV up top of the compactor. And near immediately, the face of Monokuma was suddenly replaced with the face of Chihiro.
After a moment, that face disappeared. And immediately after, the compactor was put to a screeching halt. The camera switched back to Makoto, who, after waiting for a moment, shot open his eyes and looked up in confusion. Soon after, the door behind him opened up as the conveyor belt continued to move, revealing a deep hole under it. Makoto and the desk he was in then fell into the hole, as Monokuma looked on in panic. The screen then showed Makoto falling downward, in that same fearful posture.
The screen turned off, as back in the trial room Monokuma was fuming with rage "HUH! What is this, how is this possible! He's supposed to be as flat as a pancake, with his blood having replaced the syrup."
"Wait... was that..." Hina wondered.
"The AI Fujisaki made." Said Byakuya.
"But the computer was destroyed." Said Hank.
"How would that be possible?" Asked Sakura.
"I don't know, he must have found his way into the school servers." Said Chihiro.
"Oh did he now?" Replied Monokuma, with a threatening tone in his voice as his claws appeared on his paws, only for his path to be blocked by Hank and Sakura.
"Don't even think about it." Said Sakura.
"The kid didn't break no rule, therefore you can't act." Added Hank, causing Monokuma to back off.
"Fine, but don't act like you've won. Sure Naegi wasn't turned into a pancake, but he'll still be left to rot in the trash never to be seen by anyone ever again. I couldn't think of a better punishment, oh and mark my words, I will ensure that all of you feel despair, count on it!" Monokuma exclaimed, as he bounced out of the courtroom and into the elevator, leaving the group behind.
The group then turned to Kyoko, as Byakuya said "You better have a very good explanation for this, because from your lack of surprise I have a feeling you anticipated this."
"It better be a damn good one." Said Hank, as everyone's attention shifted over to him and his angry expression."
"Sir?" Chihiro wondered.
"Because what in the hell were you thinkin'."
"Hill, I..."
"Don't Hill me Ma'am, not right now. You let the kid take the fall for you, and for what? From what I understood, that kid trusted you, worked with you to uncover more of the school, stood by you, and you went and sold him out to save your own damn skin."
Kyoko looked down in shame, as she replied "I did what I had to do, I had no choice."
"There was always a choice, didn't you see, the bear cheated. Suddenly addin' in a rule about time limits at the last moment, somethin' ain't right about that."
"Well what would you have done?"
"I woulda waited, asked for more time, maybe if all of us voted for ourselves we coulda prevented this whole execution, it said nothin' in the rules about what would happen in the event of a tie."
"Wouldn't he just make up a rule on the fly and kill someone based on chance?" Asked Chihiro.
"Even then, you still haven't told us your reasonin' for this." Said Hank, as he turned his attention back to Kyoko.
"I couldn't let myself die, not when all the mysteries of the school hadn't been solved yet. I noticed that his luck tends to be unpredictable, for instance with Maizono-san, his luck saved him from eating the poisoned Miso Soup. I don't think I would have survived the execution the way he did." Replied Kyoko.
"You think that kid didn't know that? You think he wasn't fully aware that saving you meant puttin' his own life on the line when he didn't call you out on your lie during the trial? And yet, he did it anyway! And how do you repay him? By standing there, givin' him some weak excuse, while Monokuma throws him into the damn garbage!" Hank exclaimed, as Kyoko flinched, as Hank continued "Look, I get it. You're used to being on your own. You don't like depending on other folks. But if there's one thing I've learned workin' at Hope's Peak these last few years as well as what I learned back home, it's that you ain't gonna get through tough times alone. The kid believed in you, more than anyone else here. And instead of trustin' him back, you threw him away."
"I know."
"If you know, then why are you still standin' here feelin' sorry for yourself? Go get him out of there."
"I was already going to." Replied Kyoko in a whisper, but still loud enough for everyone to hear, as she made her way over to the elevator.
"Damn kids." Hank muttered to himself, as the rest of the group also followed Kyoko into the elevator.
The following day
"Any reason I needed to join you kids?" Asked Hank, as he, Kyoko and Makoto were making their way to the headmasters office after managing to convince Monokuma to hold one final trial to expose the secrets of the school and he had opened all the rooms in the school. Breaking the two out of the conversation they were having amongst themselves.
"It would save a lot of time, especially since it kills multiple birds with one stone." Kyoko replied cryptically.
"Hm, well in that case, I assume you two manage to talk it out in the trash pit?" Asked Hank.
"We did, things are good between us." Replied Makoto.
"And that's not all, I was able to find some of the missing pages from the notebook you had found. Whoever took them did not do a very good job at hiding them." Added Kyoko, referring to the fact that Hank had shared a brief summary of what was in the notebook with her after he finished reading.
"You read 'em'?" Asked Hank, as the trio reached the fifth floor.
"Skimmed through them, apparently there was some mention that we locked ourselves in the school for safety, another about how you had called home to Texas to mention that things were getting dangerous and you wouldn't be able to go home. Then something about you telling a Dale to keep your wife and son safe if what was happening in Japan managed to spread to Texas. Something about the tragedy of Hope's Peak..."
"...Considerin' the bloodied classroom we saw, I can guess what that's referrin' to." Said Hank.
"That is very likely the case, and then some pages about how over the lesser part of a year we spend our days inside of the school."
"You believe what's on the pages?" Asked Hank.
"Not sure, I have my doubts, on the one hand it feels like conclusive proof that something big is going on here and that we've been here longer than we believe we have. But on the other hand, how could we have lost our memories like that?" Replied Kyoko, as she pulled the pages out of her jacket and gave them to Hank.
"What do you want me to do with em'?" Asked Hank.
"Put them with the other pages, see if you can make sense of the order they are supposed to be in." Replied Kyoko, as they then entered the headmasters office, began collecting anything that could be seen as a potential hint at what had been going on, until Kyoko entered a password that opened the door to a secret room, where they saw what seemed to be a birthday present waiting for them.
"Should we..." Makoto started, only for Kyoko to move ahead and open the top of the box to reveal skeletal remains inside of it.
"Bwaahaahaahaa, is that Jin!" Hank exclaimed, as he nearly fell backwards, catching himself on the desk before he could fall onto the ground.
"Yes, it is indeed the headmaster." Replied Kyoko, trying her hardest to hide her sadness.
"Not every day that I see the remains of my employers in a box." Mumbled Hank, as both he and Makoto explored the office further until they got all the items that they deemed important. With the items in hand Hank and Makoto stood behind Kyoko, as Hank asked "So, now what?"
"Explore the rest of the school, I need to be alone for a bit." Replied Kyoko, to which Makoto hesitantly nodded as he then left the office while Hank stayed "Didn't you hear what I said?"
"I did, but I can tell somethin's botherin' you. If you don't want to tell me that's fine, but I just wanna be sure before I leave you be."
"Did he hate me for resenting him?"
"What, where's this comin' from?"
"The pages, seeing his remains just now and everything else we seem to be discovering. Was it the case that if we had spend more time than I remember that I was able to truly reconnect with him, only for that reconnection to be taken away. Or is it the case that he died before I got here and he spend his last moments only being able to think negatively about our relationship. Or worse..."
"Now hold on just sec' there, you think that with the picture of you as a child on his wall, the code to his secret room bein' your name and even the story I told you about his regrets over what happened between the two of you that he spend his last moments hatin' you?" Asked Hank.
"I... I don't know."
Hank sighed as he placed a hand on her shoulder "Now you listen to me, and this purely me speakin' as a father, I think he spend his last moments worryin' about you and if you would be ok. Because that is what a parent does, no matter what happens between em' and the child, they always love em'. Or at least they should, so don't give me that nonsense about him not lovin' you or somethin'. He was mad at your grandfather, and that ended up affectin' you with him intendin' to do so. But I'm sure he loved you, don't ever question that. Now, will you be good to keep investigatin' on your own while I try to explore what little is left of the school?"
"Yeah... I'll... I'll be fine." Kyoko replied, her voice sounding gravely.
"Good, then I'll see you when we reconvene for the trial." Replied Hank, as he left the secret room and Jin's office to explore the rest of the school with the others.
A couple of hours later
"Ok, so, just so we're clear about this, each of us received a picture where they aren't present. Sir, did you also get one?" Asked Makoto.
"I did, I found it in my room for some reason." Replied Hank, as he showed a picture of what seemed to be a summer barbecue, except Hank's face was obscured by smoke coming from the barbecue "Honestly, if the school had just used propane instead of charcoal this wouldn't have happened." Hank added.
"Not the point I'm trying to make, the point is if none of us remember taking these photos and even Hill-sensei has a photo he doesn't remember taking despite being at the school sparingly Monokuma is trying to tell us something." Said Makoto, as he thought for a minute to put the evidence of the photo's and Hank's notebook together, until a realization hit him "I got! What if we somehow lost our memories."
"Son, that sounds like a bunch of sci-fi nonsense."
"Y-Yeah! We all lost our memories? That's just...crazy!" Added Aoi.
"Then let's keep going over the evidence." Said Kyoko.
Later
"You said the DVD's you found contained recordings of us being interviewed by the headmaster right? What were the interviews about?" Asked Byakuya.
"I believe that Hill can answer that the best out of all of us." Said Makoto.
"Right, I was able to only find half of the explanation, cause a certain someone ripped out the pages of my notebook." Said Hank, eyeing Monokuma as he continued "But what I able to understand the headmaster wanted to keep us safe from what was goin' on outside of the school by turnin' it into a shelter."
"If this is true, and you guys saw the videos. Why wouldn't we remember talking to the headmaster?" Asked Sakura.
"Unless it is really true and we have lost our memories." Said Chihiro.
"But with what purpose?" Asked Aoi.
Later
"So to recap, we are all suffering from amnesia, the mastermind used Mukoro Ikusaba's body a second time to create an unsolvable murder, making it seem like she died twice, the first murder was to throw suspicion of off the mastermind, the real Junko was also obscured in all of the photo's we received and Monokuma stopped me from watching too much of the video's." Said Makoto.
"What are you getting at?" Asked Byakuya.
"All of this means that the true mastermind and the one controlling Monokuma, is Junko Enoshima, the real one! That's the whole story behind this incident! Well? What do you have to say to that!?" Exclaimed Makoto, as upon the accusation Monokuma fell silent.
"What the, did we break another one? Do I need to get my wrench?" Asked Hank.
"Falling silent won't get you out of this bear." Said Byakuya.
"Yeah, don't even try." Said Aoi.
"Reveal yourself right now." Added Sakura.
"There aren't anymore lies to hide behind." Said Chihiro.
"The game's over Junko, we've got you cornered." Said Kyoko.
"Over? Puhu... Puhuhu... Did you really think the story would end once we reached the climax of the case?" Monokuma asked, as smoke began to emerge from underneath him, as a bright light began to shine underneath him, until it blinded everyone present in the trial as he exclaimed "Wrong, there's so much more left to this whole thing!" After which the light exploded, and upon it dying down the whole group saw Junko standing in the middle of the trial room.
Immediately upon everyone regaining their eyesight Junko began to speak in an almost royal tone while putting a prop crown on her head "We have been waiting! Waiting so very long for peasants like you to appear! If you swear your fealty to us, we will reward you with half of the entire world! We've even drawn up the deed already! We will grant you honor, status, and some of our home cooking! Have you made your choice? Will you serve under us?"
"Not happening!" Exclaimed Makoto.
"Ah Naegi, always a force for righteousness. No matter, it's good to see you all again. You too Hank, did you enjoy the little mystery I set up?"
"That's Hill to you, aren't you supposed to be usin' honorifics or somethin'?" Asked Hank.
"Meh, never really cared for those. Regardless, if you think this trial is over, you could not be more wrong." Said Junko, sounding incredibly bored.
"What the, she switched so fast, what's goin' on here?" Hank thought to himself, preparing himself in case the trial got even longer than expected.
Later
"...And the four motive had to do with betrayal." Replied Makoto.
"That's right, you got it in one fell swoop be very proud of that. You deserve a cookie of some kind." Said Junko, as she put up a cute face.
"Except it didn't have outcome you desired, did it?" Asked Chihiro.
Junko sighed, becoming gloomy in the process, as she replied "No, it didn't. Thanks for wrecking everything teach... granted you've been wrecking everything since the very start by causing the murders I predicted to not happen, honestly if Toko had been alive she would have been able to push Sakura into going through with it."
"But she didn't, she came to Hill-sensei instead." Said Aoi.
"Yes, she did." Replied Junko, as she then immediately switched to her royal persona again "But no matter, I just had to work extra hard to get all of you to distrust one another. To create the perfect environment to create despair."
"Despair, what kinda nonsense are you on?" Asked Hank.
"Only the best kind, the despair kind and I'm so looking forward to making you all feel it." Replied Junko, as she sounded bored again.
Later
"So something did happen out there, as in the way it was described in Hill-sensei's notebook, something so bad it required us to lock ourselves inside of the school?" Asked Kyoko.
"Are you sure you want to know?" Asked Junko, only for her to switch to her punk persona as exclaimed "Aw what the hell, I'll show you guys regardless of your answer if it gets the despair flowing faster." Pressing a button that turned all the screens in the trial room on to show riots and destruction being caused all over the world by people in Monokuma masks.
"Bwaahaahaa, what in the world!?" Exclaimed Hank, as everyone could only look on in shock.
"Oh can't you tell?" Junko in her gloomy personality asked, before switching to her punk personality "It's my handy work, most of the world has become a dystopian nightmare and not the kind you'd read about in English literature class."
"Wait, you said most, what did you mean with 'most'?" Asked Chihiro.
"Oh right that." Junko said as she became gloomy again "Somehow that nut job in Arlen kept spouting this conspiracy online about how one day the world would be thrown into chaos by a Japanese supermodel so Japan could harvest the organs of the rest of the world and become a global super power as a result. I'm almost impressed that he got the first part right, no idea where he got the second part from though. No matter, him and his fellow doomsday preppers have been preparing for this for years, and to this very day they've been keeping the despair out of Arlen. So you're in luck Hank-y, unlike the rest you at least have a home to return to." Junko finished, as she donned her prop crown again.
"As for the rest of you, you're all kinds of fucked!" Junko exclaimed, as she switched to her punk persona once more.
Later
"...But if you think you can get them all out of their little funk, then who am I to stop you. But just one thing, you can't out-despair the mistress of despair!" Exclaimed Junko in her teacher persona, leaving Makoto to his own devices.
"Asahina, there's a chance that your brother is still alive in all of this. We can still find him!" Exclaimed Makoto, managing to reach Aoi.
"You're right, Yuta wouldn't want me to give up when the going gets tough during swimming and I won't give up now!" Exclaimed Aoi.
"Good." Said Makoto switching to Byakuya "Togami, the legacy of your family won't die unless you let it!" Exclaimed Makoto, reaching Byakuya who immediately adjusted his glasses.
"You make a good point, but don't think for a second that I reached this conclusion with your help." Said Byakuya, as Makoto turned his focus to Chihiro.
"Fujisaki, in his final words Owada told you to stay strong, do you think you'll honour that wish if you give up now and let whether or not your father is ok remaining unknown?" Asked Makoto, causing Chihiro to gasp.
"He wouldn't want me to give, so I won't, I'll make him proud!" Chihiro exclaimed, as Makoto then switched to Sakura.
"Ogami, even if your dojo is gone and your family's whereabouts are uncertain. There is no certainty that they are fully gone, but they will be if you don't fight for them! And most of us are there to fight alongside you!" Exclaimed Makoto, as his words reached Sakura.
"You're right, now is no time to give up, I wouldn't be able to call myself a warrior otherwise." Replied Sakura, as Makoto turned to Kyoko.
"Kirigiri, with everything we've learned up until now during our own investigation and what Hill-sensei told us based on his interactions with the headmaster. You really think he'd want you to give up like that?" Asked Makoto.
"No, I don't think he would. He asked us to stay so we would be safe and so we'd act as a shining beacon of hope should things get better out there. And he probably would have wanted us to stick together instead of abandoning each other the way Junko is suggesting we do. I cannot afford to give up, not with everything that is at stake." Said Kyoko, making Makoto let out a sigh of relief as he then turned to Hank who had been awfully quiet throughout the last leg of the trial.
"Sir, there is no guaranteeing..."
"Save your breath kid..." Replied Hank.
"Oh, what's this? Has our dearest teacher given up, have I finally managed to push THE Hank Hill to his breaking point?" Junko wondered, turning to her punk persona.
"No, that ain't it. I've just been lettin' it all sink in while tryin' to wrap my head around all of this." Replied Hank.
"Oh, was it too confusing for you to understand? Do I need to give another lecture about the joys of despair?" Asked Junko, going back to her cutesy persona.
"Pretty much got the gist of it."
"Then I'm very interested in hearing what you think of this whole situation, since you haven't been voicing your disbelief out loud and you clearly don't need Makoto over here to convince you." Said Junko, holding the Monokuma plush in front of her face.
"You want to know what I think?" Asked Hank, as his face began to turn red from anger.
"I wouldn't be asking otherwise." Replied Junko, as she heard Hank take a deep breath in before he responded.
"LOSER! YOU'RE A LOSER! ARE YOU FEELIN' SORRY FOR YOURSELF! NOW YOU LISTEN HERE YOUNG LADY! I'VE HAD JUST ABOUT ENOUGH OF YOUR DANG NONSENSE!" Exclaimed Hank, as he calmed down for a bit to catch his breath as he continued "You mean to tell me you went through all this effort... all this schemin', all this lyin', all this murderin'... just to get people to feel bad? Just 'cause you like watchin' people suffer? Just 'cause you were bored! That's got to be the dumbest, most self-destructive, downright embarrassing excuse for a life I ever heard of!"
Junko switched to her teacher persona as she replied "Oh, Hank! You wound me! But it's so much more than that! Despair is beautiful! It's the raw, unfiltered truth of human existence! It's the ultimate experience..."
"No it ain't." Hank countered, causing Junko to become shocked for a moment, as all her personalities dropped the floor while Hank continued "Y'know what despair really is? It's a tantrum. A loud, obnoxious, selfish tantrum. You think you're deep 'cause you're willin' to burn the whole dang world down? You think you're enlightened 'cause you gave up on tryin'? You ain't profound, ma'am. You're lazy."
Junko's eye twitched in annoyance as she switched to her punk persona and countered "Lazy? Lazy?! I orchestrated the fall of civilization! I manipulated world leaders, I turned best friends against each other, I took memories from your last two years, I..."
"Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first twenty times. And let me tell you somethin', that don't make you special. Any idiot can destroy somethin'. Takes no talent at all. You know what's actually hard? Buildin' somethin'. Workin' hard. Stickin' it out even when things get tough. But you wouldn't know a thing about that, 'cause you threw in the towel before you ever tried."
"Tch, please, Hank. The world was already a mess! I just gave it a little push! I was the only one smart enough to see the truth, that everything is meaningless!"
Hank shook his head as he replied. "You call yourself smart, but all I see is someone who got too big for her britches and decided if she couldn't be happy, nobody else could either. That ain't intelligence, that's bein' a brat."
"Ohhh, you're making me so mad right now! Both of you are! You're supposed to despair, Hank! You're supposed to lose! That's the whole point! This is MY stage, MY script, MY finale!"
"And that right there? That's your problem. You think everything's gotta be about you. You don't actually believe in despair, you just like bein' the center of attention. You throw these little tantrums and expect everyone to take you seriously, but guess what? Ain't a soul here impressed, or at least not anymore after Naegi got everyone out of their funk." said Hank as he then turned back to the others and added "She don't want us to think for ourselves. She wants us to quit. And I don't know about y'all, but I got better things to do than listen to some fool tell me how to feel. So you go on ahead and sit in your little pile of misery, but I ain't playin' along. Hope ain't just some fancy idea, it's workin' hard and doin' the right thing even when it's hard. And that's somethin' you'll never understand, Enoshima."
At this Junko started to fume with rage as she turned into her punk persona and exclaimed "You... you... YOU'RE RUINING MY WHOLE VIBE! I HAD THIS ALL PLANNED OUT! You were all supposed to break! I had all these super dramatic, over-the-top, despair-filled executions ready, and... and...!"
Hank shrugged at the screaming and said "Well, I guess you shoulda planned better, huh? Oh and if you were truly bored, you shoulda gotten a hobby." As he then turned to Makoto as he added "Kid, I'm leavin' the rest to you."
"Why what's wrong?" Asked Makoto.
"I'm spent, I might need an aspirin after this and to sit down for a bit." Replied Hank.
"Then don't worry, leave it to me." Replied Makoto, as he turned to Junko "Ready to end this?"
"Ohohohoho, the fact that he ran out of juice and needed you to end this... it shows... it shows... his words... they mean nothing... despair wins in the end!" Exclaimed Junko, as a part of her seemed to be trembling, but she quickly took on her punk persona and went on the offensive "Despair into nothingness, despair into tomorrow, despair at the thought that your friends are dead, despair at the thought that your family and loved could be gone, despair at the thought that I took your memories!..." Junko exclaimed, as she tried to keep going, but was quickly interrupted by Makoto.
"No, that's wrong! Hope keeps on going, no matter what happens. Our friends are dead, but we'll cherish the moments we had with them. Our loved ones may be missing but there's always a chance that we can find them. The world may be a mess, but if one town can survive then there's hope that the rest of the world can be rebuilt. And our memories may be gone, but we can always make new ones. I refuse to give up. I refuse to get bored! I refuse to throw it all away! I refuse to despair! Because all I have going for me is the desire to keep moving forward! I reject that despair and replace it with HOPE!"
Upon the last words being exclaimed by Makoto, the look on Junko's face became an emotionless one as she uttered "What... what is this."
"You've lost Enoshima, there is nothing left for you now." Said Makoto.
"Well go on then, get voting, that's what you came here for isn't it? To finally figure out what was going on here." Said Junko.
"Guess we don't got much of a choice there." Said Hank, as he and everyone else pressed the vote button to vote for Junko, as the roulette on the screen in the trial room showed Junko's face.
"Well dang you guys, you really managed to pull it off, all that planning gone to waste all because of one kid who hasn't even reached puberty yet and an incredibly stubborn Texan with the powers of the average sitcom dad, and all their little friends." Said Junko, still keeping up her emotionless facade, as she then said "Well that's just..." as she shifted into her aroused personality "Totally the best!" She exclaimed, while beginning to slightly drool.
"What in tarnation!" Hank exclaimed.
"You're... not mad?" Aoi asked.
"Why would I be? I spend so much time working on this, manipulated so many people into doing what I want, made sure that the despair the world is feeling would go on for ever, I even killed my own sister for pete sake. So to see it all fall apart like that, oh it fills me with more despair than anyone could have guessed. So thanks for wrecking everything Naegi, and you too sensei, for the final lesson you gave me. I guess you weren't half bad as a teacher after all."
"So now what?" Asked Chihiro.
"I guess there is only one thing left, someone is getting punished and I guess that someone is me." Said Junko, as he hand started to hover above the button.
"Hold on, you can't be serious. You're not actually considering... I don't want you to die! It doesn't need to end this way!"
"Shut up for once in your life Naegi!" Junko snapped, as she continued "I want this, I just want the taste of that final despair. It'll be glorious, it'll be great. So please, let me do this, I want every last soul on this planet to taste such despair! I want the entire world to die with that despair in its mouth!" Junko exclaimed, as she got ready to press the button as she added to her speech "Okay let's do this! I've saved an extra special punishment for last! Let's give it everything we've got... IT'S PUNISHMENT TIME!" As a claw grabbed Junko around her neck and pulled her into the punishment area, while the group could only watch on from the trial grounds.
The group could only watch on as Junko first made her way through the library maze while books were flung her way, after which she appeared on stage to perform while rocks were thrown at her head, it then switched to her the excavator repeatedly slamming down on her head, and lastly it cut to Junko sitting on the conveyor belt as she moved backwards until she found herself underneath the crusher, gave the audience one final flip of the bird before it crushed her into a paste, as the feed then cut off.
Back in the trial room most of the group could only look on in horror, while Byakuya could only stare coldly at the screen, until he noticed a button that was left behind on the ground. "I guess that means we're done here."
"I suppose it does, especially with all the power going off since Enoshima is no longer around to keep things under control." Said Kyoko.
"Sir, you alright?" Asked Aoi, as Hank sighed.
"Let's promise each other that we keep each other alive out there, I don't want to lose another student." Said Hank.
"Same, no matter what happens out there, we still have each other and I don't plan on losing any of you out there." Replied Makoto.
"Then let's collect our things and meet at the entrance in half an hour." Said Kyoko, to which everyone nodded.
Later
"...It still is crazy to think that we spend two years inside of these walls, despite it only feeling like a few weeks for us." Said Chihiro.
"I suppose that is something we will have to get accustomed to." Said Kyoko.
"Indeed we will." Added Byakuya.
"You know what the first thing I'll do when we get out of here, find a donut shop and eat to my heart's content." Said Aoi.
"Then I suppose I know where I'm going to make sure you stay out of harm's way." Said Sakura.
"No matter what happens, we'll do it together." Said Makoto.
"Speaking of together, where is our teacher?" Asked Byakuya.
"Right here, sorry I'm late everyone, had to grab somethin'" Said Hank, as he arrived with a six pack of sodas
"And what is that?" Asked Byakuya.
"Well since you kids are technically graduatin' and you technically aren't allowed to drink alcohol, I brought the next best thin'. Grape Panta for each of you, probably belonged to a student, but I don't think they'll miss it very much." Said Hank, as he handed each student the drink. "Now, upon Naegi opening the door you all take a sip."
"I suppose just this once will be ok." Said Byakuya.
"Well guys, whatever happens, we'll do it together." Said Makoto, as he pressed the button, and while the door slowly opened they each took a sip.
"Congratulations kids, you've graduated and hopefully become responsible adults, shame there ain't no camera, but still. Be very proud of this." Said Hank.
"And thank you for whatever long forgotten lessons you've taught us." Replied Aoi, as the door fully opened and the group stepped outside, only to see that the sky was fully read and the area around the school looked like a wasteland.
"I don't suppose we can still go back inside." Chihiro suggested.
"A bit late for that." Said Kyoko, as a small airplane landed in front of them. "Stay close everyone, we have no idea who it could be."
Only for the doors to open and a familiar face for Hank to step out "Kizakura? You're alive?"
"Oh hey Hill, good to see you alive as well, these the only survivors?"
"Unfortunately so." Said Hank
"Excuse me, but who exactly are you?" Asked Kyoko.
"Right, I figured you wouldn't recognise me with the amnesia. Anyways, the name's Koichi Kizakura, I used to be the Ultimate Talent Scout, now I work for the Future Foundation. I'm kinda here to rescue all of you."
"I don't suppose there's much of a choice in the matter?" Asked Byakuya.
"Well, the other choice is that I leave you all here and you start roaming the wasteland until you're killed by her followers. So yeah, make your choice. Or at least that's the message I had to deliver. So what will it be?" Kizakura asked, as the students all turned their eyes to Hank.
"What, why are you all lookin' at me?" Hank asked.
"Well, you are the adult here and someone we can trust, so what should we do?" Asked Makoto.
"Let's go with them for now, and see what this Future Foundation entails." Said Hank, after thinking it over for a few seconds.
"Great, you won't regret this." Said Kizakura, as he led the survivors into the airplane, which then took off a bit later.
Part 4 of 9, to be continued