Chapter 6

The Students of Hope and the School of Despair Deadly Life 1

Onto the final act!

For the next few days, Nanako wasn’t her normal self. The only emotion she seemed to have at that point was sadness. After all, Nikei was dead.

She didn’t leave her room at all.

She refused to eat or drink.

I repeat, Nikei had died.

Then one day, Nanako was hit with a realization. She couldn’t be weak anymore. She had to keep moving forward. She knew what she would have to do.

And that would be taking off her hat to reveal her ahoge.

The next day, Monochrome announced a final investigation.

This was the students’ last chance.

If they didn’t find the mastermind, then who knew what would happen!

(https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Yzsi3-E3GYg)

Chapter 6: The Students of Hope and the School of Despair

Deadly Life

Investigation Start!

Nanako sighed. This wasn’t a murder investigation. This was their final investigation.

She started by leading the group to Syobai’s lab.

There were 7 new doors there.

Truth Bullet Added: Morgue Doors

They then headed to a strange new room.

There were tapes there.

They were on a shelf marked “All the executions.”

Five of the tapes were labeled “But the Wheel Decides Your Fate,” “Final Concert of Death,” “Trick Shot!”, “La Boisson Suédoise,” “Blast Off! (Your Worst Nightmare Edition),” and “Blacklisted.”

“So these shitshows had names?” asked Hajime.

Nanako noticed one tape, and she slid it to the computer that was set up nearby. There were six computers nearby.

The computer turned on.

The pixel Monochrome dragged the pixel Nanako off.

Game over

Nanako has been found Guilty.

Time for the punishment!

(Execution music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyAm-V2yt5E)

Stripped of her coat and hat, Nanako is strapped to a chair with rockets attached to the arms.

The rockets turned on, and Nanako was blasted down a dark corridor at incredible speed.

As Nanako’s screams and sobs echoed for all to hear, she emerged into a room that looked as if it had been set up for an interview.

Faceless were dressed as reporters with both photographic and video cameras. Lights flashed everywhere, making her squint.

Nanako was being questioned by them:

“Why did you kill Mikado?”

Suddenly, Nanako noticed a door labeled: “Safety.”

Nanako breaks free of her restraints and runs through the door, angering the faceless.

Press Conference

The Execution of the Ultimate Mystery Novelist

The camera followed Nanako as she ran through a cityscape, into a building and ran to the roof.

A helicopter appeared, dropping a ladder.

Seeing that the faceless reporters were right behind her, Nanako jumped…

Only for the ladder to turn out to be made of cardboard.

Nanako was sent falling down screaming.

Tears flew from her eyes as she sailed into the ground all those hundreds of feet behind her.

With a sickening splat, the Ultimate Mystery Novelist crashed into the ground.

Then the faceless jumped down from the roof and landed on Nanako's body.

If hitting the floor hadn't killed her, there was no doubt that she was dead now.

By the time the last faceless fell, there was barely anything of her crushed body left to land on.

All that was left of Nanako was a bloody smear.

Nanako gasped.

Otori also saw a tape of his own execution.

Something alone the lines of him being cut up into pieces and sold in boxes.

Otori was so horrified, he let out a scream.

It's not just Nanako and Otori who were horrified at the sight of their executions. Everyone saw their own execution.

Hajime saw one where he was beaten to death and then shredded into a doll, Emma saw one where she was ripped to shreds by a bunch of faceless wearing masks, and Sora saw one where she had to navigate a field of landmines, and failed to do anything when a faceless flew by in a bomber plane and dropped a nuke.

Everyone was horrified to see their own executions.

Then Kokoro saw new tapes and said,

“Why don’t we play those.”

So they put all 6 of those tapes into the computer.

The screen showcased a montage of executions…

The first was…

A pixel Monochrome dragged a pixel Mikado by his hat.

Game over

Mikado has been found Gulity.

Time for the punishment!

Mikado found himself strapped to a white big circle on a stage before a crowd of faceless.

Behind him was various fireworks. One of the faceless snapped their fingers, and the fireworks show began.

The Magic Show of Mikado Sannoji!

The Execution of The Ultimate Wizard

At first, it was the little ones. They flew at Mikado before popping, scattering bits of ash at him while hurting his eyes and ears. Then they began to pepper him before bursting on his skin, leaving painful burns. Each one had Mikado gritting his teeth, refusing to cry out before finally he gave in when a particularly large sparkler blazed its way into his stomach.

Then Mikado’s cloak and hat were ripped away from him, leaving him feeling exposed. More fireworks went off, larger ones, shooting up above Mikado’s head to explode far too close in ear-shattering booms of noise.

Make it stop…

Bits of burning paper and tubes fell on Mikado’s head and arms, leaving more ashy residue and, in a few of the larger cases, bruises. At one point his hair caught fire before it was extinguished by water.

But it wasn’t a mercy. The Wizard screamed as the pressure waves from the explosions rippled through him, tearing away at his breath each time, the pain beyond excruciating. Mikado Sannoji never knew sound could hurt as much as this did.

Then they stopped. The crowd of faceless booed as one at the cessation of the display, and got tomatoes and threw them at Mikado, covering the Ultimate Wizard from head to toe in stinky slime. Then they threw rocks at him.

As each rock peppered Mikado, he cried out, unable to withstand the pain. He felt several of his ribs break, then his arms and legs, tears raining down his cheeks. White hot pain poured up his legs like molten steel running its way through his veins as his restraints kept him strapped to the circle.

M-make it stop! Please, just end it already!

But the pain wouldn’t stop.

The faceless then the huge fireworks, letting one go up and explode so loud Mikado thought grizzly would be torn apart by the sound itself. Then the next, and the next. Each display of color and light appeared cheerful in contrast to the amount of pain it caused.

Then the firing ceased.

The few fireworks left were moved away from the stage, and a new one emerged from a hidden platform. The biggest one by far, it was a monster of a shell, thicker around than Mikado was, shaped like a fifties sci-fi rocket, complete with little fins, and with the name "Your death" emblazoned upon it in a sickly red. It blasted off towards Mikado.

Causing a massive explosion that caught both the stage and the Ultimate Wizard in it. After the explosion, the stage was on fire.

Mikado was lying face down on the stage.

His mask had burned away. Where his body wasn’t red and blistered it was charred and black, and all of his hair had burnt away to wisps.

He didn't seem to move at all after that. Mikado Sannoji, the Ultimate Wizard, was dead.

On and on it went. Iroha was pelted by paintballs until nearly every bone in her body was broken, and then she was smashed to bits by a giant canvas. Hibiki was put on a stage where she had to sing between two blocks of concrete to fill a score meter in; the blocks slam together just as she's about to fill the meter all the way. There was a pool of alligators that tore Syobai limb to limb. Shinji was burnt alive in a large oven.

Everyone was horrified by this.

There’d been at least one execution for each victim, and each of them.

Truth Bullet Added: Execution Tapes

“Time’s up for investigation, you disgusting insects!” Monochrome announced. “Now, it’s time for the fucking class trial!”

Everyone headed to the Trial Room.

Nanako barely noticed the industrial makeover Monochrome had given the room, with its unadorned grey concrete walls contrasting against the scarlet curtains, azure carpet and gold doors. As they took their places without a word, Monochrome sat cheerfully on their throne.

Five murdered. Six executed. Six survivors.

Who is the mastermind?

We had to find out!

It was time for the final Class Trial!

Next time, the! final! class! trial! The mastermind will be revealed!

The High School of Despair and the Students of Hope Deadly Life 2

The final Class trial! I hope you enjoy!

TW: Ultimate Execution

“This Class trial is different from the five other!” Monochrome said. “You have to find the mastermind! Anyways, let’s begin!”

Class Trial, Start!

(Non stop debate)

Nanako: We have to find the mastermind!

Emma: We don’t know who the mastermind is, though!

Nanako: I think it might be a deceased student because of the…

Truth Bullet: Morgue Doors

Nanako: Syobai’s lab contains the bodies of the 11 dead students, right? Maybe the mastermind is one of them and they were faking their death?

Hajime: You have a point, Nanako. Yuki was dismembered and Iroha was stabbed, so the mastermind can't be either of them.

Emma: It’s possible that the mastermind might be Hibiki, for her body was intact. We can count Kanade out... you don't need to be the Ultimate Nurse to know you can't run a killing game if you’re a dissolved corpse. Yuri can also be counted out, because you can’t run a killing game if you’re ice cream.

Sora: The mastermind couldn't possibly be Syobai… he was bludgeoned to death! And Yuroko was ripped in two… Shinji's body was intact, however.

Otori: The mastermind might be Mikado or Setsuka. Nikei was squished, so it can't be him.

Emma: Alright, so out of everyone, that leaves Shinji, Setsuka, Hibiki, or Mikado as possible masterminds.

Sora: Well… Shinji was shot through the chest.

Emma: You can’t run a killing game if you have a hole in your chest. So, we can rule out the mastermind as being Shinji. That leaves Mikado, Hibiki and Sestuka.

Otori: Poor Mikado was poisoned. The poison would surely have damaged his stomach, esophagus, lungs and blood vessels to the point of necrosis, and you can’t run a killing game if you have damaged organs. Hibiki, on the other

hand, was drowned and you can’t run a killing game if you’ve been drowned!

Sora: So that just leaves Setsuka… she was impaled. And I think she also was crushed to death... However, it's possible that she faked her death via having someone impersonate her. In other words, my theory is that Setsuka is the mastermind.

Emma: Well, now we have a potential identity for our mastermind!

If we debated on wherever the mastermind is Setsuka or someone else, we’d be here for eighteen hours. So…

Upon hearing this contradiction, Nanako decided to correct the actress.

Nanako: No, that's wrong! I think the mastermind is someone else, because of the…

Truth Bullet: Execution Tapes

Nanako: We found tapes of our executions during the final investigation, remember?

Emma: There was one execution for each of us… well, one person didn’t have the tapes.

(https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HP7r1TVINsg)

LOGIC DIVE

There'd been one execution for each of us in those execution tapes…

Save for one person…

The only person lacking in an execution was… Kokoro Mitsume.

"This is it...!"

“Since the mastermind can now be determined solely by process of elimination, it’s time to find her!” Nanako said.

The mystery novelist cleared her throat.

“This is how it happened!”

Closing Agruement!

“Once upon a time, the mastermind had an idea: What if they forced Class 80 of Hope’s Peak Academy into a Killing Game?

“So the mastermind got a traitor, Yuri Kagarin, and gathered us all here in Last Hope’s Sacturaty.

“Then, just for good measure, the mastermind made tapes containing all our executions save for themselves for obvious reasons.

"Things took an unexpected turn for Yuri, however, when she ended up as the 4th killer of the killing game, and got executed by her ally.

"Who was that ally? Rather simple answer actually, it was none other than Kokoro Mitsume! You are the true mastermind!"

* Break! Class Trial All Rise! *

“Awww, you guys figured it out?” Monochrome whined. "Well, now that you all know my secret... I guess there's no point in keeping this form any longer!"

Suddenly, Monochrome violently exploded. There was smoke, but no fire or shrapnel. When the smoke cleared, Kokoro stood there. But she was different.

Gone was the quiet, docile girl dressed in pink, and standing in her place was the one she’d been hiding from the beginning. She wore a pale pink on one side and light blue on the other side button up blouse under a pinafore which was jet black on one side and pure white on the other. Her legs were covered by white on one side and black on the other tights, and on her feet were pink Mary Janes with blue bows on the straps. Her tie was red and hot pink, her IPad was now Monochrome’s color scheme and in her hair were two ribbons. One ribbon was pink, and the other ribbon was blue. Those ribbons were the same colors as the tails of the villainous robot they'd been facing all throughout this killing game.

“Kokoro Mitsume, Ultimate Despair, finally makes her entrance into this Killing Game!” The once shy girl laughed. “My real name is actually Kokoro Kamukura. Me and my brother always have been the Masterminds of the Killing Games, whether it’s this one… or the first one.”

“First killing Game?” Emma asked.

“I’ll tell you the story of the killing game that my brother hosted.” Kokoro said.

“Once upon a time, there was a boy called Izuru Kamukura. Izuru’s talent was the Ultimate Detective, and he was often mercilessly mocked for it, despite support from me, his sister, because Hope’s Peak Academy thought he was just plain.

“One day, the forsaken detective had had enough! He decided to get revenge on Hope’s Peak by putting their most successful class through a traumatic Killing Game and broadcasting a live feed of the event through the School’s monitor.

“The Killing School Trip, as it came to be known, deleted the avatars of the Ultimate Imposter/Porkfeet, Teruteru Hanamura, Mahiru Koizumi, Peko Pekoyama, Ibuki Mioda, Hiyoko Saionji, Mikan Tsumiki, Nekomaru Nidai, Gundham Tanaka, Nagito Komaeda, and Chiaki Nanami.

"It ended with 5 survivors: Hajime Hinata, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, Sonia Nevermind, Akane Owari, and Kazuichi Soda." Kokoro said.

“How do I know this? Because I watched my brother carry out the killing game.”

“What happened to Izuru?” Emma asked.

“The book I found with my brother Nikei said that Izuru’s ultimate fate was left ambiguous.” Nanako said.

A horrible smile flickered across Kokoro's face as she got out "The Tragic Tale of Class 77-B" and said, “Actually, it’s my turn to say you’ve got that wrong.”

Kokoro then turned to the page where it said that Izuru's fate had been left ambiguous.

"There's something in this book - something often overlooked." Kokoro said as she read the small bit of text:

"Actually, that's not the truth. After the 6th trial, Izuru tried to execute himself with the "Ultimate Punishment" scenario his friend Enoshima Junko used in the last Killing Game... but all of the executions failed because of Hajime's hope that he would live. Izuru was so angry at not being able to escape via death, he told Hajime that he hoped he rotted, only to be horrified that he "hoped". He killed himself in front of them all with a kitchen knife."

“What happened to the survivors?” Hajime asked.

"Everyone lived, contrary to what the book said. But the effects of the killing game lasted for days. Some became suicidal, others were so traumatized they had nightmares. Others still could not do acativies they once enjoyed. The rest were forced to seek therapy. Then days became weeks, weeks became months, and months became years.

"A few people were forced to seek asylum in Canada to escape the news."

There was silence for a few moments. Nobody spoke - what could they say?

Kokoro then spoke.

"I was so amazed at the Killing Game that I had an idea."

“What about I make my very own classmates traumatized shells of their former selves - and what better way to do that than pitting all seventeen Ultimates (myself included) against each other?" Kokoro explained. "The idea to use Ultimates- more specifically, the 80th Class- for the game? My idea too! Tracking you all down and bringing you to Last Hope Sacturaty? I played a big role in all of that! Setting up the basics of the game... I did, too! Originally, Nikei was gonna be the mastermind. But Nikei turned out to the worst mastermind ever! So I replaced him."

“Look, you’re just a ripoff of Izuru,” Nanako pointed at the crazed girl. “You’ve killed 11 people, just like Izuru did in the Killing School Trip, and five of us will survive, like that killing game too. You never used Monokuma, though.”

“As if I’d ever copy from my dumbass brother!” Kokoro rebuked. “He came up with the fucking idea of the Killing School Trip to begin with! There were 11 deaths in these killing games too but it’s more a condience! Five survivors? It was also a coincidence, but a very, very convenient one at that! I also had a traitor, like the Killing School Trip! Bet you can’t guess who that traitor is?”

“I can,” Nanako said.

(https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ThfGLLTMSpo)

Hangman’s Gambit!

Who is Kokoro’s traitor?

Yuri Kagarin

“Your traitor was Yuri!” Nanako said.

“You figured her out?” Kokoro said.

“What a bummer!”

“Now, does Hope or Despair matter?”

Nanako sighed.

It was time for the true final battle.

(https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv0_JVuCaRc)

Agrument Aramemnt start!

Kokoro’s outfit changed again, this time to a long white dress reaching to near her ankles. She wore pink high heels, and in her hair was a blue tiara, and she wore black opera gloves.

“Despair prevails!”

"Know your place, loser!"

"Hope is so gross!"

"You dare stand against me?"

"You'll never find hope in such a lame ending!"

"Idiot! Everything that you do is pointless!"

"Despair awaits every choice you make!"

“Now surrender!”

Final blow!

Truth Bullet: Hope

"NO, THAT'S WRONG!"

Kokoro fell to the ground, crying. Her dress was practically torn to shreds, exposing her legs and several areas of skin, such as her stomach. Aside from that, there were cuts and bruises across her body.

Kokoro sighed.

“It’s game over.” She said.

The red button appeared.

“Now then, I’ve prepared a truly special punishment for last!”

The image of Monochrome as they activated the devices that sent Yuki and Kanade and Setsuka and Yuroko and Yuri and Nikei to their deaths replayed over and over in Nanako’s head.

“Let’s give it everything we’ve got!” Kokoro announced. “It’s punishment time!”

Kokoro pressed the button.

A pixel version of Kokoro walked off with the pixel Monochrome.

Game over

Kokoro has been found Gulity.

Time for the punishment!

Kokoro sat on a chair as various props from previous executions began to appear around her.

The Ultimate Punishment Remade

The Execution of The Ultimate Despair

'Deep Fried Teruteru'

Kokoro stands in front of a pole, and after being blasted by missiles, is covered in yellow liquid and white stuff. Then she’s dropped into a volcano.

'One- Woman Army'

Kokoro puts up a bit of resistance, but is easily overwhelmed by the army of samurai robots which slice her body all over.

'Bye-Bye Ouchies!'

Kokoro lies in a hospital bed when she’s injected by a syringe, and the bed turns into a rocket which blasts off into the sky.

'Gundham Tanaka Stampede'

Staring down an approaching stampede, Kokoro draws a ritual circle in the sand with a stick. She puts her hands together and tries to unleash a spell, but to no avail, and before long, she is ran over by the stampede.

'Please Insert Coin'

Kokoro runs as a tank chases her, before reaching a room where a Tetris block comes down on her.

'Der Flohwalzer'

With a rope around her neck, Kokoro was pulled up and down on a massive piano, and then she was smashed to bits by the piano closing.

'Strand of Agony'

Kokoro ran through a corridor until a thorny vine came down which she climbed. During her climb, Kokoro had her body violently slashed by various buzzsaws, leaving her streaked all over with lines of pink blood. Finally, she reached a crude picture of a sunny sky, just as the vine snapped, making Kokoro fall down.

'Cultural Melting Pot'

Kokoro is tied up, spun until she’s dizzied and dropped into a pot of water.

Then the fire under the pot is ignited, and Kokoro gets boiled alive.

Moments later salt falls upon her in buckets.

'Wild West Insecticide'

Kokoro stands in front a pole and hornets are shot at her, painfully biting and stinging her. Then she’s stabbed through the stomach by a giant hornet before she's lit on fire.

'Blast Off! Second Ignition'

Kokoro sat on a chair in a classroom as a Iron Maiden like rocket is trigged behind her. The rocket drills through the earth before it’s shot into space, and the rocket then comes crashing back down to earth.

Lie or Shock

Kokoro was put through a lie decetor test…. and was given the electric chair for telling a lie.

But the Wheel Decides Your Fate

Kokoro is spun on a roulette wheel, has her limbs sawn away and has her head sliced off (but not before getting her stomach slit open).

Final Concert of Death

Kokoro stood on a stage and was dumped into a tank of sizzling green liquid.

Trick Shot!

Kokoro was tied to a billiard ball… which was then knocked by a snook cue and she was violently bounced along other billiard balls, before rolling into an Iron maiden, which closed.

La Boisson Suédoise

Kokoro was covered in tar and feathers, forced to drink a drink made of pee and poo, had feathers ripped out of her skin, and finally was out in a stretch rack, which pulled on her until she was torn in

half.

Blast Off! (Your Worst Nightmare Edition)

Kokoro ran through a hellish landscape, and was violently attacked by Syobai’s ghost.

Despite being on the verge of death, with a few of her bones broken, heavily bleeding, bruised, her clothing tattered, and even missing some limbs by now, Kokoro was still alive. Which was a miracle... or should that be curse?

But that wouldn't last for long….

Blacklisted

Kokoro ran through a dark corridor and was dropped in a pit of mud and fecal matter.

That’s when Kokoro closed her eyes, waiting for the mud to envelope her... But it wasn’t happening. So she opened her eyes, only to see a giant rolling pin covered in nasty spikes heading towards her.

Kokoro blinked, her mouth open in a

silent scream as she realized what would soon happen.

With a sickening splat, the roller flattens her completely like Nikei Yomiuri before her.

If this was a cartoon, Kokoro would be flattened like paper.

But this wasn’t a cartoon. It was real.

All that was left of Kokoro Mitsume were mashed, torn apart remains, absolutely nothing left to say who she once was...

And next to this crushed body was a small remote control, with only a single glass-covered button on it. A little blood-stained, but generally intact.

This remote control falls down to the center of the trial room.

“Let’s get out,” Nanako sighed.

She looked at her friends.

5 murdered. 7 executed.

5 had survived…

Emma, the kindhearted actress…

Hajime, the awesome boxer…

Sora, the blunt assassin…

Otori, her best friend…

And Nanako.

The once plain girl who had grown confident.

One little thing can mean alot in the long run.

And that little thing was Nanako becoming leader of the students.

Look at where that got her.

Nanako pressed the button on the remote control.

Nikei, thank you.

And the students were teleported out of the Sacturaty of Despair.

Chapter 6: The Students of Hope and the School of Despair

End

Survivors:

Nanako Yomuri - Ultimate Mystery Novelist

Emma Magorobi- Ultimate Actress

Hajime Makunouchi- Ultimate Boxer

Sora- Ultimate Assassin

Teruya Otori- Former Ultimate Merchant

I’ve waited 5 chapters for this moment! Next will be the epilogue!

I decided to make Kokoro the mastermind since Mikado is a good guy in this AU. Having Mikado Sannoji, the canon mastermind, get the first Argument Armament is a bonus.P

Nikei's Argument Armanent form is basically his mastermind design.