This Really Can't Be Happening

A heavy silence hung over the darkened conference room of the Future Foundation Headquarters, the isolated island facility rising stark against the sea.

"Before we begin, there is an announcement."

Kazuo Tengan, Chairman of the Future Foundation, opened the proceedings.

"Chiaki Nanami, Director of the 13th Branch; Kyoko Kirigiri, Director of the 14th Branch; and Kei, Deputy Director of the 14th Branch, who would assume acting authority in the Director's absence, are all currently unaccounted for."

Just as he said, two seats among the executives and one among the 78th Class's special section sat empty.

"Accordingly, I appoint Makoto Naegi as Acting Director of the 13th Branch, and Byakuya Togami as Interim Acting Director of the 14th Branch. However, as both of you are yourselves subjects of this hearing, you will remain seated in the 78th Class section rather than among the executives."

Neither Naegi nor Togami raised any objection. Tengan let out a quiet sigh and continued.

"Then let us begin. This hearing is hereby convened regarding acts of treason committed by every member of the 78th Class."

The hearing had started, but the executives only watched one another, none of them eager to speak first.

"...So. How exactly do you intend to explain this situation?"

The first to break the silence was Kyosuke Munakata, former Ultimate Student Council President and Vice-Chairman of the Future Foundation.

"We were the ones who tracked down the entire 77th Class in the first place. We were the ones who captured them. Are you trying to stick your spoon in the pot after the fact?"

Togami, still seated, dripped with sarcasm, but Munakata pressed on without so much as a glance.

"Even if the 77th Class was brainwashed, that does not erase the crimes they committed. As an example to the rest of the world, they should all be executed—"

The remark crossed a line, and Naegi surged to his feet.

"That's far too extreme! They deserve a chance at rehabilitation—"

"There is already considerable opposition to leaving Junko Enoshima and Mukuro Ikusaba alive instead of putting them to death. At the very least, the captured Remnants of Despair should—"

At those words, Ikusaba, seated among the 78th Class, flinched. Celestia Ludenberg caught the reaction, exhaled a small sigh, and cut across Munakata's speech.

"My, my. The hardliners, yourself included, are only a fraction of this organization. Why do you keep saying there are many?"

"...Celes. You have no speaking rights here. Do not interrupt—"

"Then why did you even call us here!?"

"Yeah, are we just supposed to sit here and keep our mouths shut?"

"Or were you hoping to start breaking us in to the Future Foundation's tastes from day one...?"

The 78th Class, who had been holding their tongues, rose up as one, and the hearing erupted into noise.

"Enough. Every member of the 78th Class is a party to this hearing. I will grant speaking rights to all of you. Continue."

Munakata shot Tengan a look of open displeasure, then started in again.

"...In any case, even if we set execution aside, an appropriate punishment must still be carried out. And yet—why did you spirit away the entire 77th Class in secret, without so much as consulting the rest of the leadership!?"

He had begun in a controlled voice, but the emotion finally boiled over and he was shouting by the end. Togami crossed one leg over the other and answered with aristocratic disdain.

"The reason should be obvious. We had no idea what you and your little clique of hardliners would do to them if we handed them over."

"You bastard...! You done talking...!?"

Juzo Sakakura, former Ultimate Boxer, slammed to his feet.

"You all strut around calling yourselves Ultimate Hope... but there's a limit to how much slack I'll cut a bunch of brats..."

"Who's to say they were ever Ultimate Hope to begin with? For all we know, every last one of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them was Ultimate Despair from the start, in on it with Enoshima the whole time..."

The icy remarks from Ruruka Ando, former Ultimate Confectioner, and Sonosuke Izayoi, former Ultimate Blacksmith, only poisoned the air further.

"That... that is an insult to every one of us...!"

"Hah? I'm not letting that one slide. You wanna go, you son of a bitch!?"

"Puhuhuhuhu!! Master Byakuya! Shall we just flip the whole table!?"

"W-wait...! Everyone, calm down...! Getting emotional like this won't help anyone—"

"EVERYONE, STOP!!!!!!!!!!"

Chisa Yukizome, former Ultimate Housekeeper, struck the table hard enough to rattle it and shoved her chair back as she stood. The room went dead silent.

"Taking sides... faction wars... pointless, wasteful arguments... I am so sick of all of it..."

She swept a cold stare across every face in the room.

"You show us this and still have the nerve to call yourselves the Future Foundation—the people who protect the world...? Please... just cut it out...!"

"...She's right. Everyone's gotten far too worked up. Calm down, all of you."

"They say the more pilots you cram in the cockpit, the faster the plane hits the ground..."

".....You two. That's enough. Sit down."

"—Fighting. Problematic."

"Let us hear the 78th Class's position in full before we pass any judgment. I would ask that we refrain from tearing into one another this early. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠And if a fight is truly what you want, you will have to get through this Great Gozu first."

The moderate executives—Koichi Kizakura, Daisaku Bandai, Seiko Kimura, Miaya Gekkogahara, and Great Gozu—scrambled to put themselves between the two sides. The hardliners and the 78th Class sank back into their seats, still glaring.

"...A wise choice. Had a fight broken out, I would have stepped in myself."

Sakura Ogami, who had been watching in silence, let that single heavy remark settle over the room. The hearing lapsed into a brief ceasefire—until Chihiro Fujisaki's question started it up again.

"We already know you were planning to run clinical trials of the 'deprogramming video' on the 77th Class."

"That was... an unavoidable choice....."

"Mitarai, you know about every problem that's turned up so far. Has even a single subject survived the animal trials?"

"...Matsuda said the side effects might be because animal brains are structured differently from human ones... which means there's a real chance it would work on people..."

"...Mitarai, why are you so anxious? Why would you take a gamble that dangerous with the 77th Class you claim to care so much about...!"

"That's...!"

When Ryota Mitarai could not answer, Fujisaki sighed.

"In the end... you won't tell us the reason this time either."

An uncomfortable silence stretched between the executives and the 78th Class. This time, it was Naegi who broke it.

"This is the 78th Class's position. During Hope's Peak Academy's Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event, the great majority of the 77th Class stood on the side of hope and fought. Those of you who fought beside them already know that."

"...We do."

"But after we lost to Junko Enoshima, we were all put through humiliation. The 78th Class had our memories erased and were thrown into a killing game. The 77th Class had their memories erased, were brainwashed by a video, and became the Ultimate Despair."

"....."

"Our positions and theirs could have been reversed at any moment. If it hadn't been our upperclassmen, it might have been us who became despair. We don't want to sacrifice those upperclassmen. We want to bring them back as people who can help the world."

"...Restoring them does not erase the crimes they committed."

"I know that. But you understand, don't you? This was something beyond their control—something the brainwashing video did to them. It was never their will. Do you really believe it's right that they aren't even given a chance to atone?"

"Look, you can dress it up however pretty you want... but how exactly are you planning to undo the brainwashing? Even our 'animator' here—the one who made the brainwashing video in the first place—still hasn't finished a release video."

"We're going to use the Neo World Program."

When the hardliners demanded to know how they intended to undo the brainwashing, Fujisaki answered in a grave voice.

"The Neo World Program... it's already finished...?"

"It's still a little unstable, but... I've gone through it and patched things here and there, and layered in several kinds of security... It should be more than enough to rehabilitate the 77th Class."

"Then Kei, Kirigiri, and Nanami's absence... was to put the 77th Class into the Neo World Program...?"

"...That's right. This is a project every one of us has poured our hearts into. We will make it succeed, and we will see the Neo World Program put into practical use..."

Naegi was still in the middle of persuading the room when the conference monitors suddenly flared to life. A hiss of static filled the speakers, and through the crackling picture came a laugh that did not belong in this building.

"Wh-what... what's wrong with the screens...?"

"...A signal hijack? What is security doing...?"

"Wait... that sound... I've heard that somewhere before, haven't I...?"

To the executives, broadcast hijackings had been a dime a dozen back when the forces of despair were still running wild, and they treated it as nothing urgent. The 78th Class, the moment that unnatural laugh reached their ears, froze to a person.

"F-Fujisaki...! Get security—!"

"Th-the Future Foundation's systems have been taken over...! Alter Ego should have been holding the line, so how...?"

"Th-that voice..."

"No. Tell me it's not. Please...!"

"...Damn it. I knew today's fortune coming up as Great Misfortune meant something. So this is what it was, huh...?"

The executives, watching those reactions, were only just beginning to grasp how serious this was when the static cut out and a painfully familiar robot filled the screen.

"Puhuhuhuhu...! Did you miss me!? The mascot of the killing game... Monokuma is baaaaack!!"

"Mo-Monokuma!? That's impossible!! Junko Enoshima is locked up right now—"

"Ahh, see... that thing isn't Enoshima anymore. Just an empty shell. The real Enoshima now... is right here, in this body!! Puhuhuhuhu!!!"

Everyone in the hearing sat stunned. Monokuma roared with laughter.

"Puhuhuhuhuhuhu!! The core figures of the Future Foundation, sworn protectors of the world, making faces that stupid... it's hilarious!! I want to take a picture and keep it forever!!"

"I don't know who you are... but I will find you, and I will kill you."

"Puhuhu...! Go ahead and try...! If you can come inside the program, that is...!"

"...What?"

Munakata's question hung in the air. Monokuma rolled his eyes theatrically and switched the feed. And there, on the screen...

"Why is the 77th Class... on Jabberwock Island...?"

"What... why are Kei and Kirigiri and Nanami there...?"

"Th-that's not Jabberwock Island... that's inside the Neo World Program... d-don't tell me...!?"

Monokuma watched their stricken faces with a smile, then delivered a declaration that, for the Future Foundation, was nothing short of despair itself.

".....!"

And so the curtain rose on the second act of a killing game of mutual suspicion, where they would murder and be murdered in turn.

Nnnngh... what... my head...

My skull felt like it was splitting open. Every nerve in my body was screaming at me not to get up.

What kind of situation is this supposed to be...

I kept my eyes shut and tried to rewind my memory.

I'm sure of it... the killing game ended... I took Kirigiri's hand... and we all walked out of Hope's Peak Academy together... right?

The instant I reached for what came after that, pain lanced through my head as if someone were driving needles into my brain.

"Nnnnngh...!"

I snapped my eyes open against that tearing agony, and a white-haired young man filled my vision.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Hold on. Why is Komaeda suddenly here? I'm supposed to be—wait. Wait a second. Don't tell me...!?

"...Getting dragged into something like this out of nowhere is pretty startling, even for me... um, can you hear me?"

Praying it wasn't what I thought, I bolted upright and looked around. A beach. Palm trees.

"Hey... are you all ri—"

"FUUUUUUUUCK!!!"

I had, apparently, cleared the first game only to get dumped straight into the sequel.