A/N: God it feels like forever since I've posted anything. Sorry about the lateness, things are just getting kind of hectic at college. But thank God, I only have two more weeks till Summer Break. So to all of you, my loyal followers, I appreciate your patience. I'm so happy that I have so many people's support and I am proud to say that this Danganronpa fanfic is becoming very popular. So I will put forth my best efforts and write a story that you will all enjoy. But first a little insight into the current free-time event poll status. (Which I don't really feel like putting up this time so I'll just tell you the results.) First place is Nodaka, obviously. Tied for second is Izuru and Azami, an odd pairing. Third place is Beigoma. Tied for fourth is Jose and Aya. Fifth place is Mukuro. Tied for sixth is Sawa, Keiko, and Chihiro. Tied for seventh is Nagito, Yasuke, Micho, Nate, Jonathan, and Soshun. And finally in last place we have Connie, Shiro, and Cam (wah wah wah) .

Now then, hopefully you'll find what I have in store for the rest of Chapter 1 to be well worth the wait. Now first off is the exploration, which unfortunately due to lack of time I had to cut into two parts. This part is a little introduction into the area inside Sector 1 and includes a little more detail into the inner mind of the Mastermind themself. We also have some tender Akira and Nodaka moments for all you fellow lovers of the childhood friend route, as well as some more insight into Locks. But unfortunately nobody else's Locks will be revealed yet. Not everyone is going to be as forthcoming as Akira and Nodaka are. Because you think their Locks are bad? It just gets even worse as it goes on.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.

Chapter 1, Part 16: Sector 1 exploration, Part 1: The rotten stench of despair

DAYTIME, 6:35 P.M.

As I walked down the path into the inner layer of Despairadise with Nodaka, I took the time to look through my e-handbook map and make note of the points that were accessible. The whole of Despairadise was a large man-made valley that was surrounded by lush green hills, that were probably artificial given their appearance, and of course the large indestructible dome that enclosed it. I looked up from my e-handbook briefly and stared up at the high dome ceiling up above. The bunny-shaped hole that Usami made when she was crash landing was still there. 'Indestructible, my ass,' I thought. And then I saw the peculiar sight of two hard-hat wearing Monokumas climbing all the way up to the ceiling using a humongous scissor lift. They had tools with them so I assumed that they were going to patch the hole. But I was surprised to see that upon reaching Usami's hole the Monokumas patched it up in mere seconds, not only patched it, they did such a good job that it was almost as if there was never a hole in the dome in the first place. "What?!" I exclaimed.

Nodaka looked up to where I was looking. "Huh, I guess when he said it's indestructible he meant that it can easily be repaired." The two Monokumas caught us looking at them, and they waved at us from up above. Nodaka grunted, "Geez, we get that he's all powerful already. Why does he have to mock us?"

"Because he gets a kick out of torturing us with false hope," I replied as if it was obvious. And then moments later the scissor lift shot back down to Earth and the Monokumas scurried off somewhere else.

"I'll give him one thing, he sure is fast for a teddy bear," said Nodaka.

"You're forgetting he's a robotic, teleporting, ninja teddy bear," I replied.

Nodaka giggled. "God that sounds so ridiculous when you say it out loud, doesn't it?" She then turned to me. "So what does the map say? Where do we go?" she asked.

"Well the map shows that Despairadise's layout is like this," I said as I showed her my e-handbook map. The whole of Despairadise was surrounded by a large glassy-looking circle, which symbolized the dome. And inside the dome was a small green circle that ran around the edge of the dome. The word Outskirts was etched on the green circle. I pointed to the Outskirts. "This is where we started from, you can tell because of the little indentation of a door right here at the side of the dome, and here's the oak tree where we met up at too. Then I pointed to a large path that ran from the Outskirts to the center of Despairadise. This single path is how you access each area of Despairadise, do you see the markers for the gates to each area on the side?" There were four large gates around the path, two on either side. They led to areas marked off as 2, 3, 4, and 5. Those four areas split Despairadise into four quarters, and at the very center of Despairadise was a small area marked off with a 1. "As you can see the sectors are all marked with a number, and all except for sector 1 here are in red. I think that means that this is the only sector we can explore right now." Then I touched the sector 1 icon and a miniature map of it popped up onto my screen. "Sector 1 is so small because the only thing it contains is this one building." It was a large two story building that had two towers on either side of it, and the towers had a glass covered tunnel that met in the middle of them, which contained an observation deck at the very center. What was really striking about the building though was its odd color scheme. The tower on the left was white and the tower on the right was black.

"So can it tell you any information about the building itself?" Nodaka asked.

"I think you need to actually visit the location before any information gets added to the map, at least that's what it says in the instructions. So far I only have the name of the building. It's called Twin Peaks Mall and Youth Hostel," I explained.

Nodaka sweatdropped. "A mall? Seriously? What generation does Monokuma even think we're from?"

"Aren't all girls obsessed with malls?" I asked.

"Maybe girls from the late eighties or early nineties, but not me. I make all my clothes myself, remember?" Nodaka replied.

"Well look on the bright side, a mall has lots of stores, right? So I'm sure at least one of them will have something useful," I replied.

"Useful for what, escaping or staying here?" Nodaka asked.

"Both?" I replied hesitantly.

Nodaka sighed. "It's a youth hostel too, right? So that means that's probably where we have to sleep. But still that whole term youth hostel feels me with dread. Aren't hostels those little cramped living quarters that low-budget students and backpack travelers stay at?" Nodaka asked.

"Yeah, some are pretty good though, depending on where you are," I replied.

Nodaka groaned. "Oh please don't tell me we have to share rooms? I need my own room to function and I can tell that every single one of those other girls would be an absolute pain sharing living space with."

"Well if worse comes to the worst, why don't you and I share a room?" I joked. And then without hesitation Nodaka gave my face a good smack. "Ow!" I yelped in pain.

"Idiot! D-Don't even joke about s-something like th-that!" she screamed in embarrassment.

My face was incredibly sore but it was worth it to see her reaction.

Her face was still red. "Geez, sleeping in the same room? How stupid can you get?" she muttered to herself. "Doesn't even try to set a mood or anything, he just automatically expects something dirty to happen. Jerk, dumb blockheaded jerk." She tried to be quiet about her ramblings so I wouldn't overhear her. But I did.

"Something dirty? What are you talking about?" I teased her. "I was just thinking that after what happened today you might not want to be alone so I was offering to keep you company. What did you think I wanted to do?"

"Eh?!" Nodaka was surprised. "Y-You weren't thinking about anything di-dirty?" she asked me.

"No. But what were you thinking of?" I implored her to answer.

"Umm…umm…umm…uh…that's uh…hey look is that a Monobeast?!" Nodaka suddenly shouted and pointed further down the path.

I thought she was just making stuff up to avoid having to answer my question, but when I turned to look I did indeed see a Monobeast blocking one of the gates further down the path. The gate was large and gold colored and had a number 2 engraved at the top of it, and I could see in the distance that it blocked off that nice looking neighborhood that I had seen before atop the hill. But before we could get any closer, the snake Monobeast hissed threateningly at us. Almost as if it was telling us that if we came any closer we'd end up being its dinner.

"Wow, I knew those things were big. But standing so close to one now, it really puts things into perspective," Nodaka said in a fearful tone.

"No need to worry my dear!" And then all of a sudden another little pain in the neck reared his head. Halokuma.

Nodaka yelped and held onto me for dear life. It seemed like the Monobeast had made her a little jumpy, and Halokuma ended up scaring her by just appearing out of nowhere.

"Oh my, I'm dreadfully sorry. Where are my manners? It's always proper etiquette to announce one's self before one begins talking. Are you alright, my dear?" Halokuma asked in a polite manner.

Nodaka, taking note that Halokuma posed no threat, nodded and replied, "Yeah, I'm okay." She scoffed and tried to play it off. "Like any dopey little angel bear would scare me. You just caught me off guard is all. But speaking of which, why are you here anyway?"

"Oh why to inform you both of the exploration system for Despairadise of course. I have done so for your other companions that have passed through here, so now it's your turn. Please take note of the large mechanical monstrosity, known simply as a Monobeast, guarding the gate behind me," Halokuma pointed to the snake Monobeast. "And now please take note of the other three equally large Monobeasts guarding the other gates down this path." We followed Halokuma's instructions and saw the other Monobeasts were guarding gates as well. The bird Monobeast was guarding the number 3 gate. The horse Monobeast was guarding the number 4 gate. And the mountain lion Monobeast was guarding the number 5 gate. "They are here for one reason and one reason only."

"And that is?" I asked.

"Why to keep you from getting lost of course," Halokuma simply replied.

"Yeah right, it's to keep us from getting into the other sectors. Which means there must be something back there that Monokuma doesn't want us to see," said Nodaka.

Halokuma panicked. "Yikes! Please don't tell him I said anything! He can be very unforgiving!" he begged.

"Relax, we're not going to say anything," I assured Halokuma.

Halokuma immediately cheered up. "Really? Oh thank you, Akira my boy! You are such a gentle and caring soul!"

I sweatdropped. "Yeah, don't mention it."

"So if we can't explore these areas now, then when can we explore them?" Nodaka asked.

"Why when one of you dies of course," Halokuma simply said. And then when he realized what he said he panicked again. "I mean…um I don't know… I don't know anything at all! Look just don't go near the gates okay! Big brother please don't punish me!" Then he ran away out of fear for his own safety.

When we were alone again, Nodaka let down her mask. "So these areas are for exploring after one of us dies? Some kind of incentive, eh?" That realization made her a little gloomy.

"Hey, it's okay. No one's going to die. I'm not going to kill anyone, and I know you and the others aren't going to either. If these gates stay closed forever then no big deal, we'll find another way out of here. We're all going to leave this place together, that's a promise," I assured her.

That got her to smile a little bit. "Jeez, how the hell can you stay so positive all the time?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Being optimistic is like my one redeeming quality."

Nodaka scoffed. "Ain't that the truth?"

"Jeez, you could at least sugarcoat it," I replied.

"Not my style," Nodaka said. Then she turned to look back to the path ahead of us, and scrunched her nose.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing, it's just isn't there one missing?" she replied.

"What do you mean? One missing of what?" I asked.

"The Monobeasts," she replied. She pointed to the snake Monobeast guarding the number 2 gate and said, "One," then she pointed to the bird Monobeast, "Two," then the horse Monobeast, "Three," then the mountain lion Monobeast, "Four". "But remember there was a giant looking one too?"

I thought about our previous encounter with the Monobeasts and did recall the Monobeast she was referring to. "Oh yeah, that one." I looked down the path with the gates and saw that the colossus Monobeast was indeed missing. "Yeah you're right. Where did it go?"

Nodaka suddenly began to look around her person.

"What's wrong now?" I asked.

"Well usually, every time someone asks an ambiguous question Monokuma or one of his flunkies show up to explain things in an even more ambiguous way," Nodaka explained.

"Huh, come to think of it you're right," I replied. "Well maybe it's just a coincidence."

And then Diablokuma suddenly appeared in front of us. "Or is it, you mooks? Fufufufufufu!" And then just like that he disappeared.

"Say, what do you say we hurry and get moving before those two hold us up all day?" Nodaka asked.

"Good idea," I replied. And then without another word we headed off in the direction to Sector 1.

DAYTIME, 6:42 P.M.

And soon we arrived at a large, two-story building made almost entirely out of glass. And on either side of the building was a large tower that were connected by a glass tunnel and an observation deck set about two more stories above the building in the middle. A sign hung up above the entrance to the building and read: Twin Peaks Mall. Despairadise's crown jewel.

"A mall is the crown jewel of this creepy little town under a dome? How much more ridiculous can he get?" Nodaka asked.

"You're forgetting, he also designed a sun with his face on it, that's currently setting as we speak," I replied.

"Touché," Nodaka replied.

"You guys think this is bad, just wait till you see the inside," a familiar voice suddenly called out to us.

We turned to see the combined duo of Yasuke and Deva approaching us. "Matsuda-kun, Murasame-kun? What are you two doing out here?" I asked.

"I couldn't take another minute of being in that damn place. Honestly the set up Monokuma has in there is just ridiculous," Yasuke replied.

"How do you mean?" Nodaka asked.

"It's well…it's not something that can be explained with words. You have to see for yourself," Yasuke replied.

"So we both decided to come out here and check out the surroundings instead," Deva explained.

"Did you find anything of note?" I asked.

"Zilch," Deva replied. "Apparently there's something in the towers as well but the only way to access them is from the second floor of the mall, but uh…neither of us wanted to venture any further than the first floor."

"Trust us, when you see it for yourselves you'll understand what we mean. But before you go torture yourselves do you guys want to hear what we've found out so far?" Yasuke asked.

"It might be a good idea to gather all the information we can, in case we miss something when we look over everything ourselves," Nodaka explained.

'Hmm, should we hear Yasuke and Deva out or just go on ahead?' I asked myself.

MAKE A DECISION

Find out what Yasuke and Deva know

Just go inside the mall

(Right decision: First choice). "It would probably be best to know everything we can before we go any further. Okay tell us what you found so far," he said.

"Well first of all, you should know that this place is like an actual mall," said Yasuke. "It's got stores with a bunch of junk in them and a food court with a bunch of junk food in it."

"There's two floors in the mall, we all split up when we got here and checked out all the different areas. But unfortunately the ground we covered is only in the mall itself. We couldn't get into either of the towers so there's no telling what's in there," Deva explained.

"You said you can only access the towers through the second floor, right? Has anyone gone ahead and looked into them yet?" I asked.

"Not that I know of," Yasuke replied. "Like I said before, we couldn't take the first floor so there's no telling what's on the second. I saw a few of the others head up there before we left though. Junmaru and Nanase, Kiyoshi and Historia, Akasaka and Takemi, and Kamukura and Komaeda, all of them went up there to scope out the second floor. But that was about fifteen minutes ago, so they might be somewhere else now."

"So then the others should be somewhere on the first floor?" I asked.

Yasuke gave me a weird look. "Umm, I guess if you're going about it by elimination, yeah. But they could have gone somewhere else. This isn't a video game and they're not NPCs, they have a will of their own you know?"

"No, I didn't mean it like that. I was just concerned about everyone's location. There's no telling what kind of stuff Monokuma has around here. He might've set up booby traps or something," I replied.

"Yeah, I kind of figured something like that too…until I saw the mall of course," Deva replied.

"What do you mean by that?" Nodaka asked.

Deva sighed. "Just trust us on this. Once you see you'll understand."

"You guys should go and check up with the others now, see if they've found anything that's worthwhile in that freaking tourist trap. In the meantime, we're going to head back to the entrance. There might be something there that we missed before," Yasuke replied. "Oh but one more thing before you go? Are you feeling alright, Maita? The last time we saw you, you were kind of out of it."

I was grateful that Yasuke was concerned for my well-being, but somehow coming from him, the concern seemed very odd. But I nodded nonetheless. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was just a little surprised by my Lock is all."

Yasuke nodded in understanding. "I know what you mean." He frowned and sighed heavily. "Mine's troubling to say the least."

"Really what is it?" I asked out of concern.

Yasuke shook his head. "Sorry, I can't tell you. It's not that I don't trust you, it's just…" he trailed off and then looked away. "Sorry, just not yet," he said.

"Well fine then. If you don't trust us, big deal. I'll have you know we already know each other's Locks and it hasn't changed a thing between the two of us. If you want to be the odd one out, then who needs you," Nodaka replied.

Yasuke shook his head. "I'm not the odd one out here. If anything, it's you two."

"Huh?" Nodaka and I replied.

"Something's changed already. Ever since we saw what the Locks for these stupid collars around our necks are, everybody's been kind of keeping to themselves. We're still working together but now it feels like there's walls separating all of us from each other. I don't think anybody's shared their Locks with each other besides you two, and if they aren't really as bad as you say then maybe it's just because you didn't draw the short stick. Some of them though, I could tell from just looking at them that seeing their Lock was like having their worlds shatter before their eyes. Mine's not as bad I guess, but trust me knowing what it is will change the way you look at me. You want my advice? Keep your Locks to yourselves and don't ask anyone else about their Locks either."

"…" Nodaka and I stayed silent as we just let the advice Yasuke gave us sink in.

Yasuke gave us one last look before he decided to leave. "Come on, let's go," he said to Deva.

"…" Deva stared at us too before he left to go after Yasuke.

Once the two boys were out of distance we pondered what Yasuke had told us. "If someone doesn't die within four days, then I die. I thought I drew the short straw on the Lock end," I said. "But if what Yasuke said is true, then the others might've gotten it way worse than me."

"This doesn't change anything," Nodaka assured me. "So what if the others hate their Locks too? You're the one we should be concerned about right now. I thought the others would understand that," she said with a sigh. "If nobody's in the mood to help us with this than the best thing for us to do is to just keep your problem under wraps and look for one of the combinations ourselves. It has to be us that find it though. If what Matsuda just said turns out to be true, then one of those idiots might use the combo to free themselves and we'll be screwed. So come on let's check this place from top to bottom." Nodaka motioned me towards the entrance to the mall.

I nodded and followed behind her.

DAYTIME, 6:48 P.M.

We entered Twin Peaks Mall through a set of motion sensor double doors, and upon entry we were immediately greeted with the sound of background music playing throughout the mall. The music sounded whimsical and cheerful, but almost like something that would annoy the hell out of you if exposed to it for too long. Sort of like elevator music.

Nodaka groaned. "God, we've only been here for twenty seconds and I'm already sick of this place." Then her nose twitched, and she scrunched up her face in disgust. Then she covered up her nose and mouth with both of her hands. "Oh God, what is that horrible stench?!" she exclaimed through her in a muffled tone. Her reaction was so freaking adorable. And what was even more adorable was what set her on edge. At the entrance to the mall there was a small kiosk that by the looks of it sold high-end perfume. The sign over the kiosk read: Eau de Despair.

I chuckled. "That's right, I remember how you couldn't stand the stench of perfume when you were younger either. Every time my mom would wear some you would gag and scrunch up your face just like that."

A chill ran down Nodaka's spine. "I honestly don't understand why women subject themselves to wearing such overbearing shit like that! It seriously smells like pine air-freshener mixed with fruit juice! It doesn't smell nice or refreshing, it just stinks!" she mumbled.

"Some people actually enjoy that smell," I replied. "Your senses are just too strong."

"No, that's not it! I just can't stand the smell of that toxic junk! It makes me want to vomit! Everything else that should smell good, does! Flowers, gourmet food, even memorable things like you!" she exclaimed.

I blushed. "I smell good?"

Then Nodaka blushed and removed one of her hands from her face in order to use to punch me in the gut. "Don't have that kind of reaction, idiot! I just meant that your smell is comforting to me, it reminds of our childhood together! But that stuff is just revolting!" Nodaka pointed angrily at the perfume kiosk.

Then Monokuma suddenly appeared. "Hey! Hey! Hey! Would you keep your negative comments to yourself please! I'll have you know that Eau de Despair is currently a recognized perfume brand in our little fucked up world! Every female member of Ultimate Despair wears it in honor of their great Mistress Junko-chan! It was her own special brand of perfume that she made famous when she worked as a supermodel!" he exclaimed.

"God, no wonders it smells so foul. Anything that comes in contact with that girl turns rotten," Nodaka replied.

Monokuma sighed. "Honestly I agree. That perfume just smells like pure crazy in a bottle to me, but that's just me as an ex-Ultimate Despair talking. As you know I have bias towards Junko-chan, there is literally no one in the world who hates her as much as I do. I could kill her a billion times over in mind and it still wouldn't even come close to the recompense that she had coming. But the fact of the matter is that most girls in the world today are part of Ultimate Despair and they can't get enough of this shit. So I'm keeping these bottles handy for the business I'm sure to have real soon."

"So let me get this straight. You hate Ultimate Despair, but you still want them to buy perfume from you?" I asked in confusion.

"Oh not just perfume, dummy. Why do you think this place is a mall? It's all the drum up business. What do you think an artificial city just pays for itself? No way, making this place into the capital of the new world she was creating was always Junko-chan's vision. And this place was how she intended to keep things running smoothly. Here at Twin Peaks Mall, everything that a teenage Ultimate Despair could ever ask for is ripe for the taking. But a modest fee is required of course, even if Ultimate Despair is terrorist group they still demand some structure. Besides nothing causes more despair than that of money. Whether it's having too little or too much of it, everyone is always concerned about money. That's why when Ultimate Despair crashed the economy and made every single yen in Japan's accounts worthless well let's just say it was a matter of hours before the entire country was in ruin. A little known fact about terrorism, you destroy your target's source of income and they collapse at your feet."

"So if money is worthless in today's era, then why do you want it?" I asked.

"Well our old money system may be worthless now, but Ultimate despair came prepared and created a new monetary value." Monokuma reached into his pocket, yes that's right part of his fur was pockets, and pulled out a handful of copper coins with his face on them. "Tada, I present to you two, Japan and the world's new currency, Monocoins."

"Why am I not surprised?" I replied with an added sweatdrop. "You're a little egomaniac, aren't you?"

"Hey don't blame me. This is all Junko-chan's fault. Thanks to her making me the mascot of despair, everybody thinks that's all there is to me. I'm a little bear who loves to make people feel despair. But that's so not me anymore," Monokuma complained. "I've got a new Mastermind at the wheel and they hate despair and hope. Both of those ideals suck. From now on, I'm the mascot of nothing. I represent nothing. I'm the neutral power in all of this. Hope and despair can take a hike, I'm not loyal to either side. Why in fact, I bet the sight of seeing their ideals so crudely fused together in the same location is driving those idiots mad with rage. In the end, I don't think they even know why they're fighting anymore."

Monokuma paused and turned to look at a surveillance camera. "How about you, new Headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy? Do you know the reason why?"

"New Headmaster? What are you talking about?" I asked in confusion.

Monokuma turned to face me again. "You don't know, Akira-kun? No I guess you wouldn't be considering you've been in hiding for seven years. Well it was almost four years ago. It was only about two years into the Tragedy, but the world was already completely ruined. The Future Foundation was barely keeping Ultimate Despair at bay. But then along came one little Future Foundation member. Nobody really thought that much of him at first, he had only been brought into the Future Foundation because he had been declared a hero by his peers. But that all changed through his actions. I told you about him before remember? Mr. N?"

"But I thought you said that guy was executed along with those Ultimate Despairs he cured?" Nodaka asked freely. It looks like her mind had been taken off the stench of Eau de Despair.

"The Future Foundation tried to, but that little Mr. N was so stubborn that he saw his vision of hope through to the end. And those same Ultimate Despairs he helped cure, helped him in return. He rebelled against the ruling of the Future Foundation and fought for his own ideal of hope, and he thereby tried to recreate the school that represented hope. He rebuilt Hope's Peak Academy and took on the title of Headmaster. But still, Mr. N still has strong ties to the Future Foundation. He may have retired on paper, but he's still very much involved in their operations. One could say he's now a branch leader in his own right." Then Monokuma looked back to the camera. "So I'm sure you of all people should know the answer, Mr. N. What are you all fighting for? Your vision of hope? Doesn't that seem a bit selfish? Are you sure that your vision of hope is the same for everyone else in your inner circle? You should talk to your allies, I'm sure you'll find that they have some sins that they haven't confessed to yet. Particularly the one with the silver hair and the eyepatch. That friend of yours is definitely keeping something from you. And yes, in case you haven't guessed my reason for hating the Future Foundation so much has something to do with that friend of yours."

I could tell that the Mastermind was speaking from the bottom of his heart. "I know you're a good person, Mr. N. You beat the person who I thought was unbeatable. The world hasn't ended completely yet because of you, and people like you. But unfortunately, your help came a little too late. By that time, a horrible plot by the Future Foundation was being set into motion by that silver-haired, eyepatch-wearing friend of yours. Though you may be trying to lead the Future Foundation in a different direction, their name is still tainted with the ruin of your friend and their previous allies. Both of your friend's allies betrayed your friend in the end, didn't they?"

"One was tainted with Junko-chan's despair and the other was blackmailed by Junko-chan into keeping their fat mouth shut, all because of some dopey little crush that they were too chicken-shit too share. And because of the ruin from the inner workings of despair, your friend despaired despair and set out to destroy it. Didn't your friend try to kill you that day because they thought you were the traitor for Ultimate Despair? When really it was their girlfriend and their boss who betrayed them? Upupupupupu, that's right. I know the truth about that day. I know it all too well. I know that what Ultimate Despair said was a big fat lie, they didn't do anything right? The Future Foundation brought about its own ruin because it was too stupid and pig-headed to see two traitors right in front of them," Monokuma explained.

"Though your friend may apologize. Though they may wish to forget that day so much, they cannot. For what happened there that day is their fault. As far as I see it what happened that day of the Monokuma Hunter game was your eyepatch-friend's fault as well as your anime-loving friend's fault. Yes, that's right. I know about them too. Your anime-loving friend had something very powerful on their person, did they not? A certain video that had the power to undo everything that Junko-chan had done to this world and end this stupid fucking war. They had the opportunity to use it, to be a hero and rid the world of its virus once and for all. But did they do it? No. Because they fell for the pathetic words of their classmates, the one who you saved from despair. Truth be told, there's two more people I blame alongside your eyepatch-wearing and anime-loving friends. One would be the leader of your anime-loving friend's classmates, your heterochromatic and very talented friend. You know the one I'm talking about, right? They were responsible for delivering the message that Ultimate Despair caused the Monokuma Hunter game. Were they not? That message just fanned the flames of war even more, which is why here we are four years later and the world is still broken beyond repair. And finally, you. You're the last person I blame for the events of that day, because you allowed everything to transpire just this way because it satisfied your selfish view of hope. Well what about my hope, Mr. N? Where's my justice? Where's my recompense? When will I get the ending to my pain?"

Monokuma chuckled. "But don't get me wrong, the day of the Monokuma Hunter game isn't the only reason why I despise the Future Foundation. No, that's something else entirely. If you want to know more you should ask that eyepatch-wearing friend of yours, I'm sure they remember the face of every single person they cut down with that damn katana of theirs. But if you need help jogging their memory, try asking about the Paradox corporation. And if they need an even bigger jog, the girl that his psychotic little girlfriend killed in cold blood. She wasn't armed and they had to plant a weapon on her to make it seem like she resisted, like she was an Ultimate Despair. She wasn't though, she was innocent in all of this. She wasn't with the Future Foundation or Ultimate Despair, she was neutral. She didn't want any part of this horrible war, and still she got dragged into it. That's right, your precious Future Foundation killed an innocent girl. I know because I was there. That girl was one of my best friends, she pleaded for her life, begged the psychotic girlfriend of your eyepatch-wearing friend to spare her and her friend's lives. And that psychotic bitch just laughed and filled her with bullets. She just kept firing, and firing. Even after she was already dead. She dehumanized her, turned her into Swiss cheese. All of this while wearing the psychotic smile of Ultimate Despair."

"Obviously, I kept the guilty parties' names out of these events for spoiler reasons. Because, you're not the only one watching the show, Mr. N. Remember, the whole world is watching. The whole world will soon know all of the Future Foundation's sins." Then Monokuma turned away from the camera. "But in the meantime, sit back and watch as some familiar kids play a callback to one of the most fun games ever invented. Now where was I? Oh yes!" Monokuma handed Nodaka and I each five of the Monocoins in his paw.

"Everything in this world runs on money, whether it's yen or Monocoins, it's all the same. You can live in Despairadise quite comfortably if you wish not to kill. All you have to do is have a few Monocoins on hand. I'll give you each five to start out with, as I've already given all the other five as well. But from here on out, you're on your own when it comes to them. If you want more Monocoins you can either do what most of the world's youth are too lazy to do and work part-time at one of the fabulous establishments here at Twin Peaks or spend your days mind-numbingly scrounging around for spare change. There's always a Monocoin hiding in the cushion of one of the food court chairs or somewhere about. Search high and low and you're sure to find some."

"So we can exchange Monocoins for something in the mall?" I asked.

"Well most of these stores are pretty cheap, but for almost broke idiots like you I'd recommend the general store on the second floor. You can find all sorts of stuff in there, all just for one Monocoin," Monokuma replied.

"And anywhere else?" I asked.

"Every other store ranges from five Monocoin purchases to one-hundred million Monocoin purchases," Monokuma replied.

"One-hundred million?!" I exclaimed.

"That's mainly the electronic store though. I doubt the only ones among you flunkies who are interested in stuff like that are Cam-kun and Chihiro-chan. Just look around the mall already, you've wasted enough of my time," Monokuma replied.

"You're the one who kept us here because of your stupid soliloquy about how the Future Foundation screwed you over," Nodaka replied. Then her nostrils flared up again. "Oh God, my mind was so focused on that stupid bear that I didn't notice the stench of that bitch Enoshima's perfume, but now the stench is creeping back up on me!" She covered her nose and mouth with her hands again and then proceeded to walk forward. "Come on, Akira!" She walked past the perfume kiosk and further into the mall.

I was about to follow her, but I paused and looked back at Monokuma. I pitied him, I didn't want to, but I couldn't help it. If what the Mastermind was saying was really true, then they were really just another one of Junko Enoshima's victims. Everyone and everything in their life was taken away from them, by Ultimate Despair and the Future Foundation. 'Hope. Despair. Maybe neither side is right after all. But what's left? Which path is the right one?' I asked myself. Then I remembered the Mastermind's words. 'Nothing. Neutrality. Being above it all. Could that be the answer I'm looking for? Is that the hope I want?'

"Hey what are you staring at me for you creepazoid?! Go ogle your girlfriend! You make her dress like a maid for you, for crying out loud, she'll do anything you want!" Monokuma shouted at me.

"I...I don't m-make her dress like that," I blushed and stuttered.

"Sure. Sure. She dresses like that because she's the Ultimate Maid. Oh wait, no she's not. So if she's not wearing it for that reason, either she likes how they look or her boyfriend is just a perv who has a maid fetish. Which one seems like the more likely option?"

"Shut up!" I shouted back at him.

"Then look me in the eyes and tell me you don't like that outfit on her," Monokuma replied.

"…" I fell silent.

"That's what I thought. Seeyah!" Monokuma exclaimed and then disappeared again.

I growled. "Dammit, I can't believe I actually pitied that asshole."

A/N: Okay, we'll stop for there. Next time, we'll see all the crazy stores inside Twin Peaks mall. And trust me when I say that hilarity will ensue.