This is the third book for the Dagan Ronpa Trilogy. Disclaimer: I don't own Dangan Ronpa or Ace Attorney.

Prologue: False Island Paradise

It had been a few weeks since Naegi and sixteen of his friends had survived a Mutual Killing game instigated by Yasuke Matsuda within the sealed off Hope's Peak Academy. They had joined up with Tora Wright's father, Phoenix Wright, and his organization Future Foundation. Using their individual talents, each of Naegi's friends contributed in some way to helping reverse the damage done by the doomsday cult known as SHSL Despair. The athletes in the group, Leon Kuwata, Aoi Asahina, and Sakura Oogami, took to search and rescue. Kiyotaka Ishimaru put his years of hard work to good use in an effort to restore the world's governments.

Celestia Ludenberg also contributed, using her gambling skills to steal the fortunes of corrupt businessmen who had turned to greed as a result of the chaos. This money was sent to Byakuya Togami who then used his business contacts to redistribute the money to the commonwealth in an effort to restore the world's economy. Touko Fukawa pulled double duty, writing out uplifting speeches that Naegi broadcast to the world to lift their spirits. And of course, Genocider Shou turned from serial killing to assassination, taking out the leaders of SHSL Despair whenever they were located. She even changed her blood-written message from "Bloodbath Fever" to "Despair Cannot Beat Hope" as a way of giving the middle finger to the rest of the cult.

Mondo Oowada and his Crazy Diamonds patrolled the streets, fixing up decrepit buildings and hunting down the SHSL Despair demonstrators alongside Mukuro Ikusaba and the Fenrir Company. Chihiro Fujisaki and his creation Alter Ego worked to remove all the viruses from the world's computer networks. All-in-all, things were going smoothly, but they were still worried about the friends Izuru Kamukura, the Super High School Level Despair, had kidnapped for the next part of his plan.

Now the seventeen of them were being driven by convoy to where Kamukura's hideout was. While on the way there, Fukawa was throwing up into a barf bag. "Motion sickness?," Maizono asked sympathetically. Fukawa shook her head. "Morning sickness. You remember how Togami's now the last living member of his family?" Maizono nodded. "Well, he was planning on rebuilding it from the ground up based on his own ideals," Fukawa said, "Said he could never understand the whole idea of having children through multiple women. So a few days before Matsuda stole our memories he... He asked me to be the sole bearer of his children!"

Maizono realized what was going on. "Wait, are you saying you're pregnant with Togami's child right now?" Fukawa nodded. "And have been since before Matsuda's little douchebag move. Makes me glad he was planning on having me as one of the survivors. Togami would have torn him apart if he had found out I was pregnant with his child after I was dead." Finally the convey pulled up to the place where Kamakura was thought to be. After Oogami broke the door down they found, to their relief, that all their friends were safe inside. Unconscious, but safe.

Later that day, Tora found his father interrogating a member of Future Foundations he hadn't seen before. "Why did you hook those kids up to the rehabilitator?," Phoenix said. "It's obvious they've been working for SHSL Despair the whole time," the man said, "I thought since they were once friends with your son we could give them a chance to reform." "They don't need reformation," Tora said, "Or didn't you pay attention when Matsuda said our friends had been kidnapped?" Maizono who was also in the room, suddenly gasped. "His surface memories... He's working with Kamukura."

The man suddenly tried to pull a knife on Phoenix, but he saw it coming and quickly disarmed the spy. The students then reconvened around the mental simulator, which their friends had been hooked up to. "There's no way to shut it down right now," said Dick Gumshoe, one of Phoenix's old friends, "The only way to get them out before the program finishes running is for them to experience a simulated death." Fujisaki thought for a moment. "If that program finishes, they'll be implanted with the AI Junko, and be able to spread that to every human in the world. But if something were to happen to prevent that..." He began working with the program interface.

Hajime Hinata, who could pass for Tora Wright easily, entered Hope's Peak Academy for the first time. He had been stoked to have been invited to learn at this prestigious school, where the hope of the current generation was groomed for guaranteed success. However, as he stepped through the main gate, something strange began to happen, and he found himself blacking out for some unknown reason. When he came to, there was a door in front of him, surrounded by darkness. For some reason, he felt compelled to open it.

Inside, he saw fifteen other students. Speaking with all of them, he learned that the door leading back out was somehow locked. Creepier still, all of them had the same experience coming in as Hinata. As they were discussing this, a delightfully friendly voice called out, "Ah good, everyone's here. Now we can begin." From behind the podium in the front of the classroom popped what looked like a pink stuffed bunny in a tutu carrying a wand of some king. "Greetings," the bunny said, "I'm the Magical Girl Miracle Star Usami. But you can just call me Usami. I'll be your teacher here at Hope's Peak Academy. And I have exciting news for all of you. For your first day, we'll be starting with a wonderful field trip!"

She waved her wand and the walls of the classroom fell away like the backdrop of a movie set, revealing the students had somehow been transported to a tropical island. Most of the students were shocked, which was understandable. "Welcome to Dangan Island," Usami said, "You'll find a wide variety of things to do on your stay here. Your main goal while you're here is to make friends with each other and collect Hope Crystals. Once you have collectively obtained a certain number of Hope Crystals, we will leave this island and return home much better friends."

Usami disappeared, and the students left to explore. Only Hinata and one other student remained on the beach where they started. "I guess I should introduce myself," the students said, "My name is Nagito Komaeda. I was selected by random lottery to become Hope's Peak's Super High School Level Luckster." Hinata nodded. "My name is Hajime Hinata. I'm..." Suddenly he found himself drawing a blank. "Come to think about it, I can't remember my special talent. Must be shock from our situation. Give me a little time and I think I'll be able to remember."

He reached into his pocket to get the ElectroiD he had been assigned, but it didn't have his talent on it either. "Well, we may as well check out the island. I'm curious about the other students attending this field trip." On the way, Hinata decided to check up on various things in his ElectroiD, like a map of the island, and list of rules while staying there.

1. Excess violence is forbidden on this island. Let's live peacefully and quietly together.

2. Let's gather "Hope Shards" by deepening our bonds with our friends.

3. Throwing garbage and damaging the environment is forbidden. Let's live in harmony with nature on this beautiful island.

4. The supervising teacher will not interfere directly with student activities, unless any rules are broken.

Hinata and Komaeda's first stop was the airport, where they met Kazuichi Souda and Gundam Tanaka. While there were planes on the island, they were simply props and could not take off at all. Hinata and Komaeda then stopped by the supermarket, where they met Mikan Tsumiki and Ibuki Mioda. The supermarket had a wide variety of goods and food, maybe a little too much for sixteen people. The next stop was Hotel Mirai, where each person was given their own private cottage for living purposes. In the outer area with the pool, they met Nekomaru Nidai, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu, and Mahiru Koizumi.

Inside the luxurious hotel lobby, Hinata and Komaeda met Peko Pekoyama and Chiaki Nanami. In the restaurant above, they met Teruteru Hanamura, and Sonia Nevermind, the former of whom was trying to trick the latter into doing something lewd. There was also a farm on the island, where Hinata and Komaeda met Akane Owari and Hiyoko Saionji, the latter of whom was busy squishing ants. On the central island, in the middle of Jabberwock Park, Hinata saw someone he wasn't expecting to see. Instead of a tiny girl, it was a rather obese man.

'Wait... This looks like Byakuya Togami, but it should be... Hold on, why am I suddenly thinking like this. Of course Byakuya Togami is in our class. It was all over the message boards.' Just then, a sound like a school chime went off. From a nearby monitor, Usami appeared and gave an announcement. 'Congratulations on getting the first set of Hope Shards. As a reward, I have a special present for each of you. Please report back to the beach at once.

"It'll take me some time to remove the AI Junko," Fujisaki said, "But I should have it done by the time permanent damage can occur. In the meantime, I have just the means to get our friends out of the simulation." He typed in a few program commands. "We'll be able to communicate with our friends inside the simulation without Kamukura knowing about it. Then they can do the rest. But for that to happen, we need to hijack the system." He handed Enoshima a microphone. "I think you know what you're role is." Enoshima smiled. "This could be fun." She cleared her throat.

Back at the beach, Usami cheerfully gave the students their present; school swimsuits so they could enjoy the ocean during their stay. The students started off having a good time enjoying the water, until the sky suddenly darkened. "What's going on?," Sonia said, "Is that a storm?" Usami suddenly looked panicky. "What's going on here?! I didn't do anything... What is this is?!" From her reaction, Hinata got the distinct impression Usami wasn't responsible.

Just then, a nearby monitor turned on. Over it came a more disturbingly friendly voice, first clearing its throat. 'Hello... Hello... Mic check! Mic check! Can you all hear me? Greetings new students, please gather at Jabberwock Park at once. Don't be late!' Usami seemed to be trembling. "That voice... This isn't possible! I must stop this right away!" And with that, she vanished. The students quickly changed back into their normal clothes and hurried to the park.

Once there, the heard a disturbing laugh coming from behind the statue in the center of the park. From almost out of nowhere popped what looked like a stuffed bear that was half-white and half-black. "Welcome! Welcome! I am Hope's Peak Academy's Headmaster, Monokuma!" "So it is you!," Usami said, "Why are you here?!" Monokuma gave a silent chuckle. "Simple... I'm here to hijack your little field trip." The other students seemed confused by Monokuma's sudden appearance.

"Stand back everyone!," Usami said, "I don't know what he's doing here, but so long as I have my magic stick..." But at that moment Monokuma suddenly dog-piled Usami and grabbed her stick, breaking it in half. He then proceeded to somehow alter Usami so that half of her was a darker red color. "That's better," Monokuma said, "Now you'll be my new sister, Monomi. And now that we have that out of the way..." "Hold it!," Monomi said, "You can't just go making these changes as you like!" Monokuma responded by punching Monomi hard enough to send her flying.

"Naughty, naughty," Monokuma said, almost sarcastically, "You shouldn't talk back to your brother like that!" He turned to the students. "Sorry for that minor inconvenience, but I have an important announcement to make. To make things more interesting on this island, I am introducing the 'Field Trip of Mutual Killing' game! Naturally, all of you are the participants." Monomi got back up and said, "No way! I will not allow such a thing on this island!" Monokuma simply kicked her away before she could make a move against him.

Monokuma then cleared his throat. "As I was saying, the Field Trip of Mutual Killing game. The rules are actually quite simple. To leave the island, one of you must kill one of your friends... And then get away with it. Much more exciting and fun then simply making friends so you can leave, right? To judge whether or not you have successfully fooled everyone into thinking you did not commit murder, a class trial will be held after a corpse is found. During the trial, the surviving students will debate on who the murderer is, and then take a vote. If you vote correctly, the murderer shall be punished. If you don't get it correctly, then everyone else will be punished in the murderer's place. It really is that simple... At least in concept. You may find the actual practice to be a bit more complex, however."

"Hold on," Souda said, "What do you mean by 'punished'?" "I mean as in the way all murderers tend to get punished when they are caught," Monokuma said gleefully, "By... Execution! Each execution will be specially tailored to the villain of the trial, which means we could see some very exciting ones! As for how you decide to kill... Well that's up to you. Beating, slashing, strangling, poisoning... Whatever you can come up with is fine. Try to get the best results from the worst methods. Makes the class trials that much more interesting."

"Don't fuck with us now!," Kuzuryuu said, "What makes you think you can make us kill each other?!" "Who's making you do anything?," Monokuma said, "I'm not making you kill anyone. That's up to you guys. Though expect me to throw an incentive or two your way if I feel things are getting too dull. Regardless, I hope you all enjoy your time here, and the Mutual Killing game gets played fair and square." "Hold on now," Nidai said, "I've let say your peace up until now. But if you think you can just force us into this game you've got another thing coming!" Monokuma soon found himself surrounded by Nidai, Owari, and Pekoyama.

Looking around him, Monokuma sighed. "Well, I suppose I should have seen this coming. Fortunately, I came prepared." He turned to the statue of the five guardian animals in the center of the park. "O scions of the void between light and shadow, hear me! Fulfill thy ancient contract. Monobeasts! I bid thee rise!" The statue began to crack, revealing five robotic animals; an ape, a horse, a tiger, a snake, and an eagle. The sight of them suddenly made the students freeze. Monomi quickly stepped between the students and the giant robots. "Everyone, stay back! I'll protect you, even if it costs me my life!"

Monokuma gave a silent chuckle. "Be careful what you wish for... Dear sister!" And with that, he leapt onto the Monoeagle, which revealed twin Gatling guns on the tips of its wings. The guns opened fire, rending Monomi to bits of fluff. One of the bullets grazed Hinata's cheek, causing his eyes to go wide. The next thing he heard was Hanamura screaming. "Impressive yes?," Monokuma said, "My Monobeasts are terrifying death machines. I hope you learn from my sister's fatal mistake. Oh, and I've updated your ElectroiDs. They'll explain the rules for this game. Make sure to go over them carefully."

He then disappeared, and the Monobeasts scattered in five different directions. Hinata looked around at the others, each of whom were just as dumbfounded and scared as he. "This isn't real... This isn't real... This isn't real...," Hanamura kept chanting. "How are these impossible things happening man?," Souda asked nervously. "They're not impossible," Togami said, "Those Monobeasts are just machines. Monokuma likely is as well. Therefore, they are likely being controlled by someone else. But there's an even bigger threat on this island than even those robots. And that... Is the sixteen of us. This bear calling himself Monokuma has created a terrifying atmosphere, and will only let one of us out if they kill another student and get away with it."

The implications of Togami's words were not lost on the others. Not only did the students have to fear each other, but they couldn't even trust themselves not to kill. 'This is not good...,' Hinata thought, 'This isn't what it was supposed to be. I had come to accept that we were somehow on a tropical island for a field trip meant to create friendship between us, but now... How did this even happen? Where did those robots come from? Who is behind Monokuma? And... Can I trust that none of the others will try to kill me? Hell, can I even trust myself not to kill anyone?'

Back in the computer room of Future Foundations, Enoshima was laughing pretty hard. "Well, what did you guys think, pretty convincing, right?" The others had to admit it was impressive how easily she could pull it off. While Kamukura had seen one thing, their friends had seen something else altogether, and now knew what was going on. "It's up to them now," Naegi said, "Will it hurt when it finally happens?" "Of course not pal," Gumshoe said, "Sure they can still feel pain while they're in the simulation, makes it feel more real. But once they encounter a situation that will prove fatal, the pain sensor will shut off and they'll be kicked out of the simulation for their own safety." "Then the only thing we need to do," Tora said, "Is make sure it all goes smoothly."

To be continued...

Yeah, I kinda pulled another reversal here, but you'll get the full story as the... Well, story, moves on.