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Duncan woke up not knowing what time of the day it was. There had been no morning announcement and it was cloudy outside. All he knew was that it was daytime.
As he entered the cafeteria, he saw Peach and Pichu eating what appeared to be lunch. He could tell they were upset.
"Hello, Duncan," Peach greeted, "Did you sleep well?"
"Um… I had weird dreams," Duncan replied, "What about you?"
"I couldn't fall asleep… I was way too sad… Pichu said he cried himself to sleep, maybe I should try that tonight. What do you think, Pichu?"
"Doesn't matter," the pokemon cried, "Do whatever you want. Nothing makes sense anymore. I want to go home."
The atmosphere on the island was depressing, even Pichu who was usually cheerful was feeling blue. Duncan couldn't help but feel it would be impossible to cheer everyone up. Inspiring people wasn't his talent after all.
No one wanted to talk, so Duncan figured out he could force them to talk. Hopefully, people would cheer up or at least feel better.
He asked Falco to help him organize a dinner for their sad friends. After an hour of work, they had finished their preparations and all that was left was to wait for it to be nighttime.
Roy was the first one to go to the restaurant for dinner. The teenager's eyes were red from crying and he was radiating a gloomy aura. Duncan noticed the redhead hadn't bandaged his hands preferring instead to leave his wounds out in the open.
"Did you at least disinfect them?" Duncan asked, "Who knows what kind of deadly diseases exist around here."
"If it means I get to leave this island, I'll gladly get sick," the depressed teenager mumbled.
"That won't solve any of your problems."
"Can't have problems if you're dead."
"All right, Roy, you're going to stop that bratty attitude of yours right now," Falco scolded, "Marth-"
"Stop bringing him into this! It's like you want me to feel worse. Stop reminding me of him. You don't know what it feels like to lose your-"
"He might not, but I do," Duncan told the redhead, "I had to see Hunter get executed before we even had any idea how cruel the executions could be. I get you and Marth were way closer than Hunter and I, but that doesn't mean I don't understand why you're so upset. If a simple duck can make it out of through such tough times, someone strong like you can make it out too."
"Someone who'd gladly let innocent people die so that their loved ones could be safe doesn't deserve to make it out..."
*Ding Dong Bing Bong*
"It's 10 pm you little bastards! Go to bed! Unless you're planning to kill someone, in which case you are welcome to do so! Upupupu!"
No one else had gone to the restaurant that evening. Falco and Duncan parted ways after noticing their cheer up attempt had been a huge failure.
Duncan felt bad. He couldn't sleep, so he went for a walk around the islands. On the second island, he stumbled upon Link throwing rocks at the ruins.
"Link, what are you doing?"
"I'm trying to type the password into the ruins in a way that won't get me killed but as you can see, my aim is amazing!"
"What password are you trying?"
"1T1T9ever1, only thing I can think of."
A light bulb lit up in Duncan's mind and he rushed to get everyone. They seemed pretty annoyed at the fact that they had been woken up, but Duncan knew they all had to be here.
"Link, type in the code," Duncan ordered.
Link typed in the code and the door opened. A bright light was emerging from inside the building making it impossible to see what was on the other side.
"We need to go in," Duncan quacked, "I think… I think this will allow us to finally get off this cursed island."
Everyone stepped into the blinding light and once their feet reached the floor, they noticed something strange. The giant door that should have been behind them was gone. They weren't in the entrance hall, they were on the top floor of Hope's Peak Academy.
"This doesn't make any sense!" Falco snapped, "Is this some kind of joke? Like when we got here."
"Calm down," Peach told the angry bird, "I'm sure there's an explanation. We need to find out what's going on."
Following Peach's advice, Duncan decided to start exploring the floor. He checked out the dojo and greenhouse, but nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary. The science lab looked exactly the same as in the movie Monokuma had shown them and two of the classrooms were completely normal.
The only room left was the classroom where the killing of the student council had happened. The room stank and was completely covered in dry blood. But something wasn't the same as in the previous killing game.
What appeared to be a badly-drawn comic was lying on the floor next to a flashlight. Duncan picked it up. He didn't understand anything, the comic was in Japanese.
"What are you looking at, Duncan?" a voice from behind spoke up.
"Roy, you understand Japanese, right?" Duncan asked as he showed the comic to Roy, "Could you tell me what this is about?"
"Let me see… It's about two girls wanting to make friends and going to a sleepover with their new friends. Wait, this is my handwriting."
"Are you sure? You don't appear to recognize this comic at all."
"I'm positive. Hey, could you pass me that flashlight?"
Duncan picked up the light and turned it on. From the look of it, it was a UV light. Duncan knew this meant there was a secret message on the paper. As he flashed it on the paper, he saw many new details appear.
"So, what's it really about, Roy?"
"Zelda and Zelda wanted to make a video to destroy the world. They asked… me? To come up with a plan. The members of the student council would all be invited to a meeting where they'd be given motives to kill each other. None of them would survive. The school would cover up the incident unaware that it had been recorded."
Truth Bullet #1 A comic depicting a story about two girls having a sleepover with friends is actually the plan for the killing of the student council. It was created by Roy and was written in Japanese.
"W-why would I write something like this?"
"That's what we're going to find out," Duncan reassured the teenager, "Hey, I see you've bandaged your hands."
"It's only so that I don't become a burden. Everyone else's well-being is more important than my feelings."
Duncan and Roy headed to floor below where they joined their classmates who were standing in front of the data room. Duncan asked why they were standing there and Falco explained that the door needed six people in front of it to open for whatever plot-related reason.
Once the door opened, they saw a television showing the stats of a channel called the Despair Channel. They were currently at their highest since the first killing game.
"What the- This doesn't make any sense," Link said, "Why would we care about some channel's stats? It's not like there's anything airing on it."
"That is strange," Peach agreed, "Maybe it's going to be the anniversary of something big and they'll air something special. People must be desperately waiting for it."
Truth Bullet #2 A TV shows that the Despair Channel's viewership stats are at it's highest since the first killing game.
Duncan inspected the room and found a list of what appeared to be the statements from the previous game with a few modifications.
Zelda had blonde hair.
Kirby knows his talent.
Class M63 has met Zelda.
Zelda's father is dead.
Kirby's father was the principal of Hope's Peak Academy.
Cloud has met Class M63 before.
Crazy Hand and Monokuma were controlled by different people in the previous killing game.
Ness was older than he thought he was.
The executions in the previous killing game were real.
Samus is hot.
Zelda turned five who turned one who turned the losers' school. The despair video turned even more into despair. Sixteen hopes were stuck with fifteen despairs. We were the most famous people on Earth. The virus started a new game.
At first glance, Duncan was confused as to why the list was there in the first place. But as he read it over and over again, something in his mind clicked. It all made sense.
Truth Bullet #3 An updated list of truths from the previous killing game was in the data room.
"Guys, I've figured it out!" Duncan quacked only to notice everyone else had already left the room.
He walked out of the data room and headed towards another room, the staff room. Everyone else was there and looking at a book with confusion.
"Smash World Program?" Duncan read out loud, "What's it about?"
"Some VR game," Pichu explained, "It has many cool pictures."
"That's not the important part, Pichu," Falco scolded before reading out loud a passage from the book, "A person entering the VR will have an amount of HP set by the admin. The default setting is to have it correspond as closely as possible to real life, e.g. a shot to the heart would deplete all HP but getting cut in the arm repeatedly wouldn't. If a player dies in the VR, they will either respawn or wake up depending on the selected settings. The admin can decided to give players as many lives as they want to. They can also give players immortality which prevents HP from depleting even if they are mortally injured. This immortality can be removed by deactivating the "armor"."
"No one cares about that, we're not playing that game! It sounds cool though."
"Actually, I think we might be inside this game."
"What!? So, does this means everything is a lie. No one's actually dead! I knew this was all a prank!"
Truth Bullet #4 A manual explaining how the Smash World Program VR worked was found. It had a detailed passage about death in the VR.
Duncan continued to inspect the floor until he reached the headmaster's office. Inside, he saw Link reading a book. The page he was on appeared to be about the nocebo effect.
"What's the nocebo effect?" Duncan asked.
"It's similar to the placebo effect. So, let's say someone in this VR dies and doesn't know it's a VR. They might die in the real world because they think they're dead or maybe they'd just fall into a coma."
"So, if a person dies and knows they're in a VR, they should be fine, if I'm understanding this correctly."
"Most likely. They'd probably still feel the pain of what caused their death but they'd wake up afterwards. I suppose it would still feel unpleasant since this is a VR. It might be more traumatizing, actually."
"Well, at least, we know nothing will happen to us if we die in here. I guess it's somewhat reassuring."
Truth Bullet #5 The nocebo effect could cause someone who died in the VR to not wake up afterwards.
Duncan went down to the third floor. He wasn't sure where to start investigating but he heard Pichu screaming in a classroom and decided to check it out.
"It's my notebook," Pichu cried as he hugged a damaged notebook, "I can't remember it but it has my name on it. I'll treasure it forever."
"Maybe you should look at what's inside," Duncan suggested.
Pichu opened the notebook and skimmed through the pages of terrible doodles and normie memes. He eventually stumbled upon what appeared to be a diary entry.
"I didn't think I'd ever keep a diary!"
"Can I read it?"
"Of course."
OMG! Zelda's such a fucking bitch! I can't believe she had Pikachu killed! That fucking bitch. I hate her. HATE HER. HATE HER. HATE HER. HATE HER. SHE CAN DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE. THE WHOLE WORLD CAN DIE. FUCK HER STUPID DESPAIR. NO WONDER THE LEADER ALWAYS HATED HER AND DIDN'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT HER PLANS. THAT FUCKING PUSSY HID HERSELF IN THAT STUPID SCHOOL. IF I COULD I'D KILL HER. I WOULD. HOPE AND DESPAIR CAN BOTH FUCK OFF. I HATE THIS WORLD.
"No, I'd never write something this mean!" Pichu shouted as he threw the notebook against a wall and ran away, "This isn't my notebook. It's fake!"
Truth Bullet #6 Pichu wrote in a notebook that he came to despise Zelda and the world after his brother died.
Duncan sighed and continued looking around the third floor. He entered the recreational room where he was surprised to see many photos hung up on a wall. They appeared to be divided by semester.
The first set was from the first semester of their first year at Hope's Peak. No one appeared to be that close and Duncan could sense the awkwardness the first photos radiated. It reminded him of the dream he had had.
The next set was from the second semester. Duncan noticed Mewtwo, Dr. Mario, Pichu and Roy were missing from all the photos and Popo and Nana were missing from the last ones. If he remembered his dream correctly, some students had been suspended for some reason. They appeared to be closer than in the first semester but there was an aura of sadness in them.
"No way!" Link shouted as he barged into the room and saw the photos, "I barely grew at all!"
"Jesus Christ, Link, you almost gave me a heart attack," Duncan snapped, "Why are you so energetic today?"
"I wanted to show Roy these pictures, he's totally going to believe they're real."
Duncan rolled his eyes and continued looking at the photosets. Dr. Mario was back in the first semester of the second year. In the second photo, Mewtwo was back too. Once he laid eyes on the third picture, he understood what Link was talking about.
"Oh, he's coming!" Link smirked, "Don't say anything about it. Roy, come look at these pictures!"
"What's so special about them?" the annoyed redhead asked.
"Oh, I don't know. Don't you think you and Marth seem pretty close… In height?"
"W-what!? These have to be fake!"
"I don't think anyone would have bothered putting in little details such as almost everyone growing slowly over time, or in your case quickly. Why don't you share some of that height with the rest of us?"
As amusing as Link and Roy's conversation was. Duncan decided to focus on the photosets. The last set was the second semester of the second year. Everyone was there. Everyone seemed close and happy. Duncan couldn't help but notice how some students had really changed, Roy and Pichu looked like completely different people. They even had photos with class N64 and students from the Brawl branch of Hope's Peak.
Truth Bullet #7 Photos of class M63 were hung depicting them all throughout their years at Hope's Peak. Most of them have grown and some look quite different.
Duncan continued staring at the photos. There were so many forgotten memories surrounding him, memories he didn't know if he wanted to remember or not. They might end up bringing more pain.
He ultimately decided to take some of the photos to cheer up his friends before the trial. He also made sure to take one of him and Hunter for himself. He only got this far thanks to him after all.
Duncan went down to the second floor. He remembered there being some important findings in the library, so he decided to start his investigation there.
When he entered the room, he spotted Peach looking at an envelope. She explained to him that it contained a letter written by Zelda.
Dear inferior loser teacher Zelda,
After I die, someone's going to have to take my place as the Ultimate Despair. That's why I've devised a plan to have someone be the next Ultimate Despair!
You know that class M63? We've hung out a few times. I'm going to use them as a test. I'm going to break them one by one until I find the perfect candidate. That person will become the new Ultimate Despair.
I wish I could turn them all into Ultimate Despairs. I hate them all so much even though some are related to some of my dear classmates. All they'll do is suffer as everything is blamed on them.
Oh, the despair it will bring me to know that everyone's attention will be on that unlucky person whose only job will be making things worse. I should have them lead my followers when I'm gone. People will die to have their head.
I'm thinking I should start by breaking Peach. She'll be easy to break, she thinks I'm just some sweet innocent girl.
The superior Ultimate Despair Zelda
"This must be from before she had a clear plan of what she wanted to do," Duncan quacked.
Truth Bullet #8 A letter written by Zelda shows what she planned before turning class M63 into Remnants. She wanted one of them to become the next Ultimate Despair.
"I-I can't believe it," Peach stuttered as she held back tears, "If I had been smarter back then, none of this would have happened."
"It's not your fault, Peach. Everyone was tricked by her, it wasn't just you. Had she failed to break you, she would have just gone after everyone else."
"I suppose that's true. Let's check out the archive, there's got to be something important there."
When Peach opened the door to the archive, she was surprised to see it almost empty. The only object in the room was a laptop. Duncan turned it on and a text file opened up.
Hi, shitty Remnants.
I wrote this specifically for this killing game. I'm not going to tell you everything right away, of course, so I censored and removed the bits you really wanted!
Test 1
Test 1 went great! I got my first Remnant of Despair. I don't think 1 is fit to lead, they're much too loyal to me but they'll be an asset. Oh, how desperate they are for love and attention that is from people they actually like.
I made it seem like 1 accidentally killed someone in front of their crush and friends. Oh, the look on everyone's faces was priceless. 1 couldn't stop crying so I went to "cheer" them up. They were found innocent by the police but the trauma was already there, they were convinced they were a killer.
Test 2
Another success! 2 had a weak selfish mind and was so easy to break. They were a bit too easy, they're not who I'm looking for.
I tortured them a little bit and they broke from all the pain. They chose to torture innocent people instead. They would do anything to not be in pain again.
They were so cruel that I think I'll name them the official torturer of the Remnants of Despair.
Test 3
I succeed once again. 3 was harder to break which made them way more fun. They went on and on about how they would never hurt anyone innocent. I knew that meant I had to find another way to make them turn.
I made it so that all their successes would be due to people dying. 3 felt worse and worse as time went on and they slowly started going insane. They were so insecure that one day, they just snapped and killed someone only to fail.
Test 4
This was a fun one. 4 always seemed pretty weak and pathetic, I hadn't expected them to be so mentally strong. But my plan was foolproof.
I gave them the choice between talking someone into killing themselves to save people and not taking any action resulting in many deaths. Naturally they chose the former. They were so surprised to learn that everyone had died in the end! They couldn't believe it and they broke.
Test 5
This had me laughing all night! 5 was so much trouble, if only they weren't so perceptive. But that made the end so satisfying.
I threatened to kill their father and they didn't even care, they knew I had no idea where their father lived. I then threatened their mother and they wished me good luck. It's like 5 wanted me to regret not having spent years researching their family!
Luckily, I got some really juicy information from 1 and 4 that gave me an amazing idea. I had some of my men follow 5's dear BFF or whatever, I couldn't care less about 5's disgusting friends, with cameras and tazers. Everything they were seeing was being sent to my laptop.
I showed the footage to 5 and they freaked out. They gladly killed innocent people to make sure their friend didn't get hurt by my men who were looking forward to hurting them.
Things got even better when the friend walked in on 5 killing people and fainted totally breaking 5. The friend thought it was all a bad dream when they woke up but poor little 5 remembered everything.
Test 6
I have waited 3000 years! I found the next Ultimate Despair.
5 came up with an amazing plan to blackmail 6. 4 then sent the blackmail to 6's parents who were shocked and asked 6 to come see them right away. 6 didn't know all of us were coming too.
When we got there, 2 drugged 6's parents and we placed some fake bodies to make 6 believe they were dead. 1 made some costumes so that 6 wouldn't recognize their parents and all that was left was for 5 to bring 6 to see the fake bodies.
6 snapped at the sight of the fake bodies and attacked the two people they believed had killed their parents. They were even crueler than 2. I think subconsciously they recognized their parents' screams, they just didn't care, they were having too much fun.
6 completely broke after realizing what they had done. We showed ourselves and they lost it. I knew they had to be the one to lead the Remnants.
Peach frowned as she finished reading the file and left without saying a word. Duncan felt disgusted, Zelda was so cruel and selfish. He wasn't going to let her win.
Truth Bullet #9 Zelda wrote how she created the first six Remnants of Despair.
Duncan exited the library and decided to go to the bathroom in which a secret room was located. When he got there, he noticed everyone else was already inside looking at a computer. They appeared to be very alarmed by what was on screen.
"The mastermind messed up?" Falco said in confusion, "How could the mastermind mess up? Everything's been going like they wanted."
"What's going on?" Duncan asked.
"This computer says that plan B is being executed," Roy explained, "The plan's subtitle is Mastermind messed up. Once the final trial ends, all our memories will return and we'll become Remnants again. Everyone who died will only remember what happened here."
"If that's plan B, what is plan A?"
"It must be the opposite!" Falco yelled, "Plan A must have meant we'd keep our memories and everyone else would have reverted."
Truth Bullet #10 The mastermind messed up something causing plan B to take place. Everyone currently alive will regain their memories by the end of the trial.
"Do you think there's a plan C?" Link asked Duncan, "There's gotta be a plan C, don't you think?"
"I hope there isn't," Duncan sighed before giving Link the photo he'd taken for him.
"Um, thanks? Is it some clue or something?"
"No, it's something to give you hope."
"I see… I think someone else could use a photo more than me. I know Time's alive, I don't really need a photo to remind me of him. But I appreciate the sentiment, I look forward to seeing him again."
Duncan remembered the gym on the first floor being an integral part of the previous killing game, so he decided to look for clues in it. When he got there, Pichu ran up to him with a paper.
"You need to read this!" Pichu insisted, "It's so weird! There are seventeen sentences but we're sixteen!"
Forced to hang out with most hated person
If no one kills within 24 hours, everyone will die.
No food
Arcade game of truth
Money
Despair disease
No privacy
Annoying music until someone kills
Genderbending
Take someone with you
Memories
Someone can leave in your stead
Threatening family
No sleep
Torture until someone kills
Body swap
If no one kills, the students will die in the real world.
Duncan recognized some of the motives, Monokuma and Crazy Hand had used them, but the last one seemed strange. It only made sense if everyone knew they were in a Virtual Reality. Was it some backup motive?
Truth Bullet #11 A list of seventeen motives has been written, some of them were used. There's an unusual 17th motive: If no one kills, the students will die in the real world.
"Thanks for showing this to me," Duncan quacked before handing out a photo to Pichu, "Here, this is for you."
"I get a reward!" Pichu grinned as he looked at the photo of him with Pikachu, "I'll treasure it forever! I'm sure Big Brother's watching me!"
"I bet he's really proud of you."
"Wait a minute… I evolved!? This is so creepy! Aaaaahhhh!"
"Um… Maybe you shouldn't think about it too much."
"Good idea, I have other things to worry about. Like what do I call myself?"
Duncan rolled his eyes before dragging Pichu out of the gym. Falco ran towards them and told them to follow him to the computer room. He gathered everyone else along the way to show them a video he had found.
Hunter was eating lunch with Duncan when they were approached by Zelda. She informed them that she was writing a novel about a killing game and she needed help coming up with motives.
"Imagine you were in that scenario, what would make you kill someone?" she asked.
"Hm, that's hard," Hunter replied, "I don't want to kill. I guess if there was a time limit or if the host threatened to kill everyone. I'd probably let myself get caught on purpose. I don't like thinking about death."
"No one does."
"So, why are you writing a novel about death?"
"Oh, you'll see. It's a project I'm really passionate about."
"I look forward to the end result in that case! What do you think, Duncan?"
"If you finish it, I wouldn't mind checking it out," Duncan quacked.
The next scene had Zelda walk up towards Mewtwo who was reading and ask him the same question.
"I suppose if killing someone meant I got to know something I didn't know about myself, I'd do it," Mewtwo told Zelda without looking up from his book.
"What if you get caught?"
"Then I wasn't worthy of learning the truth. Now buzz off."
"Thank you for your input."
The next person to get visited by the princess was Nana who appeared baffled by the question.
"I don't think anything could make me kill!" the girl grinned, "I'd have to go all loco in my coco before killing anyone."
"That gives me a great idea, thank you, Nana!"
"What a boring idea," Bowser laughed as he walked by, "Come up with something unique like no one can be alone or something. Personally, I'd only kill to save someone and if my victim is evil."
"Both your ideas are amazing!"
"You're welcome?"
The last person Zelda approached was Marth who was playing video games with Roy.
"I guess if I could take Roy with me, I'd kill someone to leave that game," the annoyed prince replied, "That would mean one less dead person. But seriously, why don't you just ask people on the internet?"
"I wanted to get some original ideas," Zelda smiled, "Mind if I ask some more questions? Why-"
"Let's just leave, Marth," Roy told his shorter friend, "She's never going to stop bombarding us with her questions."
Truth Bullet #12 Zelda interviewed all the students who became killers and asked them what would make them kill in a killing game. The motives they gave match their motives from the killing game.
"So, Zelda had already planned everything?" Peach asked.
"No, I think there must have been multiple edits of the video," Duncan theorized, "She had a list with more motives after all."
"That's not the only thing I wanted to show you guys," Falco informed his friends, "I found some pretty interesting conversations."
Falco sat at another computer and clicked on an application titled "Chat".
Link: Do you guys have any ideas on how we could get the Remnants to go back to their original personalities?
Captain Falcon: Is that even possible? From the little I've seen of them, they don't look like they want to go back.
Cloud: You must not have spent enough time with them. At least half of them hate Zelda and what she did to them.
Jigglypuff: We could try rehab, but some of them are prone to violent outbursts. We're insanely lucky their best fighters are one hit away from death!
Samus: Maybe if we put them in a VR, we could find a way to change their personalities while keeping everyone else safe.
Jigglypuff: That's an amazing idea! We could ask R.O.B. to help us!
Luigi: They're all horrible people now and I hate them. But if this means we can use them to finally destroy Zelda's ideology, it's worth a try.
Samus: We got rid of Zelda's back-up successors, now we just need to get rid of the Remnants' leader.
Link: That person really doesn't want their identity known. No one's got any leads on who the leader might be. We're barely capable of figuring what everyone's roles are.
Cloud: If they all go back to their old selves, it won't really matter.
Captain Falcon: Cloud's right. Modern problems require modern solutions.
Link: In that case, I'll contact the Future Foundation. Cloud, you should gather the Remnants. Kirby, go to Jabberwock Island and try to fix the Smash World Program VR as much as you can. Luigi, try to contact as many experts as you can. Jigglypuff, bring R.O.B. to Jabberwock. Falcon, Samus, you two need to find a ship big enough to transport everyone at once.
When Duncan finished reading, he noticed that someone was online. He clicked on the voice chat option and awaited a response.
"H-hello?" a high-pitched voice greeted nervously, "Um… You guys are in the VR, right?"
"Yeah," Duncan replied, "Who are you?"
"I'm Jigglypuff. I can't tell who all of you are. The system's got all messed up and we don't know who's who. For all I know, you're Pichu or someone else."
"What do you mean?"
"After Monokuma's death, all the data in the VR got messed up, including all the avatars. We were so close to figuring out the mastermind, now we're back to square one. I have to go soon, we're preparing something big."
"One more question, do you know how much time has passed since our first day at Hope's Peak?"
"Around three years. See you soon!"
Truth Bullet #13 A group chat shows the motives behind the VR. It suggests that no one knows who the leader of the Remnants is.
Truth Bullet #14 Jigglypuff said no one knows who the mastermind is and that it's been three years since Class M63 first went to Hope's Peak.
Duncan couldn't find anything else of interest in the room, so he exited it. He saw Roy and engaged in a conversation with him.
"Roy, you probably don't want this, but I'll give it to you anyway," Duncan insisted as he gave the teenager a photo, "He was always smiling next to you."
"I hope I can see that smile again," Roy said as he looked at the photo with sad eyes, "Do you think everyone will wake up and everything will be fine?"
"I hope that happens, but nothing ever goes how we want."
Duncan was exploring the dorms, he remembered there being important clues there. He entered what appeared to be the locker room. He could see Peach reading a book.
"What's that book about?"
"It's a diary," the princess replied as she gave the book to Zelda, "I wrote it..."
After we turned [redacted] into the New Ultimate Despair, we quickly turned the rest of the class, except [redacted] who ran away. Zelda appointed the first five to have turned as the lieutenant, torturer, scout, strategist and supervisor. The New Ultimate Despair was named our leader. We were to continue Zelda's legacy.
I'm the only one here who does their job! I'm always the one giving out orders! The leader keeps running off to have "fun". I have to constantly remind the strategist that they have to plan shit, the torturer that they need to torture our enemies, not our allies and bla bla bla.
We were supposed to make our presence known to everyone. We were supposed to take the blame for all the wrongdoings in the world. We were supposed to be filled with so much despair that a normal person wouldn't be able to handle it.
But no one knows about us! We're just random followers of Zelda to the world.
"I think it's a good thing you wrote it," Duncan told Peach.
"But it's disgusting!"
"I know, but thanks to it, we're going to have a much easier time solving mysteries."
"I… I suppose you're right."
Truth Bullet #15 Peach wrote a diary in which she mentions none of the Remnants were taking anything seriously. They decided not to make themselves known to the world.
"Peach, before you leave, please take this," Duncan said as he handed a photo to the princess, "I hope it can inspire some hope in your heart."
"That's me and Sheik… I have to beat the mastermind for her... And for everyone else. When all this is over, we're all going to have a huge celebration party!"
Duncan entered a fancy looking room, it was the headmaster's private room. He saw a box on a table and decided to open it.
The box contained a USB key with an H written on it. Duncan plugged the key into a computer to see what it had inside. All the documents appeared to be impossible to open except for one called "Read me".
The following software will alter a player's memories. It is recommended to avoid using it as much as possible due to it's potential to severely change a person's personality.
This key also contains a program that is not complete and is only to be used as a last resort. Due to it's experimental nature, it can only be used on one person at a time. The program will manipulate a person into feeling more hope and having happier memories. The consequence of using this program are still unknown.
"You think they used this on us?" Falco asked startling Duncan.
"I-I guess."
Truth Bullet #16 A USB containing software that can manipulate memories was found.
"Hey, is that a file with my name on it?" Falco pointed at an icon on the desktop, "Try opening it! I want to know why the Hell I'm on Kirby's dad's computer!"
Duncan clicked on the icon and rolled his eyes as he saw it was another video. Part of him missed discovering objects and hidden details.
"I am so bored," Falco complained, "I've started vlogging out of boredom. Vlogging! Youtube's dead! I hope conflicts arise. Our little group of horrible people might soon get into one. Half supports Zelda and wants a new leader, the other half hates her and is fine with our current leader. As for me… I'll join the side that's having the most fun. Looks like team anti-Zelda's having the most fun right now."
Truth Bullet #17 The Remnants of Despair were divided in two: those who supported Zelda and those who were opposed to her.
"Vlogging, seriously?" Falco spat in disgust, "At least, the video was useful, but still!"
"I think we've found everything we need here," Duncan quacked before giving his fellow bird a photo, "Here, it's for you."
"Hm, you want me to go on about how I should treasure my memories with Fox, Wolf and all of you? I'm not gonna. I'll do that once we've kicked the mastermind's ass!"
"I wouldn't have expected anything else from you."
The only place Duncan had yet to visit was the basement. It appeared he was the only one to remember its existence since he couldn't see anyone else in there.
He looked around but he only found trash. He sighed in defeat as he realized his time had been wasted, but just when he was about to leave, a voice called him. It was Monomi.
"Duncan, are the others here?"
"No."
"You'll have to tell them what I'm about to tell you. The mastermind messed up."
"Yeah, I heard."
"Oh… Um… One of your friends isn't who they say they are!"
"Well, that's pretty obvious."
"No, literally! They're not who they appear to be! And the traitor was the fi-"
Before Monomi could finish her sentence, her lower body was crushed by Crazy Hand who had appeared to silence her.
"You won't say another word," the hand laughed.
"Go eat a disgusting rotten carrot!" Monomi shouted, "The mastermind's pretending to-"
Crazy Hand didn't let the bunny finish his sentence. He repeatedly slammed her against the ground and made sure she ended up in a million tiny pieces.
"She never even stood a chance!" the hand chuckled as he stopped slamming the bunny, "What a pathetic death! Now you'll never know the most important thing she wanted to tell you."
"She told me enough," Duncan frowned, "You can go fuck yourself!"
Truth Bullet #18 Monomi revealed that someone's lying about their identity.
Duncan rushed to the red door leading to the trial room. As he flew towards it, he couldn't help but think about Monomi's last words. Someone wasn't who they said they were. Someone had to have swapped avatars with someone else, they were in a VR after all. Only two people could have possibly known they were in a VR, the traitor and the mastermind.
When he arrived in front of the elevator, he could barely look at his friends. He knew one of them was the mastermind. He didn't want to believe it, but he knew it was true.
Peach, Pichu and Falco couldn't be the mastermind, but nothing stopped the mastermind from pretending to be one of them, Roy or Link could be playing the most complicated game of 4D chess ever and any of the dead students could pretend to be someone else.
Everyone was suspicious. All Duncan was sure about was that he wasn't the mastermind nor the traitor. He had to figure out who was who if he wanted everyone to make it out safely.
Duncan took a deep breath before stepping into the elevator. He looked at the photo he had taken of him and Hunter. There was no way Hunter could be the mastermind. Duncan could feel it in his gut.
When the elevator reached its destination, the six remaining students were met by a trial room seemingly identical to the one from the final trial of the last killing game. A room stripped of most of its decorations save for some screens and candlelights.
However, Duncan noticed something off. There were eight seats open and all the dead students' photos from the two killing games had been moved to the throne. Crazy Hand took his space behind one of the empty seats leaving seven seats empty.
"Who are those seats for?" Duncan asked Crazy Hand.
"For the survivors of the previous game! You'll get to meet them but you'll first have to figure out who the mastermind and traitor are."
"And who's lying about their identity."
"What are you talking about, Duncan?" Falco asked, "Who told you that?"
"Monomi's dead and her last words were-"
"Hey, you can't just start the trial!" Crazy Hand snapped, "I still have to do the introduction for our viewers!"
"You mean the survivors of the previous killing game?" Link frowned, "Right?"
"How smart of you! Scared it would be people whose family you killed?"
"We aren't scared of anything!" Pichu yelled, "Those killers aren't us!"
"Pichu's right," Peach agreed, "There's a reason the survivors thought we could be saved."
"Oh, trust me, some are beyond saving," Crazy Hand snickered, "I can't wait to see the shock on your faces when you see who the mastermind is."
"And I can't wait to see their shock when they fail," Roy glared, "I won't let them get away with what they did. I won't lose. Not against someone like them."
"They stand no chance against us," Duncan quacked, "I know we will win. We won't fail to triumph over despair this time!"
Deleted scene:
Roy: God, I can't believe she interrupted us while we were playing Melee.
Marth: I know, what an asshole.
Roy: I bet her novel's going to flop.
Marth: I bet she's never going to bother writing it.
Link: Hey, guys. What are you talking about?
Marth: We're shitting on Zelda's novel.
Link: Imagine if she has all of it happen in real life. That would be creepy.
Roy: You think she'd be able to execute it in real life?
Marth: Guys, stop being stupid. There's no way a killing game would ever happen.
Back to the present.
Roy: This video's giving me bad vibes and I don't know why.
Link: I think I know why! Marth was totally kicking your ass in Melee!
Roy: ... What?

Description
body div#devskin0 hr { }

Duncan woke up not knowing what time of the day it was. There had been no morning announcement and it was cloudy outside. All he knew was that it was daytime.
As he entered the cafeteria, he saw Peach and Pichu eating what appeared to be lunch. He could tell they were upset.
"Hello, Duncan," Peach greeted, "Did you sleep well?"
"Um… I had weird dreams," Duncan replied, "What about you?"
"I couldn't fall asleep… I was way too sad… Pichu said he cried himself to sleep, maybe I should try that tonight. What do you think, Pichu?"
"Doesn't matter," the pokemon cried, "Do whatever you want. Nothing makes sense anymore. I want to go home."
The atmosphere on the island was depressing, even Pichu who was usually cheerful was feeling blue. Duncan couldn't help but feel it would be impossible to cheer everyone up. Inspiring people wasn't his talent after all.
No one wanted to talk, so Duncan figured out he could force them to talk. Hopefully, people would cheer up or at least feel better.
He asked Falco to help him organize a dinner for their sad friends. After an hour of work, they had finished their preparations and all that was left was to wait for it to be nighttime.
Roy was the first one to go to the restaurant for dinner. The teenager's eyes were red from crying and he was radiating a gloomy aura. Duncan noticed the redhead hadn't bandaged his hands preferring instead to leave his wounds out in the open.
"Did you at least disinfect them?" Duncan asked, "Who knows what kind of deadly diseases exist around here."
"If it means I get to leave this island, I'll gladly get sick," the depressed teenager mumbled.
"That won't solve any of your problems."
"Can't have problems if you're dead."
"All right, Roy, you're going to stop that bratty attitude of yours right now," Falco scolded, "Marth-"
"Stop bringing him into this! It's like you want me to feel worse. Stop reminding me of him. You don't know what it feels like to lose your-"
"He might not, but I do," Duncan told the redhead, "I had to see Hunter get executed before we even had any idea how cruel the executions could be. I get you and Marth were way closer than Hunter and I, but that doesn't mean I don't understand why you're so upset. If a simple duck can make it out of through such tough times, someone strong like you can make it out too."
"Someone who'd gladly let innocent people die so that their loved ones could be safe doesn't deserve to make it out..."
*Ding Dong Bing Bong*
"It's 10 pm you little bastards! Go to bed! Unless you're planning to kill someone, in which case you are welcome to do so! Upupupu!"
No one else had gone to the restaurant that evening. Falco and Duncan parted ways after noticing their cheer up attempt had been a huge failure.
Duncan felt bad. He couldn't sleep, so he went for a walk around the islands. On the second island, he stumbled upon Link throwing rocks at the ruins.
"Link, what are you doing?"
"I'm trying to type the password into the ruins in a way that won't get me killed but as you can see, my aim is amazing!"
"What password are you trying?"
"1T1T9ever1, only thing I can think of."
A light bulb lit up in Duncan's mind and he rushed to get everyone. They seemed pretty annoyed at the fact that they had been woken up, but Duncan knew they all had to be here.
"Link, type in the code," Duncan ordered.
Link typed in the code and the door opened. A bright light was emerging from inside the building making it impossible to see what was on the other side.
"We need to go in," Duncan quacked, "I think… I think this will allow us to finally get off this cursed island."
Everyone stepped into the blinding light and once their feet reached the floor, they noticed something strange. The giant door that should have been behind them was gone. They weren't in the entrance hall, they were on the top floor of Hope's Peak Academy.
"This doesn't make any sense!" Falco snapped, "Is this some kind of joke? Like when we got here."
"Calm down," Peach told the angry bird, "I'm sure there's an explanation. We need to find out what's going on."
Following Peach's advice, Duncan decided to start exploring the floor. He checked out the dojo and greenhouse, but nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary. The science lab looked exactly the same as in the movie Monokuma had shown them and two of the classrooms were completely normal.
The only room left was the classroom where the killing of the student council had happened. The room stank and was completely covered in dry blood. But something wasn't the same as in the previous killing game.
What appeared to be a badly-drawn comic was lying on the floor next to a flashlight. Duncan picked it up. He didn't understand anything, the comic was in Japanese.
"What are you looking at, Duncan?" a voice from behind spoke up.
"Roy, you understand Japanese, right?" Duncan asked as he showed the comic to Roy, "Could you tell me what this is about?"
"Let me see… It's about two girls wanting to make friends and going to a sleepover with their new friends. Wait, this is my handwriting."
"Are you sure? You don't appear to recognize this comic at all."
"I'm positive. Hey, could you pass me that flashlight?"
Duncan picked up the light and turned it on. From the look of it, it was a UV light. Duncan knew this meant there was a secret message on the paper. As he flashed it on the paper, he saw many new details appear.
"So, what's it really about, Roy?"
"Zelda and Zelda wanted to make a video to destroy the world. They asked… me? To come up with a plan. The members of the student council would all be invited to a meeting where they'd be given motives to kill each other. None of them would survive. The school would cover up the incident unaware that it had been recorded."
Truth Bullet #1 A comic depicting a story about two girls having a sleepover with friends is actually the plan for the killing of the student council. It was created by Roy and was written in Japanese.
"W-why would I write something like this?"
"That's what we're going to find out," Duncan reassured the teenager, "Hey, I see you've bandaged your hands."
"It's only so that I don't become a burden. Everyone else's well-being is more important than my feelings."
Duncan and Roy headed to floor below where they joined their classmates who were standing in front of the data room. Duncan asked why they were standing there and Falco explained that the door needed six people in front of it to open for whatever plot-related reason.
Once the door opened, they saw a television showing the stats of a channel called the Despair Channel. They were currently at their highest since the first killing game.
"What the- This doesn't make any sense," Link said, "Why would we care about some channel's stats? It's not like there's anything airing on it."
"That is strange," Peach agreed, "Maybe it's going to be the anniversary of something big and they'll air something special. People must be desperately waiting for it."
Truth Bullet #2 A TV shows that the Despair Channel's viewership stats are at it's highest since the first killing game.
Duncan inspected the room and found a list of what appeared to be the statements from the previous game with a few modifications.
Zelda had blonde hair.
Kirby knows his talent.
Class M63 has met Zelda.
Zelda's father is dead.
Kirby's father was the principal of Hope's Peak Academy.
Cloud has met Class M63 before.
Crazy Hand and Monokuma were controlled by different people in the previous killing game.
Ness was older than he thought he was.
The executions in the previous killing game were real.
Samus is hot.
Zelda turned five who turned one who turned the losers' school. The despair video turned even more into despair. Sixteen hopes were stuck with fifteen despairs. We were the most famous people on Earth. The virus started a new game.
At first glance, Duncan was confused as to why the list was there in the first place. But as he read it over and over again, something in his mind clicked. It all made sense.
Truth Bullet #3 An updated list of truths from the previous killing game was in the data room.
"Guys, I've figured it out!" Duncan quacked only to notice everyone else had already left the room.
He walked out of the data room and headed towards another room, the staff room. Everyone else was there and looking at a book with confusion.
"Smash World Program?" Duncan read out loud, "What's it about?"
"Some VR game," Pichu explained, "It has many cool pictures."
"That's not the important part, Pichu," Falco scolded before reading out loud a passage from the book, "A person entering the VR will have an amount of HP set by the admin. The default setting is to have it correspond as closely as possible to real life, e.g. a shot to the heart would deplete all HP but getting cut in the arm repeatedly wouldn't. If a player dies in the VR, they will either respawn or wake up depending on the selected settings. The admin can decided to give players as many lives as they want to. They can also give players immortality which prevents HP from depleting even if they are mortally injured. This immortality can be removed by deactivating the "armor"."
"No one cares about that, we're not playing that game! It sounds cool though."
"Actually, I think we might be inside this game."
"What!? So, does this means everything is a lie. No one's actually dead! I knew this was all a prank!"
Truth Bullet #4 A manual explaining how the Smash World Program VR worked was found. It had a detailed passage about death in the VR.
Duncan continued to inspect the floor until he reached the headmaster's office. Inside, he saw Link reading a book. The page he was on appeared to be about the nocebo effect.
"What's the nocebo effect?" Duncan asked.
"It's similar to the placebo effect. So, let's say someone in this VR dies and doesn't know it's a VR. They might die in the real world because they think they're dead or maybe they'd just fall into a coma."
"So, if a person dies and knows they're in a VR, they should be fine, if I'm understanding this correctly."
"Most likely. They'd probably still feel the pain of what caused their death but they'd wake up afterwards. I suppose it would still feel unpleasant since this is a VR. It might be more traumatizing, actually."
"Well, at least, we know nothing will happen to us if we die in here. I guess it's somewhat reassuring."
Truth Bullet #5 The nocebo effect could cause someone who died in the VR to not wake up afterwards.
Duncan went down to the third floor. He wasn't sure where to start investigating but he heard Pichu screaming in a classroom and decided to check it out.
"It's my notebook," Pichu cried as he hugged a damaged notebook, "I can't remember it but it has my name on it. I'll treasure it forever."
"Maybe you should look at what's inside," Duncan suggested.
Pichu opened the notebook and skimmed through the pages of terrible doodles and normie memes. He eventually stumbled upon what appeared to be a diary entry.
"I didn't think I'd ever keep a diary!"
"Can I read it?"
"Of course."
OMG! Zelda's such a fucking bitch! I can't believe she had Pikachu killed! That fucking bitch. I hate her. HATE HER. HATE HER. HATE HER. HATE HER. SHE CAN DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE. THE WHOLE WORLD CAN DIE. FUCK HER STUPID DESPAIR. NO WONDER THE LEADER ALWAYS HATED HER AND DIDN'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT HER PLANS. THAT FUCKING PUSSY HID HERSELF IN THAT STUPID SCHOOL. IF I COULD I'D KILL HER. I WOULD. HOPE AND DESPAIR CAN BOTH FUCK OFF. I HATE THIS WORLD.
"No, I'd never write something this mean!" Pichu shouted as he threw the notebook against a wall and ran away, "This isn't my notebook. It's fake!"
Truth Bullet #6 Pichu wrote in a notebook that he came to despise Zelda and the world after his brother died.
Duncan sighed and continued looking around the third floor. He entered the recreational room where he was surprised to see many photos hung up on a wall. They appeared to be divided by semester.
The first set was from the first semester of their first year at Hope's Peak. No one appeared to be that close and Duncan could sense the awkwardness the first photos radiated. It reminded him of the dream he had had.
The next set was from the second semester. Duncan noticed Mewtwo, Dr. Mario, Pichu and Roy were missing from all the photos and Popo and Nana were missing from the last ones. If he remembered his dream correctly, some students had been suspended for some reason. They appeared to be closer than in the first semester but there was an aura of sadness in them.
"No way!" Link shouted as he barged into the room and saw the photos, "I barely grew at all!"
"Jesus Christ, Link, you almost gave me a heart attack," Duncan snapped, "Why are you so energetic today?"
"I wanted to show Roy these pictures, he's totally going to believe they're real."
Duncan rolled his eyes and continued looking at the photosets. Dr. Mario was back in the first semester of the second year. In the second photo, Mewtwo was back too. Once he laid eyes on the third picture, he understood what Link was talking about.
"Oh, he's coming!" Link smirked, "Don't say anything about it. Roy, come look at these pictures!"
"What's so special about them?" the annoyed redhead asked.
"Oh, I don't know. Don't you think you and Marth seem pretty close… In height?"
"W-what!? These have to be fake!"
"I don't think anyone would have bothered putting in little details such as almost everyone growing slowly over time, or in your case quickly. Why don't you share some of that height with the rest of us?"
As amusing as Link and Roy's conversation was. Duncan decided to focus on the photosets. The last set was the second semester of the second year. Everyone was there. Everyone seemed close and happy. Duncan couldn't help but notice how some students had really changed, Roy and Pichu looked like completely different people. They even had photos with class N64 and students from the Brawl branch of Hope's Peak.
Truth Bullet #7 Photos of class M63 were hung depicting them all throughout their years at Hope's Peak. Most of them have grown and some look quite different.
Duncan continued staring at the photos. There were so many forgotten memories surrounding him, memories he didn't know if he wanted to remember or not. They might end up bringing more pain.
He ultimately decided to take some of the photos to cheer up his friends before the trial. He also made sure to take one of him and Hunter for himself. He only got this far thanks to him after all.
Duncan went down to the second floor. He remembered there being some important findings in the library, so he decided to start his investigation there.
When he entered the room, he spotted Peach looking at an envelope. She explained to him that it contained a letter written by Zelda.
Dear inferior loser teacher Zelda,
After I die, someone's going to have to take my place as the Ultimate Despair. That's why I've devised a plan to have someone be the next Ultimate Despair!
You know that class M63? We've hung out a few times. I'm going to use them as a test. I'm going to break them one by one until I find the perfect candidate. That person will become the new Ultimate Despair.
I wish I could turn them all into Ultimate Despairs. I hate them all so much even though some are related to some of my dear classmates. All they'll do is suffer as everything is blamed on them.
Oh, the despair it will bring me to know that everyone's attention will be on that unlucky person whose only job will be making things worse. I should have them lead my followers when I'm gone. People will die to have their head.
I'm thinking I should start by breaking Peach. She'll be easy to break, she thinks I'm just some sweet innocent girl.
The superior Ultimate Despair Zelda
"This must be from before she had a clear plan of what she wanted to do," Duncan quacked.
Truth Bullet #8 A letter written by Zelda shows what she planned before turning class M63 into Remnants. She wanted one of them to become the next Ultimate Despair.
"I-I can't believe it," Peach stuttered as she held back tears, "If I had been smarter back then, none of this would have happened."
"It's not your fault, Peach. Everyone was tricked by her, it wasn't just you. Had she failed to break you, she would have just gone after everyone else."
"I suppose that's true. Let's check out the archive, there's got to be something important there."
When Peach opened the door to the archive, she was surprised to see it almost empty. The only object in the room was a laptop. Duncan turned it on and a text file opened up.
Hi, shitty Remnants.
I wrote this specifically for this killing game. I'm not going to tell you everything right away, of course, so I censored and removed the bits you really wanted!
Test 1
Test 1 went great! I got my first Remnant of Despair. I don't think 1 is fit to lead, they're much too loyal to me but they'll be an asset. Oh, how desperate they are for love and attention that is from people they actually like.
I made it seem like 1 accidentally killed someone in front of their crush and friends. Oh, the look on everyone's faces was priceless. 1 couldn't stop crying so I went to "cheer" them up. They were found innocent by the police but the trauma was already there, they were convinced they were a killer.
Test 2
Another success! 2 had a weak selfish mind and was so easy to break. They were a bit too easy, they're not who I'm looking for.
I tortured them a little bit and they broke from all the pain. They chose to torture innocent people instead. They would do anything to not be in pain again.
They were so cruel that I think I'll name them the official torturer of the Remnants of Despair.
Test 3
I succeed once again. 3 was harder to break which made them way more fun. They went on and on about how they would never hurt anyone innocent. I knew that meant I had to find another way to make them turn.
I made it so that all their successes would be due to people dying. 3 felt worse and worse as time went on and they slowly started going insane. They were so insecure that one day, they just snapped and killed someone only to fail.
Test 4
This was a fun one. 4 always seemed pretty weak and pathetic, I hadn't expected them to be so mentally strong. But my plan was foolproof.
I gave them the choice between talking someone into killing themselves to save people and not taking any action resulting in many deaths. Naturally they chose the former. They were so surprised to learn that everyone had died in the end! They couldn't believe it and they broke.
Test 5
This had me laughing all night! 5 was so much trouble, if only they weren't so perceptive. But that made the end so satisfying.
I threatened to kill their father and they didn't even care, they knew I had no idea where their father lived. I then threatened their mother and they wished me good luck. It's like 5 wanted me to regret not having spent years researching their family!
Luckily, I got some really juicy information from 1 and 4 that gave me an amazing idea. I had some of my men follow 5's dear BFF or whatever, I couldn't care less about 5's disgusting friends, with cameras and tazers. Everything they were seeing was being sent to my laptop.
I showed the footage to 5 and they freaked out. They gladly killed innocent people to make sure their friend didn't get hurt by my men who were looking forward to hurting them.
Things got even better when the friend walked in on 5 killing people and fainted totally breaking 5. The friend thought it was all a bad dream when they woke up but poor little 5 remembered everything.
Test 6
I have waited 3000 years! I found the next Ultimate Despair.
5 came up with an amazing plan to blackmail 6. 4 then sent the blackmail to 6's parents who were shocked and asked 6 to come see them right away. 6 didn't know all of us were coming too.
When we got there, 2 drugged 6's parents and we placed some fake bodies to make 6 believe they were dead. 1 made some costumes so that 6 wouldn't recognize their parents and all that was left was for 5 to bring 6 to see the fake bodies.
6 snapped at the sight of the fake bodies and attacked the two people they believed had killed their parents. They were even crueler than 2. I think subconsciously they recognized their parents' screams, they just didn't care, they were having too much fun.
6 completely broke after realizing what they had done. We showed ourselves and they lost it. I knew they had to be the one to lead the Remnants.
Peach frowned as she finished reading the file and left without saying a word. Duncan felt disgusted, Zelda was so cruel and selfish. He wasn't going to let her win.
Truth Bullet #9 Zelda wrote how she created the first six Remnants of Despair.
Duncan exited the library and decided to go to the bathroom in which a secret room was located. When he got there, he noticed everyone else was already inside looking at a computer. They appeared to be very alarmed by what was on screen.
"The mastermind messed up?" Falco said in confusion, "How could the mastermind mess up? Everything's been going like they wanted."
"What's going on?" Duncan asked.
"This computer says that plan B is being executed," Roy explained, "The plan's subtitle is Mastermind messed up. Once the final trial ends, all our memories will return and we'll become Remnants again. Everyone who died will only remember what happened here."
"If that's plan B, what is plan A?"
"It must be the opposite!" Falco yelled, "Plan A must have meant we'd keep our memories and everyone else would have reverted."
Truth Bullet #10 The mastermind messed up something causing plan B to take place. Everyone currently alive will regain their memories by the end of the trial.
"Do you think there's a plan C?" Link asked Duncan, "There's gotta be a plan C, don't you think?"
"I hope there isn't," Duncan sighed before giving Link the photo he'd taken for him.
"Um, thanks? Is it some clue or something?"
"No, it's something to give you hope."
"I see… I think someone else could use a photo more than me. I know Time's alive, I don't really need a photo to remind me of him. But I appreciate the sentiment, I look forward to seeing him again."
Duncan remembered the gym on the first floor being an integral part of the previous killing game, so he decided to look for clues in it. When he got there, Pichu ran up to him with a paper.
"You need to read this!" Pichu insisted, "It's so weird! There are seventeen sentences but we're sixteen!"
Forced to hang out with most hated person
If no one kills within 24 hours, everyone will die.
No food
Arcade game of truth
Money
Despair disease
No privacy
Annoying music until someone kills
Genderbending
Take someone with you
Memories
Someone can leave in your stead
Threatening family
No sleep
Torture until someone kills
Body swap
If no one kills, the students will die in the real world.
Duncan recognized some of the motives, Monokuma and Crazy Hand had used them, but the last one seemed strange. It only made sense if everyone knew they were in a Virtual Reality. Was it some backup motive?
Truth Bullet #11 A list of seventeen motives has been written, some of them were used. There's an unusual 17th motive: If no one kills, the students will die in the real world.
"Thanks for showing this to me," Duncan quacked before handing out a photo to Pichu, "Here, this is for you."
"I get a reward!" Pichu grinned as he looked at the photo of him with Pikachu, "I'll treasure it forever! I'm sure Big Brother's watching me!"
"I bet he's really proud of you."
"Wait a minute… I evolved!? This is so creepy! Aaaaahhhh!"
"Um… Maybe you shouldn't think about it too much."
"Good idea, I have other things to worry about. Like what do I call myself?"
Duncan rolled his eyes before dragging Pichu out of the gym. Falco ran towards them and told them to follow him to the computer room. He gathered everyone else along the way to show them a video he had found.
Hunter was eating lunch with Duncan when they were approached by Zelda. She informed them that she was writing a novel about a killing game and she needed help coming up with motives.
"Imagine you were in that scenario, what would make you kill someone?" she asked.
"Hm, that's hard," Hunter replied, "I don't want to kill. I guess if there was a time limit or if the host threatened to kill everyone. I'd probably let myself get caught on purpose. I don't like thinking about death."
"No one does."
"So, why are you writing a novel about death?"
"Oh, you'll see. It's a project I'm really passionate about."
"I look forward to the end result in that case! What do you think, Duncan?"
"If you finish it, I wouldn't mind checking it out," Duncan quacked.
The next scene had Zelda walk up towards Mewtwo who was reading and ask him the same question.
"I suppose if killing someone meant I got to know something I didn't know about myself, I'd do it," Mewtwo told Zelda without looking up from his book.
"What if you get caught?"
"Then I wasn't worthy of learning the truth. Now buzz off."
"Thank you for your input."
The next person to get visited by the princess was Nana who appeared baffled by the question.
"I don't think anything could make me kill!" the girl grinned, "I'd have to go all loco in my coco before killing anyone."
"That gives me a great idea, thank you, Nana!"
"What a boring idea," Bowser laughed as he walked by, "Come up with something unique like no one can be alone or something. Personally, I'd only kill to save someone and if my victim is evil."
"Both your ideas are amazing!"
"You're welcome?"
The last person Zelda approached was Marth who was playing video games with Roy.
"I guess if I could take Roy with me, I'd kill someone to leave that game," the annoyed prince replied, "That would mean one less dead person. But seriously, why don't you just ask people on the internet?"
"I wanted to get some original ideas," Zelda smiled, "Mind if I ask some more questions? Why-"
"Let's just leave, Marth," Roy told his shorter friend, "She's never going to stop bombarding us with her questions."
Truth Bullet #12 Zelda interviewed all the students who became killers and asked them what would make them kill in a killing game. The motives they gave match their motives from the killing game.
"So, Zelda had already planned everything?" Peach asked.
"No, I think there must have been multiple edits of the video," Duncan theorized, "She had a list with more motives after all."
"That's not the only thing I wanted to show you guys," Falco informed his friends, "I found some pretty interesting conversations."
Falco sat at another computer and clicked on an application titled "Chat".
Link: Do you guys have any ideas on how we could get the Remnants to go back to their original personalities?
Captain Falcon: Is that even possible? From the little I've seen of them, they don't look like they want to go back.
Cloud: You must not have spent enough time with them. At least half of them hate Zelda and what she did to them.
Jigglypuff: We could try rehab, but some of them are prone to violent outbursts. We're insanely lucky their best fighters are one hit away from death!
Samus: Maybe if we put them in a VR, we could find a way to change their personalities while keeping everyone else safe.
Jigglypuff: That's an amazing idea! We could ask R.O.B. to help us!
Luigi: They're all horrible people now and I hate them. But if this means we can use them to finally destroy Zelda's ideology, it's worth a try.
Samus: We got rid of Zelda's back-up successors, now we just need to get rid of the Remnants' leader.
Link: That person really doesn't want their identity known. No one's got any leads on who the leader might be. We're barely capable of figuring what everyone's roles are.
Cloud: If they all go back to their old selves, it won't really matter.
Captain Falcon: Cloud's right. Modern problems require modern solutions.
Link: In that case, I'll contact the Future Foundation. Cloud, you should gather the Remnants. Kirby, go to Jabberwock Island and try to fix the Smash World Program VR as much as you can. Luigi, try to contact as many experts as you can. Jigglypuff, bring R.O.B. to Jabberwock. Falcon, Samus, you two need to find a ship big enough to transport everyone at once.
When Duncan finished reading, he noticed that someone was online. He clicked on the voice chat option and awaited a response.
"H-hello?" a high-pitched voice greeted nervously, "Um… You guys are in the VR, right?"
"Yeah," Duncan replied, "Who are you?"
"I'm Jigglypuff. I can't tell who all of you are. The system's got all messed up and we don't know who's who. For all I know, you're Pichu or someone else."
"What do you mean?"
"After Monokuma's death, all the data in the VR got messed up, including all the avatars. We were so close to figuring out the mastermind, now we're back to square one. I have to go soon, we're preparing something big."
"One more question, do you know how much time has passed since our first day at Hope's Peak?"
"Around three years. See you soon!"
Truth Bullet #13 A group chat shows the motives behind the VR. It suggests that no one knows who the leader of the Remnants is.
Truth Bullet #14 Jigglypuff said no one knows who the mastermind is and that it's been three years since Class M63 first went to Hope's Peak.
Duncan couldn't find anything else of interest in the room, so he exited it. He saw Roy and engaged in a conversation with him.
"Roy, you probably don't want this, but I'll give it to you anyway," Duncan insisted as he gave the teenager a photo, "He was always smiling next to you."
"I hope I can see that smile again," Roy said as he looked at the photo with sad eyes, "Do you think everyone will wake up and everything will be fine?"
"I hope that happens, but nothing ever goes how we want."
Duncan was exploring the dorms, he remembered there being important clues there. He entered what appeared to be the locker room. He could see Peach reading a book.
"What's that book about?"
"It's a diary," the princess replied as she gave the book to Zelda, "I wrote it..."
After we turned [redacted] into the New Ultimate Despair, we quickly turned the rest of the class, except [redacted] who ran away. Zelda appointed the first five to have turned as the lieutenant, torturer, scout, strategist and supervisor. The New Ultimate Despair was named our leader. We were to continue Zelda's legacy.
I'm the only one here who does their job! I'm always the one giving out orders! The leader keeps running off to have "fun". I have to constantly remind the strategist that they have to plan shit, the torturer that they need to torture our enemies, not our allies and bla bla bla.
We were supposed to make our presence known to everyone. We were supposed to take the blame for all the wrongdoings in the world. We were supposed to be filled with so much despair that a normal person wouldn't be able to handle it.
But no one knows about us! We're just random followers of Zelda to the world.
"I think it's a good thing you wrote it," Duncan told Peach.
"But it's disgusting!"
"I know, but thanks to it, we're going to have a much easier time solving mysteries."
"I… I suppose you're right."
Truth Bullet #15 Peach wrote a diary in which she mentions none of the Remnants were taking anything seriously. They decided not to make themselves known to the world.
"Peach, before you leave, please take this," Duncan said as he handed a photo to the princess, "I hope it can inspire some hope in your heart."
"That's me and Sheik… I have to beat the mastermind for her... And for everyone else. When all this is over, we're all going to have a huge celebration party!"
Duncan entered a fancy looking room, it was the headmaster's private room. He saw a box on a table and decided to open it.
The box contained a USB key with an H written on it. Duncan plugged the key into a computer to see what it had inside. All the documents appeared to be impossible to open except for one called "Read me".
The following software will alter a player's memories. It is recommended to avoid using it as much as possible due to it's potential to severely change a person's personality.
This key also contains a program that is not complete and is only to be used as a last resort. Due to it's experimental nature, it can only be used on one person at a time. The program will manipulate a person into feeling more hope and having happier memories. The consequence of using this program are still unknown.
"You think they used this on us?" Falco asked startling Duncan.
"I-I guess."
Truth Bullet #16 A USB containing software that can manipulate memories was found.
"Hey, is that a file with my name on it?" Falco pointed at an icon on the desktop, "Try opening it! I want to know why the Hell I'm on Kirby's dad's computer!"
Duncan clicked on the icon and rolled his eyes as he saw it was another video. Part of him missed discovering objects and hidden details.
"I am so bored," Falco complained, "I've started vlogging out of boredom. Vlogging! Youtube's dead! I hope conflicts arise. Our little group of horrible people might soon get into one. Half supports Zelda and wants a new leader, the other half hates her and is fine with our current leader. As for me… I'll join the side that's having the most fun. Looks like team anti-Zelda's having the most fun right now."
Truth Bullet #17 The Remnants of Despair were divided in two: those who supported Zelda and those who were opposed to her.
"Vlogging, seriously?" Falco spat in disgust, "At least, the video was useful, but still!"
"I think we've found everything we need here," Duncan quacked before giving his fellow bird a photo, "Here, it's for you."
"Hm, you want me to go on about how I should treasure my memories with Fox, Wolf and all of you? I'm not gonna. I'll do that once we've kicked the mastermind's ass!"
"I wouldn't have expected anything else from you."
The only place Duncan had yet to visit was the basement. It appeared he was the only one to remember its existence since he couldn't see anyone else in there.
He looked around but he only found trash. He sighed in defeat as he realized his time had been wasted, but just when he was about to leave, a voice called him. It was Monomi.
"Duncan, are the others here?"
"No."
"You'll have to tell them what I'm about to tell you. The mastermind messed up."
"Yeah, I heard."
"Oh… Um… One of your friends isn't who they say they are!"
"Well, that's pretty obvious."
"No, literally! They're not who they appear to be! And the traitor was the fi-"
Before Monomi could finish her sentence, her lower body was crushed by Crazy Hand who had appeared to silence her.
"You won't say another word," the hand laughed.
"Go eat a disgusting rotten carrot!" Monomi shouted, "The mastermind's pretending to-"
Crazy Hand didn't let the bunny finish his sentence. He repeatedly slammed her against the ground and made sure she ended up in a million tiny pieces.
"She never even stood a chance!" the hand chuckled as he stopped slamming the bunny, "What a pathetic death! Now you'll never know the most important thing she wanted to tell you."
"She told me enough," Duncan frowned, "You can go fuck yourself!"
Truth Bullet #18 Monomi revealed that someone's lying about their identity.
Duncan rushed to the red door leading to the trial room. As he flew towards it, he couldn't help but think about Monomi's last words. Someone wasn't who they said they were. Someone had to have swapped avatars with someone else, they were in a VR after all. Only two people could have possibly known they were in a VR, the traitor and the mastermind.
When he arrived in front of the elevator, he could barely look at his friends. He knew one of them was the mastermind. He didn't want to believe it, but he knew it was true.
Peach, Pichu and Falco couldn't be the mastermind, but nothing stopped the mastermind from pretending to be one of them, Roy or Link could be playing the most complicated game of 4D chess ever and any of the dead students could pretend to be someone else.
Everyone was suspicious. All Duncan was sure about was that he wasn't the mastermind nor the traitor. He had to figure out who was who if he wanted everyone to make it out safely.
Duncan took a deep breath before stepping into the elevator. He looked at the photo he had taken of him and Hunter. There was no way Hunter could be the mastermind. Duncan could feel it in his gut.
When the elevator reached its destination, the six remaining students were met by a trial room seemingly identical to the one from the final trial of the last killing game. A room stripped of most of its decorations save for some screens and candlelights.
However, Duncan noticed something off. There were eight seats open and all the dead students' photos from the two killing games had been moved to the throne. Crazy Hand took his space behind one of the empty seats leaving seven seats empty.
"Who are those seats for?" Duncan asked Crazy Hand.
"For the survivors of the previous game! You'll get to meet them but you'll first have to figure out who the mastermind and traitor are."
"And who's lying about their identity."
"What are you talking about, Duncan?" Falco asked, "Who told you that?"
"Monomi's dead and her last words were-"
"Hey, you can't just start the trial!" Crazy Hand snapped, "I still have to do the introduction for our viewers!"
"You mean the survivors of the previous killing game?" Link frowned, "Right?"
"How smart of you! Scared it would be people whose family you killed?"
"We aren't scared of anything!" Pichu yelled, "Those killers aren't us!"
"Pichu's right," Peach agreed, "There's a reason the survivors thought we could be saved."
"Oh, trust me, some are beyond saving," Crazy Hand snickered, "I can't wait to see the shock on your faces when you see who the mastermind is."
"And I can't wait to see their shock when they fail," Roy glared, "I won't let them get away with what they did. I won't lose. Not against someone like them."
"They stand no chance against us," Duncan quacked, "I know we will win. We won't fail to triumph over despair this time!"
Deleted scene:
Roy: God, I can't believe she interrupted us while we were playing Melee.
Marth: I know, what an asshole.
Roy: I bet her novel's going to flop.
Marth: I bet she's never going to bother writing it.
Link: Hey, guys. What are you talking about?
Marth: We're shitting on Zelda's novel.
Link: Imagine if she has all of it happen in real life. That would be creepy.
Roy: You think she'd be able to execute it in real life?
Marth: Guys, stop being stupid. There's no way a killing game would ever happen.
Back to the present.
Roy: This video's giving me bad vibes and I don't know why.
Link: I think I know why! Marth was totally kicking your ass in Melee!
Roy: ... What?