"So this... is the final trial ground." Shuichi muttered.

Monokuma chuckled. "Puhuhu, it's not up to you or me to decide whether or not this is the end."

"What do you mean?"

"More importantly, since you guys requested that we hold this class trial... I'm sure you won't mind allowing me to participate, too, right? It'll be easier to argue if I do."

"True, I was going to have you participate this time, but I didn't think you'd volunteer."

"...You seem confident." Maki growled.

"Puhuhu..."

"Y-You're confident now, but I'm gonna turn your body into an omnibus with my magic!" Himiko shouted.

"A-An omnibus...?" Tsumugi stuttered. "Do you mean the vehicle or, like, a complication book, or...?"

"Knock it off!" Monokuma barked. "I won't be provoked by your cheap threats!"

"...He seems really provoked." Monophanie commented.

"If pops is gonna participate, things are gonna get pretty damn interestin'."

"We'll cheer you on until our voices are hoarse and bleeding! Right, Monodam!?"

"...THIS-IS-BEAUTIFUL."

"...Hm? Cheer me on?" Monokuma tilted his head at the Monokubs. "You guys are totally participating, too."

"Whaaaaaaat!?" The Monokubs all screamed in unison.

"You kids have a pivotal role to play. What kinda dad would I be if I hogged the spotlight? And if you kids don't play a pivotal role, then what use are any of you?

"P-Pivotal role? Can we really do it?" Monotaro asked.

"I dunno..." Monophanie stammered.

"Don't worry! As a good parent, I will do my darndest to motivate you... with this button." Monokuma pulled out a grey button with a red skull button in the centre.

"Whats... that button for?" Tsumugi asked nervously.

"It's a Monokub detonator that I prepared to ensure my adorable kids do their very best."

"D-Detonator!?" Monokid exclaimed.

"Yep! With a push of this button, I'll detonate the bombs inside each of your bodies. So make sure you try really hard or I'll start pressing this button. Got it?"

"That's too far!"

"You know what they say... If your kids are cute, put a bomb inside them!"

"Th-That's not a real saying!" Monosuke shouted.

"I know you cute kids can do this. You just need the proper motivation... So no need to worry! Just make sure you all play pivotal roles! That's all!"

The Monokubs all screamed. "AHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"...How absurd." Kiibo mumbled.

"Can you please detonate them all now?" Ichika asked. "Their voices are so annoying I want to cut my ears off." She grinned ominously.

"S-She's making the scary face again!" Monophanie cried out.

"S-Stop fuckin' looking at us like that, d-dumbass!" Monokid yelled.

Shuichi glared at Monokuma. "...You really are the worst."

"I'm the best at being the worst, don'tcha think so!?" Monokuma chirped. "Puhuhu... I tell ya, people can't get enough of my crude antics! Alright, let's get started! Let's get this crude climax on the way!"

The six students all climbed onto their podiums, all mentally bracing themselves for this final trial.

Monokuma spoke up first. "I'd like to begin by asking Saihara a question since this class trial was his idea... What, exactly, is the point of this class trial?"

"Yeah! Why are we having a class trial if no one died?" Monotaro snapped. "Woah! My voice was way louder than I expected! I might be on a roll today!"

"Hey, I'm no slouch at bein' a loudmouth either!" Monokid screamed.

"Me too!" Monophanie added.

"Monodam's voice is super soft, though. Everyone cool with him gettin' blown up?" Monosuke asked.

"YOU-SAID-THAT-THE-KILLING-GAME-WOULD-END-IF-YOU-EXPOSED-THE-TRUTH-AT-THE-CLASS-TRIAL. SO, YOU-BASTARDS... WHAT-IS-THE-PURPOSE-OF-THIS-CLASS-TRIAL?"

"Oh! That's a good question!" Monokuma exclaimed.

"But his voice was quiet!" Monotaro squeaked.

Shuichi sighed. "Alright, I'll give you an answer. The reason I called for this trial is... I wish to retry a past case."

"A retrial!?" Monokid gawked.

"For which case?" Tsumugi questioned.

"The first one- the murder of Amami Rantarou. I've found new evidence relevant to the case." Shuichi responded. "In light of that evidence, I demand a retrial!"

"What's the point of a retrial?" Monokuma asked. "The result of the first class trial has already been settled."

Monotaro nodded. "Yeah, yeah!"

"What if our vote... was wrong?" Shuichi said.

"Nyeh? Wrong!?"

"Monokuma said that the blackened for the first case was Akamatsu-san... And Saihara-san is saying that our vote was wrong." Ichika explained.

"Wh-Wh-Wha-Whaaaaat!?" Monokid shrieked; his paws on his cheeks.

"Monokid, our reactions are too extreme! It's making the rest of us look bad." Monophanie scolded.

"..." Monokuma glared at his cubs, detonator in hands.

"O-Oh shit! He's already got the detonator!" Monosuke exclaimed.

"To test the validity of our vote we're going to retry the entire case." Shuichi continued, ignoring the Monokubs. "If Monokuma was wrong... the validity of these trials would be in question. The entire killing game wouldn't make sense anymore!"

"I see..." Monokuma hummed. "You think you can destroy the killing game by calling out my failure as the gamemaster."

"You shouldn't have a problem with this if you have nothing to hide, Monokuma."

"Puhuhu... So in the end, the first case becomes the focal point yet again... What a twist! What an interesting twist! Okay, let's do this!"

"So what is this new truth?" Maki asked Shuichi.

"There are several... but before we go any further, I want to discuss Amami-kun's talent."

"Did you learn was his talent was?" Kiibo inquired.

Shuichi nodded. "He... was the Ultimate Survivor."

"Ultimate... Survivor?"

"I saw it, too." Himiko chimed in. "He said so in his video."

"Amami-kun became the Ultimate Survivor after surviving a past killing game." Shuichi continued. "After his memory was wiped... he participated in the killing game once again."

"So this wasn't Amami-kun's first killing game!?" Tsumugi shrieked.

"But why would he agree to participate in another killing game, is the real question." Ichika said.

Shuichi sighed. "That, I'm not sure yet... But after I learned that Amami-kun was the Ultimate Survivor, I deduced his objective."

"Amami's... objective?"

"The reason he went to the library before he was killed, and why he knew about the hidden door."

Himiko placed a finger on her lip. "Didn't he just happen to randomly notice the hidden door?"

"That's what I thought at the time, but it appears that assumption was false. There was an actual reason Amami-kun knew about the door. He was given this Monopad as a kind of 'Survivor Perk'..." Shuichi showed up a Monopad that was stained with blood and switched it on. "It has a map of the entire academy, including areas that had not yet been unlocked. Of course, that includes the hidden room."

"To think that Amami-kun was given that as a Survivor Perk..." Kiibo mumbled.

"He found out about the hidden room with this map?" Maki inquired.

"The Monopad also contained a video Amami-kun recorded for himself." Shuichi continued.

"If the mastermind ever needed a spare Monokuma, they would head to the hidden room." Maki said.

"The message was what inspired him to go to the library, to investigate the hidden room."

"So when the time limit was introduced, once the timer ran out, the mastermind would've gone to that hidden room to make many Monokumas so in order to find out who the mastermind was... so Amami-kun went to the hidden room before the time ran out." Ichika explained.

"That's right." Shuichi nodded. "Amami-kun must have come to the same conclusion that Akamatsu-san and I did."

"It sure is ironic that that Ultimate Survivor died because of Akamatsu's trap." Himiko commented.

"But if Amami-kun had a clue like that, why didn't he come to us with it?" Kiibo inquired.

"I assume because he didn't trust us." Shuichi looked at the ground sadly. "The killing game had just started, after all. What he said in his video message certainty didn't help either. He told himself to only share this information with people he could trust."

Maki placed a finger to her chin. "He didn't have any recollection of filming this message, right? That means he must've had trouble believing it as well."

"It was probably confusing to him, too. That's why he didn't consult us. He didn't know if he could trust that video, or trust us, or even trust himself... He must have been... so lost..." Shuichi sighed. "But with the time limit approaching, he decided to take a chance."

Kiibo hummed. "So he went to the library alone, without telling anyone..."

"And then he got killed by Akamatsu's trap." Himiko finished.

"The only people who knew about the hidden door at the time were Amami-kun and I. I had Akamatsu-san with me and thought I could trust her. So I told her about the hidden room... That was the difference between Amami-kun and me, I suppose. I had Akamatsu-san..."

"And Akamatsu's the one who killed him." Monokuma chimed in.

"What a snake!" Monosuke added.

"Hey, so... what're you guys talkin' about?" Monotaro tilted his head. "Is this somethin' I forgot?"

"I don't know anything about what they're saying." Monophanie responded.

"IS-THIS-SOMETHING-THAT-TRANSPIRED... BEFORE-WE-WERE-BORN?" Monodam asked.

"So what's your point?" Monokuma continued. "You know who Amami was and why he did what he did... But it's pointless now, isn't it?"

"No, it's not pointless." Shuichi countered. "Now that we know this new information, if we look back at Amami-kun's case... we can find a new truth that we missed at the time."

"...A new truth?"

"I don't really get it, but we just need to look at Amami-kun's case again, right?" Tsumugi said.

"Then let's do it." Maki replied.

"With my vast magical powers, I'll turn Monokuma into an omnibus!" Himiko chirped.

"I don't really get it either, but I guess we're gonna republish Monokuma!" Tsumugi smiled.

"Amami went to the library just before the time limit expired..." Maki said.

"By using the information that was in the Survivor Perk, he went to the hidden door..." Ichika continued.

"To expose the identity of the mastermind!" Himiko finished.

"But before he could achieve that goal..." Tsumugi piped up. "He got hit in the head with a shot put ball and died."

"Cuz of Akamatsu's fully automatic killing machine!" Monokuma exclaimed.

Monotaro grabbed his scarf. "Eh? Fully automatic?"

"There was no culprit at the crime scene. The only one in the library at the time of the murder... was Amami himself!"

"No, Amami-kun was not the only one in the library at the time the murder occurred. This Survivor Perk is proof of that." Shuichi held up the Survivor Perk Monopad. The Monopad was given exclusively to Amami-kun as his Survivor Perk, correct? But when we searched Amami-kun's body, he didn't have it on his person. He only had his student handbook Monopad. Which means that someone took this Monopad from Amami-kun after the murder!"

"That's very wrong!" All the Monokubs shouted in unison at Shuichi.

"Wow! That's what we've been saying!" Monotaro chirped.

"What? Ugh, keep quiet, will you?" Shuichi snapped. "I don't have time for your nonsense right now."

"Really, I have no clue what anyone is talking about..." Monophanie whined.

"If we don't chime in soon, Pops is gonna push the detonator!"

"Then we better not let these fuckin' chumps run their mouths anymore!"

***

"No, there is no doubt Amami-kun brought the Survivor Perk Monopad to the library!" Shuichi refuted the Monokubs nonsense and they all fell silent. Shuichi showed us the picture of Rantarou reaching for the hidden camera. "The picture just before he died clearly shows him holding it."

"That could be his student handbook Monopad for all you fuckin' know!" Monokid smashed his guitar on the ground.

"No, it was definitely this same Monopad." Shuichi pointed at the blood on the Survivor Perk Monopad. "You see the way the blood has dried here? The outline of his fingers matches how he was holding it in the picture."

"Oh, you're right!" Tsumugi exclaimed.

"Shortly after this photo was taken, Amami-kun was struck in the head by the shot put ball." Kiibo said. "Do you think that's when this bloody outline on the Monopad was formed?"

Shuichi nodded. "I do. That's why the Monopad Amami-kun is holding in this picture has to be the same Monopad we have now!"

"Wh-Whaaaaat!?" Monosuke screamed.

"C'mon, no overreacting!" Monophanie scolded. "It makes us look like we're not paying attention!

"Scream all you want! Monosuke's the one that's gonna get blown u-" Monokid's body shook for only a second until his body exploded and parts of his went flying.

"Waaaaaah! Monokid!" Monotaro cried.

"BLRGBLRGBLRGBL..." Monophanie threw up a white liquid.

"Kh! I was so upset my cute cubs lost that my finger slipped!"

"Nice." Ichika grinned. "Can your finger slip four more times?"

"Do you want us all dead or something!?" Monosuke screamed.

"Yeah! You guys are about as useful as a goldfish outside of its bowl. Now, please... do all of us a favour and burn in hell." Ichika gave the Monokubs a dark grin.

"S-Stop with the scary f-faces!" Monophanie whined.

"I-I didn't know you could be so malicious..." Tsumugi commented nervously.

"Woooow!" Ichika gasped. "I never would've expected *you* of all people to say that, Shirogane-san!"

"So there was a thief, huh? I can't believe someone would do something so evil..." Monokuma continued.

"So, who took the Monopad?" Maki inquired. "Do you know anything else?"

"The one who took that Monopad... is the mastermind. I'm sure of it." Shuichi responded.

Himiko gawked at Shuichi. "The mastermind!?"

"The Survivor Perk Monopad was found in the library's hidden room. And only the mastermind would have been able to enter that room, correct?"

"Between the time Amami died and when we found him, they put the Monopad in the hidden room?" Maki questioned.

"Nope, that's impossible!" Monokuma butted in.

Ichika raised an eyebrow. "Aaaaand why is that?"

"Huh? You don't know? Why, even my cute little cubs have already figured it out."

Monophanie sweated. "Huh!? We have!?"

"Y-Yeah. So... I'll let Monotaro explain." Monosuke pointed at the red and white bear.

Monotaro scratched his head. "Huh? I've already forgotten what we're even talking about..." Monokuma glared at his cubs and pulled out the detonator again.

"Oh crap, he's gonna push it! It's gonna be Monokid all over again!" Monosuke cried out.

"THE-MASTERMIND... IS-NOT-IN-ANY-OF-THE-PHOTOS-TAKEN-IN-THE-LIBRARY. WHY-IS-THAT?"

"Huh?"

"Oh, that's true..." Tsumugi said. "In order to get to the hidden room, you need to move the bookcase, right? But Saihara-kun and Akamatsu-san set up those hidden cameras, so if the mastermind was using that door, they would've been caught on camera."

"But none of the pictures showed anyone like that." Himiko mumbled.

"THEN... THAT-REASONING-IS-WRONG."

"Amazing, Monodam! Well done!" Monophanie chirped.

"But the cameras had a 30-second interval implemented in them." Ichika refuted. "Micchan said so herself. So the mastermind must have worked with that 30-second interval."

Himiko hummed. "I see. So the mastermind hid in the hidden room, waited for the right timing, grabbed the Monopad from the library, and then returned to the hidden room!"

"Hold on! There's a flaw in your logic!" Monokuma butted in.

"What!? What flaw!?"

"Huh? Don't ask me- the Monokubs are gonna explain it."

"What!? Again!?" Monotaro broke out in a nervous sweat.

"Reject your logic without explaining why! That's the Monokuma debate-style!" Monokuma laughed. "Take it from here, Monokubs! And you better use your brains, or I'll kill ya!"

"What are we arguing about again!?" Monophanie asked in a panic.

"Th-The hidden camera!" Monosuke responded. "Isn't weird that the masterminds not in any photos?"

"That's because they used the camera intervals." Ichika countered. "The camera has a 30-second interval between shots and that's enough time to take the Monopad from the body."

"THEN-WHERE-WAS-THE-MASTERMIND-HIDING?"

"In the hidden room of course!" Himiko barked.

"IF-THEY-WERE-STILL-INSIDE-THE-HIDDEN-ROOM... HOW-WOULD-THEY-KNOW-WHAT-WAS-HAPPENING-IN-THE-LIBRARY?"

"The mastermind saw what was happening in the library. They had surveillance cameras." Shuichi refuted.

"...SURVEILLANCE-CAMERAS?"

Monosuke pushed his glasses up nervously. "Wh-What? Where would... somethin' like that be?"

Kiibo rolled his eyes. "...You don't know, even though they're Monokubs just like you?"

"Eh? Monokubs?" Monophanie tilted her head.

"...I mean these." Kiibo showed them the photo of the Nanokumas.

"Ohhh... so cute and tiny." Monophanie cooed.

"And crushable." Ichika added.

"E-Eh?"

"Aren't they?" Monokuma chimed in. "They're your siblings, too."

"That's a big reveal to drop so casually!" Monosuke yelled.

"These little guys are called Nanokumas. Their job is to monitor the campus!" Monotaro explained.

"HOW-DO-YOU-KNOW-THAT...?"

"Oh, Father told me! He said to make sure I told everyone! I had completely forgotten about it after the midget bashed my head on that rock a couple of times. Good thing I just remembered!"

"Dumbass! You remembered too late!" Monosuke barked.

"There are countless Nanokumas buzzing all over campus." Kiibo continued. "All the footage they record is wirelessly transmitted through Motherkuma and then sent to Monokuma."

"Yes, via Motherkuma. That's an important point." Shuichi said. "If Motherkuma receives the camera feeds, the mastermind could ask it anything. They would know about the situation in the library and the hidden room."

"I see! Motherkuma can tell the interval timers for the cameras!" Himiko exclaimed.

Maki hummed. "Then the mastermind was in the hidden room after they stole the Monopad from Amami."

"But why would they steal the Monopad?" Tsumugi questioned.

"The mastermind was probably terrified by the idea of us picking up Amami-kun's perk."

"No, that's wrong!" Monokuma barked, interrupting Shuichi. "I wasn't necessarily afraid... The Survivor Perk was for Amami's eyes only. Sure, he could've shared the info with you, but that's not the same as getting the info directly from the Monopad. Cuz then, you can't say it was a Survivor Perk for Amami's eyes only, right? So when he died, I took it back. That's all."

Shuichi narrowed his eyes at Monokuma. "...I don't know about that."

"Hm? How do you figure?"

"You look calm now... but at the time, you must have been pretty desperate. The Monopad clearly stated that there was a mastermind in the academy. If we knew then that a mastermind was behind everything, we would have worked together. But you couldn't let that happen. You needed us to go after each other."

"..."

"Either way, you admit the mastermind stole the Monopad, right?" Maki asked.

"Well, yes... but only reluctantly."

Then the mastermind messed up!" Himiko snapped. "If they wanted to retrieve the Monopad, they shoulda used Monokuma to do it!"