The sound of grinding stone echoed through the dusty labyrinth as the concrete entrance automatically sealed itself shut. The pittering sounds of rain and the distant howling of the rioting crowd were suddenly silenced. A white-haired boy and a petite, short-haired girl stood in nearly total darkness. "Well… shall we go?" Asked the boy in a calm, nonchalant tone of voice.

Chiaki felt a chilling sensation in her spine and a slight hint of nausea. Nothing about this place seemed right. A singular word rattled around in her brain: Tomb.

"S-Shouldn't we go back and tell the others?" She asked, nervously. Nagito stared ahead with a dull-eyed smile, peering into the darkness that lay before them.

"You can do that if you want. In fact, it might be better if you weren't here for this," he answered calmly, before stepping deeper into the dark corridors at a determined pace. Chiaki hesitated for a moment before reluctantly following behind him. It wasn't long before the pair reached a room that looked starkly out of place. It had the appearance of a typical Hope's Peak student dorm. There was an extensive PC setup with eight monitors and a tablet workstation. The room smelled of cheap incense, attempting to mask the saccharine odor of blood. Unpleasant events had transpired in this room, and recently.

Hunched over the desk was a lithe boy with long hair and a pale complexion. It took Chiaki a few moments to recognize him.

"Wait. Is that you, Ryota? Did you… uh… lose weight?" She asked, perplexed at seeing her previously rotund friend in such a sickly, skinny condition. The boy stared back at her, with a bewildered, manic expression.

There was a brief moment of pause before he stammered out, "This isn't what it looks like! I never wanted any of this to happen! You have to believe me!"

The boy was interrupted by a tall blonde girl who casually strolled into the room from a side entrance. She had a busty chest and distinct sense of fashion. She was recognizable from a mile away as the one and only Junko Enoshima.

"Come on, don't be so hard on yourself, bucko. Your art is gonna change the world as we know it. Everyone's a critic these days, but don't worry. I will always be your number one fan~" She giggled as she stroked Ryota Mitarai's trembling chin. Chiaki was speechless, unable to fully take in the bizarre spectacle she was witnessing. Nagito, on the other hand, was unfazed and actually seemed somewhat amused.

"Excuse me, Miss. Could you please tell me your name and what exactly is going on here?" he asked politely, with an unassuming smile.

Junko turned to face the intruders with a mixture of suspicion and amusement. "I could ask you the same thing. Or better yet, how you even found this place..." she responded flatly, in a cold tone of voice

"Luck, I suppose. I basically tripped over it. I'm the Ultimate Lucky Student, after all. Gotta say, it comes in handy sometimes," Nagito lightly chuckled while scratching his head. "My name is Nagito Komaeda. Now, please answer my question."

Junko's demeanor suddenly changed to an innocent, wide eyed, sickeningly sweet kawaii girl.

"Aww, ok! What the heck! I guess the cat's out of the bag now! Congrats, you caught me. This is so embarrassing! I feel like I just got hit with a gust of wind, revealing my panties for the whole world to see! Oh, the shame!" Junko whined, clutching her chest with mocking dramatization. In an instant, her personality shifted again. She cracked a grin and eyed Nagito with a raised eyebrow. "So… yeah. All that nasty bloodshed over the past month has been my doing. Junko Enoshima, the Ultimate Despair, at your service," she said, with a bow.

Chiaki stared, agape, at Junko and then back at Nagito. The two of them seemed unphased by this whole encounter, but Chiaki could feel the crushing tension in the air. Her knees felt weak and she struggled to stay standing. Her "flight or fight" reflexes were kicking in. Something "seriously bad" was going to happen, she just knew it.

"Wow. I can't believe it. Trash like me, brought face to face with the Ultimate Despair, for one final showdown. This might just be the luckiest day of my life. I've never felt hope like be given such an opportunity is just… too much." Nagito looked as if he was on the verge of crying with joy.

"Waaaait a minute... I see, now! You must be that hope fanboy who went MIA! I've heard about you. Interesting..." Junko grinned smugly, crossing her arms, looking Nagito over and sizing him up. "Look, I get that this is a big deal for you and everything, but you shouldn't count your chickens before they hatch. I think that despair is gonna win this round. You two aren't leaving here alive. Sorry to break it to you buddy, but you won't be bragging about this to any of your friends."

Nagito brushed off the threat with a glib but earnest smile. "I don't have any friends, Miss Enoshima. And neither do you, at the moment. Miss Pekoyama is keeping Mukuro Ikusaba busy. So, she won't be interrupting our little meeting," he said, before reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out a nine millimeter handgun, aiming it directly at Junko. " Picked this bad-boy up in the states. I knew it would come in handy."

Chiaki's eyes shot wide open and she stared at Nagito with amazement and horror. "Komaeda, no! You can't just kill someone like this! That's cold-blooded murder!"

Junko stood there, as calm as ever, eyeing Nagito with skepticism and curiosity.

"So, what are you gonna do? Shoot me? That's it? That's your big plan? That seems a little anticlimactic, don't you think? What about the "ultimate showdown between hope and despair" you were just talking about? If my plan comes to fruition, the entire world will be the ultimate stage where hope and despair can duke it out! Unrestrained! No holds barred! Shouldn't you, of all people, want to see it through to the end?"

Nagito lowered the gun slightly, showing a sign of hesitation. "I will admit, that proposition is very tempting. It sounds truly spectacular when you put it that way. However, in my current position, I really don't think I can allow such unmitigated despair to have its way. Even I have my limits. I won't let you talk your way out of this one. Your plans end here, Enoshima. " he said, before regaining his focus and aiming the gun squarely at Junko.

Junko put her hands on her hips with a confident sneer on her face. "Oh come on. Stop trying to play the hero. From your perspective, despair is just a stepping stone for hope, isn't it?! So why not let despair run amok for just a little bit? It's all just a stepping stone in the end, right?"

Nagito smiled understandingly, as if Junko just struck a chord in his heart. "You make a valid point, Enoshima. I could, hypothetically, just look the other way, let your plans unfold, and then ride the waves of despair to new heights of hope that I haven't even dared to dream of. The thought has crossed my mind," Junko grinned from ear to ear, raising her arms to her sides in a welcoming gesture.

"Then what are you waiting for? Hop on the despair train with us! Just for a little bit! We've got room for one more! We have an exciting future awaiting us! Without hope, there can be no despair, and vice versa! You know that it's true! We need each other, Nagito! We were made for each other! Imagine wha-" *Bang*

A loud gunshot rang through the room, with a deafening crack. The sound echoed off the tight quarters and made everyone's ears ring. The sulfur smell of gunpowder filled the room. Then a second shot was fired. Both shots hit Junko in the chest, center mass. Was it luck or precision? It did not matter.

Junko looked down at her chest, with a bemused grin on her face. She looked at the two holes in her chest that were gushing blood, staining her clothes. She chuckled to herself slightly, coughing up blood as it began to flow into her punctured lungs. In a gurgling voice she muttered. "Heh heh… W-well… This wasn't… supposed..."

Chiaki fell to her knees, covering her mouth in horror. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. Ryota ran to a corner of the room and vomited into a waste bin. Junko collapsed to her knees, staring up at the ceiling as her vision grew hazy. She choked out blood, while a sinister grin crept across her face. A red blush crossed her cheeks as she smiled deliriously. She had a look of euphoria, as she clutched her gushing wounds, unable to prevent the flow of blood leaving her body.

"This… This despair …It…It..." Junko hunched forward onto the floor, her rear end sticking up in the air slightly, her arms slumped at her sides. Her cheek was pressed to the floor, her eyes stared blankly, that haunting grin still distorting her visage.

Junko Enoshima was dead.