Killing Game Busters

Boss Battle

40 minutes...

It was only because of Gonta that the true Danganronpa mastermind wasn't dead.

Or more accurately, Gonta had pushed Maki's gun down as soon as they busted open the double doors they eventually found at the end of the hall and Maki immediately cocked the gun she surprisingly hadn't lost.

The man in front of them was one bullet away from death, and yet he was unfazed by meeting the crew that had clawed their way up to the top to finally meet the one and only mastermind.

A mastermind unlike Tsumugi who was made to stand in.

Miu did not know what she was expecting, but shouldn't it feel right for her to be a little creeped out that she was standing face to face with Makoto Naegi of all people, the known protagonist of the very first Danganronpa game to come out before it became such a mess?

Of course, she was aware that cosplaying exists, that the brown hair with that ahoge down to the hoodie and jeans showing off a teenaged boy when the final boss Makoto certainly had to be much older than that with all the killing games and UDG he had been running even to make to the 53rd season thus far.

Still, wasn't it creepy to look to a blast of the past so fictional that somehow ruined their lives? The protagonist no less, of hope that felt nothing more like a sick joke from where they were standing. What did the real mastermind look like? Someone truly evil and villainous like the yakuza or maybe a plain old John Doe face that would unfortunately disappoint people even when people should know by now that villains can look like anyone these days, even the unremarkable?

Miu rather witness that than this creepy cosplay but she tried to control her shivers and stared at the all-time villain, so relaxed... and giggling like a maniac now.

Argh! Who was she kidding??? She was never going to get over her shivers, because while he was dressed up as Makoto Naegi, the laughter was reminding Miu of Junko Enoshima from what little she remembered about the very first games.

Because back then, who hadn't heard about the Danganronpa games, a growing franchise that simply snowballed into something world famous. At that time, it was impossible for people to not have the faintest idea about the pinnacle of hope and despair.

And now, facing the true mastermind who kept the legacy, who never made it die as an absurd gap moe... She can only hope what awaited them at the end would not be so twisted.

... Again, who was she kidding?

After the maniac laughing came the slow clap that did not impress anyone. The crew had stared down at the mastermind who finally... finally spoke and ended this silent tense and definitely not creepy (note the sarcasm) standoff they just had.

"Upupupu, congratulations for making this far," Makoto said, "As you very well know, tis I Makoto the mastermind who shares the first name of the beloved Danganronpa protagonist and yet fell for despair as easily as the equally beloved Dangaronpa antagonist Junko Enoshima."

"What an introduction," Miu stuck her tongue out, as she continued to ignore her shivers by taking stock of the office they had unceremoniously barged in even if they were anticipated for. Miu had the layout of the building, sectioned to many rooms and secret locations carved out by a marked history of depravity, experiments, torture, rebellion and unfortunately futile escape. The mastermind's room, as for any final boss seen in games, resided at the very top floor but unlike the barren room that Miu semi-expected with just a large table completed with a plaque and rolling chair as she would see the mastermind spinning towards them and petting a cat like those old-timey villains, the room was more well furnished than expected.