Game of Despair

Introduction

"It appears as though it's over. The conflict is--oh my god they're coming out. I repeat there are survivors and they're coming out! Junko Enoshima has been defeated! It's over!"

The voice from the television spoke in such intensity and enthusiasm yet the individual watching made no attempt to crack a smile or rejoice. The mysterious male watching wore a black top hat and a matching overcoat. Most of his face couldn't be seen but that may have been because of the room being pitch black.

The only light source in the small room was the television directly in front of the male. Even after the reporter on the television continued to speak, the male wasn't listening. A few words he had previously spoken were still ringing in his ears. "Junko Enoshima has been defeated."

For some reason this mysterious male watching the broadcast on television refused to believe it. Surely it was all a joke. Yes, of course it was! Junko Enoshima defeated? Not possible. It's just not possible!

That's when the broadcast began showing images of the survivors coming out of Hope's peak Academy. All six of the teenagers walking side by side glancing around at the destruction before them. They had looks of relief on their faces yet also fear.

"We have confirmation on the names of the survivors! Yes they appear to be Makoto Naegi, Kirigiri Kyouko, Yasuhiro Hagakure, Byakuya Togami..."

The voice went on to name the survivors but by that point the male watching had shut off the television. For a moment there was a silence in the room, a silence so uncomfortable that it would have been odd to feel how quiet it truly was.

Yelling out, the male flings a glass cup at the television, shattering both the screen and his cup as the bits of glass crumble to the floor.

For a moment after that everything went silent as the male's hands twitched violently against the couch he sat in. "No..." he spoke out in a shaky voice. The one person he had idolized and seen as the true savior of humanity--Junko Enoshima was now dead. What was he supposed to do now? Despair was the only way to save the world, he could see her plan. Yet she had perished.

Slowly but surely, the male cocked his head to the left so he could glance at his wall. On it was a small poster and although the room was dark, the letters were in a bright enough color that he could just make out the words on it.

'Join the celebration as our Lakewood High seniors spend their last at school!'

The mysterious male suddenly felt a sly smirk creep upon his lips. He soon burst out laughing, his cackling ringing throughout the small empty room.

Grinning from ear to ear the man stood up and swiped the poster off his wall to get a better look at it. "Yes...oh yes this is perfect. It must be destiny--no! It was you, Enoshima! You knew this would happen; knew that someone such as I would idolize you. She's calling out to me...she wants me to fulfill her wishes!"

Licking his lips in excitement, the male trembled as he held himself and chuckled lowly. "I'll do it Enoshima...I'll make you proud. I shall be your successor! I will spread despair!"

He soon walked over to his window and slowly opened the blinds to reveal he was on a ten story building, at the very top where he could see the cars buzzing by at the streets below. The male presses his hand against the window and grins. "Perhaps a man like me requires an alias...Just in case something goes wrong, yes. I can't be defeated like Junko," he said to himself as he rubbed his chin slowly. "The Mad Hatter...heh. A reasonable alias for a reasonable man like me. I'll crush everyone's hope and replace it with despair! Just like you wanted Enoshima..."

As the male whispers to himself, the rest of the world remains oblivious to what would become yet another horrible and atrocious monstrosity--another battle between hope and despair. Only this time, the rules would change.