It's PUNISHMENT Time! (Chaos Club x Danganronpa Fic)

Twenty-Three

Evan got up from the throne and made his way back to his former podium.  Unlike Alister, though, he simply set his portrait aside.

Dawn was still gaping and trying to make sense of anything that was going on.  Everything she'd known was a lie.  The school year?  A lie.  The state of the world?  A lie.  Her relationships?  A lie. She didn't even know if her family were all okay.  If they were even alive.  Were they alive?

"I..." Jax started.  His face flushed with what seemed to be shame and humiliation.  

"I'd apologize, but that's just show business, baby!" Evan clapped his hands, his dark blue eyes gleaming with a sinister energy. "I honestly thought it'd be more suspicious that the Ultimate Actor hadn't appeared to do much acting."

"Seriously, though, how much did we have to spell it out for you?" Alister added. "I put on a whole show during my trial, I made that freaking dress, which was a dead giveaway, and if you all had actually checked the Morgue thoroughly, you would've seen three missing bodies.  Two of which would've been me and Evan.  Damn, I'm starting to wish my comrades hadn't killed the only good detective."

"Trust me, that's the only thing I regret," Evan sighed dramatically. "But hey, at least we'll never know who was actually to blame."

"I think I deserve credit for spicing up the crime scene to make it as show-stopping as it was," Rowan objected. "And, y'know, the whole f*cking killing game."

"Sure, sure, whatever," Alister groaned. "Anyways, sorry I was almost late.  I had trouble deciding whether or not I should've worn my execution dress.  But then I wouldn't have gotten to wear this, and that would've just been a waste of my time if I never got to show it off."

"Oh my god, no one cares," Evan said, rolling his eyes.

"Anyways, back to the point.  This is why I can never get things done while you two are around." Rowan returned their focus to Dawn, Jax, and Tommie. "There's one final game for you lot.  One last team decision.  It's a vote between hope and despair, if you will.  If all three of you vote for hope, then you can leave this place and return to the outside world.  Easy as that.  You can go back home, if you've even got one still standing.  But if at least one of you chooses despair, then you all will remain here, where no harm can reach you and you'll never have to face the truth if something bad happened to your loved ones.  Got it?"

"I still don't get it." Jax looked towards Evan with a look of pure betrayal on his face.  

Evan, in return, smiled.  By god was it unnerving. "You don't know how despair feels until you're left all alone and lose the spotlight.  It drives a guy mad when there's no one to care about him.  And when an opportunity to be someone again comes along, you take it without a second thought!  Boom, you're a star again, and you get to fake your own death!"

Jax didn't respond, but to Dawn, it looked like he really wanted to.

"Alright, move over, honey, my turn to share my motive," Alister said. "As for me, I thrive on attention.  I need people to see me and my talent.  Hell, I don't give a sh*t if they know I'm a guy, 'cause I don't care that I'm a guy either.  That whole second-trial nonsense was just BS.  I'm here to make money, send it to my family to keep them safe, and be a f*cking legend."

"Can we please stay on topic?  If you wanted to do backstories, then we should've planned that out earlier.  Or you shouldn't have wasted so much time on choosing outfits.  Jeez." Rowan glared at their accomplices before shifting their gaze back to the trio. "So, what'll it be?  Returning to the safe embrace of despair, or risking everything to blindly give your hope to a world with nothing left?  I know what my decision would be, personally."