(3rd Person's POV)

"..." Sora's eye twitched as she watched everyone vote for her.

Hiro let out a sigh. "Sorry, man..."

"Yeah, s-sorry..." Hina apologized.

"S-So am I..." Makoto said.

"M-Mistress..." Toko mumbled.

"..." Byakuya stayed silent, but shot a small glare Sora's way.

"This is ridiculous..." Sora spat. "You're all idiots. Don't you know what's gonna happen now? Everyone's gonna di-"

"Good job, everyone!" Monokuma interjected with his usual peppy attitude.

Sora turned and narrowed her eyes at the bear. "...What the hell do you mean "good job"...?!"

"Yeah. They got it right!"

"...Excuse me?"

"You heard me!"

"N-No, that's ridiculous. This doesn't make any sense!" Sora clenched her fist. "This entire shitty excuse for a trial makes absolutely zero sense whatsoever!"

"It makes perfect seeeeEEEENNNSSSSSEEE!!!" Monokuma exclaimed. "It's the same as always! It's just like all the other class trials! And I'm gonna end it the same way! It's time for your heart pounding, positively thrilling punishment!" He laughed.

"..."

Sora put her head down in response. A shadow cast over her face, making her eyes and expression impossible to decipher. 

This didn't make any sense. Everyone voted for her, and yet they're right? She's the culprit of this case? The one who murdered Mukuro Ikusaba? 

No, that can't be right. I know I ain't the killer, so why am I takin' the blame for it? Sora thought. Unless...unless...the mastermind...

https://youtu.be/0XpgchQnaUY

(Play BGM; Start at 1:25)

"Heh...Hehehehehe..."

Makoto flinched. "S-Shirayuki...?"

"Ooh boy, here we go again..." Hina grimanced.

"Hehehehe....Ahahahaha...HEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEE!"

And once again, Sora burst into laughter. Although the dark shadow formed on her face was still present, malicious blood red eyes appeared from the shadows, making her breakdown all the more sinister and frightening.

"So...this is really the answer?" Makoto asked with a solemn, almost sad, expression. "This...this doesn't seem right..."

"I mean...it has to be, right?" Hiro assumed. "Otherwise we would've been goners for sure by now!"

"I..I know, but...this just doesn't seem right. I mean, Shirayuki hasn't even admitted to the crime..."

"It doesn't matter." Byakuya spoke up. "We've already voted, and we were right. No matter whether or not she confesses, Shirayuki had to have been the one who murdered Ikusaba." He then turned to the giggling Sora, who seemed to be oblivious to the conversation. "And besides, it's not like we're going to get answers from her at the moment. She's in her own insane little world..."

"Heh...heheh...hehehe..." The blonde continued to make demented chuckles and giggles.

"..."

Sora was so invested in her own breakdown that she didn't hear the sounds of stiletto clacking against the floor. Her insane laughs suddenly came to a stop as she felt someone put a hand on her shoulder. A gloved hand.

(Stop BGM)

"..." Kyoko looked at the girl, her ever stoic expression present, though her eyes seemed to betray that expression, giving off a regretful vibe.

"You..." Sora snarled as she shot a harsh glare.

Kyoko let out a sigh. "I don't expect you to forgive me. I know this is all my fault..." She said as she closed her eyes in regret.

"What the hell are you-?" Sora was about to say before she was interrupted.

"Alright, that's enough!" Monokuma cut through with a cheer. "We've wasted enough time, so let's cut to the chase! I've got a very special punishment for Sora Shirayuki, the Ultimate Volleyball Champion!"

"Argh..." Sora grit her teeth as she shut her eyes, bracing herself for what's to come.

"Let's give it everything we've got! It's...PUNISHMENT TIIIME!"

---

GAME OVER! SORA HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY. TIME FOR THE PUNISHMENT!

Sora opened her eyes. Everything was dark around her. It was like an empty void, with her as the only population.

Soon, the environment would morph as it turned into a volleyball court. She realized the she was standing, but somehow couldn't move and looked around to see over a dozen life-sized dolls resembling herself.

She heard a maniacal giggle to see Monokuma holding a volleyball with a smug look.

IS SHE BALLIN'?!

Monokuma threw the volleyball while Sora closed her eyes, but it missed as it hit one of the dolls. Monokuma's face turned red in frustration as he threw another ball, but missed once again and struck down another doll.

His eye twitched as he rapidly threw a multitude of volleyballs in Sora's direction, but missed all the same. Eventually, Monokuma stopped as he realized he'd run out of them and stomped his foot in childish anger.

Sora opened her eyes. She looked around the court to see every doll struck out and she was the only one left. She let out a tired breath of relief.

But Sora would hear the sound of giant, mechanical steps as she turned around to see a giant mech with two machine gun-like hands. In the middle was a monitor with Monokuma's face, giggling as she aimed the two machine guns at her. For Sora, time seemed to stop as she began to brace her inevitable face. But...

"You won't die." A voice said in her head. "You won't die. You won't die. Youwon'tdieyouwon'tdieyouwon'tdieyouwon'tdieyouwon't die."

It repeated in her head over and over again. For some reason, it seemed...familiar.

Suddenly, the monitor on the mech began to fizzle out. Monokuma disappeared and was replaced with Doppelgänger, Sora's A.I. counterpart. Wearing a determined face, she shut down the machine guns as the two arms broke away from the mech and dropped onto the floor.

Sora blinked twice, staring at the monitor. Suddenly, she felt a dark hole open up beneath her feet as she fell into it, the abyss taking her.

---

At the courtroom...

"Huh?" Was all that Monokuma said. "Huuuuh!? What's this? What's going on!?"

"Hey, was that...!?" Hina trailed off.

"Ah! Yeah, it had to be!" Hiro exclaimed, nodding in agreement.

"Doppelgänger...!" Byakuya said.

"What?! Doppelgänger?!" Monokuma yelled. "You mean the A.I. of that blonde bimbo?! Was that some sorta virus?! I thought I destroyed those dumb programs when I smashed that laptop to bits and pieces! Shirayuki must've planted it when she somehow managed to invade my network!" He growled as he brandished his claws. "Damn it all to hell! I don't believe this!"

"It seems you finally made a miscalculation." Kyoko stated before she made a small smirk. "No...you miscalculated from the very beginning."

"...What was that?" Monokuma slowly turned to her.

"What I'm saying is, you shouldn't have underestimated us." Kyoko said as she made a fierce point towards Monokuma.

But the bear would just scoff. "Hmph! Why are you talking like you've already won!? I barely felt a thing! It was a pinch, an itch! The stupid virus is gone now, got it!? And so is Shirayuki... Maybe I didn't get to fill her with bullets like I wanted to, but you're never gonna see her again!" He made a dark grin. "To waste away in a garbage-strewn pit... In a way, that's an even BETTER special punishment!"

"..." Kyoko stayed silent, only making a subtle glare at the bear.

"Puhu... Puhuhu...!" Monokuma giggled. "But it's still not enough... I'm still not satisfied! I'm still gonna bring despair to the rest of you--bring despair to the entire world...! Puhuhu... Puhuhu... Puhuhu... Puhuhu... Puhuhu... Puhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhu...!" He cackled before disappearing.

"..." Kyoko let out a sigh.

"Is he...gone?" Hiro spoke up.

"Hey, Kirigiri. What's the meaning of all this? Just what the hell is going on?" Byakuya demanded with a glare.

"It's okay." Kyoko assured him. "We're not the ones being trapped this time."

"Huh...?" Hina looked confused.

"Now it's the mastermind that's ensnared..."

"What are you talking about...?" Byakuya asked.

"You'll understand soon enough. Very soon indeed..."

Epilogue: Ongoing 

To be continued...?