the mastermind meme

[monomods]

 

You asked for it, we're finally giving it to you! Say hello to the mastermind meme!

What does this mean exactly? It means your character is the one responsible for everything! They've been controlling Monobear from the shadows (or maybe they have an assistant to help them, possibly even one of your classmates!), they've been putting forth the motives, running the trials, all of it! And now they've finally chosen to reveal themselves and their true motives.

What are their motives? Why do they want to spread despair? Are they somehow connected to the late Junko Enoshima? And most importantly what is their snazzy Monobear-themed look like? You decide!

Threading reactions is highly encouraged and feel free to AU things up to mix up our current survivor pool as much as you'd like.

Comments

[awesmazings]

It's far more than a shock. Jimmy finds himself so numb that he can't say anything else for a moment, his eyes locked on Lysandre's as he tries to wrap his head around all of this.

"But....But you....." He whispers, taking a small step closer as his face falls further and further.

"....this....this isn't......" Everything he tries to say is broken and ends up trailing off before he can form a proper sentence. The look on his face is indication enough as to how dismayed he is by this turn of events.

[holocast]

"This isn't what, mon cher?"

When Lysandre responds there's a sense of patience to his tone, tempering the coldness without managing to eradicate it; his expression twists a bit, however, a light smirk crossing his features - it's a far cry from the usual understanding and guidance that he used to offer the boy on a regular basis. "This isn't happening? It's not real, it's not possible? Because I can assure you on all counts that it is."

[awesmazings]

"....but....why?"

He finally manages to ask a coherent question, his hands balling slightly at his sides. He doesn't look angry or particularly upset. ..He looks very much like a confused child who is trying to understand

[holocast]

Normally, that might have been enough to get him to falter - to get his expression to shift into something more open, to get him to respond in a way not laced with ice and condescension. But the circumstances haven't been normal for some time now.

Have they?

"How badly do you want me to answer you? Genuinely."

[awesmazings]

"...Tell me why, Lysandre. Why have you been lying to me? ...Why are you doing this?" ..He almost wants to ask why Lysandre thought it would be appropriate to bring him here, but he manages to hold his tongue.

"If....i-if I'm gonna die, I want to know. Now."

[holocast]

The sound that escapes him is soft but indignant. "Come now, mon cher - I haven't been lying to you. Every single one of you could have escaped this place alive; you were all granted so many opportunities, so many chances to save yourselves...I never lied to any of you about your potential."

[awesmazings]

That causes Jimmy's expression to shift, and he has to take a deep breath before he can retort.

"But...but you have. I...I trusted you. ...I thought...I thought out of a-anyone here on this island....you would be the one person I could trust the most."

[holocast]

"It's a difficult lesson, isn't it?" There's no hesitation behind Lysandre's own words; he shifts position, leaning back more fully against Gyarados' body where it's coiled behind him. He isn't breaking eye contact, however; rather, his stare has become far more focused, almost as though he's studying the boy. Looking for something, perhaps, though exactly what is surely something known to only Lysandre and the Creator itself.

"In my experience, people like you are the anomaly - those that give of themselves freely, expecting nothing in return, having no ulterior motives behind their charity and their kindness - genuine people like that barely exist. Rather, we're left with a world of thieves and murderers and filth; eventually those of us who wanted nothing more but to give to others find themselves at the mercy of those who would take from us. Trust is just as much of an illusion as the holograms I work with.

"It's a lesson I learned years ago; a bit of a shame that you had to learn it this way."

[awesmazings]

"So that's what this is about? To teach us a lesson?" Jimmy grimaces, trying to ignore the tears burning in his eyes.

"...I know how bad of a place the world can be, but this isn't the way to change it. Turning people on each other, killing, destroying....y-you're no better than the thieves, murderers, and filth you're telling me about."

[holocast]

"That's a part of it, mon cher, but it isn't all of it - it's far from all of it."

His expression isn't flickering any at those accusations, either; if anything they seem to please him, in some dark, vague way. "And I've never claimed to be any better than the rest - far from it. Really, I'm more repulsive than the rest of you put together."

[awesmazings]

Jimmy falls silent for a minute, knowing that if he tries to say anything else he won't be able to without his emotions stifling him. He never takes his eyes off Lysandre, though, watching him with eyes shining with unshed tears. Above all, Jimmy seems completely and utterly crushed. He's had people stab him in the back here on this island before, time and time again...

But this? This is far worse than anything he could have possibly imagined.

"......S-so now what? Are you...are you just going to kill us now?"

[holocast]

Lysandre just shakes his head at that. "Killing you myself has never been something I've planned. What happens to you from here is a choice all of you are going to have to make for yourselves; as far as I'm concerned, your game is over."

[awesmazings]

Jimmy has to lift a hand to scrub his eyes before his tears can escape.

"...I j-just want to go home."

[holocast]

Lysandre can feel his own hands tensing up a bit, and he's quick to run them along the sections of Gyarados' body that he can reach; it's always been a stress-tell with him, but he can't say he knows why it's cropping up now - rather, he focuses on keeping himself as even as possible.

"Surely you know what your home is by now, don't you?"

[awesmazings]

By this point he's not looking at Lysandre anymore, instead having taken to staring at his shoes. "..Miseryville is...apparently this place called Hell where some people go when they die. S-so....yeah. ...I know." Clearly he doesn't understand it fully, but he does know that it's not at all a good place.

But still. As far as Jimmy's concerned, he has no other home.

[holocast]

He's quiet for a moment following that; whatever's going through his head is being carefully kept off his features, though his expression is less...cold than it has been, verging more into 'deliberately blank' territory.

"And do you know what sort of people are sent to Hell, mon cher?"

[awesmazings]

At that, he slowly shakes his head no. "..Heloise didn't.....tell me."

[holocast]

"I didn't know either, before I started doing this." He gestures vaguely, the movement indicating the entirety of the courtroom; despite that, however, his tone has rather undeniably shifted back into something decidedly more familiar - something gentler, more patient, the sort of tone he'd taken when talking to Jimmy after a particularly difficult trial, or perhaps when telling him that one day he would see Kalos.

Somehow he doubts the boy would want to see it now - not after what Lysandre has done to it.

"I think it's about time someone told you, don't you think? I would want to know, were I you."

[awesmazings]

"....You know?" He seems pretty hesitant, though he does return his gaze to Lysandre while he talks. Anyone else might have refused, but Jimmy is, of course, different. Regardless of the fact that he's speaking to the man who orchestrated the deaths of so many people and caused them all to suffer for so long, he still can't help but find himself wanting to believe him, at least.

The shift in his tone of voice does help, if anything.

[holocast]

"I had to study the topic a bit - after all, we don't have any concept of 'Hell,' where I'm from." He pauses for a moment. "I don't think I ever told you about that, did I? Our beliefs about the dead in Kalos...?"

His tone remains easy - almost as though nothing's changed from how it was before. He'd told Jimmy various things about Kalos; he's fully aware of how much the boy likes hearing them.

"Where I'm from, we believe that no one truly dies - some say we're reincarnated as Pokémon, or perhaps other humans; others believe our spirits simply remain as they are, they simply lack a physical container. Either way, our life-energy remains within the world; we don't believe in any sort of proper afterlife."

Despite the conversational nature of the conversation, however, there's still no gentleness in his eyes; the look there has shifted, certainly, but it's in a direction that's almost predatory in nature. "However, that doesn't seem to be the case, wherever you came from - it appears that there are a few places the dead can go. Miseryville, or Hell, is only one of them. Only a very specific set of people are eligible to be sent there."

[awesmazings]

He listens carefully, intently even. This isn't something he found himself particularly curious about concerning Kalos before. Honestly, he never even wondered all that much about this....place he could vaguely remember living before ever "moving" to Miseryville. It's not exactly like the town really has any real concept of death itself, considering the people living there are already dead.

So when Lysandre begins talking about where he came from- his world- he lifts his head slightly, frowning. "....W.....what kind of people...?"

[holocast]

"Those who have done something to deserve it."

And it's then that his voice takes on a bit of a hard edge; it's not openly judgmental, perhaps, but that's something easily accredited to the thought that he's already made up his mind when it comes to what he thinks about this.

"You see, it seems the reason your friend Lucius is so determined to make everyone miserable is because Hell is designed to torment all who go there - those who are there did something in life that was terrible enough to warrant being tortured for the rest of time. It's a place of eternal damnation; only the truly unforgivable souls go there."

He pauses again. "It begs the question, though, doesn't it? What in the world did you do, mon cher...?"

[awesmazings]

Before he realizes it Jimmy's staggering back a few steps, his body beginning to tremble slightly. Only the truly unforgivable souls go there.

All of a sudden, he feels like he's going to be very sick.

Yet all he can manage to do is stand there, his legs barely holding up his own weight as he draws his hands close to his chest, one hand gripping his wrist tightly where he's still wearing several friendship bracelets. He shudders, turning again to stare at the floor, this time wide eyed and frightened.

"....I-.....I.....I d-d....don't k-know..."

[holocast]

If he's at all bothered by the fact that Jimmy seems on the verge of some sort of breakdown, he doesn't seem it; even if Jimmy's not looking at him, his voice remains calm and straightforward, untempered by kindness but likewise untainted with cruelty.

Just speaking to him, nothing more. As though positing a scientific theory. Posing a question in debate.

"Whatever it was, it must have been terrible, don't you think? To see you sentenced to a place like that..."

He trails off for a moment; the way he resettles his left hand against his legs seems casual but must, must be deliberate, the cuff of his sleeve hiking up just a bit, that bracelet Jimmy made for him still visible on his wrist.

"After all, you're such a kind boy, Jimmy - unless all of that was an act?"

[awesmazings]

"I-It wasn't!" He suddenly blurts, looking back up at Lysandre with tears rolling freely down his face this time. By now he's trembling uncontrollably and makes no effort to try and hold back his emotions any longer. This is quite a lot of information to try and accept all at once, but now he understands why Heloise didn't tell him before.

Even through his tears he seems defiant, choking back a sob as he raises his voice, "I-I'm not a bad person! I'd....I'd never...." Hurt anyone? Lie? Cheat? Steal? ...Kill? There's no way he can prove that without knowing what his former life was like. For all he knows he could have murdered someone in a psychotic act, only to be executed or to die of undetermined causes at a young age.