#He's secretly plotting against Junko and Monokuma

[brainfilehasstoppedworking]

His room would definitely look like this after becoming a Mastermind LMAO. He's not really driven by despair but more of his own insanity and love for his son. (And thank you @artz16 for adding some ideas to my silly AU.)

[danganronpa-despairslab]

plot summary + spoilers !

Due to how long it’s been since the rewrite was conceptualized, I think it’s fair that people interested in this AU should finally get a rundown of the chronological plot, major spoilers, ect.

This is an incredibly rudimentary and undetailed summary and is mostly just the “why” and “how” behind every chapter of the AU’s story.

Origin of the Lab+ Chapter 0:

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HPA makes a defunct effort to revive the Student council before the public can learn that they died. This is halted when the tragedy happens, until Junko finds the lab constructed for the project and decides to finish what the academy started. The first prototype experiment, Soshun Murasame, is physically unstable, but manages to escape. He is presumed dead, and Junko continues work on the rest of the council, eager to see what she can create.

The student council is revived with no memory of their deaths. They wake up one by one with new forms and try and work together to escape. However, their memories catch up to them and they remember the killing game and fall into despair one by one. Upon falling into despair, Junko places the Prototype experiments into stasis chambers in an old section of the lab. Kotomi Ikuta is the only prototype who does not fall into despair, because she died before the killing game began.

Throughout these events, Junko is exploring the Lab’s potential and expanding upon it with the help of her following (Ultimate Despair). The council is unaware of this. 

Chapter 1:

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When the killing school life fails and the 78th class refuses to kill, Junko resorts to abducting and experimenting on her classmates one by one, and then keeping them in the lab. With the help of a now- “human” Monokuma, and her sister, the class is taunted with the fact that something terrible is happening to their missing classmates. 

Makoto Naegi is the last student unscathed and he convinces Mukuro to go against Junko. The two manage to start an uprising amidst staff and their classmates and attempt to escape the lab. They are unsuccessful and both Mukuro and Makoto are experimented on.

Chapter 2:

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Junko is bored and makes a bet with Kamakura over which of the two can abduct and experiment on the most members of class 77-b (who are currently brainwashed members of Ultimate Despair). The loser will be erased of their memories, given a despair-inducing experiment, and kept in the lab. The game ends at a standstill until Junko takes out a wildcard- and revives Chiaki Nanami. Izuru Kamakura loses the bet.

During the game, a member of the Future Foundation is abducted and tested on, because the lab decides that she is a valuable source of information. The girl is nicknamed “Monomi”, and she was secretly developing an anti-despair formula. She uses this on class 77-b, and when Chiaki is revived, they snap out of despair upon seeing their classmate. Chiaki and the class has no memory of how they ended up in the lab, and Chiaki learns the truth by accessing old data files.

Izuru secretly snuck into the Future Foundation HQ and used a slow-acting formula on Ryota Mitarai before he officially “lost” the bet. Ryota is eventually taken to the lab as well. Ryota’s experimentation is the start of a long term plan to abduct and experiment on all the Future Foundation division leaders.

Chapter 3:

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The V3 cast exists as class 79 in this AU. They avoided the tragedy by pure luck and are now in various positions in the Future Foundation or other organizations after the fact. Kaede Akmatsu and Rantaro Amami are Future Foundation Division leaders. Kokichi Oma and his organization, DICE, has quietly taken an important role in combating despair. 

Tsumugi Shirogane, a secret member of Ultimate Despair, approaches Junko with a proposition to capture and experiment on class 79 in order to drive Kokichi to despair and make him surrender. Junko is content with the idea and goes along. The class is abducted and placed in HPA, informed of their fate, and then dragged to the lab, one by one. In the end, Tsumugi is ratted out by the remaining students and her plan revealed. Ironically, Kokichi, the target of the ploy, is indifferent to the fates of his classmates but the lab hasn’t lost- Kokichi and two Future Foundation heads are now subjects. 

Chapter 4:

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Monaca Towa learns that Nagisa is planning to betray the Warriors of Hope and decides to use the lab as a means of punishment. The WOH disappear one by one from their base until only Nagisa remains. He learns that they’ve been taken to the Lab, and decides to create a rescue plan. He brings along Komaru Naegi as “backup”, but she’s really just bait.  The two part ways in the lab, Nagisa is eventually captured. Monaca tricks the Warriors of Hope into “betraying” each other as a part of her revenge. They are oblivious to the fact that Monaca orchestrated the whole event.

 Komaru finds two escaped subjects and the three work together to navigate the facility. They are eventually captured, but the Lab (And Monaca) decides to keep her alive and turn her into an experiment.

Chapter 5:

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Juzo Sakakura is increasingly suspicious of the disappearances of multiple Foundation leaders and agents. He attempts to take matters into his own hands, but quickly finds out too much, and is taken by Chisa Yukizome, who is acting on Junko’s orders. After yet another disappearance, the Foundation leaders try to find out what happened. One by one, they get too close to the truth, and once they learn about the lab, they’re taken until only one is left. Yukizome finishes the job by surrendering herself to the lab and becoming experiment #65.