Chapter Text

The next hero for the two Skyworld residents to see is that of a young woman with long red hair and a standard Hope’s Peak Academy uniform.

“Uhh… another Ultimate, I guess?” Pit infers.

“Indeed. This Skylander is Ryoko Otonashi, the Ultimate Analyst.” Palutena replies before getting caught off guard by Viridi’s own addition…

“Oootherwise known as Junko Enoshima!”

Pit’s wings stand upright. “J-Junko Enoshima?! Like, Monokuma?! That’s not a Skylander, that’s a bad guy! You sure that isn’t a disguise?”

“No… that is Junko, in a sense. But this is another Junko, one not exactly so focused on despair.” Palutena explains. “This Ryoko inhabits the body intended to be for the real Junko.”

“Let me explain further. So, Junko is in the body of Monokuma because what remained of her soul when LOSE tried to resurrect her could not control a human body. It was very weak and fractured. LOSE did create an artificial body for her, but the soul couldn’t react to it.”

“So… it was a body without a soul? Like, a shell? Then how is she, you know… alive?” Pit asks, scratching his head.

Viridi clears her throat. “Blame a little brat named Monaca Towa for that!”

“Monaca, a Junko worshipper who experienced a relapse and momentarily joined LOSE was devastated for not being able to be with the Junko she loved after getting so close. Her cries were heard by a now ex-LOSE mercenary named Ronin. To shut her up, Ronin decided to cross dimensions and steal souls from other Junkos to infuse into the shell.” Palutena continues.

“He used this using a special weapon from another realm in his dimension, the Djinn Blade from the realm of Djinjago. Using this blade and its unique ability to steal the soul of whoever it strikes down, he captured the souls of Junkos from alternate realities.”

Viridi shrugs in response with a side note. “And as such, he kinda saved a lotta worlds by taking their destroyer away. Not bad for a morally shady merc.”

“However, more often than not, Ronin struck down Junko when she WAS Ryoko, a kind and forgetful second personality that was created when Junko tested out her memory wiping tech on herself.” Palutena details, getting to the origin of the original Ryoko. “So when the souls were injected into the empty body, what came out wasn’t the psychopath Monaca wanted, but the ditzy analyst. Ryoko was as such, abandoned and left wandering the world.”

“And for an extra kick, she forgot her own origins thanks to her crappy memory! You could snap your fingers and she’d forget where she even is!” Viridi laughs. “That is why she carries a notebook with her at all times, to keep track of where she even goes! Sad, huh?”

Palutena then explains the next part of Ryoko’s story.

“Eventually, Ryoko caught the attention of Tsumugi Shirogane. We’ll get into her later, but what you need to know now that she wanted to rewrite the whole multiverse to follow a story she wrote out… and Ryoko was to be her protagonist as a tale about redemption.”

Pit squints his eyes. “Wait… someone wanted to make a story about her, and the multiverse was gonna be her set piece? Talk about being the center of attention.”

“This plan was foiled however thanks to the unexpected appearance of one Kaede Akamatsu, distorting the flow of Tsumugi’s story. This caused Ryoko to join the Skylanders much later than intended. Thanks to their help, she was able to discover her origins.” Palutena corrects. “After confronting her inner self in the mysterious TV World, she accepted herself as Junko… but wanted to live on as Ryoko.”

“This acceptance caused her to harness powers similar to a Persona, but derived from Junko’s ties to the Link Jokers… although subdued due to her body being artificial. Now, Ryoko travels the multiverse with her sister, Mukuro Ikusaba to make up for her other self’s evil and defend worlds independent from the Skylanders. They do meet up from time to time, though.”

Pit scratches the back of his head, smiling. “Still kinda weird. There’s a good Junko out there! Hope and Despair really do feel like two sides of the same coin now, huh?”