"We have been waiting! Waiting so very long for peasants like you to appear! If you swear your fealty to us, we will reward you with half of the entire world! We've even drawn up the deed already! We will grant you honor, status, and some of our home cooking! Have you made your choice? Will you serve under us?" The young, strangely dressed man said. He was a bit taller than Peirce, so he towered over everyone in the room.
This is the mastermind.
Nikolai 'ultimate despair' Harrison.

Bryan's pov.

Everyone just stood there, watching, confused.
"Uh, yes?" Asch said, not sure what to say.
"Prince Asch!" Rhys chastised him.

"Oh did you really think I was serious?" Nikolai said calmly and without emotion.
"Um, somewhat?" Asch said.
"Well, I apologize; it's been a while since I spoke to other people," He said in his emotionless persona.

"UH, so wait....are you the Harrison siblings?" Rhys asked.

"Oh, of course, their Essences were fused and created the ultimate despair, Nikolai," He said in a teacher like voice. "Any questions?"

"Yes! Several!" Jon yelled. "First off, why are you doing this!"

"Oh, the reason for the killing game is one that will surprise you," He said in his teacher persona "I got bored of the way the world was"

"What?!" I yelled. "How would you get bored? And that's no reason to cause this!"

"The truth is, I regretted the exact second I came into the crazy world." He said sadly. "For my creation caused the tragedy."
"What? You mean the neutron weapons going off?" I asked.
"Of course," he said, switching to his teacher persona," But the tragedy wasn't just that; it was also the result in the weather all over the world, droughts that destroyed towns, hurricanes that flooded countries, and earthquakes that went across the globe."
"So, you're saying that you caused all that?" Jon asked.
"Of course, but I had predicted it," He said in his teacher persona "Each of the Harrison siblings had powers, one could feel the worst of injuries, one could reverse time by one minute, and one could raise the dead to do his bidding" He explained.
He turned to his prince persona.
"And what I was created with was all of that and more! I could do anything I wanted; I was perfect" He said then he became sad again "But maybe too perfect, doing everything ideally isn't as good as it seems, it gets boring after a while, and with my love of despair in my heart, I didn't stop the weather I knew I could stop."

"But we didn't feel any of that!" Jon said.
"You haven't yet, and that's thanks to my grandfather," He said.
"You mean Lawrence?" I asked. I mean, he's made of his children. So him calling him grandfather sort if makes sense.
Then he turned into his prince persona.
"Of course! The old man was stopping the despair storms from reaching lunaris." He said.
Then he turned into his emotionless persona.
"And what is wrong with her?" He asked.
He pointed to Saya.
She looked like she was about to explode.

She fell onto the floor and as she did.

A large flash of blue light filled the courtroom.

And the paintings, they started changing.
They weren't paintings anymore.
They were......the people in them.
Standing at their podiums as if they never left.
Everyone was visibly confused.
Especially Nikolai.
He had turned to his sad persona.
"Asch!" Leif yelled," What's going one!"
And pierces eyes landed onto Nikolai.
"And who is that?" He said, confused.

"Oh, I'm the mastermind." He said sadly.
"Oh, nice to meet ya." Rahl said.
"Same here." Nikolai said.
"So, doesn't this ruin your plan of despair," Saya said weakly.
"I-I," he said but then.

"Oh, this is perfect!" He yelled like a child getting ice cream.
"What?" Lawrence said, confused.
"Oh, just the thought of my perfect plan falling into ruins, oh such despair!" He yelled.
"W-what? Can someone explain this to me?" Joanna asked.
"Well, long story short, your kids fused, and they became the large man you see in front of you," I explained.
She and Lawrence looked like someone just stabbed them.
They must feel scared and confused. And worried about their children.
"Well, Kids, unfuse this instant!" Lawrence yelled.

"DONT TELL ME WHAT TO DO OLD MAN!" Nikolai yelled in his prince persona.
"Ok, can you pick a personality and stick with it, it's hard to keep up," Jon said.
It's true; he's switching so fast it's hard to keep up.
Nikolai then switched to his emotionless persona.
"Oh, as I said, I get bored quickly, and I get bored with myself as well." He said.

"Wow, he sounds like Peirce," Noi said. Does he not get what's happening?
"He doesn't sound like me," Peirce mumbled.

"Well, everyone knows I killed Zex, and now let's get to voting!" Nikolai yelled.
He was blushing. Wait......is he aroused by this?
He's excited about this.

"We can't!" Rhys yelled. "I-I can't lose Freddy, I thought I lost him, and I was filled with fake pain, I don't want to feel the real pain of losing him!" He started crying a bit.
"Rhys, we have too" I comforted him "If there was another option we could chose, we would"

"Well, I have a proposal for each of you," Nikolai said in his emotionless persona. Then he switched to the prince. "But don't get your hopes up, it isn't a marriage!"

"What is it?" Zex asked.
"Well, if I'm found guilty, I'll give each person capable of battle a chance to harm me; if one of you get a scratch on me, I'll infuse, but if not, I'll have a Glitchtrap kill me." Nikolai explained in his teacher persona.
"Really?" Asch asked.
"Well, prepare to lose!" Leif yelled.
But Nikolai just started laughing. Laughing like it was a joke we didn't get.

Then the voting started.