Chapter 32:
. "Wait, what happened to Peko's sword?" Naegi suddenly thought.-
. The thought wouldn't leave him. His attacker had had a dagger. He had had a sword, unsheathed even. He felt there was a loose end. Where had the attacker put the sword? Naegi rushed out of the A/V room, and back to the gymanisum's atirum.
. The sword was gone, and so was its holster.
. "Of course, it's gone." Naegi shook his head. "My attacker wanted to leave no evidence behind. So why wasn't I killed? Convienence? Or is the mastermind playing a few moves ahead?"
. He started to work through from the opposite approach, if there was one lesson he had learned from the trials, it was how to implement logic.
. "So if the mastermind had left evidence, someone might have taken a look at it? But what evidence could be acquired from the fact that I grabbed the sword? Did my attacker do something to the sword?"
. The next question that came to mind was "Who could have possibly gotten any evidence off that sword?"
. The answer easily came to him. "Kyoko Kirigiri."
. "How could she have possibly gotten any evidence off that sword?"
. "Or was she leaving evidence on that sword?" Naegi was worried. Could Kirigiri be playing a double-role? It didn't seem likely, but it was a possibility he couldn't overlook. But if so, why would she put herself in danger like this? If someone killed her, Monokuma's plan went off the rails. Or was someone else pulling the strings on Kirigiri's orders?
. If Kirigiri was behind the masked figure, some things fell into place, like why he wasn't killed. After all, it would have meant they hold a class trial, and if they guessed Kirigiri, according to the rules of this School Life of Mutual Killing, she would die in an ironic execution.
. Naegi looked at the clock. It was 2 AM. He decided to go pacing back to bed. Out two nights a row with a masked figure lurking about, probably wasn't the smartest idea.
. Togami woke up the following morning, and retrieved some Luwack Coffee, and on his way to the library, noticed that the A/V room door was open. In it he saw an open word document.
. "It appears Naegi was here last night." Togami said. The document had autosaved at a little after 2:15 AM. "Guy needs to stop staying out so late." Togami intently looked over. Though the sentences were coherent, there was no structure. It was hardly an account of what had happened in this place.
. Togami saved the document one last time, and closed it. He doubted Naegi had meant to leave it open, but why the hell was it named 'Makoto Naegi ... And Knuckles.'?
. "Truly, I will never understand him." Togami sighed.
. "Hey, Togami." Naegi said.
. Togami jumped slightly in being startled.
. "Oh, you're here."
. "So you read the document, huh."
. "Yeah. And I have one question."
. "Sure?" Naegi said with an impish grin.
. "Why the hell did you call it 'Makoto Naegi ... And Knuckles'?"
. "Because 'And Knuckles' goes with everything."
. "What?"
. "Yeah. Hear me out! Celebrity idol, Sayaka Maizono! AND KNUCKLES!"
. "That doesn't go together at all."
. "Monokuma and Knuckles."
. "Stop it." Togami said, covering his ears. What had he unleashed?
. "Mario... And Knuckles."
. "I'm not listening." Togami said, he walked away. He didn't care that he left his coffee in the A/V room.
. "Izuru Kamakura.. and Knuckles." That one got Togami to lower his hands.
. "Who's Izuru Kamakura?" Togami said.
. Naegi leaned in and whispered. "According to information Fujisaki found. Apparently Izuru Kamakura was the founder of Hope's Peak."
. "Way back in the 1930s?"
. "Yeah."
. "Truly, this is surreal." Monokuma said, waddling over, finally showing up with the commotion. "Makoto Naegi, SDHSL Smartass, is bothering Byakuya Togami with the "And Knuckles" Meme."
. "See, Monokuma gets the 'And Knuckles' Meme. Why can't you?"
. "Because this 'And Knuckles Meme' is stupid!"
. "How dare you!" Naegi said in mock outrage. "I'll have you know the 'And Knuckles' Meme is classic."
. "Sure it is."
. "Naegi, what are you doing?" Maizono asked.
. "You ever hear of Knuckles the Echidna?" Monokuma asked.
. "Yes. Fujisaki explained his color pallette to me."
. "Well, it's a running joke to add 'And Knuckles' to stuff because of the 1994 ..."
. "SEGA Genesis cartridge that was the 2nd half of Sonic 3 & Knuckles. I know. I paid attention to what Fujisaki said all those days ago. I don't know why."
. "So you're bothering Togami with the 'And Knuckles' Joke." Maizono said of Naegi.
. "Hey, Maizono, what are you doing, stop dragging me!"
. "It's funny that Maizono, a girl, is the straight man to Naegi's antics." Monokuma said to Togami, who had been left dumbfounded.
. "I don't care." Togami said, and he walked away from Monokuma up the staircase to the second floor.
. "Well, well, well." Monokuma said, casting a glance aside at the gymnasium.
. Celeste put on her jacket. Monokuma kept the school at an even twenty degrees celsius. She glanced at her folded up outfit still in its dresser. She hadn't slept well the previous night. It appeared stimulation was running short in this school.
. She was greeted to another announcement. But this one wasn't from Monokuma.
. "Hey, Hey, Hey, Guys. Remember me! I'm sure you do. You first heard me after you discovered Aoi Asahina's body! Anyhow, I'm really enjoying myself. But I feel like I have to prod you guys into doing something."
. "That girl again." Celeste sighed.
. "However, now he's patched me in from the outside. Didn't want me to 'interfere' with the spectacle he's got going on."
. The speaker continued. "Good Nom-Nom-Noming."
. "While I applaud Monokuma for introducing a new announcer and for calling Togami 'a four-eyed lemon', this girl could quickly become irritating fast." Celeste sighed.
. Unbeknownest to her, Fujisaki was having thesame sentiments.
. "Does Monokuma's operator have a bunch of lackeys that he can call on command?" Fujisaki wondered.
. "I may only be 162 centimeters tall, but I can sure be a lot of fun to listen to. Or am 164 centimeters? I can't remember the last time I measured myself. I should do so." the announcer continued.
. "If you want us to be interested in what you say, reveal your name!" Fujisaki shouted at the monitor.
. There was a pause of about three seconds.
. "No can do, my adorable little programmer!'
. Fujisaki noticed the delay. This girl was too excitable not to respond immediately. So what was that delay?
. "Hey, whoever you are. Why are you back?"
. Again the delay came. "Because it was boring. And I needed to inject some humor and life into this school." The girl was ecstastic. "I certainly don't want to hear about the Dreamcast all the time."
. "Screw you, the Dreamcast was awesome." Fujisaki said, and waited for her reply.
. "Yeah, nobody cares."
. "I care." Fujisaki muttered silently.
. Fujisaki turned around and begin wandering to the A/V Room.
. "Well, most of the auidence doesn't. Say, Mr. Baseball, what do you mean, who am I talking to specifically? I'm talking to the programmer, duh. You couldn't pick that up from context."
. It was at this moment that Togami realized that this girl was basically doing a simultaneous chess exhibition only instead of chess, it was conversations with people.
. "And now for something completely different!" the girl was bubbling with energy.
. All the students were surprised when a video clip hit the announcement screen instead.
. "The first move requires no pieces. It is the look into the eyes of your opponent. The iron gaze of a warrior. The frozen stare of a man possessed. The piercing glare of a champion. Feel his years. A lifetime of hunger and hope. Triffles and triumphs. Search his heart for fear. Show him none in return."
. "What's going on?" Leon was surprised. "Why is a basketball promo being played?"
. "No single piece can win a match. Combine several, move them in concert, and behold. A synchronized symphony of force. Push forward. Attack. Retreat. Or is it a trick? A ruse to draw out the opposition. Be watchful, as one avenue closes, another one opens. Employ tactics that advance your aims while perplexing your rivals. Be mindful of time, but do not grant a clock authority over your reason."
. "Huh." Celeste said. This was different. And she did not like it. Monokuma sure knew how to keep them on their toes.
. "Defend with vigor. A skilled adversary is beatable when his movements are restricted and his patterns are exposed. Tension grinds at the nerves. Emotion can weigh a man down, or lift him in the air. This is a game of kings. It is a ballet of the brave, choreographed on a wooden slab."
. "A chess motif?" Togami was sure he didn't miss it. "With basketball?"
. "Promise your foe one thing:doom. Accept only ultimate glory as your prize. Know that winning and losing are black and white. Master this game and you will make the final move. After all have fallen, you will stand alone... crown intact."
. Togami was stunned as the promo ended.
. "I know that promo came out in 2009, but come on, doesn't it apply so well here?" the girl was back.
. "That was her answer." Togami thought. She was throwing things at us that we had never been exposed to before in hopes of making something stick. "Is this our next motive? Coming not from Monokuma, but from someone else entirely?"
. "Shame Aoi Asahina wasn't here to enjoy it. She would have recognized it immediately." the girl was cheerful.
. "Is she Monokuma's operator?" Naegi said.
. "Nope." Monokuma had appeared next to him. "I let her back on the airwaves. You know, for my entertainment."
. "You say that. But you sound like there's an ulterior motive." Naegi said.
. "Oooh, she's launching into another promo." Monokuma said.
. But it wasn't a promo. It was a song.
. "'Amazing'" by Kanye West." Monokuma noted as he left Naegi with a disturbed look on his face. "Interesting choice."
. "What is this?" Naegi was perturbed. What was happened? Monokuma's operator had brought in someone else to announce, and had given them free reign to put whatever they want on the monitors.
. " And now I have a movie that I'm going to play. It's called 'This is Spinal Tap'." the announcer was going off the deep end.
. "No, Mr. Ace Pitcher, I don't care that's it's an R-rated movie released in 1984. It's amazing. A pure eleven out of ten. Oh, and SDHSL Troper, Chihiro Fujisaki, for the record, it's where the Tv Codifier 'Up To Eleven' came from."
. "This is insane." Naegi said.
. "Hmmm." the girl struggled. "Sorry folks, looks like I don't have my copy with me. Perhaps another time, then?"
. Naegi blew a sigh of relief. He paced up through the school, running into Fujisaki on the third floor.
. "Hey, Chihiro."
. "Where are you going?"
. "To the Physics Lab."
. "What for?"
. "I don't know."
. The girl was still going on, and on. "Alright, since I can't play 'This is Spinal Tap', I can play instead... What can I play?"
. It sounded like she was clicking on something with a mouse. "What can I pull up in my music library? Led Zeppelin? The Beatles? Adelitas Way? ... No, wait. What's that you said? Tokyo Drift? Listen, you mechanic, I know you like the Fast & Furious series as much as anyone, but come on."
. There was a pause, and Fujisaki's eyes went wide. Another one, yet unseen, of Monokuma's subordinates?
. "I'm not going to play the audio of all of the Fast and Furious Trailers to them." the girl continued to argue with someone else on her end.
. "We're being played with. Like toys." Togami was not amused. It was bad enough when Monokuma had one subordinate he could call upon, but how many did he have?
. "Oooo, 'Walk the Dinosaur' by 'Was Not Was', this one is going to be good."
. After 'Walk the Dinosaur', the girl put on 'Smooth Criminal' by Michael Jackson, and then followed it up with 'Sophomore Slump or Comeback of the Year' by Fallout Boy.
. Celeste couldn't believe it was only 11 AM. This day was already becoming really weird, and I only got weirder.
. "Now it's time for 'Still Alive'." the girl intoned."You know, from Portal?"
. "Okay, now we're just getting mocked." Fujisaki said. His eyes went wide with the girl's next musical choice. "What? I know this track. It's from Silver's first cutscene in 06!"
. "'Always Something There to Remind Me' by the Naked Eyes?" Maizono said, of the following song.
. "This is a joke. At least, Monokuma's motives were designed to get us to do what he wanted. What's the point about playing this?" Naegi said, as the eight minute track, 'Money For Nothing' by Dire Staits started up.
. The students could only stay in silence as Dire Straits was followed by 'Somebody's Watching Me' by Rockwell and then R.E.M.s 'It's The End of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)'. The Battle of Yavin background music from Star Wars came next.
. For the next hour and a half, Naegi wandered the halls on the third floor with the eeriest soundtrack. It must have been the music. His eyes followed something rolling on the floor, something bronze.
. It was a Monokuma Coin. That's right. Monokuma had planted them school, but as far as Naegi knew none of the students were actually taking part in his 'scavenger hunt'. Come to think of it, Naegi still had the other coin he had picked up in his pocket. Maybe he would try that Mono-Machine himself later.
. Naegi stared at his hand with the original coin. He had picked it up his first night, well before any of the murders had happened. It had been before Oogami and Enoshima's double-knockout, before Ishimaru's death, and Oowada's murder, and Genocider's replacement of Fukawa, and before Hagakure, Asahina, and Yamada's deaths, why had he kept the coin in his pocket all this time?
. His thoughts were interrupted with a music switch. "Hey, is that the Numa Numa song? If that isn't a throwback to 2005, I don't know what is."
. Right before night-time, Naegi took his two coins to the Mono-Mono Machine. He put them in, and got a pair of presents.
. "Huh, a silent receiver? And a Self-Destructing Cassette?"
. "Hey, Naegi?"
. "Kirigiri?"
. "Playing with the Mono-Mono Machine?"
. "Yeah, I got a silent receiver and a self-destructing cassette."
. "Is that so? Here, let me try, I have a coin of my own."
. Kirigiri inserted a coin.
. "Looks like today's the day of useless tech. I got a silent reciever too."
. "Well, the guide says that the reciever wouldn't let either person hear each other."
. "So I suppose using them to call each other would be pointless."
. "Can they even call each other?"
. Naegi tried it out. Sure enough, they could call each other, but it wouldn't do them much good if they couldn't talk on them.
. "Hey, I wonder if Fujisaki could rig up the cassette to the reciever?"
. "He's a programmer, not a mechanic. And even if the cassette functioned after more than one message, we'd would just be playing rudimentary voicemail with each other."
. "Yeah, good point. Phone-tag isn't exactly a desirable method of communication."
. "Still, it's better to have them. We may put them to some use."
. Naegi sighed and rubbed his eyes. He sure was tired.
. "Naegi, are you feeling alright?"
. "Yeah, I'm just going to go to bed."
. He left to his room. Fifteen minutes later, Togami had made a startling discovery in the gymnasium, and had gathered everyone else.
. "Listen up, Monokuma is lying unconscious here. I propose we get to dismantling him." Togami suggested of Celeste, Fujisaki, Leon, Genocider, and Maizono.
. "Yeah, but what if it's a trap." Leon asked.
. "And where are Kirigiri and Naegi?" Celeste asked.
. "I saw Naegi go into his room. I tried knocking on Naegi's door, but he wouldn't come out." Togami said. "And I can't find Kirigiri. I don't particularly care. If Naegi doesn't leave his room or let anyone else in, neither he nor Kirigiri can murder each other."
. "But..." Fujisaki said, squatting down to Monokuma. "this could be dangerous. Do you remember what happened when Oowada grabbed Monokuma? He blew up a few moments later."
. "Yeah, I suppose." Togami said. "But we've reached the point where there's nothing to be gained without risk."
. It was at that moment Maizono knew that tonight was going to be a long night.
. "Alright, we're going to attack Monokuma's weak point for massive damage!" Fujisaki said, excitedly, pulling out his tool kit.
. "Dude, you seem a little too excited." Leon said.
. "Course I am. I've been itching for a chance to disect Monokuma ever since I laid eyes on his machinry." Fujisaki was not going to pass up this chance.
. "Alright. Where do we start?" Leon said.
. "What do you mean?" Genocider said.
. "I'm not seeing anything screws or any weakpoints whatsoever." Leon said. "There's nowhere to just pry him open."
. "We'll see about that." Fujisaki said.
. "Woah, he is very determined." Genocider said. It was the safe to say that nobody here cared for Monokuma, but to display this level of intent to dismantle. Naegi wasn't the only one that changed with the extreme situation.
. Fujisaki began by inspecting the feet.
. "It's like everything has been welded together." Fujisaki said. "I wonder if either of the science labs has other tools."
. "What do you need?" Togami said.
. "I need us to move Monokuma up to the Chemistry Lab." Fujisaki said.
. "Why?" Celeste asked,
. "There should be bunsen burners in the chemistry lab. If we can hook up one to the gas, and get it alight..."
. "Are you saying we should burn through Monokuma?"
. "He's made of metal, and fuck it, he's deactivated."
. "I just need an opening for us to work through."
. "Don't you know what happens if you put a fork in a microwave?" Togami asked.
. "Yeah, but Monokuma's not going to be surrounded by high energy heat waves." Fujisaki argued.
. "Couldn't too much heat melt the circuitry?" Genocider asked.
. "And what about his backups?" Leon said.
. "If we were going to here something from his backups, my suggestion that we heat Monokuma up would have done something." Fujisaki countered.
. "Yeah. For starters, why is this mastermind hiding behind a robotic teddy bear? Why not show its face directly? I mean, beyond the initial shock factor, it's not practical. What if it breaks down in front of us, and Fujisaki gets a chance to dissect it?"Maizono remembered Naegi saying on their very first night trapped in this school.
. Everybody followed as Leon and Fujisaki carried Monokuma up to the Chemistry Lab.
. "Shoot, the gas in the lab isn't working."
. They all marched back down in frustration. Along the way, Fujisaki and Leon stopped in the Physics Lab.
. "Ah ha. Get a load of this." Fujisaki said, triumphantly, holding up some metallic pins.
. "Get a load of what? Those?" Leon asked quizzically.
. "Alright, no, don't you see? If we combine these with the hammers from the art room, we can crack that Monokuma wide open."
. "You really are stoked."
. "Gee, you noticed."
. Leon smirked. Fujisaki had an energy about him that the group sorely needed if they were going to stay awake throughout the night.
. Fifteen minutes later, the rest of the group was sitting around in the gymnasium, watching Fujisaki pry at Monokuma with no luck.
. "What's it even made of?" Togami asked. "We might be able to do something chemical with it, if we knew what it was made of."
. "Partly Tungsten Carbide." Genocider said. "And I think there's an Aluminum alloy mixed in there. Maybe some Kevlar too. At least that's what the outside is made of."
. "Seriously?" Leon asked. "How do you know this?"
. "I... don't know. Maybe Mrs. Gloomy knew. But as to how she learned about what Monokuma was made of, I have no idea." Genocider admitted.
. "So how did Fukawa learn about it?" Leon asked.
. "If I knew that, I would tell you." Genocider snapped at him.
. "Ah!" Leon took a step back.
. Much of the night was spent without luck. Every hour and a half or so, Fujisaki was able to dismantle another limb. When he got to the torso, he made a startling discovery.
. "So this is what blew Monokuma up the first time?" Fujisaki said.
. "Holy Shit!" Celeste said. "Is that a bomb?"
. "It appears to be so." Togami said.
. "Is it motion-activated?" Leon asked.
. "Probably." Togami admitted
. "What? Dude." Leon replied.
. "Well, it would explain a lot." Togami said. "Monokuma appears to have been designed and built by an extremely skilled mechanic."
. "You think they could be mass-produced?" Celeste said. The idea discomforted her to no end.
. "Mass-produced Monokumas on an assembly line? Henry Ford style? Dear God. I hope not." Togami said. "Imagine that bear with its operator running rampant throughout the world. One Monokuma's weaponry potential is massive."
. "Well, if it does have Kevlar in it like Genocider thinks it does, then it would have a field day in America." Fujisaki said.
. "What?"
. "When they aren't invading the wrong country, Americans' solution to massive problems is to shoot at it and hope it goes away." Togami said. "I wish I could say I was kidding, but I've been to America with my father for business meetings. I've seen their news."
. "Wow." Leon said.
. "Although Monokuma's about as pleasant as an aritifical Chaos in Eternal Engine, the bullets might ricochet if they were fired at Monokuma." Fujisaki said. "Cue an early line of Sonic Adventure. 'Oh no. Our weapons are useless!'"
. "You lost me." Maizono said.
. "Well, there are two ways to make things bulletproof." Togami said. "One is to absorb the collision of the bullet fragments, the other is to reflect it."
. "It doesn't really matter if Monokuma is bullet proof." Genocider said. "It's not like we have access to guns in here anyway."
. Celeste raised an eyebrow. "I suppose that gun outside the changing rooms is just an illusion then."
. "Huh. I guess you're right."
. The rest of the night was ueventful. Fujisaki managed to get Monokuma's head isolated.
. "That's strange? Why does Monokuma have a 2.0 USB cord as an output?"
. With this discovery, Leon and Fujisaki brought Monokuma's head to the A/V Room. While Fujisaki began combing through Monokuma's code, the rest of the group began inspecting the rest of Monokuma.
. Hey, guys, what's up?" Naegi said, walking in.
. "Well, well, well. Look who finally showed up." Togami said from in-between his teeth.
. "What the hell?" Naegi said, staring at them.
. "We were up all night, dismantling Monokuma." Maizono said. "Togami tried to get you, but you wouldn't come out. Leon and Fujisaki are inspecting its code right
now."
. "Speaking of which, let's see how they're doing." Togami said to see what Fujisaki and Leon were up to. Everybody made to follow him. It seemed so natural to follow Byakuya Togami, the heir to the illustrious Togami conglomorate. When they got there, Fujisaki had a shocking announcement for the other five students.
. "This is... this is similar to Alter Ego." Fujisaki said.
. "Seriously?" Celeste said. "Maybe somebody else stole a baseline program from you."
. "No, the way the code is commented leads me to believe otherwise. It's something either my father or I would have written. That being said, I don't think my father has anything to do with Monokuma. And I don't remember commenting on this code."
."So does that mean you're a traitor?" Genocider said.
. "If he was a traitor, would he have revealed to us anything about the code?" Togami said. "It's entirely possible the code was repurposed. Everyone, I've come to a decision. We're going to break down the headmaster's door."
. "What?" Naegi said. "That is a terrible idea. Absolutely horrible."
. "Hey, you weren't here. You don't get to say anything." Togami replied.
. Naegi sighed as everybody made their way to the fourth had a really bad feeling about this. Was it because he was the only one who had gotten any sleep last night? He felt he was remembering things that should have been forgotten.
. "Genocider, it is now 9 AM. Go fetch a pickaxe from the shed in the garden." Togami commanded.
. "Alright, my dear." Genocider said.
. "And now we see." Togami said, stroking the door. "What secrets are behind you?"
. A minute later, Genocider came back. She had news to report.
. "What about the pickaxe?" Togami said, angrily.
. "Yeah, sorry, my White Knight. Something else has come up." Genocider admitted.
. "What do you mean by that?"
. "Why is there a masked corpse in the garden?"
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please leave a review, and stay tuned. I'm about to pack this fanfiction with so much stuff it's going to need its own page.
Ah, yes, the gutpunch of Dangan Ronpa 3. I liked Kimura and Mitarai.
You know, after writing 33 chapters of this over a span of about 18 months. I get why Kodaka writes what he writes. Just the reactions of Angrish from the audience is truly something to behold. Fortunately, there's always fanfiction.
EDIT: 12/17/2017. I was going through the story and had to make some adjustments.