(3rd Person's POV)

After the students went there separate ways, Sora calmly walked up to the second floor. Yawning, she walked around the floor aimlessly.

---

With Makoto...

"S-Someone! Come here!" A voice yelled.

"What...?!" Makoto turned his head. That was Hina! She's supposed to be checking...

"The 3rd floor!"

There was no time to think. He was running up the stairs before he knew what was happening. Makoto flew up the 3rd floor in a hurry. Right away, he saw Hina standing in the hallway, looking horrified.

"N-Naegi!"

"Hina, what's wrong!?"

"I-It's awful... The rec room door was open..." Hina said. "A-And when I looked inside, I saw...I saw...!" She then shook her head. "I'd better get the others...right...? I...I'm gonna go get 'em! You go on ahead, Naegi!" She then rushed downstairs.

"The rec room...? What did she see in there...?" Makoto wondered.

By this point, Makoto was used to acting without thinking. So without thinking, he leapt into the rec room. The first thing he saw was...

"N...ngh...!" A voice grunted. It was Celeste...she had bruises on her face and was holding her arm in pain. "Gh...Naegi!"

"C-Celeste! What happened!?" Makoto asked, his tone full of worry and concern.

"I was...stupid. I got...attacked." Celeste managed to say, still trying to recover from her injuries.

"Attacked!? By who!?" Makoto inquired.

Celeste shook her head. "I am not sure. Some sort of...strange man."

"Strange man...?" Makoto repeated in confusion.

"A suspicious person whose existence is so unusual, I can't help but call him strange..." Celeste mused. "Without a doubt, it was some sort of strange suspicious individual. And that man attacked me, with the hammer on the ground there..."

The lucky student looked down to see some kind of wooden hammer. It had a pretty strange design...it also had some writing on the head of it.

"Justice...Hammer...1?" Makoto said in confusion.

"That is the hammer he attacked me with. I barely managed to avoid the blow, but I stumbled and fell." Celeste explained. "I now curse my lack of daily exercise..."

"Naegi! Celeste!" A voice called out. It was Hina. And she wasn't alone, as two figures were behind her. "I found Sakura and Shirayuki!"

"C-Celeste... What on Earth happened here?" Sakura asked with widened eyes, while Sora looked on with a tilted head.

"Apparently she was attacked by some kind of strange man..." Makoto explained.

"A...strange man? Tell us everything you can remember, Celeste." Sakura requested. "Be as detailed as you can..."

She slowly nodded. "Well, it all happened earlier this morning... I woke up a little before 7 a.m. Nighttime was not yet over but I knew it was about to end, so I decided it would be okay if I..." Celeste then frowned. "I decided to take a little stroll around the 1st floor. ...I understand now that that was a mistake. Anyway, that is where I first saw the strange man. I was immediately wary of him... He was obviously suspicious, so I decided to follow after him in secret. As I followed, I saw him go into the rec room. I tried to peek through the gap in the door which is when he noticed me, and..."

"And that's when you were attacked." Sakura correctly guessed.

"It happened after 7 a.m., just after nighttime had ended." Celeste told everyone.

"So if it happened just after 7 o'clock..." Makoto trailed off.

"...Then that was just about an hour ago. Right when we were all meeting in the dining hall..." Sakura said.

"The attack caused me to lose consciousness. Which would mean, I was unconscious for about an hour." Celeste said.

"Well, I'm just glad you weren't hurt too badly..." Hina looked at her in concern.

"That is because I begged and groveled for my life..." Celeste muttered, but the others heard her anyway.

"You did?" Sakura looked at her in slight surprise.

"I told him I would do anything if he spared me. I offered to lick his boots, whatever it took..."

"You...?" Sora gave her a skeptical expression. "You did all that?"

"I did. Is that really so hard to believe?" Celeste asked as Sora gave her an "Are you serious?" look.

"You were willing to throw away your pride..." Sakura mused while closing her eyes.

"It is a necessary skill for survival. Anyway, the important thing now is that we go search for the suspicious individual." Celeste suggested. "If we do not hurry, this could become a serious problem."

"Celeste... What do you mean, a "serious problem"?" Makoto inquired.

"When I looked in the rec room, I saw that the suspicious man was not alone. He had with him...Yamada." Celeste said.

"Y-Yamada?!" Makoto sputtered in shock.

"After he attacked me, he dragged Yamada away..." Celeste looked at them with a pained expression.

"You mean...Yamada was kidnapped?" Sakura widened her eyes.

"Shouldn't we start looking for him, then...? " Hina looked at Celeste. "Listen, Celeste...did anything in particular stand out about this strange guy?"

"Did anything stand out? Well... Rather than trying to explain it, it would probably be faster if I simply showed you." Celeste said.

"Show us...?" Makoto looked confused.

Celeste pulled out a familiar-looking camera. "This is Yamada's hand-me-down. His digital camera..."

"You don't mean...!" Makoto exclaimed.

"I was able to photograph the suspicious individual without him realizing it." Celeste told them.

"Seriously!? Let's see it!" Hina said.

"I would tell you not to be shocked, but I fear it would do you no good." Celeste sighed.

With that strange comment in mind, they all looked at the camera... And what they saw was...

"Huh...? Whaaaaaaat!?" Makoto yelled in shock. Well, Celeste was right on the money about the "strange" part. Not only is their face covered, but they seemed to be in some sort of costume you'd see at a convention.

"Is that a...robot costume?" Hina asked.

"...That looks ridiculous." Sora deadpanned.

"As I said, a very strange and suspicious individual, yes?" Celeste put the camera away.

"So this weird robot guy...dragged Yamada away?" Makoto asked.

"And I took this right after being attacked. In other words, a full hour ago. Which is why if we don't hurry, it could become a serious problem." Celeste said.

Sora raised an eyebrow in a suspicious manner. Something doesn't seem right here...

"I believe I understand what happened." Sakura spoke up. "Well, no, there is much I don't understand. But... The point is, someone dressed like that dragged Yamada away."

"And it happened over an hour ago..." Makoto mused.

"This is bad! We have to hurry!" Hina shouted.

"Celeste, do you know where this mysterious man went?" Makoto asked.

"When they left the rec room, they headed left..."

"If that's true, they were headed toward the stairs leading down to the 2nd floor!" Sakura realized.

"Then he must be down there, right!?" Makoto asked.

" The 2nd floor... That's where Kirigiri and Shirayuki were investigating..." Hina said.

"Hm?" Makoto looked around, now noticing that someone was absent. "Huh? Speaking of which, why isn't Kirigiri here?"

"Sorry...I didn't have time to go look for her. Shirayuki was the only one I could find on the 2nd floor..." Hina then scratched the side of her face. "Well, it wasn't really that hard. I just found her staring into space out in the hallway..."

"This is bad. If the strange man did head to the 2nd floor, Kirigiri might run into him..." Sakura grit her teeth.

"We have to hurry! Kirigiri's in danger!" Makoto exclaimed.

As soon as the words flew out Makoto's mouth, they all rushed out of the room and down to the 2nd floor.

---

On the second floor...

The students then looked around the second floor, searching for Kyoko.

"Hey, you all..." A voice spoke as the students turned to see Byakuya and Genocide Jill. "What's going on? What's all the fuss?"

"Yeah! You guys playin' a game or something!?" Genocide Jill tilted her head.

"Does it freaking LOOK like we're playing a game!?" Hina yelled.

"Listen, have either of you seen Kirigiri or Yamada?" Makoto asked.

"Nope nope, sure haven't!" Genocide Jill responded.

"Are they on this floor? We just got here ourselves." Byakuya said. "I heard some kind of uproar, so I came running."

"We came here together!" Genocide Jill exclaimed, but Byakuya was having none of it.

"No...you're just stalking me." He glared at her.

"A-Anyway, can you guys help us look for them?" Makoto asked.

"Why? What happened?" Byakuya asked as he folded his arms and looked at them.

"There's no time now. We'll explain later." Sakura said.

"Well...fine." Byakuya sighed as he then smirked. "It sounds like something interesting is going on."

"YAMADA! KIRIGIRI!" Hina yelled. "If you can hear me, say something!" Her voice echoed down the hall in vain.

Suddenly, Sora had her arms folded as her ahoge started twitching, like some sort of sixth-sense. "...Mm?"

"Did you hear something?" Celeste looked at her.

"...It came from the library." Sora said.

"The library!? Okay, let's go!" Hina exclaimed.

The students ran to the library as fast as their legs would carry them.

---

The doors to the library burst open. In the middle of the room, the students saw...

"Gh... It hurts...it hurts...!" It was Hifumi. He was super injured, with blood dripping down his forehead. They ran up to him, concerned.

"A-Are you okay!?" Makoto asked.

"I'm glad to see...you're still alive..." Hina sighed with relief.

"It's super bad, though... Look at all the blood..." Hifumi said with heavy breaths, barely finding it in him to speak.

"How did you get hurt?" Byakuya asked.

"That guy hit me..." Hifumi said.

"What guy?" Makoto asked.

"Robo Justice." Seeing the students confused expressions, he continued. "Er, that's what I decided to call him, just now..."

"What are you talking about...?" Byakuya looked at him.

"Th-That guy was...Robo Justice..."

"This "Robo Justice" you are referring to is...this, is it not?" Celeste pulled out the digital camera and showed it to everyone.

"Wh-What the hell am I looking at...?" Byakuya grimaced.

"This is the one that attacked Celeste and Yamada." Makoto looked at Hifumi. "Isn't that right, Yamada?"

"Yeah...that's him, I'm sure of it..." Hifumi nodded. "Robo Justice...!"

"Robo Justice, huh...?" Byakuya mused.

"This just keeps getting stranger..." Sakura commented.

Soon, Sora's eyes flickered again to the ground. She picked up a hammer. Not there to see the first Justice Hammer that was used to attack Celeste, she looked confused.

"That hammer...it looks just like the one that attacked Celeste!" Makoto exclaimed. And on top of that, it's actually a little bit bigger than the first one!

"He attacked me with that hammer. He bonked me right on the head with it..." Hifumi shuddered at the memory.

"A hammer that big, I'm surprised you're still okay..." Hina said.

"I'm not okay...! Look at all this blood..." Hifumi grimaced.

"Protein helps heal wounds, you know. Would you like some?" Sakura offered.

"...What." Sora deadpanned.

"...I have never heard such a thing. Are you sure it isn't just you?" Celeste asked.

"Ahh-hahahaha!" A voice cackled as Monokuma suddenly appeared.

"It's him!" Hina exclaimed as she took a few steps back.

"Puhuhu! A robot of justice, huh!? Now things are really starting to get exciting!" Monokuma chuckled. "What kind of special moves does it have? Can it fly? Can it COMBINE!? Nyoohohoho!" He giggled, and just as quickly as he appeared, Monokuma left.

"Why...was he here?" Byakuya asked.

"Let us not concern ourselves with him..." Celeste said. "What we need to do now is get Yamada to the nurse's office right away. Whatever else we do, he needs to be treated as soon as possible."

"You're right! Let's go!" Hina exclaimed.

"Ngh... Thanks, everyone..."

---

The students moved Hifumi to the nurse's office on the 1st floor so they could take care of his injuries.

"How ya feelin', Yamada?" Hina asked. "You want me to take a look at ya?"

"I-I'm okay... I think it stopped bleeding. I'm still kinda dizzy, though..." Hifumi said, placing his hand on his head.

"Perhaps you should rest here a while." Celeste suggested.

"Y-Yeah, good idea..." Hifumi nodded.

"The rest of us should get back to looking for that mystery assailant..." Sakura spoke up.

"Indeed. Before another victim appears..." Celeste nodded in agreement. "The Justice Hammers seem to be increasing in size; first 1 and now 2."

"If there is a Justice Hammer 3, we can only assume it is even bigger than the first two." Byakuya mused.

"Wonder what'd happen if you got hit with that thing..." Sora tapped her index finger on her chin. "It'd be game over for ya for sure..."

"Tell us what happened to you, Yamada." Byakuya folded his arms.

"Well...I woke up early this morning and started looking for Alter Ego ahead of everyone else... I went to the 3rd floor, and that's where the strange costumed man attacked me..." Hifumi explained.

"That must be what I witnessed at around 7 this morning." Celeste commented.

"After that, he dragged me to the library and WHACK! Down came the hammer... That must've been...30 or 40 minutes ago."

"At around 7:30 in other words... We would've still been in the dining hall." Hina pointed out.

Sora nodded at this information. She, Hina, Sakura, and Makoto were still together, and Kyoko was with us. So it couldn't have been any of them...

"I was in the laundry room, doing my laundry." Byakuya said, giving his alibi.

"His black underwear is as black as the pitch-black darkness of the blackest night..." Genocide Jill said.

"Why do you know that...?" Byakuya asked, scrunching up his face in digust.

"Isn't it obvious? Cuz I was peeking!" Genocide Jill innocently smiled at him.

...Anyway, that means it couldn't have been them, either. They've been together the whole time.

Then...the only ones who it could've been are the only people we haven't run into yet... Sora thought. Hiro and Taka...

"By the way, what happened to Kirigiri?" Byakuya asked. "I haven't seen her anywhere..."

"Oh yeah. She was supposed to be checking the 2nd floor with Shirayuki, but...I didn't see her up there at all." Hina told him.

"What about you, Shirayuki? Have you seen her?" Makoto asked, but Sora just made an "I dunno" sound while shrugging.

"Where could she have disappeared to...?" Sakura wondered.

"She's disappeared, huh? What a strange woman..." Byakuya mused as he pushed up his glasses, making them shine. "She might be exactly as I suspected..."

"H-Hold on!" Makoto spoke up. "Kirigiri was with us in the dining hall when Celeste and Yamada were attacked! So--"

"I'm not talking about who attacked them."

"...Huh?"

"I'm referring to what we talked about last night. Who the mastermind's spy might be..." Byakuya looked at Makoto straight in the eye.

"Are you saying...Kirigiri's working with the mastermind?" Makoto widened his eyes in horror and shook his head in denial. "Th-That's not possible!"

"Isn't it? This woman, who seems almost eager to handle dead bodies, hasn't even revealed her true identity." Byakuya sneered at him.

"Save this discussion for later." Sakura interjected. "Right now we need to focus on finding the suspicious individual."

"Yeah! If we don't hurry, there's only gonna be more victims! That might be why Kirigiri and Taka and Hiro haven't shown up yet!" Hina exclaimed.

"Sh-She's right. We have to do something about that mystery man first..." Makoto nodded.

"Don't worry about me. I'll catch up with you guys after I rest for a bit..." Hifumi said.

"Understood. Take care of yourself." Celeste smiled at him.

"Okay, let's go." Sakura said.

With that, the remaining students headed out the nurse's office.

---

"So whoever that is running around, why are they wearing that weird costume?" Hina asked.

"Don't bother looking for reason from a deviant." Byakuya responded.

"So? What're we gonna do? Split up and look around?" Genocide Jill spoke up.

"Our opponent is very dangerous. We don't know what they're capable of. Even here..." Sakura grimaced.

"...!?" Celeste suddenly widened her eyes in shock.

"What's wrong...?" Byakuya asked.

"I saw a shadow! Something moving around at the top of the stairs!" Celeste pointed to the stairs.

"Really!?" Hina exclaimed.

"Up on the 2nd floor, then?" Sakura narrowed her eyes. "You bastard! You won't get away from me!"

The students shot up towards the stairs.

---

On the second floor...

"He must be around here somewhere. Let's split up and corner him!" Celeste suggested.

"But don't take any chances. As soon as you find him, call out and I'll come running." Sakura told them.

"Okay, but...what should we yell?" Celeste asked.

"...Does it matter?" Sora cocked her head to the side.

"Yeah, yell whatever you want! As long as its loud enough so we can hear it!" Hina told Celeste.

"Then...is "haaah!" okay?"

"Haaah or dohyaah or whatever you want! Just yell loud enough so we can hear you!"

"Hmhmhm. Dohyaah? I have never heard such a reaction..." Celeste giggled.

"Okay, whatever! Just hurry up and start looking! Okay? Let's go!" Hina exclaimed as she took off.

"Hey Mister Robot! Where ya hidin'? If you don't come out, we're gonna decommission ya!" Genocide Jill cackled as she ran off.

The students spread out in every direction to track down the costumed suspect.

---

Sora yawned. "I can't believe we're havin' this much trouble findin' a giant friggin' robot..."

"Ha-aaaaaahhhh!"

"...What the hell was that?" Sora deadpanned. "Was that Celeste? It sounded like it was from the 3rd floor..."

The blonde then walked up to the third floor.

---

"Over here, everyone!" Celeste called.

Everyone who had heard the scream had come running...

"Celeste! What's wrong!?" Hina asked with concern.

"That was a rather...intense scream for someone like you." Byakuya folded his arms.

"I saw him! The strange costumed man...!" Celeste exclaimed. "He ran off as soon as I screamed... I was blocking the stairs, so he headed further down into the hallway and disappeared...!"

"He must be down this hall! Come on, let's go!" Makoto exclaimed.

"Haa...haa..." Genocide Jill suddenly made some heavy breaths, gaining the attention of the students.

"What is it now!?" Hina yelled.

"Hachoo!" She then sneezed and turned back into Toko. "H-Huh...?"

"Whoa! It's really true!" Hina widened her eyes in shock. "But that doesn't matter right now!"

"Ungyaaaaaahhh!!!" Another loud, ear piecing scream erupted.

"Huh!?" Makoto exclaimed.

"Oh, what now...?!" Sora rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Wh-What was that!?" Hina wondered worridly.

"That came from downstairs! It must have been..." Celeste trailed off.

"Yamada!" Makoto exclaimed in worry. "He's in the nurse's office! This is bad! Come on, we have to go back!"

"What about the suspect? We've gone to all this trouble to capture him, right?" Byakuya pointed out.

"Then why don't we split into two groups?" Celeste suggested.

"I'll lead the hunting party. That seems much more interesting." Byakuya chuckled.

"Very well, then Naegi, Shirayuki, and Hina, you come with me to the nurse's office." Celeste suggested. "I will leave the capture of the suspicious individual to Fukawa, Ogami, and Togami."

"We'll handle it. Just go take care of Yamada." Sakura said.

"Okay! You guys be careful!" Makoto nodded.

With that the students split into two groups. Makoto, Sora, Celeste, and Hina all ran downstairs to the 1st floor.

"He's in the nurse's office! Let's go!" Hina yelled.

---

They stormed into the nurse's office, and what greeted them was...

A world of drippling pink.

Laying in a pool of his own blood lied...Hifumi Yamada, the Ultimate Fanfic Creator...

Chapter 23: End

To be continued...?