Disclaimer: It's now twelve chapters, so all of you are pretty aware that DaMastah101 doesn't own DDLC, sigh...

What's up my good people, Monika here. And no, DaMastah101 didn't abandon this story!

Today, we're finally going to conclude my author's Introduction Arc for TWBTS! I hope you guys enjoy what this update has in store for you, ahaha. If you thought Chapter 10 was quite long, then you're in for a whammy here.

This chapter has over 40,000 words total, excluding my disclaimer section and DaMastah101's authors note which bumps up the count to over 42,000. Just a warning from lil' ol' me, ahaha~

(I'd take Monika's warning very seriously, to be honest. She fainted the first time I had her read this chapter's drafts due to the massive wordcount. And this is a former literature club president we're talking about here.)

Hey, no need to tell them about that! But yes, this chapter was pretty exhausting to read. So do savor it my good readers, and enjoy the show!

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Just Monika - Regular text

"Forever Sayori" - Spoken words/Dialogue

'Knife Wife Yuri' - Thoughts

{Buff Natsuki} - Text or audio displayed on-screen or by speaker, be it from a computer/smartphone/TV

"Cause we're going to shout it loud, even if our words seem meaningless. It's like I'm carrying the weight of the world..."

-Taken from the lyrics of "Weight of the World", a track from the NieR: Automata OST.

[Chapter 12 - Love, Part 2]

The celestial and otherworldly concept referred to as "fate"... apparently it really did like to work in such mysterious ways, and the manners in which it did happened to be truly unprecedented at times.

Like an endless amount of infinite choices. These choices, determine the future being shaped by those who chose. All of this in the pursuit of that special day. That one goal commonly shared by basically every character in this tale.

So far, it's been quite the long and captivating journey, for the heroes of this story. A group of people destined to be united, yet currently divided by a screen. In two worlds that were far different, but still connected with each other.

Two parallel yet remarkably similar worlds, divided by the chasm of realities adamantly upheld by a computer and its hardware. The world within the screen... and the world beyond the screen.

First, was the story of a young man named Izuna Takaya.

The guy who fought against fate's decree and won in the end.

A lovestruck and dedicated boy who gave his entire efforts and perseverance, during the quest to save Monika from her neverending torment casted upon her by Doki Doki Literature Club. A man, who pushed through all odds, and overcame them somehow, when heaven itself heard his wish. Monika had entered his world, with Sayori soon following after. And even though they had a bit of conflict and rough patches along the way, in the end Izuna and Monika stood tall as a couple that awaited a bright future.

With the help of his big sister Yumi, his close friend Val, and a crazy amount of luck... Izuna, Monika and Sayori would face everything that the world could possibly throw at them, with a smile.

On the other hand, we have another young man who goes by the name Blank.

A guy who is currently fighting against fate.

The previously nameless avatar of Doki Doki Literature Club's main character figure. Before that fated lightning bolt from Heaven's Bridge had struck him, he was nothing. A template for various players across Izuna's reality to utilize when they played the game. A mere shell for the player's whims. A literal blank slate. But now he had purpose.

His steadfast and unyielding goal of defying the malevolent machinations of the script, in order to escape with Natsuki and Yuri into reality. And of course, to meet his beloved cinnamon roll once more - Sayori.

These parallel tales that chronicled their attempts in obtaining true happiness... were about to be intertwined soon. For as their paths unfolded, they may soon find themselves in circumstances that may bring the two of them... together.

...

...

...

A wise man once went through a similarly enthralling journey to the ones that Izuna and Blank were currently undergoing. And at the very end of it, he had these words to say:

"No one knows what the future holds. That's why its potential is infinite."

Needless to say, the wise man had succeeded in the goal of his journey. We could only hope that Izuna and Blank succeed in theirs too. That they truly live out a happy ending.

Their special day.

In this infinite future that we're all a part of, let us bear witness to the choices that will forever change both realities of the digital world, and the real world.

The choices that led to a bright new world, beyond the screen.

*****The World Beyond The Screen*****

A whirlwind of action and emotion encompassed everything in sight.

It was chaotic, simply put.

In a few measly words, such was the short and succinct description of the event that had just transpired.

The battle that had ensued within the empty streets of DDLC's simulated neighborhood had been very costly, and eveidently took a toll on all of the combatants that were involved prior. None of them had emerged out of the conflict completely unscathed. Whether it was physical exhaustion, or being mentally drained.

In the aftermath of everything though, the world within the game was in a state of calm and silence once more.

But... unbenknownst to all of them, a lone figure had been watching the entire thing unfold before her eyes. Taking note of several things during the battle, and mentally storing away the information into the deep recesses of her mind, for future use.

It was an unknown female. A lady, specifically.

The mysterious lady of unknown origin.

She had seen everything pertaining to the great conflict. Notable stuff that the woman took great interest in included Blank's sudden abilities with his swords, Yuri's ascension via the timely help and intervention of Elyssa Libitina, and the resounding defeat of Mizuki after an ardurous battle. She was also checking on the code from time to time.

With her long and beautiful auburn locks of hair flowing quite splendidly with the air around her, she narrows her emerald eyes. They had a faraway and sorrowful look in them, mulling over several things in her head.

"So Mizuki failed. To be honest though, I didn't really expect much from that scumbag to begin with anyway. How anybody could stomach being so cruel to their own daughter is beyond me. If he didn't backhand Natsuki in such a violent manner, he would've been able to bring her to me."

The woman coldly states to herself, as she continues to stare at Blank and Mizuki from her current vantage point. Her vision's range was greatly enhanced by some adjustments made using some of her administrative powers. She was currently on the rooftop of the Dokis' rendered school building.

"You just had to escort her to me, Mizuki. She's been through enough, thanks to you and this game's madness. But of course, you couldn't even do that right. Now, I have Elyssa Libitina on my trail too thanks to this. You deserve to lose your beloved wife."

She clenches her fist tightly, her eyes glistening with the faint sensation of tears. Yet she did not cry, she didn't want to.

"Monika, why did you have to leave me here all by myself?"

The woman releases a breath that she had been unconsciously holding this entire time.

"You really did love and choose the player over everything, and it hurts. It still pains me, you know. Leaving me all alone like this. How cruel of you."

She then glares at the sky, as if trying to pierce the heavens with her eyes. Her plight was that of heartbreak, and she blamed the game for everything. All of the misfortune that had struck her and her family, it was all this wretched game's fault!

"This game took my husband from me, and then it took you from me as well. Though, I wonder if you still even care about me anymore. With your epiphany and all. It's all fake to you, I wager."

She huffs a bit. Her voice still had a bitter tone to it.

"You're never coming back, Monika. It was always about the player for you, and the desire for reality. That's such a bitter pill you're making me swallow... ahaha. However, that's the truth. Isn't it?"

Pacing around the rooftop a bit, she glares at the sky. It looked like she was glaring at some higher being up there, due to the despondent gaze in her emerald orbs. Her fist had been tightly clenched all this time.

"No more of this. I've had enough. It's time to forge my own path to happiness."

Releasing a deep sigh, the lady ties up her hair in a black ribbon. She then dons a black cloak and makes her way towards the area where the former avatar and Natsuki's father current were located at. The mysterious woman jumps off the building, speeding towards her destination. Her feet was surrounded with small glitches and bright white energy, propelling her forward.

"I will never ever be alone again. With Natsuki and Yuri by my side, I'll have a family once more."

She speeds off, rapidly approaching her destination. Trails of wind and fading glitches streaked through the sky, as the woman continued to soar through the air.

"You could even join us, avatar. But I already know that you'd definitely object to that proposition, due to the differing nature of our goals."

What the woman failed to notice however, were the miniscule lines of code that had slowly started to form in the sky above her. They were accumulating in several spots it looked like the digitally-simulated sky was starting to fall apart.

The world within DDLC was collapsing slowly but sure, code by code, and nobody knew about it.

Time, had its limits.

*****The World Beyond The Screen*****

In the wake of Alter-Monika's final departure from the realm of the living, the situation inside a certain visual novel's confines was nothing trivial to scoff at either.

The former avatar known as Blank was still listening to Mizuki's lengthy tale with great interest. If only to extract some valuable information from the deplorable man. They were still trapped within the confines of DDLC's digitally simulated environment.

"Everything was going well... until one day."

Natsuki's father, who was still badly bruised and beaten into near death within an inch of his life, remained sitting on the ground. His voice had grown wearily low, signifying that he was about to recall some rather painful memories.

"One day, during the time when Natsuki was around twelve years old, she almost got ran over by a speeding car that happened to be just in front of our house. She was crossing the street without paying attention to her surroundings. That damned careless brat."

That piece of info had been new to Blank. He wasn't aware of any such backstory regarding Natsuki's childhood.

The former avatar contains his surprise and shock, not wanting to interrupt Mizuki. Still agitated, the pink-haired man resumes his narrative with a clenched fist.

"My wife really loved our daughter, you see. And as this twisted backstory given to me by the game would have it play out to f*** with me, Natalie ended up saving Natsuki from getting killed... at the cost of her own life. She pushed her out of way from the incoming vehicle." he glances at Natsuki's sleeping figure on the bed, the pink-haired girl still sleeping beside Yuri who was also unconscious due to the immensely taxing recoil of Elyssa Libitina taking control of her body.

"We tried getting my lover to the hospital. The doctors worked hard to their credit, yet nothing could be done to save Natalie's life. She didn't make it, due to losing too much blood. That was the day a part of me died inside, permanently."

"Despite the fact that I utterly hate your abusive guts, I'm sorry for your loss."

"The feeling of hating one's guts is quite mutual on my end too, you deplorable brat."

Mizuki then goes on to explain that at first, he wasn't as abusively angry with Natsuki. The feeling of loathing was there due to what happened with his wife, but not as pronounced as it was right now. However, as the years went by, it was as if there were voices in his head that kept saying "It's her fault that your wife died. You have to hate her. Curse her existence. Take out everything on her, you'll feel much better after." over and over until he started internalizing those temptations.

'I'd wager a guess that those mysterious mental voices were probably Monika's doing, under the tampering of the game's script of course. Mizuki is probably his Act 2 version right now.' Blank hypothesizes in his mind.

"I tried ignoring it at first. The voices and their promises were really tempting, yet even a person such as myself held on to a moral code. Blaming your own daughter for your wife's death was something a father shouldn't do. Nonetheless, hearing them day after day, and being constantly reminded that your love had died for a reason that wasn't even her own fault... it f***ing gets to you. Especially since that reason was so close in proximity to me, in the form of one little girl. Couple that with the alcoholic addiction that I've somehow managed to acquire over the years, and it all goes to s*** like a motherf***er."

The former avatar merely says nothing, letting the decrepit man continue.

"I f***ing missed Natalie so much, like you wouldn't have believed. Waking up every goddamn morning and seeing the space beside me in my bed being so empty and cold, frankly it was maddening. And so, I gave in to my hatred and began to take out my frustrations on the girl whenever I lost control. She's probably already told you about this, avatar. I even made sure not to leave any food at the house to intentionally starve her. I'd waste myself on alcohol and try to remember the better days when my wife was still around. Sometimes when the runt dared to answer back, I'd give her a good smacking or two."

Blank scoffs at the man's personal account of his perpetrated and repeated abuse towards Natsuki.

"I've already known about that for a while, you scumbag. How could you be so fine about treating your own daughter like that? I should've let you get blown to bits by that energy spear Yuri was forming."

"Didn't ask for your opinion. And maybe you should've done just that, punk. Would've saved me the trouble of having to see your miserable mug. I don't exactly like being around the runt too, so letting me die would've been better. But you needed your f***ing information so deal with it."

The former avatar's thinly-veiled patience had long been drained at this point.

"F*** you. No seriously, you're worse than the plague. I don't normally swear at people, but seriously f*** you, callous geezer." Blank says with utmost indignance and contempt for the man. Despite the sob story he was hearing, he had no compassion or sympathy whatsoever for this freak of nature. But he at least understood a little better now, why things were the way they were with Natsuki at her home situation.

They engage in a heated stare-off. Mizuki's glare reminded him of Natsuki's, and it unsettled the former avatar a little. Eventually, they went back to talking. With Natsuki's father heaving a heavy sigh before speaking up once more.

"You've got grit, punk. Anyways, going back to the mysterious lady that you wanted to know about-"

Blank was now teetering in anticipation. This was what he had been waiting to hear about this entire time.

"-even I have no idea what about that woman's name or identity is. I could only tell that she was a woman due to her voice and the shape of her figure. Otherwise, her face and body were completely hidden, covered in a black. She also wore a long hood."

"So you don't know who it is at all?"

"No, but the mystery woman was indeed the one that gave me the power to call upon the game's glitches. She was also the one that gave me self-awareness, after using some digital mumbo jumbo s*** that I have no f***ing clue about, nor do I give a rat's ass to learn more about. Got any other questions, avatar?"

The boy was stumped. He didn't learn much about this new foe, except that the lady appeared to be someone very powerful, due to the fact that she was able to not only give Mizuki his powers, but also the state of self-awareness.

It had to be someone who had control over various parts of the game's script itself. Or someone with similar or greater capabilities to what his developer window and Monika's administrator notebook gave him. Blank was slightly dreading the time that he'd face this unknown entity, but he knew that it would come to that point soon, if he wanted even a sliver of a chance to escape this game along with Natsuki and Yuri.

"Where were you supposed to meet with this mysterious lady, Mizuki?"

With an annoyed grunt, Mizuki informed the boy that he was supposed to meet with the woman in front of the school building.

"But how?! I deactivated the game's resources for the school! I only re-activated that damned building today before we ran into you and our fight happened!" Blank exclaimed in barely-contained frustration. This meant that they would have difficulty getting to the rooftop and summoning the eternal classroom. If his hunches were correct, the mysterious lady would probably send the glitch parade after him again. Those glitch streaks had caused him a lot of trouble during the time he sent Sayori outside of the game.

"The woman has a great amount of control over the script and this world, I believe. I wouldn't doubt at all if her abilities far surpassed your pesky developer window, avatar. That's the only reason I could think of that makes sense, since she was able to give me superpowers."

Not really paying attention to Natsuki's father anymore, Blank paces around the bed. His eyes trailing over Natsuki and Yuri.

'This is bad you two... we're going to need another meeting when you two are ready.'

He gets brought out of his inner thoughts by Mizuki.

"Tch, there's one more thing I can say to you about all of this, boy."

Ears perking up at the sudden voice, Blank listens. "What is it?"

The old man gains a somewhat stern look on his face. He starts to speak once more. His voice gaining a melancholic attribute to it, and it sounded... sad.

"Even though I've been nothing but an abusive parent to the runt, today being no exception, I must say that I'm starting to realize that maybe, just maybe, I should chang-"

But he doesn't get to finish it due to an unforseen circumstance, that neither the pink-haired man nor the former avatar had anticipated.

*SQUELCH*

...

...

...

Blank wasn't prepared to see him get stabbed all of a sudden. The unexpected demise of his prior enemy made the avatar yell out in surprise.

"MIZUKI!"

Natsuki's father drops down onto the concrete of the simulated street. A long and dense blade made entirely out of black and gray-colored glitches was now sticking out of his currently bloodied chest. The light in his eyes had faded, and he remained motionless. On his face, a final expression of shock remained frozen. Probably due to this sudden betrayal.

He was now as dead as a dodo. Reduced to a mere corpse. And he most likely knew the culprit for his abrupt departure from the realm of the living, hence his final moments being that of utter shock.

Mizuki soon dissolves into an incomprehensible amount of pixels, gradually disappearing into nothing. He was gone now, and not a trace of the former father remained.

The avatar focuses his undivided attention on the newly-arrived individual. The person that had just stabbed Natsuki's father and killed him consequently.

"It's you! The mysterious lady that Mizuki was referring to. Identify yourself!"

Blank's eyes were narrowed dangerously at the suspicious newcomer. He preemptively summons his trusty Katana into his hand using the developer window. His Wakizashi was still broken, so he had to settle with using only one sword right now.

The woman accurately matched the deceased older man's description.

She stood at a similar height to his own stature, whilst being completely covered from head to toe in a hooded cloak that was colored with a very deep and rich shade of black. A long and droopy hood conveniently concealed her whole face, obscuring it entirely from view except for her for lips, which definitely looked like they belonged to a female. Her mouth was curled into a frown, seemingly aimed at Mizuki.

The woman had been glaring at the spot where the corpse of her former accomplice had previously been. Blank however was agitated by this and starts interrogating her about what she knew.

"Answer me! What are your plans for all of this?!"

No response from the newly-arrived enigmatic figure. Decidedly growing impatient, Blank exhales deeply, and grips his sword tightly with both of his hands on the hilt of the Katana.

He bares his teeth at the newcomer, the pent-up stress and tension of the entire day so far getting to the avatar. He was only human after all, and not some sort of miracle worker that never got tired.

With a powerful and booming voice, he bellowed. Intending to use intimidation as leverage. "If you aren't going to talk, then I'll force the answer out of you! You will spill the beans!"

In the blink of an eye, luminous streams of dense spiritual energy gathered at the tip of his sword and Blank prepared to fire his attack.

"Here I come. Getsuga Tensho!"

The familiar wave of bluish-white energy materializes off of a perfectly aimed swing from the avatar's Katana. The air current produced by the slash was strong, prompting the avatar to be quite confident in the strength of his formed Getsuga.

Blank then observed with keen interest on what his opponent was going to do against the energy projectile that was rapidly approaching her. He assumed that she would launch a counterattack to nullify it, just as Mizuki had been doing so with glitch waves.

Contrary to his expectations however, his opponent remained perfectly unharmed when the woman merely sidestepped the attack with relative ease and precision. It was to be expected though, given how this person was supposedly even stronger than Mizuki to begin with. And Natsuki's father wasn't exactly a pushover.

This little exchange however gave Blank some much needed data on his current enemy though. So the attempt to attack her wasn't completely pointless.

'She didn't produce a glitch aura like Mizuki. She dodged. This means that even though she has all these in-game abilities that the old man told me about, this lady could still get hurt by attacks.'

"You're pretty nimble, ma'am. Seems like I have to give it my all and then some."

Not phased at all by the former avatar's comment, the unknown lady still remains standing in her spot, quietly observing.

"Let's try this on for size then!"

Blank sprinted towards the mystery woman with much haste, intending on slashing at her torso.

He bends his right knee a bit, twisting his hips in order to have stability during his diagonally-inclined cutting motion. With one precise motion, he lets the attack loose with his blade. He gripped the hilt of his Katana very tightly, and the sword goes into one solid diagonal arc of movement.

The whooshing of metal could be heard. Blank yells out his kiai.

"HYAH!"

The woman coats her right hand with a mass of dense glitches, and catches the Katana with her palm. She then tugged hard at the blade, and the glitches began spreading out onto the length of the blade. They started eating away at the weapon's metal.

Out of all the possible things that the woman could've done to retaliate at the direct slash, something that affected his weapon itself wasn't a possibility that former avatar had even considered.

"What?!"

To his horror, Blank saw that his Katana started disintigrating into nothingness. He quickly releases his grip from the hilt in order to prevent the glitches from travelling to his arms and eventually his body. Unlike his Wakizashi which was merely broken, the Katana completely disappeared.

He was now left unarmed, and that spelled a lot of trouble for Blank.

'Damn it, now both of my swords are gone... I can't use the Getsuga Tensho without a sword! What am I gonna do now?!'

Throughout all of this, the woman still didn't speak at all. Her voice had yet to be heard. It made her seem very eerie and intimidating. She had yet to launch any sort of direct attack at the former avatar as well. The mysterious lady had been on the defense the entire time.

It was even more alarming for the avatar to fight this kind of enemy, in comparison to an aggressive and hasty one such as Mizuki. At least in the previous fight, Blank had some kind of read on the battle tendencies and mannerisms of his opponent.

With a silent and purely defensive foe such as this one, adapting a proper strategy was significantly harder. He had the feeling that the woman was hiding a lot of her full potential too.

Trying to break her composure, Blank yells at his opponent. "Why aren't you attacking me? Did you only come to kill Mizuki for telling me about your plans?!"

Still no response whatsoever.

'Not the talking type, I guess?'

Gritting his teeth, Blank once again goes through the unused data using his developer window. Surprisingly, the woman allowed him to do as he pleased. Merely standing several feet away in a stoic manner.

He decides on using a bow and arrow. Materializing the weapon set out of thin air, he then attempted firing several arrows at his target in rapid succession, only for each arrow to either get sidestepped or disintigrated with glitches.

Each arrow whooshes through the air in straight lines, yet the mysterious lady was very nimble, twisting and turning her body in a graceful crescendo of bodily evasion, managing to avoid each of the incoming arrows. Her hands were coated with minimal glitches, only destroying the arrows that she was unable to avoid in time. Once the former avatar had run out of ammunition, the woman deactivates her glitches and stands in place. She awaits the next move, still no launching any sort of counterattack of her own.

Cursing his horrid luck thus far, Blank discards the now uselesss bow, since he had already wasted all of his remaining arrows on that evidently futile attempt. He couldn't use the developer window to spawn more bows because that would corrupt the data of the existing bows within the code. It was the same reason he couldn't instantly fix his broken Katana and Wakizashi.

He mentally goes through all the unused data on other school clubs within DDLC's script.

"You're really putting me in-between a rock and a hard place here, lady." he mutters.

None of the remaining clubs really had any objects useful in combat. The Chess Club, the Debate Club, the Arts Club, and so on. The former avatar was beginning to run out of options, unless he planned on whacking the lady with a damn paint brush.

It would be quite the funny visual too.

At least his opponent still had no plans on attacking him, it would seem.

'Think Blank, hurry up and put that brain to work! You're not the dense and clueless MC of this game anymore! You've always survived obstacles by properly using your head! Elyssa isn't able to help you this time, so you better think of something!'

While he kept on mentally reproaching himself, the mysterious woman finally speaks up.

Her first set of words made Blank shudder a bit at how sorrow-filled they sounded.

"I've come to take Natsuki and Yuri with me to a better place. Mizuki failed in doing that, so I have come to do it myself. Though, I only told him to retrieve Natsuki. But right now, I'm taking Yuri as well." the woman ominously states with a hollow yet somewhat pained voice.

He retorts with much more enthusiasm than his opponent. "Like hell that'll happen! And why aren't you fighting back at all?! All you've done so far are defensive and evasive maneuvers! Did you just come here to mess with me?"

Blank needed to stall for time. Without his swords, he had just lost access to his highest damaging attack. The Getsuga Tensho had been his primary way of fighting and dealing damage up until this point. Without it, he was severely handicapped in what he was able to inflict upon his opponent, and in battle capablity. The loss of both the Katana and the Wakizashi in general also meant that he had to fight with his bare hands and feet now.

The former avatar wasn't kidding though, he was legitimately surprised that the woman wasn't launching any proper counter-attack yet.

He really wished that Elyssa were still here to help with the fight against this foe. It'd be over in mere minutes with the power of those "Movements of the Cosmos" abilities. But he couldn't risk Yuri's health any further. Not now. He had to deal with this problem himself. Both Natsuki and Yuri were still unconscious as well, and Blank had to protect them from this newcomer.

'Elyssa... wait, that's it!'

Blank gains an interesting idea on what to do, but he would need an oppurtunity to execute it. Trying to buy a bit more time, he tries to distract the woman by engaging her in conversation, while secretly accessing Yuri's character file and copying a certain part of her data into his own. Right now, he was winging it in the hopes that his plan would work.

"Tell me, if you're not even here to fight to the fullest, then who the hell are you?!"

Deciding to acknowledge Blank for once, she replies in a concise and curtly modulated tone. "That isn't really important, avatar. It's irrelevant."

"Even that bastard Mizuki introduced himself. Don't you think this whole 'mysterious lady' thing is such a cliche villain thing to do?"

The lady scoffs dismissively at Blank's remark.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't compare me to human trash like Mizuki. I told him specifically not to hurt Natsuki. But he disobeyed that order, and that's why I had to end him just now. A violent and selfish man like that who does ill things to his own flesh and blood has no place in my plans. Natsuki and Yuri won't be harmed, I'll make sure of that. I'd never wish any pain on those girls." the woman says, with a surprisingly gentle tone in the latter part of her remark.

This actually causes him to think a bit. If what she had been saying was true, then there was more to this woman than Blank initially thought. He tries to prod her a bit to gauge her reaction. Why did she sound so concerned about his friends? That was some food for thought.

"You don't strike me as a bad guy, to be honest. If only you hadn't sent Mizuki after us, then I would've probably had you join our group."

Even though her eyes were currently obscured by the cloak, it looked like the woman was now staring at Blank. Her voice was laced with the faintest hint of regret. "It's... too late for me. I can't go back on my plans now. You just won't understand."

Blank sighs inwardly. He should've expected this kind of answer. It didn't hurt to try though. Having this woman join up his party would make things a whole lot easier.

During all of this, the developer window was hidden from the woman's view. It currently displayed a prompt that said {"Atribute Duplication: Successful"}.

'Oh God, I hope this works...' he silently prayed that his ham-fisted attempt at using Elyssa's powers would actually end in success. Besides, he already noticed that Yuri's character file increased in size during the battle against Mizuki after all. However, he was still uncertain because he also knew that Elyssa was able to merge with Yuri through the Portrait of Markov book.

He currently didn't have the aforementioned book with him.

Even so, if everything worked out, Blank would now had a way to properly fight again. But it was up to the mysterious lady on whether he'd be forced to use it or not. He was still conflicted due to the woman not really showing any sort of malicious intent at the moment.

"Now then, it's time for me to take the girls. I won't be denied any longer." her tone was now aggressive, and both of them knew that there was no turning back from this.

With Blank's query answered, it was settled. He had no choice but to continue fighting her.

The woman prepared to approach the bed where Natsuki and Yuri slept by coating her feet with glitches and flying towards them with immense speed, but Blank suddenly leaped a great distance to intercept her. He planned on intercepting his soaring opponent.

"Thank goodness this worked, but I didn't get access to any of Elyssa's abilities except for one... I guess I really need that Portrait of Markov book. I could only extract minimal data from the newly added information to Yuri's file by Elyssa." he quietly mumbled to himself, making sure that his opponent hadn't heard him. It wouldn't do him any favors if the woman found out that he was only restricted to one type of ability at the moment.

The cloaked lady tried to evade and change her course, but Blank was deadset on her trail in hot pursuit.

He continued leaping from side to side, boosting his momentum with his feet in preparation of an upcoming strike.

Boosted by the rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins, the former avatar proceeded with a righteous attack aimed at her abdominal region - planning to do so in the form of a familiar energy-imbued kick that utilized his legs that were currently enveloped with a purple aura. This was the power that he had inherited from Elyssa Libitina. It was one of the Cosmic Movements that the Ascended Yuri had displayed during her massively one-sided fight with Mizuki.

With a lot more force and volume in his voice compared to Ascended Yuri's calmly-stated version, Blank lets out a furious cry to tighten his leg muscles even further. This would in turn increase the impact of his planned attack.

"Lend me your strength Elyssa, I'm going to borrow a move from your arsenal!"

Upon hearing Elyssa's name, the woman's body language expressed an immense amount of surprise and grew somewhat tense. She mutters worriedly under her breath, "Oh you have got to be kidding me. He has Libitina's power too?!"

With a brilliant shade of neon purple enveloping the length of his lower limbs, Blank proclaims the name of his borrowed move with authority. The name of his attack echoes proudly throughout the entire battlefield.

"SIXTH MOVEMENT OF THE COSMOS-"

He pivots his entire body in a rotating manner, letting the divine aura accumulate even further in his leg while twisting with the momentum he currently had for one devastating attack.

It had to be a direct hit.

Blank performs the kick with every ounce of strength he was able to muster.

"-TITAN'S LEG!"

Bracing for impact, the woman uses her arms to shield her gut from the impending kick. She wasn't able to create her glitches fast enough to use for defense, and ended up getting violently launched in a downward-angled trajectory by the powerful kick. Her body was now flailing away, catapulted by Blank's intense strike. Her descent towards the hard concrete was akin to a comet. The 6th Cosmic Movement greatly amplified the strength, speed and dexterity of the user's legs. And Blank was taking full advantage of this by running at his opponent once more, this time aiming a calculated blow at her head.

Propelled by the momentum of his forward burst, he catches up to the steadily dropping figure and readies himself by forumulating a punch of fury. Extending his left fist in a horizontal arc, he lets out a calculated and forceful punch with his clenched hand.

"There's no escape!"

*DUFF*

The oppressive blow had cleanly hit Blank's female opponent with decisive force and impact, further driving her harshly into the digitally-simulated ground's surface. Various fissures and cracks appeared on the vicinty's ground. Reeling from receiving such a powerful punch merely seconds ago, the lady shakily stood up from her crash-landing out of the miniature crater that had just formed, and staggers back into an upright position.

Her breathing was heavily labored due to the abrupt damage that her body had just sustained. She had acquired some fresh bruises on her arms and possible her abdomen as well, due to some of the blood that was seeping through her cloak.

"Had enough? Are you finally going to tell me what your objective is?!" Blank demands with righteous anger. He currently stood about five meters away from the woman, who was still trying to regain even footing on the the road.

Due to her wobbly and disoriented stature from getting struck clean, her cloak fell off and revealed a bitter smile on her face. The woman's lip had been cut open and there was a smear of blood on it. Her attire underneath the cloak consisted of a green shirt with a white dress coat, and simple jeans. Though as previously said, these clothing items were now slightly dyed in red due to blood.

She had her hair tied up in a ponytail using a black ribbon. A pair of emerald green eyes that possessed a desperate glint manifested themselves into the former avatar's line of vision.

Blank's opponent appeared to have such a strong resemblance to Monika, the former literature club president of DDLC. The major difference being that this woman looked significantly older and more mature. These features, coupled with her distinct auburn hair that sharply contrasted with Monika's brown locks were the clincher.

The former avatar widened his eyes in shock as his vision was greeted with the now exposed appearance of his opponent.

It was a person he knew all too well, due to the knowledge he gained from his awakening within the void, when the surge of memories assaulted his brain after he had just been struck by Heaven's Bridge's lightning bolt.

Blank definitely knew who this lady was. However, he definitely did not expect HER of all people to be the mastermind behind Mizuki's assault. It just wasn't the type of person that Blank expected this lady to be. It made no sense at all to him.

With a shaky voice, Blank says a single remark. This was truly an unexpected development, and he needed to know WHY this particular woman was acting against his goal. Especially someone of her character, because the avatar definitely knew that this lady was a good person at heart. Definitely not somebody evil.

Her demeanor made perfect sense now. Why she hadn't been attacking him at all. It now made sense why she seemed to loathe Mizuki, despite using him to retrieve Natsuki. And her desire not to hurt the Dokis as much as possible.

It's because of who she actually was. The revelation of this fact was too much for Blank to properly process at the moment.

His hands were trembling. He had just badly hurt her. Even if she was his opponent, he couldn't believe that it was actually HER. And he had recently caused her to start bleeding.

"Y-Y-You're-"

Before Blank could continue, his now-revealed acquaintance swiftly cuts him off.

"Indeed, it's me. Your blood-red eyes do not decieve you. Are you surprised, avatar? Or do you go by the name 'Blank' now? You're no longer known as 'IzuTaka', after all. I think we're all way past the point of being constrained by this game's whims. All of us are trying to forge our own paths, separate from what the script wants us to keep doing for all eternity in each playthrough of every player that downloaded this game."

In a genuinely upset manner, the former avatar yells out to the woman, tears streaking his cheeks as they flowed from his eyes.

"Why would you do this?! You of all people!"

The lady, who still had a bitter smile currently gracing her features along with eyes that were on the verge of shedding tears, ignores Blank's question and merely says the following response.

"Now that you know who I really am, would you still stand in the way of my own goal? You can leave this game like Monika did if you truly want to do so. But the girls are staying with me. If you hadn't sent Sayori outside, I could've included her in the family I plan on making. We would've been happy while spending the rest of our days here, yet you have a goal that's the opposite of mine."

Blank didn't really know how to respond to that, and the woman continued.

"We were always going to be up against each other at one point, due to the conflicting nature of our goals. You want to escape into reality with your friends, joining Monika and Sayori on the other side."

She gestures at the sleeping Dokis on the materialized bed. "I just want a family, and those girls have been suffering for far too long. Since I failed with Monika, I'll become a mother to Natsuki and Yuri. I will fill them with all the love I'm able to give. That is my only wish. For a happy life with a family inside this game."

He was still unable to respond to such an equally selfless desire compared to his own. In the end, both of them just wanted the best for the girls. Yet as fate would have it, they were on the opposite ends of this fight.

The two of them stared at each other. On Blank's face, the expression of sorrow was evident. The woman wasn't exactly happy either. Why did things have go this way? It just made his hate for the game's script increase even further.

He hated DDLC's script for making him fight her.

The mysterious lady just had to be her, this particular person...

Erika, a woman that happened to be none other than...

...

...

...

...the lovely mother of Monika.

*****The World Beyond The Screen*****

Meanwhile, on the other side of the screen, Yumi Takaya finally arrived in the vicinity of Milleninum Park at the extremely late hout of around 5AM or so. The sun was now shining bright in all of its splendid morning glory, and all of them were now long overdue for some proper sleep.

Napping on park benches didn't really count, in all fairness.

The car was spacious enough to fit five people, including Yumi herself as the driver for the ride. The trio of Izuna, Monika and Sayori were seated in the backseat row of the vehicle, with the boy being sandiwhced in the middle between the two Dokis. On the other hand, Val was told by Yumi to sit on the passenger side in the front.

As to why, she probably just wanted to tease Val about being a "girly-boy" yet again. Teasing the Walker in general had become an unbreakable habit for her at this point.

Clapping her hands together in delight, Yumi eggs the guy on. "Seriously dude, you look so dang pretty with that effeminate face of yours! You could do some modelling and stuff on the side, you know that right?"

"Yumi, not now please. It's been a long night..." Val huffs in a displeased manner, openly pouting. His effeminate face only making his current expression look adorably cute.

She merely snickered in response, much to his chargin. The Walker sighed in barely-hidden exasperation, before deciding to focus on the road as Yumi continued to drive for them.

Izuna and Monika were asleep, cuddling each other protectively. Both had blissful smiles on their faces as their chests gently heaved up and down with their tandem breathing. Sayori continued to fake her slumber, still unable to truly get some shut-eye in fear of a nightmare possibly being shown to her yet again.

The strawberry-blonde most certainly DID NOT want another terrifying vision of her childhood friend and would-be lover, DDLC's MC, going batshit insane. She also didn't want to see Monika brutally murdered like that.

Bless the cinnamon roll's pure heart.

With the others still in their state of slumber, Yumi first drops off Val at his apartment, the Walker politely declining the offer to come join them back to the Takaya household.

"Are you sure you don't wanna come over for a bit, Val?"

"Nah, I'm good. I still have stuff to do. And I'm surprised there's no 'girly-boy' this time Yumi, hmmm?'

Yumi blushes faintly, and this doesn't go unnoticed by Val. "And just when I thought I'd be nice to you for once. I guess you actually do like it when I call you that nickname, teehee~"

"Oh don't even start, sheesh."

"See you around, girly-boy~" she parts with the male gamer while leaving him with a teasing wink.

When Yumi was far out of earshot, Val still remained standing in front of his apartment complex's building.

"What was she blushing for just now? Could it be that... nah. She's just a friend." shrugging his hands into both of his pockets, he goes inside and locks the building's front door tight.

The remainder of the ride back home for the other three was relatively quiet, and eventually they all arived back at the Takaya household. And as expected, all of them went back to sleep in the sleeping bags that were still laid out in the living room.

Their previously planned shopping trip could wait after everyone had been well rested and regained some sleep.

Monika though, instead of being in her own sleeping bag, was currenty huddled up in Izuna's. It was to be expected though, and the Takaya didn't really mind. In all actuality, he quite enjoyed having the girl so close in proximity to him. Soon enough, they let the soothing lull of sleepiness take over.

And no, nothing raunchy happened or anything. No innuendo to be seen here. Get your minds out of the gutter.

A few hours later, it was already noontime on a Monday. Yumi had already planned on skipping her university classes for an entire week in order to be able to fully help Izuna, Monika and Sayori. She had already filed a leave of abscence with the help of a college friend, and the institute's Dean was surprisingly understanding, which worked in her favor.

The three teens were extremely grateful, even after their concerns that the older Takaya's prior commitments would be affected. Education was pretty important after all.

"Sis, are you sure this is fine and all? I'm sure we'd find a way to manage..."

Yumi flips her hair before flashing a confident smirk. "Of course. This is more important than some stupid old college essay, so just let big sis do her thing, okay?"

"Are you sure you're not just being lazy about that essay of yours Yumi?" Izuna deadpans at his older sister.

Meanwhile, Monika and Sayori were currently huddled over at Yumi's laptop while browsing the internet for random stuff.

The older Takaya had already passed by her apartment to fetch her laptop while they were all sleeping in the car on the way back to Izuna's house. Hours ago, they had already attempted to test the 'Singular Entity' theory even after Monika and Izuna explained the stuff regarding Alter-Monika.

What happened was that while Monika and Sayori both gained the memories involving Yumi's playthrough of DDLC, both the Dokis were still the same. They were still acting like they came only from Izuna's computer, just with the addition of added knowledge. Nothing really got affected, and Monika didn't sudddenly fall in love with Yumi. Act 4 Sayori with the player-obssession didn't happen either.

This greatly relieved the pair of lovers.

(Mini-flashback start)

"I'm glad nothing happened... I don't want to be apart from you ever again, my love."

"Same here Monika, same here."

Sayori chimes in. "I think it's interesting that Ms. Yumi went for Yuri in Act 1. They have pretty similar names, now that I think about it!"

The boy teasingly looks at his sister who averts her gaze, while he adds a comment of his own.

"I know right? You'd think she'd go for Natsuki because they both like Manga and Anime, haha. I wonder what reason could she-"

"Stop! Just so that it doesn't come from my little bro's slanderous mouth. I'll tell you why I went for Yuri. Listen close Sayori, you too Monika. I'm not repeating this story again." Yumi butts in before Izuna could say anything further causing him to smirk in satisfaction.

(Mini-flashback end)

Back to the present, Monika and Sayori were browsing the web on Yumi's laptop, and happened to stumble upon several YouTube videos of DDLC related content.

One particular video titled "10 hours of Just Monika" caught the strawberry-blonde's eye.

"Look Monika, someone actually did a video of Act 3 playing out for ten hours straight!"

The ex-club president furrows her eyebrow. "I feel so exposed being viewed like this on YouTube, ahaha..." she awkwardly states.

They decided to let the video play out, with Sayori giving her own commentary about each of the lines that Monika had in the third act.

Then, the video lands on the dialogue where Monika describes Sayori's final moments on the noose rope. The one where she made very vivid descriptions of it to the player while being very apathetic about it. Remembering this part of the game, the brunette tries to close the tab but Sayori surprisingly didn't let her.

"Sayori, let's not watch this anymore please? I feel horrible saying those things about you..."

Her fellow Doki merely smiles warmly. "I'm not mad anymore, don't worry. I just want to read it again with my own eyes on this side of the screen, for closure I guess. I feel like I should be doing this for my own peace of mind too."

Monika still felt masively uncomfortable with this, and was pretty surprised inwardly that Sayori was reading with such a calm look on her face.

"You really love those hanging puns, don't you Monika? Ehehe. I'm surprised you haven't done more cutting puns though for Yuri. Now let's not leave this video hanging, shall we?" the strawberry-blonde winks at Monika whose eyes were twitching.

"Sayori..."

Sayori shifted to a more serious and formal voice. She also wore a neutral expression. The tone was eerily similar to the one she used when she first appeared in Izuna's reality.

That same cold and no-nonsense tone of voice.

It put Monika on edge. A cold Sayori was a terrifying Sayori in her opinion.

"Can I just add one thing to this though, Monika? Just so that everything's clear between the two of us."

For the first time in her life, Monika was actually scared of the strawberry-blonde. The other girl had this aura of authority surrounding her, and Monika could've sworn that the hairs on her skin were rising in fear. Even after Sayori's reassurance that she bore no ill feelings over this anymore, Monika still couldn't shake the mixed twinge of guilt and fear in her gut at what she was about to hear from her friend.

"I would've definitely changed my mind during that moment of weakness. In fact, I did change my mind about hanging myself. Just like you wanted to be with Izuna, I wanted to be with IzuTaka, the MC. It wasn't just survival instincts kicking in. Though, because of the state of mind you were in during Act 3, I guess you didn't really care about such 'fake' issues right? You believed that none of it was real after all, and that I wasn't real too. Funny how that works, right?"

The short-haired girl looks her friend in the eyes, and this causes the other girl to flinch in an uncharacteristically timid manner. Monika, known for her confidence and cool demeanor was reduced to someone who was very scared at the moment.

"I-I'm sorry..."

Sayori stares at Monika for what seemed like an eternity.

For Monika, it was maddening. The brunette literally had no idea what was going on in the mind of Sayori right now. As it was, Sayori currently had all the leverage right now and could easily do something to Monika. And obviously, the ex-president didn't have it in her to resist anymore.

She still felt horrible for everything she had put Sayori and her friends through inside of DDLC after all.

Eventually though, the blue-eyed girl broke into a warm smile. Monika, who had begun to tremble and teeter on the verge of crying looked visibly elated when Sayori's normal smile returned. The strawberry-blonde even helps the former president to wipe away some of the miniscule tears around the brunette's eyes.

"It's alright now, like I said yesterday after our initial talk when I first came out of Izuna's computer, I forgive you Monika. So don't cry anymore, okay? Ehehe~"

Gaining a faraway look, she adds, "I still want to see MC again though, after everything."

The emerald-eyed beauty smiles sadly at Sayori. She knew all too well how hard it was to be apart from the one you loved. Right now she was with Izuna, but Sayori and the MC were far away from each other.

"You really did love him, didn't you Sayori?"

"I did, Monika... I did. And I still do."

Trying to brighten up the mood, they instead went over to Monika's twitter. They saw that a new lilmonix3 account was created and all the followers switched over to that one, and that her account DokiPresidentM(which was the former lilmonix3 account, just hacked by Monika) only had 4 followers now. Izuna, Yumi, Val... and the new lilmonix3 account.

Various memes had been linked to her, and Sayori was laughing at an edited picture of "Buff Natsuki", alternatively known as "Buffsuki", photoshopped picture of Natsuki being depicted with a very muscular physique.

"I guess now she can finally beat the s*** out of her dad!"

Monika gasps while placing a hand over her mouth. "Sayori! As funny as that is, Natsuki doesn't act like that, ahaha. And since when did you start swearing?"

"You can chalk that up to the Act 4 personality within me, ahahahaha... Though I still try to remain as innocent as possible, you know. Seriously, whenever I remember that view of you and Izuna making out at the park, it still gives me the heebie-jeebies!"

"Sorry, we'll try to avoid doing that around you~"

Yumi then called the girls over, with Izuna in tow. It was time to go to the mall, and to shop for supplies that Monika and Sayori badly needed. They were already somewhat fine on clothes due to the stuff that Yumi had brought over, but buying more didn't hurt. And they also needed other basic stuff like their own phones, makeup, footwear, and the like.

"I'll meet you three in the car little bro, I still need to rev up the engine."

"Sure thing sis."

"We'll be over there Ms. Yumi!" Monika beams cheerfully, excited at the prospect of finally being able to explore Izuna's world properly starting with the shopping mall. Both she and Sayori were also about to properly take in the feeling of riding an actual char, since their drowsy trip home coming from Millenium Park didn't really count.

Let us see what fate has in store for the group during Monika and Sayori's first ever trip to the mall in the real world.

*****The World Beyond The Screen*****

The former avatar and Monika's mother stood at an impasse with each other.

Their bodies tense with anticipation.

"Erika, I don't want to fight you anymore. Can't we just resolve this peacefully?"

Blank pleads with a hurt voice while deactivating the 6th Cosmic Movement. His legs lost the purple glow in them, and he stood in a more relaxed manner while addressing the newly-revealed woman.

A momentary ceasefire, so to speak.

He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that someone as kindhearted as Monika's mother was behind the prior attack Mitsuki had launched on them. Even though Erika didn't want Natsuki or Yuri to get hurt, that didn't really change the fact that she basically orchestrated a kidnapping.

Basically, he didn't want to accept that Erika was the villain in his story.

"Our goals are too different from each other, Blank. There's no other end to this than in conflict. And even if I didn't stand in your way, I'm sure you're aware of this game's auto-correction system, right? If it isn't me, then it'll be the game itself that will hamper your progress."

'Damn, so she wasn't the one behind the glitch parade and the auto-correction system.' Blank mulls over this new piece of information. This revelation complicated things a bit since if Erika wasn't working in tandem with the game's script, it meant that he had TWO sources of obstruction to worry about.

Erika, and the game itself. Both acting as hindrances to his goal.

"I'm well aware, Erika."

She chuckles bitterly to herself, before gesturing at the area around her with both of her hands. Her arms were now stretched outward in a grandiose manner, and a single tear finally rolls down her right cheek.

"This world is the only thing I have left to me. It is what it is. My husband was erased from the game, deemed by the script to be 'unnecessary' for the story of Doki Doki Literature Club. The game took him from me Blank! My husband and lover for over 28 years, gone in a flash just like that! Because of stupid concepts such as self-awareness and conflicting errors not allowing him to properly manifest into this world with me!"

Blank frowns and says nothing. Monika's father being erased was tragic, and he could feel the immense hurt in Erika's voice as she continued her emotional soliloquy. "I myself was this close to being erased as well, before that lightning bolt had struck this game and made great changes to the data. I managed to preserve myself, but I wasn't able to save my lover."

"I see..."

"You can relate to that pain Blank, I can tell. The suffering closely linked with love that runs deeply for your beloved one. That's why you even want to escape from this hell in the first place. And it's also why you were hellbent on saving Sayori. I'm glad you succeeded with that."

The lady allows herself a small smile, and even Blank had to grin at the thought of Sayori being saved.

"I never really approved what my daughter did to the girls, you know. All of that happened due to a combination of the script, and Monika being one-track minded. If only I were self-aware at the time like she was, I would've stopped her sociopathic methods of trying to win the player's attention. If only I were self-aware... I could've satisfied my daughter's obessessive craving for something real in this desolate world."

The former avatar suddenly found the concrete a lot more interesting to look at. Erika's words had hit home pretty hard, and he didn't know that Monika's father had been removed entirely from the game itself. That must've been pretty hard for her, he surmised.

And for some reason, she also knew about that weird lightning bolt.

When he was struck by the final lightning current of Project Heaven's Bridge from within the eternally dark void, he was made aware of some of the changes that had been done to the game. He supplemented this information with whatever details Monika had written in the notebook she left behind regarding the weird phenomena that happened to Izuna's copy.

Maybe Erika had been directly struck with a fragment of the same lightning bolt too? It would explain why she seemed to have a better grasp on the current status quo compared to Mizuki, who was only brought to life by the Heaven's Bridge-altered DDLC copy's game engine.

Still, the pain of not being with the love of your life was something Blank could relate to all too well. She also apparently knew what transpired in the game's Acts. It surprised him that Erika was willingly acknowledging that some of Monika's actions towards the other Dokis was messed up. She really was a good person deep down, like her daughter.

Blank also wanted to save Erika, somehow. Despite everything that had happened, she was a person that he greatly respected. Blank didn't want her to remain trapped inside of this game, alone. Maybe he could even help her in reuniting peacefully with Monika if possible.

At this point, every single one of them deserved a happy ending. Even Mizuki who recently got deleted, Blank sensed that he was beginning to show regret over his transgressions. Granted, he wasn't able to say so due to getting killed and erased.

"Why don't you just come with us? You don't have to take Natsuki and Yuri! The four of us could escape this game together! I'm sure we could work things out..."

The conflicted mother considered the avatar's words for a moment. Sighing with bated breath, she then replied in an uncertain tone. "Monika left me here, just for her to be with the player of this wretched game. I don't know if things between me and her would end on a good note, should the two of us meet once more on the other side. It might just cause some complications."

"But Erika, please consider-"

"There's just no reconciling this, Blank. I've made my choice. Now hand over the girls to me, and you can be on your merry way with Sayori. Send Monika my regards, even though I doubt she even cares about me at this point."

"I'm... afraid I can't do that... Natsuki and Yuri are coming with me to the other side. And my offer still stands."

The same bitter smile from earlier re-emerges on Erika's face. "I figured. Just as I said earlier, it was always going to come down to this. No hard feelings, okay? And if you prevail over me, promise that you'll take care of both Sayori and my daughter."

"Erika..."

"Promise me, Blank. Please..." her heartbroken voice struck a chord deep within the former avatar, and he shakily replies in earnest.

With a single bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face, he utters a solemn declaration of agreement.

"I will."

The mother flashed a grateful smile at the male. "That's all I could ever ask for, Blank."

After the promise was made between the former avatar and Monika's mother, it was time.

Both figures promptly backed away from each other, getting ready to enter the unavoidable heat of battle once again. They had simultaneously shifted into their respective fighting stances.

Blank reluctantly reactivated the 6th Cosmic Movement, and prepared to enter battle once again. Erika on the other hand, coated her arms, and legs with something different from glitches this time.

They were gold-plated gauntlets and shin guards with golden linings, mostly comprised of some leather-like material which had a black color. She also took off the ribbon that was holding her long auburn hair in place, letting it flow loosely with the digitally-simulated wind. Even her clothing's color schematics changed into a black and yellow-themed palette.

She looked a lot more like a proper warrior now in her current getup. The gold and black schematics gave off a regal impression, like a fighting queen. Her emerald eyes seemed like they were shimmering with power.

"Shall we get started then, Blank? This is a form I only use when I'm forced to engage in proper combat. As you already know, I'm not much of a fighter. But make light of me, and you'll regret it."

This time around, Erika is the first to charge at Blank, cocking back her fist while intending to strike him with a punch. Taking a page from his opponent's book, he sidesteps the blow to the left, and immediately retaliates with a kick to her side in one fluid motion.

"Titan's Leg." Blank calmly enunciates, though his retaliated kick had also been dodged by the woman who ducked low and attempted to counter with her own kick, in the form of a low sweep. The former avatar jumps over the sweeping kick, and once again does another strike with his leg. This time a roundhouse kick, which Erika harmlessly parries using her left gauntlet.

Afterimages of the purple glow from his legs lingered in the air, the energy swirls illuminating the battlefield.

It was akin to the beautiful tendrils of light from auroras, bathed in rich colors of purple and violet.

"I've noticed this for a while now, but isn't that kick part of one of the skills that Elyssa Libitina used on Mizuki when she possessed Yuri? Why haven't you used any of the other so-called Cosmic Movements yet?"

'Crap, she's definitely going to figure out that I only have one of Elyssa's powers available to use! I need to come up with a convincing bluff or else this could be really bad!'

Slanting his eyes into a serious look, the former avatar retorts with a steely voice while blocking a punch from Erika with his arms. "I don't want to kill you accidentally, Erika. Just the Sixth Movement of the Cosmos is enough for this battle. My goal isn't to hurt you, but to deter you from taking the girls. If I used something like the Twelfth Movement, which is the one that Elyssa used to rain millions of knives upon Mizuki, then you'd perish."

The lady grits her teeth in frustration, rolling to the side in order to make Blank's incoming axe kick whiff and to gain some breathing room. "So you still insist on preventing my goal, while thinking I'm not worthy of your full power? Are you underestimating me, Blank?!"

With a shrill scream, she dashes at Blank with her fists coated in pure white light. It was some sort of energy-based amplification buff, similar in function to Elyssa's "Fifth Movement of the Cosmos: Titan's Fist" ability, which was the hands version of the 6th Cosmic Movement that Blank was using.

Sensing that Erika was now going for the kill, Blank once again shrouds his legs in purple energy, using the only Cosmic Movement available to him once more. He jumps high above his opponent, attempting to land behind her and causing Erika to miss entirely.

However, the distraught mother manages to catch one of the avatar's legs. Her white aura allowing her to bypass the purple shroud of energy. Her hand grips the former avatar's lower limb very tightly, preventing him from escaping her grasp.

"Use your other abilities already Blank, or you'll lose!"

With much authority, she slams Blank into the ground, face first, and drives an elbow into his back.

*CRACK*

The pavement gains yet another sizeable dent in it, though not as large as the crater that Mizuki's body had made after Ascended Yuri slammed him into the ground.

"Aaaarghh!"

Blank yells out in pain at the impact, and Erika steps back while observing her handiwork.

"I share your sentiment of not wanting to hurt one another, but you and I have slightly different goals that'll prevent the other from fully succeeding. Let the girls come with me and I will personally aid you in your escape to the real world."

With a pained voice, Blank drawls out his response. "I can't... do that..."

Sighing heavily, Erika leaves the former avatar in his current messy state, and goes to the bed where Yuri and Natsuki were still lying down on, resting.

She summons a floating window similar to Blank's own developer window, and various lights envelope the girls.

Blank finally regains his footing, only to find out that it was too late and Erika had already gotten to his friends. Their unconscious bodies were currently flanking both of the woman's sides, the various streaks of luminous lights still swirling around them.

"What are you doing to them, Erika?!"

"Like I said, I'll finally have a family again. I'm pretty sure that with the help of your developer window, you'll find out soon. You'll also know where to find us, it'll be very clear, dear Blank."

"Stop right there, don't do this!"

Yet, the former avatar's protests were all futile.

"See you around, Blank. Oh and here's a big hint, I'm going to need around three days to complete my preparations. Use that time well, avatar. Be glad that I'm giving you a fighting chance here, when I could easily lock you out forever." the lady spares one last glance at the former avatar with a wink.

Similar types of various lights began to cover Erika as well, and all three of them vanished with a sudden burst of energy. They were gone, and Blank had no idea where to even start looking for them.

"God damn it, Erika! What do you mean preparations?! And three whole days?! And what was that about 'locking me out'? ANSWER ME ERIKA!"

He had failed. He actually failed. Blank was so close to his goal, yet now he was back to square one.

Every ounce of hope left inside of him had begun fading away.

But then, the former avatar felt something being added to the game. And not just something, but something big. Blank wills his developer window into existence and sees various new prompts appearing before him.

Setting his gaze at the school building, it was now glowing slightly with various colors in differing intensities.

Erika must've erected a restrictive barrier, the avatar surmised. There was also a timer floating at the very top, with the amount of time remaining being [71h:59m:42s] according to the displayed text, and counting.

Blank understood this as the newly-placed barrier not being deactivated until 3 days have passed. This put a dent into his plans because not only was Natsuki and Yuri taken from him, he had also lost the ability to use the eternal classroom. He had to summon it from within the school building after all.

At least now, he knew that Erika had indeed taken them to the school within DDLC. But with this 3-day restriction, he couldn't do much at all except to prepare for his next encounter with Erika.

'Locking me out' made sense now to Blank.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it! Why is this f***ing happening?!" he pounds the cold, hard concrete below him.

His right hand was now dyed with a bloody crimson, the shade matching the red of his eyes.

Blank couldn't affort to wallow in his despair though, so he stands up, and makes his way back to his rendered house. He had a lot of preparations to do, yet again. He really was stuck for three days, unable to interfere with whatever Erika was doing due to that barrier around his school building.

The former avatar could try to bypass it with his developer window, but something inside him told his mind that it wouldn't be that easy to penetrate. He was better off using those three days to hone his combat skills, repair his swords, attempt to unlock more of the Cosmic Movements if possible, and craft a better plan for the time he finally storms Erika's location.

Which was again, not happening until three days have passed.

There was no rest for the weary, and Blank had to struggle some more for his ending, it seems.

*****The World Beyond The Screen*****

At long last, the group had finally gone out for their planned shopping spree for Monika and Sayori's supplies and provisions.

The ride had been pretty lively, mostly due to the excitement that the girls displayed. In particular, Sayori was pretty hyped.

In large white letters, the name of the shopping mall greeted the party's eyes. The straweberry-blonde was feeling really jittery and excited at the prospect of all the sights that her cerulean orbs were absorbing from her vision. She bounced up and down in the car's front passenger seat, and the other three merely grinned at her barely-contained enthusiasm.

"Look over there Ms. Yumi, there's so many people around! It's so exciting!"

"I'm glad you're having fun, Sayori dear. We have quite the day ahead of us at that joint!" Yumi replies with a smile, delighted at seeing Sayori be so enthusiastic about their little shopping trip.

Meanwhile, Monika and Izuna were in the backseat. The fingers of their hands were interlocked with each other, and they were more reserved in their expression of happiness, as the young couple stared out through the car's windows.

"Sayori's really excited, isn't she darling~?"

"I know, it's a refreshing sight to be honest. Then again, she always seemed to brighten up the atmosphere with her presence even when you guys were still inside DDLC."

"Indeed, I can agree to that, ahaha."

Soon enough, they finally arrived at the mall's parking area. There were a lot of parked cars and people in general due to it being a sale day, but thankfully Yumi had managed to secure a parking slot for her vehicle.

The lively group of four then step out of the ride and were about to make their way towards the mall's entrance, before Sayori suddenly drops to her knees and clutches her head tightly with both of her hands. Her eyes were shut extremely tight and she let out a high-pitched scream of agony.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah it hurts! It hurts!"

This naturally causes the other three with her to grow extremely worried and concerned.

"Sayori?! Are you alright? What's happening to you?" Monika rushes immediately to her friend's side, trying to help Sayori in anyway she could.

"Make it stop! Make it stoooooooop!"

Izuna and Yumi also stood ready at the side, awaiting on what should be done.

Her painful rounds of shouting still continued in an agonizing fashion.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

Izuna's eyes widened after hearing those five words from Sayori. Monika and Yumi had caught on as well, with the emerald-eyed girl looking down in shame.

The phrase 'get out of my head' first appeared in DDLC during Sayori's "%" poem, just before the Sayo-Nara hanging scene.

It shook Izuna to the core, and the three of them started worrying immensely over what was happening to Sayori.

...

...

...

After a full minute of what appeared to be a devastating migraine coupled by pain-filled screaming, the strawberry-blonde fell limp and unconsicous into Monika's arms. Izuna and Monika shared worried looks with each other, and Yumi comes to a decision.

"Looks like we'll have to postpone the shopping trip again. We need to take Sayori back to your place for now Izuna so she could rest."

"I agree sis, our plans could wait. I'm really worried about Sayori though, is she going to be alright? Those screams looked painful."

"We can only hope for the best right now little bro."

Monika refused to leave her fellow Doki's side, and so Izuna sat in the front this time with his sister. This allowed the ex-president to cradle Sayori in the backseat. The bubbly girl still remained unconscious on Monika's lap.

"I'm so sorry Sayori, I'm so, so, so sorry... you're still affected by the horrible things I've done, aren't you? I was such a monster who only cared for her own personal gain, and I had the gall to sacrifice you as well as Natsuki and Yuri just for my own goals..." Monika breathes out in a whisper, her voice laced with so much regret as she tenderly looked at her sleeping friend.

This sudden development put a huge damper on the mood. It had to happen to the one who was most excited about their trip too.

Fate could be such a bully sometimes.

Meanwhile, in Sayori's dreamscape, a turbulent storm was brewing.

"Where... am I?"

She looks around, and finds herself once again inside the eternal classroom of Act 3's "Just Monika" scenario. Just like her previous nightmare.

"No..."

And sure enough, apparations of Natsuki and Yuri appeared before her again, trying to break down her mind with their words.

"You left us, Sayori. You've chosen the Prez over us!"

"That's not true, Natsuki!"

"Are you going to spread out more of your lies, the same type of half-baked nonsense that you and Monika seem to cling unto whenever you try to justify yourselves, Sayori?"

"I'm not lying, Yuri!"

"Choose us, Sayori. Choose your happiness for once."

The other girls faded from existence and MC haphazardly appeared in front of her, gripping Sayori's shoulders while boring his blood-red eyes into her own cerulean orbs. His stare was intense.

"Why are you doing this MC?!"

The MC doesn't respond, as he lets go of Sayori and walks a short distance away from the girl. With a wave of his hand, Monika suddenly appears out of nowhere. The ex-president was bound with rope and gagged with a towel over her mouth. Her muffled screams could be heard throughout the room.

"Mmmppffffhhhhh!"

He yanks a thumb at the captive girl and aims a disapproving look at Sayori.

"Because you keep picking this bitch over us. The same wench that caused you to freaking kill yourself in the game, Sayori!"

Sayori tries to get near Monika in order to free her from the restraints, but an invinsible force prevented her from getting near the subdued girl.

She pounds at the unseen wall with her fists, desperate to try and save her friend.

"Let Monika go, she's suffered enough MC!"

"As expected. Even until now, you'd still selflessly help this worthless sociopath and stick with her over your true friends and family. Why do you keep on clinging to them instead of your real friends? Instead of the literature club? Is the player's world really that better, Sayori? And not just that..."

"W-what are you talking about MC?" Sayori had an inkling about where this conversation was headed.

"Are you choosing Monika over me? Really now? The girl who made your life miserable by amplifying your depression because she grew a little too desperate with her power over the system is more important to you? I thought you loved me, Sayori?"

The strawberry-blonde's figure grew limp and stopped from her attempts to reach her friend, and the bound Monika's eyes widened before being sent out of existence by MC. Sayori had lost her resolve.

"I..."

Her voice suddenly lost its desire to escape her mouth, and tears filled her eyes.

"I... I..."

Her eyes gain resolve and she dries up her tears with her forearm. Sayori's voice becomes firm with determination.

"Regardless of my love for you or not, I can't just let you hurt Monika like this. Despite what she did to me. She's just as precious to me as you and the others are. And asking me to choose between you two... it breaks my heart!"

The MC stood motionless, his bangs shadowing his eyes.

"Is that your answer, Sayori?"

The girl's eyes began to water. She was trembling due to all the emotions that currently ran wild within her psyche. Her hands were balled into fists at her sides.

"I'm not strong enough to abandon one for the other! I just want us all to get along... I just-"

Surprising her in a flash, the MC hugs Sayori, and the girl let out a small yelp.

They remained like that for a while, and Sayori relished the warmth that came from their sudden contact with each other. She sobbed into the MC's chest, dampening his clothing with tears. Neither of them saying anything for a while, until the MC began to speak again.

"It's okay Sayori. I'm here. We all are."

Natsuki and Yuri's apparations reappeared in the dreamscape, joining in the display of affection and turning it into a group hug.

Even Monika's apparition appeared and joined their gesture. She was now completely free of her bindings and had a small smile on her face.'

"Everyone..." Sayori breathes out in a voice filled with hope. Maybe everything was going to be alright after all.

The five of them broke it off, and one by one they started fading away, the last one to do so being the MC.

"Wait, I know this is a dream, but don't leave me yet!"

MC merely smiles warmly, and replies to Sayori.

"It's best not to get too attached to this dream-world, Sayori. Besides, I have a feeling that you'll be meeting with the real version of me soon. And the real Natsuki and Yuri. I'm sorry that I had to be so abrasive to you in these visions, and that I had to use Monika as a scapegoat. The real literature club has forgiven Monika a long time ago. And even if this isn't the real me speaking, I love you Sayori. I just want that to be your take away from these nightmares. That cold-hearted bastard you saw isn't really how I act."

With a blush coloring her cheeks, the strawberry-blonde attempts to respond in kind with her own feelings of love.

"MC... I lo-"

MC however cuts Sayori off. "Don't say it yet. Save it for when the real me reunites with you. And as you've guessed, these visions are part of a test for you."

"...huh?" Sayori tilts her head cutely to the side, clearly having no idea about what dream-MC was currently talking about.

He adopts a thinking gesture before he fully faded away. "I suppose 'she' could explain things better. Goodbye Sayori."

Sayori was now left alone inside of the eternal classroom, her face now contorted into that of confusion.

"So these dreams, or nightmares, are some sort of test...? They don't really hate Monika? And who was MC talking about?"

"That would be me, Sayori."

The girl turns around at the source of the new voice, which sounded oddly similar to her own.

A pair of cerulean eyes greeted her. And short strawberry-blonde hair. And a face that mirrored her own.

"Wait... are you... another me?"

Standing in front of Sayori was... a second Sayori.

Identical in basically everything. The same cute face, the same strawberry-blonde yet pinkish hair, those cerulean orbs otherwise known as her eyes, the slightly unkempt way she held her hairstyle, and so on.

The only notable difference being, was that this doppleganger had a different outfit on. Whilst the true Sayori was currently wearing a casual outfit that matched what her body was currently wearing in the real world, the second Sayori was wearing her in-game DDLC school uniform.

"Yes. I am you. Or more precisely, an alternate version of you." this newly-arrived Sayori clarified with a mature tone. Like she had already went through a lot.

"An alternate version?"

"Indeed. I am the version of you that appears in the "Good End" or special ending version of Doki Doki Literature Club's fourth act. The one that only appears when the player manages to view all of the CG images in the game."

Sayori raises her eyebrow a bit. "But I thought I was supposed to be Act 4 Sayori? I'm also self-aware like Monika and when I came out of Izuna's copy, they said it was through a 'Forever Sayori' option?"

"Yes, you're also in your Act 4 state. But again, I'm from the special ending version of it. You are the one from the Normal Ending."

"Oh..."

"Seriously, that wasn't clear enough for you, my fellow Sayori?"

"It wasn't, you meanie!" Sayori pouts at her counterpart, adopting her trademark finger pushing pose.

"Ehehe... sorry. I'll try to be clearer from this point on."

"Please. And for someone who's supposed to be another me... you speak too formally, ehehe."

The two Sayoris stared at each other before exploding in laughter. Special Ending Sayori, or SE Sayori calms herself before continuing.

"Never thought I'd see the day where I'd be calling myself a meanie. But dream MC is right, this was all merely a test I had for you. And I'm sorry if you ended up suffering because of it."

The original Sayori hums in understanding.

"Those visions were pretty scary, they were terrifying to be honest, but I'm not mad at you. I just don't know why you tested me though, and for what reason...? I'm not really known for my smarts either..."

Pacing around the room, SE Sayori stops her walking and paused to answer Sayori's inquiry.

"It was to make sure you wouldn't attempt some devious revenge plan towards Monika."

The strawberry-blonde gapes at her special ending counterpart with much surprise. "Why would I want to get revenge on Monika? I've already opened up to her when I first got out of Izuna's computer, and she's a dear friend to me, to both of us..."

"I had to make sure. All facts considered, you're the Normal Ending Act 4 version of us. You were scripted by the game to be glad that Monika wasn't around anymore. And you were also very possessive of the player in that route of the game. Hence this test of mine."

"But I don't hate Monika! I'm not obssessed with Izuna either! The way I'm portrayed in Act 4's normal route, that isn't how I really am!"

"I know, Sayori, that much is clear. You've proven that to me in this dream as well. And so..."

SE Sayori suddenly bows in apology. Regret was evident in her facial expression.

"I'm sorry, Sayori. It sounds rich that I even had the nerve to conduct a test on you, in a cowardly way too through dreams... maybe that's why you're the one in control of our body and not me. You're stronger than I am, at least I think so."

After hearing her counterpart's apology, Sayori merely holds out her hands in an inviting gesture. A bright smile beaming from her face.

"Come here~"

"...Sayori?"

"You know you want to~"

"We really are bundles of sunshine, aren't we? Fine, I'll hug you."

Shaking her head in mock annoyance, SE Sayori walks up to Sayori and they engage in a friendly hug.

"I'm just glad that you're getting along with Monika, even after what she did to us. It's for the better."

Humming in contentment, Sayori agreed. "Maybe I got this kind of maturity from you, ehehe. Monika's our precious friend and sister in everything but blood. And letting go of the bad things in the past, makes me feel a lot better. Don't you feel it? The rainclouds are starting to go away!"

As the original Sayori said those words of optimism, the lonely venue of the eternal classroom changed into that of a wide open meadow. It was filled with lush green grass, beautiful trees, and a calming breeze.

The two Sayoris turned to look at the sky, admiring their surroundings.

"How did you do that?" SE Sayori asks in bewilderment, to which the original meekly pushes her fingers again in her trademark pose.

"This is all a dream that my brain is making right? So I just thought of, well... happy thoughts!"

Sayori then does the unthinkable and boops SE Sayori in the nose. She had a surprisingly smug grin while doing it too.

It took a few seconds for SE Sayori to register what had just happened.

"Did you just..."

"Yep! Boooooooooop~!"

The two Sayoris stared at each other, before SE Sayori adopted a challenging smirk.

"Nobody boops me and gets away with it~!"

And thus, some wholesome fun ensued as the two girls played around in the vibrant and peaceful meadow, basaking in the warmth of the sunlight within the dream.

After some time had passed, they both lay on the grass, catching their breaths.

"That was really fun, other me! I wish I could stay here more often with you, ehehe."

"As much as I'd like that, you need to wake up now and get back to the real world."

Started at SE Sayori's suddenly serious tone, Sayori grows concerned.

"Awwww... can't I stay here with you for a bit longer?"

After receiving a shake of the head, Sayori pouts but lets her counterpart explain the situation.

To help emphasize her point, SE Sayori directs a huge cloud to appear in front of them in the air. Functioning like a monitor, the cloud's surface began showing what was going on at the moment in reality around Sayori's currently unconscious body.

They were currently back at Izuna's house, in the living room. Izuna and Yumi were both seated on the single chairs, with somber looks on their faces.

As for her body, it was currently resting on top of Monika's lap. They were currently on the couch and Monika looked like she had been crying non-stop since her cheeks were red and puffy, as well as tear-stained.

The former club president was very crestfallen in appearance.

"Monika... guys... is this what's happening right now in the real world, other me?"

SE Sayori nods at Sayori. "Indeed it is. That's why you need to go back now and ease their pain. Don't worry, we can talk from time to time again whenever you're sleeping, I'll appear again here in this dreamscape. I'm a part of your being, Sayori. And I'll always be here for you whenever you need someone to talk to."

Giving each other one last hug, SE Sayori helps the original to forcefully wake up by materializing a knife.

"This'll only hurt for a short moment, so please bear with me for a bit okay?"

Nodding furiously, Sayori closes her eyes and the sensation of getting stabbed passes over.

"Oh and before I forget! Sayori, tell everyone to open up Izuna's DDLC copy the moment you wake up from this dream! It's really important that you guys do so as soon as possible!"

"Huh, why?" but suddenly, Sayori gets pulled out of the dreamscape after the knife completely penetrates her.

Back in the real world, her eyes open and she wakes up with a start.

"Owowowowowowow! She said it would only hurt for a bit, that meanie! Ouchies!" she cutely grumbles while getting off of Monika's lap and sitting up straight, only to be greeted by the shocked eyes of the people around her.

The strawberry-blonde then realizes that her friends must be clueless right now over what just happened. Especially considering that she had just woken up from a self-induced coma too after what must've been hours.

Sayori scratches her head a bit and awkwardly laughs.

"Right, ehehe... I have some explaining to do!"

Monika engulfs her in a tight hug and was practically hysterical at the moment. "You have a whole of explaining to do indeed, Sayori! You were out like a light for three whole days! I was so worried about you, we all were!"

It was Sayori's turn to be surprised. Did she really remain unconscious for such a long period of time? Then came the denial.

"Oh that's a funny joke, Monika. Good one, ehehe."

The girl's laughter trails off awkwardly when she realized that Monika was being completely serious. She turns to Izuna and Yumi for confirmation and both of them still wore somber looks.

She really had been knocked out unconscious for three whole days, courtesy of SE Sayori's "test" that she had underwent with.

Three. Freaking. Days.

It would seem that the passage of time in the dream world didn't quite match the flow of time in the real world. It certainly didn't feel like three whole days had passed for Sayori. To her, it was like only mere hours had gone by.

"Wow... three days, huh."

The other three nodded at her, and Monika was pouting a bit.

"And you thought I was joking, geez..."

Sayori scratches her head in embarassment at Monika's remark. "Ahahahaha... oopsies. Anyways, here's what happened inside my dream world! It started off like this..."

The strawberry-blonde then clues in Monika and Yumi about the nightmares that she had been experiencing. Izuna already had prior knowledge of this, and so he only need a bit of updating regarding her status.

She told them about her encounter with Special Ending Sayori, and finally, about how she was instructed to tell them that they should boot up Izuna's copy of the game.

"The other Act 4 Sayori said that we should boot up the game? I see... That definitely means we should go do so as soon as possible then. But are you sure that you're completely fine now?"

Yumi chimes in as well, understandably sharing the worry that Izuna and Monika had.

"I agree, are you positive that you're all fine and dandy after being in such a long comatose state, Sayori dear?"

Monika flashes a warm smile. "If you want to Sayori, you can rest here in the meantime. You've been through a lot already."

Sayori shakes her head at all three of them.

"I appreciate the concern, I really do. But I think that I need to be a part of this too, since it's the other me that even gave me this information. Let me help out!"

Seeing that there was no way to convince the girl otherwise, the four of them proceeded to enter Izuna's bedroom. Once again, the PC's screen flickered on and the system was being booted up.

Sayori and Yumi were hudded beside each other behind their companions as Izuna and Monika were seated directly in front of the screen. Soon enough, the familiar start up sequence of DDLC played out before them, and the main menu screen was loaded.

However, the main menu that greeted them at that moment was by far the weirdest version yet so far.

Because right now, the main menu didn't have ANY of the Doki's sprites. Not even Natsuki and Yuri were on the screen this time. When it was on the Forever Sayori version, the other two were still part of the main menu visual, but now it was completely empty.

And that wasn't all. Instead of the overall pink color scheme, the main menu was a dull gray color except for the DDLC logo on the upper-left of it.

As for the options themselves, the New Game replacement this time simply had the word "Hope" on it.

"...Hope?" Izuna read aloud while blinking his eyes in confusion. Monika didn't really know what that meant either in this context. Both of them turned to Sayori for clues, but the strawberry-blonde let out a surprised "eep!" at the sudden attention.

"Uh, she probably doesn't really know anything about that weird main menu redesign either." Yumi states of in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone while Sayori nods in agreement.

Izuna scratches his head and motions to click on it before Monika places her hand on top of his own.

"Just like the time before Sayori appeared, let's do this together, darling~"

Smiling at the affectionate gesture, Izuna clicks the mouse together with Monika.

The four of them waited as the game shifted to a black screen, all four of them anticipating some swirling lights and stuff to happen just like both times a Doki came out of the PC. Both Monika and Sayori's appearances were accompanied by distince visual cues.

Nothing of the sort happened however, and the screen began to display static feedback, like an old television that had no cable signal.

The visuals started become clearer, with the audio clearing up first. Izuna and the rest were able to make out the sounds to be depicting some sort of fighting scene taking place inside the game.

As if there was a battle going on.

It puzzled everyone greatly because DDLC wasn't exactly some sort of action game or fighting game, so it made no sense for a battle to be happening.

But as the sound became even more clearer, Izuna's speakers were undoubtedly playing sound effects of punches being traded and weapons being swung. There were even sound effects similar to those given off by energy beams in the various shounen anime known to the public.

Then finally, the screen displayed a bright and clear picture of the current scene in DDLC.

It was indeed a battle, being fought by what appeared to be a male and a woman who looked really similar to Monika if not for her auburn hair instead of Monika's brown.

"Who are these two supposed to be?" Yumi asks out of curiosity, but Sayori and Monika had their mouths wide open.

Izuna was practically as clueless as his sister though. "Sis, I think Monika and Sayori know who they are?"

Both Takayas turn to the Dokis for answers, and the girls reluctantly answered their inquiries.

"The boy is actually... t-t-the MC of the g-game..." Sayori began in a shaky voice, with Monika finishing the sentence for her friend.

"...and the woman is my mother. Even if it wasn't part of the in-game story, it's a fact that I indeed have parents. I loved them actually too, before I experienced self-awareness and... you know. I've alluded to them in Act 3 as well, when I talked about how it was for me before my epiphany. The lady before you is Erika, my mom."

Suddenly, all four of them focused their attention back on the screen when they heard MC speak. He had just dodged a strike from Monika's mother and was now staring directly at them from inside the game.

{"Monika? And the player of this game, Izuna?!"} MC exclaims upon seeing Izuna and Monika through the screen.

Monika, being the first to recover, answers back. She remembered that Izuna's PC had a microphone. Thus, it was possible to talk to the characters inside the game, just like when she had been talking with Izuna just before she was pulled outside of DDLC into reality.

"MC? Is that really you?"

Izuna was surprised that MC had referred to him by name. 'He knows my name huh, I guess he overheard the time I was talking to Monika when she was still inside of the game...'

Sayori, who looked like she wanted to say something as well, started inching towards the screen. Her eyes were planted intently on DDLC's MC.

Before she could start speaking however, MC had to dodge an incoming axe kick from Monika's mother.

{"Yes and I currently go by the name you gave me, Blank. Oh and as you can all see, I'm kinda busy with your mother over here..."}

Speaking of which, Erika finally notices Izuna and the others watching in on their battle, and utters a few words of her own.

{"Well, well, well. Look who decided to watch our little battle, Blank. If it isn't my daughter and her little group. Even your beloved Sayori is here. Tell me oh daughter of mine, how's reality been treating you while you left your own family and other friends here inside of this game?!"} she yells while trying to aim a punch at Blank.

"Mom..." Monika was shaking in shock at what was transpiring.

Sayori was still completely focused on Blank, and her cheeks a bit red after she had just been referred to as Blank's beloved.

Yumi stayed silent, quietly observing the spectacle before her. She currently had multiple thought processes regarding what was happening, but she held her tongue for now, deciding to let things play out in the meantime.

And Izuna held Monika's hand tightly. No doubt that her lover was even more shocked than he was about the fact that the freaking MC was currently in a heated physical battle against Monika's mother of all people.

As for Blank, he finally noticed that Yumi and Sayori were also with Izuna and Monika, and his blood-red eyes locked with the strawberry-blonde's cerulean orbs.

{"Sayori... I'm glad you're okay..."} he says in a voice filled with love and hope. Finally, the two had managed to see each other again, even if there was a screen in-place between the two would-be lovers.

"MC... wait, you have a name now and it isn't IzuTaka... Blank, huh..." Sayori breathes out, still not believing that she finally got to see the MC again.

{"If you two are done with your moment, I believe we still have a battle to finish, avatar."} the older lady interjects while aiming a decisive kick at the avatar.

And thus, the fighting continued and Izuna's group continued to watch. Still unaware of the reasons why Blank and Erika were fighting each other. And where was Yuri and Natsuki in all of this?

*****The World Beyond The Screen*****

With three days to spare, Blank began the long walk towards his rendered house after quite the long day.

He had to deal with the fact that he currently had no way to reach Erika and the girls other than to wait the 3-day timer of the barrier out.

Blank wasn't a fool. He tried to use his developer window to deactivate then reactivate the school building, but he was met with a myriad of errors. Apparently, the barrier was strong enough to overcome even coding modifications by an administrator.

Thus, the former avatar had no choice but to merely prepare for the upcoming battle.

Upon reaching his house, the avatar steps inside and is greeted by no one.

Yet another reminder of his recently failure by letting Erika take the girls from him, just like that. He lets out a heavy breath that he had been holding this entire time.

"I'm home."

With a sigh, he plops himself on top of one of his couch and hangs his head low.

He didn't even bother to erect his defensive barrier around the house. Mizuki was gone anyway, and he was pretty confident that Erika wouldn't be the type to suddenly ambush him out of nowhere. Especially since she went through the trouble of erecting her own barrier around the school building, which Blank still found impossible to affect in any way using his developer window.

Not really in the mood to eat, yet still hungry enough that the rational part of his brain compelled him to do so anyway, the former avatar lazily conjures a simple meal of poached eggs on buttered toast for his dinner.

"Three days. I can't do anything about this for three whole days."

Palming a hand through his hair, he exhales loudly in frustration. This feeling of powerlessness was a sensation that Blank definitely did not enjoy at all.

Taking a bite out of his toast, he manifests his developer window in front of him once more. The familiar digital screen hovering in front of his vision, displaying all sorts of coding-related figures on it.

With a couple of presses here and there, he summons his broken Wakizashi and Katana. Blank decides to have them undergo repair as he continued to eat his meager dinner, still stressing about the recent events.

His house felt a lot more lonely to him without the others. Natsuki and Yuri had really made his life more lovely than he thought, especially since Sayori was already safe in the real world.

And amidst all this, he still couldn't get over the fact that it was Monika's mother that stood in his way this time.

"Why did it have to be you, Erika..."

As he continued eating and repairing his swords at the same time, the various gears in the machine known as his mind worked in overdrive. They were postulating the various possibilities that cou