A reset and a new puppet-master to tug on their sportive puppet's strings.
Pulling him in the direction of heartbreak and bloodshed, all the while knowing nothing but a mission to purify a world they know little about while he knows the truth. He knows he is breaking his own heart because it is truly for the best that everything fades to nothingness. That the tainted world must be destroyed to cease it's own deadly corruption even if he is forced to murder his own wife and child, to slaughter a girl who merely wanted to dance, to face off against a mourning feline, to rip the world asunder and delete the last threads of life left in the barren realms, a laughing merchant, a trapped man and finally himself.
It's better this way.
Each reset is the same, though there may be a new Puppeteer behind the puppet, that the Merchant remembers. Because he does remember each time the switch is pulled.
He remembers the Puppet entering a basement and buying his wares, he remembers everything going to white as he is brought to a new Zone, the shopping mall with the laughing and clattering of the Spectres beneath his face. Standing high in the air on the library a fiery bird built for a panicked race, chuckling then cringing as he hears the sickening, wet thuds of a baseball bat meeting flesh and the tragic cries of loss from a dear friend.
He had to take the Grinning Cat's place, to lead the Puppet and the Puppeteer in their quest, to purify the last Zone and enter the Room to face the last obstacles in the way of the reset button. Meowing pathetically though his heart hammered in sorrow and rage, in fear of what he knew was to come.
He remembers the pain as he is torn apart and stitched back together to be placed back in the basement.
But it's better this way, it's better that next time things may stay pure.
It's gone all wrong this time, he can just feel it as he waits in his place within the basement with those worn words sitting on the tip of his tongue, just waiting for a baseball player to walk through the doors.
But things continue on their linear path, the infested shopping mall, a cat who couldn't chew through a tiny bird, sorrowful meows into empty air and a new mask to hide behind as he leads the Puppet through the sweet-scented Zone.
Except they don't go straight to the last realm. They are at the very beginning. There are crashes and raised voices below the Masked Man's feet and he can feel his heart freeze as the Puppet comes to him with a bloodstained bat and a oh so familiar item he should never have been able to acquire.
As he is told goodbye from the Hidden Girl he dips his head to hide tears and forces a soft chuckle.
Perhaps it's for the best.
Things are still so wrong, he can feel it as the Puppet moves past the final save block and heads to the final confrontations and the merchant head reels as he tries to think what will be different. Will the Father spare Mother and Child? Will the Grinning Cat fail to make his final stand to defend the switch.
His answer soon comes with the sounds of cries. It comes with a monster's roars and a cat's purrs, replacing hisses and a cat's shrieks. As the Feline passes with bloodied claws and coat, the merchant ducks his head and steps where he never trod before.
He spares the bloodied and disfigured corpse of a broken doll before he steps over it to rest a hand on the switch.
"It's better this way."