Sometimes in video games, the devs will throw players a curveball near the end, something they never saw coming. For example, in one of the only dating sims I've ever played, Doki Doki Literature Club, Monika being sentient and being able to say your real name usually throws people off. There are also secret bosses, betrayals from trusted allies, and so many other surprises someone can throw at you. However, none of them compare to the shitshow that hit us all when Graduation Day arrived.
The ceremony started, and we were all set to go up to the roof to end the game. The brothers were trying to work out an order on who would ask me to the roof first, and that's when the monsters suddenly showed up. There was screaming as our computer generated classmates ended up getting completely and utterly devoured. Everything basically exploded from there, the monsters going wild and basically killing everyone.
Lucifer had quickly taken charge, gathering all of us as we pressed forward, trying to escape the carnage. Being without any means of defending myself, especially since I'd yet to use magic since the incident with Asmo, the brothers basically defended me as we fought our way to the roof. Occasionally, one of our classmates would tag along, but would either sacrifice themselves by drawing the monsters away, or would just end up dying along the way. Once we made it up there, we dragged the benches over to the door to try and barricade them.
"Okay, what the fuck is going on here?!" Stupidmammon shrieked. "This totally ain't what I was told would happen!"
"Where did all these monsters come from?" Satan questioned. "I thought this was supposed to be a dating sim, not an ultimate monster hunter RPG!"
"Leviachan!" I exclaimed. "You better explain this!"
"Hey, I'm just as surprised as you!" Leviachan declared, grinning widely. "I mean, this is totally exciting! Who would've thought that what looked like a simple dating sim would have this crazy twist at the end?! Not to mention how totally bloody it is! OMG, this is so EPIC!"
"Now is not the time to be gushing, Leviachan!" I snapped. "In case you forgot, we're playing by Jumanji rules, meaning whatever happens here happens in the real world, and I rather enjoy living!"
"Come to think about it," Satan spoke up, "before he sacrificed himself to save us, John said that-"
"Wait, who's John?" Stupidmammon questioned.
"I think he was one of the students that died for us on our way up here," I answered.
"Oh yeah, John," Leviachan recalled. "Now that I think back on it, when I first met him in game, I though he seemed like someone who was going to be killed off at some point in the story."
"...anyway," Satan growled, getting back on topic. "John said that we had to get to the roof, and that we would be the only ones who would stand a chance in 'the final battle'."
"Of course..." I realized. "If this has become a monster RPG, then there's got to be a final boss. And if the game is supposed to end here on the roof..."
A loud trio of howls filled the air, and everything began to shake. All five of us tensed as a very familiar figure came bounding towards the roof.
"The Final Boss will be waiting for us," Leviachan finished, his eyes going wide.
"No way..." Stupidmammon let out. "THAT'S the last boss?!"
"It would see so," Lucifer replied.
The final boss jumped over the fence surrounding the edge of the roof, and none other than Cerberus landed right in front of all of us. The concrete cracked from the force of his jump, and fire was pouring from all three of the massive dog's mouths. He looked ready to eat us, and I silently wondered if this version of Cerberus remembered us from the incident during the retreat.
"Cerberus..." I whimpered. "Why did it have to be Cerberus?"
"Wait a minute," Stupidmammon spoke up. "If this is our Cerberus, then we lucked out! I mean, this'll be easy, right? We have Lucifer, Cerberus' master on our side! He'll be a docile as a lamb!"
"We don't even know if this is our Cerberus," Satan pointed out. "And even if it was, this isn't the Devildom. The rules are different here."
"Cerberus, sit!" Lucifer demanded, trying his hand at the strategy.
Unfortunately for all of us, the command just seemed to piss off the three-headed dog even more. It growled, bits of fiery drool dripping from its trio of maws. Stupidmammon let out a girly shriek, hiding behind Lucifer in terror. I was in a similar state of panic, stumbling back and whimpering pathetically.
"You called it, Satan," Leviachan remarked. "Lucifer's real-world powers don't work here!"
The three heads then began turning towards Satan, fierce red eyes locking on the wrathful demon.
"Satan, look out!" I shouted. "He's going after you!"
The massive dog lunged at Satan, and was about to strike. However, before he could, Lucifer got between his brother and the massive beast. The look on his face was downright murderous as he stared down the three-headed dog.
"CERBERUS!" He bellowed. "I believe I told you to sit. Or didn't you hear your master's command?"
Cerberus growled, but didn't attempt to pounce again. Still he didn't obey either. The words in Lucifer's textbox were shaking with the pure rage in his voice.
"Sit, Cerberus. NOW!" he demanded. "And if you so much as think of trying to harm my brother..." his eyes became dangerous, flickering with so much righteous fury I was shocked he didn't slip into his demon form. "Go ahead… see what happens to you."
Leviachan, Stupidmammon and I were all just frozen, watching this standoff in stunned silence. Cerberus, on the other hand, couldn't sit down fast enough. He lowered all three of his heads, whimpering as the fire in his mouths became little more than smoke. Satan was the most shocked of all, completely speechless as he watched his brother protect him so thoroughly.
"Whoa..." I said after a minute. "I- I can't believe that-"
All of a sudden, everything went black, the once suspenseful background music becoming more cheery. Trumpets began playing, and the words "Mission Complete" seemed to appear out of nowhere. Colored confetti materialized as "Congratulations! Game Complete" replaced the first set of words. Before anyone could say anything more, the world went white one last time…
…
I gasped and sat up, finding myself on the ground where I had been sitting before. Mammon sat up right next to me, patting himself down and looking around.
"I'm..." he let out. "I'm not Stupidmammon anymore! We're back in the real world!"
"Cue the Confetti!" Levi cheered. "We just broke the RTA Speedrun record!"
At that moment, Satan and Lucifer entered the room, and Mammon quickly rushed over to the younger demon.
"Satan! We did it! We made it back to the real world!"
That's when Lucifer cleared his throat.
"Actually, I'm over here," Lucifer(Satan) informed him. "I'm back in Lucifer's body..."
"Oh come on!" I exclaimed, flopping onto my back. "And I was getting used to you guys being back to normal too!"
"Unfortunately, the effect of the game world did not cross over with us," Satan(Lucifer) lamented. "Meaning the magic of the book is still in effect."
"Seriously?" Mammon questioned.
"What if you guys stayed inside the game world until the spell wears off in the Devildom?" Levi suggested.
Satan(Lucifer) mulled over the idea for a moment.
"That is a possibility," he remarked.
"No, no it's not," I declared. "You forget about the twist ending. I mean, we all barely survived, and what if Cerberus shows up again?"
"No problem," Lucifer(Satan) declared without a moment of hesitation. "I have Lucifer."
Satan(Lucifer) snorted, shaking his head.
"What's that now? You want to force me to stare down Cerberus again?"
Lucifer(Satan) remained unphased by his brother's dismissive tone. In fact, he seemed oddly confident, and more than a little proud as he spoke up.
"Well, it's nothing my big brother can't handle, now is it? Even Cerberus becomes like a regular dog when faced with Lucifer's icy stare."
Satan(Lucifer)'s bitter scowl melted as he seemed to register that his brother was being oddly sincere. After a moment, a smile cracked on his face.
"If you'd like, Satan, I could teach you how to command Cerberus to do as you say."
"Don't be crazy," Lucifer(Satan) laughed goodnaturedly. "That's something only you can do. I wouldn't have a chance."
"Actually, I think you have what it takes to do it."
"Well, maybe," Lucifer(Satan) shrugged. "I was once part of you, after all."
That seemed to stun Satan(Lucifer) for a moment, making me wonder if Satan had ever admitted to his origins aloud. Thinking back to when I brought it up, he had treated it like some dark secret that was never meant to be heard by mortal ears. However, now he was admitting to his origins so flippantly. Apparently, the look of surprise on Satan(Lucifer)'s face seemed to amuse his flip-flopped brother, who laughed a bit.
"Oh man, you should see how goofy you look right now!"
"Hey guys," I whispered, looking back at Levi and Mammon. "Is it just me, or are those two… actually getting along?"
"Shh!" Levi hissed, typing furiously on his phone. "Don't talk to me right now! I have to be the first to review Doji Maji on Akuzon..."
"Make sure to ask about why the hell we had to raise our intimacy scores when they didn't mean shit at the end of the game," Mammon told him.
I blinked, then laughed and shook my head.
"So, this is what it feels like to be Mammon."
Still, the plan seemed to have worked, somewhat. Lucifer and Satan had, at the very least, seemed to have come to some sort of settlement to their feud. I held no illusions that it would hold forever, but at the very least, they didn't want to kill one another anymore. Satisfied, I got up and began heading to my room to get some much needed rest. After all, the curse was still active, and I knew that one way or another, we were going to have to find a way to break it.