You hear laughter. Bugs skitter around you, barely visible faces smile creepily. It is cold and unwelcoming. Every part of this cave wishes for you to leave. You take out DLL's Lantern, and it lights with a simple touch. The landscape is illuminated. It is your house at night. You stand at the top of the stairs, and look down.
Smiling at you, grabbing at you with its hands, you see SOMETHING, only now, you see it in full brightness. It is an odd thing to happen, but you cannot help yourself from laughing. You laugh as though Kel had just done something really stupid. The SOMETHING is nothing more than a blob of hair and teeth. Its hands are effortless to dodge. You feel no need to attack it, in fact, you find yourself pitying it. Is this really it? Retrospect is such a powerful thing. You find yourself wondering how you were ever afraid of something so silly.
Judging the distance, you hop past the SOMETHING, landing on your feet with a thud. It looks around confusedly, then turns around to face you, frowning like a puppy. You make your way to the living room. A million spiders cover all surfaces of the room, and many of them crawl over you. Their crawling and their bites tickle you. SOMETHING hangs from the ceiling by a web, that same smile on its abdomen, only now you see it's true size. It is roughly the size of a tarantula, not some giant monstrosity. You walk past it into the piano room.
You open the door to find that the room is completely filled with water. None of it spills into the living room, as is the weird and illogical nature of dreams, but you dive in regardless and shut the door behind you. You recall your time in Deep Well, and begin breathing. Tendrils lap at your body, pulling you down, dragging you towards death! ...Oh, wait, that's just some seaweed. How cute.
The window casts a harsh red shadow. You hear voices coming from inside it, though you can't quite parse their speech. You open the window to arrive at a new area. You feel something deep within you tell you that you have entered the "second layer."
You are at the hospital again. It is daytime. Kel, Aubrey, and Hero stand in front of you by Basil's bed. Their faces are covered with shadows. Suddenly, something rushes towards your face. It's harder to dodge than the SOMETHINGs. It's a basketball, thrown by Kel.
"...Oh no," Basil says, his eyes tearing up.
Simultaneously, Hero charges you as Aubrey swings her bat at Basil, who is entirely helpless. Blood splatters the walls. Hero pushes you out the door, forcing you down onto your back. He tries to punch you in the face, but you quickly dodge, come back to your feet, and begin playing your violin. You use ALLEGRO, and Hero is forced back.
You chuckle. This isn't Hero. Nor is it Aubrey or Kel. Your friends are not violent like this, they would not attack you like this. This is just a childish catastrophic prediction of the future, and it is completely false. It cannot hurt you, and you know this well. You walk away and and admire a White Egret Orchid inside a vase. As you touch it, the hospital melts around you.
You are now in a jail cell. You have been charged with manslaughter and evasion of arrest. You were found guilty and sentenced to serve life in prison. Now, your laughter really begins to grow. You have not smiled this much in four years. There are truly no words for this. You eventually stop laughing and sigh, remembering who made this vision, and why. Though you cannot really help it, it isn't such a good thing to mock him for it.
You play your violin again. The sound reverberates through the cell and calls out into a deep, deep place. The voices are louder and understandable now. They are shouting at you to get out, that you are not welcome, that you should leave and never return. The cell melts around you, and you sense yourself getting much closer to the core of this. Another layer.
You are standing at the top of the stairs again, a bit over to the right, leaning onto the banister. The room around you is monochrome. You see Mari in her living glory, standing next to you. You have a furious look on your face. Mari is apologizing profusely, saying that she didn't mean to throw your violin down the stairs, saying that she knows how much it meant to you. Her words are cut short. You see yourself push her down the stairs with all the force you can muster. She goes flying and blood stairs the floor. You can hear the sound of pictures being taken as Basil enters the room, capturing the moment for his photo album.
You sigh. This is no longer humorous. It's just sad. That isn't how it happened at all. You know that, he must know that too, and yet, this vision was made. You feel intense pity, and a desire to help. Your resolve strengthens. You walk down the stairs and turn Mari's corpse to face you. Her eyes opens and stares at you, and suddenly everything goes black.
SOMETHING floats before you. The voices are now shouting at you to leave. You are not wanted here. If you go any further you will be killed without mercy. You must leave. They want you to leave. You do not listen. SOMETHING stands before you and tries to grab you, but its attacks do nothing. You recall your old mental state. Through it was less than a week ago it feels like a lifetime has passed. So much has happened and changed in so little time. Through your efforts, through your achievements, through your victory, you have made things better. There is nothing left to do now. Everything is okay.
Except for this. Except for him. He is your last loose end, this cave is the last vestige of your old feelings. Nobody, nobody at all, deserves to live here. You must save him. You walk through SOMETHING as though it doesn't exist.
You are in total darkness, and it is not natural. It is a darkness manufactured by someone who wishes to be in the darkest darkness there is. A place shielded from all else, a cocoon, a womb. Fittingly, then, you see a boy crawled the fetal position, though sitting upright. A shield of assembled objects surrounds him; bits of land from across the Spaces, Sprout Moles, Red Hands, Reverse Mermaids, traffic lights, sinks, toilets, tiles, anything and everything. A collage of whatever he could get his hands on.
The voices suddenly stop, though not from silence, but rather, from coalescing into one. It speaks softly. There are long pauses between every phrase.
"You know... I really do seem to be totally incapable of making correct predictions. I really didn't expect this. Not that it matters much. I've grown numb to being wrong."
He raises his head to look at you.
"Shame on me, for assuming that you had some sense in your head. I should've remembered just how dumb you are."
He chuckles.
"Really, Sunny? Are we really doing this? You're actually coming back? You're actually going to try... to save me?"
The shield spins violently.
"...You've already won. I'm already gone. Besides, even if that wasn't true, you have no reason to want me back."
He stands up.
"I guess I really just don't understand you, Sunny. I really just don't understand why you would do this."
He sighs, drawing his knife in preparation for combat.
"Fine. Let's get this over with."
You ready your violin in response. Attacking him directly is currently impossible, so you focus your efforts onto breaking his protection. You use ENCORE in preparation. Omori commands the Red Hands to attack you. They grab at your limbs and pull as though they were trying to tear them off. It hurts. You keep going. You use ALLEGRO on the shield, aiming for whatever weak points you can find.
"You went through so much effort to get rid of me. You fought valiantly and won. Why are you seeking to undo that?"
Omori commands the Red Hands to slap you. It hurts, but it's dull. It feels as though Omori doesn't have his head in the game. You use a rubber band, lowering the shield's defense.
"You went through so much suffering to find the truth, yet you cannot accept the fact of your victory? Don't you understand, Sunny? I was wrong. You were forgiven by your friends, your family, and yourself. I have learned to accept when I am wrong, why can you not do the same? I was wrong, Sunny. You don't need me."
Omori becomes SAD. You use ALLEGRO on the shield.
"I spent so much energy segmenting the Mind into Spaces, letting you hide perpetually from the truth. I let you relive the glory days of childhood for eternity. I did all of that it was for nothing. It was for less than nothing, it was a waste."
Omori fires various bits of the shield at you at high speeds. One hits you and it hurts very badly, but you continue. You CALM DOWN to restore your HEART.
"All that time I spent doing that, the real Kel, Aubrey, Hero, and Basil were suffering alone. They needed you, your friendship, and I kept you inside your house. I am nothing but a detriment to you, Sunny."
Omori becomes DEPRESSED. You use ENCORE.
"I acted to protect you, but that was a lie. I was protecting nobody. I was saving nobody. I claimed to be a savior, I banished everyone who said otherwise, even Abbi, and I sat on my throne of Red Hands."
Omori tries to SUFFOCATE you, but you find yourself able to breathe. You use ALLEGRO on the shield.
"I have hurt so many people through my selfish actions. Even the denizens of the Mind, as fake as they are, suffered by my hand. They hate me, I hear their bitter words from down here. To save me is to bring back that suffering. You should just leave me here."
Omori becomes MISERABLE. You use ALLEGRO on the shield once more. It is close to breaking.
"I've spent some time thinking down different avenues of events. Different 'what-if' scenarios. Do you know what would have happened if I had gotten control, Sunny? I would've killed us, and Basil would have killed himself."
Omori meekly commands the Red Hands to attack you, but you easily dodge them. You use ALLEGRO on the shield, and it shatters. Omori stands bare. There is a tense moment of silence between you.
"...And yet, you still want to save me. You still want to bring me back. I cannot possibly understand why. You and I must be too different, I suppose, even though we are the same person. This fine, though. If you will not cleanse me from this world, if you will not end the suffering I create, then I will do so myself."
Omori become SUICIDAL. You do not wish to attack. Your SKILLS fade.
"Nobody wants me. Not even you. You must be delusional."
Omori uses RED HANDS on himself. It hits right in the heart every time. You do not want to attack.
"If you are going to be so stupid as to attempt to save me, then I will ensure that can't happen. Don't you see, Sunny? I always oppose you. Whatever you want, I will strive to do the opposite."
Omori uses SUFFOCATE on himself. His defense is lowered drastically. You do not want to attack.
"I'm going to win, Sunny. I'm going to win because I'm not going to let you get what you want. Isn't that ironic?"
Omori uses CRIPPLE on himself. His speed is lowered drastically. You do not want to attack. You close you eyes and remember Mari's forgiveness. You learn COMFORT, and use it on Omori, healing him.
"...What... are you... doing?"
Omori stabs himself. You COMFORT him, telling him that he is forgiven.
"You... you can't be serious! This... no!"
Omori stabs himself. You COMFORT him, telling him that you wish to make him be better.
"Stop it! Stop... doing that! Can't you see I'm trying to kill myself?!"
Omori stabs himself. You remember how it felt to let your mind wander during chores. You learn DISTRACT, and use it on Omori. For the next turn, all attacks onto him deal less damage.
"What the hell is wrong with you?! Stop doing that!"
Omori stabs himself. You DISTRACT him, reminding him of how it felt to wander Head Space with his friends.
"Just let me die! I'm trying to help everyone for once! If I die, the last bits of guilt in your Mind... they'll finally go away! You'll be truly happy! You'll move on! Keeping me alive will only make that harder!"
Omori stabs himself. You DISTRACT him, reminding him of where he got his name: the piano that Mari used to play.
"Stop it! Stop it! Stop being nice to me! Just let me die, you moron!"
Omori stabs himself 3 times. You remember something your mother once told you after Mari's death. You learn HOTLINE, and use it on Omori. His health cannot reach 0 for 1 turn.
"Why?! Why won't you just let me die?!"
Omori stabs himself 10 times. You use HOTLINE again.
"I've done nothing but hurt you! I've done nothing but hurt everyone! Do the world a favor and let me die!"
Omori stabs himself over and over, without stopping. You use HOTLINE again.
"..."
Omori stabs himself over and over, without stopping. You use HOTLINE again.
"..."
Omori stabs himself over and over, without stopping. You use HOTLINE again.
"..."
Omori stabs himself 3 times. You use HOTLINE again.
"..."
Omori meekly stabs himself once. You use HOTLINE again.
"..."
Omori drops his knife. You win!