You struggle to free yourself from the vegetation. Omori sits still, though you can't tell why.

"Alright, let's do this quickly," he says, "Firstly, I can't have your escaping, so..."

He takes your bow and violin, and Omori's knife. He slices the knife across the string, snapping it in half, then throws your violin onto the floor, creating a familiar heap of wood and metal.

"Whoops," he says heartlessly. He holds the knife in his hands, testing its weight. You are AFRAID. Stranger holds the knife over Omori, and you try to move to cover him. The knife comes plummeting down without warning, grazing your shoulder and nearly missing Omori's heart... which, you aren't even sure if he has one. No blood comes out of his body. His expression does not change.

"S-stop that!" you say, "What the hell is wrong with you?! What did he ever do... to..."

You don't feel the need to finish your sentence.

"What did he ever do to me?" he asks, "The same thing he did to all of us. The same thing he did to you. Kept us writhing in needless agony for his own self-interest. To protect himself. Our pain was all that gave him purpose, the only reason he had to exist. Now that he's back..."

Stranger stabs Omori again.

"I am not going to go back to the way things were before," he says, "I will not let you ruin this world again."

Omori becomes SAD. He doesn't speak.

"Please, Stranger, we're... we're here to help!" you say, "We want to preserve Grey Space!"

He chuckles, mockingly. "Fat load of good Grey Space has ever done for me. Didn't I tell you I got left behind? All of us did. The Spaces are not meant to be like this. Peace and unity can be formed for the majority of the Mind, but there will always be borders like this, areas like this, people like me and my friends, places and people who got left behind."

He stabs Omori again. Omori becomes DEPRESSED.

"I can tell your mission is with good intent," he says, "But, you know what they say about the path to Hell. A fool's errand, you're on. Besides, I get the feeling you're the only one who actually believes in your mission. This demon doesn't care about anything or anyone, not you or your noble ambitions."

He stabs Omori again. Omori becomes MISERABLE.

"Oh, grow up, will you?" he says, "What are these? These... facsimiles of emotions? You're not sad, you're not depressed or miserable, you don't feel anything. You're Omori! It is in your very nature to be nothing. That is all you strived for in your four years ruling over these lands. Don't try to flip the script now, pretending you feel sorry, or whatever. I'm not an idiot. I don't buy it."

He stabs Omori again. It doesn't do as much damage as before. You recall that SADNESS increases DEFENSE. Still, Omori's HEART is getting dangerously low. You aren't sure what will happen if it reaches zero, and you don't want to find out. Humming in place of your violin, you make a small slice, and as a FOLLOW-UP, you use ENFATICO, healing both of you, though he needs it much more desperately. Stranger notices this.

"...What did you just do?" he asks, confused, and slightly angry.

It's Omori's turn. He uses STARE, making Stranger uncomfortable.

"...Are you... kidding me?!"

Stranger's turn. He becomes ANGRY, and stabs Omori again. Not much damage gets dealt.

Your turn. You think of your potential options. You use ENCORE in preparation. Omori struggles around, dealing damage to the vines around him. He does a FOLLOW-UP with FORTE. The vines begin to wither.

Stranger becomes ENRAGED. With a rising motion of his hands, the vines grow stronger, healing HEART and clasping tighter. You feel as though your blood pressure is being measured, except throughout all your limbs. You take damage, while Omori does not. You slash at STRANGER to keep him away, and Omori struggles some more, letting his vines wither more and more.

Stranger is FURIOUS.

"STOP MOVING!" he says, barely able to form words, "STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT!"

He slashes the knife across both of you. Memories of the night you lost your eye flash in front of you, almost causing you to become STRESSED OUT, but you instead take time to CALM DOWN. It is successful.

Omori kicks at your vines, using his slightly scrawnier build to squeeze between them, getting better leverage for destroying them. The pressure on your body fades slightly. Stranger slashes the two of you again, three times in quick succession. You are both in a very dire situation, HEART-wise, and in general. You use ALLEGRO, cutting your vines down to twigs. Omori takes the final step, struggling just a bit more, freeing both of you entirely.

A crash of thunder. Stranger is radiating heat, letting off steam like a character in an old cartoon. His eyes are swarming with red energy. He appears to stand taller. Stranger has become LIVID.

"I AM GOING TO WIPE YOUR MISERABLE LITTLE FACES OFF OF THE FUCKING MINDSCAPE," he barely manages to say between heavy breaths. He attacks you both with everything he has. You don't stand a chance. You collapse to the ground. Omori, though, through the power of SADNESS, took the blow. As you lie on the ground, blood staining the earthen floor, you seem him lunge at Stranger, knocking them both to the floor. Omori punches him in the face, trying desperately to reclaim his precious knife. Barely clutching onto life, you use ALLEGRO on Stranger, giving Omori just the opportunity that he needs. The knife comes free, once again in Omori's control, and he plunges it into Stranger's heart without hesitation. Being so LIVID, his defense has fallen to nearly nothing. The blow is fatal. You win! That's a good thing to know while you're currently losing all of your blood. Omori walks over to you, squating down to look more directly into your eyes. Your vision fades, the dream coming close to ending.

"Everything is going to be okay," he says.

You believe him.