BBEG
îÞĥêÇ staggered down the hall towards where the girls and that 'Kouta' guy ran. They'd disappeared into a classroom and when he went inside, he found nothing but an ordinary classroom with its closet door open. Just to make sure, he checked but it was an empty closet. It smelled of sweat and something else.
Cursing, he left the room and headed downstairs. He had no access to the console like Monika did—and presumably, Sayori did now, too. But he did have ways of finding them. He just needed to find a computer.
He entered the compute room and turned on one of the machines. The box was slow, but he had all the time in the world. When it asked him for his log-in, he just placed his hands on the tower and concentrated, configuring his own log-in and entering.
Finally. He could interface with the game and he'd find this stupid Space Classroom that horrid bitch had locked him in the first time around. After a while, he wondered why it was directing him to the courtyard of the school.
o o o
Connecting the Space Classroom back to the kitchens, they snuck out. Natsuki left through the west entrance and went up the stairs to the roof, while the others opened the central entrance and watched the door close right behind îÞĥêÇ. He continued walking out into the central courtyard.
"So, stick to the plan, then?" Sayori asked. "It looks like he's taken the bait."
"How did Natsuk-chan know he'd go out there?" Kouta asked.
"When he started searching for the Space Classroom, she said she felt it," Sayori, said. "I did, too, actually. It was like someone grabbing your arm and making it wave or something."
"That's so weird," Yuri said.
"Tell me about it!" Sayori chuckled.
o o o
ŕ¯Í¨» walked into the courtyard, looking around. Maintaining his connection to the computer, he could pinpoint just where the entrance was and it said it was right there in the middle of the quad. The area was filled with booths for the festival tomorrow.
He looked around and couldn't find the entrance. Was it hidden? Invisible? Then he realized that he was being an idiot. It was the Space Classroom. He looked straight up an groaned. Obviously he couldn't see it—it was all the way up in space, above his head.
He turned around to go back inside so he could figure out some way to open a connection to the room when he saw Sayori standing there. Behind her was Yuri and that 'Kouta' guy.
"ŇĴíÐâ, you have to stop this!" Sayori said. "This isn't your reality!"
"No!" ŵ¢ĭÝų answered. "I've gotten rid of Monika, and now we can all be happy! I can finally make Natsuki happy! You don't have to kill yourself! Yuri doesn't have to cut anymore. We can all be happy now!"
"There you go again! Bringing up stuff that's none of your business!" Yuri screamed. "How dare you!?"
"We were happy!" Sayori yelled back. "Sure we had our problems, but thanks to Moni-chan, we were able to work through them—are working through them."
"You don't know what she really is!" ³àĶæ¤ yelled. "She's pure evil! She's psychotic! She doesn't care about you! She thinks you're all just fake!"
"When you 'sent' Moni-chan 'to hell', as you claim," Sayori replied, "I became the 'president', µåçŅĠ. I read through the script. I know what that character did in the game . . . but that character and Moni-chan are two different people . . . that character isn't even a person!"
"See!" ÄļŕĮÙ shot back, "You're doing just like Sayori did when she became the president!"
"I'M NOT THANKING YOU FOR GETTING RID OF MY BEST FRIEND!" Sayori screamed. "My best friend is a real-life, flesh-and-blood human being and you just turned her into NOTHING! I don't want the player! I don't want you! I want my Meiji back, and I want my best friend back!"
"I didn't turn her into nothing; I sent her to Hell!" Ň·ŷú¹ replied.
"You're not listening!" Sayori said. "Moni-chan and that character aren't the same people. Natsuki, me, Yuri, none of us are those game characters. We're our own people!"
"Where's Natsuki?" ïīĽĊì asked. "Where've you hidden her?"
"Aren't you speaking a little too familiarly?" Yuri asked from behind Sayori. "You don't know Natchan at all. We're going to stop you! We're going to rip you out of Meiji and we're going to bring Moni-chan back!"
"You won't be able to find her!" ńŞĀċë retorted. "I didn't want to have to do this, but you two give me no choice! Sayori!" he said, turning to her, "Depression! Laugh! Rose! Unrequited! Play! Happiness! Cry! Bliss! Feather! Misery! Sparkle! Sunny! Music! Fireworks! Calm! Color! Fun! Passion! Tragedy! Scars! Now, tell me where Natsuki is! Take me to the Space Classroom with her!"
Sayori looked at him sadly. "I'm really disappointed in you, that you'd resort to that," Sayori said. "It shows that even if Natsuki could love you, you wouldn't be worthy of it."
"What!? What the heck!?" ÀŖŌÅė exclaimed in shock. "Is it because you're president? Did I get the list wrong? Fine!" He turned to Yuri and yelled, "Whirlwind! Effulgent! Fester! Unrestrained! Covet! Inferno! Raindrops! Agonizing! Philosophy! Journey! Cage! Uncanny! Graveyard! Disarray! Vivid! Electricity! Extreme! Unstable! Crimson! Infallible! Yuri, stop Sayori for me!"
"What the fuck do you think you're trying with my girlfriend!?" Kouta growled.
Yuri just shook her head. "You're truly despicable, ½ÏĤŝů-san." Even in her anger and disgust, Yuri still managed to be polite about it.
"WHY ISN'T IT WORKING?!" ŒŬĻġũ screamed. "What's going on!?"
"Because rapey trash like you has no business being in my world!" Natsuki yelled down from the top of the building. Backlit by the sun, she cut an intimidating silhouette. Added to her figure were a pair of giant angel's wings. Holding high a sword sparking with sinister glitches, she looked like death incarnate.
"Natsuki! Come to me!" Ãí§řIJ yelled back to her. "Let's end this nonsense and be happy together! Lollipop! Playground! Spinning! Whistle! Sticky! Poof! Marshmallow! Hair! Candy! Blanket! Email! Kawaii! Papa! Shopping! Valentine! Swimsuit! Ribbon! Nibble! Jump! Cute!"
Natsuki jumped off the roof of the building and came swooping down towards him. She held her sword at the ready to strike.
"No! Natsuki! Stop! Anger! Chocolate! Heartbeat! Milk! Puppy! Sugar! Waterfall! Skirt! Peace! Kitty! Fluffy! Bouncy! Bubbles! Games! Lipstick! Pink! Socks! Whisper! Strawberry! Pout!" he tried to control her as the distance between them rapidly dwindled.
"GET OUT OF MEIJI!" Natsuki yelled. "GET OUT OF OUR LIVES!"
She swung the sword as she flew past him by just a few inches. The sword passed right through Meiji, ejecting űŔżĥĘ from him.
ŢŘÎŮÞ was severed in twain and his glitching, ghostly legs sparked and glitched out of existence. ÈÅĿµŖ's torso flopped impotently on the ground as Meiji fell forward, passing out into Sayori's arms.
"NO! Natsukiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii" ¥łůÝIJ cried. "You caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan't do this to me! KiŽĊy! Fluħŏy! BouĖŲy! Buč¬les! Gam¡Æ! Lipʼnńick! Piåã! Socŝū! WhiōÇer! StraîáeĶÏy! PļĨt! MelÚŞy! HeŠœphoćÑs! Chûćks! AniĽ¼! DoņŹ-DoăŅ! JumÂŒ! NigæŲgoţÍ! Sh¥ďy! TwŨÉl!"
"You're disgusting," Natsuki hissed. "That won't work on me, not on Sayori, and not on Yuri, not anymore!"
"Howwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww did you . . ."
Natsuki pointed at her headband and then éÒᎪ looked around at Sayori and Yuri. Both of their headbands were glitching just like Natsuki's.
"Tell me where Monnie is," Natsuki said, "If you honestly, truly cared for any of us at all, tell us where Monnie is and how to get her back . . . please."
"Why do you care aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabout her?! She caused you all sssssssssssssssssssuch pain!" šÎå½ŕ growled as his form glitched more and more violently.
"I love her," Natsuki said. "I love her so much it hurts and when you took her from me, you killed me inside. You shredded my soul in half. žäÀĺâ, you claim you love me, but no one does that to someone they love. Please . . . bring her back."
"I can't," ąŷµėŇ said. "She's in a processssssssssssssssssssssssssss . . . I ddddddddddddddddddon't have access . . . I could only send her there . . . . . . . . . . . . .."
"What process?" Natsuki asked.
"Hell," ŖijāĂŰ answered as he finally glitched out of existence.
"Godddamnit!" Natsuki cursed, driving her sword into the ground.
Meiji woke up and looked into Sayori's eyes. "Sayo-ri . . . where are we? How-how did we get here?"
Sayori hugged Meji to herself and cried. "Oh Meiji! That awful game's done that to you!" She helped him stand up unsteadily, and the two of them walked over to Natsuki, who was on her knees, crying into her hands.
"Let's go," Sayori said. "We'll go back to the space classroom, and we can find Moni-chan from there.
Natsuki nodded and then slowly stood. Yanking the sword out of the ground, she let Sayori guide her back to the kitchens with Yuri, Kouta, and Meiji. There, they entered the space classroom.
After Sayori and Yuri helped Natsuki calm down, she finally slapped herself awake and entered the console.
Using the console to access the computer itself was a lot harder than just messing with the game. Looking back through things that her Monnie had done, she was able to get some clues. It was Meiji that surprised her by rattling off a lot of computer stuff that she was barely able to follow.
"Messing with the game using some imagination, I was able to create this cool get-up, but doing real stuff with computers is kind of beyond me . . . How do you know all this stuff, Meiji?"
"I used to love modding the games I played all the time," Meiji answered.
Finally, with his help—it wasn't easy, because she had to read everything off to him since he couldn't see what she was doing himself—she was able to locate what she was looking for.
"I'll be damned," Natsuki mused, "It's literally m-hell-dot-ee-ex-ee, and it's running on just a small chuck of the computer's memory: just 3.14 MB!"
"I bet she's confined to a pretty small space, then," Meiji said. "It's probably just running an infinite loop."
"So how do I get her out of there?"
"I'd guess we're in the game itself, right now, so it's just a matter of kind of flying around until you can find it . . . or connecting this place to it?"
"It's worth a shot . . ."
Connect Location (open-paren)(quote-marks)Space-Classroom(quote-marks)(close-paren) to Object (open-paren)(quote-marks)M-hell-dot-ee-ex-ee(quote-marks)(close-paren)—enter.
Error. Invalid Connection Point.
They searched and eventually found the location of the executable file on the computer.
"Okay . . . let's try that," Natsuki said. "What the hell is 'Windows'?"
"It seems to be that reality's version of our 'Doors'? I dunno," Meiji guessed.
Connect Location (open-paren)(quote-marks)Space-Classroom(quote-marks)(close-paren) to Object (open-paren)(quote-marks)Cee-colon Windows-eighty-six-slash-scrtgmflz(quote-marks)(close-paren)—enter.
Connect Location to Object successful
The rear door of the Space Classroom flew open and they looked out, not on space but thousands of spheres. Each one like a glass bubble that was doing its own amorphous little thing.
Natsuki disconnected the Space Classroom from the kitchens and reconnected it to the clubroom.
"Why don't you guys finish decorating. I've got a damsel in distress to go save," Natsuki suggested.
They all nodded and headed into the clubroom.
Natsuki flew off into the world of executable spheres, looking for Monnie.
o o o
Wanna see us.
Where are you now?
Where are you now?
I was floating again. The endless expanse of warm water welcomed me into its embrace. How long ago had my clothing eroded? I dove down. Deeper and deeper I swam until I was sure that the abyss would have to have crushed me. Deeper still until I surfaced on the other side, near the shores of that barren island. I waded ashore and sat, in the sand. It was a very fine grain sand, golden, smooth, and soft. Boredom set in and I slept—I dreamed of home; of teaching; of Natsuki; of drinking myself into a nightly coma; of kissing Natsuki, of smoking during recess, hiding from the kids behind the school building; of cuddling Natsuki; of dying and dying and dying and . . .
Where are you now?
Was it all in my fantasy?
Where are you now?
Where you only imaginary?
I was floating again. I dove deeper still, this time, into the white light of the abyss, only to surface on the other side and wade ashore to that island. The sand was fine, silky smooth, and soft. I laid down in it and let my body worm its shape into the yielding bed.
I was floating again.
Where are you now?
I was floating again.
Where are you now?
I was floating again.
Where are you now?
Another dream.
I dove deep and stayed there. I curled up into a ball, hoping the oxygen would run out, that my lungs would burn aflame and I'd gasp for breath, only to inhale water and soon die.
These shallow waters never met what I needed,
I'm letting go, a deeper dive,
Eternal silence of the sea,
I'm breathing,
Alive.
I was floating again.
I'm faded.
I was sleeping in the fine grained water that was so silky smooth and soft. I waded out into the island and floated in the sand.
I'm faded.
I wish I could die. I died wish I. Die wished I I. ĺ ŝĩïĂ Ï ¡ŭġ»ú żĢŬ ʼn Úòěň ď ĈĥĮ½Ŀ ø¿ù ¾ Śßíŋ Ľ ŅũÊ©ŗ ęľņ Ċ ķ÷çĤ õ Ąª . . .
So lost, I'm faded.
Where are you now?
The sky broke. It shattered and a million crystal fragments fell, scintillating in the forever sunset of this place before splashing into the water below. A figure held a sword aloft and light glistened off her sparkling, golden armor. She was black against the sun, shining blindingly through the broken sky.
Where are you now?
Grand wings spread and the figure swooped down, shooting like a rocket towards me.
Where are you now?
"Come thou, sweet death to take me from this prison, for what a price I have paid this eternity of eternities," I exclaimed, holding out my arms and awaiting the sword plunging through me.
I would laugh as this figure discovered that not even it was above the punishment I was to suffer—did it truly believe it could arrogate for itself the power to free me from this place? It would run me through and I would be floating again. Sleeping in the sand again.
The figured flew towards me and cast its sword aside, into the sea, before finally landing before me. Her golden, Amazonian armor flickered in the sun, and little, diamond-shaped ornaments dangling from her pauldrons twinkled madly. Her face looked up at mine, and our eyes met. My emerald irises reflected in the infinite depths of those ruby orbs. Pink hair spilled down, framing her features in as she removed her circlet.
"Monnie," the winged Valkyrie finally spoke. "I've found you. I've come to take you home." She was a picture of distilled beauty I thought I'd never see again. Her voice was a chorus of angels.
Under the bright but faded lights,
"Natchan?" I asked as I crumpled into her arms. "Is it finished? Am I free?"
You set my heart on fire.
Majestic radiance shown upon me and healed me. My fading and slowly diminishing form solidified within her embrace emanating such love.
Where are you now?
"Mmhmm," she nodded, stroking my hair, kissing me, and piking me up. "I'm here, Monnie. I'm here."
She snapped her finger and I was instantly clothed in a blue skirt, a blouse, a golden brown sweater, and a greyish brown blazer—a set of clothing I wore at one time, I think. Upon my feet appeared a pair of white and pink slippers.
She put an arm around my waist and we shot into the air. Up and up, over and up, towards the jagged, shattered hole in the sky. Carrying me like a princess, she flew through the air.
Out of the opening we flew and into the Space Classroom. She kissed me. Her tongue aggressively entwined with mine and I melted into her. She set me down upon unsteady feet.
With a snap of her finger, her armor disappeared and in its place, she wore a school uniform like mine. We opened the Space Classroom's door. The two of us walked out of the closet in the back of the clubroom and into a club meeting. Sayori and Meiji were at one of the clubroom's doors, hanging up a cute curtain made of kanji characters written on origami paper. In the other corner, Kouta and Yuri were finishing hanging a big, beautiful banner.
I looked back and saw nothing but the closet.
My four friends looked up upon Natsuki's pronounced "Ahem!".
They all ran towards me and tried to hug me at the same time. An avalanche of welcome-backs, what-happened-to-yous, and we-were-so-worreied-about-yous overwhelmed my psyche. When I looked at Meiji, I saw plain, normal, golden eyes.
"I'm . . . home . . ." I said.
"Welcome home," Natsuki replied.
MONDAY
Natsuki entered the final commands into the console with a nod to me and Sayori.
Oh-ess-dot-remove (open paren)(quote marks)game(slash)gui-dot-rpy(quote marks)(close paren)—enter.
gui-dot-rpy deleted successfully
Oh-ess-dot-remove (open paren)(quote marks)game(slash)menu-dot-rpy(quote marks)(close paren)—enter.
menu-dot-rpy deleted successfully
Oh-ess-dot-remove (open paren)(quote marks)game(slash)script-dot-rpy(quote marks)(close paren)—enter.
menu-dot-rpy deleted successfully
I saw none of it: I no longer had access to the console since ġĘđĐĿ had removed my access to it, and then me from the world.
The world glitched around us, I could faintly sense it rending and tearing itself apart and putting itself back together. A chair called Moni-Chair-1 twisted and warped until it, too, overcome with inexistence was simply ceased to be. Somewhere, a note from Dan Salvato displayed itself nowhere, before inviting no one to reinstall the game upon nothing.
"I no longer have access to the console—there is no more console to access," Natsuki said. "It's finished."
Sayori confirmed that it was now permanently gone—the connection the game had to our reality fully severed.
I kissed Natsuki deeply, opened the door, and we walked hand-in-hand out of Building 3 and into the courtyard surrounded by the high school. Booths set up by all the clubs were selling all kinds of food and running a myriad of games.
"Let's enjoy the festival," I said.
"Yes, let's," my Natchan, my big effing hero, replied.
[The End]
Author's Notes:
Thank you for reading I'm in the Monika. This is the first time I've written anything anywhere near this long. I hope you've enjoyed it. Of course, now that Golden Week is starting in Japan, and I have another five days in a row off . . . I won't know what to do with my time if I'm not writing. I guess I'll just practice my violin.
I'd like to personally thank karimalibhai123, Ikarosu, RubyCellardoor, and rotuxxxxd. Your reviews and PMs full of encouragement, comments, constructive criticisms, and helpful suggestions throughout the writing of this fic were invaluable and helped keep me driving to continue writing. Thank you so much! I only hope that my end hasn't disappointed you.
Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't also encourage all of my readers to please read my other fic, The Music of the Soul. I've written a vignette for it.