Warning: Possible spoilers for Danganronpa V3 and Eeveelution Squad. Reader's discretion is advised.
You didn't think that only the USA got affected by the Anomalous Bursts, did you?
We appear to be peering into a strange building. It appears to be nighttime in a cold, depressing place overcast by smog. Yep, we must be in London. Inside the skyscraper, we see an advertisement for what appears to be a law firm…picking up one of the business cards, their modus operandi is emblazoned on it.
Why dae rich people care about making bees and honey?
Strange, it appears to be a fusion of Scottish and Cockney…the familiar logo catches your eye.
MC&D Ltd.
Marshall, Carter and Dark…a major GOI within the 36 alternate Foundation canons. They are to anomalous objects as Google is to search results. A means to an end, a way to make a monopoly and a way to control the proletariat and bourgeoisie through their acquisition of the anomalous. Those clever bastards…they know that the rich with hobnob with the other rich people and brag about this cool thing that they bought that they don't really know what it does, but all that matters is that they have it and you don't, therefore, they are better than you. And the only winner of this game is Marshall, Carter and Dark.
"Places everyone."
It appears one of their famous anomalous auctions is occurring. We don't want to miss the entertainment. A massive assortment of strange objects are up for auction, but hearing rich people and undercover Foundation agents vying for these weird things tires you. But, one of the objects catches your eye.
"Item #877829. This is a grand piano, made of oak and placed within a sleek black metal framework. The keys are inlaid with the purest ivory, the inner strings made with reinforced steel wire that is nearly impossible to break, unlike your grandson's guitar when he tried starting a band."
The rich people laugh at this attempt at humor.
"Now, Carter, I hear you bourgeoisie types saying. This is Marshall, Carter and Dark, don't these things have anomalous? It is what you're known for, after all. Not to worry, for this object has an anomaly. According to our anonymous source, this can teleport you into the future. Before you buy, he said it's a one-way trip. We did not have enough time to determine what cause the anomalous effect, but just to prove to you that this piano is of working condition, we have a maestro playing a little ditty for you.
The maestro begins playing a catchy little tune.
E flat, D flat, F sharp, B flat-F sharp, B flat-F sharp, E flat, D flat, F sharp, B flat-F sharp, B flat-F sharp, E flat, D flat, F sharp, B flat-F sharp, E flat, B flat-F sharp, D flat, B-F, B-F, E flat, D flat, D flat, B-F, B-F, E flat, D flat, D flat, B-F, B-F, E flat, D flat, B-F, E flat, B-F, F sharp, B flat-F sharp, B flat-F sharp, E flat, D flat, B flat, B flat-F sharp, B flat-F sharp, E flat, D flat, B flat, B flat-F sharp, B flat-F sharp, E flat, D flat, B flat, B flat-F sharp, D flat, B flat-F sharp, E flat, B-F, B-F, E flat, D flat, E flat, B-F, B-F, E flat, D flat, E flat, B-F, B-F, E flat, D flat, E flat, B-F, D flat, B-F, B flat, B flat-F sharp, B flat-F sharp, E flat, D flat, F sharp, B flat-F sharp, D flat, B flat-F sharp, F sharp, B flat-F sharp, D flat, B flat-F sharp, F sharp, F, F sharp, G, A flat, B-F, D flat, B-F, A flat, B-F, D flat, B-F, A flat, B-F, D flat, B-F, A flat, G, A flat, F, F sharp, B flat-F sharp, D flat, B flat-F sharp, F sharp, B flat-F sharp, B flat-F sharp
The rich people applaud.
A piano that can time travel? Now you've heard everything. Still, you see the end result of the auction. Some rich Japanese man bought it for around 30 million yen, or around $280,650 in US dollars. Meh, at least you saw how an auction worked…kind of. It was just a bunch of rich people begging MC&D to take their money. It's kind of pathetic, really.
Anyways, that Japanese man tried to activated its "time travel" anomaly, but he never got it to work quite right. So, he offloaded it to some school so that any aspiring pianists could use it. If only he checked where he sent it to.
The following after action report was translated into English for the filthy gaijin that don't understand or can't speak Japanese. You're so lucky that the Japanese branch of the Foundation was ever so gracious to translate this for you.
"I won't let your wish go ungranted."
That was on 2017 January 12…that old piano was thrown out in case so happy go lucky "hero" tried to find it (even though seeing his dead friend's corpse might give him even more despair, but whatever, that's pedantic). It has been about 3 years since that day…an Anomalous Burst appears under a piano in a landfill somewhere in the Tokyo Prefecture.
"It's time to wake up." An unknown voice says to the piano
A young girl's eyes slowly open, as the cyanosis from her skin recedes. The gashes from when those…things tried to lapidate her, as well as the ligature marks from the piano wires begin healing. She tries maneuvering under the steel wires…she does so. As she attacks the piano cover, she manages to budge the lid open. She quickly maneuvers the holding stick in place so the lid doesn't crush her to death. She manages to roll out of the piano.
"Where am I?"
"Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan." The voice responds
"What year is it?"
"Late 2019."
"So…I?"
"Congratulations, lady. You time traveled almost 3 years into the future!"
"Time travel?"
"Yeah, honestly; You should be dead right now. I'm not sure how you're still alive."
"Is anyone I know still alive?"
"Yeah actually, head to Akasaka Tameike Tower 2-17-7 Akasaka Minato-Ku, 107-0052 Japan, and you might find some answers."
With no leads to go on, she proceeds to head towards the tower. All while looking at the splendor of her home country.
"A lot has changed in 3 years…"
Passing through a rainbow aura, she feels ever so determined to find out what has happened since she…uh…died? It's kind of hard to explain. People just don't stop "being dead" and zombies don't count, those are fake news! She spots a random Japanese youth gaming on his laptop. It appears to be a rhythm game of some sort.
"Hey, what are you playing?"
"Oh, it some rhythm game…I think it was called Just Shapes and Beats. I heard it was made by some people in Canada. And…"
"Son of a bitch!"
She looks shocked.
"Not you, I fucking died on "Termination Shock" again. Why'd the developers put the hardest level in the entire game as the eighth one in story mode?! I even managed to S-Rank Mortal Kombat in challenge mode! Why is this one so difficult?!"
She can hear the poor kid having a conniption, but she can also hear the sweet tunes of the destroyer's music. Even though Termination Shock will destroy that kid's sanity, she has to admit, its pretty good music.
Now that she thinks about it, she can hear all sorts of wonderous music. Of course, music can be heard all over, but she feels…a special connection to music. Of course, she was a master pianist, so maybe she's just more inclined to feel this sort of thing.
"Come on, pick up…"
She tries calling her mom, dad and sister. All of them had no response.
"Sigh. I guess I'm all alone here."
Arriving at the Akasaka Tameike Tower, she finds that the entrance to the building is guarded by a bouncer of some sort. Why would Starbucks of all people need bouncers? Then it hits her.
Tameike Tower only has the Starbucks on the first floor. What secrets could it be hiding on the upper floors. She approaches the bouncer and is shocked to find that he looks exactly like…
"Shuichi?! Is that really you?"
"Huh?"
The detective looks at the girl and turns a ghostly white. No, it can't be! They all saw her die! This must be a nightmare! Or a cosplayer! Not sure which would be the worse option in this situation…
"No…this must be some sort of sick joke! You aren't the real one! The real one was executed in front of our eyes! Disgusting cosplayer! How dare you toy with my emotions! Kaede Akamatsu is dead and always has been since 2017 January 12!"
While the right question in this scenario is how Shuichi even managed to get into this dimension's version of Japan, there's a more pressing issue at hand. A sickly miasma of purplish goo overtakes him.
"Is that…?"
"You know, I thought maybe that bastard robo-bear was lying. That this was all some elaborate sleight of hand bullshit. Didn't you tell me yourself that I had to carry on your wish? Am I just a pawn in your schemes, Naede? You're no better than that cosplaying bitch that orchestrated everything! She killed nearly all of my friends in her sick game! You claim to be a symbol of hope?!"
The inky purplish stuff completely covers him, turning him into a purplish mass that appears to be outputting a mild cognitohazardous effect! Does this mean Shuichi is an SCP now?
Suddenly, five Monokuma bots join in on the battle!
"I am Misanthropy! I am everything that she couldn't be! I am now the very essence of despair! Say goodnight, Kaede! Because the precious student you loved so much is no more! Now DIE!"
A myriad of musical instrumentals overtakes Kaede. She knows she can't kill him. Maybe…maybe there's another way to save Shuichi from his despair! She hears a wonderous tone that begins to play from the tower's seventh floor. It brings back nostalgic memories. A song that can break through even the darkest depths of despair…a song of hope. She begins harmonizing with the song.
"Grr, Monokuma bots, kill that annoying brat!"
The Monokuma bots attempt to attack Kaede, but it appears the song is short circuiting them!
"Their despair cores are being shorted out! Fine then, take these, bitch!"
Misanthropy flings off purplish balls of pure despair at her, Kaede simply just dodges them.
"Grr, what is this feeling? Sadness? Hope? No, this won't end here!"
Misanthropy pounds the ground, causing spiky precipices of pure despair to rush toward Kaede. She manages to weaken the blast, but she gets hurt by the despair wave. All it does is shift the tone of the song down a few octaves, but as soon as the song weakens the despair, the pitch of the song rises back up! The purple goo is dissipating off of Shuichi's body!
Meanwhile, on the seventh floor…
"Sir, the despair reactors are overloading! A massive wave of despair is being generated! The reactor cores can't take it!"
"What is causing the reactors to malfunction?! I'm going to check it out!"
"We did get all the despair from that Canadian hockey game. It was practically a riot over there. Maybe the concentrated Canadian despair gummed up the reactors since Canadian despair builds up over time?"
The man heads down the tower to see what's going on.
"Please, I don't want to be reminded of her again…"
"I don't want to lose her."
"Stop it!"
"Kaede…"
The despair goo leaves Shuichi completely. Kaede runs toward him.
"Shuichi, are you okay?!"
"Kaede…is it really you?"
"Yeah…it's me."
"How did you survive?!"
"Honestly, I don't know. But does it matter?"
"I guess not."
The man runs down to see the two students reconcile.
"No, you should be dead! How are you still here?!"
The two of them back away from the man.
"The narrative! You've broken the narrative! I have it in my script that Kaede Akamatsu is to be executed by both lapidation and strangulation from a piano on 2017 January 12! You! Should! Be! Dead!"
An inconceivable amount of despair rushes over the students. Kaede's heart is shown cracking a little from the sheer power of the despair emanating off that man!
"The narrative must be restored!"
He holds up a noose that he just tied together while he was raving like a lunatic.
"Alright, Kaede. Get in!"
Silence.
"Ok, you little brat! Since my creation won't die willingly, I'm just going to have to kill you myself! And by that, I mean, I'm going make my new employee do it for me. Hero syndrome, you're up!"
A black-haired woman, clad in military gear descends the tower and stands at the man's side. She appears to be carrying an assault rifle, maybe an AR33, a high-powered rifle, possible a Howa type 89, and an RPG launcher. How'd she not get arrested for holding firearms in crowded building?!
"General Kodaka, what are your orders?"
"Ah, please execute that girl, Ms. Ikusaba. She's wanted for the crime of destabilizing a narrative. Try not to hit our detective…let's say that he's a hostage suffering from Stockholm Syndrome."
"Trying to change narratives, huh? I remember when I tried that."
She shouts to Kaede.
"You're wasting your time, kid! You can't change fate! I'm the hero and you are the bad guy! Mr. Kodaka told me."
"You see, this is SCP-2786-EN…she escaped from some bad scientists trying to experiment on her, so I took her in and gave her a job as internal security. She's ruthlessly efficient. It's her dream to be a hero, and well, she is to us!"
The soldier takes out a knife and charges her. Kaede dodges the first strike deftly! She needs something to defend with…she could tap into a song to save Shuichi, so maybe she can find a song to increase her defensive capabilities!
"It's over, Ms. Akamatsu. I have the high ground!"
She stares at the SCP turned soldier and can tap into the inherent music surrounding her.
"This is going to be a sweet victory for Mr. Kodaka!"
Sweet Victory? What a great idea! Kaede taps into the musicality of that song and…
"Die!"
The knife breaks off on her skin!
"Huh? How are you knife-proof?! Well, it doesn't matter. I don't need knives!"
"BECAUSE I'VE GOT BULLETS INSTEAD!"
She gets out her AR33 and begins laying waste to Kaede. The bullets don't even pierce her body, they just bounce off!
"What?! Die already!"
She throws a grenade at her, Mr. Kodaka notices this.
"Are you crazy, Mukuro?! There are civilians around! Kill only Kaede! No other casualties!"
The grenade detonates on her. Only mild injures were received during the explosion.
"Ok, ok. This is getting stupid now. Mukuro, come back. I have an idea…if she gets her anomaly through music…I think it's time to send in the drones."
Suddenly, two military drones fly overhead!
"Don't you understand?! You're sieging the base! Team Danganronpa is within the Spike Chunsoft offices on the seventh floor of this tower! I am Kazutaka Kodaka, the orchestrator of the Tragedy! I am the dignitary of despair and all the cultists bow down to me! Your hope can't begin to win against Ultimate Despair!"
The Japanese populace look at the drones flying overhead.
"These are neutered forms of the QROY-66 SENSOR and the QFMX-69 SICKLE drones that Japan and the US are brokering a deal over. They're trying a joint operation to remove Kim Jong Un from power by using the QFMX-69 SICKLE to search and destroy the supreme leader. Declassified documents have confirmed that Kim Jong Un is literally too fat to be assassinated through normal means. Stabbing him to death wouldn't work. His fat ass would absorb all the knife slashes before they strike something important. Shooting him will have his blubber deflect the bullet and it will kill you instead! That's even suggesting that an assassin can even get through his elite security team. At this point, they're just waiting for a heart attack to kill him."
Uh, ok then…
"Anyways. Our QR-66 OVERCAST and QX-69 BLOODLUST were purchased as part of a marketing campaign for Danganronpa V4. They may be slightly less dangerous than their military counterparts, but they can still kill you, Kaede. As for the rest of you, evacuate! It's going to get messy here!"
The Japanese citizens take the hint and get away from the area. The drones are practically above the tower now!
"Well Kaede, it looks like your life light will snuffed out soon. Any music recommendations for your funeral?"
"Actually, yes!"
A familiar track can be heard from within the tower. Spike Chunsoft is a video game company, so no surprise there, but this one sounds way too electronic for a Danganronpa track. It sounds video game-y, retro and 8-bit.
"Get Masafumi Takada down here, and make sure he has his music production equipment!"
"Right away, sir."
SCP-2786-EN runs to get him.
A strange pink construct begins forming outside. It appears to be a spaceship of some sort. All the pixels begin slotting themselves into place. It's quite a good thing this is happening, because Kaede is definitely going to need some cheat codes to go up against the man, myth and legendary creator and progenitor of despair, Kazutaka Kodaka!
"No cheat codes for this game! Kaede Akamatsu, your game is over!"
Mr. Takada gets to the ground floor with his music equipment.
"Hit it, Mr. Takada!"
He begins generating a catchy retro tune to counteract Kaede's catchy retro tune.
"This feedback loop should stop her plans! Drones, move into execution position!"
The QX-69 bares its weaponry at the young girl.
"I don't have any coins to continue. I have to win against the company of despair and shut down their operations here and now! Where's the police when you need them?"
"It's over! Accept your fate and let the narrative repair itself!"
Of course, if Shuichi dies, it will also fuck up the narrative, but Kaede has to die to fix it!
"It's not over."
"Huh?"
"It's not over… 'till it's over!"
A new musical song appears! Kaede immediately harmonizes with it. She feels empowered, like she can do anything!"
"You protected me then…it's my turn to protect you."
ヱ ドンツ カレ ワツ タエ サ
ヱ リル ベ ヘレ アル ダ
ヱ リル スタ ヘレ チル イツ オヴア
チル テ ヲルツ オウツ オフ シツ
ヱ リル スタンヅ ヱ リル ヴイツ
イツ ノツ オヴア チル イツ オヴア
A massive energy spike is detected from Kaede. She's surrounded by a glorious blue aura. When the bass drops, Kaede emits powerful EMP bursts to down the drones.
"Grr! Fire on Kaede!"
The pilot tries to fire a missile at her. Kaede instinctively jumps on Shuichi to protective from the resulting explosion.
"No! If he dies, the narrative will be irreparably damaged!"
The smoke clears and both of them are miraculously unharmed!
"What, that's impossible! You should be a blood splatter on the street! How could you survive a fucking drone strike?!"
Both of them are surrounded by a blue aura. The drones begin stalling from the EMP blasts. The pilots are forced to eject!
"No, my drones! Those cost 250 million yen each!"
SCP-2786-EN hears Mr. Kodaka lament about the drones and rejoins the fight.
"Mr. Kodaka. I'll finish this!"
SCP-2786-EN shapeshifts into (what she believes is) the true hero of the Danganronpa franchise, Junko Enoshima. Of course, anyone who's ever heard of the games know that she's the Ultimate Evil, but she forgot one thing.
The weapons dematerialize now that she is Junko. Junko's special ability is master manipulation, luring hapless victims into deathtraps. And she's planning on facing both V3 protagonists at the same time?! That plan is just as crazy as Junko herself!
"I don't need weapons! I'll kill that bitch with my bare hands!"
An allegro, discordant version of "Battle Against a True Hero" is heard playing, but it gets smothered by "Till it's Over"!
アス イ ヴエル ト テ オチアン フロル
ヴアヂング リツ ツロ アン オペン ドル
サウ ミセフル リセ ヰツ テ ワタ
テ トウオツ テ クヅ キプ ミ ドウン
ホルヅ ミ ブレト アンヅ ワツチ ミ ヅロウン
ブツ アル テ ヂヅ ハス プシュヅ ミ ヒア
ヱ ドンツ カレ ワツ タエ サ
ヱ リル ベ ヘレ アル ダ
ヱ リル スタ ヘレ チル イツ オヴア
チル テ ヲルツ オウツ オフ シツ
ヱ リル スタンヅ ヱ リル ヴイツ
イツ ノツ オヴア チル イツ オヴア
ツロ テ ニツ アンヅ テ ライヌ
ツロ テ チム アンヅ テ パイヌ
ヱ リル スタンド, ヱ リル ネヴア ヴアル
アンヅ テン アツ テ エンヅ オフ イツ アル
ヱ リル ヰン, ヱ リル チュアンツ
イツ ノツ オヴア チル イツ オヴア
True to the song, it begins raining as soon as rain is mentioned. The police finally show up, since a few of them heard a fucking missile strike near a populated area. Kaede notices the cops and stops fighting. The police see that the Junko lookalike is strangling a defenseless Japanese citizen and rush to their aid. The Foundation is also there to recover SCP-2786-EN, since they are aware of its escape.
The police arrest SCP-2786-EN and Kazutaka Kodaka for attempted murder. He got extremely lucky the place was evacuated before the drone strike or a lot of people would've died! The police raid the seventh floor and find some despair cultist stuff, as well as plans for Danganronpa V4. Huh, I thought that would be in Area 51, along with Half-Life 3 and Shrek 5.
The Foundation were able to extradite SCP-2786-EN back into Foundation custody.
"And that's how everything happened."
"Right. Now Ms. Akamatsu, you do realize you're a prisoner here, right?"
"Not really, you Foundation types will classify me as Euclid and I'll be shoved into some site, where you might experiment on me."
Awkward silence fills the room…Kaede eventually speaks up.
"Can I at least visit my friend? We haven't seen each other in 3 years."
"Not my call. The O5 Council deliberates that sort of stuff."
"Hmm. Why is my room soundproof?"
"Because of your anomaly."
"If my anomaly is sound based, they why did you put a piano in it?"
"Classical music has been approved. More tests are pending. Besides, some of the staff are Danganronpa fans, and they already know that you play piano."
"Thanks, Mrs. Kai."
"No, Kaede. Thank you."
Mrs. Kai leaves the interview room as an MTF soldier escorts her back to her room. They also left a laptop in there in case she gets bored playing the piano. She begins drafting a document.
Item #: SCP-2016-JP
Object Class: Apollyon
Threat level: Red
Special containment procedures: Subject is contained in a soundproof 9 ft by 9 ft by 9 ft room. There is a piano and laptop within the room for her amusement.
Description: SCP-2016-JP appears to be the Danganronpa character Kaede Akamatsu. In keeping with the theme of the games, she appears to have mastery over piano playing.
Psychological testing shows that she is considered a misanthrope. However, upon recovery, she did show concern for a Shuichi Saihara (another Danganronpa character, pending classification as an SCP) during their battle against Danganronpa creator and despair cultist leader Kazutaka Kodaka. In an interview with Mr. Kodaka from Fuchū Prison, he said that he created her with a misanthropic personality, but when it was time for the 3rd killing game to be played, all the contestants' memories were wiped and implanted with false ones to make the "audience" more attached to them. A PSIA agent has notified us that Kodaka had said in response to Japanese police calling him a sick fuck for orchestrating the killing games for twisted amusement; "Who's the sick fuck? Me for creating the game, or the contestants for volunteering to enter a game that specifically says that you're going to possibly get killed?!"
Her primary anomalous trait is that she can "feel music" within the Earth. She states that all music has some sort of power she can see and access if she wants to. In an example, she specifically states that the legendary rock song "Sweet Victory" by David Glen Eisley made her bulletproof and knife-proof. Further testing with this song reveals that when accessing this song's musicality, SCP-2016-JP's skin and hair become as hard as SCP-682-EN's scales! It appears to promote keratinous durability for as long as the song is active. Further experimentation on different songs are required.
Her secondary anomalous trait is that she can sometimes "harmonize" with tracks. This harmonization is uncontrollable and causes SCP-2016-JP some distress, depending on what song is playing. Testing with the song "Termination Shock" by UK artist Ashley Charles, known by his stage name, Sabrepulse, resulted in 15 casualties. This is the reason why she is classified Apollyon. If she harmonizes with an…unsavory track, say Destroid 8 Annihilate by Jeff Abel, AKA Excision (ft Far Too Loud), she could take down an entire country! She says she detests dubstep, so this would be entirely involuntary, as Excision specializes in heavy metal/dubstep hybrid instrumentals.
SCP-2016-JP is not malicious or hostile in any way, shape or form. Her personality is friendly and amiable to anyone she comes across. Whether or not they are other anomalies or Foundation staff. However, she must still be classified as Apollyon.
And that is the end of the Japanese gaiden story. But we have 3 more side stories to go, next up is the Cambodian gaiden story. So, here we go, off to Cambodia!
Third Eye chakra activated! Gautama Buddha has blessed you with the ability to perceive Khmer and reinterpret it into English, but only while in Cambodia!
We arrive in Cambodia. Specifically, the capital city of Phnom Penh. Glancing at the populace, it appears everyone has some sort of strange creature as a pet. They kind of look like Pokémon. How did this happen?
Cambodia has been bombarded by numerous Anomalous Bursts, it dropped a few rocks, a bunch of adorable looking fox dog things and a golden triangle. The triangle was evacuated to a research laboratory. Experimentation with the adorable creatures revealed that they have mystical abilities. Since the scientists can't explain this, there must only be one logical explanation. Gautama Buddha himself must have blessed his devout followers with these creatures! That totally makes sense! Those cracks must be gateways to Nirvana! It all makes so much sense now! Because of this, they built statues of the creatures…nine of them spread throughout Cambodia.
Eventually, they found out how to change the form of this creature. Scientists began mass producing special stones, a red crystalline basalt, a blue crystalline limestone and a yellow crystalline quartzite. People have also gotten three other forms of the creature by befriending it during brightest days and blackest nights, as well as making it affectionate and cute. The last two forms have adventurous types find a special rock to change its form. There are two moss covered rocks, one in the jungle, surrounded by swaths of landmines from the war; The other is somewhere in the Western Cardamom Mountains. The ice form of this creature is so rare that one who owns one is considered royalty! Because it is so rare, people tend to think people that have one must have not gotten it legitimately, or they did some science experiment to mutate its DNA or something. To get one legitimately, one needs to find a rock covered in glassy ice near the summit of Phnom Aural. Praying to the Buddha statue at the summit is optional, but they'd do it anyway to prove their loyalty to the faith.
We join our protagonist back at the capital city as he begins his journey to visit all eight of the statues. In keeping with the theme of Buddhism, each statue is connected to one of the noble eightfold paths, it is believed visiting all eight will bring oneself closer to enlightenment. He, along with his partner head toward the center of the capital city to find a statue of a fluffy looking creature with pointed ears and a bushy tail, as well as what looks like a scarf made from its fur. Under the statue, it reads:
"Your reality and my reality are not the same. To accept this is the right understanding of our world."
The first of the eight statues have been visited. He decides to head toward the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, where another of the statues is rumored to be. He enters this cursed place and see remnants of an atrocity passed, yet still fresh in the peoples' mind. He even saw a skull that tells us to remember. Remember the genocide, remember the landmines, remember the Killing Fields, remember the suffering…remember.
He makes it through the cursed place and in the garden outside is another statue. This one appears to be dressed up cutely with ribbons and bows on the top of its head and across its neck, with fleshy feelers attached at the neck and ears. It feels kind of offensive that the cute variant of Buddha's pet is at the end of a genocide museum but he must have his reasons. The second statue reads:
"Only by accepting the past can you nullify your inhibitions to create a better future."
On closer inspection, there appears to be graffiti on the statue. The graffiti reads:
Lê Đức Anh was here; Pol Pot is a loser!
Wow.
After seeing that insensitive historical hysteria, our protagonist heads off toward the research laboratory where the first experiments of these creatures first took place. After walking for a few hours, he arrives at the place where it all started. The third statue is just outside of the facility. The creature appears to be extremely spiky, having a spiky collar and spiked backside. The inscription under it says:
"What have we done? We tried to make humans become even better than they are through artificial means. Maybe you can be better than I can be. The right livelihood can be attained by not messing with the natural order of things."
Huh? Is there supposed to be a plot here?
Suddenly, a human with saffron and cyan highlights emerges outside. It looks like some sort of human alien hybrid. It forms a Terminator-esque blade from its DNA!
"Use Leaf Blade!"
Our protagonist's partner leaps into the air and its tail turns sharp to counter the hybrid's Night Slash.
"Electro Ball!"
One of those spiky creatures fires off a ball of electricity to paralyze the creature.
"Good job, Speed!"
One of the researchers comes out of the laboratory. He notices the protagonist.
"Get out of here! I'll deal with the hybrid!"
He doesn't need to be told twice. He runs out of there! Having gotten away from the strange hybrid, he begins to plot a course toward Siam Reap, since two of the statues are in Angkor Wat. It takes a few weeks, but he manages to get to the temple.
Exploring the vast complex, he stumbles around the temple for a few hours before finding one of the statues. This one is a rabbit like creature with rings on its limbs and on the top of its head. It has piercing red eyes. The statue's inscription says:
"Misfortune befalls one who does not speak their intentions clearly. Learn from my mistake and be of right speech so that you get what you deserve."
Great, he found one of the Angkor Wat statues…but the other one is on the other side of the complex. Fu-
Several hours later and he finds the second statue of Angkor Wat, as well as the fifth of the eighth statues. This statue is a sleek cat like creature with a forked tail and a red gem in its head. It has two tufts of fur under its ears. This statue's inscription reads:
"One should always strive toward their goals with his teachings in mind. This course is the right action."
He stumbles out of the complex and attempts to continue his journey, but is stopped by a team. They have two forms of the creature that our protagonist hasn't visited yet.
"Whoa, don't go this way! There are still landmines in the area! We're here to clear them. With my trusty partner, we'll blast these landmines apart!"
"And I'm here to put out the wildfires they'll inevitably start."
The landmine team escort him and his partner back onto the main road. He sets off toward another city. This one at the other end of the country. Kampot is said to have one of the statues.
Several more weeks later and he arrives in Kampot. He heads toward the beaches, maybe he'll find the water statue here. Near one of the beaches and covered in seagull poop is the sixth statue. It has flipper like ears, a cone like frill and a fin like spine running all the way down its body toward its fish like tail. This statue's inscription reads:
"My head is always in the clouds and it causes pain, yet lesson learned, no more refrain. Clear your head, no consternation, congratulations, you've achieved right concentration."
He sets off toward the Ratanakiri province. The volcano near lake Yeak Laom supposedly has the fire creature's statue. He once again goes cross country until he enters the province. He then asks for directions toward the volcano. Once there, he spots the statue of the fire creature. It has an ember like swirl of fur on its head along with a collar of fur around its neck. It also has the fluffiest tail of all the forms of the creature.
"I accept what has happened to me. Have you accepted everything that has happened within your life? All that matters is that we're here, in this moment."
And the last ones are in the Cardamom mountains. One in the west and one in the east. Crossing the country again, he makes it to the base of the western front and sees a creature similar to his partner. The creature has leaf like ears and large leafy tail. It has a green swirly pattern on its head, with vine like protrusions on its limbs, chest and neck. The inscription on this statue reads:
"Despite suffering all manner of hardship, you still persevered with an unbreakable attitude, never letting anything bother you. You have the right effort to achieve anything!"
Our protagonist heads to the eastern front of the mountains and sees a statue of the icy creature. The final inscription reads:
"You've gone on an incredible journey within yourself. Climb the mountain and ascend to Nirvana!"
He begins his ascent toward the icy peak. His partner tries to follow him, but he knows about the dangers of the mountain.
"No, Kaffir. You'll freeze to death at the summit. I can't let you suicide to see me succeed."
He leaves his partner behind, whimpering at the base, as he begins his ascent.
With his journey at an end, the Cambodian gaiden story is complete. Third is the Denmark gaiden story, although…this one is kind of weird story, as its not really a story at all, more of a "what happened" sort of description. Anyways, on with the third side story.
For our third "story" we pan over to Denmark, where…wait a minute…where's Denmark? I could have sworn it was on top of Germany here. Did something happen to Denmark? There is this strange tiny country that replaced it. What is it called, Krististan? No, that sounds stupid and we already have a European Muslim caliphate in Swedistan. Oh, I believe it was actually called Novoselic…but wait, isn't that only in some detective murder simulator visual novel game? And a stupider question, will there ever be a country named Cobain, after the Nirvana member, since that is what this country's name is referencing? So, apparently an Anomalous Burst Thanos snapped Denmark out of existence and replaced it with this country. The history books were changed too! Not to worry, Danes, for almost everything that happened up to this point stayed the same for the country.
Ok, this country is a fascistic oligarchy that supports Trump. I can hear the lefties REEE-ing already. In order to protect their tiny nation, everyone is required to enlist in the military, of which they have the strongest in Europe. The country itself is ruled by three royal families, the Bleichen family oversees the military and police force (so, literally the entire populace), the Nevermind family handles external affairs, such as diplomacy and tourism, lastly, the Livmoder family handles internal affairs such as legislation and judiciary processes.
Of course, this is all a lie.
Do you know why it's an oligarchy instead of a triarchy? Because Novoselic has a parliament, and like all parliaments, it's just a bunch or rich old white people bickering about trivial stuff and not actually getting anything done. Sonia, the princess of the Nevermind family has voiced her disdain for the parliament but all three families must be in agreement if they are to abolish the parliament. Everyone knows that the parliament has all the power…
Despite this, Novoselic is relatively laissez-faire. People do have the freedom to say anything they want and not get executed for it. The people of Novoselic also did what Hitler couldn't…get into art school. Most Novoselians are avid fans of the arts, and will while away hours discussing their favorite pieces. They can even appreciate good art made by bad people and bad art made by good people. They consider the Quran a piece of good art made by bad people because it inspired a bloodthirsty cult that will jihad the entire world or die trying, just look at how they raped Sweden! It's now Swedistan!
Yes, the Novoselians also are in a blood feud with the Swedistanis, just as the Danes and Swedes before them. The Novoselians are also against the Norwegians, but in that case, they act like a couple of college kids having fun over doing dumb shit, unlike the former example.
Just like Denmark before it, Novoselic's official language is Danish and they still have Greenland and the Faroe Islands. But those are considered unofficial tourist destinations. Novoselic just gets a 15% kickback fee for technically managing the places.
Despite looking like a totalitarian regime, it is nothing of the sort. In fact, the best way to get shot in Novoselic is calling the country "the European North Korea". You can talk shit about pretty much anything in the country. You can even call it a third world shithole that genocides its citizens daily, but you never call Novoselic "the European North Korea". That will trigger pretty much any citizen over there.
Regardless, it has strong ties with the Faroe Islands, Greenland, the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, Ukraine, Finland, Iceland, Norway, South Korea, Japan, Israel, Turkey, and bizarrely enough, Pakistan. It has neutral ties with all of South America, Central America, Mexico, Africa, Australia, the random scattered islands in the oceans, the former Soviet states and most of Asia. It is enemies with the European Union, the Middle East, Russia, China, North Korea and India.
Remember that UN Paris Accord that was signed? No, not the climate one, the anomalous task force one. Since Denmark signed it and Novoselic is basically Denmark now, that means they are a signer of the accord by proxy. Although, they would've signed it anyway, wanting to defend the planet from anomalies.
Differences between Denmark and Novoselic? Novoselians don't get their wallet raped harder than Swedistani women, since Denmark has a 56% tax rate as well as a 25% sales tax. Novoselic has a 10% flat tax on everything, and while it doesn't make as much money as the original Denmark, they at least get to keep most of it. Since there's less money, prices of stuff will go down to accommodate the lower amount of total money available. They also aren't being pumped full of soma from Huxley's Brave New World, so that's already a plus. Ironic that the "totalitarian" state has more freedoms than these globalist countries.
Why does the European Union hate Novoselic? Well, being a fascistic state that supports the Trumpian way of leadership triggers them. Novoselic also has locked down their borders even before the Mouslems unleashed jihad on Sweden and turned it into their caliphate. Rejecting diversity and not allowing your country to get jihaded by Mooslems? Well, you're just a racist bigot, Novoselic. They also pulled out of the European Union almost at the same time the UK did. The trigger for Novoselic leaving? It was when the EU passed their copyright directive on articles 11, 13 and 17. They saw it as an attack on free speech and creativity. The latter of which is very important to a country that values the arts, and in this day in age, memes, even the cringy ones, are an art form. So, they pulled out and now almost every EU member wants to annihilate them off the face of the Earth for rejecting globalism and Islamic jihadification of the Western world.
Novoselic is now the meme capital of Europe, unrestricted access to delicious and spicy memes since they refused to sign the directive. In fact, people actually change their VPNs to Novoselic to bypass the directive and it has the globalists fuming! Oh, and they have a plan to support Ukraine in case Russia tries to make Ukraine Mykraine again. Meme warfare. As soon as Russia invades Ukraine, their plan is to DDOS Moscow and send a barrage of pro Ukrainian memes to demoralize the Russian effort. An example would be posting a meme of SCP-516-EN, Intelligent Tank (a nationalistic Ukrainian tank, mind you) with the caption "This one tank can destroy all of Russia!". Most of them will go with the Pyrrhic victory route, most stating they could take Ukraine, but questioning how many bodies Russia will throw at it to get Ukraine under its control and demoralizing them that way. They also know and use hacker 4chan.
That's the end of the Denmark gaiden story, even though it was more of a "what happened to Denmark" sort of explanation. Last story is very short, it's the Argentinian gaiden story. Let's go.
"Because time can mend all wounds."
You've heard this description before.
Well, time won't save him.
He wanted to be a soccer star like his hero, Lionel Messi.
But he was diagnosed with an incurable disease.
Encephalosarcoma, a type of brain tumor, and it's already in stage 4.
Doctors could surgically remove the tumor, but it has already penetrated deep into the arachnoid mater of his brain.
He only has a few hours left to live.
For his last hours, he wanted to play soccer, to train to be good enough to be in the World Cup, like his hero!
We all know that would never happen in a few hours.
People from the Make A Wish Foundation volunteered to let him meet his hero, but he refused.
"I want to meet him at the World Cup, as a teammate."
His goal is admirable, but not realistic.
The screen pans out as we see him kicking field goals.
The camera stops on a bear made of patchwork.
We see its sign, it says: I'm sorry
The screen blacks out as a thud is heard.
Tracks Featured: Der Flohwalzer by Artist Unknown
Termination Shock by Sabrepulse
Don't Ever Forget by Arata Liyoshi
Industry by Danimal Cannon
Class Trial V3 by Masafumi Takada
Sweet Victory by David Glen Eisley
Surveillance by Danimal Cannon
Cheat Codes by Nitro Fun
Please Insert Coin by Masafumi Takada
Till Its over by Tristam
Battle Against A True Hero (prestissimo remix) by Toby Fox
