Halloween night. What was once a night that gave reverence to monsters and ghouls has become a night of dressing up as whatever and getting free candy. A night of tricks and treats.
Mali took a bite out of her recently obtained chocolate bar, her face lighting up with joy as it graced her tongue.
It's one of the changes I love! Besides, all the bad stuff now happens on the night before. Mischief night, or Devil's Night, is when the real monsters come out to play.
Mali continued to watch the Halloween festival from inside the abandoned school building. She personally had no interest in going, though she was quick to change her mind once she learned that Shujinkou was going.
She took another bite out of her chocolate bar before finally addressing the figure coming her way, "When all was said and done, Senpai saved the day, just like you insisted."
"You know that's not entirely true," the figure said as she took post beside Mali. "I insisted that it was his role, I didn't insist that Shujinkou win."
The young first-year student was still fascinated by the appearance of this person she had met only a couple of days ago. Looking at her was like looking into a mirror.
She could still remember what her first words were when they met, "Nice to meet you. I'm Malizia, but you can call me Mali."
"Then again, could you imagine the disaster that could be if Shujinkou actually failed in his duty?" Malizia giggled.
"Plus, how could Senpai lose when he had Mali with him?" Mali added.
Malizia paused and considered what her counterpart just said. "Shujinkou probably could have lost if he did what he did at the end earlier."
Extending her left hand out of the window, a large, rainbow colored lollipop soon came flying into the visitor's possession.
"By the way, Mali, what are you doing here alone?" Malizia questioned. "I'd figured you be down there doing more interesting stuff."
"Well, I promised Senpai I would stop playing pranks so…"
"I'm pretty sure that Shujinkou would have allowed to pull a few tricks on tonight of all nights."
"You would know, wouldn't you? I'm sure you got to know Senpai really well during your time together," Mali joshed.
"Maybe…" Malizia teased.
She took a few licks from her lollipop as she took in the sight of the none the wiser students beneath her.
"You know, I have to admit that I was pretty surprised when I came to this world, and not just because I ran into another version of myself so soon after I did so," Malizia suddenly said. "Considering I followed Shujinkou and Monika here after dealing with that other Monika, I expected something a little more. But instead, I find that this world is pretty… I don't know, it lacks a lot of the stuff in my world."
"Is that so?" Mali replied with curious look on her face.
Malizia nodded her head. "Mm-hmm. A lot of stuff back home would consider pure fantasy here and technology is woefully behind.
Then there's the fact that everyone here is human. I honestly found that a little disappointing at first until I found out the hilarity that comes with that fact."
"Oh," Mali's face lit up interest. "Like what?"
A solemn look crossed her counterpart's face.
"Back home, it's always been Humans vs. Monsters. There's been some highs and some lows, but the conflict has always been there on some level. But here, everyone's human, so you would think there would mostly be peace, right?
Nope, instead we have Humans vs. Humans. We have humans dividing themselves based on money, appearance, where they came from and a lot of them are willing to kill each other over those superfluous differences.
At least where I came from, humans have the justified fear that some bad monster will come along and take advantage of their naturally superior power. It's no excuse for making the first strike, but they have the right to be concerned.
Here however, humans will hate each other because of what; notions from an old age of bad judgments and idiotic decisions being carried forward by stubborn individuals that have no reason to continue this division. And that's not even going into how humans from both worlds have the potential to be worse than any monster just by virtue alone."
Malizia suddenly let out a soft laugh. "I guess conflict is a multiversal constant."
"Even if it's not, there's a pretty succinct saying in this world that serves as a good summary of humanity: 'Humans are the real monsters.' Mali brought up. "Why else would there be a Devil's Night in the first place?"
"'Humans are the real monsters.', huh? I've heard that a lot back home," Malizia reminisced. "Still, you really would know that more than anyone here wouldn't you, Mali? Well, maybe not just you, but still… I can see why you're so interested in your Shujinkou. You weren't kidding when you said he was innocent."
"Isn't your Shujinkou the same way?"
Malizia shrugged.
"No clue; He hasn't done much yet. Maybe that's why I was so eager to play with this world's version so much. Well, that and to see how the world would be effected when one of their more important and yet unimportant figures goes through another ordeal.
Granted, it didn't go as far as the dilemma Monika Prime created. But at least that forced Shujinkou to reveal a little of what he could do."
Malizia sighed a deflated sigh, something that surprised Mali.
"Speaking of which, I'm kinda disappointed in Monika," Malizia went on. "She seemed to be going through with hat Shujinkou was going through when Monika Prime was here but nothing ever came from it. The potential wild card proved to be unable to do anything. I mean, as broken as the other Monika was, she at least made her reality more interesting. Maybe if I gave them more time, something could have happened."
Malizia held out her arms. In a puff of smoke, a familiar briefcase appeared.
"But I couldn't help myself, for a pretty 'normal' world, there was so much to play with," she gushed. "These documents were especially fun."
Seeing the case that held the mysterious documents had peaked Mali's natural curiosity. "What are on those documents anyway?"
"Eh? Didn't you get a chance to read them when I did?" Malizia marveled.
Mali shook her head. "No. You already completely pushed me into my head by that point."
"Oh right… Sorry. But I couldn't exactly let you see how I got them or any of the other stuff I was doing behind the scenes."
"It's fine. At least you gave me the courtesy of being able to live things out in my imagination."
A look of complete satisfaction landed on Mali's face, intriguing her visiting counterpart.
"Anyway, to answer your questions, these documents here contain a lot of the secrets regarding your world," Malizia explained.
"Secrets?" Mali felt her interest rise. What secrets could be on those documents and did Shujinkou see any beyond what related to Akuma and Akui.
"Mm-hmm. Monika Prime got to a look at quite a few of them, but only up to a certain point," Malizia continued. "Some of these could have radically changed things if they got out."
"Like what?"
"Well, imagine what could happen if those who read these learned a little more about a devilish, but darling little man-child? What if there was something that could have humanized him, if just a little? Would that really be a coveted outcome? No, I think what happened was the more preferred result."
Mali pondered her counterpart's response. What was said reminded her of the changes Monika Prime had made during her visit, something she wouldn't have been able to recall if Malizia didn't restore those memories.
"So, you're telling that those documents allowed you to warp things like that other Monika did?" she queried.
"Something like that. I just stopped more of Akuma's little memoirs from getting out to the public like they could have; I mean, he did end up leaving them lying around," Malizia explained with a sly smile. "Besides, it was a waste of time anyway. Anyone who could read between the lines of the first two can see he had a bit of a deflecting problem."
"That's a real understatement," Mali said, recalling her last conversation with her former teacher. "So what else did you influence?"
The smile on Malizia's face grew bigger, as if she was waiting for that very question.
"You know, the whole Akuma thing was so slow and boring and slightly regrettable that I thought that I would make it a little more interesting for everyone. Fortunately for me, I learned that he had a bit of shared history with Shujinkou's father and he had a brother with an even more desperate relationship with Jomei. It wasn't that hard to connect a few dots to get things rolling.
I think everything was much more interesting and satisfying then how things were going so far."
"I'll admit the scenario sounded interesting, but the entire thing felt a little too orchestrated," Mali critiqued. "Not to mention how it affected Senpai."
"Yeah… Like I said before, I didn't give Shujinkou much time," Malizia gracefully admitted. "Though to be fair, he didn't exactly act like I planned on him acting."
"Really?" Mali marveled. "You got Senpai to act so unlike himself at the end."
Malizia shook her head in disagreement.
"No…None of it went as I intended. After my talk with Shujinkou, I 'influenced' him a little. I removed some of his inhibitions so he would be more ready for what was to come, but in the end, all that did was make him frantic and funny enough, admiring the attributes of the girls he's unintentionally surrounded himself with.
When my initial influence failed and I decided to possess him after he was shot, I was never actually able to control him really. Despite my best efforts, I was only able to influence him more than before.
Despite his guilt, he never had it in him to actually kill anyone. The 'cruel mercy' he mentioned was actually him subconsciously being merciful, because at the end of the day, he was subconsciously resisting my possession. That was the reason for his erratic behavior; it was the result of both of us constantly getting one up on each."
Mali was both surprised and asked to hear that, a fact that elicited an amused laugh from her other self.
"In hindsight, I can see why Ms. Prime could only successfully affect Shujinkou when he was despairing over the loss of his Monika. Despite being a normal human who can't willingly access his powers without outside forces, he has a surprisingly strong will. And when you get his loved ones involved, then it's almost unbreakable.
That's why he was getting brutalized during the first part of his fight with Akui and that's why he forced himself unconscious at the end of everything, though maybe that last part was more of a desperate move all things considered."
Malizia took a moment to ponder her own words.
"Now that I think about it, maybe the only reason I was able to influence him that much at all was because our goals aligned on a surface level: saving his friends. The conflict came from what lies beneath that surface and how differently we would have handled the situation."
That realization along with what she had observed brought a smile of satisfaction to Malizia's face.
Shujinkou… such an unimportant character in the grand scheme of things, yet important at the same time. Such a kind and empathetic and cute gentleman. So willing to go the distance for what he wants to protect even if the world refuses give him a hand and his life is at stake. He's so interesting; mine has a lot to live up to."
After her final conclusion, the briefcase between her hands vanished from sight.
"Well, I guess I better head back home. Boss's probably worried about me not being around for a while, unless time hasn't moved much in my world since I've been gone. I'm not really sure how reality hopping works."
"Boss, huh?" Just hearing that was amusing to Mali. She couldn't help but tease, "I guess punctuality really is your ultimate concern, huh?"
"Eh? Did you end up taking a peek inside my head?" Malizia inquired.
"Just a little. Being inside my own head can be boring and you were so focused on a lot of other things that I guess even I could take a small peek in there," Mali explained. "So many factors going on at once in your world; how do you know that things will end in a way that won't blow up in your face? Honestly, it looks like one of the things you're doing is working towards that."
"Well, that's the thing Mali… I don't know," Malizia happily answered. "Things could indeed work against me or work against the people I know. It could completely demolish the Saisei Corporation or maybe, just maybe… it could lead to Shujinkou's death. The last part would be really sad because I'm really counting on his involvement, even more now after watching yours in action."
"So is your Shujinkou is unimportant and important too?" Mali questioned.
Instead of responding to her question, Malizia pressed her left index finger against her lips. She then approached her other self and whispered the answer she sought.
What the first-year student heard was more surprising than she expected.
Malizia soon pulled away. "…but at the end of the day, he's not as important as yours, but still pretty important too."
"Wow… If that Shujinkou doesn't live up to Senpai, he really might not make it," Mali opined.
"Then again, if he does live up to your Shujinkou in other aspects, then he might end with another certain issue," Malizia theorized. "My world's Shujinkou is universal classified as an adult after all."
"Oh... If that turns out to be the case, then he might have more trouble than even Senpai in that field," Mali closed her eyes as she imagined that scenario. "He really, really might not make it. You might want to remove him from the board."
"Can't. After what I learned here, that's definitely not an option. " Malizia responded. "With that said, it's really time I take my leave."
"What about the documents?"
"Oh those…" Malizia held out her arms, bringing the briefcase back into her hands. "One more thing to do before I go; to take one last in-depth look at them."
She opened the briefcase and watched a pair of doves fly out of them.
"Oh, why bother. I got them memorized and it's not like anyone else needs to see them," Malizia teased. "Besides, they're back with their rightful owner again, so it's best to leave it at that."
"And Senpai?" Mali added.
"Right, Shujinkou…"
Malizia awkwardly scratched her right cheek. For a second, Mali thought she saw remorse.
"Um… Honestly, he's kind of out of my reach right now. That thing he did at the end not only forced me out but prevented me from getting back in. Sorry, but I really didn't expect him to do something like that."
"Senpai always puts his loved ones above himself… So I guess what he did was expected," Mali nonchalantly replied.
"Still, I did leave him a present for when this was all over. I never could control him, but there were other things I could do for him," Malizia added. "After all, I couldn't just uproot his life without at the very least giving him something in return."
"Like?"
"My secret for now," Malizia sang. "Oh, speaking of uprooting, do you think anyone will mind if I take the devil family with me? I already cleaned up after the fodder but I figured that family would be a little too dangerous to leave in this reality."
"Even if I did have an opinion, what's to keep me from stopping you?" Mali questioned.
"Because you're me. Just say the word and I'll do whatever you want with them," Malizia assured her.
"Mmm…" Mali scratched her right cheek, playfully using the action to add to her pondering act."I'll just leave it you. It definitely wouldn't benefit them if I choose their fates."
"Okay, then I guess I don't have to move them back after all!" Malizia gushed.
She extended her right hand forward, causing cracks to appear in the space in front of her. With one flick of her wrist, the cracks soon widened into a rift, creating a pathway that will lead Maliza home.
"It's been really fun, Mali, but when all is said and done: your reality is pretty interesting, but I think I prefer mine most of all. After all, my reality is pretty fantastical."
With a knowing wink, Malizia stepped through the rift as she waved goodbye. Once she was on the other side, the rift closed, cutting the two realities off from each other once again.
Once again alone, Mali turned her attention to the party outside. Finishing the last of her chocolate, she then turned to leave. From her departure of the abandoned school building back to her dark home, she had one thought on her mind.
…I was kinda looking forward to spending Halloween with Senpai.