Fictions Mentioned:
Episode 15
OP Song:
【Yumi Hara】 In the rain 【Corpse Party Blood Drive】 【Eng Lyrics】
Insert Song: Start
Max Payne - Main Theme
"I see."
The Twelfth Doctor, with arms crossed and leaning on the side of the main console, with his greyish eyebrows sporting one of concern and attentiveness, was listening to the explanation of Ayumi Shinozaki, Yoshiki Kishinuma, Yuka Mochida, Yui Shishido, and Kokuhaku Akaboji regarding one single thing.
They all planned to get involved and they rather not sit on the sidelines while Touma Kamijou and his allies are doing all of the hard work. Especially relating to the Heavenly Host Survivors of Kisaragi Academy, they believe that this is their own personal fight. They were with Kamijou from beginning to end. They were there in those darkest moments, recalling bit by bit fractions of which made them shudder. They were thankful at least that they can not totally remember everything, just the summarized and condensed - another word for sane - variation, otherwise, they probably go mad at the revelation that they were all stuck in an unnatural time loop that spans multiple timelines and universes.
Of those who were present in the main console room aside from the mentioned individuals were Rika Kamijou and Satoko Hojo who were somewhere on the Doctor's left side. Satoko was leaning at one of the handlebars nearby.
"Alright, you can help," the Twelfth Doctor answered with a nod.
"Eh?" the aforementioned survivors of Kisaragi Academy plus Kokuhaku were surprised.
"...You...You're not objecting to us helping out...?" Ayumi asked.
"Not really, no," the Twelfth Doctor shakes his head. His expression was grim. "Considering that most of you present and the others who are still out there, all of whom are eight students and one teacher of Kisaragi Academy, and along with Touma, you are all the main center point of this unstable event."
"Main center point?" Yoshiki asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You're all important, in ways that you could not all imagine right now," the Twelfth Doctor muttered gravely. He begins to press a button from the console that activated what appeared to be multiple images showing what appeared to be them and the rest of their friends. In some scenes, some or others die depending upon the circumstances or were taken a hold of the Darkening, or scenes featuring them encountering survivors and other things. What was eerie to them was that many of these scenes at least match up with the limited number of memories that they were recalling as of right now.
"That's...us..." Ayumi muttered in surprise and concern.
"Where did you find actual footage like this, Doctor?" Yui asked.
"The TARDIS. It's basically accessing bits and pieces of your own personal timestreams and let me tell all of you...it's quite the messy sort," the Twelfth Doctor muttered.
"Define messy, old man," Yoshiki said.
"Well, messy as if a couple of CDs gets broken into bits and pieces to the point where you have to get a couple of special type of duck tape to put them all back together," the Twelfth Doctor sighed. "While everyone is busy doing their part, I've been doing a bit of studying about how this dimension operates and how it works. A thought came to my mind to at least attempt a form of time travel that would allow me to view specific quote-on-quote past incidents from you lot, trying to get an idea. From what I've found, because of the way this dimension exists outside of time and allowed an unstable time loop to occur at the exact same time, a temporal paradox, in layman's terms, ones that could blow the universe apart, is eroding this dimension and sprouting leaks across several universes."
"And what does that look like?" Yoshiki asked.
"You know how messy the drainage system of one simple street can be? Well, imagine a leaky pipe, several of them, blowing out across other streets because of too much trash being thrown to the wayside without proper cleanup and disposal for too long. It gets messy for public service and requires a delicate sense of maintenance," the Twelfth Doctor explained.
All of a sudden, static begins to appear from one of the holographic monitors, making the other monitors disappear. The others noticed this immediately as they saw the Eighth Doctor appear from, the hovering screen.
"Oh, hello, me, how goes the little adventure?" the Twelfth Doctor asked with a smile.
"Well...To summarize, we've just recently confirmed the presence of The Green Flu Infected and our Companions managed to at least took care of several of them. And then there's...Kamijou Touma punching someone to the point of unconsciousness., a random high school student to be exactly," the Eighth Doctor explained. When he got to the last part, he made a sideways glance with a grimace.
"Eh?" most of everyone muttered in surprise.
"What?" the Twelfth Doctor raised his eyebrows. "What happened?"
"Use the emergency connector doors and come to my TARDIS," the Eighth Doctor said, grim-face. "You and the lot from Kisaragi Academy are going to have to come here personally. Plus, a young man named Mochida Satoshi is with me and the rest of us right now."
"Eh?! Onii-chan?!" Yuka was surprised but also felt relieved.
When it comes to Multi-Doctor Events, sometimes, the TARDIS has specific protocols that allow one to connect between past and future versions of the same ship via certain doorways in case of emergency usage only. The Twelfth Doctor and company simply walked through one of these doors that connects between the Twelfth Doctor's TARDIS and the Eighth Doctor's TARDIS.
They were walking from corridor to corridor. Throughout the walk, there was the eagerness of Yuka Mochida, innocent smiles and all, as she would finally reunite with her beloved onii-chan again. Finally, they all ended up in the Eighth Doctor's main control room. It has this classy Victorian feel, a parlour in nature. When compared with the style of the Twelfth Doctor's main control room, the similarities were those of stacks of books on the shelves for common usage of the pilot and his respective passengers. In the Eighth Doctor's case, it resembled a large Edwardian library. If one knew where to look, there was even a fireplace and a fancy chair somewhere.
What they found occupying the place were at the Eighth Doctor, the Companions, Dhruv Varma, Komoe Tsukiyomi, Rumiko Chie and two new occupants - Emi Urabe and Tohko Kirisaki, the young girls and their uniforms that were recognized by the Kisaragi Academy survivors based on their limited memories as those belonging to Byakudan Senior High School - this one made them worry somewhat.
"Eh?!" Rumiko widened her eyes. "Rika-chan?! Satoko-chan?!"
"Rumiko-sensei?!" Rika and Satoko exclaim in surprise.
But the main focus of the Kisaragi Academy survivors was the presence of one of their own - Satoshi Mochida who was smiling in relief and joy.
"Yuka!" Satoshi exclaims with a smile.
"Onii-chan!" Yuka exclaimed with a smile.
"Satoshi!" everyone else among the Kisaragi Academy survivors, some using honorifics, spoke with a smile.
The youngest Mochida sibling sprinted with no hesitation towards where her older brother was. It was somewhere nearby the main console where he was watching from a holographic screen alongside the Eighth Doctor and the others. The two Mochida siblings embraced one another.
"I'm...I'm glad...I'm glad that you're alright" Yuka muttered softly. Tears slowly fell from her eyes.
"I'm glad as well that you're safe, Yuka," Satoshi smiled, holding back a couple of tears.
"It's good to see that you're alright, Satoshi," Yoshiki smiled, patting the latter on the shoulder.
"Same to you all as well," Satoshi said with a smile. But then, he turned serious the next moment. "But we can't celebrate just yet since the others are still out there."
"We know," Ayumi nodded. "Which is why we want to help Touma-san whenever we can."
"Speaking of Touma, just where is he, Doctor?" Satoko asked the Eighth Doctor who was sporting a grim expression.
"...Um," the Eighth Doctor was hesitant. "He's in the dungeon at the moment, although I wouldn't recommend going in there just yet."
"Hm? Why? What has happened at this time?" Rika asked, concerned for her husband.
"Well..." the Eighth Doctor stepped aside a few paces. "Take a closer look for yourselves."
What is the difference between a sociopath and a psychopath?
How does one define one or the other?
Mistakenly, its meaning is interchangeable with the other, but that isn't entirely accurate.
Both sociopathy and psychopathy have become well-recognized terms among mental health professionals, but neither represents an official diagnosis. They also carry a lot of stigmas, particularly for people living with personality disorders, so it's best to avoid describing anyone displaying violent or manipulative behavior as "sociopaths" or "psychopaths." Psychopathy and sociopathy are different cultural labels applied to the diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder. Psychopaths tend to be more manipulative, can be seen by others as more charming, lead a semblance of a normal life, and minimize risk in criminal activities. Sociopaths tend to be more erratic, rage-prone, and unable to lead as much of a normal life. When sociopaths engage in criminal activity, they tend to do so in a reckless manner without regard to consequences.
One could safely classify Yuuya Kizami as a psychopath in the truest of sense as much as Touma Kamijou can attest based on past lessons regarding the realm of psychology and based on personal experiences with the former individual.
"...Hm..."
Yuuya Kizami was slowly waking up from an admittedly comfortable bed. A sharp contrast to the wooden dilapidated floor where he landed. There was a certain level of irony to it. One moment was a pain and the next moment was a pleasure.
He opened his eyes, raising his right hand to rub the part of his face that got ceremoniously sucker punched that made him twist and land on his back. His vision was temporarily blurry, unable to make out except for a few details. Slowly, he recognized the iron bars located from the north of his point of view. As his perception became clearer, he realized that he was in a prison cell.
The iron bars are the only thing separating him from the outside. Now, he was looking at someone with spiky hair and a blank white eye mask sitting on a chair. His black, inquisitive eyes were looking at him, his arms crossed. He was sitting on a wooden chair with metal parts.
"What the..." Yuuya Kizami tried to stand up but noticed something odd. He looks to his right to find a pair of handcuffs stuck between him and the metal door. "What...What is this?!" He exclaims. He was showing a farce form of anger that was a mixture of truth and falsehood, playing the innocent young man with no idea what is going on and why was here. "Oi...what is going on here, huh?! Why am I tied to this bed with handcuffs?!"
But the spiky-haired young man - Touma Kamijou was silent. His expression was steady and blank, not even giving a hint of non-amusement. He was just sitting on the chair, watching Yuuya try to struggle as he might get out of his predicament.
"...!"
All of the Kisaragi Academy survivors except for Satoshi were sporting expressions of shock as they immediately recognized the young man that was now stuck in an iron bar prison cell. And it was noticed by the others who took note of it.
"...!" Yuka made a terrified expression, embracing Satoshi.
"No way...Kizami-kun?!" Ayumi said, shocked and a little alarmed.
"What the hell?!" Yoshiki was looking at Satoshi for an answer.
But Satoshi was smiling a bit while still having a serious expression, shaking his head. "We found him while we were walking in one of the hallways. They were being chased by a couple of umm...Infected right guys, not zombies?" He looks at the Companions in order to confirm the proper terminology.
The Companions nodded. Sota answered. "That's right, Infected, not zombies, there's a difference since these individuals aren't really so much as dead..."
"But they might as well be," Kyon grimly added. "How the hell did they get here is another story."
"These Infected come from another world, right?" Yui asked, making an educated guess.
"Yes, sensei," Conan nodded. "Moving back to the other topic, I did a few rechecks and studying the background of our resident prisoner, Kizami Yuuya. What I found out was...interesting to say the least."
As he said this, Emi Urabe and Tohko Kirisaki, physically seen flinching accompanied by feelings of disbelief and fear, knew what he was talking about as they were present when Conan was accessing the console in order to perform a timeline scan on Yuuya. How exactly did he know how to do that and which buttons to press? Simple, he read the manual, plus the Doctor taught him. A useful skill for his superheroics and detective work.
"Heh...That's understating it, man..." Yoshiki made a depreciating smile. "That bastard was quite a handful back in the day."
"I can tell from this conversation already that all of you lot and Touma have some kind of history with this young man that is now currently spending time in the dungeon," the Twelfth Doctor noted.
"Oh, that and so much more, old man," Yoshiki muttered gravely, clenching his fists as he looks at the screen.
"Since childhood, Kizami Yuuya had experienced a very violent childhood that contributed heavily to what he is today. There was one record of him beating a student to death when he was in elementary along with mutilating animals, a potential case for a potential murderer since as the saying goes, murderers very often start out by killing and torturing animals as kids," Conan explained.
"That's not really far off of a reasoning," Satoshi made an angered expression, patting his younger sister gently in the back.
"It was because of these incidents that he was sent to juvenile for the sake of helping the disturbed child as it were. The therapy sessions seem to have worked out just fine and Kizami manages to at least live a normal life, at least, that's what it appears on the surface," Conan explained.
"Worked my ass," Yoshiki muttered in annoyance. "That no good bastard gave all of us quite a handful."
"Even more so with my sister..." Satoshi tightly embraced his younger sibling as if it were a sign of protection in consideration of past-future circumstances.
"He did something to Yuka-chan in the past, didn't he?" the Twelfth Doctor narrowed his eyes, concerned.
"He did," Satoshi simply said with a cold tone.
"I see," the Twelfth Doctor said with a sad, empathetic smile, simply leaving it as it is without any further explanation. He understood the meaning already and the implications. Years of experience can do that for you.
After an hour later in estimation, after a bunch of meaningless off-topic conversations, colorful insults coated in sophisticated language, and exasperated yells hurled at the spiky-haired bastard, Yuuya Kizami finally opted to remain silent since it was apparent to him that this person would not budge and answer his questions, never mind even speaking to him.
And then...there were those inquisitive eyes as if they were staring heavily on somewhere beyond his own eyes, right into the heart of his soul. It was downright discomforting to him. They looked...old somehow. Or was it just his imagination deceiving him?
Who was this person?
When was the last time he felt a semblance of trepidation on someone else for a change?
"Shinjitsu to wa? "("What is truth?")" Kamijou asked in a serious and genuine tone.
"?!" Yuuya made a confused and surprised expression. What did that have to do with this? A question that had haunted him since his childhood days. "Haah?!"
"Shinjitsu to wa? "("What is truth?")" Kamijou repeated again, this time with a solemn emphasis.
"..."
What is truth indeed?
It was a serious question that had plagued him for as long as Yuuya Kizami can recall. It contributed much to his personality which some may describe as being cynical in nature.
He thought that truth inevitably leads to cynicism. It's a virtue a good quality for a cynical person can't be manipulated, is practical, and knows about the cruel imperfect world if someone says that this world is perfect he is living in a fool's paradise most successful, attractive, emotional fools, optimists are unaware of the harsh reality that awaits them.
The world is full of hypocrites.
To give an example, there was one guy in the hostel who showed remorse for the dying cancer patient my hostel was near palliative care but the next day he bullied a man with a personal disability in college. It's called basic human nature. Human nature demands to be cruel to the point where they are so sadistic and then pretend to be good and emotional. Girls are queens of hypocrisy as they cry after seeing a female acid attack victim but rebuke an ugly guy for looking at them. They say that money and good looks are not important to us but just look at their boyfriends and crushes who just had it all.
Cynicism was more than a type of behavior. It was a philosophy of life to live by. And he was proud of it.
Yuuya looked around for any sign of any camera. There were none. At least, none that he can really see. Being a cynic can make you right paranoid about a lot of things. You just don't know when to lower your guard and trust people. Oh well, he thought, it's not like it matters.
"Heh," Yuuya tried to make a smirk on his face. "Why would I answer that kind of question?"
"Why indeed?" Kamijou said in a subtle tone. His unwavering eyes made Yuuya more uncomfortable. "Because depending on how you answer depends on what I and my friends are going to do with you from here on out."
"Heh. Is that right? Why the hell have I been handcuffed to my bed anyway? What the hell did I do to you people?" Yuuya was honestly curious.
"Nothing. At least...not yet anyway," Kamijou only answered with a cryptic response.
"What the hell does that mean?" Yuuya asked.
"It means that it all depends on whether or not you answer my question," Kamijou simply said.
"Tck, picky little bastard, aren't you," Yuuya became irritated. "So what...you're gonna just stay here as my prison guard or something like that?"
"Not really. For one, you can't really escape here even if you wanted to. Two, I have other things important to do than play as your guard. Three, be thankful since this is honestly a form of leniency for you to be stuck in that cell since whatever's outside this place isn't really known for being safe," Kamijou explained.
"Really? That explains all of those zombies that were chasing us not too long ago earlier," Yuuya made a smirk.
"And you wouldn't really be fazed by that, would you?" Kamijou said.
"Not on your life," Yuuya made an arrogant smirk. "After all, no need for actual monsters when you've already seen one for yourself."
"You're talking about humans, aren't you?" Kamijou.
Yuuya didn't make any form of response, becoming silent for a few moments. Then his smirk was seen, continuing. "Yeah, that's right. The thing about us humans is that we all have to look out for ourselves. In the end, we're all just hypocrites who hide some part of ourselves that we don't want the public to see."
"The skeleton in the closet," Kamijou said.
"Right. So...you asked me the question so I'm gonna ask you a question if you wouldn't mind. Because this type of thing is strange the more that I think about it since we kept talking. I'd guess that you're the one who punched me in the face but I have no idea why you did that. And then, you somehow managed to lock me in this cell by the time I woke up. What is that? What exactly have I ever done to you?"
"Like I said...nothing...and I'm keeping it that way," Kamijou said in a solemn tone.
"Haah? What do you mean by nothing?" Yuuya asked with an exasperated expression.
"Nothing as in you have yet to actually kill anyone...And you haven't yet, have you?" Kamijou asked.
"Kill? Look man, I have no-" Yuuya tried to speak.
"You've killed different types of animals when you were young. All of those cats and dogs and birds and other sorts that you mutilated with various tools when no one was seemingly looking. You seem to get the kick out of them, right? It made you feel so alive when you released your own pent-up frustration on everything that happened to you. Family abuse, beating up one student to the point near death, and a whole lot of personal issues to deal with. In other words, hiding your own skeleton in the closet from most of the people that had ever known you except for one person in the school that still considers you a best friend in spite of everything that you've done and covered up. You want me to go on?" Kamijou made his deduction clear.
Yuuya raised his eyebrows. How exactly did he know that? He never really met this bastard in all of his life and yet he's reciting every single thing and line of his life as if right out of a summarized biography. It disturbed him to know that his secret seems to be out in the open when it comes to Touma Kamijou.
"...Who...Who the hell are you...?" asked Yuuya.
Kamijou simply stood up and gave him a straightforward look in the eye. There was no fear. There was simply a resolve that was weathered by so much experience and regrets. "I'm the one who will stop you every single time, no matter what."
A shiver ran down Yuuya's spine. It was like an apex predator staring down at a lion who thinks he's the king of predators but is usurped by a more terrifying beast.
It was a warning. Try to hurt others, he will stop him. And he will.
And then, Kamijou begins to turn to the right and intended to leave Yuuya, leaving the latter to contemplate what had just happened, to his confusion, frustration, and fascination with the spiky-haired young man whose name he has yet to know personally.
Touma Kamijou was now walking towards the main control room.
He noticed the additional presence of several individuals. The Twelfth Doctor, Rika Kamijou, Satoko Hojo, Kokuhaku Akaboji, Ayumi Shinozaki, Yoshiki Kishinuma, Yuka Mochida, and Yui Shishido.
Before he can even make a response, he was eventually hugged by the younger Mochida sibling. "Touma-oniichan," she said, sprinting towards him and embracing him, surprising him somewhat.
"Eh?!" Kamijou looks at the rest, towards Ayumi, Yoshiki, and Yui who were making expressions of familiarity. And that was when Kamijou realized... "Ah...You guys remembered."
"Yes, we have, Touma-san," Ayumi smiled, a bit teary-eyed.
"And let me just say this right now...you are one complete idiot," Yoshiki smiled sadly.
"Let me guess, the Doctor told you about my little "problem" that I experienced back in the day," Kamijou side glanced towards the Twelfth Doctor who silently nodded.
All of a sudden, Yui decided to join in the embrace, hugging Kamijou tightly, much to the latter's surprise.
"Touma-san...you really had quite an ordeal, didn't you?" Yui smiled but from the inside, she was crying for the young man who was their shining beacon of hope no matter how deep the darkness.
Kamijou simply smiled sadly, only saying. "Yeah...I did...And yet...I never regretted meeting you guys...or anyone else that I happen to stumble along the way..."
He glances to the left, seeing Rika smiling at him and nodding.
"Saenoki Naho?!" Conan Edogawa, aka Night Baron, exclaims in shock, recognizing the name.
Let's start with the beginning.
After the conversation between Kamijou and Yuuya, it was decided for the time being that Emi and Tohko were to be sent to the Twelfth Doctor's TARDIS via the emergency passageways. So the Twelfth Doctor gave them directions on where to go from here on out, with Kokuhaku guiding them on the way. As of now, the two Doctors, the Companions, Dhruv Varma, Rumiko Chie, Komoe Tsukuyomi, and some of the Kisaragi Academy survivors were discussing and comparing notes in relation to what had happened so far along with filling in past details left out from the limited memories that were gained from the Kisaragi Academy survivors along with Touma Kamijou.
What brought Conan's attention was a name that he hadn't heard in a while.
"You said, Saenoki Naho, Touma-san? You've met her before?" Conan asked. His expression was one of worry. Something that was noticed by Kamijou and the others.
"...Yes," Kamijou nodded. "I've met her. Several times down the line back in the day when I was inadvertently trapped in the isekai ride. But wait, why is it that you're asking me about this?"
"Because Saenoki Naho is a very old friend of mine," Conan said grimly.
"What?!" Kamijou and the rest of the Kisaragi Academy survivors exclaim in shock.
"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Yoshiki raised both of his hands, surprised just as much as anyone else. "Old friend? As in, you've met her before?"
"Yes," Conan nodded. "I've known Naho-chan since first-year middle school. Whenever there are occult and paranormal problems of a sort, she's not that far behind. I should know since we sometimes stumble upon each other from time to time, usually when I'm out investigating."
"As Kudo Shinichi or as Night Baron?" Kamijou asked. He was very curious about this information as he was very surprised that Naho Saenoki is acquainted with his best friend and he was only finding this out now.
"A bit of both. Actually, Naho-chan is one of the few who knows my secret identity as Kudo Shinichi. When it comes to my side cases, Naho-chan acts as my secret informant," Conan explained.
"If you know about Naho-san, then do you know about the other people in her life, about Ooue Sayaka and Niwa Aiko?" Ayumi asked.
"I do," Conan nodded. But then, his expression made a form of realization with the accompaniment of a subtle form of horror. He puts his right gloved hand to his chin, deep in thought. "And speaking of Sayaka-chan, she and Naho-chan, along with two other individuals by the names of Kibiki Kou and Taguchi Shougo. If my memory isn't tricking me, the last time I spoke to Naho-chan, she and the other four were heading off to some...kind of...school..."
Conan's eyes widened. Something in his gut is telling him that something didn't feel right.
"...Wait...Something's wrong...I...I can't remember which elementary school she was going to..." Conan muttered, trying to concentrate.
"Hm? What do you mean by that, Kudo-kun?" Rika asked, concerned.
"I mean...it's almost as if...something's preventing me from remembering. From what I can actually recall, she said something about an abandoned...elementary school...No..." Conan immediately realized why. He looked to his fellow companions who were sporting the same grim realization as he was. "She was talking about Heavenly Host, Naho-chan was talking about Heavenly Host to me on the phone...but, why couldn't I remember that?" He shakes his head. "No, I did remember, but something was keeping me from remembering, almost as if it were like..."
"A perception filter," the Twelfth Doctor and the Eighth Doctor both said with grim expressions.
"Yeah...different application - similar effect," Conan said. "Except, this kind of memetic effect is widespread. I remember at least taking note of this strange feeling that some specific form of information had slipped passed my mind in the next few days since I last saw Naho-chan. But...in those same few days, there were other missing people at that time..."
"Hm? Like...who exactly?" Satoshi asked, concerned.
"It wasn't just Sayaka-chan that had gone missing...and among them...Aiko-chan went missing as well..." Conan said.
"What?! Aiko-san is...missing?!" Ayumi was shocked and concerned. This was new to her as this never really happened before as far as she recalled.
"But that isn't the only problem, is it?" Lelouch narrowed his eyes, arms crossed.
"No," Conan shakes his head. "It wasn't just the fact that these people were missing. It was the fact that most people had somehow forgotten them, no more than that, like they never made an impact at all...like they were just erased from the timeline. At that point, I knew that something was off and so in those same next few days, I did a couple of interviews with family, friends, and acquaintances along with other methods at my disposal, comparing what I knew with current knowledge and what other people knew about the missing persons. By statistics, at least 98 to 99 percent of people didn't know who I was referring to."
"If I remember correctly," the Twelfth Doctor muttered, his eyebrows crunching. "You once asked me for advice regarding this incident. After investigating for myself, I found it to be mostly a dead end. No matter what point in the current meta-time I traveled to, these missing persons almost never seem to have existed whether if it was the past or the future, but I couldn't find the origin behind it for some reason, it almost seems like someone doesn't want me to find it. I tried traveling through time via the use of Limited GMT (Gallifreyan Mean-Time) and found the missing persons to be there as they should. It was only the fixed present meta-time that they were missing. The only things that I can verify at that time were that something had been messing with history in subtle ways, a little too perfect for my liking. My suspicions are rather proven accurate when I noticed the dates seem to be off which was also pointed out by Shinichi."
"How off are we talking here?" Kyon asked, making a serious expression.
"Off to the point where Monday is Tuesday," Conan said, making the companions and the others blink their eyes in concern. "In fact, I'm one of the only people who noticed that time wasn't quite right. It was like someone was moving the dates. One day would be Wednesday, the next day would be Friday. It had been happening for a while although it wasn't really serious enough. It did require the Foundation to fix it though. That aside, not much really happened."
"Excuse me, Doctor, but can I ask what meta-time is because I noticed how you used the term and was wondering what you meant by that?" Yui asked, her inner teacher instincts kicking in.
"Think of the universe as one set of infinite plates, each plate contains the complete history of the universe from one end of time to the other. All of these plates consisted of histories whether they are original timelines or changed times via either natural occurrences based on the nature of free will and choice or artificial occurrences through the use of time travel and other means. Basically, say, for example, you'd have seven days of the week from Sunday to Saturday. So you have Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc. Then you go back in time and change history. Now in real-time, you have Sunday 2, Monday, Tuesday, etc. In meta-time, you have Sunday 1, Sunday 2, Monday, Tuesday, etc. For basic time travellers and other methods of time travel in most normal circumstances, one cannot just jump from one plate to another as for one, depending on the variant used, is usually an illegal method of time travel that can make things a bit too messy for the resident higher powers to clean up. Did any of you got all that?" the Twelfth Doctor said.
"So basically old man, what you're saying is that you can travel to the past or the future in specific points in history even in spite of history changing. Contrary to what the movies would have us believe, it is possible for one to just travel back to before the change for the most part but said time travel is illegal almost as if you took a shortcut you were not supposed to. That and there are other risks involved when doing so. Did I get that right?" Yoshiki answered smoothly.
Satoshi Mochida, Yuka Mochida, Ayumi Shinozaki, were Yui Shishido looking at Yoshiki Kishinuma with surprised expressions on their faces. And the rest who were present were either sporting impressed or surprised expressions.
"Yes, that's correct," the Twelfth Doctor answered with a proud smile. "A potential TARDIS School Student in the making."
"Kishinuma-kun, you understood what he said?" Ayumi asked, looking at Yoshiki in awe.
"...Eh? Um...Yeah, I did...I just gave a quick thought on it as if I were thinking practically in common sense, or something like that," Yoshiki raised his right hand toward his neck in order to rub it, sporting an embarrassed expression when faced with Ayumi's awed and somewhat proud expression.
"In any case though," Conan looked at Ayumi with a serious expression. "Shinozaki-san. Can you tell me what you could recall about Naho-chan?"
"...Um," Ayumi made a hesitant expression which was noticed by Conan. In fact, Conan noticed that the other Kisaragi Academy survivors and Kamijou appear to share more or less the same expression, wondering how to tell Conan what had happened in the many times that they were limited to remember.
"Umm, Shinichi-san," Kamijou made a sad face. "From what I can remember whenever I end up specifically in Heavenly Host...Naho-chan...she...she didn't make it..."
"...!" Conan widened his eyes. Most of the people who were listening were widening their eyes as well. Conan turned serious. "Explain."
And so, as much as they could remember, Touma and the other Kisaragi Academy survivors shared what they could regarding the tragic fate of Naho Saenoki, Sayaka Ooue, Kou Kibiki, and Shougo Taguchi. And the more the tale when on, fitting each account as if it were a piece of the puzzle, Conan was subtly horrified which was followed by a deep sadness, knowing that his old friends had suffered very grave deaths in the many timelines and time loops before this. Although, Conan wasn't surprised. He knew that there were risks when it comes to dabbling with the occult and paranormal affairs. It's like fire. Play with it for too long, you'll get burned eventually.
Conan closed his eyes, breathing in and out before opening them again. "I see."
He was shaken of course with the news, but naturally, that didn't mean he'd give up. This particular case was now personal to him more than ever before since it involved his old friends. If there was the slightest chance that they aren't dead, he would take it. But if not...well...he'd rather not think about it for now.
"Since things are a lot different than how you were used to, maybe, and I wouldn't get my hopes up, is there a possibility that Naho-chan, Sayaka-chan, Kibiki-san, and Taguchi-san may still be alive somewhere?" Conan asked.
"Maybe," Kamijou said. While he too didn't get his hopes up, that didn't mean that all hope is lost, hoping against hope. "Nothing is set in stone. Since this nightmare began, I never stopped trying to save anyone I can find. I'm not stopping now."
"And that goes double for me as well since my friends are in danger, making this quite personal to me," Conan said with narrowed determined eyes.
"And we'll help as well," Satoshi said with a determined tone.
"Hm?" Kamijou noted the tone. "You guys are coming as well?"
"Yes, Touma-san, I can't just sit by here knowing that our other friends are still out there. And since I'm a Shinozaki, I have to take full responsibility," Ayumi said with a determined expression.
"Oi, not just you, idiot," Yoshiki said with displeasure and a smile. "We're all in this together, like it or not."
"He's right," Kamijou agreed.
"Eh?!" the Kisaragi Academy survivors looked at him in shock.
"I can recall the times when one or another tend to do things by themselves. It didn't work out in the long run. Staying as a group would be the main advantage that we have at this moment, especially now. However, unlike before, Heavenly Host may no longer be the same as it used to be as multiple horrors straight out of everyone's worst nightmares are getting dragged here. Then there's one other thing, innocent people from your world and other worlds are getting dragged into this madness, and most of them are those who didn't or aren't aware of the existence of the Sachiko Ever After charm," Kamijou explained.
"And that same charm had punched through multiple holes in space-time, creating cracks as it were, making this specific manner no longer isolated. All hands are on deck in this situation and more help is more than appreciated at this point," the Eighth Doctor said.
"Speaking of which, I believe it is about time we tell them about the other thing we've been doing since then," Dhruv Varma stepped forward and brought out his hand, showing what appeared to be a particularly bright blue flame. It made Ayumi stand at attention, eyes widening, feeling the incomplete spirit that was cut to pieces.
"Wait...that's...that's the soul of a person, but it's incomplete...and familiar," Ayumi muttered with a concerned tone.
"It's the soul of Shinozaki Sachiko's father, Shinozaki Seiji," Dhruv Varma explained.
"Eh?!" Ayumi muttered in shock as she and the rest of the Kisaragi Academy survivors were looking at the flame with interest.
"We've already collected two fragments so far. Only twenty-two left remaining. Find them all, we restore the soul of this man and put him back together," Dhruv Varma explained.
"Sachiko's father..." Ayumi muttered.
"Since all of the Kisaragi Academy students plus teacher are coming with us, they need to be armed a bit more properly," the Eighth Doctor said, smiling.
"And I think I know just the thing," the Twelfth Doctor said, smiling.
Insert Song: End
ED Song:
【ARTERY VEIN】Confutatis no Inori (Full Version)【CP Blood Covered】【Eng Lyrics】
Incarnation(s)/Regeneration(s) of the Doctor:
The Twelfth Doctor - A: Peter Capaldi
The Eighth Doctor - A: Paul McGann
Main Companion Protagonists:
Touma Kamijou - VA: Atsushi Abe
Shinichi Kudo/Conan Edogawa/Night Baron - VA: Minami Takayama
Kyon - VA: Tomokazu Sugita
Sota Mizushino/Kamen Rider Decade - VA: Daiki Yamashita
Lelouch vi Britannia/Zero - VA: Jun Fukuyama
Main Love Interests:
Rika Kamijou (née Furude) (Past) - VA: Yukari Tamura
The Club Characters:
Satoko Hojo (Past) - VA: Mika Kanai
Rumiko Chie - VA: Fumiko Orikasa
The Nine Characters:
Satoshi Mochida - VA: Hiro Shimono
Yuka Mochida - VA: Eri Kitamura
Yoshiki Kishinuma - VA: Yūichi Nakamura
Ayumi Shinozaki - VA: Asami Imai
Yui Shishido - VA: Miyuki Sawashiro