Disclaimer: Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.
Yeah, I just used the YouTube copy-paste fair act thingy. Deal with it, ahaha~!
...it's still me, Monika, who does these disclaimer things by the way since DaMastah101 can't be bothered to do them himself. Oh, and we're finally back on track with the main story!
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Just Monika - Regular text
"Forever Sayori" - Spoken words/Dialogue
'Knife Wife Yuri' - Thoughts
{Buff Natsuki} - Text or audio displayed on-screen or by speaker, be it from a computer/smartphone/TV
"You being alive and talking to me, it just feels like I'm about to wake up from this at any moment and if that happens I honestly don't think I can keep living any more. All I want, all I've ever wanted, is to love and be loved, and this not having been actually real would have been the cruelest possible way for the universe to torment me. It already seems to constantly rip happiness from my grasp but this would be too much. It's not like there's no precedent either, I've had dreams with you in them before."
-Draco Silvaris
Chapter 3 of "Forever Mine", a DDLC fanfic by elementalheroshadow.
[Chapter 21 - Izuna's Resolve, Part 2]
Fate sometimes made it so that certain lives would be interconnected with each other, no matter what. That these people would always intersect in their paths at some point in time.
The red strings of fate, as they are often called in literature. Though mostly used in a romantic sense, they can also be the symbol of a destined time together. One that had been etched into the fabric of history itself.
And as already evidenced by Izuna and Yumi, the entire Takaya family seemed to be bound by these red strings with the world of Doki Doki Literature Club...
...
...
...
At the end of the hillside cliff, a lone man could be seen. His aged-yet-experienced eyes absentmindedly trailed over each building that he could see from afar, as he was currently in the outskirts of the busy city.
The light breeze brushed against his attire of choice, a laboratory coat, but he didn't mind the wind at all.
He stood at the precipice of the world around him, contemplating over the things that had happened these past few days. Things that he would've never thought to be possible before, even with him being a scientist.
"What has that son of mine gotten himself into? I mean, even my daughter is somehow part of this as well..."
The man supposed however, that he was to be blamed for that either way. He could only sigh, for it seemed that the remnants of the past were still catching up to him even now.
After all, it was his project, the scientific exploit known as "Heaven's Bridge", that became the catalyst for everything that came after. But still, he didn't realize how much of an effect the failed project would have other his children's lives, as well as those around them. To think that even now, his past efforts would have such a lasting impression...
Masamune Takaya merely wished that Izuna and Yumi would stay safe, especially since he got wind of the fact that there were assassins targetting them now for some reason due to their involvement in recent matters.
There was also the matter of Izuna and the characters that came from the game known as Doki Doki Literature Club. Technically, Heaven's Bridge did succeed in acting as a bridge between this world to another, but not in the way Masamune expected, resulting in Izuna's current situation.
At least the boy was with his grandfather right now, hopefully becoming stronger under Osamu's tutelage, or so he hoped. Masamune would have a word with his old man though, if Osamu had been working Izuna too hard.
With another tired sigh, he turned around and faced his companions, who stood behind him at a length of about two meters away from his position. The pair that came with him consisted of the alternate Doki existence known as "Alter-Monika" or simply "Alter"; and his beloved wife, mother of Izuna and Yumi - Kanade Takaya.
"Now then, we need to get you settled into Izuna's school, miss Alter. The next couple of days is going to be a bit busy for us, but Kanade and I have got it covered." he says while flashing a smile at his ever-supportive wife who grinned in returned.
The trio then promptly walked away and made a beeline for the scientist's car, with their destination being that of Horizon City.
"I think it's about time for us to pay the kids a visit too, after all. And I'm pretty sure you want to meet the other Dokis and your Monika counterpart, am I right Alter?"
*****The World Beyond The Screen*****
The attack beyond his gnawing desperation. To steadily pierce through the hand that fate had dealt you. Overcoming the face of despair itself, with the full extent of your indomitable will.
Such was the current struggle of one currently panting Izuna Takaya, as the training session with his current sensei continued.
With the intent of producing as much force as he could possibly muster with his fist, Izuna shifted the majority of his body weight towards the active limb, and pressed down hard onto the ground with his foot to maintain balance.
Then, he let out what basically served as his own personal, special move of sorts.
Today was the day, that Izuna Takaya would attempt to overcome his own limits, and the mere thought of such a concept had done nothing but fill him with determination.
His voice was loud, and his fist was burning with fury.
"Rechter Schlag!" was the name of his YOLO'd punch, and his yell reverberated through the air as he exerted a ton of kinetic energy into the blow.
It was the boy's final gambit in a brazen attempt to land one hit on his grandpa.
Now one of three things could've and did indeed happen after Izuna threw out his German-themed attack. These were the possibilities that awaited his brazen move, and only one of them resulted in victory for the hot-blooded young man. With the rest of them being certain defeat.
The first and best scenario for Izuna, was if by some miracle granted to him by heaven above, his strike would actually land nicely and directly impact Osamu, thus giving him the win and ending their little session right then and there. It would've been the optimal outcome for the boy.
Obviously, that wasn't the case, leaving us with the other two outcomes. Because let's face it, there was no way that Izuna was going to win this fight. So his best hope was a gracious loss instead.
Next possible scenario, was Osamu simply dodging the move. That was it really.
All things considered, the boy's punch was a very highly telegraphed move and a master practictioner of martial arts such as Osamu would likely have no difficulty evading such a novice attempt.
With this in mind, and I cannot stress this enough, Izuna's "Rechter Schlag" wasn't exactly anything more than a glorified right punch. It wasn't really that fast either, thus Osamu shouldn't actually have any problems evading it at all. Izuna didn't even bother doing some sort of set-up first before actually throwing out the move.
Being a master of multiple disciplines meshed into one under his Zenbu Fist style, Osamu could've easily evaded the move and thus making Izuna trip and fall on his own. The younger Takaya lacked the same finesse as his grandfather after all.
And yet, somehow, that was surprisingly not what happened either. What happened was even worse for the boy, truly cementing the difference between him and his grandfather.
No, Osamu motherfucking Takaya just had to be a badass and surpass all expectations of the norm.
With the greatest of ease, Osamu had caught the brazen punch with one hand.
One. Goddamn. Hand. Just like that.
And while doing so, he began to flare some killing intent at the boy. Like some sort of invisible aura was being cast outwards from his body. Whether it was actual ki manipulation, or it was merely a machination of Izuna's mind, it wasn't certain.
The various streams of air rushing in the opposite direction served as a visual cue alluding towards how much power Izuna had actually put behind his blow, and yet Osamu still stopped it without even batting an eye.
The tremendous gap in ability between the two of them was made quite clear in that exchange. Osamu had postulated Izuna's possibilities in rapid succession, and rendered every single one of his attacks essentially moot.
It greatly unnerved Izuna. He was in the face of overwhelming adversary. And unlike all the other attempts where he was bested by his sensei, Osamu didn't utter a single word this time. The man was just silently grasping Izuna's fist and staring at him very seriously.
Yes, Osamu still had an ironclad grip on Izuna's fist. It only served to build up even more tension than ever before.
"G-gramps..."
The boy was understandably on the verge of an immense panicking session. Maybe his grandfather was about to deliver a devastating counter-attack without giving him the chance to defend himself. And with no way to escape due to the fact that his fist was still trapped in an ironclad vice-grip by his opponent, Izuna couldn't think of anything he could do anymore.
As if on cue though to answer the boy's inner distress, Osamu finally spoke up again in a level-headed manner. This time with an air of finality. He no longer repeated the word "Again!", signalling that their little session was essentially concluded.
"I've seen enough of what you can do. Now I know exactly what we need to work on, Izuna. Steel yourself, for the training you're about to endure. You have potential lying in you, my boy. But in your current state, said potential is being buried further by your lack of proper training and guidance in unleashing it."
Izuna gulped. It didn't seem like Osamu was impressed at all over his recent performance despite the whole thing about having potential. And he knew himself that he hadn't been able to successfully land an attack at any point during their training session. He had been soundly beaten by the aged master.
He could only hope that whatever his grandfather had in store for him, wouldn't drain him of his soul after he was through.
But, as though to give him a sliver of hope, Izuna then heard something from his grandfather that he never expected at all to even hear, as Osamu was leaving the dojo to get some of the equipment he'd need to train the boy.
"However, you still passed my initial test, Izuna."
"...what?"
*****The World Beyond The Screen*****
After having a nice and quiet meal for lunch, with Izuna being the one to cook this time for their lunch, the master-student pair was back at the dojo, with a fresh change of uniform to boot.
Osamu's first task for Izuna seemed pretty simple enough for the boy.
"You are to split this block of wood in half with your bare hands. That's pretty much it for now, my boy."
Izuna stared in bewilderment at the piece of wood in front of him. It was barely 4 inches in thickness and was about the same length as the average human arm. Overall, an unremarkable wooden specimen.
To the hot-blooded young man, such a task wasn't that hard. He'd seen dozens of people chop a training block of wood on YouTube after all. They always made it look so easy too. Yep, this should be a piece of cake.
Osamu then produced a second identical block, and gestured at Izuna to watch closely.
"Okay, so let me demonstrate how I'd do it. Here goes. One fluid motion, observe."
He took a large amount of breath, inhaling quite deeply while accumulating a sufficient amount of air for his lungs, then letting out a shout as he exhaled. His body now had achieved perfect synchronization with his breathing rhythm.
"HAH!"
With one solid swipe of his hand in a vertical chopping motion, Osamu cleanly chopped the wood block in half, first try.
"Now you do it." he said while cleaning up the remains of his poor wooden victim. Various splinters and a small amount of debris were the only remnants from what was previously the training block.
"That's all I need to do for now, gramps?"
"Indeed. I'll even give you the remaining part of the day to do it, that's if you could do it at all, haha. Don't worry, you'll probably figure it out."
Such a comment from his grandfather made Izuna raise his right eyebrow. He couldn't believe that he had the entire remainder of the day just for this single task.
Sensing his grandson's dilemma, Osamu chimed. "If it's so easy, then why don't you go give it a try?"
Nodding in reply, Izuna positioned his right hand over the wooden block, just above it by about half a meter, and swung it in one motion. The boy was sure that it would work, seeing as he had flawlessly copied Osamu's form in chopping the wooden block. And Izuna was sure that he'd put the right amount of force into his attempt.
With his posture now solid, and his arm at the perfect angle, he commenced his attempt.
"HAH!"
The result?
One Izuna Takaya rolling around the ground, barely preventing screams of pain from escaping his mouth. The boy could've sworn that his hand was now broken for life, or that his bones were shattered, due to the amount of pain he currently felt.
Izuna wanted to cry so much.
His grandfather, who was now cackling in boisterous laughter, didn't help ease his growing discomfort either at the pain.
"Well then, I shall take my leave. You are allowed to finish the task until midnight, in order to advance to the next lesson. Remember, you're only allowed to use your arms."
And with that, Osamu left Izuna to his own devices, and the boy reamined all by himself inside the Takaya dojo.
The current time was 1:30PM, according to the nearby clock that was hung on one of the dojo's cream-colored walls.
After making sure that his grandfather was out of sight, Izuna let out a pain-filled shout. He needed such a vocal release after holding in the pain for quite some time.
"Ow! Oh my fucking God this hurts! Jesus, shit! You son of a bitch! Damn this stupid piece of wood! IT HURTS SO MUCH AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
...
...
...
After about five minutes of wallowing in self-pity, yelling out curses and expletives, and pathetically cluching his hurting hand with the other one like a child, Izuna finally calmed down.
Well, as "calm" as he could've been anyway.
"Now, how the hell am I going to chop this deceptively thick block of wood with just my arms?!"
Deciding to throw caution into the wind, he made a chopping gesture once more with his right hand, even though it was still a bit red and swollen from his earlier attempt.
"FOR MONIKA, DEUS VUUUUUUUUUUUULT!"
*Thwack!*
"Jesus Christ sonuva- OWOWOWOWOWOW!"
And thus began a long training montage of Izuna repeatedly striking the block of wood with his right hand, and at one point he even started whacking at the wooden plank with his left hand instead. Think of Rocky Balboa's training montage. But with absolutely no progress made whatsoever.
Both of his hands were hurting so bad, but over time Izuna had started to adapt to the pain. Yes, pain was good in his opinion. If one measly block of wood was enough to make him give up, then he didn't deserve to stand by Monika's side. Not when his reality had a lot more in store that could destroy his piece compared to a mere woodblock.
It wasn't all fun and games though. Izuna had been tempted by his mind many times to cheat, and use an object to whack his wooden opponent in half, and he could've done so since his grandfather still hadn't come back to check on him.
But through sheer determination, he decided against it. Izuna knew that he wouldn't become stronger if he just skipped and took the easy way out in his training.
You could call Izuna many things, but being a quitter wasn't one of them. Cheating wasn't something he'd really do either.
This was the very same fire and burning spirit that he possessed, which drove him to never give up on giving his beloved Monika the happy ending that she deserved. That very same fire that even had him go all this way from Horizon to Everdawn, just to study under the combat tutelage of his grandfather.
That's why, no matter how difficult it seemed, Izuna was going to prevail over this stupid block of wood.
"Haaaaaaaaah!"
And just like that, another failed attempt was experienced by Izuna. The current time was now four in the afternoon, meaning that around two and a half hours had already passed for the boy without him reaching any success.
He began to carefully mull over his grandfathers most recent words.
"So I have until up to midnight to finish this... and I'm only allowed to use my arms..."
Izuna paced around the wide space of the dojo's main fighting area. He would occasionally sneak glances at that dreaded piece of wood, the obstacle in his path to greatness, while thinking on what he could've possibly missed.
"But I've been using only my arms the entire time... so what gives..."
Just to make sure, Izuna once again tried to land a nice chop onto the wood in order to split it in half, but was again met with stinging failure and a hurt hand. He'd burned the image of his grandfather doing the same task with the greatest of ease, and in one try.
Then, only then, after recalling his entire fight with his grandfather, was Izuna hit with the answer.
"How could I have been so stupid?!"
It finally hit Izuna, what the moral lessons were being taught to him with this exercise.
Firstly, was that he was too focused on trying to do it the same way as his grandfather. In that, even though they weren't on the same level yet, Izuna was trying to do the same fluid chopping motion as Osamu who had years of experience under his belt compared to him who had just started out today.
He then figured out that his grandfather even dropped subtle hints about it.
Okay, so let me demonstrate how I'd do it.
That was his first clue already. It was how Osamu would do it, meaning that there were other ways that Izuna could've approached the task. He was just too focused on being as impressive as his sensei.
Secondly, was the fact that he was allowed to use his arms, not just his hands. If Osamu really wanted Izuna to do it exactly as he did, then he would've specified that the boy was only allowed to do it with his hand in a chopping motion.
But no, the elder only said that Izuna was allowed to use his arms. Both of his entire upper limbs. He could've used his elbow for that matter and it would've still counted.
Sighing in annoyance, Izuna's eyes gleamed dangerously. He could taste victory on the tip of his tongue.
Another way he could've looked at this task, was that it was the exact same intial task he had. That he had to land a single blow. That was literally it.
"Meaning, this is exactly the same as fighting gramps, but this time, the wooden block can't counter my attack, that's it!"
The thought of finally figuring out the puzzle, filled Izuna with determination. He tensed his muscles, and formed a fist with his now weary right hand, and he smiled.
"RECHTER SCHLAG!" and with a thunderous crunching sound, the boy's punch had blown through the wood with such a deciding impact, that it echoed proudly throughout the dojo.
Izuna panted and panted, and he was sure that there were now small-sized wooden splinters that had embedded onto his knuckle's skin. But he didn't care about that. That was fine.
Maybe, the goal of this exercise was for him to think out of the box. That was what Izuna assumed anyway.
He had finally completed his first task and was very proud of himself. Perhaps, he would indeed become strong enough to protect everyone in the future, and this was the very first steps of that path to greatness.
"I DID IT!" he yelled out loud, and was shedding tears of joy. Even though the time was now already 8 in the evening, that was fine. He had managed to fulfill the task and was granted the right to advance further in his training. He had one more day after all before he had to go back to Horizon, but now Izuna was sure.
He would continue with his grandfather's training regimen. The Takaya was already thinking of a way to reconcile his school's schedule with his training when he suddenly heard the sound of clapping from behind him.
"Very good, Izuna. You actually managed to complete the task. Now then, dinner's waiting. We can talk about the results of today's work over some nice and hot food." he smiled at his grandson, and Izuna smiled back.
"I'd like that, old man."
*****The World Beyond The Screen*****
"Is that person really important to you, Izuna?"
Izuna had to do a double-take at his grandfather's sudden question. The boy even stopped his attempt to bite his fish mid-air.
"...what? What exactly do you mean, gramps?"
"Does the person you want to protect really mean that much to you?"
The gears within Izuna's mind had started to race at the speed of light. Somehow, his grandfather accurately guessed that he was doing all of this training under him in order to become strong enough to protect and save Monika from all sorts of harm. The boy decided to test it.
"How'd you know that I have someone I want to protect? I haven't mentioned anything about that since I came here."
Answering back with a taciturn nod, Osamu gave his reasoning. "It was obvious from the very start, my boy. You wouldn't even entertain the mere thought of training under me, if it wasn't for the sake of someone else. In fact, you've been vocally against this training for the longest time, I know you that much. But now you're not only doing this of your own free will, but you're doing this on such short notice too. You're the type of person to fight for his loved ones after all."
Izuna was rendered speechless. His grandfather was spot on with that analysis of his motives.
Both of them were silent for a moment, as Izuna had yet to actually answer his grandfather's lingering inquiry.
Osamu was quick to remind the about it, soon enough. "Well?"
Izuna closed his eyes for a bit.
In his mind, he recalled everything that had happened these past months, and how his life was now more connected than ever to the former inhabitants of Doki Doki Literature Club.
He saw himself standing in the middle of a black void, surrounded by virtually nothing but a pitch-black environment for as far as the eye could see.
Mental visions of Natsuki, Yuri, Erika, Elyssa, and Blank flashed before him, and the blackness in front of him changed into something akin to an immersive theater of sorts, quickly playing events related to their departure from the real world. The group nodded at the boy, and in the next moment were all gone from the mindscape in a flash.
Next, a vision of Sayori appeared, smiling serenely at Izuna.
Again, a replay theater appeared behind her, showing the times they interacted with each other. From the moment that Izuna cried over her death in the climax of Act 1 during his first DDLC playthrough, to the moment when Sayori was comforting him when Monika left the Takaya household after their mini-fight.
The vision then started to fade away, but not before he heard the following line from her.
"Thank you, for being my first friend here in reality, Izuna."
Izuna, from within his mind, started to tear up a bit, owing to the fact that Sayori would always be special to him. Her words of thanks had moved him. She was now his best friend, after all. This interaction within his mindscape only reaffirmed that fact.
Afterwards, everything started to shine with a brilliant emerald-colored aura.
From where Sayori stood, the final character from Doki Doki Literature Club emerged, in all of her glory.
Monika. The love of his life.
But that wasn't all. Behind Monika, stood a second Monika, with the main difference from the other Monika being her eyes which heterochromatic. Green and White, instead of both being green. This was the other Monika, an alternate entity that he had come to known as "Alter-Monika".
The vision of Alter nodded at the original Monika, and she nodded back in kind. Alter gave Izuna a hug filled with her warmth, and the Takaya reciprocated.
She then stepped back, and much like Sayori's vision, began to fade away. Alter also had her own parting words.
"We will meet again, Izuna."
The memory of their encounter on the train during Izuna's trip to meet his grandfather played out as she faded away.
Finally, with only Monika and Izuna left, the scenery changed to that of Act 3 - Monika's primary domain.
The eternal classroom, of everlasting fate. Only this time, outside the windows was no longer a cosmic void of uncertainty, but rather, a bright sunset of the new hope-filled future that they were bound to share. Monika was not in her iconic school uniform, but in a white flowing dress that accentuated her figure, and truly showed how beautiful she was, inside and out.
Her emerald-green eyes stared at Izuna with the warmth of her love, and her smile was that of an angel.
The Takaya was falling in love all over again.
Contrasting all the other visions so far, this time it was Izuna who acted first, immediately scooping Monika up in his arms as their lips melt in one heartfelt kiss.
"Izuna my boy. Why are you puckering up your lips like that?"
And with that comment from his grandfather, Izuna had just realized that he was so lost in thought that he almost made out with Osamu.
Blushing a bit, Izuna merely nodded. "Yes, the people I want to protect mean that much to me. I want to be able to stand tall in the face of danger, and give my all, heart and soul."
Osamu Takaya hummed, satisfied with his grandson's resolve.
"I see. Very well, we have only one day left. I'm well aware that you still have prior obligations back in Horizon City such as your education."
Izuna was mildly surprised that his current mentor had been thinking about that.
"Yeah old man... I kinda have to go back ASAP tomorrow evening."
"I know. But trust me, tomorrow's going to be a big day. Now let's finish up here first, and get some shut eye. Food's getting cold after all."
The boy could only shake his head with a grin before going back to his food.
He had a feeling that he was going to need all of his strength for tomorrow. And Izuna would make sure that he was ready.
*****The World Beyond The Screen*****
Making sure that his grandfather was still sound asleep, Izuna carefully tiptoed out of his room, and made his way out of the house.
He was currently in loose-fitting jogging pants and a tank top shirt that showed off his modestly-built torso and biceps. Indeed, though he had been slacking off for the better part of his life, Izuna had some definition to his body at least.
It was now time for him to act upon the second reason for his visit to Everdawn City. That certain something was one that had been weighing on his mind for a while now.
Izuna wanted to find out what Elyssa Libitina really has been up to.
The boy had been keeping his monitoring of the Libitina a secret to everyone, even to Monika and Blank. Though, he surmised that the former avatar probably knew about Elyssa's errands anyway. But still, Izuna reasoned that it would give him a better chance to uncover that secret if he went in alone.
Yet another reason for him to become much stronger, the Takaya swore, as he didn't want to be left out of matters such as this. His mind recalled the time when he first caught wind of Elyssa's sudden disapperances from the Takaya househod.
(Flashback Start)
"I'm heading out for a bit, friend of Yuri. See you later, you as well lover of Monika." Elyssa nonchalantly tells Blank who waves the lady off, and Izuna nods as well.
This left Izuna, Blank and a napping Sayori in the living room. Monika was busy butting heads with random people on the internet on a certain website called "R*ddit", currently holed up in her and Izuna's room.
Yumi was at Digital Dimension, pestering Val at work. Izuna wasn't there at the moment since he had the day off. The boy could only sigh at what he deemed to be another teasing session that his sister was probably engaged in.
Natsuki and Yuri were both busy reading in their room, and since Yumi was out they had the room to theirselves. Those two had grown quite close lately, Izuna noticed.
And thus, only a sleeping cinnamon roll, the former avatar, and Izuna himself remained in the living room.
Blank was absentmindedly watching anime on Izuna's TV, his mind obviously preoccupied by other things, while carressing Sayori's hair as she continued to nap peacefully on his lap.
"So... mind filling me in on where Elyssa's going?"
And with that question from Izuna, Blank look like a deer caught in headlights from a fast moving car.
"W-Why'd you ask, my dude? Everything's fiiiiine..." the avatar nervously replies, twiddling his thumbs like a scolded preschooler.
This causes Izuna to raise his eyebrow in righteous suspicion. "Uh huh."
"No, seriously! She's just going out for... a walk! Yeah, that's it, a walk!"
"Right, and where is this 'walk' of hers headed at?"
"Look, a walk is a walk okay? Let's just drop it and watch some anime for now, like how N*ruto is doing all this cool stuff that I may or may not copy during any future fights. I've already ripped off Ichig*'s Getsuga after all. Point is, Elyssa knows what she's doing."
The Takaya took Blank's deflection as a sign to back off for now. He wouldn't push it for now, but Izuna swore to himself that he'd find out what Elyssa and seemingly Blank were hiding from him.
"Sure, I guess. Now about this episode of N*ruto, he learns how to-" Izuna then tried steering Blank's focus away from the elephant in the room, all while inwardly plotting his next move carefully.
After about 6 episodes or 3 hours had passed, Izuna bid Blank a temporary farewell, Sayori still being asleep.
Ironically, his excuse was also that "I just need to take a walk for a bit, you know, catch some fresh air or something."
The former avatar didn't seem to catch onto the subtle jab at the issue with Elyssa, and also nonchalantly waved him off as well.
After changing into his outdoor clothes - a loose windbreaker coupled with an inner black t-shirt and some baggy cargo pantsthat had a slew of pockets on it, Izuna set out to unlock this new mystery that fate had wrought him.
"I'll definitely find out what the hell you've gotten yourself into, Elyssa. You're my friend now, and that's that. Besides, I have to sate my own curiosity."
Satisfied, the boy went out of his front door and into the unknown.
(Flashback end)
Izuna had to grin a bit at the not-so-recent memory. Quite some time had passed since then, and he knew a lot more about Elyssa's secret journeys.
The most recent one being her candid encounter with that strange man, the one who called himself "Akami" if he remembered correctly. Now that was some otherworldy shit for sure to the boy.
Seeing that much power exerted by both Akami and Elyssa had only made Izuna's curiosity burn even more at what the truth entailed.
The topic of their discussion was the most notable thing out of that encounter.
"I still need to find out everything there is to know about the 'Society of Markov', and why Elyssa is deadset on fighting that group..."
With his grandfather still asleep, he continued down the street, looking for any visual cue of the Libitina. So far, there were none.
It was currently the ungodly hour of 3AM in the morning. The "devil's hour", so to speak.
"Where the hell are you, Elyssa..."
But this time, even though Izuna was having difficulty tracking her exact point, he had a general idea of her placement at least.
The young Takaya had secretly planted a tracking bug onto Elyssa's "Portrait of Markov" book without her noticing, though it had been extremely difficult to do so. He had gotten the tracking bug thanks to Val's help, and had it connected to an app on his phone running in the background at all times.
With that, the only thing Izuna had to do, was keep on the lookout for its signal.
And so, he patiently waited while still keeping a sharp look at his peripheral vision.
Luckily, Izuna managed to catch wind of faint purple energy lingering in the air just around the corner. The boy finally lucked out it seemed, since there were only two possible sources to his knowledge of such distinct purple energy, and one of them - Blank, was way back in Horizon City.
So it clearly must've been the Libitina, using one of the Cosmic Movements undoubtedly.
Izuna had to be extremely careful not to make any loud noise, as he slowly but surely inched his way towards the street corner near the source of the remnants of purple energy.
He was well aware that Elyssa had heightened senses whenever she used any of the Movements in her arsenal.
Peeking through the corner wall, he saw it clearly.
Elyssa was busy fighting what appeared to be an assassin. And what's more, is that this assassin seemed to match the descriptions that Erika told him when he first learned from the mother about the attempt on Monika's life.
It took all of Izuna's willpower not to jump out and scream bloody murder at the assassin and his potential conspirators.
Elyssa took care of that for him though, as he watched the scene in front of him unfold.
"You will tell me about the group that sent you. Tell me right now, and I may spare your life. What is the ultimate goal of that Society?!" The Libitina demanded as her long hair floated due to her rising purple aura.
The assassin mockingly laughed in response, twirling around his knife like a toy.
"Wrong answer. You can expect no mercy from me after your lack of cooperation. Sixth Movement of the Cosmos: Titan's Leg." Elyssa rapidly sped towards the assassin as both her legs were now imbued with otherworldly power and tinted a purple hue. Her opponent dodged the attack by stepping to the right, and attempted to stab at her back with his knife by positioning himself at a 90-degree angle.
Elyssa was quicker though. A whole lot quicker.
She immediately blocked the would-be killer's arm, with her left backhand, and placed her right hand on his stomach. She didn't even need to spare her opponent a glance, as her heightened senses were enough to pinpoint his solar plexus with pinpoint accuracy.
"Fifth Movement of the Cosmos: Titan's Fist."
The hand started to build up purple energy, and Elyssa quickly released it all, her palm still against the assassin's midsection. She then unleashed a new ability that Izuna had never seen before, as part of the 5th Cosmic Movement.
"Zephyrus Catapult."
The assassin's eyes widened, and as he started to beg for mercy but failed to get all the words out...
"Please don't kill me, I have a fam-"
...due to being violently launched backwards as Elyssa released all of the stored energy in her right palm. It really looked like the assassin had just been catapulted away from the force of his knockback trajectory. A nearby lightpost painfully stopped him from flying off too far though, and the assassin was knocked out cold.
"Now then... where's the second one?" Elyssa inquired, scanning her surroundings.
Izuna could only wonder as well, while being amazed at the power displayed by the Libitina. His wondering quickly ceased, when he felt the sensation of a knife being pressed against his neck.
"Keep quiet, or I'm taking your life."
The second assassin had caught him, and Izuna was inwardly cursing at his carelessness. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face.
Elyssa's eyes soon landed on Izuna and the accomplice, and they slanted into anger.
"Release Izuna, don't drag him into this! What are you even doing here anyway, lover of Monika?!"
"Trying to figure out what the hell you've been up to! What is this Society of Mar-" Izuna's screams get muffled out as the assassin covered his mouth with a handkerchief.
"Just keep your mouth shut, boy! Now then. Elyssa Libitina. Stand down or I'll be forced to kill this boy."
While Elyssa was shocked that Izuna even knew about the Society she was hunting down, the assassin had her at a stalemate.
She knew that she could easily decimate this fool, but she was also acutely aware that one move from her and Izuna's life would be forfeit. No matter how fast she was, the Libitina was still meters away, and the knife was already pressed at Izuna's neck snuggly.
"So, what's it gonna be huh? Not so powerful now, aren't you!" the unknown man teased, and Elyssa could only scowl in response.
Meanwhile, Izuna was blaming himself for even putting the lady in this predicament, if only he had been more careful!
'Gramps... Elyssa... everyone... I'm sorry for failing you all...'
Monika's smiling face comes to mind. Izuna closed his eyes and knew that he had messed up, big time.
'Monika... at least you're safe with your mother around...'
In an uncharacteristic manner from the usually dominant and commanding presence of Elyssa, she begged the second assassin to let her friend go.
"Please don't hurt him, I... stand down."
The moment Elyssa conceded her apparent loss, the assassin laughed maniacally. The sudden burst of confidence was pretty jarring.
"You fool! Did you really think that I'd leave this boy alone? Izuna Takaya is just as much an obstacle as you, and the boss wants him brought to HQ! I'm taking him with me!"
Glaring with hate in her eyes, Elyssa balled her fists. For the first time finding that her powers weren't of much use at the moment.
That was, until fate itself decided to intervene, as she saw what appeared to be an old man swiftly approaching their location.
The assassin's grip on Izuna loosened a bit as he turned to face the newcomer, and this gave him the chance to escape his captor.
"Shit! Get back here!"
Soon, the assassin was now surrounded by Osamu Takaya on one side, his killing intent flaring throughout the area, and the pair of Elyssa and Izuna on the other side.
He had no chance of escaping.
"Izuna my boy, you will tell me what the hell is going on when this is over. And you will also introduce me to this woman." he grunts, while glancing at the Libitina.
Izuna gulps, and Elyssa gave the boy her own scolding with her arms crossed.
"And you also have to explain why in the world were you following me around. I knew that I wasn't imagining things whenever I'd feel that someone was watching my every move. You're lucky it was you, lover of Monika."
The assassin tried to escape as Izuna was being chewed out, but the Calamity of Nagoya and the wielder of the Cosmic Movements both attacked at the same time, their sixth senses kicking into high gear.
"Fifth Movement of the Cosmos - Titan's Fist!"
"Phoenix Talon!"
With Osamu's right hand swiftly landing a solid chop on the assassin's neck, and Elyssa's right hand punching the opponent straight in his vulnerable gut, it was safe to say that he got totally wrecked. Brutally.
The man even ended up puking out a bit of blood before falling limp onto the ground.
Izuna, still in awe at the display of skill from both his grandfather and his friend, tied up both unconscious assassins, and the trio decided to reconvene at Osamu's house and dojo.
After Izuna properly introduced Elyssa and Osamu to each other, the two adults had quickly grown to respect each other.
"So you're teaching Izuna the ways of the warrior, that is quite incredible." Elyssa praised.
"Aw shucks, that's nothing madam. I saw your display of powers and it was quite excellent. Would you mind sparring sometime? I'd love to expand and enhance my Zenbu Fist style with new attacks inspired by your abilities."
"It would be an honor, grandfather of Izuna."
At least Izuna was in the know-how now regarding the Society of Markov, as Elyssa had decided to come clean about her self-imposed mission, lifting a huge weight off of Izuna's chest.
"But you cannot tell the others yet, am I clear, lover of Monika? Currently, only you, your grandfather, Blank, and Yuri know about this. You can't tell anyone, as we can't be risking their lives just like what happened with you today."
"Not even Monika? But she's my girlfriend and we agreed that there should be no more secrets between me and her!"
"Fine... you can tell her but not right now. I want you to wait until I give the signal. Are we clear?"
"But-"
"Are we clear, Izuna Takaya." Crap, Izuna thought. He had gotten the full name basis, meaning that Elyssa was serious about this. He reluctantly agreed.
"Alright..."
Osamu, trying to lighten the suddenly tense mood, offered some breakfast first. Since it was still very much early in the morning, current time only being a little past 7AM.
*****The World Beyond The Screen*****
After all was said and done, Izuna's training program with Osamu underwent a significant change, after the elderly Takaya and Elyssa discussed things for a bit.
During the remainder of the day, both Elyssa and Osamu would be training him. And such a prospect greatly excited Izuna.
"Your friend and I agreed that while my Zenbu Fist style is enough to shape you up into a competent fighter, Elyssa has a lot of insight regarding the art of fighting. So we've decided to have her teach you some things as well, in addition to myself."
Izuna was getting really hyped, though his excitement was quickly brought down a notch after Elyssa explained further, picking up where Osamu left off.
"Now I know what you're thinking, lover of Monika. But no, unfortunately you aren't able to access any of the Cosmic Movements as you are right now. The only reason Blank is able to use one of them was because of his unorthodox gambit of copying some of my data unto himself from within the game, when his developer window still had all of its capabilities. And even then, he only managed to gain access to the Sixth Movement."
"Awww..."
"Sorry, but that's just how it is. The only one right now who could be taught to fully access the Movements of the Cosmos would be Yuri, seeing as I've already merged with her once. That momentary fusion between me and her had altered her body a bit, making it suitable to contain the energy that tends to build up when any of the Cosmic Movements are active. If any other human attempted to use the techniques without satisfying such conditions, their body would deteriotate due to the stress, and worst case scenario would entail that their lives would be extinguished by the Movement itself."
The Takaya nodded in understanding, a bit bummed that he wouldn't be doing any "cool purple shit", such terming being his exact words when describing the Cosmic Movements, any time soon. Though he was still excited to learn from a strong fighter such as Elyssa aside from his already strong old man.
"Think of it as a balloon being filled with water, my boy. Put in too much water, and the balloon will burst, no matter how strong the rubber used is." Osamu sagely added.
And thus, the last day of Izuna's training was about to begin in earnest.
Meanwhile, in the midst of all this, the boy failed to notice that his phone now had multiple unread messages, all from Monika.
...
...
...
"Why isn't Izuna answering back?!" Monika exclaims while visibly panicking, and Sayori was doing all she could to calm her friend down.
"He might be busy right now, Moni. Don't worry, this will all work out..."
"But... we need Izuna's help with this!"
"I know, but for now there's nothing we could do."
Monika and Sayori were currently on the sidelines of a fight that had just erupted outside of the Takaya house. Natsuki and Yuri were beside them, with Natsuki facepalming at it all.
"Natsuki, shouldn't we explain that this is all just a misunderstanding?"
"Bah! We already tried doing that, remember? But the freaking mophead and that crazy lady, no offense Monika-"
"None taken. We've all seen how mom gets during fights..."
"-Thanks. But yeah, mophead and Mrs. crazy are too stubborn to listen to anything right now!"
Monika, Sayori and Yuri all merely sighed in resignation. The other potential voice of reason, Izuna's sister Yumi, was recuperating inside the house, fully awake but still not at a hundred percent due to the lingering effects of the chlorofoam exposure. She was still quite disoriented. So no input from her was available at the moment, unfortunately.
Blank and Erika were both powered-up, with Blank having the Sixth Movement fully active at Stage 2, and Erika in her combat armor.
The former avatar yelled at their opponent with a lot of unbirdled hate in his voice.
"Why the hell should Erika and I believe you?! Last time I checked, you hurt Natsuki! You HURT HER! You're the source of all her pain! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't beat the crap out of you right now!"
Erika was fuming as well. "When I told you to escort Natsuki to me, I didn't mean that you should freaking backhand your poor daughter into unconsciousness, you damn brute! You've been hurting her for all of your wretched life! How the heck are you here in Izuna's world anyway? Blank would've known if you'd escaped with us!"
"That's right! And Erika clearly stabbed you with her glitch-powered blade through the gut! I was there!"
"Yeah, there's that as well. So how are you standing here in front of me and Blank right now, human trash?! You've got some nerve."
The man in question, Mizuki, merely sighs as he was left with no other choice but to adopt his own fighting stance as well in retaliation.
If these two weren't willing to talk things out, so be it.
"It seems like I actually have to give it my all, and then some, just to get it through your thickheaded skulls that Natsuki and I have reconciled for the most part. Tch. But this is fine. Yes, just splendid really. You fuckers."
His eyes were now flashing into a brilliant gold hue, and he began to build up his glitch aura. The fight was now about to begin in earnest, and both Blank and Erika were waiting for the slightest cue to move.
"I've got a score to settle with you two anyway, so this is just perfect indeed." he declares while cracking his knuckles.
-Chapter 21 END-
[To be concluded, in Chapter 22 - Izuna's Resolve, Part 3]
A/N: See you all in the third part, the conclusion of the Izuna Gaiden!
EDIT: Multiple typos corrected, thanks elementalshadowhero! I need to hire a beta reader lol.