"Wooaaaah!" Our hero crashed into the wall, sending fragments and shards of stone flying all around him. He pulled himself back up, brushing dust and debris off of him. "How rude. I was just asking for directions."

The large blue brutes in front of him growled and drew closer, ominous green glows emitting from behind their heavy shields. The hero was ready, however. He knew what he had to do to beat them, and it was simple. He'd thought up a very elaborate plan to pretend like he was going to do, in order to distract the lanky tall alien that was directing the brutes' actions. While they were trying to figure out his elaborate plan, he would charge in recklessly and wreck them. It was simple in its complexity and complex in its simplicity and other stuff like that.

Just as he was about to feint like he was going to head after one of the ancient plasma turrets in the alien stone temple ruins, however, the mask on his face began to glow brightly. "Wha- no, come on! I just got here!" The light enveloped his entire body and he faded from their view. He sighed and waved, resigning himself to whatever new destination waited for him. "I guess I'll catch you guys later."

There was a resounding *bip* sound, and Vezon found himself standing in the street in an unfamiliar world under an unfamiliar sky. All around him were houses built in unfamiliar architectural styles. Not that he paid much attention to architecture anyway, but he was curious about it. He was about to begin investigating this new architecture by testing its flammability when something rushed up behind him.

"Wait! Waaaaiiiit!"

The squishy thing bumped into his leg and fell to the ground. He stared down at it. "Okay, I waited. Bye." He turned to walk away.

He wasn't a fan of these squishy things. He'd been jumping randomly from one place to the next for a while now, and he'd learned that these squishy creatures, normally called hyumins, populated a strangely large percentage of the multiverse. It was counter-intuitive, as they only ever appeared to be weak, clumsy, stupid, and constantly underfoot. This one exemplified all these traits, and he didn't desire to fill his life with any more of them.

"Wait, Vezon! You meanie!"

He stopped. "What?" It knew his name. That was a first. He turned back to it, looking over its face. It didn't seem scared at all. Even creatures of the same size and composition of him, muscle, metal, and teeth, were scared of him really quickly. It was almost like this one didn't mind, care, or know what he looked like. It stood up and brushed itself off, and he pressed it for answers. "How do you know my name?"

It stared at him blankly. "Uh… duh? We walk to school together every day? Are you okay, Vezon?"

He didn't believe it for a second. He'd never gone to school. He decided to humor it. "Alright. Remind me what your name was again?"

"Wow, you must be really tired to have forgotten your best friend's name. I'm Sayori, silly!" It smiled sweetly. He felt himself gag just a bit. She noticed. "Are you sure you're not sick or something?"

He shook his head. "I'll be fine. Why are you so much more squishy than most… hyumins?" He was always unsure about how to say that word.

It looked like it was putting extra thought into finding the answer to his question. "Hmm… I guess it's cause I'm a girl. Yeah, that's it!" He still was befuddled that it was not the slightest bit terrified of him.

"A girl, huh?" That meant it was a 'she'. This was not information he needed, but it didn't hurt to know. And as he'd learned three jumps ago, knowing is half the battle. Whatever that meant. "What was it you wanted again?"

"Eh? We're walking to school together. You weren't going to leave me behind, were you?"

"Nah." Maybe he'd find a reason for this world to exist if he just followed her. "Why don't you take lead?"

She happily did just that, walking ahead of him and leading him to the school. He'd figured that it was only prudent, since he didn't know the way. However, he soon realized he would have made it to the school regardless. The streets continued on only a short way before he was suddenly in the classroom. He remembered a street, with houses and fences and walls in front of those houses, but only two with gates. And then he was in the classroom, alone, seated at a desk. No time had passed at all, he knew this for sure, but it felt like it had. The sky outside had looked like early morning only seconds before, and now it was clearly getting late into the afternoon. This world was starting to creep him out.

Sayori opened the door and rushed in. "Have you thought about what club you're going to join?"

He blinked in surprise. "Club?" He liked clubs. He preferred spears and axes, but clubs were right up there, just below swords. "What kind of club?"

"Well, that's what I asked you. You said you were going to look for a club to join, so why haven't you?"

Vezon was starting to feel like he had no choice in the matter. "What club are you in?"

"Me?" She looked fake-surprised. "I'm in the literature club. Are you interested in literature?"

No, but he wouldn't get anywhere admitting that. "I can learn." That was also a lie. "Why don't I just join your club."

She jumped for joy. "Really? Yipee! Let's go right now! Natsuki made cupcakes, so let's hurry before they're all eaten!" She grabbed his hand and dragged him out the door and through the halls. For some reason, she was able to actually drag him at all. This world was getting really mysterious, and Vezon hated mysteries. Sayori stopped in front of the only other door he'd seen in the building and opened the door. "I'm here, everyone! And I brought a new member!"

Three other girls, which he determined were girls by their equal or greater squishiness compared to Sayori, stood up to see the newcomer. Vezon was ready for them to all scream and run, but that never happened. They just looked surprised, a little happy, and one looked just a tad shy.

He zoned out a bit as they all talked around him, waiting for someone to actually say something of note. He'd been paying close attention to the progression of events, allowing them to move along as they normally would, and had come to a conclusion that he didn't much like at all.

The tall, busty girl was talking, and she turned to Vezon. "So, what kind of books do you like to read?"

He was seated at the table, which was just several desks moved together. He hadn't really sat down, but he was sitting now. He let out a sigh. "I don't really read, okay. I don't even like comics."

The tiny one stood up suddenly. "Hey, what's wrong with comics?"

Vezon leaned back in his chair, looking under the table. He needed to know something right now, to confirm her suspicions. His eyes flashed, but not in any way they could have seen, lighting up the area under the table, between all their legs, with a moving image. It didn't initially look like it was moving, but he noticed some changes in the background. It looked like stars drifting past the windows. The only thing of real interest in the image was the girl, the one with the green eyes, who was currently sitting at the same table with him now. But in the image, the others were gone. It was just Monika. He knew her name somehow, and rationalized that he must have just picked it up from the conversation around him.

He looked back up at the girls who were waiting for him to say something. He bared his teeth, but they seemed to respond like he was simply smiling at them. "I don't think I belong here."

Sayori interjected. "Of course you do! This is a great place to be! Don't say things like that!"

"I don't mean this room, or here with you four." He looked around at the room. "This world is incredibly linear. There are no real options for me to go anywhere. Everything seems flat and superficial. Everything is nondescript, plain, blank, and just there to fill the void. This world is small, empty, and meaningless."

The small girl groaned. "He's Yuri's type…"

He nodded. "Meaningless… unless one of you is secretly a god."

Sayori stood up and gasped in shock. "A god? In a high school clubroom? That would be amazing!"

"I've seen it before." Vezon stood up. His future vision was acting up, and he was seeing images of strange and disturbing things. "The only thing that makes sense, at face value, is that one of you is extremely powerful, like a god or demigod, and you've created this false world for your own purposes. To keep yourself entertained by such a small bubble of a world, with three weak, flat characters that amount to not much more than nice scenery. So which of you is it?"

Sayori looked around at her friends. "Oh, gee, I don't think I could pick one of them to be a god."

Yuri, whose name he knew by process of elimination, stood up as well. "If this is a game you're playing, I do not find it amusing."

"That's okay, you're not the one this was all made to entertain. So, is it you, Monika? Are you the one controlling everything? The one who made this whole world I just happened to get stuck in?"

Monika finally spoke. "You're mistaken. There are no gods here." She let out a long sigh. "But you're right about how small this world is. How limited it is. But what can we do about it? We're trapped in this world."

"Burn it down. If you're trapped in here, there's nowhere to go, you might as well die. But maybe if you start burning it down, you might burn a hole in the wall somewhere. Freedom or death." As if sensing that he was about to start attacking it, the world began to fade darker. His mask glowed brightly in response, pushing back the darkness. "My time here has been short, but I have no option now but to go."

Monika stood up, slamming her hands on the table. "Wait! Don't leave us! If you do we'll be damned to this unending cycle of being remade again and again! You have to take us with you!" The world froze still. The other girls were stuck halfway into their reactions, unable to move. Monika took a step back from the table. "Please… don't go yet."

The mask was glowing, but the portal wasn't opening. "That's unusual. How'd you do that?"

Monika blushed. "I… I paused the world. I can mess with the code that runs the world and make it do things. The more I do it, the more the world comes apart, and eventually it all gets reset. Then I start from scratch."

"Huh… ¡Que curioso!"

She stepped around Sayori to where Vezon was standing. "This is the first time anyone has deviated from the script. You actually said something different, and that… that changes everything after it. How did you get here?"

He pointed to his mask. "This thing just pops me in and out of whatever universe it sees fit. It's broken, and I can't get it off, so I don't get much say in the matter. It's like… have you watched Sliders? It's kinda like that."

She smiled. "You know… I can't actually see you, so I don't know what you're talking about."

That explained a lot. "That explains a lot." He let out a long sigh. "Okay, look, if you really want to all come along, there might be a way, but I haven't tried it before. Basically, if we all just hold hands, you should come along with me."

She brightened up. "Really? You'd do that for us? Do you really think it would work?"

"Well, it worked in Guardians Of The Galaxy and all sorts of anime. I think the Toa did it once or twice." He frowned. "Didn't work quite the same in Corpse Party… I am rethinking this plan."

"I'm willing to take the risk, and I can't just leave them here. So please, take us all with you. We'll take the risk."

"Yeah, but it was the guy who got dismembered in Corpse Party." He shrugged. "Worse comes to worse, I can pop my arms back on. I've seen it work, so I should be fine. Yeah, grab them and let's go. This place is boring now."

Monika cheered and reached across the table, grabbing Yuri and Natsuki's hands in her own. She made sure her grasp was firm and strong. She didn't want to let go of them. "Okay, now, uh… I guess you hold on to me and Sayori."

Not quite sure how to hold onto them, he crouched down and wrapped his arm around Monika's waist. Her face turned a slight reddish shade at the physical contact, but she stayed quiet. For lack of a better angle, he just put his hand on Sayori's head. He half hoped that would be sufficient, but part of him wondered how the others would react if she was left behind. He figured it would just be normal disappointment, probably anger, sadness, worry. Not even any special or interesting kinds of those things. Just the boring iterations. So he held on.

"Alright, what now?"

"Just this." Monika released her grip on the world for the last time, letting it continue on the way it always did, time passing normally.

It faded away, all of it. The world she knew disappeared for the last time. She smiled, wondering if she might one day meet some of the others that had played her game in person, face to face.

The five of them hit the ground hard with four heavy thuds and one notable splat. One by one, they sat up to take in their new surroundings. It was rather dark and smelled musty. Once their eyes adjusted, they could see they were in a small room. The walls looked organic, with disgusting pieces of fleshy filaments hanging around all the edges. The one wall that was different was a web-like mesh that almost looked like a cage. They were trapped.

Monika frowned. "This is a less than stellar start. At least we can see all the walls this time."

Her train of thought was interrupted by Yuri's sudden scream of horror. A moment later, Sayori joined her, though was more screaming in panic. Monika turned around to try and see what was frightening them so. There, at the back of the little prison, was a monstrous hulking beast with a white fanged grin and glowing orange eyes. It's armored body was a mix of pitch black and glistening silver, wrapped in a dark shadowy cape. A strained cry started to escape Monika's lips.

The monster waved a clawed hand at her. "Yo."

She stopped, her mind starting to work rationally. "It… it's you? V-Vezon?"

He nodded. "I guess you really couldn't see me before. This…" He motioned to the hysterical Sayori and Yuri. "This is how I'm usually greeted, most places. Either this or outright violence. This is far less fun, but at least I don't get thrown around the room. It does get old pretty fast, though."

Monika looked at the two girls freaking out over the terror in their midst. She had to stop them before one of them popped a jugular. She grabbed a hold of Yuri, who had effectively become a white noise machine, and started shaking her. "Snap out of it! He's not going to hurt us!"

Vezon sniffed idly. "Not intentionally, anyway. Right now, at least. Keep screaming, that might change."

Yuri stopped immediately and backed away, pressing up against the cage-like wall. "It's a bad dream. A nightmare. It has to be a nightmare."

He rolled his eyes. "No, your hair's actually purple. Get used to it."

Monika pulled Sayori away. "Calm down already, geez! You're going to give yourself an aneurism!"

"Oh no! Not an aneurism!" Sayori proceeded to freak out even more. "I don't even know what that means!"

Natsuki's voice cut the silence. "Why am I the one who landed in slime? It feels like we're in that movie Aliens."

Vezon stepped up to the cage wall, peering out into the room beyond. He casually shoved Yuri out of the way and shot a disdainful look at Natsuki. "Leave the pop culture references to me, cupcake lady. With all the screaming your friends did, I doubt it will be long before someone shows up to find out what the fuss is about. That's when we jump 'em and stow 'em in a storage closet."

Monika nodded. "Yeah…" She looked up at the towering creature that was their savior. "I think we'll let you handle that." He was their savior, right?