F̎̋̀͝I͋ͦ̿ͦ̇̈́N̷̏́̊̽̔̍͒A̶ͧ̂͒̍L̛ͧ̃͜ ̶̛̐̀́ͪ̈́̐ͤT̒͘͠R̨͐͊̀̕ĬA̢͊̓͌͗͢Ļ̋͞

[strangerpeople]

F̶̡̯̻̠̤̻͔͋͊ͬͦͤ̊ͯ̆Ḭ͙̜̺͇̽͟ͅN̷̰̥̥̹̱̐͛̎͞A̮͋̎͛͊L̛͚̱̯͈̄ͧ̿̂̋́͡ ̵͓̜͑͊͐ͨ̎̀̚͡Ț̸̢̥̥̲̼͔̻̟̣͂R̦̭̥͇̓ͧͣ̉͠Į̮̻̪͙̺̘͈̰͉̋ͮ̆ͩ́̔̉͌Aͩ̒ͤ͏̖̼̣L̫̥̰͉ͥ̂̐͐̓͑̑̚͢

[It is time.

Though there was no timer, the time was clearly nearing its end. The darkness that encompasses this place becomes even darker as the hours dragged forward, until even the lights of the City's skyline seems to darken along with it. You can almost feel the Noise watching, an infinity set of eyes in the void beyond staring back, as everyone pulls together again to proceed down the street.

The brightest building in the sky is the dome, now. There's no barrier preventing you from going beyond the Central Building now. There's no need for it-the City is completely empty, its streets devoid of life, as everyone inevitably finds their feet bringing them to the dome.







There's no turning back now. Whatever you have, that is what you will bring on this final journey. Not just in items, but in mind, in spirit, and in soul. IT, the avatar of the Thing and orchestrator of your game, will not relent. IT knows it has bent you, but not broken you. Now IT intends to finish the job.

As you round the corner to the dome, you feel the rhythm suddenly take control of you. You feel a sucking sensation grab onto you, and try as you might you cannot fight. You are pulled in. And when you manage to clear your head and eyes, you are inside the building. It is massive, domed, and-





you are only in one corner of it. There is a small table with chairs, with everyone's name on little dot matrix displays in front of chairs. Not all of them, of course. There are 15 chairs, and where the survivors' chairs are white, the chairs of the dead are black, their dot matrixes empty and lifeless.

A glass panel separates this little set up from the rest of the building, which is concealed in red fog. Despite this, a worryingly slack-jawed Link and Hiyori are sitting in chairs on a raised step just behind the glass, their suits still impeccable and their irises swirling more intensely than before. They do not react when everyone comes in; they do not respond if someone tries to greet them. Next to Hiyori is a briefcase and a boombox, which even through the glass it is quite clear the static, pulsing rhythm coming from it is very, very loud. Kyuubey sits in its own chair, meanwhile, its eyes watching and its expression unchanging; a fourth chair sits empty next to them.

There is no visible sign of IT. But IT is there, just beyond the glass, just waiting to unleash ITs full might. It's almost mocking the Strangers, as if to say go ahead, draw your conclusions. You won't win. You can't escape.

Fifteen Strangers, from scattered multiverses. They were brought together once more to kill. Now, they must solve the final riddle. All of the knowledge and experiences they've had have led to this, and their newest evidence may help as well. The survivors have one chance to make this right and stop IT for good. Failure cannot be an option. If it is...no. Don't think about it. Just do it.


The trial for the future of all existence has now begun.]







[It's time!! The Strangers' objective here is simple, but all-important: they must pull all of the evidence you have together, unlock the answers they seek in full, and at last confront IT, the Mastermind.

This is it. There is no turning back. The blight curls ever-further from the darkness between the clusters. Can there be a cure?

Have fun, good luck, and may the right prevail.]

Comments

[unwittingking]

[For a moment, there is something in his eyes that seems to reflect something of horror at the sight of the blood he just spilled, along with twitching and shuddering. Not IT's horror. King's.

Then the shock dissipates, and the body relaxes, though the rhythmic twitching doesn't stop. It seems, indeed, that it has increased.]

You car̕ę?͘ ̧Oh̢, I'͡m̨ c͡ertain͏ ̢yóu͡ ̨m͏ust̷ ̀c͞ar̕e͞ a̴fter I̕ ͟just ̷s̢ta̢bb̸e҉d y͞ou͏ ̡i͢n͝ t̕he s͢t͜om̢a͟c̀h͏. A̶f͠te̕r ͘eve̴ry͟t͢hi̛ng ̢I ҉have͜ ͟d҉on̵e̡.

[An eyeroll, followed by a casual toss of the knife. Out in the open, it's clear, at least to Caleb, what knife it is.]

̀H͞o̷w stu̕pid͏ of́ y̕o̶u l҉ower ͞l͏ife͝f̵òrms.̛ I͏ kņow you al͝ļ ҉h̀ate ̡me. ͠Jus͞t give͠ įn̡ ́an͡d a͜dmit̢ ͞to hơw̴ y̶ou̢ rea̢l҉ly f҉e͢el.

[relieable]

[that doesn't sound like King at all]

King, you're one of us! Remember our talk? You gotta think about your pups! Your wife! They need you!

[unwittingking]

...Wh̕y̢? Wh͞at̵ a ͠s̡i̵ll̢y s͞t͏ate͟men̴t͠.̕ T̵hey'll͢ ̴h̨at́e it ̸ w͝he̛n҉ t̶h̵ey̸ ͠le҉a͡r͡n̛ what̀ I̵'ve d͜one.

[carryabigstick]

We didn't hate you!! Why would you think they'd feel any different?!

They love you!! And that means flaws and all! The same way I still love Joshua.

[relieable]

That's right, King! You're our family! Family means [nobody is left behind] we're in this together! That's love, dammit!

[unwittingking]

.................................................................

[Knife. No knife. No knife. He--]

[relieable]

[is he getting through to him? a little?

Osomatsu leans forward. and he does something that he likes to do to his brothers.

he pets King's head]

[unwittingking]

[He starts to shudder violently again.]

[relieable]

[s-scary! but Osomatsu stays put, keeping up that gentle petting for as long as King will let him]

Come back to us. So we can keep loving you!

[unwittingking]

[His body continues to jerk around, but when he speaks, it's King.]

How do I go back?! How do I make it stop!?

[relieable]

I-it's okay! You gotta dig deep, King! Just think about, uh... the bonds you have with people, the feelings you have for others, and the love they have for you! I think it'll make IT back off!

[katzenpfote]

[Caleb has an idea.]

[It might be dumb.]

[He grabs the vial that King rolled to him and as Osomatsu is petting him he uncorks it and sticks it in King's mouth.]

... If this doesn't work, I am sorry.

[unwittingking]

I care about the people here! I love my family! I-

[And the vial gets stuck in King's mouth, and he struggles, but as it goes down, the shakes...they lessen.

Family, friends, people he cares about...so many of them are here...

Tears start to prick at his eyes as it becomes clear something is working.]

[katzenpfote]

[He pulls the vial away and wraps his arms around King. He's probably got a broken rib but it's Fine.]

We've got you.

[comesaround]

He's right. We're not going anywhere.

[ See? As promised he isn't leaving. Definitely better than he was before, too. ]

[15unknowns]

I͎̞̠̺͖̣͖̳̹ń̸͖̩͕͇͚̺̞͝d̢̛̳̯̭e̡̘͙̮̞̥͡͠e̡̛͖̞̣͓͙̠d̠͚̕͞.͓͈̜͉͇̺͖̖ ̵̼͔̰̪̹̲͓

B̬̻̹͠ú͏̲̰̥̥̫̯̯͕ţ̜̳͙͚̳͍̱̭͍ ̛̹̙̞̟̠w͏͚ͅh͕̰̞̥̟͇̯͟a͉̩̠͔̬͢ͅt͎̜͎ ̷͈̣͈̥͝a̢̬̩͈̣̩͞b̢̬̠ǫ҉̴͙͈̤͎̠͚̤͕̹ų̼̰̙͚͍͔̀͟ͅt̗̰̞ͅͅ ̛̠͇̫͙̼̲̥̝̝y̹̞͎͢o̫̟͈̟̕ͅụ͉̺̼̰͙͍̦?̴̷̧̟͙̺

[IT is being frustrated, always, by these fools. But IT is not giving up. Not yet.

Caleb. You feel it swirl in your mind.]

[carryabigstick]

It's okay... it's going to be okay. We can fight this together...

[She's going to slowly get closer.]

You will always have us. I promise. We love you too King-- and IT can't give you that. You're a dear friend and one of us... so don't give up on us. Trust us.

[incendiarize]

...We didn't hate you. Not most of us, anyway. Dcyou really think your family would? You know them better than anyone. D'you think Ris would?

[He doesn't know Ris at all, but he recognizes that knife. Maybe hearing that name will remind King why he has it.]

[unwittingking]

. . .

Ḩ̧o̶͜͞w͜ do͠ y̨oú ̸͢͠k̢͜͢now̧ t̨h͜á͜҉t͟ ̀͝ņ́͢a̶me̷̕.̕͝҉

[incendiarize]

You told it to me. You said you wanted to return that knife.

Ris is important to you, right?

[comesaround]

...He's right. I don't hate you either, King. I... told you once how you're kind of like a father to me. If I hated you, you'd know it.

[ Since Osomatsu transformed back, he definitely has one hand on his stomach, the color of his vest being colored red now. The other finding a potion in it thanks to Caleb. He'll take it and down it as he doesn't intend to die here but ow. Being stabbed does still hurt. ]

If I hated you, you really think i'd still be here?

[unwittingking]

A҉ ̨fa̶t͠h̛er?̵ ̶T҉hat ͏wo͞r͏d ̀aga͢in.̵͘ ͠Wh̕at e͘xa̶c͢t̨l͡y ̛i̛s͢ a̢ ̀fa̴t͘he͝r?̷

[comesaround]

That depends. You want a clinical definition of one or what I think a father is?

[ Sorry. He had to sass a little bit, even now. Though his expression does turn a bit softer in that next moment ]

A father is someone who's there for his children. Someone who's there when they need him. Just like you were there for me after Kurama's execution. You helped me out... I still owe you one for that.

[ He holds up one red-gloved hand. ]

You even wrapped up my hands that night, too. Something my own father never really did for me.

[unwittingking]

....

[He stares at the hand, eyes narrowing.]

[comesaround]

Hmm?

[ He slips off the glove and faintly, King should be able to see the now-healed little crescent mark scars on his palm. ]

See? Just this. I remember you ran off to your place to even get bandages for it, too.