A/N: A bunch of random things I thought about OFF in order to vent off my emotions after finishing. Partially inspired by the Stanley Parable and you can't actually do any of these in the game so don't try. It just doesn't happen (although I wish it did). Spoilers if you haven't finished the game, but I suppose if you're here reading this you already have.
Stay In Your Coma
It was at that moment that the Player was given a choice. The first, true choice that was ever allowed to them throughout this whole ordeal. Two figures looked up at them expectantly; one hoping for a change of heart, and the other wanting anything but to be betrayed. In the end, the Player supposed it didn't matter, for they could always return, but, at this exact moment, this choice would decide the fate of this round.
The Judge used his words, his eloquence at language, to try to persuade the Player while the Batter simply stood in silence, placing his faith in them. When the Player resolved on what they felt was just, a side was picked and the ball was dropped. His eyes narrowed, in both betrayal and contempt, and a battle commenced.
It was an easy fight. Both sides were evenly matched, but with the Player's aid the Judge won without much consequence despite the purifier's sudden, monstrous form. And as the two watched the corpse dissipate into the whiteness of the purified zone, the Judge let out a hefty sight.
"Hence, nothing remains. Except our regrets." Despite the melancholy in his tone, the cheshire-like grin never faltered from his expression. Thus, the two sat in that empty room in that empty world, devoid of all life except the few that had been spared until all turned to darkness once more. But perhaps that wasn't truly all that was left.
The end is never the end, don't you know?
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Maybe this time, they'd stay in Zone 0. That was what the Player had decided. Never moving forward and instead remaining static. This way, things wouldn't fall apart like they had before. The Batter, though disgruntled at the fact that he was forced to remain in one spot by his Puppeteer, grudgingly continued his existence in the spectre-less zone.
With time, the mission was forgotten. The Player made sure of that. Instead, a friendship was formed between the Batter and the inhabitants of Zone 0, and life went on like that; forever peaceful but never changing.
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The Player had never felt as though they truly finished their work in Zone 1. Despite having memory of purifying the area in another life, they always felt as though they never really finished exploring the smoke mines. Rather than moving onto Alma, or even Pentel, they decided to push on deeper into the darkened areas of the mines. Because of the gratuitous number of spectres, the Batter agreed almost wholeheartedly.
It was a mistake. The two quickly became lost in the pitch black maze. Barely able to see, the Batter was led into side tunnels and passages that neither knew had existed up to that point. Above all else, every dead end led to a spectre ambush. The measly prizes and secrets discovered were hardly worth the effort. After exhausting the supply of Luck Tickets and slabs of Meat, the Batter fell to the spectres, and all progress was lost.
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Rather than make war with the Guardians, maybe it would be beneficial (and interesting) to play nice. The thought came while navigating through the flesh maze, and was brought to the Batter's attention while arguing with Dedan in his office. Neither party were having any of it.
From the Batter's point of view, he simply couldn't fathom why one would want to even consider working with one who led spectres. Dedan was thinking the exact same thing, plus he didn't want any more retarded asswipes hanging around his space.
Because of this, many hours were wasted arguing and stepping in to stop a disaster from blooming, but in the end it was well worth it. With a few well placed words here and there, the Player forced Dedan to (accidentally, of course) reveal his soft side, showing the Batter that he wasn't the bad guy that he made himself out to be.
Thus, began a strange partnership between the Batter and the zone Guardians. In exchange for free movement throughout the zones, the Player and Batter would be put to work exterminating the spare spectres hanging about.
Not a single zone was ever purified, and no progress was made no matter how much it felt like it was.
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Now armed with the knowledge of who Japhet really was (or at the very least, his host) the Player made it their utmost priority that Valerie not be slain in the conflict. How this was to be accomplished, they weren't sure, but there was sure to be a way. Japhet started out small, but grew as the battle raged. Perhaps if there were to remove him from the cat before the feline became the bird's headwear?
The Player asked the Batter to bring this up with the Judge. Although questioning his Puppeteer's reasoning for this, he obliged and together with the Judge and the shopkeeper, Zacharie, they devised a simple plan: remove the Guardian before he could reach his true form.
The showdown occurred as planned - as always - on top of the library. Purification began, and almost as soon as Japhet dared peek out from his host, the Player commanded the Batter to aim only for the bird. The purifier agreed quite willingly, doing far more than expected by grasping Japhet by the neck and forcibly pulling him out.
Thus, the battle commenced, the bird was defeated, and Valerie lived. The Judge spent the rest of his time fussing over his dear brother and the purifying duo continued on as normal.
In the end, the two approached the switch once again, but instead of a mewling purr at their back, they were met with a mysterious chuckle.
"Although I appreciate your kindness in helping out Pablo, I cannot let you continue on in your venture," said Zacharie as he drew his sword, "I wish things didn't have to be this way, mi amigo."
The Player was given no choice this time, forcibly sided with the Batter. Wings. Yes, Zacharie sprouted wings and in an instant the Player knew that they were outmatched. The big, scary duck was sliced down in an instant, and for a moment, the Player wondered who Zacharie truly was.
"If I told you," he said somberly, as though reading their mind, "this game would lose all of it's secrets, wouldn't it?" The merchant lifted his mask, but before the Player could catch a glimpse of his face the Game Over screen turned everything dark.
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The Player looked back at the first file, almost forgotten in the madness of the experimentation. All of those paths that had been broken into had distracted them from their original intent of going back to complete both endings. With a resigned sigh, they figured that it was about time to let go, and loaded the old file up again.
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The fight against the Queen was tedious, and the death of Hugo was no longer as rattling as it had been the first time. Now, after all this time, the ideas of right and wrong didn't really matter anymore. Coming back to it, things could always be redone. The Judge gazed at the Player with contempt as their loyalty remained to the Batter. This time around, it would be different.
The cat stood alone. Against the Batter and his three Add-Ons, the battle was an easy one. So easy, in fact, that they Player allowed the Batter to do what he wanted. When the Judge fell, his attention immediately turned to the switch on the wall. The switch was set at ON.
He looked up at the Player one last time, never mind that he couldn't see them, as if confirming that this was the right choice. The Player said nothing, and the switch was turned OFF. Despite everything they'd done between the first time and now, they realized that these were the only true endings. The rest were all fantasies; dreams, one might say.
"Escaping from your purpose is impossible," the Batter whispered as the world faded to black.
And in the end he was probably right.
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