Link Shadow – Fourth Finale

Link Shadow – Fourth Finale is the fourth part of the Link Shadow works. Contrary to the name, it's not the finale just yet, though.

Chapters
The work is split into several Chapters, most of which are split up into Acts. Getting 100% completion on all Acts in a Chapter will unlock a Secret Act, which is optional. Completing all Secret Acts will unlock the Secret Chapter.

Prologue
About six months has passed since the previous threat, when the protagonists receive e-mails from Monique – to alert them of a new threat within the digital world. Shane and Ellen are the first to return, followed by Amy. They learn what Monique has discovered – that a teacher began at the high school Ellen was attending shortly before her parents were murdered, and then left town for mysterious purposes. A similar thing happened at Amy's school, as well as at two other schools in-between. These two girls, who had also lost their parents, have been contacted to visit the website, which would enable them to be imported by Monique. They eventually get imported, much to their confusion, but Shane and Ellen manage to explain everything to them as best they could. Together, they manage to piece the puzzle together about who it was that was responsible for the Link Shadow's creation – a teacher by the name of Morgan Leblanc.

Just as they are about to leave the digital world, an alarm sounds and Monique realizes that another Link Shadow must have been created, so it is up to the heroes and heroines to put a stop to it, as well as Morgan's mysterious goals.

Chapter 1
The chapter is, presently, inspired both by Pokémon and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (in that they can be good or evil, and look different based on this). Once again, five acts.

Chapter 2
What is known is that this Chapter has four acts. Its inspiration is not known yet.

Chapter 3
What is known is that this four-Act Chapter is currently inspired by unknown games.

Chapter 4
What is known is that this four-Act Chapter's inspired (at present) by Metroidvanias such as Castlevania yet again.

This time, each Act shares a central area that links to four (five, counting the Secret Act) different areas, and to work through them all, the party has to split up.

Chapter 5
Inspired by unknown games, this is another six-Act Chapter.

Chapter 6
Inspired by unknown games, this is yet another six-Act Chapter.

Chapter 7
It's presently not clear what the inspiration is for this Chapter, which has six Acts as well

Chapter 8
The idea for this Chapter, with its six Acts, is that it could be a mix of past Chapters' inspirations.

The Act 4 boss room itself is the boss of the Chapter, and it's a vampiric room, to boot.

In Act 5, all past bosses can be encountered within the Gallery of Memories.

The final boss, the Link Shadow Neo, is fought in Act 6.

Chapter 9
This two-Act Chapter takes place entirely in the real world, rather than the digital world.

Epilogue
Depending on the player's choices, made as early as the very first Chapter, the Epilogue changes. While some details remain unchanged, the earliest possible ending can be obtained after defeating the Link Shadow Neo. Other endings require the defeat of Morgan Leblanc.

The start of the Epilogue
It is finally over. Morgan Leblanc lies defeated.

Positive endings
These endings are the good endings.

Best possible ending
Another e-mail is received, and attached to it, a video game without a title, bearing significant similarities to what they've experienced in the digital world lately.

Negative endings
These are the bad endings. Yeah.

Secret Chapter
This is unlocked by getting the best possible ending, in addition to having all Secret Acts completed.

This Chapter allows full exploration of all areas from past Chapters, and have additional optional content as well. And by using various save points, the digital world can be left or re-entered freely. Everyone, including those friends who perished in the digital world, can be used in this Chapter.

In addition, every area gets a secret, randomized dungeon, though every ten floors gets a strong boss. Every hundred floors after have a stronger version of a given boss. The final floor is floor 1000, though anyone crazy enough to go that far must have nothing better to do with their time, probably.